We Read and Recover

Oh my!  The last few days have been full.  Full of snuggles, full of diapers, full of tears, full of activities, and full of Beatrix Potter.  I'm pretty sure I've tried to get Caleb interested in these before, but he discovered a few at the library last week and is now hooked.  I had a couple treasuries of Potter stories from my childhood that we have been poring through.  Right now "The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck" and "The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin" are by far the favorites.  I love the vocabulary in these books!  Big words for little minds!  I'm also a fan of her illustrations.  Finally!  A break from "Thomas the Tank Engine"!  Don't get me wrong.  I'm grateful there is a pleasant show with good stories that encourage making good choices so I can get a shower once in a while.  However, there's just only so much Thomas a girl can take.  When you find yourself singing the theme song in the shower, it's time to branch out... and go on a date night... and sleep more.  I think I'll do all three.

Okay, and just in case you think we only read books with big words, we are also HUGE fans of the Elephant and Piggy books by Mo Willems.  Benjamin (12 mo.) laughs so hard when Teacher Man reads them.  These are easy reads with great humor. Caleb is transitioning to reading simple words himself, and these books are perfect for him.  Easy readers that are not boring.  Who would've thought?  Mo Willems uses simple illustrations but masterfully gives his characters BIG personality.  These books and his Pigeon books are worth checking out at the library.  Just don't check them all out because then my kids would be sad.

And just in case you think that our children aren't allowed any screen time, let me just share that their new favorite thing to do with Teacher Man (when he gets home from a long, hard day at school) is to play Birds Game (Angry Birds).  They both pile on his lap and love watching birds squawk and fly through the air crashing into things. (Notice Ben clapping in the picture.)  Sigh...so young and yet so totally boy.

So that's what our guys have been up to the last three days while we recover from this awful stomach flu.  Pray that we're done with it, will you?  Ben seems to be fine (hope he stays that way), and Caleb doesn't have a fever this morning. May it stay that way!