big guy holding a little dog

Here's another blast from the past.  I've been missing hiking and bicycling recently.  It's the perfect time of year to hike, but I've been so busy I haven't been able to go.  I'm hoping to hit the trail next weekend, but until then I've been enjoying memories of past hikes.

This picture is from a hike on the Peppersauce Canyon Trail in 2012.  There's something awesome about a big guy holding a little dog.  Something adorable and sweet.  My brother, Scott, and his little dog, Louie, are a prime example of this.  I love this picture because Scott looks extra tall and Louie looks extra small.

no tails were harmed during this hokey pokey

Because Robert's surgery was during my storytime last week, I asked a coworker to sub for me.  This week I came back with a roar.  Literally.  This week's theme was dinosaurs.

Something I failed to mention in my last storytime post is that I am not changing my hello/goodbye songs and the fingerplays I use to quiet the toddlers down before reading a book.  These things will stay the same throughout the season. 

Dinosaurs!  There are simply too many awesome dinosaur books to choose from, but thanks to Robert, I was able to pick two special ones for this storytime - We Love Dinosaurs by Lucy Volpin and How Does a Dinosaur Choose a Pet? by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Mark Teague.

After we sang our hello song, we sang Raffi's "If You're Happy and You know It."  Each week I like to pick everyone's favorite thing and carry it over into the next week.  The Raffi song was such a hit during my second storytime last week it was obviously the keeper.  This week the first storytime liked it but the second storytime didn't care for it at all.  In fact, they looked at me like I was a lunatic when I made the ringing noises.  

After Raffi, we did one of our fingerplays to quiet everyone down and read We Love Dinosaurs.  The first storytime loved it more than the second.  At this point I should probably mention that my second storytime was a train wreck.  "Train Wrecks" would have been a much more appropriate theme this week.  More on that later.



After our first book, I brought out the shaker eggs and did three activities with them.  The first was the warm-up activity I mentioned last week.  The warm-up activity was not a hit.  The second activity, however, was absolutely adored by both storytimes.  

It's a little song that goes like this:

Everyone can shake shake shake X3
Everyone can shake shake shake
And now let’s make a stop

Everyone can tap tap tap X3
Everyone can tap tap tap
And now let’s make a stop

Everyone can clap clap clap X3
Everyone can clap clap clap
And now let’s make a stop

Everyone can wave wave wave X3
Everyone can wave wave wave
And now let’s make a stop

This second activity is the keeper for next week, which is going to be very very interesting because we are using scarves for the next storytime.  I know what you're thinking.  "How the heck are you going to pull that off?"  You will just have to wait and see.

The third shaker egg activity was a bust.  I won't even talk about it, because it's extinct to me.  Haha, how do you like that pun, dad?  (My dad is my biggest blog fan).

After we put the shaker eggs away, we did another fingerplay to settle everyone down before reading How Does a Dinosaur Choose a Pet.  Much to my surprise, both groups liked the first book better.  

When we finished the second book we sang this song, which is sung to the tune of  "I'm a Little Teapot":

I’m a mean old Dinosaur  

big and tall 

here is my tail

here is my claw.  

when I get all hungry 

I just growl

look out kids

I’m on the prowl.

This song was a bust so we did not sing it during the second storytime.

We finished up with the dinosaur hokey pokey, which was, surprise surprise, loved by all.  One grandma used her toddler as a tail when we were lifting our imaginary tails and "heaving" them in.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a toddler swinging into view, then out of view.  It took me a second to realize what grandma was doing.  Don't worry though, no tails were harmed during this hokey pokey.

Overall, the first storytime was a success.  And though the second storytime was a train wreck due to the near-constant crying of three out of seven toddlers, I had a small compliment that was nice to hear.  One of the parents commented about what a tough job it was (to facilitate a storytime) and I responded by saying it was a lot of fun.  She told me I had a great attitude, which was a sweet thing to say.

I did not do a flannel board this week because I lost the rhyme somewhere.  Seriously!  I can't help but wonder if I lost it on purpose somehow...

This week I also tried carpet squares.  I'm not sure how I feel about them yet.  It took a lot of reminding to keep the toddlers on their "islands."  And towards the end, when everyone was losing focus, they started twirling their "islands" around and wearing them on their heads.  So I'm not sure what to think just yet.  

Something I learned this week came from a librarian from another branch.  She said it usually helps to encourage everyone to take a few deep breaths if they're not quite settled down and ready to listen to a story.  I'm definitely going to try this next week even though I'll probably get the "what's that crazy lady doing" look again.

Next week's storytime will be all about food!

gimpy parade

Robert's surgery went well.  He has been resting up and healing.  

This is the foot:

He has officially made it to knee scooter status, which is a very good thing.  He even joined Ella and I during a walk and made it all the way around the block!

treasure

My brother, Jason, visited last weekend!  And we had so much fun!  We took the puppies and Ella out for walks and wagon rides.  

Ella definitely won the cute contest with this picture.  It was pretty close, but in the end the puppies just didn't make the cut.

We visited one of my favorite parks that has a small but wonderful garden.

Like they always say - one person's gnawed-on tomatoes is another person's treasure.

We also visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and stumbled upon the Native American Cultural Celebration, which just happened to be going on the day we visited.  We were very fortunate to observe a glorious, enchanting, and moving live music and dance performance that will forever live on in my heart.

And AND we crossed something off my bucket list.  Jason and I finally, finally visited the Arabia Steamboat Museum.  For a long time I knew of the excavation and museum but didn't really grasp just how amazing it was.  Then I read The Book.  Yes, The Book.  Oh how I loved Treasure in a Cornfield, which recounts the excavation journey of the Arabia steamboat.  The museum was everything I hoped for and more. Jason loved it.  The best moment happened when Jerry Mackey, one of the men who excavated the steamboat, appeared out of nowhere and recited from memory Fair Charlotte (and yes, there is an absolute perfect Charlotte Doll on display at the museum). I was totally starstruck. I definitely gushed and made him feel uncomfortable, but what an honor to meet him!

Thanks for a great visit, Jason!

waddle your whole self in

This week was the first week of fall storytimes, and though a couple patrons were frustrated because we're now ticketing, the storytimes themselves went smoothly.  In addition to ticketing for storytimes, we are using a smaller room in our library.  The room we used for spring and summer had a capacity of 50.  This smaller room has a capacity of 24.  We are using the smaller room in the hopes of creating a better storytime experience for our patrons.  There were moments during spring and family storytime that, no matter how loud I shouted, I could barely be heard above the roar of 30 toddlers.  I was also struggling to build relationships and my early literacy tips were being swallowed up in the din and chaos.  Don't get me wrong.  I would do it all again.  I've discovered I have a certain fondness for toddler chaos.  But we definitely needed to re-evaluate and that's what we're doing this fall.  Because of the smaller room and the popularity of our storytimes, we are also offering back-to-back storytimes.  This means we do the exact same storytime twice, with a 30-minute break in-between. 

We have four different storytimes at my branch - baby, toddler, preschool, and family and four youth librarians.  We each chose a storytime based on scheduling rather than preference.  I am thrilled toddler storytimes work best for my schedule because I had such a great time doing them last spring.

The first fall toddler storytime was amazing.  It was my favorite storytime yet.

For this season I'm going to share the different activities and resources I used for each storytime and highlight what worked and what didn't.

I chose interactive books as my first theme.  The two books I read aloud were Eric Carle's From Head to Toe and Christie Matheson's Tap the Magic Tree. 

After our hello song, we sang Raffi's version of If You're Happy and You Know It.  It's simple yet unique.  The first and last verses are the standard "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands," but the second verse is, "If you're bananas and you know it let it ring," and the third verse is "If you're beautiful and you know it shout hooray."  My first group liked it.  My second group loved it.  The second group really did go bananas and let out some glorious and obnoxious ringing noises.  Because of the second group's reaction, the song will be a part of my next storytime.

Christie Matheson's book, Tap the Magic Tree, was the biggest hit in both storytimes.  Basically through a series of tapping, rubbing, wiggling fingers, and so on, a tree goes through its yearly cycle.  It begins with a bare brown tree and with one tap, a single green leaf appears.  Four more taps bring four new leaves.  Every time I turned the page I asked a different toddler to tap or rub the tree.  A few toddlers were shy, but this provided a great opportunity to encourage their adults to tap the tree.  Once the adults started tapping, the toddlers would jump right in and tap too.  It did take longer to read the book than I had planned.  It was tough to calculate how long the participation part of it would take.  I had to skip a song in both storytimes.  In my opinion it was more than worth it.  Toddlers were jumping up and down in the hopes that they could tap the tree, and it dissolved the barrier between us.  Most of the toddlers no longer acted shy towards me after we read that book.  If anything, I was simply swamped with eagerness.  I will love this book forever because of this storytime.

After this book I passed out scarves and we did a few basic exercises first - high, low, left, right, jumping, waving, etc.  During family storytime this summer I tried this with not only scarves, but also musical instruments and shaker eggs too.  I always chose 3-4 activities for whatever thing it was we flung around that storytime, and the basic exercises was usually the favorite.  Though they enjoyed the basic exercises this time, there was only time for two scarf activities.  I felt like this wasn't enough.  For the next storytime I think I'm going to pick another activity over the basic exercises if there isn't enough time for both.  The other activity we did was "Here is a Green Leaf," which I learned about from a librarian friend.  I did this activity during family storytime this summer and everyone loved it. 


Surprise surprise, it was a hit this time too.  My second storytime especially loved it and my favorite moment happened during this activity.  Because it's a short activity (and also incredibly fun to do), I always do it twice.  The first time there's a lot of oohs and aahs.  The second time everyone usually gets the hang of it.  During my second storytime I made the scarf flower and started to do it again.  That's when I noticed that most of the adults were earnestly helping the toddlers make the flowers.  It was like a flower scarf breakout session.  For about a minute no one was paying attention to me at all.  I was so ecstatic I could hardly breathe.  You could have knocked me over with a scarf.  It was storytime magic.

The second book we read, From Head to Toe by Eric Carle, was well-received.  I read it during a yoga storytime last spring and it is definitely a winner.  We turn our heads like penguins, arch our backs like cats, kick like donkeys, etc.  Just like yoga, there's a move every toddler excels at.  That's one of the things I love about this book.  I also love how we can make sounds if we feel like it.  A lady in the second storytime had an amazing elephant sound.

After the second book, we had time for another song, "Walking" by Sara Hickman.  It's three movements - walking, hopping, and running in place.  There's a melodic 'lalala' part at the end that can be either soothing or weird.  It definitely fell into the weird category for this storytime.  Nobody wanted to do the 'lalala' part with me so I was just up there singing to myself while 17 toddlers quietly passed judgement on me.  It may be awhile before I do this song again.

A week before the fall storytime season began, a coworker and storytime expert listened to my hokey pokey woes (I can't stand the song but every kid at our storytimes loves it and expects it).  This coworker suggested that I modify hokey pokey to fit the storytime theme.  I was intrigued but how was I going to do this for my first storytime?  Were we all going to pretend to be trees?  "You put your branches/roots/leaves/wood sap/pine cones in and you shake it all about?  Maybe someday, but not the first storytime.  So I went with the first animal in Carle's book, a penguin, and we did the penguin hokey pokey.  Another coworker came up with the idea of waddling our whole selves in, which I can't stop doing, even though storytime is over.  The penguin hokey pokey is addictive.  Once you put your tail/wings/beak in and you shake it all about, you can't stop.  I'm not sure the toddlers cared that I changed up the hokey pokey.  They just wanted the hokey pokey, and were happy to have it in whatever form they could get it.  And thankfully I don't have to start a hokey pokey support group yet. 

Next storytime is all about dinosaurs, including another attempt at doing a flannel board activity!

the magic number is 14.6

Margo and Josie had their first visit with the vet a few days ago.  They are happy and healthy.  

We've been calling Margo the little chunkster because she feels heavier than Josie.  It turns out they weight exactly the same.  Exactly.  They both weigh exactly 14.6 pounds.  

Here is Robert and Miss Margo, who is no longer going to be called the little chunkster.  She would like everyone to know that visiting the vet is exhausting work.

Stooki Sound - Endz

This is the song I currently have on repeat.  I find it incredibly soothing and it feels a little like it organizes my thoughts and gives me much-needed clarity by the time it ends.  It's definitely in the playlist of songs that help me get my shit together.

interactive bulletin boards

We have two pretty darn exciting new bulletin boards at my library.  

This first one is based on my library's theme right now.  We change our themes three times a year and this fall the theme is Women's Voices.  This is a mix-and-match bulletin board that encourages patrons to match up an author with a quote from one of their books.  The authors and quotes have velcro on the back so they can be moved around easily.  I've purposely mixed them up so that you can have fun guessing which quote goes where.

And this display is only going to get more colorful as patrons continue to color shapes and write their names on paint chips that I've cut circles out of.  It's based on our current activity space theme, which is from the book, "Dog's Colorful Day."

Ella's Wagon Rides

After Robert injured his ankle, Ella's wagon rides abruptly stopped.  When we first started carting her around the neighborhood, Robert and I agreed it was a two-person job - one person to tug and the other to keep an eye on her.  During her first several wagon rides, she was prone to standing up whenever we rolled over uneven terrain.  Having a spotter to help her settle back down was vital to instilling a sense of comfort and security in her feelings about the wagon.  Robert and I also took turns pulling the wagon.  Robert took the surprisingly difficult downhills and I took the uphills, which required brawn yes, but definitely less patience and control than the downhills.  Our wagon rides were a testimony to our harmonious teamwork and friendship, something I have no qualms bragging about.  We grew to love and look forward to the wagon rides.  We even began to have a new "problem."  Ella, who could usually make it down the street before growing tired, would attempt to climb in the wagon even before we got out of the driveway.  She no longer stood up at uneven patches, and would settle herself into the wagon with her face titled into the wind.

Once we knew Robert was going to need surgery and have a long recovery, I sat down with him and proposed a crazy idea.  I would take Ella out on my own.  I agreed to only go around the block and if I needed anything, would call him.  I was a little surprised when he agreed.  I was also a bit worried.  I love my sugar lump of a dog and as a worry wart, just knew I was going to tip her on our first solo wagon ride.

I was wrong.  Our first trip around the block was such a success, on our second trip I decided to take her down two streets before coming back home. For the third trip I decided we would go all the way to the market, which is across the street from a park with a poopy-bag station.  Having two puppies pretty much means we're always picking up poop, especially now that I'm leash training them, so a poopy-bag station is pretty much a holy pilgrimage in this family.  Walking to a poopy-bag station has always been a common walk for us, and we tie several to the wagon, leashes, or whatever else we happen to have with us.

If Ella and I could make it to the closest poopy-bag station, we could do anything.

I knew tugging her around in her wagon without switching with Robert was going to be hard work, but as an athletic person, I dismissed those concerns and rolled my eyes at my weenie thoughts.  What concerned me most was making sure she was comfortable, happy, and not going to make any sudden movements.  

What I didn't realize is that no matter how much tennis a person plays, it's not the same thing as pulling an 80 pound golden retriever around. Additionally, I certainly didn't want anyone who saw me to think I was anything but thrilled to lug around a dog in a wagon.  I found myself praying silently while loudly praising Ella whenever we went down a steep incline and smiling maniacally at passerby when I heaved her up a tough hill.  It wasn't just physically exhausting, it was also mentally exhausting, and I wasn't having a good time.  About halfway to the poopy-bag station I realized I was using up precious effort to convince others I wasn't this crazy person dragging a giant dog around.

But that's exactly what I was.  I looked at Ella and asked her if she was having a good time.  She gave me this look like, "shut up lady and let me enjoy my ride."  So that's what I did.  If I felt exhausted I paused in someone's driveway while standing there looking exhausted.  I stopped smiling maniacally and took more deep breaths.  I reminded myself to switch hands and nodded hello to others like I do when I'm out jogging or walking sans dog in wagon. I turned the handle to the side and wedged my sneakers under the tires when my arms needed a break or a rock wall beckoned me to inspect some unruly vine.

We made it to the poopy-bag station and headed home.  On the way home I looked back, ready to give Ella a bit of praise, but her eyes were closed, her face relaxed, and I realized the only thing she needed from me was a steady hand to maneuver her over the smoothest sections of the sidewalk and a foot to kick away any twigs that might bump her awake.  More importantly, I knew I could give her these things.  I smiled so hard I nearly lost myself in it.  I'm sure I looked a bit crazy, but I had a whole wagon full of reasons not to give a damn.

sugar lumps and macaroni and cheese

About once a week I take 20 or 30 minutes to look through old pictures.  It's a necessary indulgence. I've had a great life filled with amazing people, and pictures capture an astounding wealth of memories that sustain me and keep me going.  Whether I'm going through a rocky patch or I'm simply in the mood to celebrate my life, immersing myself in my photo albums, both digital and physical, keep me afloat and fill me with joy.

I've decided to start sharing a few of these journeys with you because it's another way to stay connected to my family and friends and the world.  We can't sit down in person every week, have a cup of tea, and share memories together, but we can still find a way to connect.  

Lately, I've been poring over pictures of my first two sugar lumps, aka my golden retrievers. Bringing two baby goldens into our lives has made me think about the crazy journey I've had with Ella, who is one of my soul mates.  Currently I find the puppies to be exasperating and Robert keeps reminding me how I wanted to get rid of Ella the first two years of her life.  It pains me to admit this, but he's right.  Ella was a total jerk during her puppy phase.  She ate all of our base molding in our last house, never wanted to cuddle with me, and would push Rose out of the way to get whatever she wanted.  But we're a lot alike.  I can be a jerk too and a bit selfish sometimes.  And when I feel prickly or focused the last thing I want to do is cuddle.  Ella is still a jerk sometimes, even in her old age.  But she's also so very tolerant of the puppies and will let me kiss her face now without blowing snot on me in exasperation.  When I wake up in the mornings I lay on her dog pillow with her and curl myself around her while I pet her belly. She would have hated this two years ago but now loves it. 

This picture was taken at our old house in 2012.  I was journaling, and at the time, the dogs were allowed on the couch.  They were freshly shaved, something we don't do anymore, and very wrinkly and precious.  I am wearing a shirt that belonged to my brother, Scott, at some point.  It was bought while he and Mom were on one of the South American treks she used to make.  Those weren't my memories (I have no qualms about borrowing others) but I remember loving their stories when they returned.  I wore that shirt until it had holes in it and sadly tossed it before I started collecting shirts for a t-shirt quilt.  



When I think about Scott or Mom or Rusty I always look at an Arizona album.  The picture below from 2009 is far from perfect, but I love it for a several reasons.  First, you can clearly see the mountains behind me, which is something I associate with Tucson and Oro Valley, where my family lives. Whether you're in the drive thru at McDonalds or on a hike, you can always see the mountains.  I also love this picture because it is clearly after a rainstorm.  When I check the date of the picture I smile because it means that it was during monsoon season, which is a special time of year.  I'm also playing on the backboard with puddles everywhere. This picture confirms that crazy passion I feel for the sport.  I adored the racquet I was playing with, which was a Head and my third racquet (my first was a wooden Chris Evert and my second was a Head that a friend of my family, Bob, carved my initials in) and called it my macaroni and cheese racquet because of the color.  When I began having issues with tennis elbow a few years ago I switched to a Volkl that was supposed to be easier on the elbow.  I haven't had an issue with tennis elbow since the switch, but I'll always have a place in my heart for that macaroni and cheese racquet.  I still have this tennis skirt and wear it all the time. Apparently Adidas is a great brand.

This was taken in 2014 on a different couch.  I was trying to read and like usual, Ella just didn't care. If I sit on the floor with a stack of books right now, she will mosey on over and do exactly the same thing.  For eleven years this dog has been laying all over my books and heart.

busy busy

This is me holding Miss Margo after I was picked up from work one day. We had a pop-up rainstorm so that's why we're crammed into the backseat with my bike.

Last week we found out Robert will need surgery for his ankle, which is scheduled in about two weeks,  and can expect a 12-week recovery.  So we've been nonstop living and checking things off the to-do list.  We nearly completed the sprinkler system and completely cleaned and scoured the garage so the pups can have a place to run while Rachel and I are at school and work and Robert is is laid up the first two weeks.  

We also took Ella, Margo, and Josie to visit a dear friend of mine, Madeline, who is in a nursing home nearby.  Madeline definitely hit it off with Margo.



It's been very busy around here, but there's been a lot of special moments.

Above is Josie eating her first ice cream cone.

Above is one of their rare moments of snuggling and acting sweet. Margo is sleeping and Josie is looking at me.

August Reads

August was a fairly crazy month for me.  I squeezed in as much reading as I could, but it was not enough.  I mostly read tons and tons of picture books.  These four were my favorites:

Jake at Gymnastics by Rachel Isadora (picture book)

The illustrations are dynamite, the text is simple and clear, and it's a perfect book for storytime because many of the stretches are easy and fun to do (side split, peekaboo, hopping, crawling, pretending to walk a balance beam). It's a treasure trove of silly movements and playing pretend!

Tiny, Perfect Things by M.H. Clark (picture book)

I really like the idea of looking for the beauty in our surroundings, whether we're out for a walk, running errands, or going about our day-to-day business. I like the strong sense of family in this book, the stunning illustrations, and simple language. My favorite moment of the book is when side-by-side pages flip out and the author invites the reader to find their own tiny perfect things. I cannot wait to ask toddlers to help me find those tiny perfect things in my next storytime!

What's Your Favorite Bug? by Eric Carle and friends (picture book)

I wasn't impressed with Carle's reasons for his favorite bug. He basically used it as a platform to brag about himself. Despite the rocky start to this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the variety of illustrators and how they demonstrated their affection for the bugs they chose. Some wrote a little poem and a few shared stories from their childhood. Maggie Rudy's Katydid is my favorite. I think a few of the poems will work well for a bug storytime.

City Mouse, Country Mouse by Maggie Rudy (picture book)

This is an incredibly sweet story that highlights a friendship between a country mouse and a city mouse and the lovely compromise they make to be near each other. The illustrations are incredible. Imagine having tea inside a cafe that is actually a tea kettle and pushing a mouse-sized wheelbarrow that can only hold one strawberry.