Books and Nooks

Hello. Its raining outside today. The proverbial cats and dogs are flooding the garden and our street front. Usually, the boys go a bit batty on days like today. But today, they are happily ensconced in the world of page and print. Cheerfully bouncing along the lines of A.A. Milne and Shel Silverstein.

I took full advantage of Border's closing sale and ended up coming home with about twenty books, eight posters, and four CDs. Three of the four CDs are vintage Sesame Street tunes which the boys are really loving! The book range from Dinosaur Encyclopedias to Architecture books to the newest cravings....all things cartography related...MAPS.

The Bear is often overheard reciting the names of his favorite dinosaurs. It makes my head spin at times, he knows around forty to fifty names I'd wager. Saurolophus, Ornatotholus, Ceratosaurus, Spinosaurus, Oviraptor, he can go on forever. We snatched this little A-Z dinosaur name book for about a dollar. He curled up with it on the sofa for a good half hour. Once in a while, his head would pop up and he would call out, "Mom? Mom? What is the name of this guy? What is he afraid of?"
Cubby is loving on ships and airplanes. I bought him an encyclopedia of each and he loves flipping through the pages as I call out the names of the different crafts and teach him the names of each feature. His little nose crinkles and his long lashes sweep down towards the pages as I hold him on my lap. I love snuggling a child in my arms when there is a big book on our laps. The child stills, the pages turn, and I can hear the wheels of imagination begin to churn.

Oh, boys and cartography. We are flooded with maps and the boys still can't seem to get enough. Map puzzles, books about maps, maps on the walls. The little explorers are fascinated with the world God has made.

This fantastic jigsaw book ended up being $3.00! It has eight puzzles inside stored in book form. The Bear is especially intrigued by Africa. He knows that our new baby cousin was adopted from Ethiopia and so he is ever curious to look at her home country. "Does B love coffee?" he asked with a furrowed brow. "There are pictures of coffee on Africa, Mom. I think baby B loves coffee!"

We ended our rainy day by baking some chocolate chip zuccini bread for Daddy and cutting out some ninjabread men for our little afternoon bookpaloozah. Cubs used his Robot measuring cups to assist in putting together the bread. He grated the zuccinis and ate several morsels of bittersweet chips. I think he could crack eggs all day...

My boys are tucked under big blankets as I type this. The rain is pouring outside, grey light streaming into the bungalow. I am excited to begin work on the boy's book nook later next month. It will be nice to have a small space for them to curl into with a book.

This rainy day really hasn't been so bad...

Little eyes are devouring the books strewn about them. Ninjabread crumbs cover their shirt fronts, hot cocoa has cooled into their little dinosaur cups. I am peppered with questions and warmth and love.

I don't think I want this particular rainy day to end.