notes from the family book club

Last night we finally went out (to Pizza Hut, as the boys got to choose location) for our second family book club meeting. Yes, we're about a month late. And yes, that would be entirely my fault as I'm the one who didn't start her book in a timely fashion. There is no vlog, because A.) I was just too lazy to bring the computer and B.) Gray was feeling in an especially "shy" mood and really didn't want to be on video. Instead, I brought a little journal and recorded some notes. Probably quite boring to anyone else, but I think we will enjoy them when we read back over them in the years to come.

Snippets from Family Book Club Meeting #2:

*Annie had assigned me The Golden Compass.

Annie asked me which character reminded me most of myself. After some thought, I said that it probably had to be Ma Costa, though we are definitely not alike in some ways, too. At this point, Rich told Annie that she was most like Mrs. Coulter's monkey. Not surprisingly, Annie was indignant. I'm ashamed to admit that I could not stop myself from laughing.

After saying that I was on the verge of tears during this one particular scene, Gray said, "Mom, that's one reason you shouldn't read books--they make you cry all the time. Books don't make me cry." To this Rich replied, "Just wait 'til you're old like me, Gray--they'll make you cry, too."

*Gray had assigned Max Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

When discussing how the brothers in the book got along, Max and Gray started pretending to punch each other. I said, "Enough." And when they didn't stop, I said, "What does "enough" mean?" To which Gray answered, "Stop barking!" Followed immediately by Rich saying, "Stop licking the carpet!" Followed immediately by Annie with, "Stop dragging your butt on the floor!" Yeah, "enough" is the command for Baker to "stop!"

*Max had assigned Rich Space Chimps: Mission to Malgor.

No major revelations, but much boy giggling was heard during this discussion.

*I had assigned Annie Looking for Alaska.

Again no major revelations, partially because we were trying to be careful about what we said because we didn't want to ruin the book for Rich who has not read it yet. Annie did, however, really, really love the book. No surprise there, huh?

*Rich had assigned Gray Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Comment from Gray in the midst of discussion: "Voldemort's not so tough."

At one point Gray made some smartass remark to Rich, which I didn't catch. But Rich came back with, "Ten points from Hufflepuff, Stevens!" Gray's turn to be indignant, as he was not thrilled with having been placed in Hufflepuff.

And our new assignments were made:

*Max picked Zelda: Four Swords, Vol. 1 for Annie.
*Gray picked Seekers: The Quest Begins for me.
*Annie picked Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment for Gray.
*I picked Nation for Rich.
*Rich picked Magic Tree House: Night of the Ninjas for Max.

Hopefully our next book club meeting will take place in early February...once again, I'll likely be the weakest link.

*****
January 5th "Good Stuff"

*Max pulling a fast one on the tooth fairy! He'd lost his tooth at school yesterday, and when that happens, the nurse puts their tooth in a little tooth-shaped container thingie to bring home. Well, Max put the container under his pillow, but hid his tooth away for another day. Tooth fairy Rich grabbed the container without checking inside it, leaving the cash under the pillow. OMG, was Maxidoodle proud of himself this morning!!! I, of course, just couldn't stop laughing. :D  (And yes, Max does know "who" the tooth fairy really is...but I think this only made himself prouder of his duplicity.)

*Heading out to take the kiddos to the dentist and finding that Rich had cleared all the snow from the car. As usual. He's just so darn good to me. :D

*Three kids. No cavaties.

*Books that surprise the hell out of you. (Hopefully, I'll talk about this one tomorrow.)

*Making it to the fifth day of the new year before breaking down crying about how overwhelmed I am. I know, that sounds pathetic. It sounds like a complaint. But honestly, I'm trying to be positive here. Breaking down crying is my way of just letting it out and trying to gain some equilibrium again. The fact that I made it five days into the year before needing to do it really is a good thing.

*Unbelievably adorable postcards. Thank you, Shanra! :D But you're wrong about one thing--your handwriting is just fine, my dear!

*Listening to Gray practice his violin. No, he's not very good--he just started playing a few months ago--but I love listening to him nonetheless.