little things i love

Recent Posts

    • sharing books

      We are a family of bookworms. When the girls were little, we loved going to bed and waking up by reading a fun stack of our favorite picture books – books that now I will never be able to part with. But as the girls have grown, we’ve moved into new and even more exciting territory: the chapter book read-alouds. It’s probably not a coincidence that this is something that has become part of our family life given that my dad reading aloud is definitely a favorite memory from my childhood. The first chapter book I read to our family was Charlotte’s Web, and by the time we got to the part when the lovely Charlotte comforts Wilbur as she is meeting her tragic end, Bella was fully engaged, weeping along with Wilbur. She was so affected, loved the story and wanted to hear it again immediately. And I’ll never forget reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane to both the girls, crying so hard myself by the end that I could barely get the last words out.

      This Spring Break, it was fun to have my dad read a bit of The Hobbit, our current read-aloud. He’d read it when I was little, and once convinced, he dove in again – it was like stepping back in time. He used the voices I remember, and I was thrilled the girls got to hear a little of his version. We just laid back and took it in – it was a good night.

      We also love listening to books on CD. The Harry Potter series, read by Jim Dale, is a particular favorite with my girls. In fact, anything read by Jim Dale can transport you to another world. We have recently discovered a new series: Peter and the Starcatchers, a new twist on the classic Peter Pan story. We started reading the first book ourselves but, once we discovered that Mr. Dale was reading the audio books, we made the switch. On our ski weekends this year, we were consumed with listening to the series in the car, sometimes coming home after our long drive to sit at the kitchen bar, huddling around the iPod, unable to break ourselves away from the story. I love that we are book nerds.

      It’s definitely fun to read alone, and each of us loves the down-time provided by checking out and escaping into our own little book world. But, there’s something different and amazing about reading a book together as a family. Having our own little book club and sharing that imaginary world together is a wonderful way to spend our time.

      Our Favorite Family Read-Alouds:
      any Oz book
      Charlotte’s Web
      Little Women
      Little House on the Prairie
      The Penderwicks
      Peter and the Starcatchers
      Harry Potter

    • old friends

      We’re just back from Spring Break, and I’m glad to have had some time, albeit brief, to reconnect with some of our oldest and dearest friends. We have been friends with the Newtons for years: first, in our 20s and fresh out of college in Atlanta. Then for the better part of 10 years, we found our way through young adulthood: jobs, promotions, graduate school, marriage and children. Even after we moved to Seattle, we made a commitment to stay close. We try to get together every summer and, while the past couple of years has been harder, we still find bits of time together. Our girls call them “Aunt” and “Uncle,” and their little ones call us the same. Looking at old pictures of the children makes me smile – I can’t believe how fast they are growing, but seeing them together does somehow keep a bit of their childhood forever frozen.

      Old friends feel like coming home – no matter how crazy life gets or where its twists and turns take you, it is comforting to know that you always have these kinds of friends, in your back pocket, who loved you when and will always be in your life. And just like I’m sure it is for most old friends, when we get together, it’s like no time has passed. You don’t have to be “on,” and there is an endless supply of conversation: “Remember when …” and “Can you believe we …” Within minutes, the kids are right back where they left off, playing pirates or soldiers or crafting. They laugh easily and each is their most kooky self. It’s magic, and magical things seem to happen. Amazingly every time we’ve been together at the beach, our kids have found buried treasure. They uncover cool old pirate maps, the X marks the spot kind leading to a treasure that’s just perfect for them (how does that keep happening?). It’s their little tradition, bonding them with something they’ll always share. I love knowing that my children, like us, will always have these dear old friends rooting for them in life.