We are just trying to make every day the best it can be...
TODAY IS MY FAVORITE DAY
  • Home
  • About

Trail Tales

6/17/2014

0 Comments

 
On Saturday morning, two of our favorite activities came together. The children's librarians from the Arlington County Library joined Long Branch Nature Center for Trail Tales. The basic idea of Trail Tales is that story boards have been put up along the nature trail so can read as you walk. Currently Woodlice by Sian Smith is posted. One of the naturalist told me that they planned to change the stories with the seasons to keep the story relevant to what the kids can find at the nature center.

Picture
To celebrate Trail Tales, there were many activities Saturday morning. The librarian who regularly leads a fantastic story time at the library's main branch brought her books, songs, rhymes and puppets to the nature center's mini-amphitheater and led a wonderful story time in the woods about insects. One of the naturalists had leaves and dirt in which the children could find insects and then look at them under various microscopes and magnifying glasses.

Picture
Picture
There were also fantastic crafts for the kids. Both Meg and Clare made adorable bookmarks. And to the girls' great excitement, there was face painting. I was quite impressed that the artists matched the girls' dresses with their artwork.

Picture
Picture
It was a very fun morning. We hope the nature center and library will continue working together on events like this one.

0 Comments

Recovery, Rain and Libraries

4/7/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
This picture of Princess Clare at Arlington County's Central Library is from Halloween (the Halloween story time and costume parade is quite a big deal).
I am happy to report that Meg's surgery appears to have been a success. We are hopeful the finger will heal correctly now. The last few days she's had some pain and has had trouble sleeping due to the discomfort, so this morning she caught up on sleep and we've had a fairly quiet day. 

So what do you do when you have an injured child, a slightly fussy baby (Anne's nose is a little runny) and a middle child who is feeling like she is not getting enough attention. Oh, and it is raining outside, so gardens and parks aren't an option. We head to the library. Of course, Arlington County has so many great library branches that it is a major discussion to decide which branch we will go to. Meg has been wanting to check out the Snow White DVD for awhile now. Her favorite fairy tale varies and currently it is Snow White. In the Fall, her favorite was Cinderella (she absolutely loved Cinderella's ball gown with the poofy sleeves). During the Winter, her favorite was Sleeping Beauty. And with Spring, she changed her favorite to Snow White. A computer search of the library catalog revealed our best bet for Snow White was the Shirlington branch, but the girls really wanted to go to Central library. With nothing better to do, our plan was to go to both. 

At the Shirlington branch, we hit the jackpot of DVDs. We found Snow White. We also found Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Sofia the First and the Nick Jr.'s Peter Rabbit. We no longer have cable or satellite, so our kids stay up with Disney Jr. and Nick Jr. shows through library DVDs. Having found all the DVDs we wanted, we decided to head to Central library for books. However, the rainy day got the best of Clare and she fell deeply asleep in the car. What to do? After some discussion, Meg and I decided we should head to the coffee shop drive-thru for some hot tea (for me) and some yummy coffee cake treats (for the girls). Every rainy day needs some coffee cake and hot tea. 

Meg and Clare (who finally woke up) are now enjoying Snow White, Baby Anne is sleeping and I finally had a chance to catch you all up on Meg's recovery. Quiet days can be quite nice. 
0 Comments

Clare's Storytime

1/24/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Clare takes great comfort in books. You can barely make her out in the picture to the left, but this is a typical scene: Clare snuggled under a blanket asleep with a pile of books on top of her. This past weekend, she began running a slight fever (quite unusual for her). Her solution to "being sick" was to pile fifteen books on top of my bed, situate herself in the midst of all the pillows and allow my husband and me to take turns reading to her. 

Clare only goes to preschool two days a week, so on the mornings when Meg is at school but Clare is not, we often find ourselves at the library. On Mondays we might go to the Shirlington branch of the Arlington County library just to read books and check out a few for home. On Wednesdays and Fridays we go to the Central Library for storytime. 

The storytimes at Arlington County Public Library are superb. We have tried numerous storytimes at various bookstores, but few come close to the excellent library presentations. The librarians use music, rhymes and even flannelgraphs to keep the children focused on the book theme of the day. Clare, who can be painfully shy at times, has come alive in these sessions. When we first began attending storytime, she would sit in my lap and rarely participate in any way. Now she sits on her own carpet square, sings along with the songs, attempts any actions that accompany the rhymes and songs, and never hesitates to yell out a response to the librarian's questions. I now watch her from the side of the room (where I attend to Baby Anne) and feel proud of each tiny step of independence she takes. 

I hope these storytimes will remain special to Clare for a long time. Meg has already deemed storytime for babies and refuses to go no matter how much we try to explain that there are different storytimes for each age group. I hope Clare won't be influenced by that. Periodically Clare will say, "I wish I lived in the Hundred Acre Wood." She very much wants to turn our back patio into Mr. McGregor's garden. In the library she visits all her favorite books: Madeline and the Cats of Rome and the McDuff books. Books are a comfort to her sensitive little soul and I hope they remain a comfort throughout her life. 

0 Comments

    Author

    I am Sandra Penfield--a one-time lawyer who is now a very happy stay-at-home mom. This blog is about making every day the very best it can be and preserving those memories for my children.​

    Disclosure

    This blog participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program.  Through this affiliate advertising program I can earn fees (at no additional cost to you) by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. When you click on the link and purchase the product, I receive a commission.
    What We Are Reading​

    Archives

    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    March 2013

    Categories

    All
    Advent Calendar
    Alexandria Library
    American History Museum
    Aquarium
    Archdiocese Of Washington
    Art
    Ash Wednesday
    Audio Books
    Ballet
    Beatrix Potter
    Beatrix Potter: A Life In Nature
    Benedictines Of Mary
    Benjamin Bunny
    Berry Picking
    Book Barn
    Book Of Nonsense
    Books
    Brookside Gardens
    Bunnyland
    Burns Night
    Butler's Orchard
    Cake
    Capitol Hill Art Workshop
    Carousel
    Cassatt
    Chamomile
    Cherokee
    Children's Museum
    Children's Museum Of Richmond
    Children's Science Lab
    Chocolat
    Cinderella
    Cleaning
    Clemyjontri
    Cluck
    Cooking
    Corcoran
    Cottage Tales Of Beatrix Potter
    Cracker Barrel
    Creativity For Kids
    Crown Of Thorns
    Daffodils
    Dame Frevisse
    DC
    Dear Peter Rabbit
    Degas
    Dollhouse
    Dress Up
    Easter
    Edaville
    Edward Lear
    Elizabeth Enright
    Enders Island
    Epiphany
    Fair
    Fairy Tales
    Faith Quest
    Family Traditions
    Farm
    First Ladies
    Fort Ward
    Frying Pan Farm
    Garden
    Giotto
    Grayson Highlands State Park
    Green Springs Garden
    Hollin Farms
    Holy Rosary
    Holy Saturday
    Homestead Farm
    I Love Lucy
    International Spy Museum
    Inventions
    Irish Step Dancing
    Jackson Pollock
    Jamestown
    Jeanne Birdsall
    Jesse Tree
    Kennedy Center
    Ladybug Girl
    Lakeshore Learning
    Lent
    Library
    Lighthouse
    Little House
    Little House On The Prairie
    Long Branch Nature Center
    Madeline
    Manassas
    Margaret Frazer
    McDuff
    Miss Potter
    Montrose Park
    Mount Vernon
    Movies
    Mud
    Mystic Aquarium
    Narnia
    National Arboretm
    National Gallery Of Art
    Natural History Museum
    Nature Center
    Nature Class
    Nature Walk
    New Echota
    Nonsense Songs And Stories
    Paint
    Painting
    Pancakes
    Parks
    Penderwick
    Penderwicks
    Pentecost
    Peter Rabbit
    Pick-pockets
    Ponies
    Presidents
    Q?rius
    Queen Of Apostles
    Reading
    Retreat Center
    Rhode Island
    Rice Balls
    River Farm Gardens
    Roger Williams Park
    Roly Poly Pudding
    Sacred Heart
    Science
    Science Experiments
    Scooters
    Scotland
    Secret Garden
    Shrove Tuesday
    Sleeping Beauty
    Smithsonian
    Smithsonian Sleepover
    Snow
    Snow White
    Sound Of Music
    Soup
    Spark!Lab Smithsonian
    Splatter Painting
    Spring
    Stories In Art
    Storytime
    St. Patrick's Day
    Sunflowers
    Tea Party
    Theater
    The Cranberries
    The Gruffalo
    The Lion
    The Saturdays
    The Waste Land
    The Witch And The Wardrobe
    Thomas The Tank Engine
    Tom Kitten
    Trains
    Trundle Bed
    T.S. Eliot
    Twelfth Night
    Valentines
    Wagon
    Waldorf
    Washington County Fair
    Watson Farm
    You Are My Sunshine

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.