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Sam is right on the edge. Right on the cusp.

Of reading.

He is so ready.

Tonight, I brought home a used set of Bob books.

He opened one and started to read.
His face lit up as he read the simple story.
And then he read the next one.
And the next.
And he couldn't stop.
"Can I read the next one?"
He didn't want to go to bed.
He read one on Facetime to his grandparents.

Finally, it was bedtime.

"Can I take them upstairs and read with Yael?"
Um.... how can I say no?

A few minutes later, they're back.
"We need a little light."
(Now, let me tell you, it was waaaaay past bedtime. But I know the feeling. When you're on a roll and you just can't go to bed.)

I listened at the door.
"Look, Yael, that says 'Dot'. Say 'Dot.'"
Not only did he learn how to read tonight.
He taught his little sister too.

Because it's way more fun to read with a friend.

 

Do you remember that feeling?
The beginning of reading....the opening of that big, amazing, exciting world?
Let the adventure begin....

Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour Schedule

I think it is a sign of my total (awesome) geek-itude that I went out and put all these books on reserve at the library as soon as the Sydney Taylor Book Awards were announced!


I am honored and excited to kick off the tour on Sunday, February 5th. 

Here is the whole schedule - make sure to visit each blog and don't forget to leave them all nice comments!

THE 2012 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2012

Susan Campbell Bartoletti, author of Naamah and the Ark at Night
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Ima On & Off the Bima
 

Holly Meade, illustrator of Naamah and the Ark at Night
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Into the Wardrobe
 

Shelley Sommer, author of Hammerin' Hank Greenberg, Baseball Pioneer
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Great Kid Books

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2012

Marcia Vaughan, author of Irena's Jar of Secrets
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Shelf-Employed 

Ron Mazellan, illustrator of Irena's Jar of Secrets
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at The Children's War 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Trina Robbins, author of Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Bildungsroman
 

Anne Timmons (and possibly Mo Oh), illustrators of of Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Gathering Books 

Morris Gleitzman, author of Then
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The 3 R's

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Michael Rosen, author of Chanukah Lights
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy 

Robert Sabuda, illustrator/paper engineer of Chanukah Lights
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Practically Paradise 

Susan Goldman Rubin, author of Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Cynsations 

Robert Sharenow, author of The Berlin Boxing Club
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Jewish Books for Children 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012

Durga Yael Bernhard, author & illustrator of Around the World in One Shabbat
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Frume Sarah's World

Shirley Vernick, author of The Blood Lie
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The Fourth Musketeer 

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Eric Kimmel, author of The Golem's Latkes
Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and winner of the National Jewish Book Award
at Ann Koffsky's Blog

Gloria Spielman, author of Marcel Marceau, Master of Mime
Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and finalist for the National Jewish Book Award
at Shannon and the Sunshine Band

Richard Michelson, author of Lipman Pike: America's First Home Run King
Sydney Taylor Notable Book, and finalist for the National Jewish Book Award
at Blue Thread

Sydney Taylor Award Winners – Wrap-Up
All winners, all categories
at The Whole Megillah

No Love?

The Abba Sababa posted about what happens when one kid gets sick and the other ones have to go about their regular routine.

This morning, Yael was still feeling under the weather.

Sam: Is Yael staying home again today?
Me: Yes.
Sam: Because, you know, I got, like, no love yesterday.

Right.
No love.
This from the kid who wipes off every kiss...

My sweet girl feeling poorly...watching Dora the Explorer and wearing her big brothers' hand-me-down jammies.

Rosh Chodesh Shevat

It doesn't seem like spring.

Picture taken in Central Park on a lovely almost-spring-like day in January!

Brrrr.
But the days are, in fact, getting longer.
Deep below the earth,
the trees can sense it
the future
the potential
the awakening...

I've always loved the hope
of the month of Shevat.

It's cold and dark here.
But somewhere special
in our Land
spring is on the horizon.

May we celebrate
what is
and what is yet to be
in the new month
of
Shevat.

May the new month of Shevat bring blessing and hope, peace and joy.
Chodesh Tov!

Seeking Inspiration?

There's a story about the Baal Shem Tov, the great teacher and rabbi. He once went into a grand synagogue, filled with the people of a community. At the end of the services, he said, "this shul is filled with prayer." The people began to fill with pride, they were so proud of their synagogue, and so proud of the obvious praise of the Baal Shem Tov. 
Then he began to fling the windows and doors wide open. "This shul is so filled with prayer, nothing can leave this room. They are all stuck here. Not one prayer rises to heaven."


Have you ever felt that way? Like there are so many words and ideas and thoughts floating around that you're just trapped and stuck?

I am feeling that way lately.

There are so many books I want to read, magazines to peruse, blogs and online articles and Facebook posts to consume, movies to see, television shows to watch, YouTube videos to check out, pictures to take, craft projects to try, recipes to cook, pins to click on....(all in the hours after the kids go to bed, of course!) (I don't even have the energy to link all those words...)

There's so much noise.
It's so good.
I like noise.
After all, I have four kids.

But for some reason, in the last few weeks, it has all seemed to be too much.

Fear of Missing Out. It's the new disease. What if I miss the pins, the posts, the words, the movies, the shows, the books, the....whatever.

I'm sure the solution is to step. away. from. the. computer.

But I'm not quite ready. I'm not quite sure what I'm willing...ready....interested in giving up.
I'm just thinking about it.

So I think I'm seeking inspiration...
...but perhaps I'm seeking something else.

The other day on Facebook, I posted "seeking inspiration."

I have no idea what I was looking for.

I have some great friends who gave me good things to think about.
I think partly that I was hoping someone would give me some really good blog post topics. That might be part of it. I'm taking in so much information and, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't posted a lot lately...so there's a lot going in, and...like the shul that the Baal Shem Tov was visiting, there hasn't been much of an outlet.


Well, anyway, here I am...seeking inspiration.

In case you need a little inspiration....

Help? Leave your thoughts in the comments...

New Blogger on the Block: @Abba_Sababa

I am so excited to welcome my husband, Michael, to the blogosphere.

Check out the Abba Sababa, won't you?

I'm so proud of him!
And hey...he even joined Twitter. Now that's some serious technological progress!

We're a two-blog family!

What I Ate in NYC

No excuses. I have been a bad blogger for the last two weeks.

I spent almost 2 weeks in New York City, as part of a program I'm participating in through Hebrew Union College, my alma mater. Ten days without my kids and husband, staying in Midtown Manhattan. Yep.

So I did what any left-alone mama would do.

I ate.

And of course, I photographed much of what I ate.
Isn't that what everyone does?

Starting at the top...from left to right:
Crepe for lunch (I may have also had a dessert crepe but ate it before I could photograph)
Magnolia cupcakes
Latte
Cinnamon-Raisin Peanut Butter Sandwich
Pizza...as only you can eat it in New York City
White Pizza
Macaroni and Cheese
Molly's Cupcakes - the butterscotch salted caramel cupcake may have changed my life.
Moroccan Oranges by JaneTheWriter
Cupcakes Baked by Melissa
Crack Pie from Momofuku
Poached Eggs Florentine from Cozy Soup n' Burger

I ate a bunch of other food...but luckily I walked an average of 5 miles a day...how else are New Yorkers so skinny!?

I don't know how I would ever live in a city with such amazing food. Since I actually ate other things too. I can't believe I didn't photograph the food I ate at Shake Shack (milkshake, french fries, veggie burger, and hot chocolate), Crumbs cupcakes, Rice to Riches (I know I took that picture, where did it go?), various bagels and snacks and such...

Thank goodness I live here instead.
Whew!