I have struggled all day with what book I would write about as my favorite. I love reading the Bible especially the book of Ruth. I loved reading the Anne of Green Gables books, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and the Mouse in the Motorcycle when I was little. I learned a lot from Lucy Caulkins’ book The Art of Teaching Writing as a classroom teacher. I read my class The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe every year in school. (My second and third graders loved it.) As an adult I have read hundreds of books I really enjoyed. I loved the books by Jan Evanovich, David Baldacci, John Grisham, Brian Haig, Joanne Fluke, and Jasper Fforde. Every year I read at least one non-fiction book that is good for me. I call them “high fiber” books. I learned a lot from the books Founding Brothers, Love and Respect, and Farther Than Any Man: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook.

What did I decide is my favorite book? Right now JDaniel and I read Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry every day. We look for gold bug. We talk about all the vehicles and the noises they make. Then when we get in the car to go places, we keep our eyes out for the vehicles we have read about. Today we searched for backhoes. I just read Moe’s Café. It really got me thinking about communicating with God and my spouse. It would be my new favorite book.

Mom and Dad’s computer is a favorite thing for the whole family. JDaniel has a little laptop that he enjoys, but not as much as his parent computer. The screen is in color and the keyboard is bigger. Maybe that is why he loves it. I am not sure. I just know he makes a bee line to it now.

It has become a bedtime ritual to watch the first story on Curious George before bedtime. We gather as a family on the couch to watch it. JDaniel places one hand in the sleeve of my shirt and snuggles down to watch the show. It is the first thing that he watched on T.V. that made him laugh. It is where we learned about shadows and then went outside the following morning to find them. We don’t watch a lot of T.V. with JDaniel, but we sure watch Curious George.

Right now grandparents are one of JDaniel’s favorite things. He recently went to visit his GranDan and Nana. Today when he went for his 18 month check-up, he saw an older couple that looked similar to them in the parking lot. He pointed them out and said, “Nana! GranDan!” It is amazing that he associated them with his grandparents. Later in the day we stopped in to see my mom and he gave her a huge hug when we left. I am so thankful that he has all four grandparents living.