My Child of the Library.

    I took K to the local library before she could focus.  Before she could stand, I would carry her in and sit her on the floor next to the book bins and she would spent hours flipping through the pages of the picture books.  She asked for her first library card before she was two, as soon as she could form the sentence. She was the teeny tiny girl at the story times that would answer questions, and then ask questions, and then want to check out the book afterwards.  The wonderful children's librarian, the beautiful and brilliant, Ms. P, who still asks about her every time I see her, always talked to K for as long as K wanted to talk.  The library was where she wanted to go the day before school started, and after school everyday she could, and on the day school let out and all summer long.

      Her love of all things Harry Potter started at a party at the library, when she wore her Mandrake costume to her first Harry Potter Party.  She hadn't even read the first book or seen the movies, but all the little Harry's and Hermione's were so excited over her costume they just had to pull her out of her pot and make her scream with glee.  Books, and cookies, and punch, and crafts, and librarians who loved it all.  She was hooked for life.  Since then she has been Ginny, and Anna Beth, and Hermione, and Luna, and Sarah Jane, and a fairy and Katniss, for parties and dances and story times.  My favorite is still the mandrake, all grown up now, in her t shirt and jeans

A few years ago, she saw older kids volunteering, and asked if she could join them.  Ms. J, who had known K for years, looked at her and whispered "How old are you?"  When she heard the answer, which was a few years shy of the 14 minimum, she said "This will be our little secret."  We've spent the last few summers in the library, she volunteering, me playing with sticks and string, keeping an eye.  Good times.

This year, K has been selected to apply for an internship.  You have to be 15 or in 10th to 12th grade, but she has been grandfathered in, due to the librarians at two branches wanting her.  The librarian at one branch said, she would love to have her, but understands the other branch is closer, and gas is not cheap.  The librarian at the closer branch said "She's Mine!"

Tuesday was K's last day of school.  She was home by 12:30 and at the library at 5:50 for volunteer orientation.  At 7pm she started volunteering.  They dove right in to remodeling the teen room, clearing shelves till 8pm and then she was back the next morning at 7am to start painting.  I picked her up at 11am, covered in primer and monster mash green paint and forced her to go to the orthodontist and a piano lesson.  She's back again this morning, reloading shelves and assembling new furniture.

She was assigned a project before school even finished.  The library has created an outdoor reading garden.  There is a bridge and a counting path and a little house and an outdoor story time area and... it is just wonderful.  They are also making a paver hopscotch game.   K was assigned to paint the first block

As soon as she finished she yelled "Run!  Run!  It's the Clergy!!!!"

As we were driving home yesterday, after she had stopped whinging that she had to leave, she said "Mom, I think I want to be a librarian.  Of course they make even less than musicians."  I told her to do what makes her happy.  She smiled.  "Librarian musician!"

Yup, she'll be happy.

And this is what I sent!

And here are the goodies I sent to my partner in the Harry Potter Crafts 2011 March Swap. We both chose the Weasley family and my partner Jen, said she liked Ron best. So I decided to send a care package from Molly to Ron at Hogwarts. 


Brown paper and strings of course. 





Inside the larger package was Ron's Hogwarts trunk.  If you look closely at the scene in Philosopher's Stone, just when Harry meets the Weasley's, on platform 9 3/4, you can see that Ron's trunk is very weathered and shabby.  





Inside his box, there were two packages.





Of course, I had to send a little Weasley sweater. She sent me one too, funny! And Jen said she liked my Tunisian crochet book scarf, so I made her one of those too.  I tried to fit Susan in the box, she's been climbing the drapes of late, but she wouldn't fit.





The inside of Ron's trunk has taken quite a beating.  Ink spilled in the corner and I don't want to think about what else.  Poor Ron, all his things are so shabby.  But he got Hermione in the end, so I imagine he's got no complaints.





This was such a fun swap.  K wants me to teach her how to paint a trunk.  I think I'll get her all the bits for Easter.  Shh... don't tell her.

And I almost forgot my favorite part!  Jen is a scrapbooker, so I wanted to send her something scrapbookish, is that a word,... is now.  Anyway, I wanted to make her Molly Weasley's wonderful clock, so Photoshop Elements away!





I found some images of the clock and removed all the hands, then I found images of silver spoons and cut them out.  Printed them all on photo paper and there you go, a DIT Weasley clock!  Just add your own Family Photos, a background page, I can't wait to see if she can use it.

I've done some reading and I think a real Weasley clock, using a twitter feed and robotic drive, might not be all that hard.  Hum...

Sick Days

K's been out sick all week with a nasty sinus infection, the result of a really nasty virus. Her coughing got so bad, I was begining to think it was whooping cough again. Luckily, she is finally improving. I don't think my sanity could take whopping cough again.


This week wasn't all bad. We cuddled, we napped, we read books, we watched TV, and, of course, we crafted. We tired our hand at chinese brush painting. Katherine likes painting Coi.






And Pagodas.