I’m so glad we have the new coop. We’ve got 4 families, and the kids are spaced great – 4 in the 7-10 age, and 4 4yos! Plus two kids under 2. It’s a bit crazy, but everyone has fun and the kids learn stuff when they least expect it! We played 3 great games today, and after playing the Scrambled States of America Game Card Game, everyone has a much better sense of where all the states are, so we’ll be able to do maps about the civil war without messing up too much. Our other two are long-time favorites – Frog Juice and Zeus on the Loose. They, um, were reviewed on this blog, but the archives are gone. Gamewright Games are at the top of our give list for birthdays and holidays – we haven’t found a game that wasn’t great!

FYI – there are only 7 days left to shop at Amazon and still get free shipping. B gets paid next Tuesday. I’m crossing my fingers that the week includes next Tuesday…

I got conned into creating blogs for the girls. We’re going to try blogging daily instead of traditional journaling on paper. We’ll see what happens. They would love it if you visited!

• BG’s blog
• MG’s blog
• LG’s blog

I have 14 books to read and review. Thankfully, many of the books are coming out in January, February, and March, so they’re spread out. (Imagine me jumping up and down that I can read a book in December that won’t be released until March!) I’ve updated my Fall Reading list, take 2, and hoping that I’ll be able to get my other book logs back.

We went to CVS to make a photo book as a gift for the great-grandparents (shhh – don’t tell!). We had gotten a coupon to try it, and it was sooo easy! Unfortunately, the size mentioned in the coupon (6×8) wasn’t available, but the 4×6 size will still be great. We’re going to make a couple more, too. If you have non-internet family members, we highly recommend them.

I came home today tired and achey – it was my first really busy day since I fell down the stairs. Imagine my joy when I got an emails from the author and the publisher of Service Included. I had emailed them the link to my review. Her publisher emailed me back saying that Service Included is one of the NYT top 100 books of the year! I have to agree with the NYT! The author wrote that she thought my review was one of the best she had read. !!! Imagine me cheering delightedly! Can you hear me from there?

I don’t think the day can get better than that, so maybe it’s time for a bedtime book and my bed…