something only a nerd would be excited about.

{psst...thanks so much for all your insight and wisdom and thoughts on my last post...i truly hope i didn't offend anyone with my comment how easy it would be for us to (theoretically) forget. what i meant was that we wouldn't have to deal with a lot of the nastiness from strangers, but that we didn't ever want to forget or want choi boy to forget how our family was built. i think it'll be something we'll have to continue reassess as we navigate through our life together as a family, finding our balance in how to celebrate our story and how to respect our son's privacy. you know what i mean? i hope that makes sense. feel free to comment or email with other things you feel i need to know or consider. and thanks again for your thoughts -- i so appreciate them!}

and now, moving on to totally trivial matters...

last month, my favorite children's author came to town! that's right folks, MO WILLEMS was pretty much in my backyard.

unfortunately, i wasn't able to get to the book signing because i was busy prepping for this lovely event. however, with some creative tag-teaming with one of my co-workers, i was able to secure an early number for the signing (they were giving out numbers deli-style) and pass my books off to my co-worker so she could get them signed for me along with the books for her kiddos.

i have quite a few of mr. willems' books, but the event only wanted new books to be signed, so i picked up these three beauties while getting my number:

my friend is sad is one of the first elephant and piggie books and one of my absolute favorites. it's hilarious. i never had my own copy, but instead hoarded the school library's copy from september to june. guilty as charged.

knuffle bunny free (the last book in the knuffle bunny trilogy) and we are in a book are mo's newest books and they are fantastic, as are all of his other works. seriously, i cannot talk enough about how awesome he is! he used to be the head writer on sesame street before becoming an author -- hello, dream job! another very cool tidbit about mo is that he deliberately draws his lead characters very simply so they can be copied by the children that enjoy his books. how neat! he has some really great websites (check out both!) that have games and other activities for kiddos and he also has a great blog (be sure to check out his chalkboard wall dining room doodles -- SO cool)!

and, i love him even more for taking the time to sign his books for my boy, complete with doodles of piggie and knuffle bunny:



oh, and an important note -- "knuffle" is pronounced "KUH-nuffle." it's made clearer in knuffle bunny too, and i didn't realize it until i read it. don't make the mistake i did, start saying kuh-nuffle starting with the first book. :) and, if you happen to see the animated version of knuffle bunny on DVD, GET IT. the voices are done by mo and his family, and his daughter, trixie (the inspiration for the book), does an amazing job. you and your littles will LOVE it. cross my heart.

and remember, those book plates i briefly mentioned? here they are:



yup, proudly displaying my love affair with elephants and hippos again. :) wait, that sounds kinda weird. you know what i mean, right?

by the way, mo willems has absolutely no idea who i am (although how cool would *that* be if he did!), i just love his work so much that i feel the need to share it with anyone that's willing to listen. and, i just so happen to have a ready audience whenever i so choose to whip out one of mo's books. and my students ADORE them! so much so that last week, i was invited to a former student's house to watch him and his older sister put on some elephant and piggie plays!

A was in my kindergarten class last year and really took a liking to these books and it really helped him learn about reading with fluency and expression. over the summer, he and his sister decided to read the books as reader's theatre plays and invited me over for a special performance. his two brothers also joined in for some special guest roles. ;)

check out the program they made for me:


it was beyond amazing -- so cute and so well done! i was so honored to be invited to this very special performance just for me. :) (and, p.s. totally not weird to invite a teacher over to your house for things like this, at least in my neck of the woods...in my nine years of teaching, i've been invited over to several families' houses, birthday parties, soccer games, etc and it's always been fun!)

yay! books make me so giddy! :)

i know there's a lot going on in korea right now, and really, it could send me over the edge, but i'm going to put my trust in the Lord and choose to be thankful for all the little things...even children's books...

have a happy happy thanksgiving everyone! i hope you have a wonderful and blessed day!