we've spent the better part of the last nine days indoors

first asher had a weird virus for a week, then i had it for two days, and now ambrose is green booger city. but we will be better tomorrow i hope!

i don't know how people stay inside all day. we're going a little crazy.

but really it has been nice to have a reason to simplify life by hanging around home more lately. we've been reading a lot. including some library books that i was so happy to find because they are books from my childhood:

and i decided to start a little experiement and see if a wild two year old would sit through a chapter book. i was going to start with james and the giant peach since i have read that that is the first chapter book you should introduce to children, but instead i found the original peter pan by j.m. barrie in a great edition with hand-drawn black and white pictures on just about every other page.

i didnt think he would sit through it, but he totally does! we talk about the pictures briefly and then i read. if he ever seems to get restless then we talk about the pictures some more or i say, "are you done?" and he always begs for more. i love hearing him say, "one more tractor!" (meaning "chapter" haha) it has been a lot of fun.

i read at least one chapter before bed, but usually two or three now that he has gotten used to sitting and listening and is enjoying it so much. he's even talked me into reading a chapter at nap time. needless to say, we are almost done and i'm having as much fun as he is.

i love barrie's style of writing. thomas read to ambrose one night when i was at sewing class and commented that the book is enjoyable on many levels. i had to make ambrose sit through the chapter i missed that night again just so i wouldnt be left out.

in other words, we are loving it.

the publisher is dalmatian press for anyone interested. small children like ambrose obviously wont absorb everything and understand it all, but can follow along through the pictures and pick up on the story as they listen and start to put things together. i have been amazed. oh yeah, and the best part? i found this at borders on sale for about $2 i believe. i am going back soon to see if they have any others since we are almost done with this one.

anyway, i love reading but it was time to get outside today before we lost our minds so we headed out! and made it partway down the street. and then my little peter pan got distracted. by a split open coconut. and ol chubby feet over there was intrigued too.
so we people and coconut watched for a bit and headed home. try not to be jealous. ;)