My daughter LOVES rubber duckies. She was furious with me when I got rid of a bunch of them because I was trying to clean the house and everything I thought we didn't need. Apparently we needed those little guys.
Do you have a favorite rubber ducky? Is it something special or is it very traditional? If you are like Ernie and Big Bird from Sesame Street, you like the traditional style rubber ducky. Ernie loved his so much that he created a song for his! "Rubber Ducky you're the one, you make bath-time twice as fun."

Want to read some rubber duck books to your rubber duck or listen to some music during bathtime? Check these out!

Another few exciting things going on this week are:
Minecraft - tonight from 6-7pm
Science Club - Thursday from 6-7pm

Of course its okay to cuddle with family too. :) What are your favorite things to cuddle up with?

Personally...
My favorite book to cuddle up with is ... wow. That's a tough one. Honestly, I like to cuddle up with random fluff that isn't too intense. So whatever is on my kindle at the time. It's a bad answer, but it's an honest one.

My favorite author is Mo Willems. Probably wouldn't "cuddle up" with his books or with him, but he's my favorite author, so that's that. He wrote  all the Pigeon picture books and the Elephant and Piggy easy readers.  I LOVE HIM!

My favorite cuddle up snack? Oooh. That's another hard one, because when you're cuddling up with a snack, expect it to be gone, so one does not exactly cuddle up with potato chips. On the other hand, cuddling up with carrots isn't all that fun either. On of my new obsessions is Chex Mix, so I guess we'll go with that.

My favorite stuffed animal is a dog (I'm ashamed to say I've forgotten his name) but I've had him since I was little and I love him all the same.

My favorite family member to cuddle up with? Wow. That's a dangerous one! HAH! Well, kids don't want to see their parents cuddling up together too much so my husband is out. My son, Jack, is 14 and almost as tall as his very tall dad, so he's out. That leaves my daughter Leila, who is still my peanut, even at 10! We even have a new special cozy blanket that we cuddle up in. YAY!

The new year! What are your plans for the new year? Any resolutions? Let us know!
Also, you've had a whole year to read books! What were your favorite this year?

You have a whole week before school starts again to think about it. Once school starts up again, I'm sure the chaos starts again too. But school is not here yet, so here are a few books for little, middle and high.

instead of making their own resolutions, the four friends assign them to one another-dares like kiss someone you know is wrong for you, find your calling outside your mom's Puerto Rican restaurant, finally learn Spanish, and say yes to everything. But as the year unfolds, Jess, Lee, Ryan, and Nora each test the bonds that hold them together. And amid first loves, heartbreaks, and life-changing decisions, beginning again is never as simple as it seems."

... and so is the stress! Luckily my kids are a little older so I can get them to wrap all the presents, but it's getting harder and harder to find presents for them. ACK. If you celebrate, how do you deal with the stresses of the holiday? In fact, how do you deal with stress in general?

I HIGHLY suggest it, as does my sister and my 10 year old and 14 year old. My daughter says that it is her favorite Raina Telgemeier book (Drama is her second favorite, BTW).
Need to alleviate your post-holiday stresses? Come in and join us on Friday morning for our FAMILY MOVIE MORNING! I keep wanting to call the movie Abdominal, but that would be a completely different movie and this one is not about your abdomen. :) 

I will be the first to admit it, I try to be crafty, really I do. Unfortunately, I am just crafty enough, but not. Still, I like sometimes trying to do crafty things for Christmas presents. That's where we come in! Guess what we have? BOOKS on that!
Click on the title to get to the library catalog.

Crafting not your cup of tea? Why not check out our book sale, buy a hold card (which is on sale right now) or buy a coffee card! Easy peasy, plus you get to support the library in our programs! Awesome, right?

Today is also origami day! Today you could make some sort of origami and give it to a veteran. OR you could make some origami stars and bring them into the library to help us with our wishing stars stash.

Check out our programs this week!
Monday: Tail Wagging Tutors 4-5pm
Monday: Minecraft Madness 6-7pm
Tuesday: Preschool Pals 10-10:30am
Tuesday: Babies and Books 10:30-11:15am
Thusday: Simply Stories 10-10:30am
Thursday: Art Club 6-7pm

That's right. Time to use some common sense. I'm no good at it most times, but today I've been trying. I would totally be that person to saw the wrong part of the branch. Once, years ago, I used a sledge hammer with sandals on ... yup you can guess it. Luckily I did not lose any toes, but I certainly didn't feel good for a while. More recently, I was cutting some thread that I was using for a bracelet. I was trying to cut it taut so that it didn't fray. Somehow I was able to lose all sense of the common kind and I managed to cut my finger. Enough so that it didn't stop bleeding and I had to go to the hospital. Good grief.
Have you ever had a moment where you had forgotten to use common sense?
Some ways to use common sense is by coming to some of our programs! This week we have:
Monday: Young Librarians from 6-7pm
Monday: Chess Club from 6-7pm
Tuesday: Wizards, Heroes and Myths from 4:30-5:30pm
Tuesday: Sip, Swap and Share from 7-8pm
Thursday: Lego Club from 6-7pm
Friday: Teen Pizza Friday from 5-7pm

For ages 8-12

Love telling stories? I love listening, and I’m sure that there are others who do as well! We will be taking your stories and making a podcast which will be put on our website.

Not so comfortable talking out loud? Have artistic abilities? Write down and illustrate your own work! It may get published and added to our collection.

Not sure what story you want to tell? We will have games that we use to create stories that you can make your own.

Still working on the podcasting portion. I have to figure out where I'm going to store all the audio so that we can put them up on the website, but I'm working on it.

I just want to hear your stories! I love interesting and strange stories, and I'm sure that you have them waiting for me in your brains!

Whenever Columbus Day comes I always get the "In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue." stuck in my head. Unfortunately, its only been that part, so I had to find out more!
I had to do a little research, because didn't know anything about the rhyme. Then I found out it was a poem and I needed to find out who wrote it and apparently, it was Jean Marzollo!
The reason for the exclamation was because she was in charge of all the I Spy books too. How cool!
Here's more information specifically about the book, In 1492.

IN 1492
In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.
He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.
A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.
Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.
Then the workers went to sleep;
And others watched the ocean deep.
Day after day they looked for land;
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.
October 12 their dream came true,
You never saw a happier crew!
“Indians! Indians!” Columbus cried;
His heart was filled with joyful pride.
But “India” the land was not;
It was the Bahamas, and it was hot.
The Arakawa natives were very nice;
They gave the sailors food and spice.
Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he’d been told.
He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.
The first American? No, not quite.
But Columbus was brave, and he was bright.

Halloween costumes! I have to think about four costumes ... well maybe three. Jack, my 14 year old, is probably too old to think about costumes, you think? My daughter, Leila, who is 10, is super excited and wants to be one of the characters from the anime Fairy Tale. How I'm going to do that, I don't know. So that's two down, two to go. The rest are for me. :)
I need to dress up for the Halloween party on October 26 at the library and I need a costume for a 5k that I'm running called "Scare Away Brain Cancer" earlier in the month.
I have a little idea what I could do for the Halloween party. I have two pajama onesies. A dragon one and a unicorn one. Which one do you think I should be?
As for the 5k, I'm thinking about being Minnie Mouse. That's a little harder because you want to wear something that you can actually run comfortably in, but that is obvious enough to tell what you are. This could be a safe one. :)
So what are you going to be for Halloween? This goes for kids, teens and adults! Let me know! I will of course, make sure to post pictures of said costumes as soon as I wear them. Promise.