Christmas 2006

Our December was filled with all kinds of pre-Christmas events, and Christmas Day itself was a wonderful flurry of family and gifts. So, without going into too much detail, here are the highlights.

Here's M singing with her performing group in front of the national Christmas tree in D.C. She shone like a little star on her solo!

This is a shot of all the kids after the performance. That really is the White House behind them; I know it's kind of dark and hard to make out.

W and M were in a piano recital a couple of weeks before Christmas. They both did a great job!

Here are the performers with J, their biggest fan.

Finally, Christmas came! Here's our crew waiting for the all clear to come down the stairs to see what Santa brought.

Grandma snapped photos while the kids checked out their gifts.

One thing M got that she really liked was a new Brett Favre jersey.

J had asked for a tarantula, but Mom vetoed the idea. W decided that a remote-controlled version might be a nice idea and wrapped one up for J.

Looks like J was pleased, even though the spider wasn't real.

Relatives from Mississippi sent much-appreciated gifts.

J got his dad a personalized ice cream bowl.

I got a beautiful piano bench from my sweet husband.

I love this time of year!

Indestructable?

So much for the durability of DVDs! They're no match for a miniature schnauzer. Our dog doesn't usually attack movies, but this one was in a Netflix envelope (yes, we damaged a Netflix movie) , and our pet is a wonderful paper shredder. So, this movie is no more. The replacement fee was $20, which wasn't fun to pay, but at least we know now to keep the Netflix envelopes on a higher shelf.

Midnight for Charlie Bone

I saw this book by Jenny Nimmo at our elementary school book fair and wondered about it, but I was reading other stuff at the time. Then my neighbor's little boy dressed as Charlie Bone for Halloween. So, I checked it out of the library for J to read. J is a pretty discriminating reader for a nine-year-old. He got about 40 pages in and told me it just wasn't for him. I read a little of it for myself and realized that J was right. I did work through the entire book, trying to give it a good, honest try before evaluation. The fact of the matter is that the writing is choppy. The story doesn't flow smoothly. Strange things happen all over in this book, and though I waited patiently for some of the dots to connect, many of them never did. The idea is a good one, and it could lend itself to some exciting reading, but, as J said, "It just isn't very well-written." Harry Potter fans who need a quick fix before the final installment of the J.K. Rowling series might be okay with this book, but, try as it may, this isn't Harry Potter.

I saw some reader reviews of Midnight for Charlie Bone and was surprised that it did so well. Maybe I'm just too picky. However, I think that just because a book is written for children doesn't mean you can skimp on character development and plot details. Kids are smart and, as evidenced by my nine-year-old, know when someone is trying to follow a trend without putting enough thought into the final product. It's a shame, really. Jenny Nimmo has an intriguing story here. I just wish she took the time to tell it better.