Magical

We just finished up a fun book.  It's called Half Magic by Edward Eager.  

It's about four siblings, three girls and a boy.  They're on summer vacation, but aren't excited about it at all.  Their father had passed away when the children were younger, their mother now works full-time and their babysitter/slave driver, Miss Bick promises to keep them busy with housework instead of trips to the lake and picnics like all their school friends.  

Then they find a magical charm and their hopes of an adventurous summer begin.  They just have to figure out the "rules" of this magic charm, like the fact that it only grants half of their wish. All the while, the children have interesting, unexpected adventures in medieval Camelot and the Arab desert, as well as in their very own town. 

This book was written in 1954, so some of the terms are not used anymore or have different connotations than they had back then.   I also found out that there are several books in this series, so we're waiting for another to come into the library for us. 

My kids give it 2 thumbs up, anyway.  

Books are magical to our family.  The kids, especially Logan, love to have me read to them at night.  They lay in their beds and listen quietly.  They get excited at all the right places and laugh at the funny parts.  It's wonderful.  And even James, when I think he's studying or reading something on his own, is actually listening to the story too. 


Whenever I stop reading for the night, I'm sure to hear a chorus of, "Keep reading!  Keep reading!"  Sometimes they convince me to continue, 'cause I love reading to them as much as they love hearing a good book read to them. 
 

Once Taylor was wearing a dark brown and white striped shirt.  When James saw her, he said, "You look French.  Can you say, 'ooh la la'?"  Taylor refused, but then she went and told Logan, "Dad forced me to say, 'ooh la la' but I didn't want to 'cause I'm not French.  I'm a little bit of Spanish and a lot of English!"  

Uno, dos, tres, four!


The other day when the kids were outside playing, I heard Taylor say to Logan, "Want to race?!?  I'll let you win, if you race me!"  So they both took off running as fast as they could.  Logan won easily.  


Then I heard a surprised Taylor say, "You're really fast!  This time you have to let me win."   Sometimes taking turns winning is the only way for Taylor to keep up.  

A week or so ago, I was talking to Logan about something he'd been doing.  I think I said something about it being a talent of his.  Then Logan told me he has 7 talents.  "Well," he said, "I have more than that, but the rest haven't been unlocked yet!"

I know it's been awhile since this happened, but Logan was stung by yellow jackets last summer.  Apparently, it's still on his mind though every time he sees a bee fly by outside.  The other day, he told me he likes winter for two reasons, "First, I look good in pants, and second, all the bees and yellow jackets are dead!"  He said he wished "everyday could be winter."  

Happy Spring everyone!