Today was busy. Carey kicked me out early for my usual me time this morning. So, first I wandered over to a local used furniture and antique store with the idea in mind of finding some shelves for the diningroom. We still have books and stuff coming out of our ears that need to be organized better. I didn't find the shelf I was looking for. The only one that I tagged as a possibility proved two inches too big for the space. :( However, I was excited over some other treasures that I found.

I bought a vintage 1958 Parker Brothers game called Finance and wonder of wonders, it's actually complete! I also got my hands on two record sets: The Wonderful World of Music for Children and Musical Adventures for Young People. I'm quite pleased with both of these. Each set has four double sided records. The Wonderful World has general songs such as Skip to My Lou and Frere Jacques on record 1, record two are songs from great shows including 76 Trombones from The Music Man, record 3 are more general songs such as How much Is That Doggie in the Window and The Teddy Bears' Picnic. Record 4 has muscial tales including Peter and the Wolf (sadly, not the complete version) and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Muscial Adventures also has some great stuff. Record 1 is full of stories such as In The Hall of the Mountain King and Billy the Kid, selections. Record 2 Marching songs such as The Stars and Stripes Forever or some from movies such as March of the Toys. It haslo has selections from H.M.S. Pinafore which got Carey really excited and he put that right on. Record 3 has traveling and adventures such as Spanish Rhapsody and Victory at Sea. Record is full of classics such as The Thieving Magpie overture and Dream Pantomime.

Of course, the hardest thing with records is getting the kids to understand that they can't bounce around while we listen to one because it will skip and mess up. They do like listening to them though. James insisted on listening to a small ABC on that I have twice and he enjoyed singing along with it.

I also got my hands on a Jody Bergsma print, The Land of Nod. It was a limited run, only 1000 were made. It's a wonderful picture with one of her little people and a great poem accomanying it. Mister Charles claimed it when I brought it in so it now hangs in the boys room.

I then went to Ross where I picked up a few items before heading to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get the humidifier for Carey. I was a little disheartened at the prices. The one that I really wanted was well out of reach, at $200. And I didn't want another small one such as the one that crapped out on us so quickly, after only one season. So I got one from HoMedics called Brethe. It's really a humidifier per se in that it doesn't send out a ton of mist or steam. Some little botanical scents came with it to add to the water which does scent the house very well. What I like is that moisture is being sent out into the air with the scent. It's gentle, although a bit noisy. I also like that I can set it down near the children and not worry about them getting burned, which did happen once with our previous humidifier. :( So, we'll see in the long run how good this choice was.

I ate lunch at the Co Op and sat reading a book while I ate it. I ordered a wonderful bread bowl full of herbed beef stew as well as a large mug of spiced apple cider. The cider was wonderfull as well, especially after I added a dash of cardamom and nutmeg to it. I enjoyed that repast and then wandered up to the library. I brought home another huge stack of books that the kids have attacked.

As soon as I got home Carey got James ready to go and they took off for some one on one time. They went to see Water Horse and James really enjoyed it. He didn't really say much about it when he got home, and he didn't answer questions very well but he says that he wants it. They also stopped off and bought a new frog and a couple of fish. James, of course, has already names it Charlie. I tried to get him to pick a different name but he insisted.

Carey took off for his game after helping put the children to bed. He was busy tickling Deedee and nibbling on her belly when she squealed that "I not food. Don't eat me". It was so cute. So of course Carey grabbed one of her arms and nibbled even more while she squirmed and giggled.

It was starting to snow when he left and I'm glad that he decided to come home early because of it. He fell and hurt his knee when he slipped on some ice hidden by the snow. It was his "good knee" that he landed on. It's now swollen and purple.