Fake Moustache

Our recent nightly book reading has brought us through the pages of this gem, "Fake Mustache."  We finally got to the end tonight, and although it was somewhat abrupt, the three of us still enjoyed the story.  If Madison has a favorite author right now, it's probably this guy, Tom Angleberger.  It all started with the Origami Yoda series, and since then Daddy has picked up a few things here and there from the library for her to read by this same author.  One thing that she's been working on for a while now is his retelling of "Return of the Jedi."  It's probably the biggest book she's ever read on her own, but she's excited to read it, carrying it with her on car trips and keeping a book mark in place.

As the Summer Reading program is going on, we'll be sure to add this one (and probably a few others by this author).  We might have to modify the number of books read, because these books are getting longer and longer!

She's doing great though.  Reading is one of those things that she has no problem with.  When Daddy was her age, there was not as much to read.  I think I was into the Narnia books, and that's about it.  Only in high school did I start to read Terry Pratchett and - this is a geek confession moment - Star Trek books.  Oh man.  Daddy and his mother were really into reading these Star Trek paperback books, the continuing adventures of James T. Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Leonard H. McCoy.  For a time, Daddy's favorite author was J.M. Dillard, and if you know who that is (and aren't related to her), then you're a real geek too.  Don't worry, eventually things evened out.  There was much reading of beloved 90's authors like John Grisham, Michael Crichton, and Tom Clancy.  Sure there were the classics too, especially the material by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne and Mark Twain.  Daddy's favorite book to date is still "Around the World in 80 Days."  To be that calm and have it all worked out that everything will be just fine in the end…

Anyway, the point is, it's good to see Madison reading so much, so early.  The fact that she's reading a 200 + page book is just wonderful to see.  And she wants us to read to her each night as well.  We'll read modern books like the one above, but we've got a few others in the cue for this summer like "The Prince and the Pauper" and "Treasure Island."  Also, Madison really wants us to keep reading her stories from the "Mary Poppins" series.  And so we'll keep reading each night, first from her devotional, and then from the bigger book of her choice.

So, it's the Friday before Summer Xtreme.  As you would rightly suspect, we're amazingly busy with details, with editing, with printing, with counting, and with all the different activities that pour in together to create the best Summer Xtreme we can make it.  It's been a lot of work, and certainly a lot of late nights.  But it'll be here soon.  In fact, one week from now, it'll be over.  That's always one thought that strikes you early on.  Time moves along so fast, and despite being stressed about something upcoming, you can always picture in your mind the time afterwards, where things slow down once more, and everything is back to normal.  We'll get there soon.  And at that point, Daddy will probably pick up another book.  All this talk about books is making me want to read a few!