Mama Ball Says

Thanksgiving was relatively easy here, once we got out of the house. Steve fried turkeys with friends and neighbors, Jake helped me make two cherry pies (which unfortunately didn't set up -- they were obviously juicier than the cookbook folks planned on). The kids looked cute when we went to Uncle Mike and Aunt Deb's house. They loved playing in Debbie and Mike's basement, whcih was toy heaven when they arrived and toy hell when they left. They had help -- Mike and Debs' two grandkids, Hunter and Meadow, were both there, so the four of them teamed up for destruction patrol. Other than a few howls of "Mine! Mine!" from Sadie and Meadow, things went very well and they had a good time. Amazingly, they ate dinner too!
I took a few pictures before the batteries died in my camera, and I didn't get around to replacing them while we were there. The pics are definitely not up to snuff, but at least you can see the kids. Pics are on the website
Finished the new Jonathan Stroud book Ptolemy's Gate, which is 3rd in the Bartimaeus trilogy and not yet out here in the states. Freya's friends and family across the pond are sending books our way, and boy is it fun to read them before anyone else can get them here! Ptolemy's Gate is excellent: well plotted, with dashes of Bartimaeus' trademark sarcasm and wit, especially in the footnotes. The book wraps up some of the other books' loose ends and answers questions I hadn't even considered (like why Bartimaeus keeps showing up in the form of an Egyptian boy). Great action, fantastic scenes with battles for London. Kitty Jones is backagain too, so this book is the most gender neutral out of the three as she plays an important role in the events and cataclysmic ending. Nice to have a leading lady who's intelligent on multiple levels, daring, and also a wiseass! Doormats need not apply for this one.
New reads coming up -- Michael Morpugo's collection of war short stories, Crank, and I have to finish Frankenstein this weekend so Dylan can stop bugging me about what I think!!
Took Jake to see Chicken Little this afternoon (too cold and windy to go do anything else) and he liked it a lot.