Kidbits

Actually, the first one is a "mommy bit."  Having read all 307 pages of The Wizard of Oz, using special voices for every speaking part, I now have a much deeper appreciation of audiobook readers, particularly Jim Dale, who did all seven books of Harry Potter.  Remembering each voice (regular for Dorothy, growly for Lion, country for Scarecrow, whispy for Tin Woodman, and all the others), keeping straight alternating lines of a conversation, and having the vocal stamina to read two or more chapters a night is more difficult than I imagined.  But I think it made it all the more enjoyable.  And it was a great and not at all scary story, which I highly recommend for kiddos.

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The kids are playing rhyming hand games like "Miss Mary Mack" now.   And so I contributed the only one I know, "bobo skee watten totten" (more commonly called "bo bo skee rotten totten" online).  I learned the words thus (but can't begin to describe the above and below slapping and clapping):

"Bo bo skee watten totten
eh, eh, eh, eh, boom boom boom.
Eeny meeny watten totten
Bo bo skee watten totten
Bo bo skee watten totten
BOOM!" (at which point both players try to slap right hands)

Bud learned both words and movements quickly and gets a huge laugh out of it.  Sis, who is left-handed, is also catching on and laughs just as hard.

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They also love a new game called "push the kid."  Okay, it sounds violent but is actually very sweet.  It starts with a kiddo standing on the bed giving me a big ol' hug (my favorite part) and then ends with me tickling them and letting them fall backwards onto the bed (their favorite part).  Sometimes I prolong the hug or the tickling which just heightens the hilarity.  Oh the games kids will play.

The Wonderful World of Oz

I don't really know how it started, though it might have been when we visited the fairy tale birdhouses at the Florence Griswold Museum.  There was a birdhouse of the Wizard of Oz and, since we hadn't seen the movie, I told them the story, as I knew it from the film (which I loved as a little kid and apparently told people my name was Dorothy; I haven't seen it in decades, finding it creepy as a teenager).  And they loved the story and the birdhouse.  So, now, we're reading the actual Frank L. Baum novel from 1899, which is new to me, too.  I'd read that the book isn't as scary as the movie, with its flying monkeys and cackling witch.  And it's true; we're halfway through and the Wicked Witch of the West hasn't made her first appearance, though she's about to.  And there are many scenes that aren't in the movie, with Kalidahs and the Mouse Queen and more.  But I do keep hearing the songs in my head, which are, of course, not in the book.  The kids love it so far and, as with so many things, they're adapting to their play--mainly, drawing their own illustrations of the book (we're reading a copy with the early line illustrations) and writing their own versions.  It's been really enjoyable so far--and I can't wait to show them the movie over Christmas.