madam librarian

P.S. I created this as a "page" ages ago, but in an attempt to clean up this rarely used blog a bit, I am now turning it into a regular old post.

So, I'm a mommy and a sort-of musician, but most of my time is spent masquerading as a...wait for it...librarian! And not just any librarian, but the best kind of librarian, which happens to be the YOUTH SERVICES kind of librarian. I work full-time at a small public library, part of a larger county system, and I focus specifically on older kids (they call them "tweens" these days) and teens. The best part? I absolutely adore what I do!

One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is creating awesome programs to suck my young patrons into the library. I currently host a monthly Minecraft club, science program, and art club, plus a book "discussion" group (I use the term loosely), as well as other miscellaneous good times. These kiddos think they are at the library just to have fun, when in reality they are there to be molded into the next generation of library lovers and supporters. (Cue evil laugh!)

Canvas and easel night at our monthly Art Club (hey, why is no one using the easels?)

And I'm rather obsessed with the other big part of my job, which is maintaining a great kids' and young adult book collection. I get to spend lots and lots of other people's money (though there is never enough of it, really) on sweet new books to share with the community. I even enjoy the "weeding" part, a fancy librarian term for determining what books need to go away in order to present a cleaner collection and to make room for the new stuff.

One of my bulletin boards, featuring some popular reads, plus new books on display

Unfortunately I DO NOT get to read on the job (that's a complete myth that any public librarian will dispel. Time to read at work? Ha! We are much too busy helping people, fixing computers, ordering and ditching books, making cool displays, attending various meetings, doing community outreach, and planning all those awesome programs for your kids!) But when I do read ON MY OWN TIME, which is often, I can always happily justify it as work related research. For my own pleasure (and research, of course) I stick mainly to older juvenile and YA novels, with some non-fiction thrown in there for good measure.

The pay may be crappy and there may be nothing glamorous about it, but I just can't help myself...I'm sort of in love with my job!

happy (belated) 7th birthday, zoey!

Happy 7th Birthday, sweet Zoey! Sorry your birthday post (and party) were a week late. Second grade is going well so far and you are as sassy and quirky as ever. We love you so much, and hope you had a great birthday!

Actual birthday (September 8)

Some of Zoey's Favorite Things:

Color: Pink

Book: Sparks! by Ian Boothby

TV Show: Adventure Time

Song: What am I to You?

Animal: Dolphin & pug

Friends: Grace & Emelia

Pastime: Making books

Toy: iPad

Food: Mac & Cheese

Ice Cream Flavor: Cookie Dough

Little family shindig (September 9)

The big partay! (September 16)

happy 9th birthday, ellie!

Our sweet Elliott turned NINE yesterday! I just can't believe my baby is nearing double digits. Whaaat? To top off her birthday weekend, we also got to celebrate Mother's Day. What a special day, celebrating with the gal who first made me a mom!

Happy 9th birthday to my beautiful Elliott Rose! You bring joy to my life every single day with your gentle soul, loving personality, infectious smile, and creative mind! Mommy and Daddy love you to the moon and back!

Some of Ellie's Favorite Things:

Color: Blue & Purple

Book: 5 Worlds and Land of Stories

TV Show: Yokai Watch

Movie: Spiderman (all of them!)

Song: I Can See a Rainbow (frrom My Little Pony: The Movie)

Animal: Dogs & Cats

Friends: Sasha, Jamira, Dahlia, and Petra

Pastime: Reading & Playing Videogames

Toy: LEGO Boost

Food: Mac & Cheese

Ice Cream Flavor: Cookie Dough

happy 6th birthday, zoey!

Zoey recently celebrated her 6th birthday (one day after starting her 1st grade year at school!) She has grown into quite the little girl, with a HUGE personality, and a lot of brains to boot. Zoey, happy birthday to you, sweet thing. Mommy, Daddy, and Ellie love you so, so much!

Zoey and her bestie celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago at a sleepover she shared with big sis and friends!)

The Mommy-made Zane cake topper, for today's family party!

Looking good up there, Titanium Ninja!

Let's hope all of Zoey's birthday wishes come true!

GR8T!

It's great being eight! Elliott turned a whopping 8-years-old on Friday! Even though she just broke her mouth* practicing some hardcore ninja moves on the playground last week, Ellie is having an awesome, albeit low-key, birthday weekend. She's in amazing spirits, and she just recently answered questions for her big birthday interview:

Happy birthday, lovely little Elliott! You are growing up to be such an kind, imaginative, smart and loving person, just like we knew you would!

*[Facebook Post from May 3, 2017] Ellie update: Just left the oral surgeon's at Cooper in Voorhees. Xrays showed the bone that holds the top teeth is broken (but the teeth are not loose from the broken bone). She also has lacerations all along the top lip/gumline. One of her baby teeth that as of yesterday was not exposed is now popping through due to the injury! The doctor fastened a wire around most of her top teeth to act as a sort of cast while the bone heals. They're not 100% sure if the permanent teeth will be saved, but there's a good chance. She will be on a liquid and very soft food diet for a few weeks, as she cannot put any pressure on the top teeth. On a side note, Ellie underwent the whole procedure WITHOUT numbing and shed not one single tear; she was so cooperative and such an amazing patient. Ryan Middleton and I are so darn proud of her!

disney photos, finally

Does anyone recall this post, from way back in September 0f 2014? And how I (sort of) promised there would be "more photos to come...?" Unless you're my mother, than no, no you don't. But a (sort of) promise is a promise, so here you go, Mom. A link to all of our photos from Disney World, when Zoey was just about 3 and Ellie was at the ripe old age of 5. And yes, you may bow to me, the all powerful queen of procrastination!

Mom, go ahead and click on this link: https://goo.gl/photos/bF93GuEdkaW5y1ta8

zoey turns five!

It's hard to believe that my littlest baby turned FIVE on Thursday! She is such a trip, but then again, she always was! Here are some of her favorite things, and a photo of her awesome birthday cake (thanks Gramma & Pop-pop!) We love you, sweet Zoey!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

summer 2016 fun!

This Summer has flown by much too quickly! It feels like just yesterday that the girls wrapped up the school year, and now here we are, about to start Kindergarten and 2nd Grade in just a few short weeks!  Even though it went fast, we managed to pack in a good deal of fun over the past few months. Some highlights...

Some of us went to Texas to visit family and to celebrate the Fourth of July:

While those of us left behind used their alone time to take up new and unusual hobbies, like cartooning:

We all went to Ocean City to soak up the sun and visit our friends (and to be artistically transformed in the sand as a gorgeous Merman by one of those friends):

Ryan and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on a sans-kid trek around Philly:


What square are we in? We have no idea!

We sold our wee house in TX:

And bought a new one across the street from us (which means more work for Ryan, but more rental income, too!):

Elliott got her first pair of glasses:


"I look so scientific!"

We traipsed around DC on an uncharacteristically pleasant August day:


And we finally got around to cutting the girls' hair in an attempt to look presentable for the upcoming return to school:

This is what happens when you suck on your hair, kid!
She is pretty pleased with her new 'do, though.

Ellie was bordering on a crazy Rapunzel-esque look...not anymore!

In addition, Ryan worked his butt off running the Farmers Market (which continues through October), the girls attended the local summer camp, we played with lots of good friends, and I managed to keep my head above water helping run the hectic Summer Reading Program at my library! We are also planning a visit to Hershey Park the weekend before school starts, and we are all looking forward to our mini-getaway before Summer officially comes to an end!

2016 dance recitals!

Despite some notably messed up things happening in the news this weekend, the girls brought joy to our lives once again by pea blast, and Zoey even proudly boasted, "I wasn't evenscared or shy!" I hope you enjoy these videos as much as we enjoyed watching the girls shake their stuff up there!

And some photos to commemorate the big day!

happy 7th birthday, elliott!

I seriously can't believe it's been seven years! Seven years since Ryan and I became parents and welcomed our little Elliott Rose into the world and into our lives. She is such a creative, smart, caring, funny, and loving kid, and we just love her to pieces!

The annual "Favorites" are in!

Ellie's "Spotlight" photos for first grade

Presenting to the class...she did such a great job and we were so proud!

Slightly squished up Minecraft cupcakes for school

Testing out her new wheels (thanks, Grampa!)

spring is in the air!

It's that time of year again...so long Winter, hello Spring!

Even though it wasn't technically Spring yet, our wonderful little town held its annual Easter Egg Hunt. It was a chilly day, but the sight of the Easter Bunny and all those eggs still made us feel like Spring was right around the corner!

The Smiddleton Middlewartzes are all bundled up for the annual Easter Egg Hunt!

Out back, our garden is growing, quite literally, from the few cinder block planters we used several years back to a fenced in area that runs the entire length of our yard! With Spring comes the promise of delicious, extremely local veggies for our meals (kale, spinach, tomatoes, parsnips, carrots, corn, squash, and herbs...to name just a few!) For the record, Ryan gets all the cred for the garden. He is the mastermind behind it all, and does most of the tending as well.

Planting the seeds.

And covering them with soil.

Veggies are already starting to sprout!

At the library, the snow is thawing and flowers are appearing! (Yep, I'm still hanging onto that tree!)

The library tree is starting to grow flower buds!

My patrons made colorful butterflies to decorate the bulletin board (more have been added since this picture.)

Happy Spring, friends!