Nook, Lego, Carnivals

• In case you missed it, I got a Nook! And I made it a pretty little pouch. Then I made it a duct tape Nook cover, which I took a million pictures of and will post next week. A Nook wasn't on my birthday list, but I'm fairly excited about having one.
• The Lego table I built continues to be a success. The boys mostly use the lego table unless it becomes too crowded at which point they start spreading to other tables again. If I were to build another I'd make two changes- first I'd be sure the nails weren't too long and didn't poke out the bottom. I tried to angle them all, but I failed and sliced my thumb open on one this week. Second, I'd leave a small gap in some portion of the lip so that you could put your bin under the edge and sweep them all in instead of having to scoop them all up.
• There is a music and arts festival in town this weekend, complete with carnival rides. Mike has tomorrow off and we're going to take the kids up for the day. I can't wait.
• As part of the event, there are Strider races for 2-5 year olds. If you have a small child who doesn't have a bike yet I highly recommend Strider balance bikes. The Bug started on one and is a speed demon with perfect balance. In contrast, the Pirate can not ride a bike at all yet. Skip the tricycle, get one of these. Plus, there's pretty much nothing on them to break and the tires are solid so you never have to pump them up and they last forever.

What I Read This Week:

• Insurgent by Veronica Roth. I finally had to force myself to sit and read it. It was very good, but I don't deal well with constant tension of this sort. More about this one later this week.
• Key of Valorby Nora Roberts. The last in the trilogy. Love the hero, but the heroine is far too stubborn.
• The Witnessby Nora Roberts. About half in. The heroine reminds me very strongly of the main character on Bones.
• A Night Like Thisby Julia Quinn. This is the first book I bought for the Nook. I've barely started. (I feel obligated to read books with big hold lists first, as Insurgent and The Witness both are.)