Story Time, Zoo, Dental Surgery, and a Book Review for Good Measure

Well, as I expected, Jody Hedlund did not diappoint!  I read my free copy of A Noble Groom from Bethany House in about 3 days.  I could not put this one down!  JH has quickly become one of my favorite historical fiction authors, right up there with Tracie Peterson and Jane Kirkpatrick.  Her characters are well developed; she makes you love the good guys (girls!) and hate the bad guys.  Most romance novels of any time period have some predictable elements, as does this author, but the plot also contains enough twists and surprises to keep you guessing and the story moving along at a nice pace.  She also brings to light the plight of immigrant farmers in that time period (the late 1800s) that I had not known or thought about before.  I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

Now, back to James and our eventful week.  Yesterday we tried out story time at the library.   I used to take the other two regularly, but we got out of the habit with homeschooling.  With not much work left to do, I decided to renew that activity.  James did great and seemed to really enjoy himself.  I had to keep nudging him with my foot so he would look at me and I could explain the story.  He just wanted to see the pictures and participate in the story.  Our story time lady, Miss Liz, does a great job of involving the kids in the story by doing motions and such.  Neither Aedan or Liana has ever participated in this poart, but James just jumped right in!  And he kept trying to tell Miss Liz things while she was reading.  Sometimes he is such a normal 4 year old, and other times... Anyway, during the stories I kept tearing up!  I don't know if it was just the fact that he was there, (I remember last year wondering what it would be like to bring him.) or the fact that he couldn't fully understand what was going on, nor was he fully aware that the kids behind him were talking and asking random questions like preschoolers do.  I don't know what it was!  But he did well sitting, for the most part, and he made the craft and was quite proud of himself.  We will definitely keep story time as part of our schedule from now on!
Today was dental surgery day, take 2!  Since we didn't have to be there until 12:30, and I didn't want to have to keep telling him he couldn't eat all morning, I decided we would go to the zoo as a distraction.  Besides the fact that about 12 schools had field trips today and the place was PACKED, it was a great idea.  I know James went to a zoo in the Philippines last year, when they got stuck coming home from Manila, but I don't know what kind of animals he saw there.  He knew the signs for some of the animals, and picked up the rest pretty quickly.  Mostly I think he enjoyed running with his siblings and friend.  At the elephant exhibit I met a lady who told me she and her husband are thinking and praying about adopting a deaf child!  We got to chat for a few minutes, and that was very exciting to me.  James was not at all pleased when we had to leave, especially since Aedan and Liana were staying with my friend.  But we got to the hospital and he started talking about getting his teeth pulled, and telling me he was hungry every few minutes.  Surgery was scheduled for 2:00, but they ended up not taking him until almost 3.  Given that he had not eaten anything all day, or had a drink since 11:00, he did very well waiting.  He is such a trooper about things like that, but other things...he can whine and complain with the best of them!  The surgery was quick, both teeth extracted, and he woke up super quick.  But he would not drink the juice they make you drink before you can leave!  I was ready to finish it myself just so we could go home!!  The finally discharged us around 6:00 and we headed home, where James promptly inhaled yogurt, then had carrots and bbq chicken!!  Nothing was going to keep this boy from eating a real dinner, not even two holes in his face!!
Tomorrow we go back to the audiologist to pick up the other hearing aid, so now he will have to squealing ears.  Yippee!  But at least his head will be balanced.  You know how asymmetrical things bother me!! 
Here are some pictures from the zoo today!

This was right in front of us...

And they were all mesmerized by fish and ducks.

Biggest. Puffer fish. Ever.

The polar bear was right up by the glass.

This girl LOVES her polar bears!