Family Time and a New Discovery

Today we had a really nice dinner at my mother in law's house for her birthday.  It's so nice to spend time with family, and to see my children being loved.  Cayden had a lot of fun amusing all of us and getting everyone to play with him.  He had the Lego out and was very focused on building a plane, a spaceship and a base for the spaceship.  Cole was very smiley and vocal.  He loved looking around and watching what was going on.  As a mom, I enjoyed sitting back and watching my boys spend quality time with their famliy. 

My mother in law got a Kobo as a gift and I had to check it out.  Of course I've heard of the E-reader's before, the Kindle, the Nook, but I've never actually paid much attention.  I was skeptical of getting the effect of reading a book on this little machine.  I love reading, but being accustomed to the feel of the paper in my hands, I just wasn't sure.  Well this Kobo seemed really neat.  The text looked nice to read, it felt comfy in my hands....I think I need to look into this a little more!  Does anyone have one?  If so, which one, and what do you think of it?

In addition to thinking about the e-reader, has anyone read any good books lately?  I plan to take the boys to the library this week and I need to pick up something new for myself.  Children's book recommendations are also welcome - lately we've been reading a lot of Little Critter books, Robert Munsch, and anything that talks about fire trucks.

What I do in My "Down Time"

Sometimes I feel like I spend way too much time on the computer.  The thing is, it's my escape time, my way of interacting with others beyond the walls of my house without actually leaving it.  There's just so much to explore in this virtual world: online friends to catch up with, daily deal sites to check out, other blogs to read, recipes to search for, lists of local events and things to do....  I really could spend far more time than I really do on this fancy little machine!

Today I paid attention to my time on the computer and realized it's not that much afterall.  I go on check my email, then hear "Mom, can you get my crayons down?".  I go get my almost 3 year old son set up to do some colouring: get the crayons, paper, stickers, colour with him for a little bit and then I hear the fussing - 10 week old Cole has woken from his comfy slumber and would like to eat - NOW!  So I tend to the baby, nurse him, change him, chat with him, then settle him back down for his next round of sleep.  I then realize that I never did finish sending that email I started.  I sit back down in front of the screen, check in on Facebook to see what's new, who has added pictures, what the daily deals are....and it isn't long before I hear, "Mom, can I have a snack?"  I look at the clock - what?  How did that happen?  It's lunch time already! 

So as the day goes on and I go between my two wonderful boys, the household duties and my online world, it's clear that I'm not wasting away as much time as I had originally thought on the computer - but I do like to take my "down time" and catch up in my online world.