Little Hoot

When I was in grade school I started my first collection. My brother had won me a stuffed frog at the school carnival and I really loved this frog. I snuggled with it at night and it sprung what became a very massive collection of everything frog! I had soap dishes, gazing balls, stuffed, plastic, games, socks, pj's, folders, calendars, pens, pencils, picture frames, cups and more! By the time I was in college I was pretty much done with the frog collecting thing. I took a few of my favorites to college with me, and packed the rest of them into 6 (yes I said 6) Rubbermaid tubs. I was very particular of my collection often losing my mind when my 2 year old niece thought my collection was fascinating and I didn't really want her to touch anything. Hindsight, I could have let her play with anything she wanted; sorry about that Erica! In the summer of 2008 I spent an entire week in South Dakota, and it was time to clean out the 6 tubs of frogs that had been sitting in my sisters storage shed for two years. I threw away a lot of my frogs. A LOT... there were a couple that I kept looking at tearfully that I ended up bringing back to Seattle with me, but for the most part they all went in the trash. I loved that collection. It was my first, and likely will be my last ... of that caliber any ways. But I've recently stumbled upon something that could bring me dangerously close; which is why I shared the frog collection story.

Owls. I Love Owls. I'm not sure where it came from or where it's going, but I know that I squeel like a five year old little girl every time I see a little owl. I'm sure it has everything to do with "Owly" and Andy Runton's amazing stories involving that little guy. I guess my love just kind of developed from there.

Now, I'm a little more picky about my owls than I was my frogs. I don't buy just ANYTHING that has an owl on it. I have found myself just gravitating towards owl things and then I get them home and realize I had bought yet another bag, or pair of socks with owls on them. But it's okay, because I'm not going to let it get too out of control!

Yesterday after a very busy day at work I came home to a little surprise from Eric. He had found "Little Hoot" online a few nights ago and when he was in Barnes and Noble picking up Ghost Girl for me he found "Little Hoot" and brought him home for me. "Little Hoot" is a children's book written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Jen Corace. "Little Hoot" is a story about a little owl who would rather go to bed than stay up and play like little owls should at night time. Little Hoot complains every moment he has to play because he just really wants to go to bed. At the end Little Hoot gets to go to bed and his parents even tuck him in. It's completely adorable.
I'm not sure if it's because it's about a little owl, or the premise of a book is really sweet. Either way, I know I have one thoughtful husband who brings me owl things occasionally, and for that I am very thankful. ♥