Booklovers all in the family

Sunday is family time, and it is usually a sumptuous lunch [prepared by my mom, of course] by request, gobbled down in 15 minutes or less, [although it took us 20 minutes to clean out the Filipino fare today], and 2 hours of catching up over coffee, dessert and lots of chocolates. [Picture shows mom and I, gobbling down breakfast in London]

As the older ones --- I chose not to say adults because sometimes our children are more adult than we are --- were discussing the latest juicy developments on the national and international scene, the young ones were alternating between fighting over who gets to play Cooking Mama on the wii or running around chasing after imaginary creatures in the zen garden or just nagging the older ones for chocolate or some other sweet treat.  

What made today something worth writing about were the book-related moments that are still making me smile.

The after-meal treat for the young ones was the SPOOKY HOUSE OF HORROR Pop-up Book that I had prep

ared to share with them. We unravelled the four-sector structure with much fanfare and lots of oohs and aahs from the kids... both the old ones and the young ones.  

After that, my favorite niece, Bea and I explored the book PIRATES, which she got to take home, and which  her Kuya Rafa said he would take care of... as he thumbed through the pages right before going home.  Bea enjoys pop-up books as much as I do, and she gets to add to her collection every special occasion that comes along.  She actually was the one who instigated the book moments today when she insisted, yes, insisted on seeing my pop-up books again.

Another Kuya, Luigi my sister's eldest, got to take home the SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES collection that was just sitting in the shelf in the guest room, waiting for its new owner. Luigi has always been a bookworm right after my own heart, and when I saw him holding Book 2, I said I had the rest. To which he promptly gifted me with a huge smile, which led to a quick run up to the second floor to grab the books off the shelf. I did say that was his combined birthday and Christmas gift. 5 brand new books, still wrapped in plastic... He said ok with that smile again,  knowing there would be another gift in December, probably Book 6?

The love of books runs in the family, as we all grew up seeing our parents read, and in turn, our kids, from my 19-year old Gabrielle to the youngest nephew Diego, are growing up surrounded by books and readers. 

It warms this booklover's heart to know that the treasures that cram my home of a library have willing and waiting heirs as early as now.