The rest of the cast of characters

There are a few more people who appear in our daily lives, though they aren't bookworms. Let me introduce them quickly here, so that you've already met them before they appear in my stories.

There are the King's parents, known as Mimi and Popsy, who live a few miles away and invite us to a Sunday night feast almost every week. Bookworm#2 has Mimi Day every Thursday for a hunk of the day. They enjoy themselves immensely playing in Mimi's backyard and making "pantakes and eggs and bacon." She teaches manners, physical education, and music. Popsy has a secret affinity for cartoons, so he takes Bookworm#2 to acceptable movies as they come out. They saw Curious George a few weeks ago, and they are already planning to go see Cars when it comes out at the beginning of June. He teaches the finer points of sports and loves to show Bookworm#2 how things work. We are blessed to have them close by and enjoy being with them.

There are also the Queen's parents, known as Gram and Gramp, who live a few more miles away, but are around even more often. Right now (while we are adjusting to life with a newborn and trying to get everything else done too), we see Gram at least every other day. I'm blessed that she comes over to play with Bookworm#2 in the afternoons so that I can have a much needed nap with the baby or accomplish a project or two. She teaches crafts and cooking and sewing and is a wealth of frugal tips and ideas. Since they live in the center of the city and we live in suburbia, their house is our hangout between appointments or after shopping trips. Gramp loves to "work" with Bookworm#2. He teaches automotive mechanics, gardening, lawncare, carpentry - all those Man Arts that the King does not enjoy.

UncaBilly is my little brother. He and the little bookworms have enormous amounts of fun playing outside together, no matter what the weather is. They'll spend hours outside in the snow or the mud or the sunshine. He loves the outdoors and teaches all kinds of subjects - environmental science, ecology, nature study, fishing, camping, hiking.... They are planning a fishing trip in a couple of weeks - I can't want to take my camera and go along to observe and record the trip.

I've got to go edit an article for the Bookworm King. I hope you've enjoyed meeting the rest of us!