Meeting ... um ... SOMEONE who wrote ... er ... SOMETHING

Thursday after ballet, we loaded up and drove two hours to San Augustine to meet an author we'd never heard of who wrote a book we'd never read.  Crazy, huh?  But it's in my blood. Back in our teaching days, my mom and I used to go to reading conferences just for the fun of it, and I had already built up a collection of autographed picture books before I was even pregnant with my first child!  (I can't believe I just admitted to that!)  Plus, the author was the daughter of an acquaintance of my mom's, and my mom (who is a former reading teacher) thought it would be good for the girls to meet an author in person.  Turns out it was a great first meet-the-author experience!

The author's name is Jodi Johnson, and she is in the process of writing a series of books about a cowboy named JoJo and his dog Duddi.  (At least I think JoJo is a cowboy.  The hair is just long enough that he could possibly be a cowgirl, so it's kind of hard to tell.  But I guess that's a good thing if you're reading it to little girls like I am!)  Anyway, the book she was promoting was called The Marvelous Adventures of JoJo & Duddi in Texas, and it was such a fun read!  Plus, we can use it when we get to our state studies later this year.  And you know how accidentally stumbling across a good resource puts a smile on any homeschool mom's face!


Our first stop was refreshments!  They had lunch meat, cheese, fruit, cookies, and punch.

Then we went to buy a copy of the book, have the author sign it, and get a picture with her.

Next, we heard "The Tejas Cowboy" Shane Mathews sing.  He had a downright hilarious song called "The Bully Song" that told the story of a child who got picked on but worked hard in school and eventually ended up being the bully's boss!  I think that was everyone's favorite.

Then we got to hear the book we had just purchased read for the first time. (Yes, we bought it without even knowing what it was about. Glad we liked it!) The lady who read it has a fantastic book shop in San Augustine that I love to visit. The trip would have been worth it for me just to meet her in person!

And finally, one last picture of Hannah with author Jodi Johnson and "The Tejas Cowboy" Shane Mathews. (Millie was a little tired at this point and didn't want to be in the picture.)

Glad it was a good experience. In this family, there are bound to be many more like it!