Nose in a Book

The house is so quiet

2009-07-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

My girls are halfway through their week away at camp. This is the first time I have been without the two of them for more than a night.

It's a little weird. The house is really quiet, and the cats seem confused.

Is this what they call "Me time"? Finally, a chance to be by myself and do what I really want without kids interfering?

So far I have cleaned two bookshelves, ate a big bowl of chocolate ice cream, and rented Twilight.

I know my girls are having fun.
Hey, I'm having fun!

But the house is empty without them, and I can't wait to see them again. :)

Math problem of the day

2009-07-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

1 massive tree root + 1 water line - 1 proper marking of the main gas line = 1 firetruck + 4 firefighters + X(water utility + gas utility + locating company trucks) + 1 very worried plumber

Yikes!

When we left for piano lessons, our plumber was chipping away at a massive ball of tree roots. When we returned, our street was shut down, and the hiss and smell from a severed high-pressure gas line filled the neighborhood.

Fortunately, the worst seems to be over. We still have to get through inspections and clean up the site, but I think everything is going to be okay. Our biggest fear at this point is that we might lose our beautiful tree. It isn't just a tree, in you know what I mean. :(

But after 48 hours with no water, it feels good to be clean again.

Recent Reads

2009-07-08T08:44:00.001-07:00

Eldest daughter started The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks last night and stayed up past her normal bedtime - a good sign. :o)

Youngest daughter is reading Masterpiece by Elise Broach, who wrote The Shakespeare Stealer which Eldest Daughter loved.

We are Disney freaks, so it is no surprise that Eldest Daughter fell in love with the first two books of Ridley Pearson's Kingdom Keeper series. Imagine her excitement this morning at learning that book three is coming....next April! She also read his Science Fair last month.

Youngest Daughter has read The Wizard of Oz innumerable times, so last week I finally picked up another book in the series, The Marvelous Land of Oz. Another hit! We are looking forward to picking up more of the series from the library.

I finished The Hobbit again. I'm still not sure I really like the chapters towards the end. It seemed rather unsatisfying to have the menfolk kill Smaug while Bilbo and company cower in the dark for days. I guess Bilbo wouldn't make much of an assassin though. And the dwarves? They are useless, but that's pretty much the point, isn't it? I'm curious to see how they can bring this to the screen. We went to a stage production of it this spring; they had to cut out a lot of it. Remember the animated version from the 70's? lol Good stuff. :)

Emma-Jean Lazarus is our new favorite heroine. First she fell out of a tree, then she fell in love. Emma-Jean is a combo of Nancy Drew and Commander Data, who is thoroughly mystified by the cliques of her middle school. All three girls in the house enjoyed these.

Other fun summer reads:

Youngest Daughter devoured the first four books of the Percy Jackson series. Eagerly awaiting her turn at book 5 from the library...

Eldest Daughter enjoyed The Girl Who Could Fly. Any sequel in the works?

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, Schools, and Other Scary Things gave them a good laugh...

I enjoying Howard Whitehouse's Mad Misadventures of Emmaline and Rubberbones. Books with really long titles seem to be a hit around here. Book one is The Strictest School in the World: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken. I just started the second book, The Faceless Fiend: Being the Tale of a Criminal Mastermind, His Masked Minions and a Princess with a Butter Knife, Involving Explosives and a Certain Amount of Pushing and Shoving. I also have book three out from the library, but I'm running out of bandwidth here.

We are reading aloud Anne of Green Gables, and I picking my way through The Friendly Dickens. We enjoyed watching David Copperfield on PBS this spring - thinking about reading is serially with the girls.

{ My thanks to Semicolon and MMV for their book reviews and recommendations. :o) }

From the beach to the desert...Oh, the places you'll go!

2009-07-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

We spent a fun Fourth with our relatives in central Oregon. It was hot - really hot! - but it is always windy there, which makes it tolerable. The girls had a great time hanging out with their cousins, making up skits and filming little movies (already uploaded to Facebook, of course!). It was a nice, relaxing weekend. I finished up most of The Hobbit, and fell asleep in the lawn recliner several times. :o) I also skimmed through The High School Handbook, a guidebook for homeschooling high school, planning and record keeping, etc. Looks somewhat helpful.

Above photo is two daughters plus one cousin. Circle of life? A heart? No, Eldest Daughter says "Triangle of Death." Hmmm. Wonder what those skits of theirs were about exactly...

Spontaneous Shopping

2009-06-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning, checked the email, and discovered there was a used curricula sale this morning! Throw on the shoes and sunglasses, grab the checkbook, let's go!

It turned out to be a rather small sale, but I found two things from my list, plus a couple other good deals:

a new, unused copy of Jacobs Algebra for half-price

a new, unused copy of The Highschool Handbook for $3

a similar book on transcripts and portfolios, same price

an older copy of Hewitt's Conceptual Physics for a dollar

Definitely worth getting up early on a sunny summer day for. :)

Proud to be Pasty

2009-06-29T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's me + hat + umbrella + SPF 50. I love the Oregon coast, and today it was simply beautiful. While the girls dug a hole to China, hubby and I watched a dude with a huge kite get dragged across the sand. It took another couple folks to hold him down at times.It is such a blessing to live so close to the beach; in just 90 minutes we can be dipping our toes into the cool waters of the Pacific. We love zipping over to Seaside for our monthly dose of saltwater taffy, bumper cars, arcade games, and a new favorite: chocolate dipped twinkies. :)

Vision

2009-06-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Cat's got my tongue

2009-06-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary,

Hello again after a long absence! Sorry I haven't written lately. It's been a busy year; nothing out of the ordinary. Rather the opposite actually - just been enjoying life here in the 'burbs, homeschooling, reading, etc. Youngest daughter started piano lessons last fall, and she's inspired me to take it up again. Oldest daughter is looking forward to starting (paid!) work at church this fall. Hubby is good; considering he works in the banking industry, things are pretty stable for us right now. All in all, it's been a good school year. Now we are taking time to decompress as I scan the catalogs and make plans for the fall.

Life is good. :o)

2009 Reading List

2009-01-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

July

The Hobbit, again :o)

June

Welcome to the Lizard Motel

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of the Tree

Dancing Shoes

The Strictest School in the World : Being the tale of a clever girl, a rubber boy and a collection of amazing flying machines, mostly broken

May

The Backyard Bird Feeder's Bible

Masters of Illusion

Homeschooling: The Teenage Years

Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations

The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way

April

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

A Little Princess

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold

The Story of My Life - Helen Keller

March

The Cricket in Times Square

Poor Richard

Midnight Sun

Why Not, Lafayette?

February

Generation Debt

Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains

Fruitlands: Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect

The Physics of Star Trek

Johnny Tremain

January

Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan

Dragon Rider

The Sign of the Beaver

The Big Snow

2008-12-31T10:07:00.000-08:00

Oregon does not typically see much snow, but this year has been interesting. Take 5 inches of snowfall, now add a coat of ice, pile up another heap of snow, then top with a final inch of ice. It makes walking interesting, let alone driving. Christmas Eve services were canceled, and it took my parents seven hours to make a 60 miles drive to our house for Christmas. DH had vacation between the holidays, so we just hunkered down and enjoyed some quiet time. A few days later it thawed enough for Eldest Daughter to have eight friends over for an all-nighter that really carried on...all night. :)

A visit to Oz

2008-12-11T22:11:00.000-08:00

We had a great afternoon at Oz, courtesy of Northwest Children's Theater.

Our new baby

2008-12-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

This little guy needs a new home for a few months - we are foster parents!

[Insert pic of truly adorable cat]

Of course, Sam isn't too sure about this.

[Insert pic of grumpy orange cat]

First Christmas Recital

2008-12-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

Youngest Daughter performed Mary, Did You Know? at her first Christmas recital today. We are so very proud of her! She has worked very hard on her lessons over the past 12 weeks.

Recent Concerts

2008-11-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

Eldest Daughter and I took in Tchaikovsky in September and Brahms in November. Youngest one and I enjoyed Peter and the Wolf in October.

Sleight of Hand

2008-11-22T22:01:00.000-08:00

The girls competed today at the first Oregon Sport Stacking Championship. A relatively new sport to our area, sport stacking combines hand-eye coordination, speed, and concentration into a fun, fast paced competition. Seeing that this was our state's first major competition, the record books started the day relatively blank. The girls are now thrilled to their names on this list.

Rock 'n Roll

2008-11-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

We went with some friends for a visit to the local Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals.

Swan Lake

2008-10-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

Today, the girls and I and 100 of our friends took in a school performance of Swan Lake. ($2 tickets!)

A new adventure

2008-09-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

Youngest Daughter starts piano lessons today. A late beginner? She's nearly 11 years old, but she's a quick learner. Where will this adventure take her?

Phantom

2008-08-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

Nose-bleed section - who cares?!

Busy couple of weeks

2008-05-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we went into the city to see a musical production of Sleeping Beauty (not the ballet). It was really good, but I was mightly annoyed by the large contingency of middle school students who made up the bulk of the audience. The rudeness and coarseness knew no bounds, and no amount of glaring would still them. We have always enjoyed attending these school-manitee's, but before I purchase tickets next time, I will be inquiring about whom we will be sharing the audience with. Ugh.

Then that Friday we went with some friends to the premiere showing of Prince Caspian. We really liked it, despite the alterations from the book.

The following Wednesday was our support group's science fair. We had a record number of entries this year, and I was impressed by the amount of work put into them. Oh, they weren't as polished as I suppose they could be, but I think it really proved who did the work. No Mommy-finished projects here!

Finally, we finished this week up by taking in a performance by Do Jump! Fabulous, breath-taking, amazing! Yeah. :)

Chores on a Saturday morning:

2008-05-10T23:11:00.000-07:00

1) Make your bed.
2) Brush your teeth.
3) Give the elephant a bath.

Youngest Daughter is the blonde in blue.

Eldest daughter is away at college

2008-05-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well, she's staying at Corbin College for a weekend getaway with her middle school youth group. This is my "I don't want to grow up" girl. It will be interesting to see what she thinks of a college campus.

Meanwhile, the house is quiet with her!

--------------------------------------------------------------

Update!

She had a great time! She loved staying in the dorm and eating in the cafeteria. One complaint was the long walks between activities around campus. Other than that, she is looking forward to attending there some day. Uh, well, that's a long way off, dearie!

And she is finished

2008-05-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our AWANA Awards Program, and Eldest Daughter 'graduated' from TNT. She received her Timothy Award, and was the only clubber to have completed all the books from all three clubs (Cubbies, Sparks, TNT).

Memorization does not come easily to this girl. She (and I) put in many long hours going over and over the verses. I am so proud that she had the will to stick with it, and do the hard work. Afterwards, she told me she felt like she could take on the world after crossing this big hurdle.

Our church does not continue with Trek, but we might consider sending her to a friends church to continue. I'm going to leave the decision up to her, as she is already going to be quite busy this fall.

It will be strange starting a new year in September without her. Youngest Daughter will start her third year of TNT, and I will be directing Cubbies for the seventh year. Youngest Daughter has that photographic memory, so her workload is much easier. Perhaps Eldest Daughter will be an LIT and assist next year.

Waaaah! The years truly go by too quickly!

A Milestone

2008-05-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

After four years of study, Eldest Daughter earned the Awana Timothy Award tonight. She worked so hard - memorization does not come easily to her. To see we are proud of her is such an understatement.

Did you get yours?

2008-04-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

We just returned from Baskin Robbin's 31-cent scoop night. How many scoops did your family get? We chose to plead the fifth.

Back to the country

2008-04-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

We recovered from yesterday's 5k and met my folks in Salem to go to Ag Fest, a celebration of agriculture in Oregon. The girls hadn't been to this event in several years, and were not too old to coo over the baby chicks and marvel at the sheep shearing demonstration. Maybe we are just simple folks, but my pre-teens still enjoy hanging out with their parents and grandparents. So there! :)

5k for kids

2008-04-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Wake-up call: We need to work some physical activity into our day! Today our kids participated in a 5k relay, and it was tough! This was just "for fun"; no clock or prizes. But it is obvious we have been a little lax in this area. No surprise really, as neither dh or I make exercise a priority, and the girls are not the least bit competitive. Hmh, need to make some changes here.

Monkeying around

2008-04-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today our support group had an interesting visit at a regional primate research center. We sat through a presentation about the how's and why's of animal research, genetics, stem cell research, and the like, then visited the monkey housing facilities. I had no idea there lives thousands of monkeys within a mile of my home!

After the tour, most of us gathered for lunch. As the parents grouped together to discuss the mornings events, the kids socialized. And it was....well, it was just nice. Nice to be able to spend a school day going someplace with friends and learning something new and not having to worry about counting hours or filling out worksheets.

Often the greatest joys I get from homeschooling are the little moments. Sleeping in, snuggling under the covers to read aloud, the freedom to lunch with friends during the middle of the day. Small stuff, but golden.

Ballet: Alice in Wonderland

2008-04-04T21:35:00.000-07:00

We saw this production a few years ago, but who can resist $6 tickets?! The girls and I headed into the city today for the Metro Dancers production of Alice in Wonderland. Traffic and parking was a bear as usual, but when the lights dim and the curtain rises, frustrations are forgotten as we are swept away.

Book vs Movie: Nim's Island

2008-04-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

Over our vacation, our copy of Nim's Island was passed around the van. We all fell in love with the resourceful and brave heroine, and looked forward to seeing the movie adaptation.

Today we girls discovered that the film makers did not fail to delight. Yes, there are some differences from the film, but they didn't 'waterhorse' it. Abigail Breslin makes a wonderful Nim, and Jodie Foster as Alex Rover was on the mark. And Gerard Butler? ***love sigh***

Been doing a little shopping lately

2008-04-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

Just a few things to get us geared up for the coming school year:
The Well-Educated Mind (Bauer)
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (Covey)
what Smart Students Know
Deconstructing Penguins
A Poetry Handbook (Oliver)
Stories from Shakespeare
Invitation to the Classics
The Periodic Table (Dingle)
The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History
Castle Diary: The Journal Of Tobias Burgess
A Writer's Notebook

And a few good reads:
The Mayor of Central Park (Avi)
Ella Enchanted
The Great Little Madison (Fritz)
Poppy and Rye (Avi)
Redwall (Jacques)
All Creatures Great and Small
Hadassah (The Girl Who Became Queen Esther)
Ah, Music!
......and some Mad Libs :D

No foolin'

2008-04-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are the type of people who go on a road trip just as gas prices are hitting their peak.

First stop: Anaheim. Yes, we are also the type of people who love this place. It was a little crowded due to spring break, but the weather was lovely (translation [in case you are not a native of western Oregon]: it was overcast and cool)

Then onward to Yuma and Phoenix to visit extended family. Now I understand what they mean by a 'dry heat'. But hot is hot to this red-head. The Easter eggs would have baked in the grass.

From here we left the interstate freeway system and, map and GPS in hand, we wended our way to the Grand Canyon. This stop was not part of our original plan, and we had no where near enough time to explore the area. Maybe a return trip next year?

The next day found us crossing the Hoover Dam, then driving down the Vegas strip. Not seeing anything there to entice us, we headed toward Reno.

Thus followed 7 hours of driving through barren and desolate country....

Seeing that we had not yet killed each other after 13 days on the road, we made a stop at dh and my university alma mater. It was spring break there too, and also quite desolate. Nothing much had changed in the past 18 years, at least at our cursory glance. The girls were amused by our reminicing.

At last we steeled ourselves for the final leg of the trip, from the southern to northern borders of Oregon, east of the Cascades. Yes, we went from sunburn to frostbite in a matter of 2 days.

Final numbers:
3600 miles on the van
14 nights in hotels/motels/gramma's floor
4 states visited
5 'school days' missed
5 pounds gained (by me)
3 books on CD listened too
2 new Build a Bear friends made
and $0 credit card bills to face (thanks Dave Ramsey!)

Family vacations? Priceless

One week and counting.......

2008-03-08T12:03:00.000-08:00

It is one week until we leave on our highly anticipate four state road trip. (We live in Oregon, so hitting four states takes some serious mileage). I have a million things to do to get ready, and things to finish up before we leave, not limited to but including getting $600+ of repairs done to our traveling van, helping Youngest Daughter prepare for AWANA Quizzing, working 8 hours, sending Eldest Daughter out on another bowl night, and taking in an opening day viewing of Horton Hears a Who.

I'm looking forward to this vacation!

Happy Gerbilversary to us!

2008-03-04T12:15:00.000-08:00

We adopted our little critters one year ago. I can't find my camera to post an updated picture, but suffice it to say they have doubled in size. And chewed up that green little house. These little guys are great; they do not smell at all, only need infrequent changes of bedding, and are very entertaining.

Shostakovich and Ice Cream

2008-03-02T23:42:00.000-08:00

Youngest Daughter and I took in Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony today.

It isn't the musical experience that keeps me coming back for these; it is the time spent together, one on one with my kids; the drive into the city, finding that parking garage in the maze of one-way city streets and road construction; the walk through the park blocks, past the statues, over the cobblestone courtyard; the climb to our familiar seats, marvelling at the architecture. It's exchanging pleased smiles during the music, while daughter hugs her stuffed frog. It's walking back to the car after the concert, discussing the music. It's our post-concert ice cream treat.

It's that this is a normal thing to do in our family, not a forced yearly field trip.

It's cool. :)

Yes, we know how to socialize

2008-02-18T23:21:00.000-08:00

Usually we work right through things such as President's Day, but who can resist hanging out with friends at the bowling alley? The girls' AWANA TNT club held their annual bowling day this morning. Eldest Daughter doesn't have great aim, but she has quite the powerful arm! Time to sign her up for lessons.

Fine Art Friday

2008-02-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

~Edgar Degas, Dancer on Pointe

Yesterday the girls and I went into the city to take in The Dancer: Degas, Forain, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Behind the Scenes

2008-02-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

We got to spend a couple hours today prowling around one of our favorite city haunts, our symphony's concert hall. A couple dozen friends joined us for a look in to the inner workings of the orchestra and where they practice and perform. We sat in on a working rehearsal, and got to chat with one of the musicians. Our kids, ages 5 to 13, were beautifully behaved and attentive, and I was delighted to spend the morning with them.

Inside the Score: Hayden, Prokofiev

2008-02-10T21:46:00.000-08:00

Eldest Daughter and I went into the city today to take in a concert by our local symphony.

Sometimes I sit there in the darkened concert hall, marveling that my budding teenager still enjoys listening to Hayden and Prokofiev with her mom. How long will this last? I don't know, but I treasure every moment.

It's February???

2008-02-08T21:53:00.000-08:00

See what happens when you catch a rotten cold from your husband and spend a week in bed? It's February already?

Thanks, hon. Now pass the vitamin C.

Mercifully, the girls did not get sick. Hubby and I sequestered ourselves upstairs, giving the girls the run of the house downstairs. Starvation was held at bay by copious servings of mac and cheese and pb&j.

Note to self: Need to give the girls more cooking lessons.

Ahh, it is good to be amongst the living once again.

Grand Prix 2008

2008-01-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again!

Eldest daughter's Tootsie Roll rolled to a third place finish in 2006, while her 2007 entry, Jenga Tower, improved to 2nd place. Youngest daughter's Sparks entry failed to score an award in 2006, but 2007's Race of the Penguins in the TNT catagory earned 1st place.

To summarize, our record for AWANA TNT races stands at 3 entries - 3 trophies.

No pressure.

Truly. The girls select their own designs, which for the most part to don't appear to be terribly aerodynamic. This year's choices were no exception. Their cars were heavy, blocky, but the wheels ran straight and true.

Eldest Daughter's entry: Pink Pearl eraser

Youngest Daughter's: Pack of Gum
(photo to come)

And the results?

A tie for 2nd place.

5 entries - 5 trophies.

Cool.

On Stage: Riverdance

2008-01-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

A late Christmas present from Gramma brought us into the city Sunday evening. Threatening snow clouds held their position, and the traffic was a dream, not a nightmare. It was a wonderful start to an amazing night.

We were introduced to Riverdance by PBS when Eldest Daughter's was just a toddler. Some of our favorite home videos (which I will not subject you to) show ED dancing her little heart out. And in the buff, of course. A couple years later, Younger Daughter joined her sis, as they danced and pranced about the living room.

I'll grant you that neither is growing up to pursue Irish step dancing as a passion or occupation. But they do find pleasure in many types of music, dance, and performance.

As the lights dimmed and the music swelled, the girls were on the edge of their seats.

Two hours later, their enthusiasm only grew. As we walked through the darkened city streets to our car, as we enjoyed some ice cream (a post-show tradition), as we tucked them into bed, the dance, the music, the clothes, the hair (!) were eagerly discussed.

And will be for some time to come.

Thanks, Gramma!

Wordless Wednesday - Today, she is 10

2008-01-23T08:34:00.000-08:00

A Day Off

2008-01-21T20:41:00.000-08:00

We typically continue our lessons through school holidays. Today, however, our church held a school's-out program which both girls wished to attend, Younger daughter as a participant, Eldest daughter as an instructor:

Have you seen the crazy things kids can do with cups? Both of my girls are nuts for Sport Stacking. There are three standard formations they build with the cups, racing against the clock. Eldest daughter shaved a few hundredths off her personal best, doing 'the cycle' in 11.84 seconds.

Now imagine a room with over two dozen kids slamming, stacking, and dropping cups everywhere!

A little sport, a little competition, a little socialization, not to mention the mini-pizzas and brownies.

A day well spent.

From page to screen: The Water Horse

2008-01-19T08:49:00.000-08:00

We saw a trailer for The Water Horse last week, and decided a viewing of the movie might be a great way to end our school week. We have a policy (which I amend at will) to read the book before we see the movie. A quick trip to Powell's ensued last night, and we settled in to enjoy this brief book.

And enjoy it we did. Dick King-Smith tells a humorously sweet tale of a multi-generational family, living in a tiny white house on the cliffs above the Scottish seas, who discover a mysterious egg washed ashore after a storm. The family works together as they raise the creature within, until they finally help him settle into his new home in a local lake, Loch Ness.

I hope that wasn't too big of a spoiler for you....

Before we left for the theater, I checked the 'net to read a review of the film.

German submarines?

Machine guns?

Crusoe tries to eat Angus?

Why are the kids so old?

Why do they live in a mansion?

AND WHAT DID THEY DO WITH GRUMBLE?

Eh, skip it.

All this begs the question: Did they do the same thing to King-Smith's Babe? We watched the movie, a huge family favorite, long before I knew it was from a book.

You are never too old for Veggies.....

2008-01-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Cute fun, but not as 'hum-able' as their previous films.

Nice bonus: Powell's bookstore next door to the theater.

888 Challenge, taken down a notch

2008-01-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

I think the 888 Challenge would be a bit too much for me to commit to, so I'm taking it down a notch for my own personal 555. (I couldn't stick to my own rules!)

Classics:
1. Northanger Abbey
2. East of Eden
3. Peter Pan
4. House of the Seven Gables
5. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
6. Black Beauty
7. Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables book #4)
8. The Wizard of Oz

Non-fiction:
1. The Omnivore's Dilemma
2. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
3. Banana: The Fate of the Fruit...
4. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
5. Deconstructing Penguins
6. Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare
7. What High Schools Don't Tell You
8. Homeschooling High School

Books in a Series:
1. The City of Ember (Books of Ember #1)
2. The People of Sparks (Books of Ember #2)
3. The Prophet of Yonwood (Books of Ember #3)
4. The Diamond of Darkhold (Books of Ember #4)
5. Twilight (Twilight Series #1)
6. New Moon (Twilight Series #2)
7. Eclipse (Twilight Series #3)
8. Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series #4)

Books about Books, Reading, and Education:
1. Reading Lolita in Tehran
2. Deconstructing Penguins
3. Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare
4. What High Schools Don't Tell You
5. Homeschooling High School
6. The Dumbest Generation
7. Complete Idiot's Guide to American Literature
8.

Juvenile novels:
1. The Water Horse
2. The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia book #7)
3. The Witches
4. Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables book #4)
5. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
6. Understood Betsy
7. The Phantom Tollbooth
8. Anne's House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables book #5)

History books for homeschool:
1. I Discover Columbus
2. Adam of the Road
3. The Story of Joan of Arc
4. The Double Life of Pocahontas
5. The Landing of the Pilgrims
6. The Courage of Sarah Noble
7. Mary of Plymouth
8.

Book Club selections:
1. Trumpet of the Swan
2. Thimble Summer
3. The Phantom Tollbooth
4. Nim’s Island
5. Homer Price
6. Understood Betsy
7. The Wizard of Oz
8. The Long Winter

Short Stories:
1. Rikki Tikki Tavi
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. A Christmas Carol
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Back to (home)school

2008-01-09T08:28:00.001-08:00

After an extended holiday break, we have made our way back to our formal studies. These are our plans for the next few months:

Math: Singapore is still working for us. By June, I anticipate Eldest Daughter finishing 6B, while Youngest Daughter will in all likelihood finish 4B and start 5A.

Grammar: They are together working in Rod and Staff 6. We are taking it slow, as they, as well as I, are struggling to understand the difference between simple tense, perfect tense, and principal parts. How is it I never learned this stuff? In any case, my ultimate goal is to take them through R&S 8, and I don't really care if it takes us a couple years per book. By June, I'd like to make it at least halfway through this book.

Writing: Eldest Daughter just started Wordsmith Apprentice, and is loving it thus far. Eldest Daughter has come a long way already this year, by being able to turn out a page or so of writing in a timely fashion, without tears. Now we are focusing more on content, form, spelling, etc. Youngest Daughter, the writer of the family, is reading Live Writing for inspiration and tips.

Science: We are more than halfway through Apologia Botany, but have set it aside this winter to start their Zoology 1 book. Youngest Daughter will soon be starting a co-op class on Electricity, and both girls have Zoo classes this winter.

History: Story of the World 2 continues to be the basis of our studies, along with extra books, biographies, and movies. This system works well for us, and I know the girls are retaining quite a bit.

Spelling: Although Eldest Daughter still struggles with her day to day lessons, I can see that her spelling is indeed improving in her various writings. It's going to be a slow, ongoing process. Youngest Daughter continues with Spelling Power, using it for impromptu vocabulary lessons, too.

Latin: This will be the year we finish Latina Christiana 1! Our goals are to familiarize them with Latin roots, derivatives, and the like. I have LC 2 waiting in the wings for next year, and that is as far as I hope to take them.

What have I missed? We cover Bible, art, music, PE, poetry, literature, and all the rest, sometimes with formal lessons, often just through our day to day activities. We have numerous field trips and outings planned for the next few months.

Time to wake up these sleepy heads and get busy!

An offer I can refuse

2008-01-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

Verizon is offering to help us save money, offering to bundle our telephone and Internet service with their newest, sharpest, jazziest television package.

Ignoring the fact that we would have to upgrade my phone service at double the price in order to do the bundle -

Ignoring the fact that we are quite content with our $9 basic cable -

Ignoring the fact we have an old television and a VCR I cannot program -

Their 'savings offer' would cost me an additional $516 per year.

Which begs the question, how better could we spend $516 to entertain our family?

Hmmmmmm.......

Yearly memberships to:

the science museum - $125

the zoo - $64

the art museum - $85

MVP package at Hollywood video - $120

4 concert symphony subscription for 2 - $120

One-shot affairs:

family packet of tickets and junk food for a night of NBA basketball - $56

3 tickets to Riverdance later this month - $120

3 tickets to Phantom this summer - $120

3 nights of camping at our favorite state park - $60

Not to mention shopping excursion to Powell's, Barnes and Noble, and Rainy Day Games.

Thanks anyway, Verizon, but we have books to read, games to play, and places to go.

'Subprime' is 2007 Word of the Year

2008-01-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

So says the American Dialect Society.

(Mortgage? As of Christmas Eve, we don't have no stinkin' mortgage. Thanks, Dave Ramsey!)

A Steel Drum Ensemble and Romanian Dancers?

2008-01-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

It must be another Kids' Concert from the Oregon Symphony!

(No, they didn't perform together. Now that would be something!)

Set your VCRs!

2008-01-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one still using a VCR? Apparently there are new acronyms I know nothing of - DVR? TIVO? As we spend just $9 per month for our few channels, I cannot justify investing in this new technology. Yet...

But I digress....

Masterpiece Theater has a new year's gift for we fans of Jane: The Complete Jane Austen.

The Complete Jane Austen includes four brand-new productions: Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park,Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility, along with repeats of Pride and Prejudice and Emma.

Persuasion kicks things off, January 13th.

I have not seen this version of Emma, but the classic P&P is a well-loved favorite here. The only book I have not read is Northanger Abbey, which I started last night.

Enjoy!

Dodge Ball, anyone?

2008-01-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

Members of our support group met this afternoon to flex our muscles and our minds. Dodge ball in the gym, board games in the class room, fun for all!

Sometimes we home educating moms sit back and shake our heads at these poor, unsocialized homeschoolers. Kids of both sexes, all ages, playing together? No arguments or issues? Sharing? Cleaning up after themselves? How odd they are.... *chuckle*

By the way, my throwing arm is aching a bit; the Mom vs kids dodge ball game was a blast!

Polar Bears and Penguins and IMAX, Oh my!

2008-01-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

We battled the crowds at OMSI today to visit the closing exhibit, Ends of the Earth: From Polar Bears to Penguins. I meant to take the girls back in November, before the schools around here let out for the holidays, but we simply get to it. Having to go during the school vacations meant dealing with the inevitable crowds and ill-supervised children, but we had a good time despite.

We took in the IMAX film Antarctica; it was the girls' first experience with the large screen format. Other firsts included visits to the Holography and Chemistry Labs, two sections of the museum which are open limited hours. I think it is neat that after years of visiting this favorite museum of ours, we are still discovering new things to explore.

Today in History

2008-01-03T08:17:00.000-08:00

Legendary author J.R.R. Tolkien is born in South Africa, on this day in 1892.

I never read Tolkien until after I saw the movies, which is probably not the best way to approach a novel. Fortunately, I thoroughly enjoyed both. Last winter I read The Hobbit aloud to the family, and we are all excited to hear news of the planned movie.

The last daily Peanuts comic strip is published in 2,600 newspapers as Charles Schulz retires.

Peanuts is a favorite in this house. Youngest daughter, nearly 10 years old, discovered the funny pages a couple years ago, and Peanuts was a fast friend. I soon gave her my personal, childhood treasury of Snoopy and the gang, the same one I used to hide under the covers to read, and re-read, with a flashlight. My favorite parts include Linus deflect Lucy's wrath with a few words, Charlie Brown's eternal optimism regarding that football punt, and Snoopy's novels-in-progress. I learned who Beethoven was from Schroeder; Youngest Daughter has a grasp on WW1 aerial warfare, thanks to Snoopy and the Red Baron.

Have you tried...

2008-01-02T21:35:00.000-08:00

the No-Knead Bread recipe?

Revolutionary and delicious!

This year I resolve to...

2008-01-01T22:30:00.000-08:00

...cook more...
...move more...
...read more...
...laugh more...
...by spending less time talking/posting about these things, and more time DOING them.

Goodnight!

2008 Reading List

2008-01-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

Read from my own knowledge and pleasure:
Northanger Abbey
The Last Battle
East of Eden
House of the Seven Gables
The Water Horse
Nim's Island
In Defense of Food : An Eater's Manifesto
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
The Witches
The City of Ember (Books of Ember #1)
The People of Sparks (Books of Ember #2)
The Prophet of Yonwood (Books of Ember #3)
The Diamond of Darkhold (Books of Ember #4)
Deconstructing Penguins
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare
What High Schools Don't Tell You
Homeschooling High School
A Christmas Carol
Anne of Windy Poplars (Anne of Green Gables book #4)
Anne's House of Dreams (Anne of Green Gables book #5)
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World
Twilight (Twilight Series #1)
New Moon (Twilight Series #2)
Eclipse (Twilight Series #3)
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series #4)
Complete Idiot's Guide to American Literature
Reading Lolita in Tehran
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dumbest Generation
The Omnivore's Dilemma
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Thimble Summer

Chapter Books Read Aloud to the girls:
Along Came Galilieo - Bendick
Peter Pan
I Discover Columbus
Adam of the Road
The Story of Joan of Arc
Black Beauty
Homer Price
Mary of Plymouth
Trumpet of the Swan
Understood Betsy
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Landing of the Pilgrims
The Long Winter
Rikki Tikki Tavi
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Courage of Sarah Noble
The Double Life of Pocahontas
The Wizard of Oz

Books on CD:
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
The Penderwicks
Tuck Everlasting

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T16:14:00.000-08:00

Did you think I dropped off the face of the earth? Not quite. :)

Mexico was beautiful, and my mind has stayed on vacation mode ever since. We begin our return to our studies on Wednesday, and as this blog is pretty much my personal record of our homeschool happenings, I'll be backdating posts to catch things up.

Until then, Happy New Year to you and yours!

Book Club gone wild

2007-12-14T22:59:00.000-08:00

Before leaving on vacation, I initiated a book club reading of Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Our typical club meeting involves 5 or so families meeting for discussion, a hands-on activity or two, and munchies, all in the comfort of the host's home.

As the RSVPs started piling up, it became apparent that this would be a book club event like no other. Church space was secured to hold the meeting, dozen of cookies were baked to be decorated by the kids, games were planned.

Soon word got around to those in our support group who had not read that book that a fabulous Christmas party was in the works. Could they come too?

Should I give a Scroogely Bah humbug! This is a book club! You have to do the work!

Nah.

In the end, the church was packed with kids and parents representing more than 30 families. Kids from pre-school to high school hung out together, playing Blind Man's Bluff and spreading garish frosting on gigantic sugar cookies. Heaps of other snack food was shared, the board games were brought out.

We socialized, we chatted, we laughed.

We didn't discuss the book. Oh, well. :)

At the theater: Beauty and the Beast

2007-12-13T22:57:00.000-08:00

Today we took in a repeat performance of the musical Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The girls had fun comparing this staging to the previous year's. Personally, I never get tired of seeing a good story put to stage. The lights dim, the curtain rises, a hush goes over the audience...pure magic.

Bye for a while!

2007-11-24T16:25:00.000-08:00

The balmy shores of Mexico beckon. Adios!

Huh.

2007-11-05T17:55:00.001-08:00

Someone hit my blog looking for Cliff Notes to Twilight of American Culture.

Huh.

Yeah.

Whatever.

Sigh.

Early Reading: Nature vs Nurture

2007-11-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

Nature:

While Eldest Daughter was struggling with Bob Books as a 5 year old, her 2 year old sister peaked over her shoulder to help her sound them out.

Now Youngest Daughter is 9, almost 10. She spells perfectly, writes long creative stories, and loves to read novels and poetry. While she certainly could read 7th grade books, I prefer her to stick to younger themes. Her current favorite is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which she re-reads daily.

Eldest Daughter, now 12, reads right at the typical age/grade level.

As for Nurture:

Our home is filled with books; seven floor to ceiling units, and 3 shorter bookshelves. My husband is addicted to sci fi / fantasy, while I read a little of everything, but mostly classic fiction. We girls will often read the same book for our own little family book club, and we started a book club for our support group. A delivery from Amazon or Bookcloseouts is greeted with great anticipation. We often buy multiple copies of the same book so we can each have our own, or to have one beautifully illustrated hardback and one paperback that's easier to hold up in bed. The paperback, however, must be wide enough to open with cracking the spine. I'm picky.

So now that Rowling / Potter has passed...

2007-11-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

....we have a new book-to-movie to debate.

Sigh.

---------------------------

No, I do not have to watch the movie to make up my own mind. I can intelligently gather the information I need without having to spend money on a product I may indeed find offensive to my sensibilities.

No, I do not have to try everything personally to find what is bad for me; I can learn from the experiences of those who have gone before.

Yes, the author has the right to write whatever he likes. I, as the consumer, have the right to decide whether this is something I wish to support with my money.

Yes, Christians do tend to get up in arms over blatant attacks on their faith, but there is a much subtler non-Christian thread running through the vast majority of movies. Premarital s@x? Drug and alcohol use? 'Mature' language? Physical or emotional abuse? Why is it acceptable to spend our money on these?

----------------------------

I have not read His Dark Materials, and know very little about the coming movie.

If I am curious, I will get the book from the library, and I will read some movie reviews from sources I trust.

I will make up my mind to do what is best for my family.

You can do the same for yours.

I am not a Scrooge, truly!!!

2007-10-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

I do not hate Christmas! Well, maybe I do detest the whole 'holiday season.' But Christmas, in its true spiritual glory, is a lovely thing to behold.

But...

Youngest Daughter turned on the radio this morning and the strains of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" drifted from the speakers.

It's October folks. Clear and crisp, sunny and breezy; going to be near 60 degrees today.

Give autumn a chance.

Please?

Bah-humbug.

In the news: 'dropout factories'

2007-10-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

So 1 in 10 schools are 'dropout factories', where less than 60 percent of students make it to their senior year. Not graduate, but simply start that final year.

Announcements such as this are inevitably followed by hastily called press conferences. Locally, a principal decries the labeling of his school as "a technicality", while the superintendent says he counts students differently than the authors of the study. They didn't drop out, he states. They transferred to night school, or were held back a year. Fair enough. Does anyone have the stats on how these sorts of students end up doing?

And besides, the superintendent finishes, our school requires 27 credits to graduate. It is because we expect so much, that so many fail.

Huh. I'm not sure this is something to be proud of or not. So the options here are to succeed (by the system's definition) or fail.

Or option #3. Homeschool.

The search for middle ground

2007-10-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

Recently linked at Arts & Letters Daily:

Morgan is still young enough for her age to be tracked in months (34)....minutes earlier, I had gone through a drill asking Morgan to identify flashcards with the following images: the Mona Lisa, Aristotle contemplating a bust of Homer, Marie de Medici, and Erasmus of Rotterdam. She had correctly identified each one, pausing only once, when I clumsily mispronounced Erasmus's name.

~ from Rush, Little Baby, The Boston Globe, article

We are, as far as urban public education is concerned, essentially at rock bottom. We are now at a point where we are essentially churning out ignorant teens who are becoming ignorant adults and society as a whole will pay dearly, very soon...

~ from American kids, dumber than dirt, San Francisco Gate, column

I guess that means little Morgan is headed to private school.

Personally, I'm aiming for the middle ground. Our methodology is extremely relaxed compared to the former, but our aim is to achieve far beyond the latter example.

It works for us.

Our high school goals

2007-10-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

My husband and I were talking about this last night. I have mentioned here before that very few members of our homeschool group continue through the high school years. Last night's group discussion highlighted the fact that many folks do not know how to approach high school courses, grades, transcripts, and college admission. Without this knowledge, a plan, and/or a mentor, many families are opting to bail out of home education.

Now if public or private high school with its official transcript and diploma is what a family truly desires, then more power to them. Homeschooling through high school obviously isn't for everyone.

For my part, I am looking for ways to provide support for those seeking to continue home educating. I have gleaned so much from the wonderful ladies on the High School WTM board, and others who have shared their journeys online through boards or blogs. Knowing that others have walked this path makes it easier to me to keep my eyes steady on our goal.

So what is our goal?

dh and I see several facets.

1) To raise our girls up to be curious, intelligent, Christian women, and give them the tools they will need to succeed in their life's work.

2) To get them into college.

And I think #2 will be the easier of the two.

I've been nosing around the websites of local university, both public and private, and discovered that they all have specific admission requirements for homeschooled students.

None required a diploma.

None required a transcript.

None required grades.

Three things many homeschoolers spend hours (years?) agonizing over.

What do they want to see?

acceptable SAT or ACT scores

acceptable SAT-Math scores

an additional one or two SAT-Subject scores

evidence of 2 years foreign language instruction

That's it. Toss in the essay and list of volunteer hours for good measure.

Of course, this will vary depending on your school of choice and area of study. But from what I am seeing, universities are less interested in mommy-produced transcripts than hard, cold, test-based evidence of achievement.

The $64,000 question is, what will I do with this knowledge?

Well, for now we will keep reading, discussing, playing, thinking, striving, and learning. And I'll spend a little less time worrying about counting hours and pages.

This is my blog, so I can say what I want.

2007-10-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

I really dislike Extreme Home Makeover.

Dissenters need not comment. :)

Oh, the good old days

2007-10-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

There is an opinion piece in our local paper today on the perils of rote learning, circa the one-room school houses of the 1880s. The writer decries such activities as chanting the date of Oregon's statehood, practicing elocution, and setting dates such as 1066, 1492, and 1776 to memory.

Thank goodness for modernity! our writer cheers. Nowadays "good teachers tell their students not so much what to think, but how to think." And memorizing dates? "...isn't as important now as figuring out how to look them up when you need them." And the most important lessons? "Figuring out what they [the facts] mean."

That is his opinion, and he is welcome to it.

My opinion?

1) Memorizing dates is not teaching students what to think. It is giving them to framework for later study. You have to know what happened before you can analyze it or form an opinion. As for looking up facts ~ I use google and wiki and other resources all the time. Do I want my children to depend on these? No.

2) Teaching student how to think is a good thing! If students are given the tools to gather and synthesize knowledge, to reason and analyze it, and to come to some sort of conclusion, that is to be applauded! But what if the student comes to a different conclusion than the rest of the class? What if he disagrees with his teacher? Will we tolerate other opinions? Intelligent, informed debate? Or do we want all students to come to agree with the popular opinion?

3) Figuring out what the facts mean? Again, a very good thing. But again, all students will not come to the same conclusion on a given set of facts. Are schools willing to award good grades and credit to students who intelligently form 'incorrect' opinions?

In conclusion, I must say thank goodness for homeschooling!

We drill math, we memorize poetry, scripture, history dates, geographic locations Latin verbs, the order of the planets and taxonomy. In other words, we lay the ground work. Then, when the girls have some idea who Abraham Lincoln was and the basics of what happened and when it happened, then we can move into the why and how.

First things first.

-----------------------------------

Were the good old days better? Maybe, maybe not.

I have not done an in depth study on schooling in the 1900's. Most of what I know I gleaned from novels set or written in that time. Not all students attended school full time, but when they were there they were memorizing dates, learning Latin, doing 3-digit multiplication in their heads, and reading novels. Sounds good to me!

-----------------------------------
This has been around the web for a while, but it makes me smile:

Teaching Math In 1950 .....
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1960 .....
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

Teaching Math In 1970 .....
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

Teaching Math In 1980 .....
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

Teaching Math In 1990 .....
By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the forest birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down the trees. (There are no wrong answers.)

This just in

2007-10-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

So, while I'm reflecting on my year with Potter et al, Rowling outs Dumbledore.

Huh.

Hmmm.

As a reader, I'm torn about this revelation, and about all the other tidbits she's come up with at various interviews this fall. While I loved the books and will miss visiting that world, I'd rather not be spoonfed hints about how things began or will continue. If there is more to share, put it in prequels or sequels; the audience is eager for more.

As a Christian, Dumbledore's orientation does not affect my enjoyment of the series. Rowling has created an interesting story that I enjoyed reading, but it did not change my life in any significant way or alter my worldview. My God is stronger than a fictional character.

C'mon folks, the characters in these books lie, steal, cheat, curse, and murder. They are envious, jealous, petty, angry, proud, and vain. This fantasy world is populated by very real, very flawed characters, Dumbledore included.

If you have been able to rationalize enjoying a book about witchcraft, this little bombshell shouldn't rattle you.

Let 'em sleep

2007-10-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

With the benefit of functional MRI scans, researchers are now starting to understand exactly how sleep loss impairs a child’s brain. Tired children can’t remember what they just learned, for instance, because neurons lose their plasticity, becoming incapable of forming the synaptic connections necessary to encode a memory.

A different mechanism causes children to be inattentive in class. Sleep loss debilitates our body’s ability to extract glucose from the bloodstream. Without this stream of basic energy, one part of the brain suffers more than the rest: the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for what’s called “executive function.” Among these executive functions are the orchestration of thoughts to fulfill a goal, the prediction of outcomes, and perceiving consequences of actions.
~ Po Bronson, Snooze or Lose, New York Magazine

Is it terribly ironic that I am reading this article in bed, having slept just four hours? *wry grin* And I haven't seen my husband in 13 hours since he doubled back to work an overnight shift. But the article's focus is on children and sleep, so we'll leave our bad habits to another post.

My children have awoke to a blaring alarm maybe a dozen times in their lives. As they have never been in school, I have rarely felt the need to shake them from their dreams. When my oldest reached kindergarten age, her father's work hours were changed to a 10am start time, and having little desire to put her to bed before her father returned home from work, the whole family shifted to night owl status. The girls get their necessary nine or so hours each night ~ they just start a little later than most kids.

And perhaps I have felt a little guilty about that. Isn't sloth one of the seven deadly sins? Does sleeping away the early daylight hours doom us? As my father in law used to say, we're burning daylight here!

If we can complete the work we need to do between 10am and 4pm, is that good enough? Do I need to teach my girls how to awake with the sun? Must education commence at 8am? Is sleep deprivation an adolescence rite of passage? And what about college?

Biologically, I have no problem allowing my girls to give their bodies what they need. Intellectually, I wonder if there is not some adjustment we might need to make.

Hmmmm. I'll sleep on it.

Reflections on a year with Harry Potter

2007-10-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

My first born was just three years old when boy-wizard Harry Potter hit the literary scene. On my radar? Not a blip.

Skip ahead eight years; with my daughters away at summer camp, I found myself ALONE perusing the used paperbacks at a local store. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? Hmmm, never read them, never watched the movies. Why not?

It was fun, easy to read. Nothing earth shattering, but a pleasant way to spend a few summer hours. We rented the movie a few weeks later. More fun!

Months go by before I wandered to the library to pick up The Chamber of Secrets. I took it on vacation, but couldn't get into it, and another few months went by. The girls started bugging me because I would not let them watch the second movie until someone read the book, and I was that someone. I picked it up again and polished it off. Another great movie followed, although I kept mumbling about the deviations from the book.

This brings us to spring, and another grey, drippy weekend. Another trip to the library and I zipped through The Prisoner of Azkaban over a weekend, followed by another trip to the video store, and shouting at the screen.

By then I was hooked. Not a full fledged Potter-phile, but a fan. And I decided I just have to see how this all turns out.

Summer camping found me battling the mosquitoes with one hand, while balancing an unwieldy paperback of The Goblet of Fire. My favorite book to date, I couldn't wait to see it on screen. Due to the darker images at the book's conclusion, I chose to screen the movie before letting the girls watch it. Ugh, how I hated that movie. I still won't let the girls watch it, but for a different reason: they simply must read the book first to read the story as the author created it.

By this point, the final book had just been released. I peeked online (he lives!), and put my name on a reserve copy at the library. I was 500th in line. Good enough; I still had two more books to read.

As August wound down, I dove into The Order of the Phoenix. Loved it! The movie was currently in the theaters but I'm cheap, and considering how they butchered the fourth movie, I did not have high hopes.

As school got underway, I carved out some time for The Half-Blood Prince. A good book, but I'm ready for the big finish.

Two weeks ago, the library calls. My number is up! I'm down with a sinus infection, but manage to get in there and bring The Deathly Hallows home.

And there it sat on the coffee table, waiting. A week goes by, and I still did not touch it. I read a few Narnia books, started getting into Lloyd Alexander, and Harry Potter is waiting. I don't want to start it.

Because starting leads to finishing.

And finishing means....the end.

But all good things must come to an end. Reluctantly, I lift the cover Sunday evening. Life intervenes - I do not have the luxury of uninterrupted hours - but I awaken early Thursday to finish.

The perfect story? Perfect execution? Nah. But I won't nit-pick here.

I am happy. It was a good year. All is well.

Honesty

2007-10-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Like many people, I started blogging out of an urgent need to procrastinate.

*Chuckle*

The rest of the article is interesting, too.

Mythbusting meets the Dark Ages

2007-10-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

The girls and I read this Jean Fritz book yesterday. Another of Ms. Fritz fabulous historical books for children, this one brings to life the legend of Brendan the Navigator. Still think Columbus discovered America? Or was it the Vikings? St. Brendan may have trumped them all 1500 years ago.

We appreciated the extended postscript which compared modern evidence to the fanciful legend. The islands St. Brendan described on his journey do match his supposed route, minus the sea serpents and giants. In the seventies, a Mythbuster built and sailed a similar vessel along that path. There is, however, a decided lack of archaeological evidence; to date, no Celtic trash circa 500AD has been found in Newfoundland.

As Jamie and Adam would say........plausible.

Delivery!

2007-10-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

New books in the house, courtesy Bookcloseouts.com :

How Writers Work

Live Writing

Poetry Matters
3 of 4 books on writing by Ralph Fletcher

from Eleanor Estes:

The Curious Adventures of Jimmy McGee

The Witch family

Miranda the Great

Rufus M. - to complete my Moffat set

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew

Treasure Island

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
These are Aladdin Classics format - to replace worn, fine print copies

Youngest Daughter immediately set to rereading Alice. I also bought her a new Bible cover; bookcloseouts has a huge variety at great prices.

Under the weather

2007-10-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

This cold / sinus infection / whatever is holding on into a third weekend. Armed with a couple prescriptions, am I spending most of the day in bed reading between Dirty Jobs marathons on the Discovery Channel.

I'm not ready to lift the hefty Deathly Hallows, so I opted for some 'lighter' literature.

We enjoyed Time Cat so much, that I picked up a couple more feline books from Lloyd Alexander. I read The Cat Who Wished to be a Man between cat naps, (groan) and will pass it on to the girls. I'm still waiting for my library to get the first of the Prydian Chronicles in. In the meantime, I'll read The Town Cats and Other Tales.

After my nightly dose of pills, I picked up Lois Lowry's Number the Stars. Last year I enjoyed The Giver and follow ups, but I had no idea what to expect from this book. Instead of something other worldly, I discovered a horror all to real. This is an excellent book on the plight of Danish Jews during the second world war. Eldest Daughter will be reading this one soon.

If you glance over the books I have read this year, you will see that most of them are aimed at twelve year olds.

Ya wanna make something of it?!

But seriously...

I'm enjoying myself. I have mentioned before that I did not read widely as a child, so in some sense I am making up for lost time. In another vein, I look at the list of popular adult literature and none of it grabs me right now.

Books to read

2007-10-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting outside Youngest Daughter's ballet class, trying to concentrate on my book. Mere feet from me are two Soccer Moms chatting at the top of their lungs. My sinuses are plugged but, unfortunately, my ears are not.

I take a deep breath and dive back into Narnia. The Dawn Treader is docked at shore while Lucy and Edmond are trying to figure out where Eustace disappeared. We learn the missing boy has fallen asleep atop a pile of treasure, a gold bracelet about his arm.

My mind skips to the coming revelation: Eustace has transformed into a dragon, and the bracelet is cutting painfully into his enlarged arm.

But wait a minute - I've never read this book before!

I quickly flipped a few pages ahead and saw that indeed, I was right.

Huh.

-------------------

My first experience in Narnia came via my fourth grade teacher. He read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to our class while we drew/copied a picture he taped to the blackboard. This was 'art class'. I have never been good at art, but I enjoyed the story.

Flash forward 25 odd years - I buy the Chronicles of Narnia set because they are beloved, classic children's literature. I read LWW to my girls.

A few more years go by, and we watch the movie version.

Another year goes by. Hey, I wonder what happens in the other six books?!

This is how I find myself finally reading the other books in this series. Five down, two to go.

-------------------

So how is it that I knew what would happen to Eustace?

Do you remember your elementary years? Back in the 70's, public school? We had math books, science books, history books, and reading books.

Reading books. Not books to read. I don't remember reading an entire book as a class until junior high. Until then, it was bits and pieces from various books, ripped out of context, and thrown together under some artificial theme.

The very 'books' which have no place upon my crowded shelves.

I can only assume that I crossed paths with dragon/Eustace at some point of my schooling. Lewis' descriptive imagery burned into my brain, and hid itself for a couple dozen years until an encounter with the original brought it to consciousness once more.

One thing we make time for in our homeschool, in our family, is good books. Whole books. Books that take weeks to finish. Oh, not everything we read will appear on those classical 'great books' list; we make room for a little fluff, too. But no fragments, no abridgements, no bit and pieces. If it is worth reading, it is worth experiencing as the author intended.

--------------------

I'm taking a detour from Narnia to see how things end up at Hogwarts. Yes, I'm months behind the curve. In a way, I'm hesitant to start the final chapter. It is so....final. I miss characters whom I have grown to love. I miss the Shire. I miss Laura and Almanzo. I'm not looking forward to saying good-bye.

Shaking things up

2007-10-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

One month into our new school year, and it's time to shake things up.

Mystery of History 2 just ain't working for us. We enjoyed the first volume, but this one is just dry. The girls are not retaining the info. Heck, I'm not retaining the info. If mama ain't happy.....
So we are going to try our own thing. Using Story of the World 2 as our spine, I rearranged the chapters to group geographic regions together, and dropped a few (sorry India and Africa!). This helps us focus on these select areas, units, or time frames.

The Early Days of Britain

The Byzantine Empire

Early French Rulers

The Rise and Spread of Islam

The Vikings

England – Kings, Castles, Crusades and Knights

Kublai Khan and China

Back to England - Plague, Wars, Shakespeare

The Renaissance

The Reformation

The Mayas, The Incas, The Aztecs

Spain and Portugal

The Ottoman Empire

Voyages of Discovery

So besides SOTW2, we'll use various chapters from CHOW, biographies by Diane Stanley and Jean Fritz, a couple activity books; all items that we already own.

I am resisting the urge to pile on MORE MORE MORE. My girls really don't like coloring maps, but love to consult our wall maps and globes. And of course we'll add some good movies. Hmmm, where would The Princess Bride fit in?

We are an island

2007-10-07T08:24:00.000-07:00

Eldest Daughter is now of middle school age, and so has moved into "Youth Group" at church. She spent the summer getting know these older kids, new leaders, and a new routine. So far, so good; we have not yet seen any of the problematic issues that many people have with teen church groups.

Last week I attended a parents-of-teens meeting, and discovered we are the only homeschoolers. I happen to know of several families of younger homeschooled kids within our fellowship, but as the students progress, it seems most enroll in school.

Our support group is also skewed toward the younger students. Out of 40 families, just three still have their teens at home.

These facts will not dissuade us from continuing on our path. But it means we might have to look a little harder to find support.

Fortunately, Eldest Daughter makes friends easily, and no one seems concerned (or often even knows) that she does not attend school. She is quickly turning into a busy busy pre-teen, with numerous outings and activities with friends to fill her off hours. She has no desire to attend school, and is still completely happy at home.

She is, however, starting to take much more care in her appearance. Six months ago you had to sit on her to take a hair brush to her naturally wavy hair. Now she frequently disappears into the bathroom for long stretches and emerges looking very put together.

Boys, however, are still icky.

Book Club: Time Cat

2007-10-06T07:50:00.001-07:00

My girls and I, and our book club, had a great time with this book this month. Eight families met at our house yesterday to ponder time travel, world geography, and wonderful independent spirit of the cat.

Personally, I'm looking forward to reading more by Lloyd Alexander. Do you have a favorite?

Read a Banned Book

2007-09-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'm rather fond of this one.

Our weekly report

2007-09-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

Eldest Daughter:
Monday - Wednesday: 4-H camp
Thursday: some academics on Thursday (part of her brain was still back at camp)
Friday: she's running the house today while I'm down with a cold

Youngest Daughter:
Monday: explored local children's museum
Tuesday: helped me at church
Wednesday: picked up her sister, whizzed through 3 Awana sections we forgot to finish
Thursday: academics
Friday: watching a Barbie movie

*cough*
*sniffle*
*snore*

Reading Challenges

2007-09-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

Back in April I signed on to a reading challenge, something I've never done before. I selected my books, posted to the host's site, and promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward a few months...

A fall reading challenge! What an excellent idea! I've never done anything...like...that...wait a minute...

Clicky clicky, searching through my old posts...

Oopsies, forgot about that other challenge. Let's check in and see how everyone else is doing.

And that is how I learned this week about the untimely passing of a fellow reader.

---------------------------------------

It is an insignificant response for sure, but here I will update my progress through the books I selected for the Newberry challenge, plus the other books I am attempting to finish before the end of the year. Currently, I am in the mood to escape from reality, and enjoy these flights of fancy:

2004: The Tale of Despereaux FINISHED
1996: The Midwife's Apprentice FINISHED
1989: Number the Stars FINISHED
1963: A Wrinkle in Time
1952: Ginger Pye FINISHED
1947: Miss Hickory

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows FINISHED

The Chronicles of Narnia:
book 3: The Horse and His Boy FINISHED
book 4: Prince Caspian FINISHED
book 5: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader FINISHED
book 6: The Silver Chair
book 7: The Last Battle

A piece of me is missing

2007-09-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

We dropped Eldest Daughter off at 4-H Camp/Outdoor School early Monday morning. (You may refer to my previous entries concerning our dislike of alarm clocks).

As she waved good-bye, surrounded by a group of friends, my tummy gave a little flip. This is the first time she has been out of contact with us for more than a few hours. She turned twelve last week, and some may label us over-protective. Oh, she's spent various weeks at Gramma's house, been on a sleepover or two, a Girl Scout overnighter. But away, up in the hills, without us?

I guess we both have some growing up to do.

And from the excitement on her face as she bounced down the lane toward her cabin, I'd guess that she is off to a great start.

A new favorite: The Tale of Despereaux

2007-09-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

Can I tell you just how much I love this book!

Eldest daughter read it earlier in the year, but youngest daughter only made it through the first few chapters before declaring it 'too sad.' (And this from a child who devoured the entire Series of Unfortunate Events.) I finally picked it up last night, looking for a quick and easy read.

Yes, it is a dark story. I can understand why my little one was hesitant to continue.

But the over-riding themes of love, hope, bravery, and forgiveness bring the characters full circle, giving us a very satisfying ending.

The girls and I were recently discussing how and why to forgive someone who has not apologized nor asked for forgiveness. We see a beautiful vision of this in Despereaux.

And the the Princess took a deep breath and put a hand on her heart.

And I think, dear reader, that she was feeling the same thing that Despereaux had felt when he was faced with his father begging him for forgiveness. That is, Pea was aware of how fragile her heart was, how much darkness was inside it, fighting, always, with the light. She did not like the rat. She would never like the rat, but she knew what she must do to save her own heart.

And so, here are the words that the princess spoke to her enemy.

She said, "Roscuro, would you like some soup?"

Good stuff.

I am feeling old

2007-09-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

My first born is twelve this week...

I am turning forty soon...

And American Girl considers me 'historical'.

He-he.

They keep me young

2007-09-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

AWANA started a couple weeks ago, and this is my sixth year as Director of Cubbies. At the moment, we have 41 three- and four-year olds registered. They are keeping us on our toes! We are careful to keep to a 6:1 ratio of kids to leaders, to help keep things running smoothly.

Eldest daughter is starting her final year of TnT, making this her ninth year of AWANA. That adage of time flying is so true! She is actually doing double activities this year, and she has also moved into middle school youth group. She has quite a schedule with which to keep up!

My youngest is in her second TnT book. This year they are rolling out new books for her level, which is a good thing as she has already memorized her sister's old second book. You gotta keep this super-memorizer on her toes! It will be good to give her a new challenge.

We are looking forward to a great year!

With book in hand

2007-09-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

You probably read that one in four read no books last year. And furthermore,
The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year - half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn't read any, the usual number read was seven.

Obviously, we here at Nose in a Book are taking up the slack for more than a few non-readers.

My mother-in-law used to be one of these. In the first twenty years I knew her, she never once cracked a book, magazine, or newspaper. Maybe because her husband had that habit of reading his books aloud to her. Or was it because of her lazy eye? I don't know. She watched a lot of television and surfed the internet, but no reading material.

A couple years ago she picked up a book written by a new friend and local author: Oregon trail adventure with a touch of romance. For the next several years, my mother read everything her friend wrote; no small order as Jane Kirkpatrick has turned into quite a prolific author.

And then my father in law passed away. It's been 15 months since we laid him to rest.

My mother-in-law? She was finishing book #77 for the year when we visited her last week.

Quite a turn around, no?

She is also active with her Red Hats club, having coffee with her girlfriends, doing some traveling. I know she grieves, but she is also finding her own way.

With a book, firmly in hand.

I can read again!

2007-09-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't been reading, or posting, much this summer. I'm not sure what drew me away, but I know one thing that is bringing me back ~ reading glasses. I have an odd prescription anyway, being near-sighted in one eye, far-sighted in the other, plus an astigmatism in one eye. Lately I've had to close my right eye to read. Maybe I should have bought an eye patch? Pirate-like? Yes?

No. So, with a fortieth birthday looming in the coming months, I made the appointment and picked up a new pair of spectacles.

I can read again!!!

First I polished off the third volume of The Lord of the Rings. Finally I know what happens to that infamous bit of jewelry!

Next up was a return to the Harry Potter series. As I have mentioned here before, I am a late comer to Hogwarts, having never had the desire to read these until my girls became interested in them. I read book 1 last summer, 2 & 3 this past spring, 4 & 5 over the summer, and I'm half way through book 6.

Also on the nightstand, Raymond Feist's Magician: Master. This is one of dh's books, but I thought I'd give it a try. It is interesting, but no LOTR.

For a family read aloud, and book club, we are reading Lloyd Alexander's Time Cat. This is my first taste of Alexander, and I think we'll be sticking around for more.

And finally, before the end of the year, I'd like to finish the Chronicle of Narnia series as a read aloud.

Flights of fancy? Escapism? Count me in!

Are We Failing Our Geniuses?

2007-09-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

From Time magazine:

People often wonder how to tell if their child is gifted. Truly gifted kids are almost always autodidacts.

This is so true with my youngest. She is just naturally learning all day long, and will pick up a science magazine or book just as often as a novel. Everything interests her, and she has a photographic memory and mind for details. People ask me how I teach her, but in many ways I really don't. I just provide materials or assignments, and try to get out of her way.

Not that I feel my youngest is genius material, or profoundly gifted. I do think she is very bright and quick to understand things. And that memory of hers is unbeatable. She is working several years ahead of her age/grade, and I am forever thankful to be able to homeschool her.

But back to the article...

I found it interesting how the reporter spent most of the article damning the system for how it has failed these kids, and positively building up this new "genius school" as a successful model, then in the closing paragraphs he derides the school as a "coddling academy" and decides the best approach is to fix our public schools. Yeah, fix the schools. We've heard this one before.

And another thing....don't get me started this morning....all this fuss about how homeschooling and elite private school "isolates" students, socially stunting them. Is public schooling immune to this outcome? Hardly. Does every student emerge from public school full of confidence, with a healthy self-esteem, and a passel of lifelong friends? Bah hum bug.

It is tough to nurture any student, low, average, or high IQ, within a "system".

Which is why I prefer a tailor-made education.

And so we bid adieu to summer

2007-09-13T17:29:00.001-07:00

Today was not our first day of school, nor the first day of autumn. But it was the first day that the morning clouds did not burn off, and mist hung in the air.

I love the smell of autumn.

---------------------------------------

We actually started our school year last Tuesday. Eldest daughter, 12 next week, found the phrase Algebraic Expressions on page one of her math text. I (silently) gulped, she grabbed her big pink eraser, and away we went.

Youngest daughter, the resident whiz kid, gave me her typical "I don't like school" before digging in with zeal.

The first few days went well, but we laid the books aside on Friday for one last summer blast.

The local amusement park, typically open just during the summer, opened their doors one last time for a homeschool bash. Eldest daughter quickly disappeared with a passel of friends. A half hour later I found her soaring through the air on some new contraption, a huge grin splitting her face.

Youngest daughter, the resident mild child, has always prefered the calmest of rides. This year, things were different.

"Mama, I want to try the Scrambler, but I'm kinda scared."

"Well," I reasoned, "why not watched it for a while and then decide- "

"No!" She stamped her foot. "I have to try it now!"

My eyebrows arched slightly at this unusual show of determination.

We boarded the ride; the spinning began.

And she screamed with laughter as her long hair whipped around her face.

"This is......wheeeeeeeeee.....the best ride.....wheeeeeeee....ever!"

For me too, honey, for me too.

I'm still here ~ just off enjoying summer

2007-08-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Still reading:
Harry Potter 4 and 5
- I'm a first time reader. Great mind candy for the summer.

Still viewing:
Harry Potter 4 (hated it!)

Still listening:
High School Musical soundtrack
- as the girls dance throughout the house

Still planning, a little:
We'll be starting 6th and 4th grades next month

Still on vacation:
See you in a couple weeks!

Summer Camp

2007-07-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Eldest Daughter and I recently returned from her first experience with overnight summer camp. I went along (overprotective mama bear here!) but I hid in the background, doing busy work helping the camp director. Eldest daughter didn't even talk to me until the last day.

She ended up having a blast and, surprisingly, so did I! Oh, the bus ride was a bit much. But once we got there I had a comfortable bed in a quiet cabin, three square meals per day which I neither cooked or cleaned, and plenty of free time to get some reading done.

A few observations:

- This camp was for 6-8 graders, and what a huge difference there are between these age extremes! The youngers rarely showered or cared about appearances, and their attention to the opposite sex was nil. Not so for the older kids!

- Which brings me to my next point: Ever been on a six hour bus ride with 50 unwashed middle schoolers? Yeah.

- I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire while I was there. I was curious to see if anyone gave me guff for reading it. All I got was a lot of What do you mean you're only on book four? Get busy!

- It was interesting to be a fly on the wall and observe my daughter with her peers. For the most part, she seemed to fit in fine and quickly bonded with her cabin mates. She did seem a little lost during free time when her group split to do separate activities, and she was unsure which way to go. I was a this way myself, back in the day, but I don't think she is as shy as I was. It takes a while to learn a group dynamic, and as homeschoolers this might be one area that we are 'behind' in. I'm not worried about it at all, as this is something that we be picked up with experience.

Ultimately, it was a great week for both of us, and Eldest daughter is already looking forward to next year. I'll probably send her on her own next summer, then tag along once again when Youngest Daughter is ready to go.

Kids keep you young!

Have you had the pleasure lately?

2007-07-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

...the unique pleasures of reading a novel: that increasingly rare opportunity to step out of sync with the world, to experience something intimate and private, the sense that you and an author are conspiring for a few hours to experience a place by yourselves...

From Harry Potter and the Death of Reading

And if that title doesn't drive you away, I dare you to click on the link. I'm not particularly wild about Harry myself, still slogging through book four. Why I am reading it? Curiosity? Peer pressure? Oh, mostly because it's simple fun, brain candy, if you will. Plus, I will not let my girls watch the movies until I have read the books. I've said it before: we are very slow to catch on to fads around here.

It's like Grease, without the sex and drugs

2007-07-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

We have a new obsession around here: High School Musical. Not having cable television, I guess we missed the hype and mania surrounding this one. Being 18-months behind the curve does have its advantages - we do not have to wait too long for the sequel, coming out next week. Of course, we still don't have cable...

Will HSM have the legs to stand the test of time? Nah. But it's good clean fun that the whole family can enjoy. The songs are catchy, the guy gets the girl, the villain is reformed, and they all live happily ever after.

And sometimes, that's just the sort of entertainment I love the most.

Whew! That's done...

2007-07-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

The girls took their end-of-year testing last weekend. Here is my very illogical take on testing, a peek inside my brain:

While driving to the test site:

"I hate making them take these things! Standardized test tell you nothing about what students have actually learned, or what they are capable of!"

After receiving their test results:

"Whoo-hoo! They are brilliant! I am a brilliant teacher!"

Yeah, I know. :)

Shop til you drop

2007-07-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Resource dropped a large box at our door this weekend. Mostly, it held Singapore workbooks, some for this year, some for next. (I had to get to that magical free-shipping level.)

Finding space on our shelves:

Jump In! - a new writing program from Apologia - I'm checking it out to use the year after next

Wordsmith Apprentice - for both girls to use next year

Traditional Logic from Memoria Press - I'm going to do the program myself this year before deciding when to present the material to the girls

Looking at Pictures - for our upcoming art studies

various Singapore texts for 4th, 5th, and 6th grades

Mindbenders B

No back orders, and delivery within 1 week of ordering. Kudos to Rainbow Resource!

To NOT read-aloud?

2007-07-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

My girls are quick to declare a new favorite book or movie the BEST ONE EVER!

Eldest-daughter's current passion: The Peter Pan prequels by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

I read the first fifty pages or so of Peter and the Starcatchers aloud to both girls, and we were all enjoying it. Eldest-daughter grabbed the book that night and proceeded to lose herself within the pages.

And I was more than happy to hand the book over. There are certain books that I love, but that I would rather not read aloud. Books with a lot of dialog, especially over-lapping dialog, are difficult for me to read aloud. Also, those that play with language or logic. I adore Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Phantom Tollbooth, but I had a hard time getting through them as read-alouds.

Other books I read ahead before letting them read on their own. (Censorship? A little, but it works in our home). Harry Potter for instance. Not great literature, but fun. If they want to read them, they may - after I am finished.

For read-alouds, I do much better with long, descriptive narratives, such as those in The Hobbit. If I may brag, even Hubby was entranced by my reading of Bilbo's tale, a story with which he is very familiar.

---------------------

Monday, Eldest-Daughter dove into Peter and the Shadowthieves, and will soon complete her first 500+ page novel. And for right now, the experience is all hers to enjoy.