Books of 2011

Most of what I read in 2011 was junior fiction.  I'm catching up on all the great books I didn't read when I was a kid and many books that have been published since I was a kid.  I was surprised to count 52 JF books read; just shy of one per week. 

I did also read some more "grown-up" titles; just not as many (14).  I began the year with some excellent C.S. Lewis; I enjoyed Suzanne Collins' trilogy over the summer (these were in the TEEN section of the library); and I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain.  I have loved everything that I've read by Elizabeth Goudge and Pilgrim's Inn was no exception, even though I read it out of series since her novels are hard to come by.  I read Animal Farm for the second time (the first was in highschool) and I still can't say anything great about it.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was very enjoyable once I got used to the format.  Golden Legacy, a book about the history of Western Publishing and their editors, authors and illustrators was quite interesting to me.  I've been slowly working through the five Father Brown mystery books by G.K. Chesterton, reading one a year on-line.  I suspect I'd read them much faster if I had a hard copy or something like a Kindle.  This year's The Incredulity of Father Brown has some of my favorite stories in it yet.  I was disappointed with both Burpo and DiStefano's visions of heaven and have been thinking about getting a newly published book, What The Saints Said About Heaven for next year.

poem by Arnold Lobel

Perelandra, C.S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis
Pilgrim's Inn, Elizabeth Goudge
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Golden Legacy, Leonard S. Marcus
The Silver Chalice, Thomas B. Costain
Heaven Is For Real, Todd Burpo/Lynn Vincent
Travel Guide To Heaven, Anthony DeStefano
The Incredulity of Father Brown, G.K. Chesterton

illustration by Edward Gorey

Junior Fiction:
The Middle Moffatt, Eleanor Estes
The Whipping Boy, Sid Fleischman
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare
The Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth George Speare
The 13 Clocks, James Thurber
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, Rachel Field
Miss Hickory, Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
The Bronze Bow, Elizabeth George Speare
The Boxcar Children 1-8, Gertrude Chandler Warner
Paddle-to-the-Sea, Holling C. Holling
Seabird, Holling C. Holling
Minn of the Mississippi, Holling C. Holling
Moon Over Manifest, Clare Vanderpool
The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo
Holes, Louis Sachar
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznik
Dominic, William Steig
Abel's Island, William Steig
My Father's Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett
The Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 1: The Capture, Kathryn Lasky
The Giver, Lois Lowry
Kneeknock Rise, Natalie Babbitt
The Search for Delicious, Natalie Babbitt
The Borrowers, Mary Norton
The Princess and the Goblin, George MacDonald
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Little Men, Louisa May Alcott
The Alley, Eleanor Estes
The Tunnel of Hugsy Goode, Eleanor Estes
A Series of Unfortunate Events 1-13, Lemony Snicket
Homer Price, Robert McCloskey
Centerburg Tales: More Adventures of Homer Price, Robert McCloskey

SO many good books.  I just love Eleanor Estes, Natalie Babbitt, Kate DiCamillo, and Elizabeth George Speare (especially The Bronze Bow).  The Holling C. Holling books are awesome with lots of interesting information and drawings.  I really learned a lot reading them!  The two William Steig chapter books that I read were very good (I'm not a huge fan of all his picture books).  Lois Lowry's The Giver was a profound book - I really could have included it with the "adult" novels, above.  It's definitely not for young readers, but it is in the junior fiction section.  It's a dystopian novel that made me want to pick up Aldous Huxley's Brave New World again (and I am happy to say I found a nice hardback copy of BNW at the library book sale and plan on reading it next year).  I had to re-read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH after the kids watched The Secret of NIMH on Netflix and I thought it wasn't quite right.  I also decided to pick up A Series of Unfortunate Events (we saw the movie a year or two ago) but have to say that the books got really tedious about halfway through.  Nevertheless, I'm glad I plodded along because the ending was great and I look forward to the related series that 'Lemony Snicket' has planned for 2012.  I also have to mention that The Invention of Hugo Cabret was awesome.  I read it long before I even knew they were making HUGO.  The movie was good and was faithful to the book, but the ending of the book was way cooler.  The other book to movies I can compare are Sachar's Holes - I can't say that I preferred one over the other; and Camillo's Desperaux - the book was much better.  I also enjoyed and plan on reading more of George MacDonald's and Louisa May Alcott's fiction next year.

Matthew Kelly

Last year during Advent I was blessed to go to Kansas with some lovely ladies for an evening called Advent by Candlelight.  One of the things I walked away with was a free book called Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly.  I was excited about this because a) it was a free book and b) I had listenend to two talks by Matthew Kelly on $3 CDs distributed by Lighthouse Catholic Media so I knew he was at least a good speaker.  Back when we ordered them, along with a few others, there were two available: Becoming The Best Version of Yourself and The Seven Levels of Intimacy.  Now, there are three more, including Our Lives Change When Our Habits Change, which I picked up today at a nearby parish kiosk for $3.  (Along with having more CDs available, the Lighthouse Catholic Media CD sleeves are prettier now).  I should order the other two, but first I need to read that book. 

 

Yeah.  It's been close to 6 months and I still haven't cracked it open...though I should have...because this year for Easter my own small parish gave out free copies of this book and all I could say was, "Oh, yeah.  I have a copy at home."  The next week an advertisement in the diocesan register catches my eye.  Matthew Kelly is going to be speaking in Nebraska.  I thought that was pretty cool, but wasn't serious about going.  The next week I read an article in the same register telling me how great the event "Living Every Day With Passion and Purpose" was going to be; but it was an hour drive and tickets were kind of pricey so I wasn't going to go.  Then I get an email from Janel, who I met at the aforementioned Advent By Candlelight.  She was part of the event planning committee and had tickets for sale.  I figured the third time's a charm and forwarded the info to my husband thinking he'd have something planned that weekend and couldn't watch the kids.  He emails me back:  Sounds good.  Sign up.

It was great.  Janel wrote about it here.  I agree with her that there was just too much to summarize and I'm relying on my notes...and his CDs... and his book (which I am finally reading).  God's been trying to get my attention through him for a while.  Guess I'd better listen.

photo book

I finally got our Family Vacation pictures put in a Shutterfly photo album.  This was my first photo book and I did it because I was able to use 3 offers:  50% off 12x12 photo books; Free Shipping on orders over $30; and a code worth $25 that I got for sharing my finished Christmas card.  You remember...the 50 free cards I got for shipping + tax for blogging about them.  So, my total for this photo book was the deal of the century:  $2.63.  Woo-hoo!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Books I read in 2010

Junior Fiction:
By The Shores of Silver Lake, Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Wind In the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
All Of A Kind Family, Sydney Taylor
Betsy-Tacy, Maud Hart Lovelace
Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt
The Chronicles of Prydain: The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The High King, Lloyd Alexander
Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes
Pinky Pye, Eleanor Estes
The Family Under The Bridge, Natalie Savage Carlson
The Moffats, Eleanor Estes
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo
Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo
The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder


Adult Non-Fiction:
Happy Are You Poor, Fr. Thomas Dubay
The Song of Bernadette, Franz Werfel
Siblings Without Rivalry, Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
Have A New Kid By Friday, Dr. Kevin Leman
Out of the Silent Planet, C.S. Lewis


Adult Fiction
The Lilies of the Field, William E. Barrett
My Antonia, Willa Cather
The Scent of Water, Elizabeth Goudge
Promises To Keep: A Family Close-Up, William E. Walsh
The Wisdom of Father Brown, G.K. Chesterton

I also read a thousand picture books and easy readers and am moving into chapter books that the kids are interested in.  Some of our more advanced books included a couple of horrible Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House #1-29, assorted Rainbow Magic Fairy books from the school library, and Beezus and Ramona.  Let's just say I'm glad we read these together.

James Thurber

One of our Caldecott Award books is Many Moons by James Thurber, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin. I've been told that James Thurber has some other delightful children's books like The 13 Clocks, The Great Quillow (currently OOP) and The Wonderful O.

Margaret Perry over at Little Lamb Books recently provided a link to James Thurber's The Unicorn In the Garden from his book, Fables For Our Time. Have you read it? Go ahead - or, if you'd prefer, you can watch it here. I looked for more...and I found The Princess and the Tin Box. Hil.ar.i.ous!

I'm posting this here because I know you don't all read my book blog and [sometimes] you need a laugh at the end of a Monday.

2009 book list

This year I read:

Holiness for Housewives, Hubert van Zeller
The Castle on the Hill, Elizabeth Goudge
A Landscape With Dragons, Michael O'Brien
Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry
Green Dolphin Street, Elizabeth Goudge
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Margaret Sidney
The Innocence of Father Brown, G.K. Chesterton
Emily's Runaway Imagination, Beverly Cleary
Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, Fr. Saint-Jure & St. Claude de la Colombiere
Wife, Mother & Mystic, Rev. Albert Bessieres
Real Learning; Education in the Heart of the Home, Elizabeth Foss
Catholic Education: Homeward Bound, Kimberly Hahn & Mary Hasson
How to Raise Good Catholic Children, Mary Reed Newland

Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II, George Weigel, (chapters 1-4 & 10)

winnings!

We were among the top scorers on the Holy Heroes Advent Adventure Quiz #1. Our prize? A free CD! We just ordered it, but I have to put in a plug for this music: Songs of Faith and Joy,. Holy Heroes isn't making me do this nor did they even ask me to. We have the original "Catholic Songs for Children" and "Sweet Mary" cassette tapes that these songs were originally released on and we love them! Now we'll be able to listen to the songs in our van, too. Hooray!

Also, and perhaps more exciting...I won last week's Great Monday Give at Vintage Kids Book My Kids Love! "Obsessively seeking vintage kids books of old to share with my son" sounds a lot like me, eh? I will be blogging about the great books we get over in Our Little Library in January.

Advent Adventure

Sacrifice beads* were highlighted on Holy Heroes Advent Adventure and I thought the girls were finally old enough to make their own (Thanks to Kristi for the beads and Andrea for the yarn):



Teresa chose a vibrant rainbow of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple followed by brown, black, gray and white for her ten beads. She used her St. Teresa of Avila and St. Rose of Lima medals on one end, a small crucifix at the other and wanted to use the brown yarn to lace them together. It is beautiful.

Catherine chose a random assortment of colors that struck her fancy and put them on purple yarn with a pretty cross at one end and two Miraculous medals at the other. It is unique as is Catherine.

I followed Teresa's lead and used the brown yarn and an assortment of jewel and pastel toned colors arranged in a modified rainbow order. My medals are (small) Our Lady of Perpetual Help / St. Gerard and (large) a medal I got when installed in the Archconfraternity of Christian Mothers at my parish. The front is an image of the Pieta and reads "MOST SORROWFUL HEART OF MARY, HAVE PITY ON US AND OUR CHILDREN" and the reverse is an image of St. Joseph with the Child Jesus that reads, "ST. JOSEPH POWERFUL INTERCESSOR, PRAY FOR US AND OUR CHILDREN"

We also made one for Anthony with green yarn and ten different green beads with a cross on one end and a Holy Spirit / Holy Family medal on the other. (His choices). I didn't get a picture of it because he lost it already. When we find it, we'll attach his blue carabiner clip to it like the ones Holy Heroes has for sale.

Holy Heroes also has the Catholic Treasure Box books newly available. I highly recommend this series for every Catholic bookshelf. We have all 20 since Grandma Q bought them when she was homeschooling. (Thanks, Grandma!) They are pricey, but The first 6 books are only $27 and contain the complete set of beautiful stories about St. Therese, "The Little Flower". Books 5 and 6 tell about how she was given her first set of sacrifice beads and learned how to make presents for God with them, helping her to become less selfish and more holy.

I hope they help us, too!

a few changes

First, I gave in and set up a Facebook account. It has been fun to catch up with some old friends and a little overwhelming at the same time. I do not plan on posting anything but BIG news there, myself and I am trying to be careful about who I'm "friends" with.

Second, in trying to maintain focus on this blog (friend and family-related stuff to share with family and friends), I went ahead and started (another) new blog: Our Little Library. If you're interested, there's a little gadget in the top left hand corner that you can use to click over to either blog.

In Our Big Backyard I write about our nature discoveries and what is happening on our (hobby) farm.

In Our Little Library I will have an outlet to share my excitement about the books we're reading - and I have to say that I'm pretty excited about the great background I found!

Seven Quick Takes (Vol. 6)

While I've been on my blogging break (sort of) I've made a few discoveries. We'll call this the discovery edition:

1) Aubrey's blog, Laughing All The Way- I've never met anyone who has kids who are the same ages and genders as my own!

2) Golden Gems - the kids look forward to reading these fun Golden Books. Sometimes I can use Ctrl+ on the main page to enlarge the thumbnails and they're readable, other times, I have to open each one and adjust the picture (Ctrl+ or Ctrl-) to fit the screen best. Enjoy!

3) The Young Learning Center at Learn Now BC - the kids also look forward to getting some computer time to "play" here. It's pretty good free on-line learning software. Roy the Zebra is also pretty cool for emergent readers, but it's not all free.

4) Another one for the kids: Max Lucado's Hermie and Friends. There are several of these we're able to Watch Instantly on Netflix. They're not as funny as VeggieTales, but are well done.

5) Father Michael Najim's blog, Live Holiness. His inspiring posts seem to be just what I need to read. It is a relatively new blog, created "...to encourage and inspire you to live your ultimate calling: holiness."

6) Elizabeth Goudge. Father V. asked me if I'd seen this movie (I haven't), and it's not available on Netflix (boo), so I checked out the book (after fininshing the last story in The Innocence of Father Brown and a garage sale find, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew) and I have had a hard time putting it down. The only thing that could enhance my enjoyment of Green Dolphin Street would be a little more knowledge of the French language. Most of Elizabeth Goudge's books are no longer in print and our library only has two others by her (The White Witch and The Scent of Water), so I'll be keeping my eye out for used copies of her novels and children's books like, The Little White Horse.

7) Glazed Fried Croissants. Honestly, this has to be the most unhealthy sounding breakfast sweet I've ever heard of. So, of course I grabbed one out of the most recent load of leftovers from CSS that our neighbor brought home (along with some apple fritters, which are still my favorite) and savored every bite. Hey, I'm pregnant!

A Picture Thought I'm Sharing:
I'd prefer to share a picture of the robin with the white crown who visited our bird feeder recently. I had never seen a Leucistic American Robin before, have you? It was an interesting discovery for me. Rather than a lovely bird, though, I have this photo of the possum we caught while trying to discover what is prowling about our chicken coop at night. It was humanely re-located.

storytime

Teresa has been reading the bedtime stories lately. I realize that it is a ploy to stay up later, but I really don't mind - she's reading! They were enjoying The Complete Adventures of Curious George by Margaret and H.A. Rey tonight. She wanted to read the WHOLE book - I didn't give in to that.



Of course, by linking to the book, I found this treasury to add to my Amazon Wish List: Curious George and Friends: Favorite Stories by Margaret and H.A. Rey. I've had Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys, Pretzel, Billy's Picture and Katy No-Pocket on my wish list for two years...here they all are in one book with more!

Seven Quick Takes (Vol.2)

ONE:

The girls finally got to paint! (Dad took the boys to a local auction last Saturday morning, so I wasn't afraid of an overwhelming mess). They painted "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge" Next, we mixed up some green and brown because they wanted to paint their play fort.

I have been discovering books that are based on real places. There really is a little red lighthouse and a great gray bridge in New York! We also discovered that the places in Boston that were featured in Make Way For Ducklings, are real, too. We went to a medeival German town in Once Upon a Dinkelsbuhl and flew across the English Channel with Louis Bleriot in The Glorious Flight. Teresa thinks it's great that these places are real, but she doesn't just want to look at them on the computer. She wants to go see them!) Maybe a Little House on the Prairie trip next summer. Do you have a favorite "real" book?

TWO:
If you let your kids watch The Swan Princess be prepared for them to pick up on a key phrase* from THIS SONG and sing that when it's time to do chores rather than THIS ONE or THIS ONE.

*the key phrase in "This is My Idea" is what the boy and girl sing alternately and then in chorus: "This isn't my idea...this isn't my idea...this isn't my idea of fun." NOT what I want the kids singing during clean-up time

THREE:
Adam has been reading up on and collecting (and making) beer and wine brewing supplies for the past year or so. He finally started his first batch of something: Mead. He also started his first batch of beer this weekend with a friend/co-worker. It is a wheat beer that is supposed to be similar to Blue Moon's Belgian White. I've requested that his next batch be something that tastes like the Empyrean Brewing Co.'s Oatmeal Stout. Michaela should be born by then...

FOUR:
Adam took the kids with him on Saturday so I could visit Jennie and do some shopping. I found lots of cute NB winter clothes for Michaela and I think that I should have everything I need for her, now. I also bought a few new footed pjs for Anthony and winter coats for the girls at Once Upon a Child. I'm glad I didn't have the kids because it is one of those stores you have to be careful in. One cute sleeper will be $2.50 and the next one that is the exact same style and brand will be $4.50.

Speaking of shopping carefully, I had a lovely time browsing at Adoremus Books . I could have spent a LOT of money, there, but kept it under $50...with a $10 off coupon. I also got to pick out a free prayer coin and was especially drawn to this one. Two new books that I'm excited to have are Mary Reed Newland's The Year and Our Children and Hubert van Zeller's Holiness for Housewives. Have you read this book?

The girls want to learn how to play the piano, so I stopped at a few music stores. I learned with Bastien's Piano Basics but instead of using my Primer, which I started with in 3rd grade, I bought Piano for Young Beginners Primers A and B. It was kind of fun to browse through a music store again.

While I was in town, I decided to pop into Michaels to get some things for the kids to make plaques to hold their Rosaries (I was inspired/reminded by the Wooden Rosary Holder Kit's I had seen at Adoremus Books.) For less than $4/kid, rather than $7.50, everyone will have their own. It will be a Sunday afternoon craft project and they should be ready by October, the month of the Rosary. I also found a cute Mary Engelbreit calendar for our school room and when I was done there, I walked over to Schlotzky's to enjoy a (Medium) Original Deluxe. It was 956 calories, but YUM!

FIVE:
When I was working with the girls on something last week, Anthony asked if he could go outside to get the truck he'd left out yesterday. I told him yes and Stephen said, "Me go too, okay?" with a tilt of the head and his very serious look. I let him go, but apparently he didn't. Instead, he took a Sharpie *gasp* from Daddy's drawer and did some decorating downstairs:

slip-covered couch and cushion


coffee table and daddy's chair


shoe shelf and, of course, himself.

Anyone know of a magic trick to get permanent marker out of upholstery or finished wood?

SIX:
I read this quote by Blessed Mother Teresa at the bottom of a forwarded email. "The success of love is in the loving - it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done." I've never heard that one before.

SEVEN: Some friends came over for dinner on Sunday night. Shannon is due about a week after me and Catherine asked, "Are you going to have a baby, too?" Shannon affirmed this and Catherine observed, "Your baby is bigger than ours." We both laughed. My babies have all been small (<7lbs) and I never look as big as I feel. Another mother whom I met up with recently, due in January, observed that she is already bigger than me, as well...as I'm sure most of the expectant moms I know are or soon will be.

A PICTURE THOUGHT I AM SHARING:
(I hope no one is offended by this...you're all moms and things like this happen all the time in your house too, right?) Stephen is spending much more time here lately. He has woken up dry and kept his training pants dry for a few days, now! I wasn't really expecting it, so I haven't been counting...but it looks like Stephen will be out of diapers by the time Michaela is born!

Seven Quick Takes (Vol. 1)

I'm not going to commit to doing this on Fridays, or even weekly - I'm just going to write about 7 things that come to mind as I have time and post when it's full. "Big News" will still get a separate post.

ONE: My reading of Witness to Hope has come to an abrupt halt as I have finally had to return it to the library. This is a book, to quote Sir Francis Bacon, that it is one of the "...few to be chewed and digested: that is, ...to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention." I read the first four chapters and Chapter 10. This is a book that will be on my shelf someday, dog-eared and underlined. Now is not the time for it, though.

TWO: During a recent thunderstorm:
Catherine: If you get hit by lightning, will you die?
Dad: Yes, most people who get hit by lightning die.
(mom interjects to diffuse the conversation before it ends in tears): but sometimes things like getting hit by lightning or getting bit by a spider gives you superpowers, but that doesn't happen very often. I don't know any superheroes.
Dad: I'm a superhero.
Catherine: No, you're not.
Dad: Anthony thinks I'm a superhero.
Catherine: I think you're just an old man.

THREE: I read these quotes on a homeschooling forum and wanted to share them with all mothers who are teaching their very young children at home every day:

"All who undertake to teach must be endowed with deep love, the greatest of patience, and, most of all, profound humility. They must perform their work with earnest zeal. Then, through their humble prayers, the Lord will find them worthy to become fellow workers with him in the cause of truth. He will console them in the fulfillment of this most noble duty, and finally, will enrich them with the gift of heaven." - St. Joseph Calasanz

"A roof to keep out the rain. Four walls to keep out the wind. Floors to keep out the cold. Yes, but home is more than that. It is the laugh of a baby, the song of a mother, the strength of a father. Warmth of loving hearts, light from happy eyes, kindness, loyalty, comradeship. Home is first school...for the young ones where they learn what is right, what is good, and what is kind. Where they go for comfort when they are hurt or sick. Where joy is shared and sorrow eased. Where fathers and mothers are respected and loved. Where children are wanted. Where the simplest food is good enough for kings because it is earned. Where money is not so important as loving-kindness. Where even the teakettle sings from happiness. That is home." - Ernestine Schumann-Heink

FOUR: Some friends of ours are building a house nearby and Adam went to help them other evening. Anthony joined their boys imitating their fathers: smoothing out the concrete. These boys may not be in pre-school, but there is some real learning going on, here.

They have a blog that we can use to follow their progress as we read: What's it like to be a...HOME BUILDER by Kira Daniel and hopefully we'll have a few more opportunitites to get some 'field trips' in.

FIVE: I know that homeschooling is right for us this year, but it is not easy. With fondness I look at my friends "first day of school" posts and read about how much their children love their new school, new teacher and new friends. By comparison, our first day of school was...not something to blog about. The grass is always greener...but there are a lot I don't miss about school. It was was not perfect and there were a lot of things that made that green grass taste bitter to me.

I love that homeschooling frees me to make what I feel are the the best choices for my young kids' growth and development as individuals, whether it is what they eat, hear, read, or watch, and to be able to celebrate the year, seasons, and feasts as a family.

SIX: We use disposable diapers overnight and this morning Stephen decided to swing his around by one of the tabs on the way from the bedroom to the bathroom trashcan. It busted open and I had quite a mess to clean up. School started a little late.

SEVEN: Anthony is really enjoying the book, Johnny Appleseed, a tall tale retold and illustrated by Steven Kellog. He's been walking around singing, "John the apple seed". I was excited to find a smiliar book, Pecos Bill, a tall tale retold and illustrated by Steven Kellogg at the Friends of the Library bookstore. I searched the shelves and actually found 15 new books (3/$1 = $5). Most were "educational" in nature, such as Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki. A few were little treasures to me:

A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry
Little Bear's Friend, but Else Holmelund Minarik
Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
a library bound copy of Ten Apples Up On Top by Theo LeSieg aka Dr. Seuss, whose sometimes altered his name, Theodore Geisel.
and a hardback copy of The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift

Finally, incorporating this addition from The Simple Woman's Daybook:
Here Is A Picture Thought I'm Sharing:
The boys are working on the alphabet. Anthony arranged these in order from 52 randomly shuffled alphabet cards and only needed a little bit of help.

garage sale...

I pulled out all my little girl "winter" clothing and found...not much. So, when we were in town on Friday I decided to look at a few garage sales. I picked up a few really nice 12-18 month clothes at one for next winter and found about half a dozen "Newborn" sleepers to bring my total up to 8. I saved plenty of clothes in every other size (including 0-3 month, which are bigger than the 'newborn' size I needed) but realized that I didn't have much in the way of newborn sized warm sleepers because my girls were both born in the summer and pretty much wore onesies (of which I saved the best 1/2 dozen + 2 preemie sized ones) So...I have 8 onesies, 8 sleepers and 8 blankets, which is just a little more than I think I need. I even have a 0-3 month Baby GAP coat, but these are so much easier - and warmer overall. Now I just need to find something pretty, warm, and comfortable for her to wear to Mass.

While I was looking through clothes, the kids spotted a bin of Beanie Babies for $0.50 each. I told them they could each pick one out and if they behaved I'd buy it for them. Here are the toys they picked out: Can you guess which one belongs to which child? The answers are in the comments.



I picked up a few "toys" for myself, too. I found a hardback collection of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, illustrated by him and two paperback books: Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, and Five Little Peppers Midway. I know there's a whole series of books about the Five Little Peppers, but that's all she had.

a few things

I've been clearing out the house. Lots of paper memories, clothing, stuff from the kitchen and stuff from the attic (who wants an ice-cream maker?) and especially stuff from our clutter-magnet room: the computer/school room. I could bore you with a list of all the stuff that I've managed to let go of, but instead, I'll bid a fond farewell to my favorite T-shirt for the last 10 years. (Anyone else still have their Padre '99 shirt?) It will get some final use as a grease rag in the garage.

If you have small children who are easily influenced, you may want them to leave the room before scrolling down to the next picture. I'll take up some space with my great new idea:

The girls don't put away their stuff and it has been driving me crazy! I couldn't see the floor in their room on Saturday so I cleaned it out. Books went back to the (locked) closet. Clothes went in the hamper to be washed (and reduced in number). Toys went in a bucket under MY bed. The kids want something - they have to earn it back. Catherine picked up Anthony's train track (which is now confiscated for the week because he wouldn't pick it up) and got to pick out a toy. The girls cleaned up the porch and everything that had been thrown off the porch and each got to pick out a toy. I figure if I keep cleaning up their room - they'll lose enough stuff and in earning it back, the cleaning they do around the house will come out in my favor! Either that, or they'll learn to put away their stuff - and that wouldn't bother me much, either.

Now, Teresa is usually my "alternative" artist, but today Catherine was inspired to use Stephen as her canvas:

Stickers. Yum.

Finally, since we've been helping Stephen learn to sleep in the bottom bunk (Anthony loves being on the top bunk) the girls have been camping out on a couple of crib mattresses on the floor to keep him company:

You probably wouldn't notice a book on one of those mattresses if I didn't point it out, so I will. It is called Kipper's A to Z by Mick Inkpen and is a clever little alphabet story. Stephen has been devouring counting and alphabet books from the library. We all really liked this one. Check it out if you can.

summer entertainment

Maria von Trapp suggests a Lenten Reading Program of something for the mind, something for the soul and something for the heart. I have thought of slightly adapting this so that I have available something intellectual, something spiritual, and something just for fun to read.

I recently finished reading Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence by Fr. Saint-Jure & St. Claude de la Colombiere (although I will never be done with this book). Next on my list for spiritual reading is, Happy Are You Poor: The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom by Thomas Dubay. I just have to buy it - a belated birthday present to myself.

Taking a break from reading about homeschooling for my "intellectual" book, I just started (slowly) working my way through: Witness to Hope - The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel. The librarian anticipated that I'll be renewing this 1008 page book a few times before I finish it. We recently watched Witness to Hope - The Life of John Paul II, and the Polish history, in particular, interested me since I have close to 50% Polish heritage from both of my grandmothers. (We are also currently watching Pope John Paul II)

For fun, I am reading an occasional Father Brown mystery. I have read the first 6 from The Innocence of Father Brown. They are really quite good but I expect that it will take me all year to read these on-line. If I had it in print, though, I'd probably never put it down. This complements my favorite Netflix "Watch Instantly" 1/2-hour program, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (which you can also watch here on hulu, which we just heard about).

So, 1)what are you reading? and 2) do you do watch hulu?

reading

OK - he's not really reading - he is singing - because he has this song-book memorized. It is also one of Stephen's favorites. The kids went out in the morning to eat mulberries (if you look closely, you'll see mulberry stains on Anthony) but the hot and humid weather drove them indoors before lunch...providing these boys an opportunity to bond with each other over one of their favorite books. God's will, indeed!

weather

Yesterday, I was tempted to post about the change in weather this week - from warm and pleasant to hot and humid. Then I remembered what I read a few weeks ago in Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence. Since it available to read on-line HERE, I will refer you to Chapter III, 1. In the Natural Incidents of our Daily Lives, where Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure writes,

"We should wish with the divine will for heat and cold, storm and calm, and all the vagaries and inclemencies of the elements. We should in short accept whatever kind of weather God sends us, instead of supporting it with impatience or anger as we usually do when it is contrary to what we desire."

Truly, I have a long way to go in learning conformity to His will!

two and a half

Stephen's half birthday was yesterday. He was born almost exactly 4 and a half years after Catherine. He is all about reading board books over and over and over... He likes the Byron Barton books, many of our Eric Carle (and/or Bill Martin Jr.) books, and song & nursery rhyme books. I am thankful that Catherine and Teresa are willing to read & sing these to him because after 4 or 5 times in a row, I am ready to go clean the toilets.

We celebrated with ice cream sundaes at the Zesto where Grandma used to work. We also visited the Sunken Gardens in spite of a few rain showers...







...then headed across the street to see the BIG "waterfall" outside the Lincoln Children's Zoo.



Finally, we visited with some of Adam's extended family because his grandparents were in town for Father's Day. Adam has some older cousins and one was there with his twins and another with his triplets. Another cousin, who also has twins was not there. I have a friend who is expecting twins, our neighbors across the road have triplets and there is also a set of twins in Catherine's class. With all this exposure to multiple babies, Catherine is a little jealous - "Why don't you have two babies in your tummy, mom?"



Sorry, honey. God only put one in my tummy - like this water lily in one of the Sunken Garden fish ponds - the only one in bloom.

Teresa (and Catherine's) tooth

Yesterday, Teresa lost her first tooth! As when Catherine lost her first tooth, Teresa was sick. She didn't have the flu, though. She swallowed some lake water on Sunday along with a nasty bug that resulted in over 24 hours of (lovely) vomiting...in the van...in her bed...and all over the bathroom. Her tooth fell out on the road to recovery, though, so we got a smile.



Her second bottom tooth is loose, too. Catherine is working on her 7th loose tooth. You may have noticed, last year, that when Catherine was sick and lost her first tooth, Teresa was also sick with a bladder infection. Similarly, Catherine has an infection in her mouth (complete with swollen glands and fever) that warranted a Memorial Day visit to our dentist, who is, thankfully, a friend. He gave us a medicated oral rinse, deferring the use of antibiotics unless it doesn't clear up in a week. This year, however, I am not whining as much as I did last year. I have been reading "Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence" by Fr. Saint-Jure & St. Claude de la Colombiere and it is making a big difference in my outlook.