Reading Challenge!

Jennifer at Snapshot has issued a reading challenge!

We already spend quite a lot of reading time, partly because Sass and I now read real books together, and partly because we read our school books together. The challenge made me start thinking though, and I realized that I've completely gotten away from reading the shorter and more colorful picture books to Sass. And I definitely need to get back to them. She loves picture books of all sorts!

I intend to use this challenge to read more non-chapter, non-school related books to Sass. I'll be posting updates of what we've read to see how we're doing.

Spyder may or may not be included in this challenge. He usually stops in and listens whenever I'm reading to Sass, no matter what the book. He may only be eight years old,

("Eight and a half, Mom! I'm eight and a half!")

but he's an excellent reader and can read pretty much anything he wants. He reads an average of three books a day, and that doesn't include when we're reading aloud already.

We did read some today, but my official challenge begins tomorrow, with blankies on the couch and a water bottle at my side!

Who says you can't learn anything from television?

SASS: Moooom, I hafta go peeps!

ME: Okay, let's go.

SASS: I hafta go because caffeine is a diuretic.

ME: (very curious) So, what exactly is a diuretic?

SASS: It's something that makes you go peeps! It's in sodas and coffee and tea and stuff.

ME: Well, yeah, that's right. So how exactly did you learn that caffeine is a diuretic?

SASS: (looking exasperated at my idiocy) Arthur, of course!

ME: Well, of course. How silly of me.

SASS: I know.

Jim Weiss

A couple of people have asked me about Jim Weiss since I mentioned him in my homeschooling meme.

As I said before, I absolutely love his recordings. His voice is just simply enchanting. Sitting in my living room, I can actually feel as if I'm sitting in a great hall, listening to someone weave a story for a court. We listen them in the car, but my children are also perfectly happy to listen to them while we're putting puzzles together or coloring or baking cookies.

I've just realized that the clips featured in the brochure on his website are quite long, about four minutes, and it gives a good idea of what the recordings are like. We have several of the CDs (and I'm always coveting more), but the ones that my children seem to like best are Fairytale Favorites (they like Puss in Boots in particular) and Greek Myths.

Another of the great things about his selections is just that there is such a variety. Mythology, classic fairy tales, tall tales, history, the sciences . . . they're all available, and it's just so easy to get my children interested about learning with his tales.

I ordered three more CDs from Overstock.com about two weeks ago. The tracking number showed them to be less than 20 miles from my house for three days before I got them. Three days! For those three very long days, I felt like I was stalking the mail lady.

Wander on over to his website, browse through the online catalog, and give him a listen. It's worth it!

Homeschool meme

Shamelessly lifted from Mary at Owlhaven

1) One homeschooling book you have enjoyed.

The Unschooling Handbook. It was one of the first that I read cover-to-cover. It was a good one to start with because it made me think, "I can do this!"

2) One resource you wouldn’t be without.
If I have to name only one, it would be the internet. But really, the internet and the library are tied for first place. The internet one-ups the library because I research what I want/need then head to the library to get it!

3) One resource you wish you had never bought.
Loads of things, but the biggest disappointment was the Abeka Kindergarten curriculum. It was an utter waste. We abandoned it after, oh, two weeks, and we've never looked back.

4) One resource you enjoyed last year.

Jim Weiss. Love him, love him, love him! I can't recommend his recordings highly enough. Both of my children are absolutely mesmerized when listening to him.

5) One resource you will be using next year.

Learning Through History Magazine. I had a subscription last year, and I let it lapse because . . . well, just because. I didn't have a reason. I ran across the magazines when I was cleaning the bookshelves this week, and I remembered how much we enjoyed it. I have it on my calendar to renew it next month.

6) One resource you would like to buy.

Rosetta Stone German. We downloaded the trial version, and Spyder and I have both enjoyed it. I'm saving to buy it for next year since it's kinda pricey.

7) One homeschooling catalog you enjoy reading.

Sonlight. I've always been very pleased with their reading recommendations, and I get load of great ideas.

8.) One homeschooling (educational) website you use regularly.
Does Google count? It's probably the one site that I use every single day, whether I'm looking up "preschool cutting activities" for Sass or "weapons in World War I" for Spyder.

9) Tag other home schoolers.

Well, Tara is tagged since she's the only homeschooling blogger I know!

Dad-isms

My dad is quite a character, particularly when it comes to his speech. He's truly part of the old South, and his language is as colorful as any you can imagine.

He has quite a few phrases that I consider "his." Here are a few of them, along with a translation for those who haven't had the pleasure of hearing them in person.

Phrase: You ain't done it.
Meaning: I know you're fibbing, so 'fess up. (Doesn't have to refer to a particular activity; can also refer to thoughts or ideas.)

Phrase: What does that have to do with the price of eggs in China?
Meaning: You've brought in excess drivel. Get back to the topic at hand.

Phrase: Six of one, half a dozen of another.
Meaning: Whatever. It's all semantics. Also, it doesn't matter.

Phrase: What about it?
Meaning: Hey, how's it going?

Phrase: I said if this weather continues there's going to be a whole lot of it.
Meaning: I didn't want you to hear what I said. (He always says this if you ask him to repeat something.)

Phrase: Me neither too also.
Meaning: Yeah; I agree with that.

Phrase: I don't know. My brother went to school that day.
Meaning: I don't know the answer.

Phrase: You stepped in what?
Meaning: I didn't hear what you said.

No vampires here

My personal cooking philosophy: If it doesn't have garlic, it must be dessert.

I always joke about this, but I'm beginning to think it must be true. I'm having a Southern Living at Home party tomorrow night, and I've been doing the cooking for it.

I'm serving the following:

Crab & Artichoke dip
Deviled eggs
Sweet & Sour meatballs
Crudite platter with two or three different dips

Every single recipe has garlic. My mom's deviled egg recipe didn't call for the garlic, but I've started adding it anyway, along with a little bit of Emeril's original seasoning mix to give it a little bit of kick.

The cooking is my favorite part of hosting. I always try out something new or make something that I don't take time for very often. The new recipe for this time is the Sweet & Sour meatballs. Deviled eggs take so much time that I don't bother with them usually. Skeeter is always pleased when we host something since he gets to nibble beforehand and feast on the leftovers afterward.

I wish I had a self-cleaning house. I'd host just about every day!

Another kind of sneaking around

Tonight Skeeter and I had a rare completely child-free moment. We had dropped both children at their respective classes at church, and neither one of us were required to be anywhere.

Skeeter suggested that we take advantage of this rare hour alone and head to Starbucks, our favorite grown-up treat spot for our usual, a decaf non-fat toffee nut latte. It sounds pretentious even to us, but it's what we like.

While we were sitting at the traffic light, I said, "You know what I really want? I want Peanut Butter & Chocolate ice cream from Baskin Robbins."

Skeeter turned and looked at me with wide eyes. "Am I allowed to change my mind? 'Cause if I can, I'm in with you for the good stuff. And I won't even have to share!"

I have a goal

And here it is: the Dyson Animal Vacuum. I haven't decided if I prefer the DC07 or the DC14 though.

I've been racking up the points at My Points lately (Land's End and Overstock.com love me), so I figured I'll save up my points to get the vacuum! I'd never be able to spend $500 on a vacuum otherwise. And I seriously doubt that Skeeter would even let me.

I was using them to get Barnes & Noble gift certificates for me, and Starbucks gift certificates to give as Christmas gifts to friends. No more!

For the moment, I'm 1/5 of the way to earning my new vacuum. Friends, I predict that you will receive loads of gifts via Overstock.com. They give 10 points per dollar! :o)

Happy Valentine's Day!

When I was little, my mom always had a small gift waiting for me on Valentine's Day, so I do the same with my children.

As you can see, we don't go all out, either with gifts or packaging, but I think they like them. :) And it's really more the thought than anything else.

Spooks

Skeeter and I have been hooked on a British spy series called Spooks. Here in the US, I'm told that it's broadcast on A&E as MI-5. We've been renting the series through Netflix though, since television watching at our house is spotty at best.

We just finished the last disc of season 4 last night, and even four seasons in it's still the best spy drama that I've seen!

If spy drama is your thing, definitely check out MI-5. Oh yes, and if at all possible, watch them in order! :)

Just when you need it

Saturday I had a horrible headache. It was probably a migraine, but since I've never officially been diagnosed with migraines, I'll just say it was a really bad headache. I got up at my usual time, but I let the children sleep in. They had gone to a birthday party Friday night, and they got to bed very late, so I figured that they deserved it.

I was feeling pretty good when I got up, and I got loads of things done. By the time they got up at 10ish, I wasn't feeling so good. By 1 pm, I was in the bed (nap position), a cloth over my eyes to block out the light, praying that I wouldn't throw up.

Skeeter had to work, so it was just the children and me. And as any mom knows, children are notoriously needy exactly when you don't need them to be. Just think . . . when you're on the phone, aren't your children drawn to you like magnets? Yeah. Mine are too.

This particular day though, my children really and truly were the angels I needed them to be. Just before I went to lie down, I told them how I was feeling and how very, very important it was for me to rest a bit. I don't know if it was the thought of a bit of Mommy-produced regurgitation or if I looked as bad as I felt, but their behavior was exactly what I needed it to be.

I had crawled onto the bed without my throw. Sass got it for me. She also got the cloth to cover my eyes because it hurt that bad. After I was settled and trying to regulate my breathing so that it would hurt less, Spyder asked Sass if she wanted to go into the living room and watch Scooby Doo with him. As they were walking away I heard her say, "We need to make sure it's turned down really low since Mama's head hurts bad."

sniff

Of course, today it was back to the usual, "Moooooommm! Sass is in my room!" and "Mama! Spyder took my ______!" But it was nice to have them so thoughtful and cooperative when I really needed it.

Friday Fact

Something about me that you probably don't know:

I was in Germany in November 1989 when the Berlin Wall crumbled.

My grandmother is German, and we were there visiting her family. Until a few years ago, she would visit every two or three years. She'd leave in September, just in time for her hometown's Wine Festival, and she'd return just before Thanksgiving. I had saved and saved for a year to be able to afford the trip. Plus I had to get permission for a leave from my college so that I could keep my scholarship. It was so incredibly, absolutely worth it.

We had visited the East German/West German border only a few weeks before that November event, and I will never forget how intimidating it was to be in that place with the cleared ground, barbed wire, and armed guards in the tower. When the Fall came just a few weeks later, I had a better understanding of the relief that the East Germans felt.

The Michael

The children and I spent the day with Michael, one of my dearest and oldest friends. Michael is just like family, so much so that we tend to refer to each other as brother and sister. Our history is so long and inclusive that most of the time it's just easier to refer to each other that way rather than explaining our relationship.

When Spyder was little, Michael half-heartedly attempted to get Spyder to call him "Uncle Michael." That never took for Spyder, but he did take to calling him The Michael. Neither one of us knows how that came about, but it's stuck. Even now, Spyder and Sass both refer to him as The Michael. I can't explain how, but it's even capitalized in their voices. Michael signs all of his cards and postcards to them as "The Michael."

Michael has had work issues recently, and his schedule has been very erratic. I don't think we'd seen him since Christmas, so when he emailed on Wednesday, we all jumped at the chance to hang out today. Spyder must have even dreamed about it because when I woke him up this morning, I could hear him (still asleep) muttering, ". . . pizza with The Michael . . . ."

It was quite an excellent day. We met at the Pizza Cafe for an early lunch, then zipped over to the bargain theatre to see Flushed Away. After the movie, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the children's museum. Nothing overly exciting, or even unusual, other than we normally don't do all of those in one day, but it was incredibly nice to have a day to hang out with The Michael.

Bookin' on . . .

Southern Girl has posted another meme that I absolutely couldn't pass up -- books.

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? Any and all, but for feel, I prefer trade paperbacks or hardcovers. Trade paperbacks are my favorite because they're the easiest to hold one-handed.

Amazon or brick and mortar? Brick and mortar, but I buy online often. I just find so much great stuff while browsing at the store.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? Barnes & Noble. I've never been impressed with our Borders store (the only one I've ever visited).

Bookmark or dogear? Neither. I just remember the page number.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? I used to have the organized by genre, then alphabetically by author within each genre. Children have cured me of that, although our DVDs are still arranged alphabetically.

Keep, throw away, or sell? Entirely depends on the book. Some I keep, some I sell, and some I donate to the library. I'd rather cut out my tongue than throw one away.

Keep dustjacket or toss it? Keep, definitely.

Read with dustjacket or remove it? I read hardcovers with the dustjacket on. It bothers me when it's not on.

Short story or novel? Novel, hands down.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? Generally, I prefer a collection to an anthology. Anthologies seem disjointed to me.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter. I've never really cared for the Lemony Snicket series.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? I seldom stop at chapter breaks. I generally read until I get to a point that seems to be a natural break, and that almost never happens at the end of the chapter.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”? Either one, really, but it all depends on my mood.

Buy or Borrow? Depends on what kind of book it is. Some I want to keep, but if it's one that I'm probably never going to read again, I'd rather borrow it.

New or used? I usually buy new, but used is fine as long as it doesn't smell.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? Browsing or recommendations.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? Neat and tidy ending, thank you. A cliffhanger within a series is fine, but I am not okay with a series that has no definite ending.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Nighttime, simply because that's when I have the most "me" time.

Standalone or series? My favorite books are standalone, but I read series books as well.

Favorite series? Harry Potter comes to mind first. It's been the one long series that I haven't gotten tired of reading. I did have a bit of a hiccup with the fifth book, but all was redeemed with the sixth. I'm both anticipating and dreading the seventh.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith. It's my favorite book in the whole wide world.

Favorite books read last year? A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel; Montmorency by Eleanor Updale; Queen of the Oddballs by Hilary Carlip; Bloody Jack by LA Meyer

Favorite books of all time? Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith; A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman

The Devil in the Junior League

The Devil in the Junior League shows us the life of Fredericka Mercedes Hildebrand Ware (Frede to her friends), a pampered and privileged Texas socialite. Her picture-perfect world falls apart the day that she comes home to find another woman in her house who claims to be pregnant -- by Frede's husband.

This book falls firmly into the "Chick Lit" category, and I picked it up on a whim. It's not my usual book fare.

Despite her privileged status, Frede is a good person at heart. She does have some class prejudices, but she recognizes them for what they are. She isn't cruel with those prejudices, unlike many of her peers. She is flawed (who isn't?), but Frede is a likable character, which is what I really liked about the novel. Even though I quickly realized that this book really wasn't my style, Frede herself was the reason I continued to read it.

Recommended only for those who enjoy the "Chick Lit" genre.

Unplanned haitus

Since it's been almost a week since my last post, I offer the following bullet points.

• Spyder was in a bible quiz competition on Saturday. OH MY GOSH. It lasted for five hours. Five hours! Sass was with me, and she did very well for the first four hours of it. By the last hour though, she had had enough. I confess: I let her watch Strawberry Shortcake on the portable DVD player. I am not a person who encourages that sort of thing, but we had colored, written, drawn, and played finger games for the previous four hours. We were tired of being there (and getting a bit tired of each other, to be honest). Spyder did well in his competition though, and our church placed second! Spyder had worked very hard on it, and I was really proud of him.
  
• Skeeter worked at a math competition on Saturday so he didn't get to go to the bible quiz. He was the data entry person for the competition, and he was the one who entered all of the scores and printed out the certificates. He was just as tired as the rest of us when it was over.
• Our internet was out from Saturday night to Monday night, and it was both frustrating and liberating.
  
• I am hooked on a new game, JewelQuest.
  
• Sunday's sermon was absolutely wonderful, on being an encouraging person. I didn't have a big epiphany during it, but it certainly was a good sermon for me to hear.
  
• Spyder and I cleaned out his closet yesterday, and it looks good! Next is Sass's closet, but that's a much bigger job. I'm dreading it.
• We spent the afternoon at a homeschool swim/play time, and everyone is still and quiet. Loving it! :o)
  

You know you're a parent when

. . . you give out a business card with additional information written in crayon.

. . . you are the recipient of said business card, and you didn't even think anything was out of the ordinary.

Well said

Sarah at In the Midst of It has an absolutely beautiful post on motherhood. I'm still astounded at how accurately it reflects my life.

I don't regularly read her blog, but I ran across the address in the bookmarks on my old computer. I truly, wholeheartedly believe that that supposedly random act was God-inspired.

I needed it today. Do yourself a great service and read it.