Jacqueline's Jabberings

A Challenge for you for 2012 - Commit to spending more time reading the Bible in 2012

2012-01-02T20:07:00.002-03:30

I'd like to challenge YOU to commit to spending more time reading the Bible in 2012.

I presented the same challenge January the 1st 2011. I also offered a side challenge to commit to reading the Bible through, not necessarily all the way through in 2011, but however long it took. Did you take up either challenge? If so, how did you fair in meeting your challenge? Are you still working on that goal? If you struggled or gave up, don't knock yourself out for it. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get to it again. You don't have to start right from the beginning again if you don't want to. Start where you left off and keep going from there.

Last year I shared that in the past my kids and I have used a chart, something like this one http://www.matthewweathers.com/year2006/images/Bible_Reading_Record.pdf to help us work towards the goal of reading the Bible through. Print it out, fold it and tuck it into your Bible and mark of the chapters as you read them. No requirement to read a certain amount or in a certain order, just mark of each chapter as you read it. You'll be able to see at a glance if there is something you haven't read yet and need to make a special effort to read. You'll feel so proud of yourself when you finally have all the chapters marked off, even if it does take you years to do it. :)

If you have an Iphone, Ipad, or just about any other smart phone or tablet you can download an app to help you track your Bible reading. My favorite app is the YouVersion Bible app. You can access the Bible in a number of different versions and you can also access a number of different Bible reading plans. I like to use the Whole Bible plans because they actually take you through the whole Bible. When you choose a plan to follow you are given a portion of scripture to read each day and as you finish each portion and click to proceed to the next portion the app checks off the portions you have read. You can easily go slower or faster than suggested by simply reading more or less.

If all you have is a computer or laptop, you can also use YouVersion at http://www.youversion.com/.

If you are interested in learning more about how to use the appor site, I'd be glad to help with any questions you might have. If you'd like someone to challenge you or hold you accountable to keeping going, I'd be happy to pray for you and encourage you. I would love to help you get into the Word of God.

Since doing the Bible in 90 Days Challenge the summer of 2010, Bible reading has become even more of a normal part of my life than it was before. I had been reading small portions of the Bible most every day before that but doing the challenge helped me realize that I could actually fit in reading bigger portions of the Bible every day. I became so used to doing that that I continued reading bigger portions of the Bible in 2011 and actually made my way all the way through the Bible 3 times in 2011. I did most of my Bible reading on my Iphone using the YouVersion Bible app following Bible reading plans available in the app. I went through the Bible In 90 Days Plan first, but it took me a little more than 90 Days to complete it. I then did the Chronological Reading Plan, which was set up to be done in a year but I read more than one days allotted reading each day and completed it in about 4 months. Then I did the Historical Reading Plan and did the same thing. I've started following the Life Journal Reading Plan for the beginning of this year.

I sure hope you will commit to spending more time reading your Bible in 2012. It is something that will change your live forever.

Trying out an iPad

2011-11-10T22:29:00.001-03:30

My sister is visiting and I'm trying out her iPad. I like it!

Teacher Tipster

2011-11-05T22:03:00.001-02:30

Came across a really neat site today - TeacherTipster.com. Great ideas explained with videos and sometimes including printables. Here are some of my favourite:

Parts of a Story Song Video - Parts of a Story Poster

The Clock Song - Clock Song Poster - Set The Clock Sheet (to be kept in a sheet protector so that it can be written on and whipped clean to use again and again

Lots more videos with fun tips on the TeacherTipster Videos page and lots of great fun printables on the TeacherTipster Printables pages

As the TeacherTipster is a grade one teacher and Anna is presently working on grade one goals I intend to make good use of this site.

Grey Hair and Hair Colouring

2011-11-04T22:35:00.000-02:30

Why do people stress so much about the colour of their hair?

I am getting more and more grey hair, but I don't care. I never did care, but I've cared even less since the day, many moons ago, when my first girl told me that she liked the sparkling hairs that I had. I didn't have many at all at that point but I loved how she described them. Then I found this verse Proverbs 16:31 "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory". I intend to wear my crown proudly when I finally receive it. :)

I have never died my hair, and I don't think I ever will. My hair is quite dark, but I see more and more light hairs showing up all the time. It does not cause me one bit of stress. My hair always has been and always will be it's natural colour. I have never understood why anyone would want to change their hair colour. I've always been of the opinion that God knows best in that department and I'm not going to mess with it.

So, while others may sit around and lament about the grey hairs showing up, or their roots showing through, I rest easy and take things as they come.

My Baby is Reading!

2011-11-03T20:56:00.000-02:30

She turns 6 this month and she's already a pretty confident reader. I love it! I've really enjoyed watching her learn. I feel blessed that I have the privilege of homeschooling her and watching her learn.

How did she learn? We didn't follow a structured reading program but instead we took advantage of all kinds of different things that came our way.

We read together lots. And lots. We made regular visits to the library to stock up on books. We read all different kinds of books. Sometimes I'd point out the words as I read. If there were repeated phrases I would encourage Anna to help me "read" those repeated phrases. Sometimes we'd read picture books with just a word or two a page and Anna would practice "reading" them after we'd read them together a few times. I was always quick to help her if she forgot a word.

Anna loved playing on Starfall.com. I let her wonder around the site as much as she wanted and she became more aware of the sounds of letters. We printed off some of the booklets for some of the stories on the site and she practiced "reading" them after we had read them with the computer and on our own lots.

Gradually I watched her grow more interested in words and she would point out words that she recognized. I decided it was time for her to try reading a Young Readers Bible that we had in our shelves. Each story was 6 pages long with a few sentences on each page. I'd read her a story one day and the next day she'd read that story to me, with me quickly supplying any word that she didn't immediately recognize. I had to help her less and less as we worked our way through her special Bible. She actually finished reading the whole book this month and she is so proud of herself.

All the while we continued to read lots of different books together. As I noticed that she was gaining more confidence and recognizing more words I started making sure that some of the library books we brought home were ones that she could easily learn to read on her own - some picture books with a few words per page, some easy readers, etc. I always read a book to her at least once before I asked her to read it to me and I was always quick to supply any word that she didn't immediately recognize. She didn't realize it but she was reading more and more on her own and needing less and less help.

When she was really comfortable with a book I encouraged her to read to her dad and her older siblings, to show how good she could read and also to share some of the fun books we were reading. This helped build her confidence even more.

She finally realized she could read one weekend when we had friends over and she came running out of the room exclaiming to us that she had just read a book to her friend in her room. Her friend, who's a couple of years younger than her, was pretty proud of her too. It was so fun to see her exclaim that she could read! She'd been reading for quite a while, but she didn't realize it until then.

I've been keeping a list of library books that she's learned to read on her own and she now has over 20 books on that list.

What a joy to have been able to witness this accomplishment in her life!

How Do Homeschool Graduates Fare?

2011-11-02T23:18:00.004-02:30

That's what's been on my mind lately. Part of the reason it's been on my mind so much is because I've been reading glowing reports from homeschooling friends on Facebook. Homeschooling friends from right here in my province.

One friend just attended a convocation service where her child received a Master's of History degree. Another friend just attended her child's White Coat ceremony, celebrating acceptance into med school. Another friend reported that her child received a $1000 scholarship from his college.

These children were all homeschooled right here in my province.

Just like public school graduates, not all the homeschooled graduates traveled the academic route. One homeschooled graduate has traveled the world on modeling contracts. Another has traveled the world on music related contracts. Another is a professional fire fighter.

All these children are from different homeschooling families in my province.

I'd say homeschool graduates, for the most part, fare just fine.

Of course, like public school graduates, there are those that have their struggles. After all, homeschooled graduates are humans, just like public school graduates.

Resuscitation Attempt

2011-11-01T21:50:00.000-02:30

It's been a while...a long, long while. I was starting to wonder if there would ever be life here again, but, inspired by Alex's NaBloPoMo post I am making a resuscitation attempt, I guess we'll see how successful it is.

While I haven't posted in a while, I have written many posts in my head, most of them offering reasons, excuses, contributing factors for the lack of posts. There are many factors. We finally moved in August. We had been anticipating the move since November and it finally happened in August. I felt like my life was kind of in limbo from November to August waiting for the move to happen. August was taken up with packing and moving finally. In the process, my laptop crashed again and this time my attempts at reviving it failed. I was so busy with moving that I didn't really have much time to think about it but when we finally settled in our new place I started to miss my laptop. I finally got a desk top set up but I don't like the set up. It's very uncomfortable so I spend as little time as possible at it. Those are some of the reasons for my absence.

I really started thinking about blogging, and writing in general, again as November approached. Like Alex, I have participated in NaNoWriMo in the past and I was hoping to do it again this year but the horrible set up for computing was keeping me from committing. Still, I couldn't quite give up on the thought. When I read Alex's post I decided to follow her example and skip NaNoWriMo this year but to give the NaBloPoMo a try, sort of. I've only quickly perused the NaBloPoMo site and from what I can gather they give you a daily prompt to post about. I doubt I will be using the daily prompts, though I may from time to time. My goal is simply to try to get back into the habit of blogging by posting every day during the month.

So, let's see what happens with this resuscitation attempt. Let's see if I can bring life back into this blog.

The Secret of the Old Swing Bridge by Ian Wilson

2011-09-26T14:37:00.001-02:30

Even though I don't presently have any 8-12 year olds in my house, I jumped at the chance to receive a copy of The Secret of the Old Swing Bridge by Ian Wilson to review. A drawing factor for me was the fact that the author is Canadian and I love to promote Canadian authors. I also have an almost 6 year old and have shared books with her before that were geared towards older children.

When I got the book I decided it was probably a bit too much for my almost 6 year old right now but I will probably share it with her in a few years time. I decided to read through it myself at this time, but I have to admit that I struggled with getting through the book. I found it a little tedious at times. I don't know if an 8-12 year old would have the same reaction or not.

There were some parts of the book that I did really like - like the fact that one of the main characters is from a homeschooling family. That was a nice surprise. I don't remember being told that before I read the book but it definitely made me more interested in the book. There are few books that I have found that have a homeschool connection.

I also loved that the boys and their dad developed a scale model of part of the railway system. We have a friend that is into model trains and I thought that he might be interested in sharing this book with his boy when he gets a little older. I think it's a great way to encourage learning and the development of father-child relationships.

Along with having a Canadian author, this book also has a Canadian setting. It is set in Ontario and is sprinkled with bits of Canadian history, especially surrounding the CNR. I don't really know much about the CNR so I'm not sure how much of the details in the book are true and how much are fictional, but it has sparked my interest to learn more about it and to include it in my child's learning in the future.

Homeschool Horizons - Canada's Homeschooling Magazine

2011-08-03T08:54:00.000-02:30

Have you subscribed to Homeschool Horizons - Canada's Homeschooling Magazine yet? The premier edition goes to print in the next day or so and if you haven't subscribed you will miss it because they are only printing to subscriptions. Hurry and subscribe!

Beautiful Sunset on the Bay

2011-06-04T23:32:00.000-02:30

...on the way home to my son's house...

...and my beautiful daughter taking a picture...

...of the beautiful sunset...

More Fun at Margaret Bowater Park

2011-06-03T23:47:00.000-02:30

...a view from the other side of the park...

...as the sun goes down for the day...

...my youngest and oldest play tag around one of the big trees...

...Such a beautiful park...

View of part of the City of Corner Brook...

2011-06-02T20:07:00.000-02:30

...taken from the Margaret Bowater Park playground...

...where we've been spending some time while visiting...

...such a beautiful spot...

The View Outside My Son's Front Door

2011-06-01T20:25:00.000-02:30

A Plan for June - Photos of my province

2011-06-01T20:17:00.000-02:30

I am a proud Newfoundlander. I love my province. I think every part of it is beautiful. I have decided that during the month of June I am going to try to post at least a picture a week, and quite likely more than that. Who knows, I may even end up posting a picture a day. I will be doing some traveling to different parts of the province during the month of June so it seems like the perfect time for this plan. My posts may not be limited just to pictures, though. I may post other posts during the month, too, so that means there may be more than one post some days. Then again, I may post my other musings on my other blog, JacquelineJabbers. I guess we'll see what happens. Either way my main goal here for the month of June is to be sure to share pictures of my beautiful province.

Goal Evalutation and Goal Setting

2011-05-31T23:32:00.000-02:30

Well, I missed posting a few days this month. Totally forgot about posting yesterday! I thought about it when I went to bed but it was already after midnight so I didn't bother to try to post. That's really the only day that I didn't post willingly. The other day or two that I missed was because of the blogger problems. Soo...while I didn't actually accomplish my goal of posting every day in May, I technically only missed posting one day when I could have posted, so that's not bad.

Time to think of a new goal. I like having something to work towards. I've been doing great posting daily to my 365 Days of Children's Books blog for 5 months now! I'm pleased about that but I'd really like to do more with this blog. I'm not satisfied with the nothing posts that I've been doing this month. I need to work on having posts that are actually worth posting. That may mean posting less so that I spend more time preparing the posts. Hmmmmm...going to have to give that some thought.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

Budgets are Biblical

2011-05-29T22:00:00.002-02:30

Proverbs 10:4 "He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich."

That's what's on my mind tonight.

It doesn't take long to become spoiled

2011-05-28T22:36:00.000-02:30

Last month I had over 2000 visits at my 365 Days of Children's Books Blog. The last couple of months before that I was averaging about 1000 visits a month and was thrilled with that. I was shocked to have 1000 visits before last month was even half way through and hoped, but doubted, that I would hit 2000 and was thrilled when I did. This month I was once again excited to hit 1000 visits around the half way point and was pretty confident that I would hit 2000 visits again, but traffic has been slow the last week or so and I'm starting to think I might not hit the 2000 mark.

Funny how I was so happy and content with 1000 visits a month until I hit 2000 visits a month, and now I am disappointed at the thought of not getting 2000 visits this month.

It sure doesn't take long to become spoiled.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

Good reading material

2011-05-27T22:53:00.000-02:30

I got my hands on Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book. Really enjoying it! Learning lots.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

My girl is growing up

2011-05-26T23:46:00.000-02:30

Last year she needed me to help her get into the swing at the playground and she needed me to push her. Today she didn't need me at all. It was a bittersweet moment.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

Home selling hassles

2011-05-25T23:09:00.000-02:30

An appraiser is coming to appraise the house tomorrow. I plan to not be around. I hate this process.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

Fun New Blog by a Newfoundland Author

2011-05-24T17:42:00.000-02:30

Tina Chaulk has started a new blog, Never Eat a Dinosaur, to share ridiculous things she says to her children, and she invites the rest of us to join in the fun by sharing our own "Never Eat a Dinosaur" moments. During the month of May she is running a Never Eat a Dinosaur contest in which the winner will receive a $50 electronic gift certificate. The winner will be randomly selected using Random.org and there are lots of simple ways to get your name in for the draw. Be sure to check out the contest page for details.

Newfoundlander on Top Chef Canada

2011-05-23T23:34:00.000-02:30

I am so proud of Todd, the Newfoundlander on Top Chef Canada. He is really doing us proud. Way to go Todd!

That's what's on my mind at the moment.

Living with poor Internet coverage

2011-05-22T23:18:00.000-02:30

I don't know how people live with poor Internet coverage. Well, actually it's poor cell coverage more so than poor Internet coverage. I've been at my eldest son's house the last two nights and he doesn't have an Internet connection here. There is also very poor cell service. It comes and goes and drives me crazy! I can't wait to get back to good coverage.

That's what's on my mind today.

Just get it done!

2011-05-21T19:29:00.001-02:30

I just spent quite some time starting a post and then erasing it and then starting again and erasing again, and so on. That's bad enough when I'm wring from my laptop but even worse when I'm working from my phone. Sure wish I'd done this earlier today when I could have used my laptop. But I didn't and now I'm stuck having to use the phone and having the dual frustration of using the phone and not knowing what to write. I give up! This is as good as it gets today. I think my brain took the day off

That's what's on mind at the moment.

The Most Important Question

2011-05-20T13:34:00.000-02:30

Have you heard that the Rapture is happening tomorrow, May 21, 2011? That is the claim of a group that runs the WeCanKnow Website.

I think they are right - partly. The rapture may happen tomorrow. Then again, it may not. I do believe that it will happen some day, that is the part I think they are right about.

I think the most important question for us is not "When will the Rapture happen?" but "What is my personal relationship with God?"

That's what's on my mind today.

It is important to read carefully

2011-05-19T21:19:00.000-02:30

Second post for today but I had to share a post I just posted on my wordpress blog - Skimming Google Reader Causes Confusion.

Progression, not Grade Level

2011-05-19T18:04:00.000-02:30

I'm still enjoying the Schoolhouse Expo. Great sessions today so far with Kim Kautzer and Molly Green. Kim talked to us about the importance of helping our children learn to write well and gave us lots of great tips and information. Molly talked about the importance of teaching our children to be fiscally fit. I got some great tips from both presenters.

My favorite thought so far today has been one from Kim Kautzer when she said that we ought not to concern ourselves with what grade level our child is working at but we ought to be concerned with whether they are showing progression in their learning. Great advice!

That's what's on my mind at the moment.

Yikes! I almost forgot!

2011-05-18T23:49:00.000-02:30

I was just getting ready to head to bed and I suddenly realized I haven't posted here today. This will definitely not be anything interesting or well put together. Simply a hurried post so that I will actually have a post for today. Isn't that horrible? Is it really worth it? I'm not so sure.

I don't think I could have picked a crazier, more busy month to decide to post here every day. What with renovations for the upcoming move, preparations for the upcoming homeschool conference, trying to take in as much as I can of the Schoolhouse Expo on line conference, and then of course there's the normal everyday stuff of being a housewife and homeschooling mom. Really makes for some crazy days. Not sure why I decided to pick this month to try to get into the regular routine of posting here every day.

That's what on my mind at the moment.

Enjoying the Schoolhouse Expo!

2011-05-17T23:56:00.000-02:30

Though it makes for some crazy days, I really enjoy the Schoolhouse Expo. My fingers have been flying taking notes and at one point today my little one asked me if I was talking to my friend because I was audibly agreeing with the speaker about some point. Little One is no stranger to talking to people on Skype so she thought I was having a two way conversation. She can't wrap her head around the fact that I can hear them but they can't hear me. Thankfully she was pretty good today about keeping herself occupied so I could take in most of the sessions.

There were so many great sessions today! I really enjoyed Susan Wise Bauer's session on teaching writing. Though the session was geared towards teaching writing at the highschool level, I still gleaned things from it to use with little one now. Got lots of great ideas to use with Little One in Marie Rippel's session on teaching spelling and also in Carol Barnier's session on learning styles. Such great speakers!

My brain is rather addled trying to take it all in and I'm looking forward to going over the notes and handouts later to get more from them. I'd love to write more about it but sleep is calling and tomorrow's another busy day.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

What a day!

2011-05-16T20:49:00.000-02:30

Been dealing with a little one that is not feeling number one and I've been trying to take in as much of the Schoolhouse Expo as I could so I'm feeling a little worn and torn at the moment. I'm off to cuddle with my little one for a bit. I might not make it back so I have to get my post for today in while I can.

That's what's on my mind at the moment..

Tomorrow is the first day...

2011-05-15T21:33:00.000-02:30

...of the Schoolhouse Expo! I can't wait! I sure hope I can get DH to keep little one occupied so that I can give the sessions my full attention.

I was checking out the door prizes for the event the other day. What a lot of stuff! I was lucky enough to win three prizes last year! It was pretty exciting. I love how they do the door prizes. At the beginning of each session they post a link to a form for you to fill in with your name and email address. Once you submit it your name goes in for the draw for the door prize for the session. Also, after sessions sometimes they do special prize quizzes. They ask questions about the session or the speaker or about Schoolhouse products and you have to answer in the chat box of the session. Before the give the question they say that the "nth" person to answer will win and if you're lucky enough to answer at the right time you win. I actually won one of my prizes that way last year. It's so much fun!

One of the door prizes that I'm particularly interested in this year is the Visual World Geography. I've never heard of it before and it sounds very interesting to me. There's other prizes that caught my eye too and I will be spending more time checking them out when I get the chance.

If you were smart and got your ticket to the expo already, you are one of the lucky ones because the live sessions are sold out! If you have your ticket, don't forget to sign on for the sessions so that you will get a chance for the prizes.

If you missed the chance to get a ticket to the live expo you are not totally out of luck. You can still purchase the Expo to Go. Unfortunately that doesn't give you a chance at the door prizes but you do get some free gifts with your purchase. It's also still worth your time to check out the door prizes. You just might find something that interests you and might be something you'd like to purchase for your homeschool.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

Missing posts and my resulting adventures.

2011-05-14T17:59:00.000-02:30

My attempt to post here every day in the month of May was thwarted by bloggers unexpected troubles. Late in the evening on the 12th I tried to log in to do my daily post but was greeted with a page that said there was trouble in blogger land. I wish I had thought about taking a screen shot of the page, but I didn't. I was bummed. I kept trying to get in to no avail. Even the next day I couldn't get in.

Panic struck! What was I going to do? I needed to blog!

I needed to blog not only for this blog but also for my 365 Days of Children's Books Blog. I've been making daily posts there since the first of the new year. Luckily I had managed to post my daily post there on the 12th before bloggers trouble started so I was safe for that day but I couldn't miss a day. I had to do something!

Then I had an idea. I headed over to wordpress. I knew that I had started a wordpress blog a long time ago but I couldn't remember the name of it or how to get into it so I decided to just sign up for a new blog. My main concern was my Children's books blog so I set that one up first. I got a blog set up there with the same name no problem. Then I figured I may as well set one up for my jabberings too. That's when I found out what my old wordpress blog was called.

I tried to set up a blog at wordpress with the same title as this blog only to find that I had already done that many years ago, before I started this one actually. That one, however, I had set up specifically to share about my journeys through the Bible. I only lasted there a couple of month. I stopped posting there when I started this blog. I wish I could get back into that blog but I can't yet discovered how to access it. I haven't entirely given up hope though. If I do manage to access it I may revive it in some form. We'll see.

Because I couldn't get a blog with the address I wanted and I really wanted to make a post so as not to miss a day and blogger was still down, so I set up a new blog with a slightly different name - Jacqueline Jabbers. That's where you'll find my post for the 13th.

I thought about moving that post over here, and I may still do that yet, haven't quite decided, but I'm leaving it there for now. Nothing exciting about the post it just talks about my need to blog and why I had to start a new blog over there.

I had thought about double posting to the blog there and here, and doing the same with my children's books blog in both places, but I wasn't sure if that would be a good thing to do or not so I asked some people that I thought would know. They advised me against it so I'm going to follow there advice and not double post. Now, however, I have to decide what I'm going to do with the blogs over a wordpress. I do want to learn how to use wordpress, partly because I just love learning new things and partly so that when someone asks me about it I can help them. I've had people ask me about wordpress before but I couldn't help. I'd like to be able to. I figure there's nothing wrong with learning how to use both platforms, but I have to figure out what exactly I want to use those blogs for. I have some ideas so we'll see what happens.

That's what's on my mind today

Homeschoolers and socialization

2011-05-11T23:19:00.000-02:30

Why is it that people automatically assume that if you are homeschooling your kids are going to miss out socially and turn out to be social misfits? I know an awful lot of homeschoolers who prove the exact opposite. They are some of the most social and well adjusted people that I know! Sure, there probably are some homeschoolers that struggle socially, but there are also public schooled children that struggle socially. A lot of the time it's personality, not schooling, that causes the struggles.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

The Roller Coaster of Life

2011-05-10T23:24:00.000-02:30

Life has it's ups and downs.

I was disappointed yesterday to receive an email from the editor of our local paper, The Nor'Wester, saying that he had to cancel my column to help free up funds to hire a summer student. I had been doing a weekly column highlighting children's books written by Newfoundland authors. He invited me to contact him again when the summer is over.

I was excited today to have James Rumford visit my 365 Days of Children's Books blog and leave a comment on my post about his great book Calabash Cat and his Amazing Journey.

It doesn't take much to get me down - and it doesn't take much to get me back up again. Such is the roller coaster of life.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

Just one week away...

2011-05-09T23:47:00.000-02:30

....seven more days...until Schoolhouse Expo! Yeah! I can't wait!

That's what's on my mind at the moment.

Mommy Memories

2011-05-08T23:05:00.000-02:30

I don't know why but I've been having lots of mommy memories lately. I'm privileged to be the mom of four wonderful children, three of whom have grown into wonderful adults, and one that still has a way to go but thinks she's there already at just 5. :) The last few days I've been thinking back to the baby and toddler days of each of my children. I've found myself sitting with a goofy grin on a lot as I remember all the precious moments. My heart is warmed. Sure there were bad times, but the good far outweighed the bad. I am so blessed.

That's what's on my mind today.

Money Matters

2011-05-07T22:13:00.000-02:30

Recently a friend of mine started talking about Dave Ramsey and Dan Miller and their thoughts on money and life matters. I had heard about Dave Ramsey before from some online blogs but didn't know much about him. I hadn't heard about Dan Miller before. I liked a lot of what my friend was telling me about them so I decided to do some research. I discovered that they both had podcasts available through iTunes so I have been faithfully listening to Dave Ramsey and Dan Miller for a couple of weeks now.

I think my husband thought I was crazy for listening to them at first. Correction, I know he thought I was crazy. He thought that before I started listening to them, but that's beside the point. He's been on holidays the last two weeks and he's been doing some work on our house so he's been subjected to hearing some of the podcasts whether he liked it or not. I'm glad it worked out that way. He got to listen in without me asking him to and without having to actually admit that he has been listening in.

We've been married over 20 years and have never seen eye to eye on money matters, or most anything else, truthfully, but I think our money problems have been the worst of it. I am not a spender at all. I've been wanting to get a handle on our money for 20 years, but we can't seem to work together on it at all. Over those 20 years there have been two distinct times, about 10 years apart, when I remember seriously trying to work at getting a handle on our financial situation but failing miserably because he wasn't with the program at all and wasn't interested in working at it. I couldn't do it alone. I quit. It hasn't been a fun 20 years.

Tonight I listened as he talked about money matters for about an hour with the friend that first got me interested in Dave Ramsey and Dan Miller. Is there hope for the future? I sure hope so.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

It's Conference season!

2011-05-06T20:28:00.000-02:30

All across Canada, and the United States too I think, there are homeschool conferences happening. I'm reading about it all through my friends blogs and facebook pages.

I spent some time today working on some things for our provincial homeschool conference which is coming up June 17 & 18. I love this time because it means I get to see homeschoolers from across our province. We are a very small and spread out homeschool group and I think this time to get together is so important.

I'm also looking forward to the Schoolhouse Expo online homeschool conference which starts May 16, just 11 days away! I love that conference because I get to connect with an even bigger group of homeschoolers and they are from all around the world!

That's what's on my mind today.

Teaching opportunities just pop up

2011-05-05T23:50:00.000-02:30

Today while reading with my little one I noticed that the title of the section of the book we were reading was written with alliteration. We had started another book earlier in the week that also had alliteration in the division titles for the book and I had pointed out to her the fact that the words in the different section all started with the same letter and we chatted about it for a while and had some fun saying them. When I noticed it again today I decided to introduce her to the word alliteration. She's only 5 but she loves new words so I figured I'd give her another one. Today I reminded her of the alliteration in the other book and we chatted about it and had some fun again. I don't expect her to totally grasp the idea or remember the special name for it yet but she may just surprise me next time we come across it.

I love taking advantage of natural learning moments like that. I wish that I had taken the initiative to journal about all the times it's happened to us. She's learned so much that didn't come from planned out teaching lessons. Actually, the few teaching lessons that I've planned out for her have turned out anything but stellar. It's these natural learning moments that have really boosted her knowledge.

I wouldn't have known anything about these moments if it wasn't for homeschooling. I was a teacher in the public school system before I started homeschooling my children. I thought that learning could only take place in a very structured environment with a very well laid out plan. Man had I missed the boat! I'm so glad that I've discovered how natural and enjoyable learning and teaching can be.

That's what's on my mind today.

How do I want to record the books I've read?

2011-05-04T20:05:00.000-02:30

I've been struggling with how I want to go about keeping a record of the books I read.

I love to read, but I don't always get the time to read that I'd like. I have a 5 year old that I'm trying to homeschool and a house I try to keep in order. Add to that the fact that I have a husband that hates to read and thinks reading is a waste of time so I try my best not to read too much when he's around. Doesn't leave me with much time left to read. I do, however, squeeze it in whenever I can.

A few days ago I actually set up a Reading Log page on my blog and made a list of the books I could remember that I've read, or started, so far this year. I'm debating with myself as to whether to leave it at that or do more. Should I do a blog post about each book giving a short synopsis of the book and my thoughts on it and then link that post to the book title in the list or should I add that information to the Reading Log page somehow? I can't seem to make up my mind, and in the mean time I'm doing nothing.

I read a very interesting blog post about that just yesterday - And this donkey died because.... I'd never heard of the "medieval logic dilemma" that he describes and I thought it was pretty funny. He used it to make a very good point. If you are trying to make a decision and you can't make up your mind so you just don't do anything, then you are still deciding on something - your deciding to do nothing, and really that's not going to get you anywhere.

That's about where I am in trying to figure out what to do about recording the books I read - doing nothing but thinking about it. It's soon going to be time to make a different decision and actually do something.

And that's what's on my mind today.

What does it take to get renos completed?

2011-05-03T22:04:00.000-02:30

I don't ever remember a time when there wasn't some kind of renovations happening in our house. I also don't ever remember a time when a reno that was started was actually totally completed.

We have been in the same house for over 20 years.

We are presently in the process of fixing our house up to sell. I actually now have a tub surround installed around the new tub that was put in about 6 years ago. I now have doors to the kitchen cupboards that were put in about 10 years ago. Actually, that's not totally true. The truth is that the cupboards that were put in 10 years ago have been taken down and new cupboards have been put up, but the doors actually went on at the same time. Today I finally got a range hood installed over my stove! It only took 20 years. It's amazing what can get done in a house when you are about to leave it.

So, if your house is like mine with renos in progress, just remember that they probably won't ever be completed until right before you go to sell it.

(sigh)

That's what's on my mind today.

Voting Day 2011 - plus other stuff

2011-05-02T13:55:00.000-02:30

Voting Day 2011
Today is voting day for our country's 21st General Election. I'm proud to say that I exercised my right to vote today. I'm sad to say that I haven't always done that. For many years I had taken my right to vote for granted. I found the whole process confusing and pointless. Then I started to learn more about it. I had to learn, because I wanted to teach my children. That's when I started getting interested in the whole political scene. I still don't know a whole lot about it, but I know a whole lot more than I used to and I am continually trying to learn more.

This year I had the privilege of presenting an information session about the election and our electoral system to our local homeschool group. During our last federal election I had discovered the StudentVote site, which puts off a parallel election for students under the voting age so that they will become educated about the process. When I told our homeschool group about StudentVote this year they were excited to take part in the StudentVote program during our 21st General Election. Because of school holidays in our province we had to hold our Student Vote earlier than most provinces so we didn't have as much time to spend learning about the whole process as we would have liked, but we still had a great time. I created a Student Vote 2011 Zapd website on my iPhone using pictures I took with my iPhone at our StudentVote. They are seriously looking forward to the next election so that they can do this again. Hopefully these kids will be inspired and educated enough that they will never take their right to vote for granted.

Mixed Feelings about the Big World News Story
Something else making big news in our country, and many others, today is the death of Bin Laden, as reported on the CBC News site. While I am not sad that Bin Laden is dead, I am also not celebrating his death, as many others are.

I think much like Dara, of Readily a Parent, in what she has to say in her Why I Won't Be Celebrating Bin Laden's Death post. I can't say that I'm fearful, because my hope rests in God, but I am sad to think about what happened and what potentially could happen still.

Just Two Weeks to Expo Time!
The Old Schoolhouse Spring 2011 Expo, an online homeschool conference, starts on May 16th, just two weeks away! I can't wait! I really enjoyed the last Expo that I took in and I'm expecting no less from this one. If you don't already have your ticket purchased to take in the Expo live, you are out of luck! The tickets have sold out! That said, however, you're not totally out of luck because you can still purchase the Expo-to-Go. If I were you, I'd hop to it. You seriously don't want to miss it.

And that's what on my mind today.

Can I manage to post daily?

2011-05-01T22:57:00.001-02:30

I had made a promise to myself that during the month of May I am going to try to make at least a short post daily to this blog. As I climbed into bed a few moments ago I remembered that promise and realized I hadn't posted here today. It's a good thing I take my iPhone to bed with me. :)

It's not so easy writing my post on my iPhone so I'm going to have to work harder at remembering to get my post done before I crawl into bed. But it's nice to know that if I forget I can still post something, though it will be rather short and less polished than if I'd done it earlier

Think I'll leave it at that for tonight. Lots on my mind I'd like to share but typing on here is too bothersome. Hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes while typing this. Not only is it hard to type, it's also hard to see the small screen, especially as my eyes are wanting to close in sleep. At least I haven't failed at my goal on the first day. :)

So, that's what's on my mind at the moment and now I'm hoping to clear my
mind of all thoughts and sleep well.

Can I post from my iPhone?

2011-04-26T00:42:00.000-02:30

I have been spending less time at my laptop lately and more time with my iPhone so I'm wondering how difficult it would be to do a blogpost on my phone. I decided to try it out to see what I thought. I struggle with the typing so that makes it a little difficult. I'm not sure if I want to do it this way or not. I guess we'll see.

2011-2012 Schoolhouse Planners now available!

2011-03-30T21:16:00.000-02:30

Passing on this notice from The Old Schoolhouse.

Need a tool to help maintain a well-organized home and homeschool?
Want to get your kids organized too?
Get ready to plan another great year with The 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planner, the brand-new 2011-12 Special Needs Schoolhouse Planner, and the 2011-12 Student Schoolhouse Planners for students from kindergarten to high school.
Erase the frazzled feeling of disorganization with The 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planner and bring order and efficiency to your school year.
Packed with relevant articles, clever calendars, useful forms, handy lists, and so much more, this planner is the key to meeting your many goals for the 2011-12 school year.With over 175 new forms, you'll have all the organizational tools you need to make this the best school year ever.
New forms this year will help you:
Plan beautiful holiday celebrations.
Run a successful home business.
Plan a course of study over four years.
Run a well-organized home from top to bottom.
And so much more!

Whether organizing your homeschool curriculum, household tasks, a home-based business, or jotting down lists of things you hope to do some day . . .
The 2011-12 Schoolhouse Planner has all of the planning components you will need to make this year a great success. http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.phpmain_page=index&cPath=191_193
Don't wait! Take advantage of great prices with the special presale going on now until April 14.

These are available in digital format so I assume you can print off only what you need. Sounds interesting!

World Read Aloud Day Report

2011-03-18T14:37:00.000-02:30

March 9, 2011 was World Read Aloud Day. Anna and I celebrated at to two events.

Our local library has a story time every Wednesday afternoon. I told our librarian about World Read Aloud Day and she talked to the kids about it during story time and then explained about it to the parents present.

Our local homeschool group got together for a special World Read Aloud Day celebration. We talked about how privileged we are to be able to read and the advantages it gives us. Then each child shared a favourite reading from a book they brought with them. It was great fun to see each child's personality reflected in what they had chosen to read. One of the boys chose to challenge us by reading clues from little fact cards about different animals and plants and having us guess what it was before he read us the answer. His brother read one of his favourite verses from the Bible (1 Thessalonians 4:11), while their sister read her favourite Bible story (Jesus feeding the five thousand). Another boy read one of his favourite poems. Another child read a favourite book of his dad's while his sister read a passage for a new book she just got the day before. My 5 year old daughter did her first public read aloud at the event. She read Splat!, a first reader, and everyone congratulated her on her great reading. I read a couple of our favourite read alouds, What if Your Mom Made Raisin Buns by Newfoundland author Catherin Hogan Safer, and Watch Out Big Bro's Coming by Jez Alborough. There were about 16 of us present and we all had a great time sharing about the joys of reading.

If you did something to celebrate World Read Aloud Day be sure to send in a report about it.

Weekly Character Projects

2011-03-16T15:41:00.000-02:30

Doorposts, a company who's mission is to supply you with "Bible-based, parent-designed, family-tested products to help you apply Scripture in your home" has a new blog titled Doorposts of Your House.

One of the features on their blog is a weekly character project. The first project is on How to Develop Patience Towards Others and it suggests a real simple, practical way to work on this. I know it's something we all need to work on in our family and I'm glad I came across this great idea. I'm looking forward to future character projects.

TOS Homeschool Expo Preshow

2011-03-16T13:40:00.000-02:30

The TOS Homeschool Spring Expo takes place May 16-20, but they have bonus Pre-show nights on March 16 and April 12 for those that register early for the Expo. Sooooo, last night was the first pre-show!

I almost missed it! I didn't even realize it was happening until it was started and I was scrabbling to get everything set up so I wouldn't miss it.

The first session was Teaching with Technology: Boon or Bust with Terri Johnson. I loved a statement she made early in the session. The gist of it is that the education community is experiencing these "New Revelations" in Education, but in reality they are just learning what homeschoolers already know! Things like you don't need desks, teacher lectures, peer groups, or classrooms to learn. She then talked about what technology is and what it isn't and how it's changes over time and shared number of interesting quotes. My favourite was "In times of change, it is the learners that will inherit the earth while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists. –Eric Hoffer". It is important for us to teach our children how to learn and to take advantage of all the tools that will help. Then Terri introduced us to a number of apps that can help our children in their quest to learn. Great session!

The second session was Home Business and Homeschooling: The Dynamics of Delegation with Malia Russell. She made a great point about how important it is to delegate and even pointed out in scripture that delegation was important to God. One statement that she made that really stuck with me was that if you are over worked you are doing things you shouldn't be doing! - either doing things that someone else should be doing or doing things that nobody should be doing. Another great session.

Unfortunately I didn't get to take in the last session because I had to put my little one to bed. I can't wait to get the MP3s so that I can see what I missed.

I'm looking forward to the next pre-show in April!

Canadian Homeschoolers - make sure you are counted!

2011-03-12T09:34:00.001-03:30

Homeschool Horizons is having a fun challenge to see which is the top homeschooling province in Canada. Really, it is not an actual account of homeschoolers in each province, just an account of how many homeschoolers in each province have filled in the Homeschool Horizons Survey, but it's still fun. Along with giving you a chance to have your province more accurately represented in numbers, the survey also gives you a chance to help ensure that Homeschool Horizons will meet the needs of homeschoolers across Canada. They post updates of the results each week on their facebook page. Come join in the fun.

Here are how the provinces stand right now:

Ontario 30%

Alberta 21%

British Columbia 13%

Saskatchewan 10%

Newfoundland 8%

Nova Scotia 7%

Quebec 6%

Manitoa 4%

New Brunswick 3%

Prince Edward Island 0%

I can't believe that their are no Homeschoolers in Prince Edward Island! I know that is wrong. I also can't believe that the numbers are so low in some of the other provinces. I also know that it is not a true reflection of the numbers. People need to help get the word out and get these numbers up!

Why don't you help? If you are a homeschooling in Canada, make sure you fill in the survey so that you are counted. If you have friends that are homeschooling, point them to the form and stay after them until they, too, fill it in. Post about it on your facebook, on your blog, in your provincial forums or email lists. Talk about it at support group meetings. Get the word out! Let's get those numbers up and have some fun!

Which province do you think has the most homeschoolers? Where do you think your province falls?

What are you doing for World Read Aloud Day, March 9, 2011?

2011-03-08T20:53:00.000-03:30

You'll find suggestions for how to celebrate, a tally sheet, a certificate, and lots of other things on the WRAD activities page.

If you're looking for some suggestions for books to read aloud for World Read Aloud Day tomorrow, check out my 365 Days of Children's Books blog. There are lots of suggestions there. Why not check out at least one book by a Newfoundland Author and at least one book by a Canadian author? While you're there, check out the March Reading Challenge. I'd love to have you join and hear about what you read, even if it's just on World Read Aloud Day.

Anna and I will be attending Story Hour at our local library as well as participating in a special WRAD celebration with our local homeschoolers. We love any excuse to enjoy books!

Homeschool conferences are a great encouragement

2011-02-22T15:13:00.000-03:30

I'm in conference planning mode. Our provincial homeschool group, CHENL, has been organizing a "Conference on the Rock" homeschool conference every year since it's beginning. The purpose of the conference is to bring together homeschoolers from across our province and provide support, encouragement and inspiration. Plans are presently under way for the 2011 CHENL Conference on the Rock. It is great to be able to get together and I wish we could do it more often.

We are so spread out across our province that many homeschoolers are the only family in their community that is homeschooling and they never see any other homeschoolers. For some, even getting out to the conference once a year is a struggle, because of the travel, costs, or timing.

I think these times of getting together are very important. I don't think I would have survived all these years without the times that I was able to receive encouragement and support from other homeschoolers.

One year, before our provinical homeschool group started, a couple of other homeschooelers and I traveled to New Brunswick for a conference. It was great to see so many others and not feel so alone! I wished I could go every year but of course it just wasn't feasible. I was glad when our provincial group started and I at least had the option to go to their conference each year.

Last year, thanks to the Old Schoolhouse Expo, I discovered the wonderful world of online conferences. I still think there is nothing better than face to face conferences, but the online conference is definitely an added blessing when you don't get a chance to have face to face get togethers very often. The really great thing about the Expo is that if for some reason you can't take in a session when it happens, you can always enjoy it at a time that is more convenient for you, because when you purchase a ticket to the Expo you also get access to recordings of each session. I was so encouraged by the first Expo that I participated in! It was just what I needed at just the right time.

Right now the Old Schoolhouse Expo is taking preorders for their Expo to Go. If you aren't able to take in the Expo when it is taking place, May 16th-20th, you can still order the recordings and enjoy them when it is convenient for you to enjoy them. For $19.99 you receive all the MP3 recordings from the Expo along with a great bunch of free gifts. It's worth your while to check it out.

If you are homeschooling in Newfoundland and Labrador, I really hope that I will see you at the 2011 CHENL Conference on the Rock. If you decide to take in the Old Schoolhouse Expo I'd love for you to let me know. I plan on taking in both the provincial conference and the Old Schoolhouse Expo. I love the opportunity to connect with homeschoolers all around the world!

Canadian "Homeschool Horizons" Magazine website has launched!

2011-02-11T23:38:00.001-03:30

Check it out by clicking on the magazine logo above. Read the explanation of the Homeschool Horizons logo, check out the Homeschool Horizons We Care page to read about a wonderful plan, send a link to your blog so that you can be added to the Homeschool Horizons' list of Canadian bloggers, and take a minute to fill in the Homeschool Horizons survey to have a say in what the magazine becomes. Before you leave, don't forgot to sign up to be notified of updates. Pass the word. Here's a chance for homeschoolers across Canadian to connect and support one another.

Simply Music Online Music Lessons!

2011-02-10T21:33:00.000-03:30

I don't remember where or how I first heard about the Simply Music program but it intrigued me the very first time I heard about it. I recently took part in an introductory session to learn more about it and was even more intrigued. I want to learn more, so I've decided to take part in the Online Simply Music Lessons "Live Class" Piano Camp/Level 1 Intro .

Tami Duvall, licensed and accredited Simply Music Instructor at Natural Notes Piano School Online Classroom, is giving away a month's worth of weekly online piano classes. ($70 value)

From the Simply Music Website:

"Simply Music is the largest playing-based music education institution in the world, with educators at 520 locations throughout the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It presents a revolutionary, Australian-developed piano and keyboard method for those who would like to teach music, or learn how to play. This breakthrough program has students of all ages playing great-sounding blues, contemporary, classical and accompaniment pieces - immediately - from their very first lessons.
Simply Music educators look at music in an entirely new light, transforming the teaching and learning process. The program sets a new standard in music education, and presents the possibility of a new era in self-expression through music. "

The classes will be held LIVE on Tuesdays at 1:00pm CST (5:00pm NST) starting Feb 22. The drawing will be held on Feb 19. If you would like to be entered into the drawing, post a comment including these words, "I would like for my child(ren) and me to have music as a companion for the rest of our lives!"

*Note: Only students from USA and Canada can participate in Natural Notes Piano School Online Classroom.*

Act Fast to Get the Early Bird Price!

2011-02-09T01:03:00.000-03:30

The Early Bird ticket price for the Spring Expo ends at midnight Eastern time on Wednesday, February 9.

Do you have your ticket? If not, act fast! You don't want to miss the deal.

Salt Fish and Scrunchions

2011-02-07T21:26:00.002-03:30

Anna and I recently read a book titled Jack Likes Salt Fish and Scrunchions, Do You? I have a confession to make. Even though I am a proud Newfoundlander, I do not like Salt Fish and Scrunchions. I did, however, really like the book, which is also known by the shortened title Salt Fish and Scrunchions.

The book was written and illustrated by Newfoundlander Necie and it is actually featured on my 365 Days of Children's Books blog. You can read more about the actual book on the Salt Fish and Scrunchions feature at the 365 Day's of Children's Books blog. You can check out Necie's Website for sample pages from the book and for the recipes mentioned below.

Here I want to share some pictures of the fun Anna and I had inspired by this book. In the page section of the book are recipes of Newfoundland dishes and as soon as we finished reading the book Anna wanted to set in cooking.

We put the book into a clear plastic bag to protect it before we started. We decided to try the Molasses Buns recipe first.

We put the first lot of ingredients into the bowl and Anna set to work mixing it together.

Some of the ingredients need to be warmed in the microwave so Anna helped punch in the time.

It got a little hard to stir when we started to add the flour in.

Finally it was all mixed together and ready to put on the cookie sheets. Though the recipe said to form it into balls, we just dropped spoonfuls on the cookie sheet.

Here are the yummy results! - minus the three that Anna ate from the first batch while the second batch was cooking.

A couple days later Anna wanted to read the book again and try out another recipe. This time we decided to try the Blueberry Crumble. The book went back into the clear plastic bag for protection and then we set to work.

Once again, Anna really enjoyed the results.

I wonder what we'll make on our next reread?

Ever thought about starting your own business?

2011-02-05T23:25:00.000-03:30

Ever thought about starting your own business? Have your kids ever shown any interest in starting their own business?

I think it's something just about everyone dreams about at some point in time. It seems to me lately that a lot of homeschoolers - parents and/or students - are making that dream come true. I read about it more and more all the time.

If you or your children have any interest in running your own business you should definitely check out the upcoming TOS Expo. There are a number of sessions planned for the Expo that have to do with starting and running a business.

If you have teens, whether they are interested in business or not, they still might be interested in some of the sessions in the Teen Track planned for this Expo. Last Expo there were also a few sessions that were great for teens. Check out the speakers and topics here.

The really great thing about the Expo is that it is an online conference so you get to enjoy it without having to leave the comfort of your home and what makes it even better is that when you purchase an Expo ticket you also get recordings of all the sessions so that if you can't watch them at the time they happen, you can watch them at your leisure at a more convenient time. Often at conferences you have to pick which ones your going to take in and which ones your going to miss. With the Expo you don't have to miss any!

If you want to hear more about it check out this post by a mom with two sons making the most of their interest in entrepreneurialism.

Canadian "Homeschool Horizons" Magazine website launching soon!

2011-02-03T23:55:00.000-03:30

If you are a Canadian Homeschooler then you should go join the Homeschool Horizon's Facegroup page now! The editor of the magazine, and owner of the facegroup page has suggested that the website for the magazine could launch next week, if we get 300 people to join the facebook page. We are presently at the time of this writing at 255. Help us reach the 300 goal before the weekend is through. Go join the facebook group. You will then be one of the first to know about the launch of the website. I've also heard that there will be a special surprise for everyone. While you're on the facebook page, make sure you check out the new logo. It has so much meaning packed into it! Check out it! And don't forget to spread the word!

And the Winner is....

2011-01-31T23:40:00.000-03:30

Carla! She won the free ticket I had to give away to the TOS Spring Expo.

Be sure to get your ticket to the TOS Spring Expo while the early bird price is still available!

Last Week's Library Loot Reviews

2011-01-29T23:41:00.000-03:30

Goose Girl by Joe McLellan and Matrine McLellan, illustrated by Rhian Brynjolson (Canadian Authors and Illustrator)
The illustrations in this book are very nice. I'd love to have some of them as artwork in my house. It tells the story of a Cree girl and her special connection to geese and how she found her special calling in life. Overall I liked this book but it does have some spiritual ideas that I don't agree with. At the back is a page of information about Canadian geese. Would be a good addition to a social studies lesson on native people.

Night Flight by Mireille Messier, illustrated by Carl Pelletier (Canadian author and illustrator)
Every night when Lucas goes to bed his imagination takes him on wild adventures. In rhyming text we are told of some of his adventures.

Bear in the Air by Susan Meyers, illustrated by Amy Bates
Very cute story about a bear that falls from a stroller and ends up having all kinds of adventures before it is found and returned. Love the illustrations too.

Emma's Treasure by Gerald Mercer, illustrated by Jillian Nicol (Newfoundland author and illustrator)
Loved it! Emma found an old trunk that once belonged to her grandfather. The trunk led to all kinds of fun learning for her and her friends.

Emma's New Game by Gerald Mercer, illustrated by Jillian Nicol (Newfoundland author and illustrator)
Love this book and actually featured it on my 365 Days of Children's books blog. Emma and her friends learn about a game that her grandfather and his friends used to play. The game was called conkers and involved making your own playing peice from a chestnut. The story ends with the children and their grandparents having a competition with the conkers they make.

Newfoundland And Labrador ABC Alphabet Book story and original paintings by Dale Ryan
The paintings in this book are beautiful! I actually featured this book on my 365 Days of Children's Books blog. We loved it!

Sadie And The Snowman by Allen Morgan, illustrated by Brenda Clark (Canadian author and illustrator)
Sadie has great fun building snowmen all throughout the winter, though she is a little sad at first when the animals pick her snowman apart and the snowman starts to melt in the heat. A really cute story. She keeps using different things to make the snowman and in the end places what's left in a bowl and when it melts puts the water into a bag and keeps it in her freezer until winter comes again. I featured this book on my 365 Days of Childen's Books blog

Do You Still Love Me? by Charlotte Middleton
Dudley the dog has a great life with Anna, his owner, until Anna gets a new pet and Dudley wonders if she still loves him. Dudley is not crazy about this competition but before long they find a way to all be happy together. Cute story. Of course Anna liked the fact that the girl's name was Anna.

Freddy's Hockey Hero by Susan Chalker Browne, illustrations by Hilda Rose (Newfoundland Author, Canadian Illustrator?)
Freddy is really excited to be going to a hockey game and is convinced he's going to see his favorite player there. Not only does he get to see him, but he gets to take shots with him! Kind of cute story but I bit too wordy for me. Some repeat phrases on some pages that werwe kind of cute but once again a bit too wordy for me. Maybe it was my mood when I read it.

The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
Minna longs to go to school but can't because she doesn't have a coat to wear in the winter, until the Quilting Mother's come up with a plan and make her a very special coat. Unfortunately the children at school make fun of her coat, but soon Minna helps them see how special the coat is. Beautiful watercolor pictures of a time past.

The Tooth Book: A Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums by Edward Miller
I wasn't crazy about this book, but Anna liked it. It is an information book about teeth and how to take care of them.

I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt, illustrated by Cyd Moore
As Mama tucks her little one in bed and tells her/him? she loves him the little one asks a question, "would you still love me if..." A cute book.

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Charlie likes school, but he doesn't like being the smallest one in his class. One day Charlie's teacher gets his students to do an activity with pumpkins and Charlie learns that size alone is not the only important thing. Lots of chances for learning in this book. Great for a fall activity. Helps teach observation, estimating, counting by twos, fives, tens.

Hog-Eye by Susan Meddaugh
Little Miss Pig decided to skip her bus ride to school, because her bus was too noisy, and ended up being caught by a wolf, but she outwitted the wolf and got away. Anna and I both thought this was a pretty good book.

Star's Island by Margaret O'Brien, illustrated by Veselina Tomova (Newfoundland author and illustrator)
Star the pony loves his small island in the middle of the ocean, but one day Cordell, a big white bird, convinces him to check out the big island where Cordell insists everything is bigger and better. Star goes to check it out and enjoys himself, but he longs to get back to his little island again. In the end Cordell and Star decide that even though the both prefer different places they can still both be best friends. A cute story that makes me think about how many Newfoundlanders feel about thier home. Found a YouTube video of the book's launching.

Duncan's Way by Ian Wallace (Canadian Author)
It looks like Duncan and his family might have to follow the steps of many of their friends and leave the island they love to find work, until Duncan comes up with an idea that just might make it possible for them to stay. Many Newfoundlanders will relate to this story.

Brave Jack and the Unicorn by Janet McNaughton, art by Susan Tooke (Newfoundland Author, Canadian Illustrator)
The story in this book reminded me of a folk tale that I had read before. An old lady has three sons, one who's handsome, one who's clever, and one who seems to be no good for anything, but is very kindhearted. The kindhearted son goes through a series of circumstances that shows his true worth. What makes this particular version of the story different is that it is set in Newfoundland. The illustrations are of 15 different locations in Newfoundland and Labrador. There is a list of these locations in the beginning of the book. One complaint I have about the book is that the page numbers are not on the pages, making it a bit of a pain to find a particular page. It would be great to us this book in a study of Newfoundland and us the different illustrations to learn about different places in Newfoundland and Labrador. I featured this one on my 365 Days of Children's Books blog

The Blue Door: A Fox and Rabbit Story (A First Flight Reader) by David McPhail, illustrated by John O'Connor
Fox invites Rabbit to go with him on a visit to his Uncle's place, but there is one problem, Fox doesn't have an address for his Uncle's place he only remembers that he had a blue door. Fox and Rabbit set out anyway and eventually find Fox's uncle. It is a cute story.

Count Down to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee, pictures by Harry Bliss
Honestly, I wasn't real crazy about this book. I'm just not a fan of a book that tells a lot of the story with speech balloons. Being a book about getting ready to go to public school for kindergarten it is also not a book that goes along with our philosophies. That being said, it wasn't too bad and it would be a cute book to read to a child that was preparing to go to Kindergarten. The little girl in the book has been told that kindergarteners have to be able to tie their laces by themselves and she is very worried because she doesn't know how to do that.

Adele And Simon by Barbara McClintock
Love this book! The story is cute and the illustrations are wonderful. The book tells about the struggles big sister Adele has trying to get her little brother Simon home without losing all his things along the way. She's not too successful with that task and it is fun to find hidden on each page something else that Simon has lost along the way. Set in the early 20th century Paris, the illustrations in this book make for a great social studies lesson. In the back of the book the author shares the inspiration for each illustration, giving information about many historical places in Paris. I featured this book on my 365 Days of Children's Books blog.

I'm Sorry by Sam McBratney, illustrations by Jennifer Eachus
Beautiful pictures in this book which tells about the friendship between a little boy and a little girl. They have so much fun together, but there are also times when they need to say "I'm sorry."

Where Are You Bear?: A Canadian Alphabet Adventure written by Frieda Wishinsky, illustrated by Sean L. Moore (Canadian Author and Illustrator)
Sophie is excited to go visit her Grandma in Vancouver but she can't find Bear and has to leave without him. Bear sets out on his own adventure to get to Sophie and both Sophie and Bear see all kinds of things as they travel across Canada. Each double spread page features a different province or territory and different letters of the alphabet. Kind of cute but a little too contrived for me, or maybe I was just in a bad mood when I read it and I need to reread. The inside front and back pages show a map of Canada and a chart showing what Sophie and Bear saw in each province.

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt (Canadian Author)
Scaredy Squirrel never leaves his home because he's afraid of everything, until one day he accidently leaves and finds out the big wide world is not quite as scary as he thought it was. I wasn't a big fan of this book, mostly because of the style of it. Anna, however, thought it was great.

Big Bear Hug by Nicholas Oldland (Canadian)
Bear loves to hug everything, until one day he sees something that makes him angry. He decides to put his anger aside and hug anyway. Cute story. Featured on my 365 Days of Children's Books blog.

Maggie and Hero by Margaret O'Brien, illustrated by Veselina Tomova (Newfoundland Author and illustrator)
Maggie the puppy is always getting in trouble and feels like she's no good for anything, until she meets a big dog named Hero. and Hero convinces her that she is good for something and with Hero's encourgement Maggie herself becomes a Hero and rescues a boy. Cute story.

Heroes of Isle aux Morts by Alice Walsh, illustrations by Geoff Butler (Newfoundland author and illustrator)
Tells the true story of how a Newfoundland dog helped save passengers from a grounded ship of Isle aux Mort in Newfoundland in 1832. Featured on my 365 Days of Children's Books blog.

P is Puffin: A Newfoundland and Labrador Alphabet written by Janet Skirving and illustrated by Odell Archibald (Newfoundland author and illustrator)
This book can be read and enjoyed as a simple alphabet book by reading just the main text on each page, or it can become the jump off point for some great social studies learning by reading the additional information on each page, making it a book applicable to many age groups. To be perfectly truthful, I found some of the rhyming in the book's main text to be difficult and contrived, but I do see us coming back to this book again as a basis for some social studies learning.

Johnny and the Gipsy Moth by Deannie Sullivan-Fraser, illustrated by Hilda Rose (Newfoundland author)
Inspired by true events in the author's father's childhood. Johnny has trouble fitting in when his family moves from the big city to a small community, but a special visit from his uncle changes things. His uncle arrives in a Gipsy Moth aiplane and takes Johnny for a ride, stirring up envy and interest from the young boys that liked to make fun of Johnny. The story is sprinkled with Newfoundland words and sayings and has a one page glossay in the back to explain some of them. It is a nice book to read just for fun but it can also be used to initate some social studies lessons about dialects and also about the history of flight in Newfoundland.

Two books for me:
Be Safe Little Boy and Stay Close Little Girl, both by Karen Kingsbury. I cried my way through both. They would make great graduation or wedding gifts for adult children. The kind of reminded me of I'll Love you Forever by Robert Munsch.

Get Your Ticket NOW for the TOS Spring Expo Coming up May 16-20

2011-01-26T01:29:00.003-03:30

Chance to win a free ticket below!

The TOS Expo is an online homeschool conference. You get to sit in the comfort of your home and connect with homeschoolers around the world and hear homeschooling experts share their expertize. If something happens and your schedule doesn't allow you to enjoy a session when it is scheduled, there's no need to worry about it because you get recordings of all the sessions to listen to at your own leisure once the Expo is over. Also, during the Expo there are free gifts and door prizes offered during each session.

I took in my first Expo this past Fall and I will never miss another if I can help it. I was so inspired and encouraged by the speakers and I enjoyed the interaction with homeschoolers around the world, all while sitting in my own living room! I was also the lucky recipient of a couple of great prizes offered during the sessions.

Tickets are on sale now for the TOS Spring Expo (to be held on May 16-20). There are a limited number of tickets available and right now they are having an early bird sale. You get a package valued at $419.87 for just $19.50! Here's what you get:
Live Schoolhouse Expo Ticket—$39.99
Free Gifts Package—$211.73
Bonus Freebies—$103.15
HLA Membership—$65.00

February 10th the price goes up to $29 and you don't get the bonus freebies so you get a package valued at $316.72.
Febuary 27th the price goes up to $39.99.

Susan Wise Bauer, of The Well Trained Mind is one of the speakers this time around! One of my favorite speakers from last time was Carol Barnier. She was so entertaining and encouraging. I am thrilled that she is speaking again this time. Another speaker that I learned a lot from last year was Dianne Craft. I won one of her books in her session last time. I'm excited to learn more from her this time around. I'm also really looking forward to the devotionals with Deborah Wuehler.

Check out all the speakers and the topics at the Expo Site.

I am thrilled that I have been given a ticket to the Expo to give away to one of my readers! I'd love to see more Canadians take part in the Expo so if you are a Canadian Homeschooler and are interested in getting a free ticket, with all the extras, to the Expo, just leave a comment and tell me what it is about the Expo that interests you. I will put the names in a bag and get my daughter to pick a winner Thursday night and announce the winner right here Friday. If you blog, twitter or facebook about my free ticket and leave me a link to check it out I will put your name in a second time.

So, leave a comment, pass the word around and be sure to check back to see if you won.

Schoolhouse Expo Freebie for Facebook fans Starting Today

2011-01-25T10:22:00.002-03:30

Go to the Schoolhouse Expo on Facebook and "like" the Expo to recieve a freebie - an ebook called "College Success Begins at Home: Seasoned Homeschoolers Share Their Experiences." Hurry before it sells out and the offer ends.

Besides getting the freebie, liking the Schoolhouse Expo on Facebook will mean that you will be notified of all exciting happenings in preparation for the Spring Expo which starts May 16-20. Tickets will be going on sale very, very soon. Stay tuned! :)

It's Bloggiesta time again!

2011-01-21T09:17:00.000-03:30

Not sure how much time I'm going to get to put into it but I'm hoping to sneak in some.

Don't know what a bloggiesta is? Basically it's an online blog improvement challenge party. This is the 4th Bloggiesta that Maw Books has hosted. This time around some of the mini challenges and lessons are about Google forms and Mr. Linky, but there's lots more.

Why not check it out?

Watch for Canada's Own Homeschool Magazine soon!

2011-01-18T23:30:00.000-03:30

Homeschool Horizons, Canada's Homeschooling Magazine, is expected to launch in September of 2011. It will be by and for Canadian homeschoolers. Join the Homeschool Horizons facegroup page to be kept up-to-date about the status of the magazine and to be the first to know about special happenings.

Last Week's Library Loot Reviews

2011-01-17T13:25:00.000-03:30

The first few are I Can Read Books but I actually like these.

Little Critter: Going to the Sea Park (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter has great fun when his class makes a visit to the sea park.

Little Critter: To the Rescue (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter comes to Dad's rescue by calling 911 when Dad gets stuck in the basement. A good resource for a unit about what to do in emergency situations.

Little Critter: Just Saving Money (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter needs a new skateboard. Dad tell him he needs to save his money and helps him set up a savings account at the bank. A great book to get children talking about money matters.

Little Critter: This is My Town (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter takes you on a tour of his town. A great resource for a social studies theme about important places in the neighbourhood. I had every intention of using this book as inspiration for Anna and I to make a mini book about our neighbourhood, but we haven't gotten around to it yet.

Little Critter: Going to the Firehouse (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter is thrilled when his class visits the fire station. A good addition to a social studies themed unit about firefighters or neighbourhood helpers.

Little Critter: The Fall Festival (an I Can Read Book) by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter and his family have a fun filled day at the Fall Festival. Good addition for a science themed unit about the fall. Could be inspiration for putting together your own fall festival.

Just Go To Bed by Mercer Mayer
Little Critter tries everything he can to avoid going to bed. Anna could really relate to this one. ;)

Just Big Enough by Mercer Mayer
After a rough experience at school, Little critter longs to grow bigger, but he soon finds out that there can be advantages to being small.

George And Martha: Full of Surprises written and illustrated by James Marshall
Apparently this is part of a series of books, but this is the first one we've come across. Anna was pretty excited when we turned to the first page and discovered it is a chapter book with Two Stories About Two Best Friends. Story one starts with George scaring Martha and Martha vowing to get back at him and resulting in him not being able to relax for the rest of the day. She finally gets her revenge when George least expects it in chapter two. A very cute story which we enjoyed all the more because I frightened Anna when Martha frightened George. :)

Out Of the Egg written and illustrated by Tina Matthews
This book is a little twist on the story of the Little Red Hen. Very cute.

Piggy And Dad Go Fishing by David Martin, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
Piggy is so excited because he is going on his first fishing trip! He's so soft hearted, however, that he can't bare the thought of hurting the worms or the fish. He comes up with his own kind of fishing - "feed the fish fishing"! Anna and I both got a kick out of the story.

All For Pie Pie For All by David Martin, illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev

I loved this book! Grandma Cat makes a pie and everyone enjoys a piece of it, leaving one piece behind. A family of mice share the leftover piece with everyone getting a small piece, and they leave behind six crumbs. Those six crumbs are enjoyed by a family of ants, and then everyone decides to help Grandma make a new pie. Lots of repeated words in the book make it a great one for shared reading.

Bittle by Patricia MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
Julie, the dog, and Nigel, the cat, name the new baby Bittle, because she's a "little bit of a thing", and they are not impressed with her at first but they soon come to love her. A very cute story.

Old Mr. Mackle Hackle by Gunnar Madsen, illustrated by Irana Shepherd
Mr. Mackle Hackle is concerned because he has a hen that doesn't cackle and he tries to find a solution, but when the hen has chicks he is soon wishing the cackling would stop! The story is told with rhythm and rhyme and illustrated with fun pictures. The book is actually based on a song written by Gunnar Madsen.

Angelo by David Macaulay
Angelo, an aging plaster artist, makes friends with a pigeon and soon the pigeon helps him to do the things he needs to do. It took some convincing and work to get Anna interested in this book and she was sad when we came to the page where they were carrying Angelo's body into the church. The story is okay but I don't think Anna is old enough to really get what she could out of it.

Read to Me - Picture Book Reading Challenge

2011-01-15T23:52:00.000-03:30

Read to Me - Picture Book Reading Challenge

Just found this and thought I'd pass it on. The challenge is to read to your kids in 2011. There are a bunch of different challenge levels. You can pledge to read from 12 to 200 or more books this year. Why not take up the challenge.

You can check out my 365 Days of Children's Books blog for suggestions as to good books to add to your reading list. I'd love to hear if you decide to join the challenge and if you read any of the books we feature on our book blog.

B90 Day 2 SOAP: He is there, even when I don't realize it

2011-01-04T23:10:00.001-03:30

Today's Reading: Genesis 17-28

Scripture: Genesis 28:16 "Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it."

Observation: Jacob is on the run because of something very wrong that he did. He had to bunk out in the open with a rock as his pillow and in this seemingly God forsaken place Jacob has an awesome encounter with God and God promises him that He will not leave him.

Application: Even when I've messed up big time and it may seems like there is no hope, there is because God will not leave me.

Prayer: Lord, I fail so many times. I don't understand how You can continue to care for me, but You do. Thank-You. Help me, and others like me, to realize that You never give up caring and You never leave.

B90 SOAP: Oh to be like Noah!

2011-01-03T11:44:00.040-03:30

Amy at Mom's Toolbox is hosting another Read the Bible in 90 Days challenge, starting today. I've decided to join her again and this time I'm also going to give her SOAP Bible journal plan a try.

My SOAP for Day 1 of the Bible in 90 Days challenge at Mom's Toolbox

Scripture: Genesis 6:22 "Thus Noah did: according to all that God commanded him, so he did."

Observation: God was asking Noah to do some pretty crazy sounding things, and he did all that God asked him to do.

Application: Sometimes I feel like God asks me to do something, but I'm not very prompt about doing what He asks. I'm more likely to make all kinds of excuses as to why it's not a good idea. I want to be more like Noah.

Prayer: Lord, help me to do what you ask me, when you ask me too and to stop making excuses for not doing it.

A Challenge for 2011

2011-01-01T22:00:00.000-03:30

I'd like to challenge you to spend more time reading the Bible in 2011.

Have you ever read the Bible right through, every word of it? If you haven't, why not make it a goal to do so. You don't have to read it all in 2011 but you could make a good start and take as long as you need to finish it.

You could use a Bible Reading Chart like one that my children and I have used in the past. Print it out, fold it and tuck it into your Bible and mark of the chapters as you read them. No requrement to read a certain amount or in a certain order, just mark of each chapter as you read it. You'll be able to see at a glance if there is something you haven't read yet and need to make a special effort to read.

If you'd like to take on a big challenge join us for Mom's Toolbox's Bible in 90 Days Challenge which start next week.

Whatever you do, I hope you will determine to spend more time reading the Bible in 2011. I'd love to hear how you do.

My New Venture for 2011

2010-12-31T16:36:00.000-03:30

I have been having so much fun reading some many books with Anna this past year that I've decided to start a new venture for 2011 - 365 Days of Children's Books . I hope you'll join us and pass the link along to your friends.

Last Week's Library Loot Reviews

2010-12-29T23:55:00.000-03:30

Books for Anna:

The Christmas Story retold by Deborah Hautzig, illustrated by Sheilah Beckett
This is not my favorite book sharing the Christmas story. It claims to be based on the gospels of Matthew and Luke but right from the first page it strays from those writings by claiming that Mary and Joseph are a married couple with no children.

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
A cute story about a chameleon that wishes he could have a color of his own instead of always changing color. Anna was thrilled to be able to do the reading of the first few pages all on her own.

The Sweetest One Of All by Jean Little, illustrated by Marisol Sarrazin (Canadian author and illustrator)
I love this book! We read it earlier in the year but it is worth the repeat. All the new mothers in the barnyard think their babies are the best. The prose has a sprinkle of rhyme and alliterition that makes it fun to read and listen too. It would make a good resource to use to introduce the idea of alliterition.

The Snow Storm by Heather Amery, illustrated by Stephen Cartwright
Apparently this book is part of a series of Farmyard Tales stories. I will be looking for the others. In this story Poppy and Sam help Rusty take hay to the sheep after a snow storm and discover a wonderful surprise. An added bonus is a little duck that is hidden on each page.

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
Funny story about a frog that discovers it's a lot of work to get ready to go out in the snow. Non-words for sounds, such as zoop, zup, and zat are part of the fun of this book. Anna and I also enjoyed shouting out parts of the story as we took on the role of the mother and froggy. A very fun book.

I'm a Truck Driver by Jonathan London, illustrated by David Parkins (Canadian illustrator)
With great pictures and simple words this book teaches children about twelve different kinds of trucks.

The Little Rooster And The Diamond Button by Celie Barker Lottridge and Joanne Fitzgerald (Canadian author & illustrator)
Cute story about a rooster that finds a diamond button but has it stolen by a rich sultan. The rooster, however, does not give up easily. There is a repeated phrase that is fun to read together. Anna and I both enjoyed this one.

Sleeping Over by Barbara Lucas, pictures by Stella Ormai
Froggie discovers that it's sometimes difficult to get comfortable when sleeping over at a friends house. A cute story with just a sentence or two per page.

Little Panda by Renata Liwska (Canadian Author and illustrator)
A very cute story. Little Panda's grandfather tells him about Bao Bao, the Panda that made a tiger fly. Anna and I both enjoyed this book

How Rocket Learned To Read by Tad Hills
Love this book! Rocket the dog is enticed into learning to read and once he gets started he doesn't want to stop. Very cute. A great book for children that are just starting to learn to read and spell. I found an Interview with Tad Hills.

The Umbrella Party by Janet Lunn, pictures by Kady MacDonald Denton (Canadian author and illustrator)
Christie loves umbrellas and tells all her friends to give her umbrellas for birthday presents. Her friends think umbrellas are boring, but they sonn discover that they can be fun.

Color Dance by Ann Jonas
This book would be a great resource for an art class about color. Dancers with light flowing material show how the different colors can be made with the primary colors.

The Sights Before Christmas by Beni Malone & Marian Frances White, illustrated by Darka Erdelji
Barnaby Doyle is pretty excited that it is Christmas Eve and the night is filled with all kinds of adventures for him. To be perfectly honest I didn't especially enjoy this book and I'm not sure if Anna did or not. Neither of us are terribly into fantasy. Anna commented that she didn't like some of the scary looking faces of some of the characters. That being said, I'd love to see the show.

First Snow by Emily Arnold McCully
We read this one before. With just a short sentence or two per double page spread, the pictures help tell the story about a fun day in the snow for a family of mice. Anna and I both enjoyed this book.

Otto's Orange Day by Frank Cammuso, pictures by Jay Lynch
This is a toon book, meaning the story is written like a cartoon. I am not a fan of this style of book, but that's just me. Otto loves the color orange but when he makes a wish that turns everything orange he soons finds out that it's nice to have a variety of colors instead of just one.

And one for me:

Gideon's Gift by Karen Kingsbury
Gideon, a little girl that is battling luekemia, has a life changing influence on a man that lives on the street. Part of the Red Glove Collection. This is the third one that I've read and I'm already working on the forth. I really enjoy these books.

Last Week's Library Loot Reviews

2010-12-21T20:52:00.000-03:30

Follow That Star by Kenneth Oppel, illustrated by Kim LaFave (Canadian author and illustrator)

Zach, a shepherd, is so busy grumbling about everything that he almost misses out on the miracles that are happening around him. Thankfully there are angels everywhere that help him, even though he doesn't recognize them as angels. Cute story but likely the only place you will find it is a library because it is currently out of print..

A Gift For The Christ Child by Tina Jahnert, illustrated by Alessandra Roberti

A little girl wishes she were big enough to help and soon gets the chance to help by giving her blanket as a gift to the Christ Child. Love the illustrations!

The Shopping Expedition by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Andre Amstutz

A girl and her Mom have a day full of adventures when they go on a shopping trip. To be perfectly honest, I thought the book was rather silly, and Anna wasn't terribly interested in it either. Maybe we just don't have adventurous imaginations.

Santa's Wish by Astrid Anand, illustrations by Glick-Art

Santa wishes he had a flying machine to help him with his deliveries but he soon discovers that there's something special about the old ways.

The Christmas Snowman by Astrid Anand, illustrations by Glick-Art

One snowy day a group of children pile some snow snowballs to make a snowman but are too tired to finish it. One of the children returned later to finish the snowman and was treated to an adventure - or was it all a dream?

Commotion in The Ocean by Giles Andreae, illustrated by David Wojtowycz

A fun book that uses rhythm and rhyme to introduce some of the creatures that live in the ocean. A great book to use in a science unit study on Ocean Creatures.

Sam's Cookie by Barbro Lindgren, illustrated by Eva Eriksson

A cute story about a little boy enjoying a cookie, though he has to fight his dog for it. Anna really liked this one because she could read it herself. Just a one or two short sentences per page.

Benny and the Binky by Barbro Lindgren, illustrated Olof Lundstrom

Benny the pig gets a new baby brother and is pretty jealous of him and his binky, so he steals it and goes on an adventure. Anna thought it was pretty funny. It's a great book to start a discussion with a child that may have a new sibling.

Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni

An inch worm uses wit to outsmart being eaten by a bird and ends up measuring all kinds of different birds. This book could be used in a math lesson to introduce and discuss the concept of measuring and it could also be used in a science unit study on birds to make a list of different kinds of birds.

Snowballs by Lois Ehlert

Fun book! Stuff that has been saved in a sack is used to make a snowman family. It's fun to check out the illustrations and see all the different things they used. At the back of the book there is information about what snow is and how it is made. A great addition to a winter themed unit study. Here is a link to a Let's Build A Snowman Lesson plan that uses this book as one of the resources.

Honk Honk! Beep Beep! words and pictures by Daniel Kirk

The toys in a child's room come to live at night and go on an adventure. The words have a bit of rhythm and rhyme. Anna enjoyed it and loved reading the Honk Honk! Beep Beep! phrase when it appeared throughout the book. I love the author's website!

Cat Count by Betsy Lewin

A great book to add some fun to a math class.

An Island In The Soup by Mireille Levert (Canadian author)

A boy imagines an adventure while trying to avoid eating his soup. Once again this is one that Anna and I thought was rather silly, and it could just be because we aren't that adventurous or imaginative.

Lucy's Secret by Mireille Levert (Canadian author)

Lucy enters the adventurous world of Anna Zinnia's garden and learns a little about how plants grow by planting some seeds herself. I love this quote from this book: "Did you know, my flower," asks Anna Zinnia, "that my garden is like a big library? The flowers and the bugs are like books. They have so much to tell us." This book would be a good addition to a science unit on plants.

The Story of Christmas illustrated by Freya Tanz

Tells the Biblical story of the birth of Christ. Very nice illustrations.

This Week's Library Loot and Reviews

2010-12-17T00:10:00.000-03:30

Mrs. Toggle's Zipper by Robin Pulver, illustrated by R.W. Alley

We read this one earlier this year. I had forgotten about it but Anna remembered it as soon as she saw it. It's a funny book that tells the story of a teacher that is stuck in her coat because her zipper is stuck. I'd love to read more of her books.

Jingle Bell Christmas by Catherine Lukas, illustrated by the Artifact Group

This is a Backyardigans book and we had actually read it earlier this year. I am not a fan of the Backyardigans but Anna does like them, when I allow her to watch them once in a while. She picked this book to take out again this time and I couldn't talk her out of it. This is a lift the flap book and the story is a parody of the classic Jingle Bells song.

The Jacket I Wear In The Snow by Shirley Neitzel, pictures by Nancy Winslow Parker

The prose, starting with one line, tells the story of a child that gets his zipper stuck in his coat while out playing in the snow. Another line is added with each turn of the page and a picture is substituted rebus style in the previous line each time. Kind of cute. Would be a good story to use for a literture study on writing this type of story. The author suggests some activities to go along with the book on the Teaching Activities page of her website.

Dora's Christmas Adventure by Christine Ricci, illustrated by Piero Piluso

This is one we read earlier this year too but Anna wanted to take it out again. It is a lift the flap book.

Dinosaurs' Christmas by Liza Donnelly

I am not a fan of anything dinosaur themed so I didn't find this book the least bit enjoyable. Anyone that enjoys anything dinosaur related would probably enjoy it. There is a glossary at the back that shows the pronunciation and description of a number of different dinosaurs.

The Little Crooked Christmas Tree by Michael Cutting, illustrated by Ron Broda (Canadian author and illustrator)

Cute story about a tree that doesn't have what it takes to be a prized Christmas tree but it does end up being treasured. We enjoyed the story.

Fun in the Snow by Laura Damon, illustrated by Diane Paterson (A Giant First-Start Reader)

Two bears have a fun day playing in the snow. This book is written with just 37 different words and has just a few words per page. Anna liked the story and also liked trying her hand at reading some of the pages.

Christmas Carols: A Treasury of Holiday Favorites with Words and Pictures illustrated by Noel Tennyson

This book is just what the sub title says, a collection of favorite holiday songs. We had great fun singing our way through the book.

The First Noel pictures by Janina Domanska

The words of the Christmas carol are written a line or two per page under the pictures. We sang it together as we turned the pages.

Kitten's Spring by Eugenie Fernandes (Canadian author and illustrator)

Just a couple of phrases per page tell about the adventures a kitten enjoys in the spring. Love the illustrations.

A Particular Cow by Mem Fox, illustrated by Terry Denton

On this particular day a particular cow has a particularly adventure filled day. Just a few words per page and the word particular is on most pages. Kind of funny but a little overboard for me, though it was kind of fun to say particular so many times.

Floating Home by David Getz, illustrated by Michael Rex

Maxine goes for a very different point of view when her teacher gives them an assignment to look at their homes in a new way and drawing about it. She decides to look at her home from space. I didn't really enjoy this one and neither did Anna. It's a little over her head yet. It probably would have been better if I had taken a few days to read it instead of reading it all in one day. There is a lot of information in the book about space and maybe I'll come back to it again for a space themed science study in the future.

Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack

We loved this one! I'm sure I read it to my older kids at some point in time as it is an old classic. Danny is looking for something to give his mother for her birthday and all the animals suggest things she already has, but Mr. Bear suggests the perfect gift. We now give our bear hugs with a little bear like growl. :)

Alligators and Crocodiles by Gail Gibbons

This is a great information book which explains the difference between alligators and crocodiles and gives lots of information about both. Anna found it a little overwhelming but I can see us coming back to it again for a science lesson.

A Mother For Choco by Keiko Kasza

Choco, a plump little bird, searches for someone like him to be his mother but ends up finding a mother in someone totally different. A really cute book! We loved it.

Anansi and the Talking Melon retold by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Janet Stevens

We read our first Anansi book recently and Anna was thrilled when she found more at the library. In this story Anansi tricks her friends into thinking they have a talking melon.

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock retold by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Janet Stevens

More of Anansi the spider's antics. Anansi finds a moss covered rock with magical powers and uses it to trick all his friends. Anna enjoyed the story. On the author's site he has a link to a PDF with ideas for activities to do inspired by the book.

This is The Star by Joyce Dunbar, illustrated by Gary Blythe

The illustrations for this book are beautiful oil paintings. The prose starts with just one line. It is repeated and another line added with each turn of the page as it tells the story of the birth of Christ. We both liked this book.

The Story of the Three Wise Kings retold and illustrated by Tomie DePaola

This book tells the legend of the three wisemen that visited the Christ child. While reading it I kept wondering how much of it actually followed the Biblical story. If I read it again I will have to check to see how true to the account it is. I can't say that Anna or I particularly enjoyed the book

Aunt Olga's Christmas Postcards by Kevin Major, illustrated by Bruce Roberts (Newfoundland author and Canadian illustrator)

Anna goes to visit her great Aunt Olga and gets to look at her collection of Christmas Postcards while Aunt Olga tells her about them. Aunt Olga also encourages Anna to write her own prose for cards. I love the idea of this book but it was a bit too much for Anna yet, though she did like that the little girl in the story had the same name as her. I can see us coming back to it again for a literature lesson and also for a study of the history of Christmas cards and postcards.

Angus And The Cat by Marjorie Flack

I don't remember reading the classic Angus books before but Anna thought they were great. In this book Angus, the Scottish terrier, finally gets to learn about cats

Angus And The Ducks by Marjorie Flack

In this book Angus has some fun with a couple of ducks.

And this one was for me:

Hannah's Hope by Karen Kingsbury

This is the second book I've read in The Red Gloves Series by Karen Kinsgbury. Just days before Christmas Hannah discovers that she's destined to spend Christmas alone but she is encouraged to believe for a Christmas miracle.

Last Week's Library Loot and Reviews

2010-12-02T01:28:00.001-03:30

Salmon Creek by Annette LeBox, illustrated by Karen Reczuch

This is a great resource for a science lesson about salmon. It tells the story of a salmon from the egg stage right to the time she lays her own eggs. The last pages are a double layout of information and pictures of the Life Cycle of a Salmon. This really is a great learning resource. The illustrations are excellent! This was a little above Anna right now but I can see us coming back to it again in the future.

The Littlest Sled Dog by Michael Kusugak, illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka (Canadian author and illustrator)

A very cute story about a little dog that dreams big dreams. Anna and I simply read and enjoyed the book but I see us coming back to it again in the future. It would make a great addition to a study of dogs as there are a number of different kinds of dogs mentioned in the book. There are also a lot of different places mentioned in the book and next time around I see us taking advantage of that and sneaking in some social studies as we look for the places on maps and in atlases.

The End by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Richard Egielski

This is a very different story. It tells the story backwards! There are few words per page and the illustrations are great. I will definitely come back to this again for a literature study about fairy tales. While writing this review I checked out the author's website and discovered some great resources. There is a Teaching Guide for his book The End. In his own words it will "build on the learning opportunities found within The End?". On the page there are links to PDF's which further the ideas. They are really worth checking out.

Nana's Quilt by Lori Lane and Kathy Winsor, photography by Jim Costello (Newfoundland authors and illustrator)

A cute story about a little girl that spends the summer with her Nana. They explore St. John's together and also work together on quilt blocks about their explorations. There is a lot of extra learning that could happen inspired by this book - a study of places in St. John's, a study about quilting, etc. It is written like a journal with each section starting with the day and date, so it could also be used to introduce the idea of journaling. I did, however, think that there were too many words, at least for Anna at this age. I can, however, see us using this book again in the future.

While We Were Out by Ho Baek Lee

A cute story about a rabbit that invades a house when the owners are out. Just a couple of sentences per page. Great illustrations. We enjoyed the book.

The Sheep in Wolf's Clothing by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

Ewetopia had trouble fitting in with all the other sheep, until she saved the day by dressing up in wolf's clothing. Cute story.

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, drawings by Robert Lawson

This is an old book and when we went to read it we discovered that it was missing at least one, if not more, pages from the beginning. That made for not a great beginning with the book. Anna wasn't terribly interested in the book. The book could be used in a social studies unit about cultural sporting events such as bull fighting, but it is highly unlikely that I will read it again.

Care Bears Special Delivery by Quinlan B. Lee, illustrated by Jay Johnson

I know it's sad, but I used to love the Care Bears. This would be a good book for Valentine's Day. Love-a-Lot Bear and Tenderheart Bear deliver special hearts to all the other Care Bears. Anna enjoyed the bright colored illustrations.

Benjamin - My Mum is Special by Stefanie Lazai, illustrated by Stephan Pohl

Great story to help children, and even adults, understand the struggles people with MS have. Told from the point of view of a little boy who watches his mother struggle. It was a little above Anna's head but I could see it being great for kids that are a little older. The whole book is available as a PDF file.

Bella and the Bunny by Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Kate Endle (Canadian Author)

A cute story about a little girl and her adventures with the bunny at her preschool. We enjoyed it.

Daisy is a Mommy by Lisa Kopper

We read this book earlier this year and enjoyed it. There are just a few words per page and some repeated phrases so it is a great book for shared reading. It's about a dog and her puppies, who live in a house with a Mom and her baby.

A Rose For Pinkerton by Steven Kellogg

A very cute story about a dog that wants a playmate but all kinds of havoc results when her owner gets her a kitten to play with. The story is told using few words and detailed illustrations. We really enjoyed it.

Omar On Board by Maryann Kovalski (Canadian author and illustrator)

Omar the bear is afraid to dive off the high dive board, until he is distracted and forgets about his fear. A cute story. Great illustrations.

Zelda And Ivy The Runaways by Laura McGee Kvasnosky

This is a very short three chapter book with a total of 42 pages. Zelda and Ivy are sister foxes, The first chapter tells about a time they ran away, the second about a time they made a time capsule, and the third about a time the used a secret concoction. Anna enjoyed the stories.

Bears by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Maurice Sendak

This book is actually a poem with just 27 words. I was a little disappointed that the words were in writing font because that made it harder for Anna to try to read on her own, but on the other hand it gave me a chance to introduce her to how some letters look in writing font.

So, What's It Like To Be a Cat? by Karla Kuskin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin

A cute book where a little boy interviews a cat about what it's like to be a cat. Cat lovers would definitely like it. A good book to use in a unit about conducting interviews.

Rocksy written and illustrated by Loris Lesynski (Canadian author and illustrator)

Roxanne was a clumsy girl that made a wish and turned into Rocksy, a girl made of stone. Cute story.

NaNoWriMo Winner 2010, sort of

2010-11-30T12:51:00.000-03:30

Yeah! I did it! I reached the 50,000 word count goal for NaNoWriMo! I'm so excited.

To be perfectly honest, I questioned myself as to whether I could claim to be a NaNoWriMo winner or not. The goal for NaNoWriMo is to write a novel that is at least 50,000 words in 30 days. What I wrote is actually more of a journal than a novel, but I talked myself into counting it as a win because I know of many journals that have eventually been turned into books - Helen Keller's diary, Anne Frank's diary, etc. I have no intentions of turning my NaNo journaling in to a book but, hey, you never know. :)

Opps, I just read the FAQs on the NaNoWriMo site and after reading the What genres are okay? question I've concluded that maybe I'm not really an official winner by NaNo standards after all. The writing is supposed to be a work of fiction. However, the good people of NaNo have created a forum for what they call NaNo rebels such as myself.

Seriously, my goal in participating in NaNo this year was to develop the habit of regular writing, and I intend to continue with that habit. I do think that some of the material that I have included in my journal could eventually be taken out and expanded on and could be inspiration for other writing. I consider myself a winner because I reached the 50,00o word count goal and I know that next time around I will be ready to actually tackle writing something that will make me an honest to goodness official NaNoWriMo winner.

A fellow NaNoer often posted wordles of her writing thoughout the month and when I reached the word count goal last night I decided to celebrate by creating a wordle. Here it is:

Bible in 90 Days Challenge Starting January 3rd

2010-11-28T21:01:00.000-03:30

The time is fast approaching:

Could there be any better goal for the New Year than to spend more time in God's Word? As a friend pointed out to me today, the winter is a great time to take up a challenge. Having completed the challenge this summer, I have volunteered to be a mentor this time around and encourage others through the challenge. I seriously didn't think it was possible when I started the challenge but I did it, and I know you can too. I'd love to be able to encourage you through it. Please consider joining us.

Schoolhouse Expo Session with Dr. Jay Wile

2010-11-24T22:51:00.000-03:30

Over at the Schoolhouse Expo blog Lori has challenged us to Listen Along with Lori Lynn and listen to a Schoolhouse Expo October 2010 recording a week and post a review about it on our own blogs. I'm already behind the schedule she proposed and I'll probably be behind the whole way through but I'm going to try to get do what I can. Here's my thoughts on Dr. Jay Wile's session titled "Homeschool Graduates: What Are They Doing Now?".

I actually forgot about this session when it was presented and didn't join until it was about half over. Boy, was I glad that recordings of the sessions after the fact were included in the price of a ticket. I took in what I could then knowing that I would be able to take it all in again later.

What stood out to me in the part of the session that I did get to take in the first time was how Dr. Wile emphasized trusting God's guidance and how the graduates were following God's leading and were willing to let their plans go if need be.

About a week ago I listened to the whole session in it's entirety and took note of some other things.

Dr. Wile started the session by telling a bit about himself and how he became interested in homeschooling. I think it's a pretty cool story. Dr. Wile was a professor and he had some homeschool graduates taking some of his courses and he discovered that the homeschool graduates were some of his best students. It impressed him so much that he decided that when he had children he was going to homeschool them.

Near the end of his session Dr. Wile revealed that he did just what he had decided, he homeschooled his own child, but he was very transparent about the fact that it wasn't always a bed of roses. His daughter didn't want to be homeschooled so he stressed the advantages to her - like sleeping in, creating own schedule, etc. They went through some rough times, as all homeschooling families do, but they do not regret their decision and he considers his daughter to be one of the successful homeschool gradutes.

Most homeschool families know Dr. Wile as the guy that wrote the Apolgia Science curriculum. Dr. Wile made it clear, however, that he no longer works with Apologia. I didn't realize that and I went searching for the story behind it and discovered this article titled Apologia Changes Hands.

On Dr. Wile's website you can actually find the handout for the What are They Doing Now? session he did in the Expo, as well as handouts for other talks he's done at other times in other places.

I found it interesting that Dr. Wile started his session with a lot of statistics. You can find all these statistics in the session handout I personally found some of these statistics very interesting.

Dr. Will then went on to share the stories of nine homeschool graduates he followed up on to see what they were doing now. It was very interesting and encouraging to hear their different stories. Once again these stories are included in the handout for the session.

After the session was over people had a chance to ask Dr. Wile some questions and one statement that he made in response to a question stood out to me. He advised that it's a good idea to get out of the packaged curriculum. He said it's nice and easy to use but it's better to tailor the curriculum to your own child. I happen to agree with him.

If you missed Dr. Wile's talk and would like to hear it, it is available for purchase $4.95 in the Old Schoolhouse store. Just scroll down until you find Dr. Wile's session. Also, if you entirely missed the conference but wish that you hadn't, you can purchase the recordings for the entire Expo, over 20 hours, for 19.99 from the Old Schoolhouse Store.

Last Week's Library Loot and Reviews

2010-11-23T14:07:00.000-03:30

Let Me Hold You Longer by Karen Kingsbury, illustrated by Mary Collier

I bawled my way through this one! Seriously, I could hardly read I was crying that much. It tells the story of a Mom that starts of thinking about all the firsts with her little one but ends up thinking about all the lasts that will quickly pass without her realizing it.

The King of the Birds written and illustrated by Helen Ward

I love this book! It is a great resource for science and a study of birds. The illustrations are wonderful! They picture hundreds of different kinds of birds and there are numbered charts at the back of the book to help you identify each one. The great thing is that it's not just an information book, it's also a story. The birds have a competition to see who is the King of the Birds. We will definitely go back to this one again - probably many times over the years.

The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins
We've read a few Pat Hutchins books before. We really like the Titch books. This is not a Titch book but it's still pretty good. It's a story about the havoc that the wind caused one day before blowing out to sea.

The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster, pictures by Chris Raschka
A little girl shares about her special relationship with her grandparents and how much she likes the window of their house where they get to say hello and goodbye. We thought it was kind of cute. One quote I like from it - "You can be happy and sad at the same time, you know. It just happens that way sometimes."

Are You Ready for Bed? by Jane Johnson, illustrated by Gaby Hansen
A mother bunny is thrilled to finally have all her babies in bed so that she can have some time to herself, but the time doesn't last long. Cute story. I could relate to how Mommy bunny felt. :)

Green Cat by Dayal Kaur Khalsa
A cute story about a brother and sister that complaining about how small their room is until a green cat helps them fill it with too much stuff and when all the stuff is taken out again they realize how big the room really is. It reminded me another story we read recently about a little old lady that thought her house was too small; I can't remember the title of it. The rhyming and rhythm of the story make it a fun read.

Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
A girl is all excited about being invited to a friends birthday party, until her mother insists that she take her little sister with her. A few years later her sister is in the same predicament. We thought the book was okay.

Anansi and the Magic Stick by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Janet Stevens
A story about a lazy spider that steals a magic stick from a Hyena but ends up causing trouble by forgetting the magic words. Anna enjoyed the story and has been repeating the "magic words" once in a while. I thought it was rather silly but okay. There is a bit of word repetition on some pages that provide opportunity to draw attention to the words and encourage some shared reading.

Purplicious by Vitoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann, illustrated by Victoria Kann
We had this book out before. It tells the story of a little girl that loves pink but is told by her friends that pink is a colour for babies. Anna likes the story.

Stormy's Hat : Just Right for a Railroad Man by Eric A. Kimmel, pictures by Andrea U'Ren
A great resource for social studies. It tells the story of how in 1903 a train engineer and his wife came up with the design for a hat for railroad workers. It is not, however, a boring information book. It is actually a very fun story with great pictures.

Nora's Ark by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, illustrataed by Emilay Arnold McCully
This is a good resource for social studies as it is based on a real historic event - the Vermont Flood of 1927. It's not, however, a boring information book. It tells the story of a man that builds a house for his wife but the house ends up serving as a kind of ark during the flood. We enjoyed it.

A Coyote Columbus Story by Thomas King, pictures by William Kent Monkman
I didn't like this book at all. Seriously, not at all. While I understand the point the author was making I think that the concept is more for adults or older teens than for children. It actually might be a good addition to a social studies class in the highschool. It could be used to start a discussion on how point of view influences the stories of history.

Anthony and the Girls by Ole Konnecke
A cute book with just a few words on most pages, so a great book for someone that is just learning to read. It tells the story of a little boy that tries, without luck, to impress some girls.

What Do You Want? by Lars Klinting
We had this one out before, early this year I think. It's a cute little book that provides kids a chance to guess what comes next on each page. Anna can actually read the book herself. There are just a few words on each page and enough repetition and pictures clues to make it easy. One of our favorites.

Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor by Emily Arnold McCully
A great resource for social studies or a unit on inventors or important women in history. This book tells the story of Margaret E. Knight and how right from childhood she was inventing things. She was the inventor of many things, including a machine that made paper groceries bags with flat bottoms. It was a little above Anna at the moment but I could see coming back to it again in a study such as those mentioned above.

Schoolhouse Expos

2010-11-19T11:16:00.000-03:30

Back in October I took part in the October 2010 Schoolhouse Expo. The Schoolhouse Expo is basically an online homeschool conference.

Apparently this was the second Schoolhouse Expo, the first one was held in May 2010 - . A third is planned for May 16-20, 2011. I missed the first one, but, if at all possible, I don't plan on missing anymore.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Expo I took part in. It was very encouraging to hear speakers from the homeschool community share their expertise. It was nice to be able to do that in the comfort of my home without worrying about what I was wearing or how my hair looked. The organizers did a wonderful job of making sure that everything ran as it should have. I was very impressed with how patient they were at explaining the basics to those that had never experienced an online conference before.

One of the great things about the Expo is that included in the prize of a ticket is recordings of the sessions after the fact. This means that if you're too busy to take in a session at the time it is happening you don't miss it entirely. You can listen to it at your leisure when you're ready.

Also, if you entirely missed the conference but wish that you hadn't, you can purchase the Expo recordings from The Old Schoolhouse store. MP3 files are available 19.99 for the entire expo, over 20 hours, or individual sessions for $4.95.

Over at the Schoolhouse Expo blog Lori has challenged us to Listen Along with Lori Lynn. We are to listen to a recording a week and post a review about it on our own blogs. I have been meaning to review the sessions and post more about them so I was thrilled to hear about the challenge. I'm a little behind already, but hopefully I will catch up. So be watching over the next few weeks for my thoughts on the sessions of the October Expo.

Last Week's Library Loot

2010-11-16T10:27:00.000-03:30

So much for my plan to post the list and then a review post a few days later. I'm posting it all in one this time.

Fancy Nancy Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day by Jane O'Conner, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

Kind of a cute book but not really one for us because we're not much into the whole spa beauty stuff. A little girl sets up a spa day for her mom to help her get ready for an evening out. Includes recipes and tips for beauty treatments.

Lyle Walks the Dogs: A Counting Book by Bernard Waber, illustrated by Paulis Waber

I believe this is the first Lyle the Crocodile book for us. The story follows Lyle the Crocodile through his first 10 days of his new job of walking dogs. It is a good book to use for Math. It integrates the numerals, number words, and ordinal words into the story. Anna enjoyed it.

Kipper by Mick Inkpen

We've read a couple of Kipper books before but not this one. Kipper is tired of his basket and old blanket and goes exploring but soon finds out that nothing is better than his basket and old blanket.

Where, oh where, is Kipper's Bear? by Mick Inkpen

This is a cute book with lift laps and surprises but unfortunately the library copy is in rough shape. I think it's sad to have books in such rough shape in the library. I'd love to read a copy in good shape.

Kipper's Monster by Mick Inkpen

Anna love this story. When Tiger shows Kipper his new flashlight and Kipper starts reading a book with it he and Tiger get the idea to sleep outside, but they don't stay out long. Anna loved this story.

It's bedtime, Wibbly Pig! by Mick Inkpen

Wibbly Pig takes his time doing his bedtime routines before finally climbing into bed. Cute story.

Harriet and the Little Fat Fairy by Deborah Inkpen

A cute Christmas themed story. Harriet the hamster gets lost in the Christmas tree and has a great adventure and a pleasant surprise at the end. Anna like it.

Uh-oh! by Rachel Isadora

A cute book were the pictures tell the story of a toddler and all the "Uh-oh" times of his days. There are just one or two words per page. Anna enjoyed it and recognized the phrase "uh-oh" when we came across it in another book later in the week. I like to get a book or two with just a word or two per page because I think it helps Anna to recognize the words and gives her some confidence because she can "read" the book herself pretty easily.

If Dogs Ruled the World (Hello Reader Level 3) by Faith McNulty, illustrated by Julie Durrel

Dogs take the place of people and people take the place of dogs. Kind of a cute story. It got a bit old after a while to me but I think Anna enjoyed it.

Buzz Boy and Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold

Anna loves the Fly Guy books so had to get this one when she saw it at the library. Fly Guy writes a comic strip where he and his pet fly are super heroes. Anna loved it.

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson, pictures by Judith Byron Schachner

This is a cute parody of I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. The old lady in the story eats more than her fill at the thanksgiving supper. Anna enjoyed the book

That New Animal by Emily Jenkins, pictures by Pierre Pratt

Told from the point of view of two dogs that are not impressed when their humans have a baby. Kind of cute. A good reminder to not forgot the pets when a baby comes into the house.

Franklin Forgives by Sharon Jennings, illustrated by Celeste Gagnon

Anna loves Franklin and actually saw a TV episode like this story. Franklin has a hard time forgiving his little sister for losing something very important to him.

The rest of these books are all Level 2 Kids Can Read Books:

Franklin and the Bubble Gum by Sharon Jennings

Franklin has some luck which turns out to be bad luck for someone else, but Franklin does his part to fix things and is rewarded for it. A great story for discussing honesty and integrity.

Franklin's Library Book by Sharon Jennings

Franklin loses a library book and is very worried about it.

Franklin's Soapbox Derby by Sharon Jennings

Franklin and Bear try to make a prize winning Soapbox for the Derby.

Franklin the Detective by Sharon Jennings

Franklin looks for clues to help solve mysteries.

Franklin and the Cookies by Sharon Jennings

Franklin and Bear have fun making and eating cookies. Includes a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that we just had to try.

My Thoughts on Last Week's Library Loot

2010-11-09T20:20:00.000-03:30

Here are my thoughts on the books we had out last week:

My Visit with Periwinkle by Alison Inches, illustrated by David B. Levy (Ready-to-Read: Level 1)

- I'm not a big fan of Blue's Clues and I'm also not a fan of many Ready-to-Read books. I should probably post a post about that sometime. Anna likes Blue's Clues right now and she enjoyed the story. Blue is expecting Periwinkle to visit and he makes a list of things he needs to do to prepare for the visit. This would be a good book to use to introduce the idea of making lists to help you remember things you have to do.

Big Sarah's Little Boots by Paulette Bourgeois, illustrated by Brenda Clark (Canadian Author)

- we actually had this book out before and enjoyed it so we both enjoyed reading it again. Part of the appeal to us is that Sarah is the name of one of my children. In the story Sarah has outgrown her favorite rubber boots and is not too pleased about it. I love the story, and I also love the illustrations. A great book to share with a child that is having trouble with letting go of some things that he/she has outgrown.

A Summertime Song by Irene Haas

- I love this book! It's a very whimsical story about a little girl that gets an invitation from a frog to go to a birthday party and ends up with a very special surprise. I love the ending!

Olivia and Her Ducklings adapted by Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Shane L. Johnson (Ready-to-Read: Level 1)

- I like Olivia a little better than Blue's Clues but I'm still not a fan of these Ready-to-Read books. In this story Olivia makes friends with a family of ducks and they end up following her home.

Where is Baby's Beach Ball? by Karen Katz (a Lift-the-Flap book)

Anna liked this board book. It's a great book for toddlers but even almost 5 year olds like to lift flaps. :) The baby has lost his ball and you have to lift the flaps to help him look for it. This actually ended up being one that we revisited a lot and Anna could almost read the whole book totally by herself by the time we brought it back.

Spot Goes to the Farm by Eric Hill

- this is actually another lift the flap book, but it's not a board book. Anna enjoyed this one too. Spot searches the farm for the animals his dad wants to show him. It would make a good addition to a unit about animals and could be used to review the names of animals and their babies.

What a Treasure! by Jane and Will Hillenbrand

- a cute story about a mole that is digging for treasures and finds all kinds of things that are treasures for other creatures before he finds a treasure for himself. Could be used in a social studies lesson talking about how what is a treasure to one person may not be to another. This is another book we revisited a lot. It has many repeated phrases. Whenever I spot that in a book I make a point of pointing out the repeated phrases while I'm reading them and after I while I just start the phrases and get Anna to finish them. I love how she gets into saying the phrases with expression. She was really doing well with reading the repeated phrase by the time we brought the book back.

The Stuffed Animals Get Ready for Bed by Alison Inches, illustrated by Bryan Langdo

- nice bedtime story book. A little girl tries to settle her toys down for bedtime. We liked the rhythmic, rhyming words as well as the story.

A Second Is a Hiccup: A Child's Book of Time by Hazel Hutchins, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton ( Canadian author and illustrator)

- love this book. A great book to use in a discussion of time and comparing the length of time between seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Could be used for math and social studies. A very nice book.

Boy in Motion: Rick Hansen's Story by Ainslie Manson, illustrated by Renne Benoit (Canadian author)

- I wondered if this one would be too old for Anna but it wasn't. It tells the story of the life of Rick Hanson. I enjoyed learning more about his childhood and what made him who he was. Could be used for social studies to talk about famous people and also about the challenges people in wheel chairs face and how they are just as normal as anyone else.

Furious George Goes Bananas by Michael Rex

- this was a funny story, a parody of Curious George. It tells the story of an ape that keeps selling to different people but the ape keeps escaping and the man keeps finding him and selling him again. Could be used in a literature lesson to discuss parodies and the likeness and similarities of the stories. This is another book that we revisited. There were a few repeated phrases in this one too that Anna really enjoyed reading on her own.

Sleepy Cadillac: A Bedtime Drive by Thacher Hurd

- a good bedtime story. A boy climbs aboard the sleepy cadillac and drops into dream station on his way to pajama land before being deposited back in his bed to sleep.

Read Me a Story: Canadian Favourites (5 different authors)

- this is actually a collection of 5 books by Canadian authors. I love introducing Anna to Canadian author and we had already read books by a couple of these authors. The site I've linked the title too has a great description of the book and you can also read excerpts from it there.

Blue's Checkup by Sarah Albee, illustrated by Ian Chernichaw
- in this story Blue is nervous about having to go to the doctor for a check-up but he gets through it just fine. A nice book to share with a child that might not be looking forward to a visit to the doctor's office.

This Week's Library Loot and a new plan

2010-11-04T15:21:00.000-02:30

I have been listing the books we get from the library for a bit now but doing nothing more than listing them. I'm thinking about adding short, one or two sentence, reviews of some of the books after we have read them. For a while now I've been debating whether I'd post separate reviews for books, and I may do that from time to time, but I think for now after we have read all the books in the list I'll post a second post listing the books and including add short reviews. The reviews will basically just be either a description of the books or my thoughts on the books and how they could be used for different subjects.

That's the plan for now anyway, we'll see how it goes.

These are the books we got from the library this week. We got the books Tuesday and we actually have all but one of them read already! I'll probably post my review post tomorrow.

My Visit with Periwinkle by Alison Inches, illustrated by David B. Levy (Ready-to-Read: Level 1)

Big Sarah's Little Boots by Paulette Bourgeois, illustrated by Brenda Clark

A Summertime Song by Irene Haas

Olivia and Her Ducklings adapted by Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Shane L. Johnson (Ready-to-Read: Level 1)

Where is Baby's Beach Ball? by Karen Katz (a Lift-the-Flap book)

Spot Goes to the Farm by Eric Hill

What a Treasure! by Jane and Will Hillenbrand

The Stuffed Animals Get Ready for Bed by Alison Inches, illustrated by Bryan Langdo

A Second Is a Hiccup: A Child's Book of Time by Hazel Hutchins, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton

Boy in Motion: Ricck Hansen's Story by Ainslie Manson, illustrated by Renne Benoit

Furious George Goes Bananas by Michael Rex

Sleepy Cadillac: A Bedtime Drive by Thacher Hurd

Read Me a Story: Canadian Favourites (5 different authors)

Blue's Checkup by Sarah Albee, illustrated by Ian Chernichaw

I have a post in this edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling

2010-11-02T10:56:00.000-02:30

The Carnival of Homeschooling #253 is up at Dewey's Treehouse.

I am so impressed with this Carnival for continuing so long. I had tried to do a Canadian homeschoolers blog carnival for a while but life became to hectic to continue it. I was trying to do it all myself, which really wasn't a good idea. I have been thinking I might try to revive it again in the near future, but make some changes to it so that I'm not doing it all myself. Let me know if you'd be interested in that.

Anyway, check out the Carnival of Homeschooling edition #253

Fun Learning Sites - Big IQ Kids

2010-10-27T23:55:00.000-02:30

Little One and I have been having fun on some sites lately. I thought I'd share some of them. Here's the first one I've decided to share.

BigIQKids.com - there's a whole lot of good stuff here, and a good portion of it is available for free. Because of Little One's age, we're only using one part of the site, the Spelling Program. Truthfully I didn't have any thoughts of doing spelling with Little one for a long time yet but she's taken an interest in trying to write and I thought I'd capitalize on it. The thing that drew me to this Spelling Program was that you could input your own word lists. I started with a personalized list of our family names, because Little One was interested in learning how to spell all of our names. She loved using the program and learned how to spell our names quickly so I decided to check out the graded word lists. She flicked her way through the first word list for grade one, the "at" family list. I guess we'll move on to the next list, as long as her interest stays. I will make more personalized lists, using words she asks to spell and also using words from a prepimer dolch word list. If she was older I would make use of the other programs available on the site, and you never know, I just may be making use of them sooner than I think because Little One is eager to learn.

Write or Die

2010-10-25T09:46:00.000-02:30

I've decided to try NaNoWriMo again. I figure that if I discipline myself I should be able to write for at least some time in the morning and the night. It will mean some changes. I will have to get up earlier and I will have to change what I do in the night but I think it is doable.

I took the goal of 50,000 words and and divided it by 31 to see how many words per day I would need to shoot for and it works out to be approximately 1667 words per day. If I write twice a day I would need to write approximately 834 words a session. I was thinking I'd probably need about an hour per session.

This morning I decided to use Write or Die to get an idea of how many words I could write in an hour. I didn't get up early this morning so I didn't actually have an hour to spare so I decided to see what I could write in 20 minutes and then just multiply that by 3 to see what I could write in an hour.

What a surprise I got!

Murder Mysteries

2010-10-23T21:12:00.000-02:30

Some of my favorite TV shows are murder mysteries - NCIS, CSI, Criminal Minds. I love them! Presently I'm reading a book, The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker, that reminds me of Criminal Minds.

My daughter read this book a while ago and told me I would love it. We went on a long trip again a couple of days ago and I needed something to read so I asked her for a book and this is the one she gave me. I am loving it! Funny thing is that while I'm reading the book I'm picturing the characters of Criminal Minds as the characters in the book. It's uncanny how much the book reminds me of the show.

8 questions tag

2010-10-21T21:55:00.001-02:30

I don't usually do these things but I've been slack in posting anything lately so I figure why not do it and at least get a post up. :)

Shannon tagged me in her 16 questions post. I enjoyed reading her answers and initially thought I was supposed to answer the same questions as she did and was getting ready to do that when I reread and realized that I was to answer different questions that she had posted.

Anyway, here's her questions and my answers:

1. Toddlers or Teens? Which is harder and why?
I happen to have loved all the stages of my kids and can't say that I found any stage harder than the others. I do believe, however, that starting over again at an older age is harder.

2. What is your favourite Christmas tradition?
Hmmmm...honestly, I'm not a big fan of Christmas. It can be such a stressful time. I like things plain and simple and to me the time together with family doing simple things are the best. One of my favorite things is driving around looking at the Christmas lights.

3. What do you do (if anything) for regular physical exercise?
Ha! Regular??? Physical???? Exercise???? All three words are kind of foreign to me. :) I am trying to get back into the habit of walking every day and hoping to work back up into running a bit too. Been trying for a few months now and so far I haven't had much success.

4. Country/Traditional/Eclectic or Modern – which is YOUR home decorating style?
Ha again! :) Home decorating style - more foreign words to me. I have no style, in fashion or home decorating. :) My house is very plain and thrown together with little thought other than what is needed and what is available.

5. Baths or Showers? Which do you prefer and why?
Hmmmm...I haven't had a bath in a long time, though I think I actually prefer a bath. My do-it-yourselfer hubby renovated our upstairs washroom, where our bathtub is, and we've been unable to use it for about 5 years. Luckily we have a shower downstairs that is functional. I think I prefer a bath because I find it more relaxing and more like a get away. I can soak in the tub for a long time in peace and quiet away from everyone. A shower is more energizing, not as relaxing, and doesn't last as long.

6. Have you ever lived abroad? Where and for how long?
Never.

7. What is your favourite season and why?
I love all the seasons but I think fall is my favorite. I love the smells and the nice crisp feel in the air. I love that it's not too hot and not too cold, but just right. I also love how colourful it is.

8. Are your parents still alive? If not, what do you miss most about them and if yes, have you told them today that you love them?
Yes, they are. I haven't told them tonight because I can't get a hold of them. They must be out partying again. :) I talk to my parents just about every day at least once and most every visit or phone conversation ends with kisses, hugs and I love yous. :)

Now, I'm supposed to tag others, but I'm not good at that either so instead I'll just say if you read this and want to answer the questions I answered consider yourself tagged, and let me know that you did. :)

This Week's Library Loot

2010-10-18T14:27:00.000-02:30

We were out of town last week and missed going to the library on our regular day so went a couple of days off schedule. We also didn't manage to read all the books we got out last week because of our travels and activities so I had to get some books renewed.

Renewed from last week
Where's Pup? by Dayle Ann Dodds, pictures by Pierre Pratt
David and Goliath by Mary Auld, illustrated by Diana Mayo
Song of the Circus by Lois Duncan, illustrated by Meg Cundiff
Norman the Doorman by Don Freeman

New this week:
Van Gool's Cinderella
Leaving the Nest by Mordicai Gerstien
One Potato, Two Potato by Cynthia Defelice, pictures by Andrea U'ren
Teddy Bears Stay Indoors by Susanna Gretz and Alison Sage
Firebears The Rescue Team by Rhonda Gowler Green, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
Amber Waiting by Nan Gregory, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
Chicken Said, "Cluck" by Judyann Ackerman Grant, pictures by Sue Truesdell (an I Can Read book)
What am I? by Linda Granfield, illustrated by Jennifer Herbert
No News is Bad News by Margaret Hennigar, illustrated by Marjorie Speed
Sammy and the Miracles of Christmas stories by Ray Guy, illustrated by Boyd W. Chubbs
Flight to Freedom by Jackie Greene, illustrated by Alison Stalker
Octopus's Walker by Carin Greenberg, illustrated by Pattie Silver-Thompson (a Preschool BabySitter Board Book)
Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters, illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

I won! I won!

2010-10-15T21:10:00.000-02:30

Remember when I asked if you Wanna win some Fudge? I got an email a couple of days ago telling me that I won! Can't wait to get my Chocolate Cherry Pecan Fudge from Fudge by Design.

Also, I recently took part in the Schoolhouse Expo, an online homeschooling convention put off by The Old Schoolhouse. I thoroughly enjoyed taking in all the sessions and was greatly inspired by them. I took lots of notes and may share more about them at some point in time. For every session that you attended you got to put your name in for a prize. I received notification that my name was drawn for two prizes! The Right Brain Phonics Reading Program was donated by Diane Craft during her session on Identifying Your Child's Learning Glitch. I loved her session! I could have listened to her for longer. The Let's Get Ready Complete Series was donated by Cedar Valley Publishing. I'd never heard of them before I went searching to see what I had won. Looks interesting. I can't wait to get these things and use them with my Little One.

Hunting and Reading Update

2010-10-14T23:04:00.000-02:30

Finished my book but still didn't get a moose. Oh well. Maybe next time. :) I'll most likely be sharing more about the book when I get home and have more internet time.

Me reading time!

2010-10-12T22:56:00.001-02:30

I'm at the inlaws. One thing that I like about time at the inlaws is that I manage to find some time to read, not just to Anna, but for me. It's a 6 hour drive to get to the inlaws so the reading starts on the drive here. Also, bedtime at the inlaws is 10-10:30pm, unlike my usual the 1-2am bedtime, so I get to read in my bed until I finally fall asleep. Also, I don't get to choose what I watch on tv so any time that I would normally spend watching tv, which really isn't much but it is some, I now spend reading. All that adds up to lots of reading time for me, and I love that, even if I am missing my TV shows.

A while back I received Trudy Morgan Cole's newest book Lydia, A Story of Philippi. I have really been wanting to start reading it but just couldn't find the time. Now I have the time, and, boy, am I enjoying the book!

I actually received the book compliments of the author. I participated in a challenge she had on her blog last year and my prize was this book! I was thrilled, because I haven't yet met a Trudy Morgan Cole book that I haven't enjoyed. And this book is proving to be no exception.

I'm only about a quarter of the way through the book yet, but it's only been two days yet, and I do still have to spend time reading to and occupying little one. If I could devote all my time to reading for myself I would be much further ahead. Still, I'm hoping that I will get pretty far through the book before the week is over.

I've come across a few quotes already that I think are worth noting. Here are some of them:

While Lydia and Luke were discussing the seemingly opposite teachings of Jesus saying that he did not come to bring peace, but Paul talking about the peace Jesus brings, Luke says "Perhaps He meant that following His Way would bring us into conflict with others, yet we would have peace in our spirits."

When Lydia was thinking about one of her fellow Christians that tended to rub her the wrong way she thought to herself "Being sisters in Christ was one thing, but even the love of Jesus didn't make it possible to actually love everyone."

In a discussion about what roles and responsibilities the Christians had Epaphroditus says "Our job is to tell people about Him so they'll be ready, not to attack the rulers of the world"

I'd say more but I'm being driven to bed again. Time to break out my little night light reader and get into the book again. :)

I don't want to go hunting!

2010-10-11T21:39:00.000-02:30

I used to love hunting. Moose hunting. I've successfully shot a moose a number of times. One particular time stand out in my mind. One shot and the moose dropped right to the ground. It wa amazing! This year, however, I have no interest. Actually, my interest has been wanning a few years now. Unfortunately I have to go hunting this week. It started today. Bleh. I'm just not in the mood. Apparently I have to go again tomorrow too. Bleh! I'd like to get the moose within ten minutes and get it over with. I wonder will I be that lucky. Probably not. I'll let you know.

That's what's on my mind right now.

Yesterday's Library Loot

2010-10-08T16:09:00.000-02:30

Where's Pup? by Dayle Ann Dodds, pictures by Pierre Pratt
David and Goliath by Mary Auld, illustrated by Diana Mayo
Song of the Circus by Lois Duncan, illustrated by Meg Cundiff
Norman the Doorman by Don Freeman
Birdsongs by Betsy Franco, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, Helen Oxenbury
Ollie's Easter Eggs by Olivier Dunrea
Ollie by Olivier Dunrea
Where the Giant Sleeps by Mem Fox, pictures by Vladimir Radunsky
City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, pictures by Jon j. Muth
The Cow Love Cookies by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Marcellus Hall
Carl's Summer Vacation by Alexandra Day
Pirate Girl by Cornelia Funke, illustrated by Kerstin Meyer
Toy Story 3: A Read-Aloud Storybook adapted by Christine Peymani
Good Morning, Chick by Mirra Ginsburg, pictures by Byron Barton
Caramba written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
What Are You Doing Sam? written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
Stella Princess of the Sky written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
When Stella was Very, Very Small written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
Stella Fairy of the Forest written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Will I Nano this year?

2010-10-07T23:42:00.000-02:30

NaNoWriMo time is coming close. I've given it a try a number of years but I've never actually finished. To be perfectly truthful, I don't get very far. For some reasons, though, I just can't seem to resist given it a try.

Last year I found a site which I used to help prepare plot notes. There were daily assignments for the month of October to help you get ready for writing in November. I'd really like to try that again, but I can't seem to find the site. Grrrrr....

That's what's on my mind tonight.

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!

2010-10-05T21:21:00.002-02:30

I love it when Little One says something that is inspired by a book we have read together. That happened just now. I was sitting at the dining room table on my laptop and there was a bag of Christy's Chunks Ahoy! sitting on the table. Little One came by and reached into the bag while saying "Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!"

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! happens to be the title to a book that we read recently by Candance Fleming. This is a cute story about a man that has to war with some hungry bunnies while he tries to grow a vegetable garden. Little One loved the book. We've read it a few times. We especially like making the sounds the bunnies make as they invade the garden.

I love that I knew what was on her mind as she reached for the cookie and said "muncha, muncha, muncha". She often does that, repeats a phrase from a book that we've read. I'm glad we get to share those special moments reading together and that they allow for more special moments when we get to share a secret that others might not fully understand.

That's what's on my mind tonight.

Submitted to, and included in, Carnival of Homeschooling #253

Wanna win some Fudge?

2010-10-04T19:38:00.000-02:30

Check out the Happy Birthday contest at DownLoad N Go. There are a number of different ways to get your name in for the draw. Be sure to check it out.

While you're there, check out DownLoad N Go. It's a great idea by Amanda Bennett, unit study queen. I attended a webinar presentation by Amanda tonight and she said that DownLoad N Go takes unit studies to the next level. These are downloadable unit studies complete with web links to helpful resources. They look very interesting!

I completed the 90 Day Challenge with One Day to Spare!

2010-10-01T19:25:00.000-02:30

I learned about Amy's, from Mom's Toolbox, Bible in 90 Days Summer 2010 Challenge the very day that it started, July 5, 2010. You can read my post about joining the Bible in 90 Days Challenge by clicking on the words. I seriously wondered if I could do it, but I completed the challenge today, with one day to spare! I actually read the whole Bible through in 89 days! I still find it hard to believe.

I truly loved this experience and I will be doing it again. Actually, Amy is starting another challenge January the 3rd. If you are at all interested or curious about it, be sure to check it out. I challenge you to take the challenge yourself.

There were over 600 people that signed up to take Amy's challenge. As people report in about finishing she is adding their names under the Bible in 90 Days Summer 2010 Grads list on her blog. It is amazing to think that so many of us did this together.

I have to say, that I am proud of all those that took on the challenge, even if they didn't finish. Sometimes life gets in the way of your plans and you don't get to do the things that you really want to do, but you shouldn't let that get you down. The time that you did take to read your Bible was profitable and I'm sure it helped you grow in ways you may not even realize. If you happen to be someone that took the challenge but didn't complete it, chin up, don't get down on yourself.

Today's Library Loot

2010-09-30T20:12:00.000-02:30

Some of these we have read before. I'm getting less picky about that.

Arthur Babysits by Marc Brown (boardbook)
The Best Pets Yet: A First Book, Set 2 by Foster & Erickson, illustrations by Kerri Gifford
Busy Little Mouse by Eugenie Fernandes, illustrated by Kim Fernandes
Peek-a-Little Boo by Sheree Fitch, illustrated by Laura Watson
Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon
One Ted Falls Out of Bed, by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Anna Currey
A Squash and a Squeeze by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp by Denise Fleming
Alphabet Under Construction by Denise Fleming
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
Buster by Denise Fleming
Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
The Cow Who Clucked by Denise Fleming
Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming
Time for Bed by Mem Fox, illustrated by Jane Dyer

"....in it's own time."

2010-09-30T14:46:00.001-02:30

One of my favorite books from our latest library visit is Once Upon a Time, Upon a Nest by Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Rebecca Harry. I love this book!

The story is about a little duckling that is behind its siblings in everything right from the start. Her daddy worries about it and wonders if she'll ever catch up. But her mommy keeps saying, "She will, in her own time." And sure enough she does.

I love the message of the book! Each child will develop in their own time. Don't get caught up in comparing them and expecting them all to develop at the same speed. Relax and let them develop at their own speed.

Love it!

Math turned into Art

2010-09-28T08:56:00.000-02:30

I am sure Little One has an artistic bent. Our walls are full of indications of this. :) Seriously, from a very young age she has loved to draw, color, paint, create and I have been amazed by many things she has done.

One day last week we were doing a page in the Kindergarten Scholar work book I picked up at WalMart a while back. It was a math page on identifying geometric shapes. There was a suggestion at the bottom of the page to use cans, bottle caps, etc, to trace around to make a bunch of different sized circles on a sheet of paper. Little One loved doing this and we filled our paper with circles and that was that. Instead of doing a whole lot of different sized circles we used just a couple of different sizes but we used different colored leads to trace around them A little later in the day I found the page of circles sitting on the bench in the porch, but the circles now had faces in them. I thought it was very cute. She informed me that it is our family and the Reids, friends of ours that found come visit.

Palette knife painting workshop

2010-09-25T23:08:00.012-02:30

This is what I created during a palette knife painting workshop that I attended today. Doug Downey is a local artist that uses a palette knife to do his impressionistic style paintings. He has started offering day long workshops to anyone interested in trying the technique and I was privileged to sit, well actually stand, in on a workshop today.

I say stand in because Doug actually encourages his students to stand, rather than sit, while painting. I'm not used to being on my feet for such a long period of time and I'm also not used to having footwear on for such a long period of time. My feet were burning by the end of the day, but it was worth it.