Dec. 8, 2009 - 39 Clues
This is the post where I 'fess up and admit that I caved and bought the first two books from the 39 Clues series. This is the post where I whine and say that I couldn't find any other suitable books for Rocky for St. Nicholas Day. I was desperate, I tell ya, desperate! This is also the post where I admit that I actually like the books and will probably be buying more. I know. Scandalous.
I had heard mixed reviews of these books for awhile and had been sitting on the fence not too sure what to do about them. The premise of the series sounded really good, one that Rocky would enjoy. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to bring yet another twaddle series into our house. I hastily made the decision last week when I was frantically searching for books for his St. Nicholas Day present.
I have read the first book and have started the second. Surprisingly, this self-proclaimed book snob really likes these books. Now, as I said, I have only read the first one and it is written by Rick Riordan (of Percy Jackson and the Olympians) and I like his writing. The thing that makes me a bit squeamish is that each book is written by a different person. This rarely turns out well. So I am reading on with trepidation.
The premise of these books is fun. Amy and Dan Cahill are orphans. Their rich grandmother just died. Her will, for those who choose to take the risk, is a set of 39 clues that will lead them to a discovery that will change history and make them insanely weatthy. The siblings are in this race with 6 other teams of relatives who are ultra-nasty so it is a race of brain and braun. The clues lead them throughout the physical world, as well as the world of history. The first book is all about Ben Franklin. I think the second book takes us to Vienna and Mozart. These books remind me of National Treasure, Rocky's favourite movies. I think Rocky will love these books as well. I am excited to read them with him.
Dec. 6, 2009 - A Close Call
Happy St. Nicholas Day!
I cracked open my eyes at 7:37 this morning. Looked at the clock and then proceeded to close my eyes again. It was Sunday, I coul sleep for a bit more. Then the date floated across my mind. December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. My eyes opened again, this time with acute awareness.
St. Nicholas Day! Stink! I totally forgot about it. I mean, I knew that it was coming. I was prepared for it. The traditional gift books were in the basement tucked away in the Christmas stash room. The chocolates were in a bag stuffed in my closet. The oranges were in the refrigerator, so everything was here and ready. The problem was that it was now 7:38 and my children could wake up at any moment. How could I pull this off without getting caught in the act? Now, my kids know that I am the one filling their shoes with these goodies, but parts of Christmas are about make-believe and our family is very good in this area. I wanted to keep the illusion alive.
I sprang out of bed. 7:39. I tiptoed as fast as my legs could carry me to the basement and retrieved the books, ran up to the back hall and snatched three pairs of shoes. I took two of those pairs to the upstairs hall and laid them outside two bedrooms. I didn't dare go into the rooms to put the shoes by the bed or I risked being caught in the act. Hence, a new tradition: shoes now are placed outside of room. I ran back into my room, quietly closed the door, turned on the light and rummaged through the candy bags to find some suitable chocolates. I put the candy in the shoes and then made my way to the kitchen to get the oranges. Then back to the shoes. Once the oranges were placed in the shoes and the books laid on top, I made my way to the basement for the third room. I placed the last pair of shoes outside that bedroom door, hid the chocolates inside, sealed them with an orange and put the books quietly and safely on top.
Mission complete. I turned on my computer to pretend that my heart wasn't racing at the thought of being caught and saw that the time was now 7:52. Perfect. Yes, I am good.
Dec. 1, 2009 - Plans For This Week
I had a wonderful day yesterday. It was bill-paying day and, as things turned out, I was able to pay the bills without any fellow travelers. That does not happen very often. My Beloved offered to stay home with the kids while I satisfied the telephone and power company. I was able to also make this trip into a Christmas shopping trip. Wahoo! I hadn't even started my Christmas shopping so I was happy to be able to get a jump on things.
As it turned out, I was able to get a few things for the kids. I have to say that I am totally disgusted with WalMart. This week is the first week of Dec. and they do not have their shelves stocked at all! I have been there a few times in Nov. and empty shelves stared back at me. I thought maybe they were just being slow but, after seeing the same emptinees yesterday, i guess this is just how it is going to be for this Christmas. This makes it a bit tense as this is the only store in town that stocks lots of Christmas toys. The other stores has a smattering of product but not enough to satisfy all of your shopping. So I guess I am buying from the Sears catalogue this year.
One thing that WalMart did have a great supply of were Christmas DVDs. There was an aisle unit chock full of DVDs of Christmas past. The price was very good, too. I was able to buy The Christmas Carol, LIttle Women, I'll Be Home for Christmas and The Miracle on 34th St. I have been wanting to buy more Christmas DVDs for us but have never saw any really good ones. Voila! I have found them now.
So here are my plans for the week: watch Christmas DVDs and add in some Christmas read alouds. That sounds so inviting. I am also hoping to do some Christmas crafts and baking with the kids. I have a kit to make a gingerbread sleigh but I would like to make gingerbread houses with graham crackers this year. I just have to find the directions. I could probably figure out how to do it myself on a good year, but I am still feeling the effects of cancer brain and my thoughts are still pretty murky so directions would be a good thing.
I am looking forward to a nice, relaxing week as this will probably be the only one until Christmas. Hmmm, I am getting the warm fuzzies as I type.
Nov. 29, 2009 - Book #50 -- Chasing Vermeer
Chasing Vermeer was published in 2004 but it has only been this past year that I have been hearing its buzz. I had not heard of it before but now, it's everywhere. I found out yesterday that there are two more books in this series. Where have I been in the last five years?
If you have been like me and have never heard of it before, Chasing Vermeer is a chldren's book written by Blue Balliett. The book centers on two characters, Calder and Petra, who soon become good friends. Mystery and puzzles bring them together. The mystery revolves around a Jan Vermeer painting. Calder and Petra use pentomionoes and good old-fashioned thinking to try to solve the mystery of a missing Vermeer painting.
This book is reminiscent of The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. In this book the mystery revolves around a sculpture of Michelangelo's. I love these kinds of books. Especially because there are many rabbit trails one could go hopping down.
It is because of these rabbit trails that the kids and I have decided that we are going to use Chasing Vermeer as our next unit study. Forget history, science, latin and any other subject that we haven't gotten to in the last three months, we are going to have some fun and do a literature unit study. This is the kind of teaching that excites me and goodness knows I need some excitement in my life right now.
I have been thinking about this since I started reading the book and have come up with quite a few topics that we could explore: pentominos, the paintings and life of Jan Vermeer, cartography, real- life mysteries in the areas of history, science and art, and examining historic letters. There is more that we could tackle with this book but I think the above topics are good to start with now. We are going to finish our chemistry unit then we will tackle Calder and Petra.
Did I already mention that I am looking forward to this? It is like an oasis after a few months of living in the desert. 
Nov. 29, 2009 - Book #49 -- The Cellist of Sarajevo
I was surprised to find out that David Galloway, the author of The Cellist of Sarajevo, is a Canadian. This book does not read like a Canadian book. After reeling from my surprise, I opened the book and stepped into the land of Sarajevo during the 90's seige. The starkness of this world ascended on me very quickly. I was quickly reminded of The Kite Runner and The Thousand Splendid Suns, while reading this book. The writing style is different but the dark and depressing tone is similar.
A shell as kills 22 people waiting in line for bread. A renowned cellist looks on in horror. He vows to bear witness by sitting where the mortar hit and play Albinoni's Adagio once a day for 22 days for each of the victims. Unbenownst to the cellist, a young female sniper is chosen to protect him. His music moves her, as it does all who comes to listen. This song brings a tiny ray of hope into the lives of these war-torn people. This book says a great deal about survival and hope.
Nov. 27, 2009 - History and Science
I have said before that we have been simplifying things in the last little while. This simplifying is encompassing our school subjects as well. I have always been a big planner with the content subjects. I spend alot of time finding various ideas and books that all fall under the umbrella of the topic that we are learning. Now, my plans don't always materialize but I have fun doing all of the planning.
Those days are long gone. The thought of spending all of my time in planning mode makes me hyperventilate. I am no longer a planning girl, at least not for now. I thought that if I ever stopped planning that there would be a big hole in my day (life; you can substitute the word of your choice, depending on how dramatic you are .) I have been mistaken. There is no hole, just relief. The simple life is giving me much relief.
This simplicity is alive and well in how we are doing history and science. I haven't had much energy in the last few months to do any fancy curriculum so we have just been going to the library and looking up books on the topics that interest the children. Science has been very fun this way. A few weeks ago I found some Janice VanCleave experiment books. These experiments/projects span the four areas of science. Mia decided that she would like to focus on the chemistry experiments. For the last two weeks, we have been going through the book finding the experiments that we have the supplies for and have been trying them out. This has been alot of fun. The experiments haven't always worked, but the enjoyment has been in the doing.
We have been also perusing our Usborne books on Chemistry, as well, to flesh out our topic. Earlier this week, when we were at the library, I found some books on atoms and molecules. I am having Mia read through the books and writing an outline of the book. This seems to be working out very well. In fact, our whole science time is working out well. The kids are really enjoying our time of discovery.
In the early part of our school year, I had a few history units planned. I had attempted to carry these out in the last few months but it just isn't working. Our heads just aren't in the game yet. So simple is being applied to history as well. We have been reading Sword in the Circle by Rosemary Sutcliff for our unit on Knights and Castles. The kids and I are enjoying just reading this book. We are learning alot just from the reading. I have decided that this is what we are going to do for History--just read. If something else pops up as a result of the reading, then great, but if not, we will be happy with just the reading. I have been thinking that we will read books from various time eras and cover History in this way. After read the Sutcliff book, we will move on to Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. I have been wanting to read this book to the kids for awhile but just couldn't fit it in anywhere. We now have that time.
For the first time in a very long time I am feeling calm about our history and science plans. I am discovering that calmness usually is found in simple. For this season of our lives, simple is our life-saver.
Nov. 26, 2009 - A Fly on the Wall
You have heard the expression "I would love to be a fly on the wall in that house," well, this is your chance. I am inviting you to be that famous fly and come into our home to see its glorious state ysterday afternoon.
Are you ready? All flies enter through the back door, so as you come up through the back foyer and into the laundry room, you immediately see green. The tile floor has been stained green. It is obvious (even to a fly) that someone has tried to wipe up this green but was unsuccessful. This green has been wiped up on the cupboard doors as well and it has spread on the counter. There you see a 6 yr. old girl in her pyjaamas (it is 5:00 in the afternoon and she is still in her pyjamas? Silly humans!) trying to wash the green off of her hands. This girl has green on her feet and, as she turns around, you notice that she has green smudges on her face as well.
The green-covered girl turns off the water and goes into the kitchen. You follow her. This room is full of turmoil and action. There is so much to see you don't think you can do it all justice in a short period of time. You start with the kitchen table. One end of it has strewn word tiles. An older girl is sitting before these word tiles making words for her spelling program. Next to her, there is a discarded math book and a pile of papers. In the middle of the table there is a bowl covered with a paper towl. Emanating from that bowl is a foul odor. Ewww! What have they been doing here? Next to the bowl is a dish with a vinegar soaked paper towel (even a fly can tell what vinegar smells like) with 4 pennies lying on it. The pennies have a greenish tinge to it.
On the other end of the kitchen table, you can see many painted pictures waiting to dry. Some are so laden with paint that they are sticking to the table. Ahh! That must be what that green stuff is in the laundry room. Oh, there is that 6 yr. old girl again. What does she have? It is beads. She has a pile of beads on the corner of the table and she is stringing them on a plastic cord. She must be making a necklace.
You turn your attention to the kitchen island. This is the site of much activity gone by. There is an unopened bottle of vinegar, a jar of yeast and a table salt box. You can also see some spoons and measuring cup. Next to this paraphernalia is a black piece of construction paper with a messge written on it. The message is a bit strange as it is written in salt crystals. You wonder how they did that? On the kitchen counter are several pieces of green-soaked paper towels. The pieces are slowly moving into place.
As you start considering moving to another room, you hear the sound of something scattering all over the floor. There is that 6 yr. old girl again (she does get around, doesn't she?) bemoaning the fact that her necklace beads have scattered all over the floor. The older girl and the mom assist her with the mom lamenting the fact that the floor was covered in salt, paint and now beads.
You want to get out of that room fast so you travel to the living room. Chaos has lived in this room as well. You see discarded paper plates on the coffee table. These plates have been coloured different colours to show various fractions. You deduce these are for fractions as you see a book with said word on the cover. Next to the fractons is a compass set. A jar of crayons and a colouring book complete the coffee table ensemble.
The floor is in similar disarray. Lying there is a pile of books. You get closer to see the titles as you are a literary fly. This is what is on the floor; Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Carol, Sword in the Circle, Among the Forest People, Jesus Freaks and a book of poetry. That is alot of books, even for a fly. On the other side of the couch, action figures are laying every which way. Someone had a good play time here, you deduce.
As you get ready to travel to the other rooms, you hear the sound of beads scattering again. sigh That 6 yr. old girl is a busy one, isn't she? You travel down a long hall but you don't see much action until you get to the end of the hall, where there is a light in one of the rooms. You zoom in and see a boy sitting at the computer playing Solitaire. He is totally engrossed in his game that he doesn't even notice you. I mean, it is the end of November. You don't see many flies at this time of the year.
You look around the rrom and see piles of dress-up clothes laying on the floor. It is chaos in this room as well but you notice something that you have noticed in the other rooms as well. Every room is untidy, yes, even to the point of being messy but, in the midst of the chaos, there is a feeling of happiness, of contentedness. Everyone is doing their own thing and they are content in doing it. There is a sense of joy as they are learning or in following their passion. You like this feeling.
You look at the clock and realize that you have been here way too long. You have so much more to do today that it is time to vacate for other frontiers. As you zip out the door, you have an acute feeling of relief that you are not the mother of this house and that you do not have to clean up this mess.
Nov. 26, 2009 - Cooking Your Turkey
The approximate guidelines are as follows for your unstuffed Thanksgiving turkey:
6 to 8 pounds: 2-1/2 to 3 hours
8 to 12 pounds: 3 to 4 hours
12 to 16 pounds: 4 to 5 hours
16 to 20 pounds: 5 to 5-1/2 hours
20 to 24 pounds: 5-1/2 to 6 hours
If you are stuffing your turkey you should add 30-45 minutes cooking time. You will also need to use your meat thermometer to test the stuffing which is considered done at 165 degrees F.
Happy ThanksgivingNov. 25, 2009 - In the Little Things
We went for our H1Ni vaccines yesterday. It was a long and torturous road to get there. That sounds so dramatic, doesn't it? It is the truth, though. I vascillated back and forth about whether we should get these vaccines or not. If the last few months had not existed for us, this wouldn't even be an issue. I do not see the purpose of getting vaccines for every sickness or medical concern. I give my children their baby vaccines but that is as far as I go. Due to our lifestyle, I didn't see the purpose of getting the vaccine.
Then cancer came into our lives and everything changed. I still didn't think there was a reason to get the vaccines but I was reading someone's blog and read their account of their experience with H1N1. I realized that if my kids contacted this flu, I wouldn't have the emotional strength to deal with it. I was pretty weary in dealing with the last few months, I didn't have the fortitude to deal with even more sickness, especially if the ones being sick were my kids. Also, I didn't want to put my kids through anymore drama. We have been through enough this year. So we decided to get the vaccine.
The flu clinic came to our small town yesterday. I had told the kids the day before what would be happening. Missy immediately stiffened with fear and started to do her little cricket imitation (it's a long story but she does this when she is scared.) I gave her all of the platitudes one gives when they want to stop fear ( or, in our case, the cricket thing.) It wasn't working. I then remembered that our dear friend, Mrs E. was doing the flu clinics this year. The problem was, though, that there were two vaccine teams going out to two different towns each day, so the chances of Mrs E being in our town was 50/50. I asked Missy if she would like Mrs E to give her the needle. I could see the fear start to dissolve from her face. I then told her that we would have to pray for this as Mrs E was one of many nurses who would be at the clinic and we might not get her, but we would give this to prayer. So we prayed.
We stepped into the hall, yesterday, where the clinic was taking place. Oh. my. word! The people! You would have thought it was Bingo day. There were about 60 people ahead of us. As we were waiting for our number, Rocky spied Mrs E at the back. Praise God! But she was one of 4 nurses giving the needles. The chances of her giving us our needles were slim, so I prayed again.
Finally our number came up and we all herded (there were 5 of us, it did feel like a herd) to the place where they were dispensing the needles. We waited for an opening of one of the stations. Mrs. E's station was open, she happened to look up and saw us standing there. Bless that woman! She raised her hands and yelled out "Hi, ___________ family (you can insert our last name in that blank if you know it) ! " She then waved to the number lady, "I can take all of that family." Whew! I have to say that I was relieved to see Mrs E as well. We all unceremoniously received our needles. Mrs E could tell that Missy was a little stressed and she 'booped' (the sound she made when the needle was over. For some reason that 'boop' comforted the kids. Oh, heck, it comforted me as well.) the stress away.
On the way home, we talked about how God had answered our prayers. It was a great life lesson for my kids. We have seen how God has taken care of us in the big life issues and it was equally comforting to see that God is in the little things as well.
Nov. 24, 2009 - Life Lessons from Children's Books
Reading aloud to my kids is one of the joys I have from homeschooling them. I love reading to my kids and exposing them to wonderful words and thoughts. Read alouds are the anchor to our day. If we miss reading, then our day sits a bit lopsided.
It has amused me, of late, to recognize that these read alouds have not only entertained my children but they have given me much food for thought for my own life. Who knew that The Little House books could teach you how to live your life in a way that inspires joy?
We have recently finiished These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is the book where Almanzo courts Laura. I have learned a few things from reading this book. Laura is 16 yrs. old and is old enough to teach school now. Her first school is 12 miles away from home. In those days that is quite a distance so she needed to stay with another family during the week. She stayed at the Brewster's home. This family was quite an eye-opener for Laura, who was used to a quiet, happy and joyful family life. Mrs. Brewster was the complete opposite of Ma Ingalls. I found this very interesting. Ma did not like going off to parts unknown. I don't think she really wanted to leave her family, initially, but she agreed to it because her husband had a yearning desire to see what was further west. Every time her husband decided to root up their family and move farther west, Ma quietly agreed. She may have voiced her opinion but she went along with her husband. She did this with a happy and quiet spirit. She did not conitnually rail at Pa that she did not like the uprooting. Many people would see Ma as a doormat. I don't. I see her as a woman of strength. She was able to trust that her husband knew what was best for her and her family. She trusted. What is even more important, she was able to extend that trust into joy and happiness. Quite simply, Ma made the best out of a bad situation. Wherever she was, Ma made a home environment that was full of peace and quiet. But Ma did have her limits. In These Happy Golden Years, Pa starts to get itchy feet to get travelling again and Ma very quietly but strongly says that she will not move anymore. Due to her lack of nagging spirit, Pa knows tjhat Ma means business so he drops the subject. Ma's quietness speaks volumes for her. There is much strength in her quietness.
As I said before, Mrs. Brewster is the complete opposite. She does share her dislike for moving with Ma, but there the similarity ends. Mrs. Brewster is what I call a fishwife. She is a nagging, bitter hearted woman. She hates her life and she is bound and determined to make everyone hate their's as well. She is a sullen, angry woman that takes every opportunity to rail against her husband and the mistakes he has made in brringing them to that God-forsaken land. Her bitterness travels on to her child, who is always crying and screaming. Mrs Brewster's husband stays away in the barn as much as he can to get away from her berating nature. Mrs Brewster has created an unhappy family life and it all stemmed from her. Mrs Brewster didn't have the inner strength to turn things around for her. She didn't try to make her life better. It was easier to just rant and rave. I felt very sad for her. So did my kids. Even Mia could recognize that Mrs Brewster's husband wanted to be anywhere else but with her.
I thought this portrayal of both Ma and Mrs. Brewster was a powerful example of how we should handle misfortune and life bumps. Life does not always happen in the way that we would like but it is in how we handle those bumps that is telling of our character. In dealing with them in a Ma Ingalls way, those life bumps don't seem as bad and they have a tendency to work themselves out. But when we handle life from a Mrs. Brewster point of view, problems and crisis' multiply and everyone becomes miserable. This was a good lesson for my kids. We had a few discussions at Mrs. Brewster's expense.
Another lesson we learned was from The Wizard of Oz. We are reading that book now. Yesterday, we got to the part where the Tinman and the Scarecrow were deciding what would be more valuable to have: a heart or a brain. I asked my kids what they would rather have. I thought for sure that they would say a brain as we have had conversations, of late, as to how well a good brain can serve us. All of my kids said that they would rather have a heart, over a brain. In Missy's words, "You need a heart to love others. If you doh't have that, then you have nothing." I thought that was pretty good for a 6 yr. old.
