Technically this is our haul from last week, but what with my father-in-law coming into town and our wee girl turning 4, and... blah blah blah. Excuses. I know. It's all good stuff!
In some exciting news, we've traded in Maisy for...
...a whole 'nuther series! (I can see my little girl becoming a series-a-holic when she learns how to read on her own). The first two books in the Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa early readers are really quite good. The author and illustrator capture the comical nature of a horse, and it's delightful to read. The rest of the series is more of the same, but since same here == quite good, it's not really an issue.
In November - This and the next two books we got off the Picture Books for November list from Read Aloud Revival - I've got to say, that girl's got good taste. In November has been a wonderful book to read at bedtime and it captures the warmth of the season perfectly (even though we never get snow here!). It's beautiful to look at too... plus I learned that bees can/do burrow into the ground during winter! I had no idea.
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie - This one is hilarious! I read it in the library before we even got home and I was just cracking up at the pictures. When the Old Lady swallows the squash... bwahahaha! Plus I get to read/sing this book, and I always enjoy throwing a song in whenever possible. Highly recommended.
A Turkey for Thanksgiving - Can't say much about this yet because we haven't read it. I'm sure we will though, cause who can resist that moose on the cover? Not my moose loving sister - so maybe I'll get her to read it to the kiddos. (Hi, moose-loving sister!)
The Enneagram Made Easy - This one is for me. Ever since I heard Leigh Kramer talk about it on the Simple Show (look for #6 with Leigh Kramer) I've been wanting to learn more. A good friend of mine actually used to host little "Enneagram" parties - to find out who you are, and who your friends/family are - and she had Richard Rohr's book (the one mentioned in the podcast). But when I borrowed it from her, it looked a bit overwhelming. So I'm starting here instead since it was also recommended.
What books have you checked out lately that you love? Will you let me know in the comments? Or maybe join the Library Love link-up with Alicia and share with all of us! Looking forward to hearing about your new favorites... :)
I hesitate to say, "I'm back!" but it has been quite a while since I contributed anything to ye ole blogosphere - so here I be to remedy that. The top 7 things that have happened since my last 7QT!
- 1 -
The Spitfire started preschool! This was such a hard decision for me to make... almost as soon as we enrolled her I started researching homeschooling in earnest! What can I say? I love my little girl. But I see quite clearly how she is getting so much out of the experience. If nothing else, her desire to paint huge sheets of paper is getting satiated - and that is definitely something that doesn't happen at home. So I'm sure for her, it is worth it. :)
- 2 -
Before and After
Little dude got his first haircut! Props to the lady who (attempted to) cut his hair. She did her best to get a few chops in while he was playing at the table pictured above, but he really wasn't very cooperative. And now of course, since it has been nearly 2 months since this picture was taken, he's overdue for another go round. Maybe this time it will go better? (ha!)
My first overnight away from the kiddos! (I realize everything here is exclamation points, but I can't help it. These have all been pretty big deals. Especially this one.) I was quite nervous about leaving the little ones to head down to Pasadena for the Setting the World on Fire: An Instruction Manual event. I knew my kids were in good, capable hands (hi, honey!). I just didn't know how the kids would take it. But as it turned out we were all ok! More than ok really, because I got more than 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep! And I got to meet some wonderful, amazing women, and be encouraged to give and live generously.
Ok, a little bit out of order here - but a week before the conference my little sis and her hubby welcomed this little man into the world! Precious bundle whom I can't wait to snuggle. The little guy has got quite the personality already, as you can tell. :)
- 5 -
Lots and lots of time with these goofballs. (Commence Photo Dump!)
- 6 -
Another retreat! This time with Sarah Hart - a singer/songwriter from Nashville, who's sung for Pope Francis (!), and has also written songs for Amy Grant and (my favorite) Audrey Assad. She was great. Made us laugh, got us sharing (which made me cry - good tears), and was truly refreshing. Frankly, I amazed that someone of her caliber would come to our neck of the woods! But I'm so glad that she did because I left encouraged and grateful for the reminder of how very much we are loved.
- 7 -
Grammy and Poppy came for a visit! So well timed too, what with my husband going on a 2 week business trip at the same time. Can I just say I love my parents? I do.
Their visit kicks off a whole season of family visiting - Grandad comes soon, and our other new nephew arrives with his parents not long after that! So I hope it won't be as long as a wait before I get on here again. It really is good to get stuff written down, out of my head. And believe me I do have a lot of stuff rattling around in there!
Well, I'm amazed you're still here reading! If you're looking for more, head on over to Kelly's. I heard she was sick and could use some get well soon cheer...
Am I the only one that walks into the library with my littles and wonders, "Ah! What should I pick out for my kiddos?" (Besides the obligatory Maisy mouse books, of course.)
It never used to be an issue. Me and the wee girl would sit in the board book section, pulling out books one by one... perusing... reading... putting one back and finding another...
Then her brother came along - and of course - she grew out of board books (mostly). Now when we walk into the library it's full-on monkey management trying to keep the little dude from either breaking all the computers or pulling all the books off the shelf. Meanwhile, the wee girl is keeping herself busy at the touch-screen computer that lets her paint or "play with letters" (as she says) - but she's no longer picking out any books. Basically, this means I need to have some books in mind if we're going to walk out of the library with something other than Maisy.
(By the way, I'm not really bagging on Maisy. She's great... in her own way. Just trying to expand my daughter's interests!)
So I was really excited to find this LinkUp hosted by A Gentle Mother! Yay for inspiration! Hope you'll find some too... let's get to it.
The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots - by Beatrix Potter
I was so excited to find this book! It's a story that Ms Potter wrote, but never published - probably because she never finished the illustrations for it. So the quirky Quentin Blake filled in for her and then Helen Mirren did the audio recording for it, and voila! Instant classic (if you ask me).
Pumpkin Soup - by Helen Cooper
We've been loving this story of a trio of animals who each have their own special role to play in making their nightly meal of pumpkin soup. All is bliss - until the duck goes and messes things up by demanding to do squirrel's job. The illustrations are fun and the tale of how they all fall out and then come back together again seems perfect for this stage in life, where the wee girl and her brother are also constantly falling out and coming back together again.
Knitty Kitty - by David Elliott
I grabbed this book on a whim, and it has ended up being a really sweet book, perfect for bedtime. Knitty Kitty knits hats, mittens and scarves to keep her kittens cozy on a winter night - but nothing substitutes for the coziest thing of all... This is very much a seasonal tale really best for winter weather, so I think I'll check this out again come December.
Thanking the Moon - by Grace Lin
Two of our good friends are part Chinese, so whenever we see books from Grace Lin we typically check them out. This one was perfect for October as the Mid-Autumn Moon festival is celebrated in September/October (this year it was apparently September 15th but next year it will be October 4th - so let's see if I can set a reminder to check this out again next year!). My little girl is now obsessed with moon cakes - but, apart from driving down to Chinatown in SF, I'm not sure where we'll be able to find them. Ideas, anyone?
Make Way for McCloskey
Since the wee girl is learning about the letter D at preschool, I thought I would check out "Make Way for Ducklings" as a tie-in. Alas, all the copies of "Make Way for Ducklings" were taken at our library - but this one! The added bonus was that it contains "Blueberries for Sal" which I had never heard of before, but since becoming a fan of the Read Aloud Revival podcast, have not stopped hearing about. So it was a great 2-for-1. I can see this one landing on our Christmas wish list....
And that was it for this week! Oh... except for these:
of course. :D
What did you pick up at the library this week? Alternatively, what are you going to pick up next time you're there? Please share!
Here we are at the end of summer... and what a summer it's been! We tried our hand at 2 different book clubs, and had weekly Progressive Park Playdates (where we met our friends at a different park around town each week) in addition to our normal weekly things (church, friends, etc...). So even though we didn't travel anywhere, I still feel like we had a full summer. And given that this is little girl's 4th summer ever, I'm going to say she probably feels the same (though she has little to nothing to compare it to!)
But yes, while we didn't physically travel anywhere, we did travel nearly everywhere through the Read the World bookclub that SimpleHomeschool and Read Aloud Revival co-sponsored. I loved doing this book club this summer as it really gave us a mission and a purpose to going to the library each week. And we found books that I would have never thought to read or even look for because of it. So to my friends with kids (loosely defined as any little younger than 13) - I highly recommend getting Jamie Martin's book and using it next summer (if not this school year... cuz, why wait?)
If you'd like to see the books we read this summer, there's a post here and more pics here (in amongst some other pics...). But to close out the book club, every family who participated has been asked to share what it's like to grow up in their little corner of the world. So, for those who have never been to my blog before (welcome!!) and to friends/family alike, here is a little of our story...
– Tell us about your family.
At the California Missions Museum
My name is Sara. I was born and raised in northern California. My husband Paul was born and raised in the UK. We met when his job moved him "across the pond" (as they say) and now we have 2 little ones: Evelyn, who's nearly 4 and John, who's 19 months. We continue to live in my hometown which is smack in the middle of wine country.
– What do you think is unique and special about living where you do?
I love where we live! We are in a bit of a valley, so we can see mountains around us: "yellow hills with broccoli trees" as one of my friends said when she visited. They have a lovely grassy/oak smell when things warm up in the summer. If we go to the west just a 1/2 hour's drive we hit the Pacific ocean. If we drive south a bit we're in San Francisco. If we want to see snow in the winter, we can drive a few hours east to Lake Tahoe (and then come home when we're all "snowed out"). And if we go just a little bit north (or even west) we can be in beautiful Redwood forests. It's truly beautiful and the variety, I think, is what makes it unique.
Our yellow hills (with some of those "broccoli trees" in the background)
– What languages are spoken there? If it’s different from English, can you help us learn a few common phrases?
English is the main and official language, but because there is a large Latino population here (nearly 30%) you can often hear Spanish spoken wherever you go. So knowing our "please and thank yous" en español is helpful! (Por favor and gracias, if you didn't know!)
– What are some traditional foods there?
I don't know if this counts, because really, do Americans have "traditional" food? :) But along with all the wine in the area there is a lot of farming as well. In particular, the Gravenstein apple is unique to our area. It is well loved - so much so that there's an entire fair held for it each year!
– Tell us about the climate where you live.
Our climate has been described as "Mediterranean" which means the winters are warm and wet, while the summers are hot and dry. That said, where we are it never stays too hot for long as after we've had a few really hot days the fog will build up at the coast and then move inward and cool everything down. It's our own natural "AC". However, it's pretty particular to our area, and other folks in northern California (I'm thinking mainly of those places in the Central Valley) don't get this benefit of being so close to the coast.
Poking around the Redwoods
– What does school look like for the majority of kids where you live?
Public school is the most common among families. Our town has 5 public high schools (grades 9-12), 5 middle schools (grades 6-8), and a plethora of elementary schools (grades K-5). High school is big with a school population of close to 2000. Before having my little ones, I taught mathematics at our town's oldest high school (which also happens to be the 8th oldest high school in the state)!
– What does school look like for your family?
We are just dipping our toes into school this year, with our little girl attending preschool 2 days a week! So we have yet to see what that will look like. It's a new adventure for us all... :)
The book that's helping us prepare... ;)
– Are there any special festivals or traditions you’d like to tell us about related to where you live?
In addition to the Gravenstein Apple Fair (mentioned above), the County Fair is a big yearly happening - with carnival rides, fair food (I guess there's our "traditional" food! Ha!), and the special Hall of Flowers exhibit. As a family though, we like smaller events - like seeing the special Christmas light displays near our home. We invite our friends over for cookies and hot cocoa then we walk over to the display. It's our favorite tradition!
– If you ever had to move away from where you live, what do you think you’d miss most?
It's very easy for us to be outside whenever we want, regardless of the time of year. Just put shoes on (and maybe a jacket) and go! I know it's not that way everywhere... I think especially about where my parents live and how snowy it gets there in the winter... and how to go outside would become a big ordeal. So yes, I would miss the temperate climate (and all that comes with it).
Sometimes we can't wait until we're dressed to go outside...
– Do you have a favorite book that takes place in your region/country?
Gosh! I can't think of books, but I can think of a couple authors: Charles Schultz (of Snoopy/Charlie Brown fame) and Jack London (author of Call of the Wild and White Fang) both made their homes in our area. And while I know that Jack London did write about our region a bit, all I can remember reading is White Fang and that took place in Alaska! So I guess after all our reading of books from around the world, we will have to look up books about our own hometown next.
So where are you from? Will you share in the comments, or if you came here from the link up, will you share your post so we can come "visit" you too? Thanks for reading!
Most folks like to post about their summer reading before it happens. As in, "Look at all these lovely books that I'm going to read this summer!" Those are awesome people. I'm happy if I'm able to look back on the season and say, "Hey look! I read something this summer!"
- 1 -
But of course... having some guided inspiration never hurts when one is creating a to-read book list - especially if it's for the kiddos. So I was excited to stumble across Jamie C Martin's book: Give Your Child the World.
A photo posted by Jamie C Martin (@jamie_cmartin) on
It's a reference book with lists organized by age group and geographical region. To launch her book she and another blogger, Sarah MacKenzie (of Read Aloud Revival fame) are running a online/virtual book club where the only "responsibility" is to read one book from the region for the week. I jumped at joining the book club because:
This is the kind of responsibility I can handle!
It guarantees that I will have at least 1 book every week to read to the Spitfire that is not Maisy-related. #winning
- 2 -
Multi-cultural week
So, when I said jump you may have thought I was just being all writer-y and stuff. (Cause I's is good at being writer-y). But no, I was so excited to get on board that even though I didn't yet have GYCTW, I looked on Instagram to see what other people were checking out, and then drove 20 miles to the only library that had these books... On the day before the library would be closed for a 3-day holiday weekend... 3 hours before closing time. No really. I wanted the books and I wanted to get started NOW. It was the "Maps" book that I knew the wee girl would love, and I was right. She is very much into maps these days. She likes to draw maps leading people to dragon caves and she likes to look at maps and show people where Grammy and Poppy live... "And this is Michigan." (She says as she points to Africa) "Grammy and Poppy live here."
(Yeah. We're still working on it...)
We had to return that book yesterday because it was due and someone else had reserved it (I'm guessing a fellow GYCTW-er), and for the first time the Spitfire almost refused to give it to the librarian. I guess we know what's on her birthday gift list this year...
- 3 -
Africa week
This week was kind of a bust. I still didn't have GYCTW and Instagram wasn't being helpful. I found these 2 books on my own, and I thought they were awesome. But the only one I could get the little girl to sit through was "Imani's Moon". It was a sweet story of a little girl who gets teased by the other girls in the village for being small, but then she "rises" to do a very big thing. It has that magical element of literature that the author of Love in the Time of Cholera is also known for... what's that called again? (See. I'm very writer-y). Anyway. good book. And I loved the illustrations in "For You Are a Kenyan Child" but I couldn't get the Spitfire to read it. I'll try again another day...
- 4 -
Europe week
Ah, Europe week... a.k.a. the week I caved and got a book with Maisy in it. I think the Spitfire was beginning to suspect that I was trying to #givemychildtheworld or something, so she started being very obstinate about her reading material. But I also lucked out with finding City Cat - cause if a book is not about maps, or Maisy, then it will still be read if it has a cat in it! This story is about a cat who follows an Italian family on their vacation around Europe. The illustrations are perfect, and while the prose is a little less-than perfect, we still really enjoyed it. Actually, I double-lucked out with this one because not only did City Cat have a cat in it, it also has a map of Europe in it! #winningagain
Oddly, this week North America only includes Canada and the United States?? And even though I finally had a copy of GYCTW in my hands, absolutely none of the books in her list were available at our local library (though if I wanted to drive 10 miles south I could get most of them! #nothin'doin'). ABC of Canada was available as an ebook though. I also feel like I might have a golden touch with picking books on a whim, because I picked up Migrant and I have absolutely loved it. (The jury is still out for the Spitfire. At this point, though, what would you expect? #gottalovethatgirl #andhashtags #alwaysthehashtags )
- 6 -
And that's it so far! Next week is Middle East Week, followed by Asia Week, Latin America Week, and Australia/Oceania/Polar Regions Week. These upcoming weeks are the most exciting for me, so I'll be sure to make some reservations at the library and save myself some gas money.
- 7 -
As for myself? I'm still firmly situated in my non-fiction/memoir camp. It's cozy here. I like it. Here's what I'm reading/have read/will read:
Maybe I should say "have read, am reading, may read"?
What I find particularly awesome about this, is while grabbing the pictures of these books off Goodreads, I found this:
Look at that! AHEAD of schedule! #thatsafirst #oki'mdonewiththehashtags #promise
What about you? What are you reading this summer (to yourself... to your kids)?
Check out other good blogs to read over at This Ain't the Lyceum, and leave your recommendation there (if not here).
Sometimes I know exactly what I want to do to celebrate a certain feast day. For instance, St George's day we do pretty good at. Food? Check. Coloring pages? Check. Library books? Check. Funny YouTube video of St George and Dragon that will give my daughter nightmares for the following week? Well, um... yeah. Check. (Sorry about that one honey!)
And then there are days I think I have figured out, but when I go to execute... it turns out to be more than anticipated. The nativity of St John the Baptist (June 24) was just such a day.
- 1 -
I actually began thinking about this day waaay back in May. (In a departure from my normal 5-6 day lead time.)
Proof.
But as you can see, I didn't get very far in my thought process. So I did some research...
- 2 -
What I really love about this particular day is its cosmic connection to the calendar. We know from Luke 1:36 that when Gabriel announced to Mary that she would have Jesus, Elizabeth was already 6 months pregnant with John. So that would make John and Jesus' birthday roughly 6 months apart too. Both John's and Jesus' birthday are celebrated shortly after the summer and winter solstices, respectively. Thus after Jesus' birthday, the days get progressively longer and after John's birthday, the days get progressively shorter. A very real and cosmic way of depicting how John said, "He must increase, and I must decrease." (John 3:30) I find this super cool. What I don't find too cool (or even comfortable) was John's diet and wardrobe: he lived in the wilderness eating locusts and honey, and wearing a shirt made of camel hair. (Classy.) This little cartoon makes it all look really cute though:
- 3 -
But back to the story. Up until a week before JTB's day I was still thinking I would make some kind of cake with honey in the shape of a grasshopper... which the more I thought about it, the more I feared it would end up on CakeWrecks. So I ditched that idea in favor of something that I wouldn't have to make myself... hmm.... honey... what dessert uses honey? Ooo! I know! Baklava! And I'll decorate them with those plastic grasshoppers you can find everywhere. So with that plan solidly cemented in place a full 7 days in advance (go me) - I went about my week.
- 4 -
Come Thursday (the day before the big day), I figured it was time to go out and get that baklava and grasshoppers that you can easily just pick up anywhere that sells... you know... baklava and grasshoppers. Shoot. Where did I think I could just do that? I didn't have any luck at Target. So I headed to Michael's thinking I could at least get a few grasshoppers there. We scoured the whole store looking for the green little things, with E constantly asking, "Mommy? Where are the grasshoppers? Is this a grasshopper? Mommy? Is this a grasshopper? Mommy? Where are they?? OOHH!! Look! Dory! and NEMO!!" The Little Dude meanwhile was growing more impatient with every minute he was strapped into the cart - so when I finally found a tube that had plastic bugs in it - including one measly little grasshopper - I decided that was good enough and I threw it in the cart and headed up to the checkout to pay for it.
$10.86
Ten freakin' eighty-six. For a grasshopper. Well, for a grasshopper and 13 other plastic bugs, that now I will find strewn all over the house and will forget that they're not real, so when I see them I will scream and freak out until I see they're plastic and then I'll feel silly and will silently curse myself for thinking that buying this tube of craptabulous stuff for $11 was the good and right thing to do. For the kids. *sigh* Well baklava shouldn't be too hard to find, right? One failed trip to a store, and 3 phone calls later... yeah, sure. Not hard at all! (Bangs head on table.)
- 5 -
However, John the Baptist's birthday was celebrated and even enjoyed! In the morning the wee girl and I colored these pages of JTB both with, and without, locusts. The wee girl is also on a bit of a Lego kick these days, and wouldn't you know it? I found a retelling of the story of John the Baptist on YouTube - done with Lego!
She didn't like it. (Of course.)
- 6 -
And dinner didn't go too badly either, if you ignore the fact that I fried the microwave. (Pro tip: insert food before turning on microwave.) I even did a little decorating!
If this counts as "decorating." And yes, that's a party hat on John.
- 7 -
So... best laid plans and all that. At least I'm prepared for next year.
Yeah, buddy. That's where you will stay for the whole year so I don't lose you and have to shell out another 10 bucks.
I'm a little late in posting my 7QT so when you click over here, you'll have a lot of (much better) blogs to read! Don't forget to say hi :)
Confession: sometimes I do this "liturgical living" thing because I'm lazy.
Allow me to explain. Ever since we started to suspect that our diet might be having an impact (of the negative variety) on our family's health, I've been using tools like "Plan to Eat" to do meal planning. But as anyone who's ever planned meals will tell you, no matter how many apps, tools or articles you have, sometimes meal planning is just plain hard and/or boring. It's a chore.
So one of the ways I've countered this is with themed days - Meatless Mondays, Fish-on-Fridays, leftovers-on-Wednesday, Sunday Roasts. (We tried Taco Tuesdays, but that one didn't really stick...
...unless you mean to his face. Then it stuck very well.)
The "Fish-on-Fridays" one is the expressly Catholic one in the list, as Canon law says that "Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays" (Can. 1251) - and for some reason fish is not considered "meat". So, with Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays pretty much figured out that just leaves Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays to plan. (Genius, right? ;) )
BUT that paragraph goes on to say that "Abstinence from meat... is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday." And yesterday, was just such a solemnity - The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus!
"Come, and have hamburgers to celebrate."
(I'm terrible. Sorry. But this solemnity is a truly beautiful one - even if the paintings for it are so kitschy - as Fr. Jim Martin said so well.)
And here's where I'm lazy. Once I figured out that we could have meat on Friday I dreaded the thought of planning and cooking something - so I suggested to the husband - why don't we just go out to eat instead? This is often easier said than done with little children, so we decided fast food would be the way to go. And we were both totally on board with that until we remembered - eating hamburgers often results in us getting sick. (We're not really sure why.) So that sent us back to square one. Until we remembered this:
Also known as "Vegan Heaven"
Yes, Amy's Drive Thru - where everything on the menu is vegetarian! (Or vegan, if you so desire). The way I figured it, is that since it was a solemnity we should be celebrating and that can easily be done without meat. Just going out makes it special enough, right?
We brought our own pages to color:
Say, "Vegan CHEEZE!"
The wee girl and little dude LOVED it. I've never seen her eat pizza so fast! Both of them could hardly be contained in their seats, they were dancing around so much. And best of all? Paul and I felt perfectly fine afterwards! You guys, we went to a fast food restaurant and didn't get ill! I can see us going here a lot more often.
Amy's Drive Thru: "Runs on Love" ...and us? On the Sacred Heart.
