Library Time 21

It's Saturday again already so that means another look at what we've been reading. I read this great book - Some Hats, Some Girls and Hitler by Trudi Kanter. I bought this with my birthday gift card and only paid $6.00 - bonus. It's about a lady who was a milliner in Vienne and how she got her husband and parents out of Austria.

On to the rest of the family...

 

15-year-old daughter - Jane Austen: Her Life, Her Times,  Her Novels by Janet Todd. This is one of those books that are fairly popular now that have reproductions of letters, a page from a manuscript, etc.

13-year-old son - World War II by Sean Callery. This book is so fascinating. If you have a child interested in World War II this would make an excellent gift. They also give you websites you can go to to learn more.

11-year-old son - Witness to World War II by Karen Farrington. Our boys were given these two World War II books this week so we've been hearing a lot about the War.

 

10-year-old daughter - Isabella, Girls from Many Lands

 

8-year-old daughter - Emma on Thin Icing by Coco Simon. This a Cupcake Diaries book.

 

6-year-old son - The Biggest Bear by Lynn Ward. This has always been a favourite in our home. Who wouldn't want to have a pet bear who is a gentle giant but the neighbours don't like because he eats everything?

3-year-old son - Carl at the Dog Show by Alexandra Day. We love the Carl books about the dog who looks after a little girl. There are generally only printed words at the beginning and end of the story. In between you can make up your own story based on the gorgeous illustrations. Lots of adventures so the story can be very exciting.

What does your reading list look like this week?

Library Time 20

 

This week I downloaded a book that a friend of mine wrote - The Adventures of Little Angel. It's a sweet children's book about a little angel and what she does in Heaven and her favourite story about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. There's another one as well that I plan on getting. There are plans for more to be written. I like getting books on my Kindle for my children. This one will no doubt become a favourite.

 

I read a sweet story this week called - A Good and Perfect Gift - about Penny, a little girl born with Down Syndrome. Her mom has written an interesting story about grief and love, hope and despair. Penny's parents expected her to be perfect. In the end, they discovered she was. They wouldn't change a single thing about her.

 

So what else have we been reading?

 

15-year-old daughter - Johnny Tremaine by Esther Forbes - Historical Fiction at its finest telling about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War in the United States.

13-year-old son - King Ottokars Sceptre (Tintin) by Herge

11-year-old son - Fugitive From Corinth by Caroline Lewis - A mystery from Roman times

10-year-old daughter - Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lewish - What can I say? They're a big item in our house this week.

8-year-old daughter - The Cupcake Club by Sheryl Berk. This is a book about a club for girls who also make cupcakes.

6-year-old son - Horton Hatches an Egg by Dr. Seuss

3-year-old son - He's been asking for and looking at Richard Scarry books.

Someone had a birthday this week. Which child was it? ☺

15 Book Giveaway

I just learned of a giveaway that you might be interested in...

Fifteen books by eleven Christian authors. $5 Starbucks gift card. A booklight.

I've read one of the books - Annabeth's War - and truly enjoyed it. Check it out. This would be a fun giveaway to win.

Library Time 18

I really haven't had much time to read this week. Between working on my husband's birthday party and organizing things in our home I've been too busy to read. As well, I've been restless in my reading. I can't seem to settle into any book. I've started a couple but neither really grabbed me. I'm afraid I'm going to have to give in and go to my old standby - Philip Oppenheim. I know there are only a finite number of Oppenheim's books so I try to ration myself, but I know that I always enjoy reading his stories and usually read them one on top of another. They're kind of like eating chips.

 

I know my children have been reading though - here's what they've been up to...

 

15-year-old daughter - Colonel Brandon's Diary by Amanda Grange

 

 

13-year-old son - Jim Kjelgaard books. My son has been sick with a sore throat for a couple of days and has been doing a lot of sleeping. An author's name was as specific as he could get. Kjelgaard wrote great outdoor adventure books. We've collected most of them. They are hard to find and can be expensive so if you see one get it while you can.

 

11-year-old son - Fire Hunter by Jim Kjelgaard

 

 

9-year-old daughter - Sherlock Holmes graphic novels

 

8-year-old daughter - Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We're big fans of the Little House books. For a while when we lived in a century-old farmhouse in the country using a wood cookstove we kind of felt like pioneers especially when the boys were bringing wood inside in the middle of a blizzard.

 

6-year-old son - He's having his first sleepover with Grandpa and Grandma so he's not here for me to ask him. I can tell you though that every day at naptime he loads up with books because he has to sit on the couch and be quiet so the baby can sleep.

 

2-year-old son - He's still in love with "Peter Rabbit" books (particularly loving the names in the books - Mrs. Tiggy Winkle - his favourite - Hunca Munca, Appley Dappley, Jemima Puddleduck) but this week he has also been asking for  The ABC Bunny by Wanda G'ag. This song has a tune written to the words so we always have to sing it. ☺

 

Since I don't have the equipment to record the book with the singing, I found it on Youtube for your viewing pleasure. Your children will love this.

 



 

What books have you been reading or singing this week?

Library Time 16

Early in December one of the bloggers I follow - The Humbled Homemaker - did a post on planning her reading for 2014. That inspired me to do the same. Last year I bought quite a few ebooks. I wrote out a list of what I wanted to read this year and came up with 53 titles! Some are quite short and could be read in an hour, a few are several hundred pages, some are devotional and are meant to be read one chapter at a time and not all in one sitting. The topics range from beauty to budgeting to health to special occasions to homemaking to marriage to parenting. I'll probably review some from time to time and keep you updated on my progress through them.

So what have I been reading in between finishing up gifts. I went back to my old standby Philip Oppenheim. This time I read The Double Four. Each chapter was actually it's own stand-alone adventure like the way Sherlock Holmes is written. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I also read Emily Foxe-Sexton Being "The Making of a Marchioness" and "The Methods of Lady Walderhurst". This was a great book. Emily Foxe-Sexton is a poor but genteel lady in her mid-30s and has given up hope of marriage. Then a marquis asks her to marry him and her life is turned upside dow n. After her marriage danger enters her life and threatens to kill (literally) all of her dreams. This is a wonderful feel-good book and even better you can get it free for your Kindle.

15-year-old daughter - The Captive of Raven Castle by Jessica Greyson

13-year-old son - Secret Weapons: Technology, Science and the Race to Win World War II by Brian Ford

11-year-old son - Eyewitness World War I by DK Publishers. If you have never read any of the "Eyewitness" books you are missing out on a treat. These are excellent books loaded with information and beautiful illustrations.

9-year-old daughter - Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink. Caddie is a young girl growing up in the wilds of 1860s Wisconsin, and to the despair of her very ladylike mother is a tomboy. The adventures are based on the life of the author's grandmother.

8-year-old daughter - Starlight and Candles by Fran Manushkin

5-year-old son - Curious George ☺ Always a favourite here.

2-year-old son - He recently received a small Richard Scarry pop-up book. We really like Richard Scarry. There is always a lot going on in the pictures making for fun discussions with your little one.

Back to school next week so less reading time, but knowing our family we'll still manage. What have read during the holidays?

Library Time 15

I'm still enjoying my Kindle. I truly did not think I would like reading books electronically, but I do. I still like my paper books, but I probably use my Kindle more. It is just so easy and convenient, and I can read in bed with the lights out...not that I often am awake long enough to do that. Anyway, I read a really great book this week that is only available on Kindle. The Last Heir by Shannon McDermott. It's a mix of sci-fi and political thriller. The author is young, but she manages to pull all of this together, and I really enjoyed the book. The start was a tad slow, but it didn't take long for me to be hooked.

The teaser from the Amazon page: " When loyalty meets ambition and power meets passion, and the prize is an empire ...

The emperor is dead and the last heir is a child, unable to exercise the power of his throne. Left without a ruler, the Empire's most powerful men struggle for control. Their long fight will spread from the halls of government to all the Empire, and its arena will be their own hearts and families. As the Empire divides against itself, everyone must choose who and what to be loyal to. Lines will grow hard and choices become clear, and the truth of who they are and what they fight for will be revealed." I'll just say it again - this book is worth the read.

 

15-year-old daughter - Ellen by Heidi Peterson. This is a book she's reviewing for someone.

13-year-old son -World Book Encyclopedia Volumes A and B. Still on the encyclopedia kick. ☺

11-year-old son - I Am Canada: Blood and Iron: Building the Railway, Lee Heen-gwong, British Columbia, 1882 by Paul Yee. My oldest son was given this book as a library prize a couple of summers ago. Since then the two oldest boys have almost memorized it they've read it so much. 

9-year-old daughter - Keeping Secrets by Maggie Dana. She's at the age for the horse craze. ☺

8-year-old daughter - The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain (Children's Illustrated Classics).

5-year-old son - Madeline by Ludwig Behelmans

2-year-old son - The King's Stilts by Dr. Seuss. This is one of my favourite Dr. Seuss books. The king works very hard and how does he like to relax? With stilts. Until someone steals them. The king can't work because he misses his beloved stilts. The kingdom will soon be destroyed. Where are the stilts?

 

So what books have you been enjoying this week?

Library Time 14

This has been a difficult week for me sleep-wise. The baby has not been sleeping well. I say all this to explain my reading for this week. I've been reading what I call "brain candy" - novels and not the greatest quality either. I've just been too tired to do any deep thinking when I read, but I still have this need to read. So let's just let my reading go at that and get on to what my children have been reading.

15-year-old daughter - Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell and Daddy Longlegs by Jean Webster and The Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo. Apparently she's not suffering from sleep deprivation. We recently watched the BBC miniseries "Cranford". My daughter did a review of it on her blog "Ramblings of a Janeite". She did a great job (and of course I'm not prejudiced).

 

13-year-old son - Okay, so apparently he's still on his encyclopedia reading binge. This week has been Volume N-O. I might add this is the World Book set my parents bought for me when I was a baby.

11-year-old son - The Deadly Curse of Toco-Rey by Frank Peretti

9-year-old daughter -Thrilling Escapes by Night by Albert Lee

8-year-old daughter - Garfield cartoon books

5-year-old son - To Jupiter and Back - a children's book about astronomy

2-year-old son - Teddy Bear's Fun to Learn First 1000 Words 

So a good week of books in our house. How about in yours?

Mishmash

This will be a little bit of a mishmash of "Fruitful Friday" and "Library Time". Yesterday I was tired and just basically spent the day hanging out with my children watching movie and eating ice cream cones which could explain the higher numbers on the scales this morning. Anyway, we had fun and every once in a while it's fun to just kick back and chill with your children. Some of us also went to the park after supper. I was wishing I had brought the camera because it was the first time we put the baby in a swing and he LOVED it...so cute to watch.

 

We had a good week - I fixed a jumper for my youngest daughter (post to come on that), taught my girls how to cork (another post on that), found some great deals at the local Salvation Army store (including a candlemaking kit! - something I've always wanted to learn how to do), read a good book written by a holocaust survivor, found a store where I could buy Ezekiel 4:9 bread (good for the diet), ate beans from our garden and tidied up the garden which was looking a mess (tomatoes and squash looking good), had a long "skype" with one of my sisters one night (sisters are great), made a birthday gift for a friend (think I'm going to have to do a post on this too because I make this gift all the time - easy and fun). Well, you can see we had a great week.

 

My oldest daughter found a lot of classics - Shakespeare, Dickens, Elliot, Bronte - at the Salvation Army that she happily bought. My nine-year-old daughter found a Beverly Cleary book. My five-year-old son is making great strides in his reading. He said this week, "I can't believe I'm reading!" It makes all the effort worth it. He was "reading" an alphabet book to his baby brother this morning, and I was so happy that he could read all the letters now.

 

They're addicted to corking now.

 

How was your week? Did you read any good books?

Homemade What?

This has been a momentous week for us. Our baby has his first tooth, and we "officially" started him on solids. We'd been giving him tiny, tiny nibbles here and there, but this week we actually bought some organic applesauce for him. I also made him some homemade "cheerios". Yep, you read that correctly - cheerios. Now in all fairness they don't look like the little o's everyone knows and loves. They're more like tiny little blobs. They are made from oatmeal though and they fall apart easily in the mouth which is why they get to be called cheerios.

 

I like to give my babies as little commercial baby food as possible. Sometimes the little jars are convenient and easy so we get them, but mostly I try to just give them baby-friendly versions of what we eat. A lot of times I just finely mush up whatever we're having and feed that. I like for them to get used to different textures as well as the taste of the foods we enjoy as a family.

 

None of our children are picky eaters. I don't know if it's because I'm a little unconventional when it comes to feeding them, but they all have healthy and wide-ranging appetites. My husband tends to be even more eager than me to introduce them to the foods he loves, offering them tastes off his plate even sooner than I would.

 

Anyway, back to the cheerios. I can't remember how I stumbled on the recipe for it, but if you want to try it you can find it here. It's not something you could pour in a bowl and eat with milk. I think it would just fall apart, but they are the perfect size and texture for little fingers and mouths. We like to crumble Jonah's into his applesauce to give it a little more umph. Otherwise, I break it up and feed it to him because he's not quite into transferring food from a bowl to his mouth yet - soon, though, very soon. Like the originals they're not very sweet.

 

I've been doing a lot of sewing and scrapbooking this week too. I love both of these hobbies, and I love that both of these hobbies benefit others.

 

My five-year-old son has been working very hard to learn his alphabet, and I'm happy to report that he is on the cusp of being able to read. It is so exciting. This confirms something I suspected for a few months now. He only needed my total undivided attention to master this skill. Since the older children finished school we've been doing his letters for 20-30 minutes a day with various games, cards and handwriting exercises. He will be my sixth child to teach to read, and I think my most rewarding because it feels like we've had to work so hard at it. Very soon he'll be doing more than just reading pictures.

 

"reading" to his baby brother

 

 

How was your week? I hope it was a joyous one.

Library Time Week 4

Lots of reading going on here with school being out. Well let's face it, even when school is on there's lots of reading going on here. :)

 

Myself - I read a Grace Livingston Hill book this week that I downloaded for free on my Kindle...The City of Fire. Grace Livingston Hill started the Christian romance genre. When my grandfather was in a major car accident and had to spend months in the hospital he was so taken with the idea of a Christian romance that he read as many as he could get. This one had a different twist because the main character is a twelve-year-old boy so, of course, the romantic interest wasn't his.

 

14-year-old daughter - Lady Vernon and Her Daughter - a take-off on a little-known work of Jane Austen's

 

13-year-old son - The Endless Steppe (a Jewish girl taken with her family by the Russians and sent to Siberia during World War II) and The Wild Children

 

 

 

 

11-year-old son - The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

9-year-old daughter - She's on a Beverly Cleary kick with Ramona the Pest and Henry and Beezus.

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7-year-old daughter - She's been reading a lot to her two little brothers. They enjoy the Little Jewel books from the Rod and Staff Publishers and The Golden Books.

 

What has your family enjoyed reading this week?

More Free Reading

I guess by now you know that I love books. I can't help myself. I was raised by a book addict - my dad. My dad read to my sisters and I so many books when we were growing up. He didn't just read picture books to us when we were little; he read classics to us when we were older. He instilled in all of us a deep love for reading. My mom taught us the mechanics of reading, but my dad gave us the love of reading.

 

My dad passing the love of books on to the next generation.

 

You can imagine my excitement today when I discovered that there is a website where you can download audio books for free. Yes, you read that correctly - F.R.E.E. Not only can you download audio books for free they also give you different sources for the book such as the Gutenberg Project, a wikipedia link, a cover for a CD case and several audio option for downloading the book. The books are read by volunteers. Some books could have more than one reader. You could even volunteer to do some reading if you so desired.

 

I've only looked up a few books (yes, Eva-Joy, they have Les Mis in French or English) but am excited by what I've seen. I can think of so many applications. You could listen to these while ironing, for a sick child, listen to the literature book they are studying, in the car on a trip, a bedtime story. You could just download them as needed or plan ahead and get several books ready for a trip.

 

So where is this site, you ask. So glad you asked or in my enthusiasm I may have forgotten to tell you. The website is http://librivox.org/. Happy reading or I guess I should say listening.

 

What book will you look for/listen to first?

P.S. While we're talking about reading - look for a small reading-related giveaway to be announced when I hit my 50th post.

Library Time Week 2

Here’s what we’ve been reading this week. I hope you can find something that would interest you. Any books marked with a * can be found for free on Kindle. Happy Reading.

Me – Anna the Adventuress* by E. Philipps Openheim and Backpacked – A Reluctant Trip Across Central America by Catherine Ryan Howard

14-year-old daughter – Your Novel Day by Day – Her goal is to be a published author by the fall of 2014. She is currently at 12,000 words.

13-year-old son – Titanic Voyage – The name says it all. I can’t bring myself to read books about the “Titanic” because it’s just so sad.

11-year-old son – Fire Hunter by Jim Kjelgaard

9-year-old-daughter – Hidden Rainbow by Christmas Carol Kaufmann. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is about a Ukranian couple in the early 20th century shackled by their Catholicism and the despair it led them too and their eventual freedom in Christ. She also read “These Happy Golden Years” by Laura Ingalls Wilder (her favourite in the series).

7-year-old-daughter – She’s still in “Family Circus” mode, but she also read “Again” by John Prater.

5-year-old-son – Again he’s not a reader but does enjoy being read to. We read “Madeline and the Cats of Rome” by John Bemelmans Marciano (grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans the author of “Madeline”)

2-year-old-son – The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

I hope there has been something here that interested you. What did you read this week?

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Okay, so I know this is not really a homemaking topic or something about health, but it is something I want to share.

Long, long ago and in a place far away I was a teenager reading a book called “The Great Impersonation” by E. Phillips Oppenheim. It was great. Suspense, mystery and gentle romance all wrapped up in one book. I read and re-read the story several times over the next few years finally losing track of it.

When I got my Kindle I decided to look it up and see if I could get a free copy of it. Not only did I find “The Great Impersonation” I also found 53 other books by the same author. I started downloading books as fast as I could click. Since then I’ve read an average of one book a week. I have not been disappointed with Oppenheim’s books. They are all similar in that they are mystery AND romance and they all seem to take an unexpected turn somewhere.

I looked Oppenheim up on wikipedia.org. Not surprisingly he is British – so far all of the books I’ve read either start in England or end up there – born in 1866. He wrote over 100 novels and short story books. His writing enabled him to buy a yacht and a villa in France and later a house on Guersney which he lost during World Ward II due to German occupation. He was given the house back after the war and died there in 1946.

If you have a Kindle check this author out or see if your library has any of his books. I have heard that you can get a Kindle app for your computer but have never looked into it. It might be worth checking into although a computer is not as easy to hold as a Kindle. 

Do you have a favourite author or book?

Library Time Week 1

I thought I would start a new series and share weekly (hopefully) what we’ve been reading in our family. It may give you some ideas for reading in your family. Any books marked with a * can be found for free on Kindle. Happy Reading.

Me – The Lost Wagon* – Jim Kjelgaard

14-year-old daughter – A Little Princess* – Frances Hodgson Burnett – a re-read which shows it’s a good one

13-year-old son – The Basil of Baker Street Series - Eve Titus – a bit below his level but a fun read

11-year-old son – Canadian Attack and Support Planes and the Big Book of Riddles

9-year-old daughter – 5 Nancy Drews

7-year-old daughter – She’s been reading a lot of Peanuts and Family Circus books. It’s so fun when they can read what the picture is about and “get” the joke. She’s also been reading “The Boxcar Children” for school so I’ve been hearing it repeated to me almost verbatim.  Sound familiar, Mom?

5-year-old son – He cannot read for himself yet but still loves books. Here are a couple that were read to him this week…

Mop Top by Don Freeman (author of “Corduroy”) and Rooster’s Off to See the World by Eric Carle

2-year-old son – Teddy Bear’s Fun to Learn. We discovered this book with our oldest daughter. We have worn out three copies and really need to order another one. This is Ethan’s all-time favourite which is saying a lot because he LOVES books. My husband has never read these books word-for-word to our children. Instead, he has made up his own story for each page and it becomes more detailed with every child. They all love to hear how Daddy is embellishing the book for the newest toddler, and we’ve had a lot of laughs at what he comes up with.

So there you have a small sampling of what we’ve been enjoying reading this week. Have we interested you at all? What have you been reading?

What To Do?

So we’re pretty much finished all of our school work for the year. Just a few more assignments and we’re done. The downside is that I am already hearing rumors of boredom. Why is it that they work so hard all year to get done and then complain three days into their vacation that there is nothing to do? And you know, complaining to your mom about nothing to do is never a good idea because she can always come up with some chores. 

I need to keep my children busy but I want it to be fun too. After all, this is supposed to be their summer vacation, and they did work very hard all year on their school work. They deserve/need some downtime. So what are our plans?

First of all, there is our garden, of course. They’ve been having fun putting scraps in the compost and digging for worms to add to the compost bin. Soon there will be plants to water and weed – although with square foot gardening there aren’t a lot of weeds. The boys also have our lawn to mow and a neighbour’s lawn. They’d like to get more.

I found a programme online called “Around the World in 60 Days” . This is put out by www.thrivingfamily.ca. This takes you to 27 different countries over the summer with simple activities. It is a way to help my children learn their geography in a fun way and also to remind us to pray for others as we “visit” these countries. We will start in New Zealand and end in Canada. I’m looking forward to this. I like geography.

We are also going to do a photo scavenger hunt. Here is June’s list. I’m going to make individual folders on my computer for each child who wants to participate to store their pictures in. I’ve done something a little similiar to this before and enjoyed it. All my children like to take pictures so I think they will like this activity. The beauty of digital cameras – no film to worry about wasting.

We will also participate in our library’s summer reading club. Our children certainly don’t need to be encouraged to read, but they still enjoy joining in with the library’s programme.

Finally, I encourage my children to set 1-3 goals of what they hope to accomplish over the summer. Every day when we gather after breakfast to pray and read a chapter in Proverbs we discuss what their goal(s) for that day is. I want to encourage my children to start making a habit of purposefully striving towards a goal. In the past, we have “scheduled” our goals to help them get used to this. For instance, one day would be a spiritual goal (pray for someone, memorize a verse, etc), another day a physical goal (a certain number of repeats of an exercise or learning something new like jump roping), a mental goal (learn a new skill, write a story, etc), a social goal (write a letter, call a friend or relative, make a gift for someone). It’s always fun to hear what they hope to do. I make sure to include myself so they see me setting an example. Last summer several of them challenged themselves to see how long they could stay outside one day before retreating to the coolness of the house. Most of them made it to mid-afternoon. That was fun to watch.

So yes, I will try to keep them busy and away from boredom, but I will also make sure that they have downtime to unwind from school. When we start up again I want them to be excited about the new school year.

What will your children be doing this summer?