Numbers 6:24-26

Library Time Week 10

Sometimes I consider myself addicted to reading. I generally have three to four books on the go at the same time. I like to keep books in various places in the house so I'm never far from something to read. I take my Kindle with me everywhere which now has several hundred books on it because I'm scared of being stuck somewhere without a book. And it's not unusual to find my Kindle AND a book in the diaper bag. I've got it bad.

 

So this week I read a book called Her about identical twins where one sister died. I also read Between Expectations about a pediatric intern. They were both so interesting I could hardly put them down.

 

So what have my children been reading...

 

15-year-old daughter - She's critiquing a book that a friend wrote. She also read The Patriots by Jack Cavanaugh and Johnny Tremaine. I haven't read Johnny Tremaine in years, but after hearing she was reading it now I want to read it again.

 

13-year-old son - Well, he's still visiting my sister's family in the States so I don't know what he's been reading. He's coming home in a few days and I can hardly wait. The big question - Should I hug him at the airport? ☺

 

11-year-old son - Still going strong with the Roman Mysteries but he also read a book called Universe a Journey From Earth to the Edge of the Cosmos by Nicholas Cheetham.

 

 

9-year-old daughter - See 11-year-old son. Honestly, I took them to the library one night, and I think they borrowed about six Roman Mysteries. She did also read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

 

7-year-old daughter -  Dolly Madison: Quaker girl (Childhood of famous Americans). These are fantastic books. I wish we had a series like this for famous Canadians.

 

5-year-old son - Madeline Treasury by Ludwig Bemelmans - six books in one volume

 

2-year-old son - ABC Bunny by Wanda Ga'g. We actually sing this one since there is  tune written to it. It has a lot of repeating of "tra la la la la la la" which little ones love.

 

There you have it. I think my children are as addicted to reading as I am. We not only read books but we enjoy a rousing discussion about books we have all read.

 

Does your family have a book(s) that everyone has enjoyed and that you love talking about?

 

By the way, have you checked out our current giveaway to win a book?

Moving Furniture and Washing Dishes

 

 

This has been an bit of an up-and-down week. I've been more tired because of a baby who needs/wants to nurse all night, and when Mommy's tired everything just feels more difficult. At one point I felt like the house was closing in on me something that doesn't usually happen until the middle of winter when the children have been inside for way too many days in a row. Anyway, I decided to shift some furniture around in the living room. Who knew that exchanging a couple pieces of furniture between the dining room and living room and getting rid of a small table would make the living room feel so much more spacious?

 

My husband thinks you should have a picture of our baby for "Fruitful Friday" because at twenty-five pounds at nine months he's a good advertisement for how fruitful breastfeeding can be.

My Pinterest project this week was making dishwasher tabs. They are super easy to make. I haven't used them yet because I just made them yesterday afternoon and they need at least 24 hours to dry before you use them. I'll let you know next week how they work. I found the instructions here.

 

Today I bought enough fabric (on sale) to make two Sunday dresses each for my two youngest daughters. They're happy, and so am I to have an excuse to sew. I'll be sure to show you the dresses.

Have you seen our giveaway. Check out this post and then enter it for a chance to win a book.

What have you done this week that was new/exciting/fun/different/uplifting?

100 Posts = A Giveaway

We've made it - 100 posts. I've had fun and learned some new things and hope you have too.

As promised I'm going to have a giveaway to celebrate. I have selected several books that we have talked about in our Library Time series. You can pick the one you want. So, how to earn entries. Anyone, who leaves a comment on this post will get an entry. Also, I have recently made four style changes to the blog. You can have an extra entry for every change you correctly identify. One more entry can be earned by commenting on one more post between now and October 10th when the giveaway ends.

Teddy Bear's Fun to Learn

If you recall, this has been hands down the favourite book of all our toddlers. We are on our fourth copy and really need a new one.

 

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

The volume I picked for this is actually one that has four Virginia Lee Burton books in it including Mike Mulligan.

 

 

Grandfather's Wrinkles

The Lost Prince

 

 

The Lego Book

I had to have legos in here somewhere.

 

 

The Puritans

 

 

Which will you choose? Thanks to all of you who read my blog. I really appreciate it.

The Least of These

It is no secret to those who know me that my favourite kind of books to read are memoirs and biographies. I love to see how people rise to meet the challenges of life. I am challenged to stop complaining at my own seeming problems in the light of other people's difficulties.

 

Recently I read two books about the Sudan. One was called Passport Through Darkness about a Christian American woman, Kimberly Smith, and her family who started an orphanage for children in the Sudan. The other, Tears of the Desert, is about a woman whose family and village had been ripped apart by the war in the Sudan before she was able to escape to England. 

 

These two books left me humbled and shaken. I have absolutely nothing to complain about. My most difficult day in a rich, peaceful North American home is a luxury so many in the Sudan can only dream of. My children have such wonderful lives living in peace and security.

 

I told my husband about these books and he looked up the website in the Passport Through Darkness book. We were so pleased to discover that we could support one of the children in the orphanage on a monthly basis. God has been so good to us, and this is one way we can thank Him. Praying for Peter every day reminds me of all I have to be thankful for. It reminds my children that there are hurting people in this world that we can support with our prayers.

 

Please take some time to look at the Make Way Partners site and pray about supporting them. It takes so little effort to make a difference in the lives of precious children. Jesus says, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40 and "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Luke 18:16.

 

God is good to us - share the blessing.

Focusing and Visiting

Another great week. School - for some reason sadly unknown to me - is going so smoothly this year. I've thought about it a lot and have come up with two possible reasons for this.

 

First, my second son has always had a problem focusing. This slows him down in his schoolwork which frustrates him. It also makes me nag him a lot which irritates both of us. Apparently this is not an isolated problem among boys. This summer I was reading one mom's solution. She has her son wear an ipod which is playing classical music. So in desperation but not holding out much hope I asked my husband to load an ipod with classical music. The theory is that with the music playing directly into their ears through the earbuds it helps to drown out other distractions, and listening to classical music is good for brain development.

 

Well, let me tell you - it works. About a week into school the ipod battery ran out so we had a day without it. I could not believe the difference. I was back to nagging every five minutes, and it took my son so much longer to get through his work. I'm sold. I'll be interested to see if his overall average this year is higher than last year. I think it might be. Even though he's finishing faster, his marks are the same or better than last year so I know he's not finishing faster just because he's rushing through to be done.

 

Secondly, I've come up with some activities for my toddler that he can do on his own or with minimal input from me. This is important. My toddler is a high needs little guy. I'm going to do a post soon on all the activities we've come up with for him to do. He's so much happier this year - less tears = less stress. Now if someone could only tell me how I can cut his hair without him acting like he's enduring unspeakable torture.

 

My baby is working hard to grow up faster than I think he should. He pulls himself up now next to furniture and occasionally lets go to free stand. He's also climbing the stairs so we have to keep an ever watchful eye out for that. He's also in the middle of his first cold. True to his nature, he's the happiest sick baby I've ever seen.

 

I've lost 24 pounds now on my diet and I'm seeing numbers on the scale that I haven't seen in about eight years. It feels so good.

 

My oldest son is still visiting cousins, and I miss him a lot. It's so wonderful though that he can have this time to cement his friendship with his oldest cousin (on my side) especially. I know he'll come home with a lot of good memories, and I can hardly wait for that day.

 

Pretty soon I will hit the 100 posts mark. My husband and I have been talking about what we can do to make this special - since I never thought I would make it this far. So be on the lookout for that announcement.

 

That's about all for now. A great all-round week. How do you help your children focus? Does your toddler scream when he gets his haircut (at the same time he was assuring us that it didn't hurt. I ask you then - Why scream?)?

Recap from this week:
  Library Time Week 9
  Triple Twist Bun
  Tradition, Tradition

Tradition, Tradition

I love the opening scene from "Fiddler on the Roof". Tevye explains that life for the Jewish people is like a fiddler trying to play a fiddle while balanced on a roof. What keeps them up there? - tradition. If you haven't seen this song, you should watch it. Watch the whole movie. Our family loves it. I was watching "Tradition" just to get the feel again, and my children said we really need to watch the whole movie again soon.

 

Thanksgiving comes early for us as Canadians. Our is the second Monday of October. I usually try to have our decorations up by the beginning of September. It didn't happen that way this year, but then Thanksgiving happens to fall in almost the middle of October this year so that's okay.

 

Yesterday we put our decorations up, and when my husband came home from work he took over his part of our Thanksgiving traditions. Every year he draws a tree for us. Then we ad"trd leaves to it - one per day per person. The leaves tell something we are thankful for. The children look forward to Daddy drawing our tree. There's always giggles, laughter and more than one "Daaaaaddy". He has a funny sense of humour that comes out in his drawing. There are innumerable requests for how the tree should be embellished. It's a fun time and we enjoy seeing the tree fill in.











It take a lot of concentration to get it just right.



starting to detail

 

the finished product

 

I love traditions. We have several in our family. I think they are part of the glue for our family. They are part of what makes us unique. Another Thanksgiving tradition is a giant 3-D turkey that we make. Part of the tradition is that more than half the time it doesn't stand up. We have fun anyway. Maybe sometime we'll get the recipe down perfectly so that it stands up every time but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Some families have pizza night or movie night or they have a special thing for birthdays (the birthday boy or girl is excused from all chores in our house and gets to pick the supper menu). Some families have traditional vacation spots. Some families let their children stay up as late as they want on Christmas Eve (I think this is so they won't disturb their parents too early on Christmas morning.). Whatever the traditions your family has it's important to have them. Children love routine. They love to know what's coming next. Yes, the odd surprise is fun, but I have learned that things go more smoothly when we know what's coming.

 

Many cultures have a rich heritage of how they celebrate different holidays and life events. I love to read about these traditions. Our lives are so much better when we put time and effort into making these meaningful times for our children. It's something they'll look back on and say, "Remember how..." or "We always..."

 

We can have a daily tradition of praying before we eat or a bedtime story; a weekly pancake breakfast; or the same way of treating a change in seasons or preparing for a holiday. Whatever you do have some traditions. They can be as simple as holding hands when you pray for a meal or as elaborate as several traditions done at the same time of year to celebrate something like Thanksgiving.

 

adding the leaves

Since I'm always looking to add to our family's traditions, what is your favourite tradition in your family?

 













Triple Twist Bun

My girls love to have their hair up in a bun for church, but I get a little tired of that. I'm always looking for ways to switch it but keep it simple. This hairstyle is a variation of one I saw on the internet.

 

To start with separate the hair into three even sections.

I start with the middle section and start twisting it. Keep twisting until it starts to twist up on itself and you can pin it in place.

Do the side pieces in the same manner.

It usually takes a couple of minutes longer to do these three small buns as opposed to one, but the result is much more dramatic and elegant. This would look pretty with a couple of small flowers or a row of baby breaths along the top edge. Or just leave it "undressed". It's still pretty.

Do you have a favourite quick but elegant hairstyle?

Library Time Week 9

Fall is here. The weather is cooling off and school is in full swing. It's a little harder to fit reading in now with school taking up several hours of our day, but since we are all bookaholics we manage.

 

I read an incredibly sad memoir of a female doctor from Darfur who was tortured and managed to escape to England where her husband already was. Let me tell you - it really puts my "problems" in perspective. How incredibly blessed we are in North America with the freedoms we have.

 

My children's reading...

 

15-year-old daughter - The Secret Keeper by Beverly Lewis and Robin Hood by Paul Creswick. She's on a Robin Hood kick right now.

 

13-year-old son - He's in the States right now visiting one of my sisters and her family. Before he left he was anxious to go so to pass the time he was devouring some books by Jake Thoene - Shaitan's Fire, Firefly Blue, Fuel the Fire.

 


11-year-old son - King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and Combat, a book of soldier stories

9-year-old daughter - still going with the Roman Mysteries

7-year-old daughter - What Do You Say, Dear by Sesyle Joslin and  Grandfather's Wrinkles by Kathryn England. This is one of my favourites. It was a library prize and the story is beautiful. Every wrinkle on Grandfather's face is attributed to a special day in the life of the family.

5-year-old son - Millions of Cats by Wanda Ga'g. He is in love with this book. I think he likes the big numbers.

 

 

2-year-old son - Life in the Great Ice Age by Mike Oard. The text for this is way over our toddler's head, but he and his dad have made up their own story for the pictures. He has literally worn this book out.

Do your children have any books that they read over and over again endlessly?

Flying Teenagers and Buttoning Toddlers

 

 

This has been a wonderful week. Three weeks in and school is still going smoothly. I've finally found a way of arranging our school week that makes things less stressful. My two year old has also started to learn how to occupy himself a little better although we still do use Baby Einstein on Youtube when I really need him to leave me alone so I can teach something - usually phonics to my five-year-old son.

 

So far this fall we've dehydrated, canned and frozen two bushels of peaches, frozen ten heads of cauliflower (chopped up) and tomorrow I'll be doing about six squash. I think I'm going to bake them, puree them and freeze it for adding to muffins, soups, etc. I'd like to get a pressure canner so I can can vegies and meat. I wasn't going to can peaches but my middle daughter really wanted to. We ended up with only four jars since we dehydrated and froze so many. We're saving them for something special - maybe have them with homemade vanilla ice cream.

 

This week was a major step forward for me as a mom. We sent our thirteen year old son off on the plane to visit my sister and her family. Let me tell you, for this terrified-of-flying mom it was a huge step forward. Everything went well and my son enjoyed his first time flying. Now he's enjoying time with his cousins.

I was happy to see him happy and safe.

For my Pinterest project this week, I made felt strips that button so you can put them together like a paper chain. These are for my toddler to play with during school. He can learn his colours, counting and how to button. I saw several variations of this. Most used Velcro. One used buttons which is what I decided to go with. They don't really need instructions. You can see from the pictures how easy these are to make. I hope to add more toddler activities this year as his attention span lengthens.

 

 

 

 

So do you have any suggestions for activities for my toddler who does not particularly like toys?