The Battle of the Patio Door

Not the real one of course... but notice the proximity to the potentially stifling hot kitchen?

Oh my little blog....how I have missed you so.  I attempted to write up blog posts on the road on my laptop, but got as far as four sentences and then Microsoft Office crashed.  Damn.  So, I've done a lot of stuffing.  And not the turkey kind.

We've spent the past week at my inlaws.  It is an 80's era house.  The kitchen is centrally located, and is roughly a 12 x 16 rectangle.  There are two breezeway doorways on adjacent walls.  There is a window on an opposite wall, and one of the doorway walls also has a patio door that goes out onto a small deck.  The house is kept pretty warm - uncomfortably so for us CO folk, so cooking in a hot kitchen in preparation for Thanksgiving is, well, not fun. 

I spent the better part of Wednesday and Thursday in the kitchen.  I am not complaining - it was pleasant, the kids helped from time to time, and we worked at a leisurely pace.  My MIL made cornbread stuffing and prepped all of the cookware she would need for the turkey and the ham, and I made my artichoke heart/spinach dip (to be baked the following day), 6 dozen rolls and a large crockpot meal for that night.  It got hot and uncomfortable in the kitchen.  So I cracked open the patio door about 4 inches to get a nice breeze flowing through.   Aaaaaaahhhh.

Pretty soon, FIL arrived home, took a panicked cursory look around the kitchen, noticed the source of irritation (an opened, unlocked door),and strode across the kitchen, shut the door and locked it.

He left.  I opened it.

We repeat the scenario at least three times during the next hour.

Next day... Thanksgiving.  Now we have 5 - 6 people in the kitchen.  Cooking, helping, or just getting in the way.  Let's repeat the door scenario a few more times, just for kicks.

Holiday Road

 

It's a day early, and ready or not (which we are not) we are leaving this morning.  I still have a couple of suitcases to pack, some dishes to wash, and four children to get up.  Other than that, we are ready.  Oh... and a million little details that will fritter away at least a couple of hours.  Sigh.  I'm sure lots of different post ideas will be generated through out the day. 

If you are a regular blogger, do you find yourself always writing out a blog post in your head???

I do.  All.  the.  time.

Update....

Nope - that was the way it was supposed to go down at 6am this morning.  It didn't.  We hit the road at 4 am tomorrow morning.  And this time we truly are ready.  Funny thing is..  we are right on schedule!!

Keepin' it real...

Sigh.  One of my biggest complaints about my college education is that the pedagogy was weak on the how aspects of teaching.  HOW do you teach a child to read?  I got all sorts of ideas on how to support literacy, but not the nuts and bolts of the HOW.  Same with math.  I had one - O*N*E math class.  We mostly played games and had an incredibly boring textbook to read.  Ninety-nine percent of it was about aligning your lessons to the NCTM standards.  Super-helpful.

Most of the ideas I use (to compliment Rylan's MEP curriculum) with Rylan are either something I came up with on the fly or something I saw on some one's blog.  For me, the best blogs for ideas are Magic and Mayhem, No Time for Flashcards, and Homeschool Creations.  There are sooo many good ideas from these terrific moms!

Yesterday's math lesson was all about 0's, 1's and 2's -adding and subtracting, inequalities and writing practice.  We've been doing the same thing for the past two weeks, and each day it's just a little more involved.  I've noticed that Rylan does great when she is working with something tangible and not-so-great when she is working in the abstract.  Well, duh... kids aren't wired for the abstract quite yet.  I wonder why the curriculum developers, the so-called education experts that advise the curriculum developers, and some of the teachers that use the curriculum, keep pushing the issue that kids need to be reading, writing and completing abstract calculations at increasingly younger ages.  I think it is an issue of politicians needing quantifiable results to push their agendas - and true education just gets swept out the window.  I wish they (the out-of-touch politicians) could sit in the front lines and see what their unreasonable expectations are doing to kids.  I really, really do.  Once again, I am so thankful that I got out of public education.  But, still, even as a homeschooler, I feel compelled to get the reading/writing ball rolling - it is so hard to resist the pressure not to do so.

Rylan is five years and six months.  She can count to about seventy.  She can't skip count - and oh, how I have tried.  She can recognize odd and even, and knows about inequalities.  The 'Alligator Mouth' did the trick - except now she wants to draw the teeth in every time.  She can count objects, play along with a number story (I'll detail that in a moment), she can divide things out equally and group according to attribute.  She recognizes patterns and loves to play with unifix cubes and Cuisenaire rods.

But.

When I ask, pointing to the printed problem on the lesson's worksheet for the day, "What is one plus one?", I get a blank stare.  I pull out two counters and try again.  Then I get results.  I know this all takes time - but some days I just feel like abandoning the worksheets altogether because I feel like they are getting in the way.  I don't ever want math to become a negative thing between us.  She loves to do all of the activity stuff - and I want to keep it that way.

Yesterday we did the little flashcards for the first time (pictured at the top).  She happened to have her Lego Jessie with her, so Jessie 'helped' her count.  This is probably about the third time we have counted using a number line.  I've had this mat for a long time, I just never remember to pull it out.  We are working on jumping up the number line to add, and jumping down to subtract.  It just so happens that Jordan is also doing a lot of number line work lately- he is working with positive and negative numbers right now.  So he pipes up and starts telling her about negative numbers.  Then I have to send him to the kitchen table to finish his work before he completely confuses her.



In a part of her lesson we needed to demonstrate the concept of 'equal' with a balance.  That is a tool I wish we had... we had to settle for a good-old-fashioned wire hanger and plastic bags.  It worked for the most part.  I had to pull out the marble-jar, which has been in hiding for the greater part of a year.  Owen and Colin were delighted and of course begged and begged and begged for marbles.  I now have about 15 marbles to fish out from underneath the stove alone.  Doing 'real' activities like this works really well for Rylan, so I try and make the bulk of the lesson doing stuff like this.  I know that kids do this sort of thing in public school too, but with us, it's individualized.  Owen doesn't like using counters as much as Rylan does, give Jordan too much 'stuff' to work with and he gets completely distracted - keep it simple.  You can't quite expect that to happen in the regular classroom.

The dryer completed its cycle right in the middle of our math lesson.  (I have a hard and fast rule that you drop everything and tend to the clothes, immediately.)  So as Rylan and I stood in the closet and sorted and folded and hung up stuff, we counted.  "Rylan has three pants.  She puts one away (puts in on the shelf), now how many does she have?  Daddy has two pairs of socks.  If we put both pairs on the shelf, how many do we have left?  Two minus two equals zero."  And so on.  This works pretty well and we use this number story activity in sorts of different scenarios.

As long as we keep it real, a connection can be made.  I think that might be good advice for all facets of life.

Bread Machine Recipe 1 of 4: Butter Crescent Rolls

You will not believe how e*a*s*y this recipe is.  My five year old almost has it down pat.  It takes about SEVEN minutes of minimal labor on your part.  If you love soft, dense rolls, this is the recipe for you!

As long as I can remember, my mom has made these rolls.  She got the recipe from her sister, who got it from a fellow USAF wife in the 70's.  Then, several years ago my aunt came up with a way to make it in the bread machine - thus removing any of the labor that goes along with it. 

Ingredient List:

• 1/2 Cup of water
• 1/2 Cup of milk (use whatever % you have on hand - I've even used skim)
• 1 stick butter, cut into eight equal pieces
• 1 egg
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 C sugar
• 4 C flour (you can use regular flour - I use High Altitude unbleached flour)
• 2 1/4 tsp yeast (I use Fleischmann's BreadMachine yeast, in a jar)/or 1 packet of RapidRise yeast

About 1 hour 45 minutes before you need the rolls (because they are out-of-this-world-good fresh out of the oven), you can start the dough in the bread machine.

First, get a 2-Cup size glass measuring cup - or use a large glass bowl if you don't have one.  Just don't use a single cup glass measuring cup because it will overflow.  Measure the water in your measuring cup, then add the milk.  Take the eight tablespoons of butter and place them in the cup as well.  Microwave the water/milk/butter mixture for 1 min 20 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds and then pour into the bread machine pan.

Don't ditch the measuring cup yet!  Crack the egg into the buttery cup and mix with a fork for a few seconds and then pour into the pan.

Then pour in the salt, sugar, and flour.

Then add in the yeast.  I buy it by the jar because I make rolls about 3 - 4 times a month.  I should cut back.  But then life would lose all meaning.

Select the dough cycle (the timer should read 1 hour 20 minutes) and start 'er up!  Check the dough about two minutes after you start the machine, because it is notorious for mixing everything underneath, and leaving this heavy flour layer on top.  Scrape the sides and make sure everything is mixing evenly.  The dough should look like this when the machine gets rolling...

When the machine reaches the end of the dough cycle, go ahead and unplug it. Here comes the hard part.
Dust your counter top with flour, lift out the pan and dump.  (now wipe your brow...)

I use a small shaker, filled with flour, to dust the counter and the dough.

Take the dough and divide it in half.  Roll the dough out into a large circle.  It can be just a tad sticky, so keep the flour handy.  Cut the circle in half, and then half again.  Then cut three wedges in each quarter.  I've found that using a pizza wheel makes this job super-fast and easy - the dough won't stick to the wheel either.  I also use it directly on the counter top (which my mother does not approve of), and it has never left a mark.  I also have nineties-era crap Formica counter tops, so I don't really care...
 

Roll the dough from the wide edge towards the center and place on a ungreased baking sheet.  I do a dozen at a time.  There is no second rising time, so the rolls are ready to pop in the oven as soon as you are done rolling (told you this was easy!).

Bake at 400 F for 8 - 10 minutes.  I prefer my rolls soft and underdone, so I bake mine at 390 F for 9 minutes.  Every oven is different, so experiment and find out what works for you.  I immediately place them on a cooling rack, and place the next twelve rolls (which were already rolled and left waiting in the counter) on the same warm baking sheet and put the next batch in the oven.  I don't try to bake both dozen at once - they never turn out as well for me, even if I switch the pans around halfway... 

And there you have it!  They keep well in the fridge, and you can also make ahead and freeze.  My mom makes a batch, freezes them, and then pulls a roll out here and there and microwaves it to heat it up.

Variations:

You can add herbs to the dough mixture when you add the flour.  I often add a little dried dill, oregano, basil or a dash of sage - just use what you like!

A breakfast variation might be to mix a mash of butter, brown or white sugar and cinnamon.  Spread it into a thin layer on a peice of waxed paper and freeze it for a half hour.  When you roll out the dough, cut the frozen butter mixture into little peices and sprinkle onto the dough and then roll up the cresent rolls.  I just thought of this, so I haven't tried it yet, but gosh that sounds good.  Hmmmm....

Happy baking!!!

Weekend Project: building a wall

We're not hoarders...just never-put-awayers

We don't let small children wander downstairs into the basement.  For no other reason than that they might end up trapped under a pile of schtuff.  We have lots of schtuff.  Boxes of old school paperwork.  Teaching schtuff.  Baby schtuff.   The kind of schtuff that happens when you combine two households and half of it gets relegated to some other space.  It was semi-organized at one point.  Then, around this time last year, we had the bright idea that it was time to prep the basement for finishing.  Our mission was to clear out about two-thirds of the schtuff.  We began by pulling the eight bookcases that lined the longest wall, and moved them all to our master bedroom.  Then I could - at a leisurely pace - begin to toss/donate all of the books, CDs, cassette tapes (what are those again?), and VCR tapes that we didn't want.  For the past eleven months I've tossed like five books.  I've picked up the pace in the past month and have now donated A CAR LOAD.  I still look at the books that are left and wonder why do I still have my Plant Biology 101 textbook?  Why do I have six different First-Year Teacher prep books?  WHY?

So when we moved the bookcases, everything that was either on them or in the way had to be shoved in a big pile into the middle of the room so that we could get them out.  The big pile is still there, only it's even bigger now.  We were stopped in our clearing-the-clutter tracks by evidence of mice.  Lots of evidence.  Then we discovered a nice little hole that they were using to get in.  Right near the sweet spot of a heating duct, where the foundation and wall meets.  And then another hole.  And then a third one.  And then a hole that was chewed away near the dishwasher grey water pipe, that allowed the mice access to the kitchen sink cabinet... and of course,  the kitchen itself.  AAAAGGGGHHHH!!  Yuck!  So the clearing-out project was temporary scraped and we took on a new project:  Kill the mice and plug the holes.

We attacked on both fronts.  Armed with spray-on expanding foam, screws, boards and insulation, Dean patched and plugged the holes, and also discovered another problem.  Right above the main hole the mice were using to get in is the bay window in our kitchen.  The subfloor had separated from the sole plate just enough that there was a good 1- inch gap that was hanging down - a nice entry point for vermin.  While drilling a peep hole from the basement side (at the top of the foundation wall) to see into that bay window area, Dean also saw that the builders 'forgot' to put any insulation under that section of floor.  In the winter time, if you stood barefoot on the kitchen floor, with one foot in the bay window area, and one foot on the regular kitchen floor, it would feel like you had just stepped onto ice.  No wonder!!  So Dean drilled several peep holes into that section, and then stuffed the whole cavity with cellulose insulation.  What a mess...  All of the peep holes are filled up with the expanding foam now, and you can't feel that cold draft anymore.  It just makes me mad about all of the heat energy that has been wasted all these years. 



The peep holes that were drilled to look into the cavity under the bay window.

 

The mice were getting in via a small hole right next to the vent (which comes up in the bay window area).  We knew to look there because the cat would routinely sit right beside the vent, listening to the mice scratching away underneath the floor.

With the multiple holes discovered and then plugged, we could now go after the mice.  Eight of them in all, as it turned out.  Snap traps proved to be the quickest and most effective, and we found peppermint patties to be the most desirable bait.  Since there were mice running amok in the basement, there was mice poop in just about everything.  They had chewed holes in a couple of things, so I wasn't taking any more chances.  I snatched up the most important things and found new homes - upstairs and out of the basement.  I made the decision to move all of our Christmas stuff upstairs to a closet in one of the kids' bedrooms.  Since we don't keep clothing in there, I could fill it completely with Christmas stuff.  It is packed to the gills, but amazingly enough it all fit - including the Christmas tree.  The nice thing is that I can't/don't need to purchase any more Christmas decorations... there is no room to store it!!  If I do get something, then something else has to go.  I think the 'Christmas Closet' deserves it's own post...

Then all work stopped.  Spring was here, and we wanted to be outside.  We dragged up all of the camping gear and put it in the garage, so that we could have easier access to it over the summer months.  I was ditching baby gear left and right as Colin no longer needed things, and the basement pile was growing.  Nothing was getting put away.  Then, late one night, Dean and I decided that we had had enough of the kids not putting their toys away, so we cleared out a semi-filled shelving unit and stuffed it full of toys we confiscated from the upstairs playroom.  Over the past few months, the kids have been swapping out toys - and yet nothing gets put back. 

So now our basement looks like this...



The first sign of laziness - open the basement door and chuck it down the stairs...



View from the bottom of the stairs.  Remnants of camping, Halloween and toy raids remain...



View from the bottom of the stairs looking into the larger area.  I feel..... faint...



View from far corner of the basement.  A pile of "What the hell do we do with this crap??....along with another pile.  And another... and another.  If you look closely, you can see Jordan's head peeking up over the pile. 

 

School files.  None of these files have been opened in the seven years we have been together.   Seriously... WHY do we need to keep this stuff??  Don't get me started on the china... 

 

View from the opposite end of the room.

 

Jordan standing with his foot on a pile of 2x4s that are about to become a wall...



Shop area that is about to be walled-off.  Dean is hanging a plumb bob (behind the circular table saw).  This is the first step to finishing the basement - wall off the 'room of serious injury and possible death'.  We need this place to be kid-safe.



Done!

This latest stage of the project took the better part of this past Saturday afternoon and evening, but it went very smoothly.  Dean used a ram set to nail the sole plate (the board that goes across the bottom) into place.  It is built to code - so the wall must be a floating wall, attached to the top plate.  The ram set was quite impressive - you load it with the equivalent of a .22 caliber shot in order to drive the nail into concrete.  It was very loud.  Even more so since it was bedtime for kids at that point.  :)   You will notice that a section of the wall does not have braces (I think that is the right terminology...)  This is a future doorway.

I am so glad that the work is finally starting.  Due to our very tight budget constraints, the work will be at a snail's pace, but that is fine with me.  This was a nice, weekend-length sized chunk, and about a month from now, on another weekend, we can set another $50 aside and put up drywall.  In the meantime, we can continue on clearing the clutter, 15 minutes at a time.  I would think that in a month from now, most of the floorspace (in the larger room) will finally be cleared.  Oh, how I hope so...

It's lonely at the top...

Green belt, 11/12/11

Another nine week cycle has ended, and today was the day for belt promotions.  Rylan has moved up from a blue belt to a green belt.  During the blue to green cycle, the student learns a form called Tiger Set #3.  Rylan is/was the only blue belt, so she has practiced on her own, with her instructor, Mr. Baptista.  As the students lined up for promotions today, Rylan was at the end of the line, which made her lead student in her class (I wasn't aware that an older, more experienced student had moved up to the next age group, the Eagles).  This meant she would be doing the form all by herself today (with her instructor by her side).  I was a little nervous for her, but Rylan took it all in stride.  Here she is performing her form... (and I love, love, love, her confident voice - loud and clear!)

(I am having issues with loading this video...grrrrrr)

Jordan and Rylan have been taking karate lessons for one year now.  They have learned so much!  I am constantly amazed at the skills they already know and how much their technique is improving.  I love to watch them individually and when the school performs as a whole.  The instructors are so dedicated and invested in helping the kids succeed (many of them have children in the school as well) and the whole atmosphere is positive, yet you can readily sense the high level of expectations placed upon each and every student.



Advanced orange belt, 11/12/11

 When this upcoming cycle ends in January, Jordan will be promoting to purple belt.  Which means he will also be eligible to join the black belt club, which he wants to do.  So next promotion Jordan will also receive a red gi.  It's a big step up, and Jordan is pretty excited about it.  A junior black belt is still around three years away, but Jordan wants to go for it.  It is awesome that he has a goal like that.   We will be watching and waiting...

Sacrifices...

Thank you, papa...

Pictured second from right
US Army Tank Battalion, fought in France, Belgium & Germany during WWII, took part in second wave on D-day, awarded Silver Star

Thank you, grandpa Lee...



US Army, stationed at Fort Laramie



Thank you, FIL Ron...



Dean's late father.  US Navy 1955-1959, USS Keppler DDE-765 & USS Yosemite AD-19



Thank you, cousin Kenny (USMC)...

Whose name is etched here...

Thank you, FIL Van (US Army)

Thank you, uncle Dale (USAF)

Thank you, cousin Brad (USAF)

Thank you, cousin-in-law Robert (USAF)

Thank you, SIL Carrie (US Army)

I will never forget the sacrifices you made to ensure the freedom and safety of all Americans and for helping other nations in peril.

Singing the praises of Kahn Academy



School is as intermittent as ever in our house... I am still searching for that elusive balance of schoolwork/cleaning/activities/fun.  It seems that activities (actually the driving to and from) always wins.

The bulk of our school time has been relegated to the middle of the afternoon, while the little boys are napping.  This is not our best time of day.  It's actually the worst.  We try for mornings, but schtuff always seems to foul up any momentum we get going.  Jordan has taken to doing a lot of his workbook-type stuff in our bedroom, spreading out on our bed.  I don't blame him.  It's quiet and the little kids don't bother him nearly as much.  I will pass through as I am shuffling laundry around, and he will read off Q&A's to me, we discuss and move on to next thing.  It's hardly optimal, but we're getting the job done.

Math, however is an entirely different matter.  I am locked in with MEP math.  I have a love/hate relationship with it, but I think it is the best out there.  No other curriculum spurs as much discussion (and at times frustration) as MEP.  The lengths that we go to work through the theory and logic of the problems presented is quite extreme at times, but Jordan will not quit until he solves whatever it is he is working on.  We have stretched a single lesson over 2-3 days at times, but we get there.  Jordan is eleven and technically in the 6th grade.  He is currently on Year 5, Lesson 56.  There are 175 lessons per 'Year'.  The program goes through Year 6.  Rylan is working through Year 1 and is on Lesson 28.  I started her in the Reception Year in June, and quickly dropped it and just moved on to Year 1.  I should have started her much earlier.  I am thinking that the 'Year' is advanced by one, when you line it up (skills wise) to the US grade level system.  So, with Jordan doing Year 5 work, I think it lines up pretty well with what a 6th grader would be doing.

Jordan is currently working with negative numbers, absolute value and adding/subtracting positive and negative numbers.  The previous topic was surface area and volume.  By the final 2-3 lessons on that topic things were starting to click, but prior to that, those were the days we were at it for 2 hours or more (with lots of breaks) to get it done.  Sigh.  The current topic?  Done in 20 min.  I am so glad he is having success with this - I hope it boosts his confidence - he is going to need it in the coming years.  He struggles when things move beyond two-dimensional.  So do I, for that matter.  When he is learning advanced Algebra, I will be there right along with him, learning as well.

Back to math... So, even though I was introduced Kahn Academy a long, long time ago (don't remember how or when, but I imagine is was a link that someone in our homeschool group posted at some point), I never really explored it beyond a 5 minute cursory overview, saved the link, and then promptly forgot about it.  It took the urging of my husband to get me to go back and really look.  Wow!  What a great tool - and it takes some of the pressure off of me.  I don't want 'my way' to be the only way that Jordan learns how to solve a problem.  MEP does an excellent job of presenting multiple ways to solve a problem, but that is only if I can correctly disseminate to Jordan what they are trying to do.  Quite frankly, because the program was originally Hungarian, translated into English and the piloted in English grammar schools, some of the methods are absolutely foreign (no pun intended) to me.  That is actually what I LIKE about this program!  Americans are stuck in a rut about there is only ONE way to solve a problem, and that solving multiplication problems the way our grandparents did should be good enough.  It's not.  Anyway, I digress.   Again.

Kahn academy saved the day last week when it came to explaining the proper way to do a permutation - I couldn't even find the proper video at first because I was looking under the wrong heading- it is listed under the Algebra 1 heading - which just about gave me a heart attack.  I'm not ready for this!!!  That question didn't even come from a MEP lesson - it came from a Problem Solving review question on his weekly Math's Mate review sheet.  He is currently working in the second book, the 'Red' book.  This is an Australian program that is an absolute bitch to get a hold of, if you are a homeschooler.  My nephews use it in their public middle school down in Broomfield, CO., and when I flipped through it, I knew I had to have it for Jordan.  I contacted the one and only US distributor, who happens to live just outside of Denver, and he is an old curmudgeon who doesn't want to sell single copies to homeschoolers.  There are 8 levels of workbooks or so, and he will only sell me one or two at a time, so I have to beg and borrow and lie about twice a year in order to get the next book we need. I told him that if he would just sell me the entire set, he could be done with me, but he won't budge.  So I call him every few months, and we get along fabulously.  not.  My SIL (a teacher) has access to the workbooks the district purchases, so she may be my resource for the remaining 5 books I need.  They are thought-provoking and TOUGH for some of the problems, and an overall good review to keep a variety of math concepts fresh.  Jeez.. look at me.  I digressed again!

So we watched a video about how to correctly go about doing a permutation.  I love, love, love the simple, straightforward approach that Salman Kahn takes as he presents the topic.  It isn't rushed, but it is short and sweet and to the point.  Dean and I are set up as 'coaches' and Jordan has a log-in so that he can go on there and work through all sorts of different review problems and earn points for doing so.  The site has now become the carrot at the end of the math lesson.  Jordan watches a video or two about the topic we covered in the lesson, and then works on earning points by doing review problems.  He loves it - which I am totally in awe over.  I hope that with all of this review, Jordan will finally master his times tables.  The kid can work a number line forwards and backwards, but ask him what 3 times 4 is and all you get is 'huh?'.

Implausible Endings



Thanks to Jennifer McMahon and her novel Promise Not to Tell, I now have even less desire to ever venture out into the woods at night.  Or follow child-sized footprints in the snow.  Or eat a potato.

This was our book club's read for the month of November.  I actually finished one, on time!  This is our second book pick from author Jennifer McMahon.  We typically go with something suspenseful this time of year.  The favorite still seems to be The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. 

 Back to the book...  I am, once again, disappointed in how the author ties up the suspenseful ending.  I was really put out by the first book we read, Don't Breathe a Word.  I loved it until the ending began to pan out.  What a disappointment.  The plot just sort of fell apart, too many questions were left unanswered and principal characters were just sort of flung to the wayside - when there really should have been some better resolution - especially when it came to the Faerie King.  The last few lines of the book, though, were awesome.  This current book was a better read, overall.  The plot line was more realistic and followed the classic formula for whodunit.  But the ending... seriously?  I liked every aspect but the channeling-the-spirit-of-the-Potato-Girl part.  That just ruined it for me.  I'm not sure I will continue on with the other titles.. maybe.  It is good suspense, and a nice break from chick-lit.

I also promised, long ago, that I would say a word about Kathleen Grissom's The Kitchen House.  This was a difficult book to read because I don't really care for the subject matter - it is painful and depressing to read about slavery and how difficult daily life must have been.  But.  One should also never forget the past, and we need to constantly remind ourselves that we need to act like decent human beings and treat everyone with respect and dignity.  Now this book certainly had that satisfying, plausible ending.  It always feels good when the underdog comes out winning.

I also finished.... drum roll please?!...... Watermelon!  Yeah for me!  I started it in June.  Life just sort of grabbed away any down time, and squeezing in reading time has been a challenge.  This was my first book of the Walsh Family series, and I really enjoyed it.  I love Marian Keyes' thinking-out-loud writing style - so witty and off-the-cuff.  And brash.  LOVE that.  I also love that Claire got her man.  I think that I had a hard time getting through it because it brought up some painful memories for me (about a cheating husband who leaves...) and I appreciated how Claire worked through that - even after all these years it helped me put some of my own experiences into perspective.

Good reads, overall. 

I currently have The Brightest Star in the Sky, by Marian Keyes, and One Hundred Names for Love, by Diane Ackerman on my bedside table.  Nothing is currently in the Kindle.  I have been meaning to check out a way to get stuff from the library onto the Kindle, but I haven't looked into it yet.  I love it, I just need to use it more.

One of the best reading tools I've found of late is the app called ReadMore by Navel Labs.  I've been using it for about a year now.  It tracks your reading time, number of pages you have read, your progress through the book, and projects how long it will take you to finish.  I like that it records when I read a book - because I can't seem to remember otherwise.  Great app - check it out!

I want a Barbie, and a Princess House, and another American Girl Doll, and...



It's time.

The toy catalogues have arrived in the mail (our poor postal carrier...)

In large enough quantities that the kids can pass them around.  Again and again.

They pull out the scissors and glue, and begin cutting and pasting the pictures haphazardly all over their 'wish list' paper.

  They, of course, conveniently forget to include the price, or the actual name of the product.

Last year we managed to squeak by and get the bulk of our Christmas shopping done several weeks before Christmas and had it shipped to the in-laws, where we would be staying.  It felt so good having a lot of the stress out of the way last year, that I intend to get it done early again this year.

The in-laws like to have the wish lists about now, so that they can start shopping.  I've been bugging the kids for a couple of weeks to give me some ideas to pass on.  The catalogues help, but the requests are still very vague.  Jordan wants a new DS, which is expensive.  Rylan wants a plastic Disney princess make-up table, which is expensive (and a huge waste of money, IMHO).  Owen could care less, as long as it is a train, car or a 'pee-u-mer' (anything that resembles a gun).  Colin has no idea there is even a holiday coming up.

I am on the cusp of big change in our family life.  I am tired of chaos.  I am tired of clutter.  I want to have more time and fun with my kids.  I've discovered Fly Lady and all of her wonderful ideas about clearing our homes of clutter and inviting peace into our homes.  In regards to shopping, her ideas and those of parents and grandparents who 'fly' with her  are really beginning to change my outlook on how to purchase gifts for kids (and adults!)

Here are some ideas that truly resonated with me:

• Stay clutter and stress free - purchase 'experiences' not 'things'
• For example: purchase family memberships to the zoo, museum, science center, city pool, play gym
• Classes: art, dance, cooking, pottery, music
• Art supplies: paper, feathers, beads, paints, pompoms, foam, sequins
• Shop the thrift store for fun and fancy things and create a dress-up trunk
• take the grand kids on a special one-on-one outing: a play, musical, game, camping, overnight, movie, dinner, museum, zoo, sledding, skiing, swimming.  Kids want 'time'!
• Purchase gear that pertains to the child's interest: skis, skates, tights & leotards, pads, helmets, sleds, hiking boots, snow boots, ski boots, snow pants, tap shoes
• Annual passes to National or State Parks or ski passes
• Make something that can be used again and again by a child: sew a chef's hat and apron, knit a doll blanket, make a book with pictures, record yourself reading a story to the child, make a photo album of different family members for the child that lives out-of-state.
• Money gift: can be used in a large variety of ways - a way to save up for that 'big' gift: bike, computer, skis, backpack, handheld device, cell phone
• Subscriptions to magazines like Ranger Rick, Highlights, Ladybug, Cricket, Nat. Geo for kids...

By gifting those you love with some of the ideas above, you can accomplish a sense of peace:

• You don't have to fight the shopping frenzy going on at the local mall
• Minimal wrapping!
• The gifts will keep giving all year - and not eventually settle to the bottom of the toy bin
• The gifts will keep minds busy and bodies physically active
• You can take part in the gift - and spend some time with your child/grandchild
• You won't be adding to a landfill, or inducing guilt when the toy is passed along to the thrift store a few months later

Now don't think that I am some meanie that won't ever buy another toy for the kids.  We have so much right now, that 2/3 of them are in the basement, waiting to be rotated back into play.  One or two new items this holiday won't really bother me, but 8-10 PER CHILD is a whole other story...

Happy Gifting!