Happy Fifth Birthday #2!

Today was #2's Birthday!


He was thrilled with his breakfast of eggs and a chocolate-glazed Krispy Kreme donut that Daddy went out to procure last last night. That stack of packages? Those are his birthday books that I've been collecting for several months. I didn't take a picture of them after the paper was removed, but he was excited to have about 30 new books to read and have read to him. He got five toys from Mimi, who loves to shop, and Popsy. Gramma and Grampa treated him to a new family aquarium pass and a bucket of rubber sea creatures that are really cool. So, we decided to buy him books and only books. That way our family library got what it needed, and Drew now has a bunch of books to progress through as his reading skills grow over the next year.

Other pictures from today:

Our Mini Vacation

We spent the weekend at Mimi and Popsy's Lakehouse. And I forgot to take very many pictures. We had a lot of fun! I bet you all were wondering how on earth I got two books read and reviewed. We spent the weekend with no cable and no internet connection. I discovered that I can read a book and feed #4 at the same time. And there were three other adults around to manage #2 and #3. Plus, the boat is in for repair and it kept raining here and there and all of that was limiting activities, which was fine with me, because "air conditioning and a book" is much more my style.

So, it rained a lot. The lake is almost to the build line (as of Thursday), and it was high when we left on Tuesday. Thunderstorms were popping up three or four times a day and lasting about 20 minutes or so. So, it started sprinkling when we were heading up to the pool, and #4 and I returned to the house. A few minutes later, I snapped these shots:





And the the Bookworm King and #2 and #3 were back in the garage (can't swim if there's lightning).

Then after about 15 more minutes, the sun peaked out:



And the King and boys headed back to the pool while #4 and I hung out at the house.



That is our trip in a nutshell. We had a wonderful time, and we are hoping that Mimi and Popsy will invite us back soon.

Curious George Unit Study - complete!

We finished our Curious George Unit Study. #2 enjoyed it very much. We ate bananas and doughnuts and banana popsicles (not all at once). We watched the movie Curious George, and we learned about monkeys, ostriches, and bicycles. (Did you know that the bicycle was invented 200 years ago? Or that ostriches can run 30 miles an hours for hours?)

Here is the list of books that we actually used:

About Monkeys
--A Monkey Baby Grows Up by Joan Hewett
--I didn't know that Chimps Use Tools and other amazing facts about apes and monkeys by Claire Llewellyn
--Apes and Monkeys by Donald R. Shire

About Ostriches
--Ostriches by Thane Maynard
--Big Egg by Molly Coxe

About H.A. and Margret Rey
--The Journey that Saved Curious George
That one was a bit over #2's head, but it was quite interesting to me.

About Bicycles
-- Bikes for rent! by Isaac Olaleye
--Amazing bikes by Trevor Lord
--The magic bicycle by Berlie Doherty
--My rows and piles of coins by Tololwa M. Mollel

George Books to Read:
Curious George Rides a Bike
Cecily G and the Nine Monkeys
The Original Curious George
and every other George book we own - #2 has quite a collection

Other books by H.A. Ray
Pretzel
Spotty
Whiteblack the Penguin Sees the World
Elizabite: Adventures of a Carnivorous Plant

#2 also enjoyed the construction of the Curious George Rides a Bike lapbook from In the Hands of a Child. I did most of the cutting, and he did most of the gluing. He did some writing on his own, and he colored the cover. He was in charge of placing things in the book, to which we added some Curious George scrapbooking paper and stickers that I got on sale (yahooo!) The project pack included activities about the book itself, the plot, monkeys, ostriches, and wheels. All of the answers were available in the project pack itself, though we found them in the books we used, also. The banana bread recipe can be found here.

Here are the pictures of his HOAC lapbook!










And here is #2 showing the lapbook off to Gramma!

Thankful Thursday: My Father

See the guy on the left? That's my dad. We've had a lot of arguments and heated discussions, but he's still a great dad. The things he'll do for us (that's my hairy brother, by the way) are amazing.

In the past month, he's fixed the drainage problem in our yard (that was two day's worth of shoveling clay). He helped me with the tire escapade so that I wouldn't get ripped off and to help entertain the boys. He helped on the day the wash washer was delivered - he came and fixed a leak on a moment's notice. And he loves to play with his grandsons.

I'm very thankful for my father.

Thoughts on books: Sisterchicks on the Loose! by Robin Jones Gunn

This was enjoyable and entertaining. The characters and their conversation are believable. And these women are true-to-life. One has three kids; the other, four. One has a lot of extended family in her daily life; the other has only one aunt and two cousins - and they live in Finland. The two women, Sharon and Penny, have been best friends for years. Penny decides that they are going to Helsinki to meet her aunt, and the adventure begins. The reader is inside Sharon's head, and it's a good, sensible place to view the adventure from.

I do wish it was possible for Christian fiction to not wax didactic when it is be humming along at a fine story pace. There are several scenes that were just plain hokey. There has to be a better way to write thought-life and prayer-life. Like all witnessing, it would be better acted out than told. I just don't know how one would do that. But hokiness must somehow be avoidable.

Don't get me wrong - this was a fun book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly suggest it for entertainment. I'll be reading the rest of the series, I think,

Thoughts on Books: I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis

This was a very interesting and well-done work of historical fiction. The author did a fantastic job of weaving a tapestry of true and false - such a job that it is, in fact, difficult to see where one ends and the other begins. The characters are all familiar people from the pages of a history of the Italian Renaissance - Mona Lisa, Lorenzo di Medici, Pope Alexander, Michelangelo, and Leonardo di Vinci. There is a timeline of events in the back of the book to help the reader separate fact from fiction, but this book demands a further look into the history of Florence.

Now, I picked up this book during an blessed hour in which my sweet husband sent me to Borders by myself to hunt for some new authors to read. I was intrigued by it because I’m fascinated by the flat not-quite-smile on Lisa’s face in the painting. Since the week she was our picture study, I’ve been wondering what she was watching or thinking about in the moment that her expression was captured. This book gives several options for the answer, explains some things about the way painting were dong in the era, and tells a fascinating story.

One thing that kind of surprised me from the book was that, though the world of fifteenth century Florence is very different from twenty-first century Oklahoma, people never change. There are all kinds of people in this story, and some of then act just as you’d expect while others are full of surprises.

Actually, the whole book was full of surprises. This is the first book I’ve read in a while that kept me guessing - I often have the end of a story figured out halfway through, but this one surprised me right down through the last few pages.

Just a warning: this is not Christian fiction - it is not objectionable, as it depicts an ugly time in ecumenical and secular politics in Florence, but it is not written to edify the reader in any way - just to tell the story in a memorable way. There are several scenes that are true to the customs of the time period that are rather gruesome (executions, for instance), but overall, it is a very entertaining read. I read the 515 pages within 48 hours - it’s that compelling - so don’t start it during a busy week. :) It’s a terrific beach (or, in my case, lake house) read.

“Remove the stress in your life”

A doctor told me this two years ago. I was in pain constantly - my whole body ached and my back, which was injured, h.u.r.t. I couldn’t think straight because of the pain, and I was having other symptoms, of which I will spare you the details. After collecting a running tests on all manner of bodily fluids, I was told that the stress I was under had triggered an autoimmune disease, but I was not actually diagnosed (probably sparing me great insurance woes in the future). I was told to rest more - at least eight hours a night, eat right, and eliminate the stress in my life.

Yeah, right. I’m a mom. The stresses of my life all have names, need lots of love, and look too cute asleep in their pajamas snuggled up with their Linus-blankies. And those sweet stresses cause more stress - they unknowingly reek havoc wherever they run, dropping toys and gold fish on the floor and then walking on them. They require feeding and that means cooking and that necessitates cleaning which takes time - and by the time the job is done, it’s time to start again.

At the time the not-diagnosis was made, I had been running a five-year marathon of being the main caregiver for a medically-fragile child, and it was topped off with a great sprint of grief. Some how I really don’t think that doctor would have approved of me having two more children. I did clean up my diet and quit routinely eating things that I’m allergic to. I still don’t sleep much because babies will do that to you.

I learned that “removing the stress” doesn’t necessarily mean “don’t be in a stressful situation.” It means that I must watch my attitude because life happens, but being stressed is a choice. The washer breaks, but I don’t have to lose my cool. Tires blow out, but I don’t have to give up my peace. My children can be running through the house like cheetahs, but I don’t have to be stressed about it. I can hand each thing over to my sweet Jesus, and He’ll give me peace and joy in each situation.

One question, though - if that’s all you have to do to remove stress, why is it so hard to do it?