Saturday {Sunday} Seven

2010 ~ Week 4

{1} Days Walked/Ran: 5
(Week 15. Roughly 4 miles a day, running 1+ of those.)

{2} Dr. Peppers Consumed: 2.
(Well, better than last week...)

{3} Fruit/Veggie Smoothies: 4
(Trying for daily!)

{4} Daily Reading (Bible, A Year With C.S. Lewis, Intellectual Devotional): Did much better this week!

{5} Days of Math with Levi: 4

{6} Intentional Reading: Finished Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by Sayer, and a couple more little books in the 26 Fairmount Avenue series by Tomie DePaola. Picking up Shakespeare: Life as Stage by Bill Bryson and Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.
(Book reviews this next week.)

{7} We didn't make it to the pool this week, but the boys have had lots of outside playtime today which they really needed.

Good for the body is the work of the body,

and good for the soul is the work of the soul,

and good for either is the work of the other.


~Henry David Thoreau

Magritte's Imagination

René Magritte (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)

Magritte's Imagination
(Leif's favorite board book!)

Living. Lovely. ~ Complete a Puzzle

A good puzzle, it's a fair thing. Nobody is lying.

It's very clear, and the problem depends just on you.

~Erno Rubik

Did you

Complete a Puzzle

for National Puzzle Month?

No? Try one of these word puzzles at Merriam-Webster!
(Be sure to scroll down a little to see more word games.)
I couldn't stop once I got started!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week's Living. Lovely. challenge:

Make a Phone Call

If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make,
who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

~Stephen Levine

Discere Docendo

(To Learn Through Teaching)

Latin ~ One of the foundations of a Classical Education. Sounds scary, doesn't it? And yet it is one of my favorite subjects. Yes, I realize we are learning very elementary Latin, but we are LEARNING LATIN. Even Leif has memorized full prayers in Latin.

Prima Latina is a program designed for early elementary students, and very simple to teach, even for an adult with no Latin background. In just one year, we are covering:

• Recognizing English and Latin Verbs
• Invisible Verbs
• Nouns, Proper Nouns, & Pronouns
• Prepositions
• Adjectives
• Adverbs
• To Be Verbs
• Present and Future Tenses
• First Conjugation
• First Declension
• 125 Latin Vocabulary Words
• Approx. 150 Latin Derivatives
• 25 Latin Sayings
• 4 Latin Prayers
• 4 Latin Hymns
• 12 Constellations
• Latin Numbers 1-10
  
  

Are you curious as to why students should learn Latin? Read here.

Or why teach Latin to elementary students? Read here.

I am enjoying learning the Latin phrases (mea culpa, quo vadis, stupor mundi), and I recently came across a very fun (and long) list of Latin quotes and phrases. I'll have to memorize some of these, such as:

Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium.

(Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence. ~Seneca)

Or possibly some of the more light-hearted translations:

Luke sum ipse patrem te.

( Luke, I am your father.)

OR

Aspice, officio fungeris sine spe honoris amplioris.

( Face it, you're stuck in a dead end job.)

See, Latin is fun.

Saturday Seven

2010 ~ Week 3

{1} Days Walked/Ran: 5
(Week 14. Roughly 4 miles a day, running 1+ of those.)

{2} Dr. Peppers Consumed: 3. Oh, how I hate truth in reporting.
(On a positive note, I made it 16 days without caving. And I *didn't* have one 4 days this week.
We'll see if I can do better this next week.)

{3} Pounds Lost: 1?
(I think I need to come up with something new for #3. Something I have more control over.
Such as eating more servings of veggies each day. I'll have to think about that.)

{4} Daily Reading (Bible, A Year With C.S. Lewis, Intellectual Devotional): A slight slump in my Bible reading this week.
(Need to improve upon that next week.)

{5} Days of Math with Levi: 5
(We had a couple rough days, but Russ has been getting him up early (while I'm out walking) and starting in on his math and handwriting first thing. I *really* appreciate that!!)

{6} Intentional Reading: Continued to read Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by Sayer, finished Going Solo by Roald Dahl (LOVED!),
and read three books (they are really short!!) in the 26 Fairmount Avenue series by Tomie DePaola.
(I think I'll do book reviews at the end of each month.)

{7} Made it to family swim night at the pool with the boys again!
(This week, my sister and her kids, a friend and her son, and my mom and dad all joined us! What a party!)

Last week I quoted C. S. Lewis.

It appears, however, he may have himself been quoting Antoine de Saint-Exupery, so we'll try this again...

What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.

It is always the same step, but you have to take it.

(And while we are on a roll...)

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Field Trip # 12 ~ Music of Africa

Today, we were back at our local Children's Performing Arts Series.

Fools In Paradise ~ Music of Africa

Anyone at this concert who didn't feel like dancing should have their vital signs taken.

The boys LOVED it, and I'll have a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

I'm Watching. Are you?

Emma

Silly things do cease to be silly
if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.

~Jane Austen, Emma

Conviction: Speak With It!

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Life is Good

When brothers agree, no fortress is so strong as their common life.

~Antisthenes

Living. Lovely. ~ Clean Off Your Desk

Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be,
since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.

~Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, c.1420

(That might not seem to apply to this week's challenge, but I needed to remind myself...Sigh.)

Did you

Clean Off Your Desk

this past week?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





I feel like I've been living in crisis mode lately, and that just has to stop.
I'm working on a whole office/schoolroom/library organizing/purging/cleaning project.
Unfortunately, it is one of those projects that makes things so much worse before it gets better.

I hate that.
But at least my desk is cleared off. Whew!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Next week's Living. Lovely. challenge:

Complete a Puzzle

January is National Puzzle Month.

Feel free to use your imagination on this one!

i heart faces ~ We Are Family

It is Family week at i heart faces.

I did Jen's family photos last summer,
and while this one isn't wildly original, it remains one of my favorite family photos.

Saturday Seven

2010 ~ Week 2

{1} Days Walked/Ran: 5
(Week 13. Roughly 4 miles a day, running 1.5 of those.)

{2} Dr. Peppers Consumed: 0 (Drinking 1 liter of green tea and 1+liter of water daily.)
(14 days now, and that's a record.)

{3} Pounds Lost: 0. What a surprise.

{4} Daily Reading (Bible, A Year With C.S. Lewis, Intellectual Devotional): On Schedule
(Finished Genesis and Mark this week.)

{5} Days of Math with Levi: 5
(He did day 5 independently. And with correct answers. Wahooooo!)

{6} Intentional Reading: Continued to read Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by Sayer, started and finished A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters, and began Going Solo by Roald Dahl.

{7} Made it to family swim night at the pool with the boys again!

What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.

~C. S. Lewis

Girls' Night Out

Yeah, I needed that.

But let's not talk about scores, okay?

Living. Lovely. ~ Read a Poem

To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June.

~ Jean-Paul Sartre

Did you

Read a Poem

this week?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I retrieved (and dusted off) an old, red leather-bound edition of Tennyson's poetry from my bookshelf this week. Rain. An old, sentimental patchwork quilt. A cup of tea. Perfect.

For the boys, we read aloud from Poetry for Young People: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

(A wonderful series of books, by the way, with biographical information about each poet
and a thoughtful selection of their poetry, delightfully illustrated.)

The Arrow and the Song

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke:
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week's Living. Lovely. challenge:

Clean Off Your Desk

January 14th is National Clean-Off-Your-Desk Day (who knew?).
I could really use that kick in the pants. Want to join me?
Is your desk already clean?
You'll have to use your imagination and come up with an alternative in the spirit of things. Grin.

Be ready to share before and after photos next Thursday!

Oh, To Be a Kid

Argh! I can't get my slide show to show up. Well, click on the link below, I guess, if you want to see it....

"Leif Spin"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

Friendly Faces

Footsteps in the Sea

Field Trip #11 ~ Oregon Coast Aquarium

i heart faces ~ 1st birthday!

I can't believe it has been a year since the beginning of the i heart faces photo challenges!

They are having an awesome birthday celebration this week, so head on over to view all the other great entries and excitement!

I'm entering one of my favorites from the photo shoot I did in December of my singer/musician friend, Lori.

Field Trip #10 and The Saturday Seven

For our first field trip of the new year, the older two boys and I attended the first
of the local Children's Performing Arts series.
We watched the Tears of Joy Puppet Theater perform Rumpelstiltskin.

Very entertaining. The boys loved it!! (And they were very well behaved, thankyouverymuch.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I briefly mentioned earlier, this year I will be using Saturdays here on the blog as my accountability tool.
Diligence is the key word, and I've got a lot of things to be diligent about!
Maybe if I know I'll be seeing my progress in print at the end of the week, I'll be just a little more motivated.

2010 ~ Week 1

{1} Days Walked/Ran: 5

(This was week 12. Right now we are going a little over 4 miles, running at least 1 of those,

adding in some arm exercises and stretching at the end. About an hour.)

{2} Dr. Peppers Consumed: 0 (Drinking 1 liter of green tea and 1+liter of water daily.)

(The longest I've ever gone without a Dr. Pepper (like, in 20 years) is 10 days, just to give you an idea what this means...)

{3} Pounds Lost: Big Fat 0

(After 3 months of walking/running and a week off Dr. Pepper I can tell you that isn't very encouraging....)

{4} Daily Reading (Bible, A Year With C.S. Lewis, Intellectual Devotional): On Schedule

(I've *never* stuck with a yearly Bible reading plan before, so I have some serious diligence issues here.)

{5} Days of Math with Levi: 5

(This is where I'm completely honest and say that Levi and I REALLY struggle with math. Can't we just read all day?)

{6} Intentional Reading: Finished Don Quixote (retold by Martin Jenkins),

read Catching Fire cover to cover, began Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis (by Sayer).

{7} Made it to family swim night at the pool with the boys!

(These boys really need some consistent swimming time/instruction.)

Books. Tired of them yet?

Guess what the project of the day might be....
(HUGE thanks, Dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Living. Lovely, ~ Claim Your Vision

Vision looks inward and becomes duty.
Vision looks outward and becomes aspiration.
Vision looks upward and becomes faith.

~Stephen S. Wise

It is a new year of Living. Lovely.

(Want to know more? Read here and here!)



Did you

Claim Your Vision for 2010

yet?

I love to hear about what Living. Lovely. looks like in your life!
Please feel free to add your comments each week,
or blog about the challenges and share your link.
You are welcome to grab the image above (or the smaller image on my side bar) to post on your blog.
Remember to scroll down to the bottom of the post for next week's challenge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was hoping for a kind word. An easy word. A LOVELY word.

What I got? DILIGENCE.

I've spent quite a bit of time trying to get rid of it, but it won't go away.

Still looking for lovely in my life, but it is also:

Time to buckle down and GET TO WORK.

I'll be using my blog as an accountability tool. More about that on Saturday.


dil·i·gence

noun

Definition:

1. persistent effort: persistent and hard-working effort in doing something

What we hope ever to do with ease, we must learn first to do with diligence.

~ Samuel Johnson

He who labors diligently need never despair;
for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor.

~Menander of Athens

Hebrews 6: 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love

you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end,

in order to make your hope sure.

12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who

through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Hebrews 12: 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,

let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,

and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our words together make a big statement.
Watch out 2010!!

Perseverance

Determination

Positivity

FAITHFULNESS

Anticipation

Joy


DILIGENCE!!!

Forgive

Gracious

Embrace

Discipline

RESTORE

Breathe

Peace


Vitality


Intentional


ARDOR


Moments


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week's Living. Lovely. challenge:

Read a Poem

Book List 2010

Tired of book posts, yet? Sorry, got one more for you.

(notes in red were added throughout the year)
(an * indicates that a book was also previously listed in another category)

My 'Would Love to Read in 2010' List

Read Alouds:

Man of the Family by Ralph Moody
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann D. Wyss
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain


Biography/Autobiography/Memoir:

Going Solo by Roald Dahl (done)
Mt Vernon Love Story by Mary Higgins Clark
Papa Married a Mormon by John D. Fitzgerald (started)
Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis by George Sayer (done)
In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson by Noble E. Cunningham, Jr.
My Life in France by Julia Child (started)
Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson (done)
26 Fairmont Avenue (rest of series) by Tomie DePaola (done)


Francophile:

*My Life in France by Julia Child (started)
The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart (done)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (done)
French Milk by Lucy Knisley
I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do) by Mark Greenside
French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano
A Corner in the Marais by Alex Karmel
Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language From the South of France by Kristin Espinasse


History/Historical Fiction:

The Good Master by Kate Seredy
Dutch Color by Douglas M. Jones III (done)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier
*Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
The Samurai's Tale by Erik C. Haugaard


Literature:

Don Quixote retold by Martin Jenkins (done)
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (done)
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Strong Poison, Have His Carcass, and Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
A Morbid Taste for Bones: The First Chronicle of Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters (done)
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (done)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Sequels and Series:

The Squire's Tales (books #3-8) by Gerald Morris (finished 3, 4, 5)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Catching Fire & The Hunger Games #3 by Suzanne Collins (finished both)
The Black Cauldron (The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The High King, and The Foundling) by Lloyd Alexander
Shakespeare's Scribe (Shakespeare's Spy) by Gary Blackwood
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart (done)
The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
*Man of the Family by Ralph Moody
The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis (for the umpteenth time)


ChocLit Guild (Book Club):

*Quo Vadis (done)
The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey
*Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis by George Sayer (done)
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (done)
*Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (done, but no longer a book club selection)
(and 3 more)
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (done)
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (done)
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle (read last year)


Romance:

books by George MacDonald


Spontaneous Reads:

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt
The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education by Leigh A. Bortins
Sir Charlie: Chaplin, the Funniest Man in the World by Sid Fleischman
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas

Lord! when you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue
~ you sell him a whole new life.
Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night
~there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.

~Christopher Morley

What's on YOUR list?!

Snow Day!