Reminder

This week's Living Lovely with Family theme is Vacations!

While you are more than welcome to post about vacations that you have taken in the past with your families, I am very interested in ideas for out-of-the-box or shoe-string budget adventures (whether or not you've actually done them). Put on your thinking caps and help me come up with some creative ways we can vacation with our families.... far or near... even without leaving home!

I'll have Mr. Linky up late tonight or sometime tomorrow (we'll see how life goes...). Don't worry if you can't contribute immediately. This is one theme I'd really like some help with. Feel free to share in the coming days, on your blog or in the comments!

Fling Off Thy Sadness!

Awake, thou wintry earth

Fling off thy sadness!

Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth

Your ancient gladness.

Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

Ode to a Sleeping Toddler

Books (and More Books)

The book reviews here at Mt. Hope Chronicles have sadly been few and far between this year. One thing after another, excuses, exhaustion, getting to bed too late, illnesses and sleepless nights with the boys, blah, blah, blah. Here is a quick review of the books I have managed to read so far:

The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle: Interesting YA historical fiction. It is set in the time period we are studying, so it helped set the stage, so to speak. I chose not to read it with Levi, as it was a coming of age story about a 16 year old girl. Wise choice, I think.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Mortenson/Relin: Fascinating, powerful, relevant, inspiring, balanced, intelligent and informative. Thoughts to chew on for quite some time.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher: Terrific read-aloud. Review here.

I Am David by Anne Holm: One of my favorites. I'm looking forward to sharing it with Levi in a couple years. Review here.

The Children's Homer by Padraic Colum: I found this to be a perfect retelling of Homer's epics as an adult with no background in the classics. Hopefully I'll read something closer to the originals next time we visit ancient history.

Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico: Charming, delightful, witty, light-hearted. Short and easy to read, yet well-written and full of interesting characters. I loved the movie with Angela Lansbury and was happy to discover that it stayed very true to the book.

Augustine: The Farmer's Boy of Tagaste by P. de Zeeuw: Both Levi and I very much enjoyed this story of Augustine's childhood.

Messenger by Lois Lowry: This is the third book in Lowry's YA trilogy. Interesting and provides food for thought (and discussion), but The Giver (the first book) is by far my favorite of the three.

Hard Questions, Real Answers by William Lane Craig: Excellent look at tough theological questions.

Philippa by Anne Douglas Sedgwick: A disappointment. Sigh. The Little French Girl by the same author is one of my all-time favorites, so I suppose I had high expectations. Philippa was well-written and a fascinating character study in parts, but it lacked the beautiful, ethereal quality of TLFG, as well as a happy ending.

Beowulf: The Warrior retold by Ian Serraillier: Loved. I had a blast reading this book aloud to Levi. I found myself pacing the floor with excitement. The prose rolls off the tongue and begs to be read with drama. I doubt I would be able to read this book in public the way I hammed it up at home. What fun. It made me even more eager to read the translation by Seamus Heaney, but that might have to wait until next history rotation...

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare: Excellent choice for reading aloud to Levi. Well-told story which brought history alive for us both.

That should catch us up to date. I'm hoping the book reviews won't be so scant in the next few months...

I may not have spent much time with my nose in a book lately, but luckily (I think) Levi hasn't had the same issue. I can't seem to get his nose out of a book! In two days he finished off Owls in the Family and Mr. Popper's Penguins in addition to the 450 pages of Peter and the Star Catchers.

I was teasingly giving him a bad time about all the reading he was doing, wondering what I was going to do with him. He looked up at me with his signature Levi grin and said, "It's like I was born to read, or something!"

On another day, I walked into the boys' bedroom as Levi was finishing up his reading for the night (late as usual). He closed up Miracles on Maple Hill, handed it to me, and said, "I have one word for this book. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. You need to read it and then give it to Dad to read."

I think I'll just hand my book list over to Levi and call it good.

Understanding Betsy

Levi and I recently finished reading Understood Betsy, a favorite from my own childhood. I enjoyed it as much, or more, as an adult. That is what I consider a quality of great children's literature!

Understood Betsy was published in 1917, making it more likely (in my opinion, of course) to contain other elements on my personal 'indentifying great children's literature list.' I know I've mentioned these numerous times before: independence, resourcefulness, respect for others, healthy work ethic, strong family relationships, appreciation for the simple things in life and a general thankfulness for the basic necessities of life.

Understood Betsy incorporates all the above, but it also focuses on education by contrasting two very different methods and environments. The author did have specific views on the subject. From the back cover of the book:

'Named by Eleanor Roosevelt as one of America's ten most influential women, Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958) brought the Montessori Method of child rearing to America...'

I'll offer a quote to whet your appetite:

pg. 64

'What's the matter?' asked the teacher, seeing her bewildered face.

'Why--why,' said Elizabeth Ann, 'I don't know what I am at all. If I'm second-grade arithmetic and seventh-grade reading and third-grade spelling, what grade am I?'

The teacher laughed. 'You aren't any grade at all, no matter where you are in school. You're just yourself, aren't you? What difference does it make what grade you're in? And what's the use of your reading little baby things too easy for you just because you don't know your multiplication table?'

'Well, for goodness' sakes!' ejaculated Elizabeth Ann, feeling very much as though somebody had stood her suddenly on her head.

'What's the matter?' asked the teacher again.

This time Elizabeth Ann didn't answer, because she herself didn't know what the matter was. But I do, and I'll tell you. The matter was that never before had she known what she was doing in school. She had always thought she was there to pass from one grade to another, and she was ever so startled to get a glimpse of the fact that she was there to learn how to read and write and cipher and generally use her mind, so she could take care of herself when she came to be grown up, but in that moment, she had her first dim notion of it, and it made her feel the way you do when you're learning to skate and somebody pulls away the chair you've been leaning on and says, 'Now, go it alone!'

Reading this book made me interested in adding a few Montessori method books to my reading stack. Hopefully I'll be able to review these in the coming months:

Teaching Montessori in the Home: The Pre-School Years

Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius

Any other book recommendations on the Montessori educational method?

Now That's More Like It!

Photo Fix

I was planning on participating in fix-it friday at i heart faces, but I just wasn't feeling the photo they offered this week. Then I had an unexpected opportunity to spruce up the following graduation photo. I jumped at the chance. It has terrific basics: a beautiful girl, color, and good focus and exposure:
I started in photoshop where I brightened her eyes (PW's Sharpen This and Bring on the Eyes), lightened up the shadows under her eyes (TRA's Yin/Yang), ran a little Claire-ify and Smooth-O-Matic (TRA, again), and warmed it up a bit.

Then I headed over to Picnik, where I rotated/cropped, added more warm tones, used the clone tool to remove her foot in the background and add some grass to the top of the photo, reduced shine on her knuckes and temple, whitened her teeth a little (didn't want them warmed up with her complexion...), played around just a little in curves, and finished it off with a vignette:


For the top photo, I cropped, sharpened, and added a frame and text. (I tried to remember the steps I took, but I'm probably missing something...) I'm so excited by the finished product!

Living Lovely With Family~Yearly Edition

What an enormous magnifier is tradition! How a thing grows in the human memory and in the human imagination, when love, worship, and all that lies in the human heart, is there to encourage it.

~Thomas Carlyle

This week our Living Lovely with Family theme is Yearly Traditions. I am, once again, looking forward to reading your thoughts and ideas on making meaningful connections and memories with our families! Everyone is welcome to participate. Share your thoughts on your blog and add your link below. Feel free to grab the above image (or the smaller button on my sidebar) to add to your blog post. Or share your ideas in the comments! (Scroll past Mr. Linky for my contribution!)







Most of our yearly tradition lines are blurred between seasonal activities and vacations (next week's theme).


The last two years, Levi and I have joined my sisters and my niece and nephew to watch a local outdoor Shakespeare performance. The location is incredible, the weather has favored us both years, and the productions are stunning! I'm looking forward to this coming year, and I can't wait until the little boys and hubby can join us!
I have been attending our family reunion every summer for over 20 years! My Dad's family is large, and we enjoy each other's company immensely. The family has grown by leaps and bounds over the years, and I'm thrilled that my boys are being grounded in extended family relationships. It helps that most years we've met at my aunt and uncle's house on the river. I can't tell you how many times I've scaled this ramp heading up from the water:
As a child, my family camped in the same spot every year. Now, Russ has started a boys' camp tradition at this most sentimental spot. This will be their fourth year, although Luke was only old enough to start attending this past year (and Leif has another year to wait). I'm so pleased that Russ is dedicated to this father/son time!

We hope to begin camping as a family again soon (I'm too wimpy to tent camp with really little guys), but we've visited my second favorite spot on earth on day trips each summer. I know that my boys will have glorious memories of their time spent here, just as I do!

When I think of yearly family traditions, though, I immediately think of the Christmas holiday season. We kick it off with our Thanksgiving celebration.

This year we added a new tradition. Green Friday. We spent the day after Thanksgiving on a nature hike and at my sister's farm house in the country gathering moss, branches, rose hips, apples, and other treasures with which to makes our homes festive for the Christmas season.

We have various 'around the world' celebrations during December (Las Posadas, St. Lucia Day), but my favorite is St. Nicholas Feast Day with our best friends! It has been a tradition for years, now. The kids love getting chocolate gold coins in their shoes and our favorite activity is creating marzipan fruits and veggies.
One of our most exciting Christmas traditions is attending Ben and Shan's themed Christmas party with all my family and some close family friends. Every year (13 years now?), they choose a different theme and go all out. Paris Dinner Train (murder mystery), Morocco, 50s Diner, Hawaiian, Camping, Irish, A Christmas Carol... We even try to come dressed appropriately (several times we've been fully costumed!). I wonder what this year's theme will be! Shannon?

Family traditions counter alienation and confusion. They help us define who we are; they provide something steady, reliable and safe in a confusing world.
~Susan Lieberman

A Quick Reminder...

I'll have our Living Lovely with Family Mr. Linky up some time tomorrow. This week we are sharing thoughts and ideas for making family connections and memories with yearly traditions. If you would like to participate, post your thoughts on your blog and come back here later in the day to share your link. Those of you who have contributed in past weeks, thank you so much for taking the time to join in!!

March 31st

Flip Flops

We've missed you, old friends.

The Pout

i heart faces is all about the pout this week. Levi's got it covered. This boy has drama, and his pout is legendary. He has the greatest lips and expressive eyes and eyebrows. I love the range of emotion he can throw himself into. Head on over to view many more great pouting photos!

Party!

We partied at the local library's open house today. They have recently moved into a much larger, bright, renovated space and thought it was high time to celebrate. We've visited quite a few times (yesterday, in fact) since they opened at the beginning of the month, but couldn't resist the promise of cake, live music, crafts, and the Cat in the Hat.

I've been enjoying the expanded parking area, automated book returns, faster check-out, roomier book shelves (the books were packed in there at the old location!), a huge children's room with a large play space and comfy seating, and the fresh over-all atmosphere. One of the best things: the new location is just across the street from the previous space, at a very convenient spot in town. I think the library deserves an A+.

Fix-It Friday

I decided to participate in Fix-It Friday at i heart faces for the first time this week. The above photo is my finished product. The photo below is the original.

I first worked on the photo in photoshop CS2. Pioneer Woman's Bring on the Eyes at 70% and Boost at 11%. Then Totally Rad Actions' Claire-ify at 100% and Pool Party at 80%:

I then uploaded the photo to picnik.com and did teeth whiten, focal soften, crop, and border to get the top image.

I couldn't resist adding in two more. Both are done in photoshop. Bring on the Eyes 100/33, Claire-ify 100, Troy 50, and Pool Party 50:

Added a B&W/sepia combo:

Living Lovely with Family ~ Here and There Edition

Memory is a child

walking along a seashore.

You never can tell what small pebble

it will pick up and store away

among its treasured things.

~Pierce Harris, Atlanta Journal

We've talked about daily and weekly routines, so to continue our series on Living Lovely with Family, let's talk about special treats, random surprises, and seasonal activities.

Everyone is welcome to participate. Share on your blog your thoughts and ideas for making connections and memories with our families in simple, but profound ways through special treats, random surprises, and seasonal activities. Feel free to grab the above image (or the smaller button on my sidebar) to add to your post. Enter your link below. Or you could add your voice to the comments!

I have already come away from previous weeks with new ideas and a feeling of inspiration. I'm looking forward to reading what this week brings! Scroll past Mr. Linky for my visuals on the subject. (And don't forget that we're moving on to yearly traditions next week!)

Playing in the Snow:

Baking and Eating Yummy Things:

Going for Hikes and Appreciating God's Green Earth:

Playing in the Sand and Dipping Toes in the Ocean:

Watching the Hot Air Balloons at the Local Art and Air Festival:

Enjoying a Fire in the Fire Pit,
Roasting Marshmallows:

Berry Picking:

Veggie Gardening:

Concerts in the Park:

Playing Games with Family:

Visiting the Renaissance Faire:

Hay Ride and Hot Donuts at the Pumpkin Patch:

We do not remember days;
we remember moments.
~Cesare Pavese, The Burning Brand

Tuesday Lovely

Today's Lovely

A bouquet of ranunculus or a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils?

Sisters

March is a favorite month around these parts. It means Spring and Birthdays. I loved sharing a birthday month with my two sisters growing up. It just meant we partied all month long! Mom and Dad were terrific at letting us each have our own moment, but it is a little harder to have three separate parties now that we're grown and have families (and schedules) of our own.

This year, Mom and Dad went all out and had us all over for a delicious spread, topped off with Irish Cream Cake. We decided to take advantage of the weather and the fact that we were all in the same place at once. Picture time!

How lucky am I to have two sisters for best friends? Not to mention they both live only 15 minutes away! We get awfully silly when we are together...

Mix a little foolishness
with your serious plans;
it's lovely to be silly
at the right moment.

~ Horace (Ancient Roman Poet, 65 BC - 8 BC)

My birthday isn't for a little while yet (it was always hard to wait until the last day of the month), but Mom has been posting vintage pictures of the three of us girls on her blog, Treading on Moss. This week is my turn. Hmmm. I wonder what she'll come up with...