Pre-Christmas

Christmas Eve-Eve we drove around with the kids to look at Christmas lights and then stopped by my parents’ house to see my mom’s stocking display. She made all-new stockings this year for all 18 of us!

Christmas Eve day was spent cleaning house and baking. Russ took all 4 kids to swim practice in the morning and then to town to pick up a couple things. I was grateful for the quiet time to work.

I made my new favorite, strawberry almond shortbread thumbprint cookies (gluten-free for my mom and mother-in-law).

We spent the evening with my in-laws. I made barbequed steak, grilled onions, roasted yams, salad, and gluten-free biscuits. We had crème brulee for dessert.

They are two of my most favorite people!

Family

Merry Christmas, from ours to yours!

[And for posterity’s sake, yes, this is the Christmas Lola shaved her eyebrows off. Yes, she did. Because life would be boring without Lola.]

Family Movie Night

Hilarious and intelligent. Those are two words to describe my favorite genre of movies.

If your kids aren’t old enough for The Librarian or Indiana Jones or even National Treasure or Night at the Museum…

Or if you’re just searching for a fun, smart movie to keep all ages entertained, try Mr. Peabody & Sherman.

My history-loving boys were lighting up. Hey, there’s Agamemnon! Queen Hatshepsut! I know that date! Van Gogh! Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine! Hey, I know those dates!

We’ll be buying this one for our collection.

The Boys’ Room

I’ve spent hours and hours in the pit of despair the boys’ room the past couple days, trying to make it livable. Three boys in this small room for the past 8! years has taken a toll. It (desperately) needs to be repainted. It (desperately) needs new carpet. I need to get rid of the small, abused book shelf and replace it with a dresser for more clothing storage, and transfer a bunch of picture books up to Lola’s room (which is next on the docket).

Even with all the cleaning/organizing/purging I’ve done, it sure isn’t the sweet room it used to be. But we’ve added more books and shelves, so that’s forward progress, right?!

The boys decided to string little white lights up in their room, and I’m going to hang myself (accidentally) one of these days. Just when I thought I had made their room less dangerous…

And if you’re wondering what it’s like to have three boys in the same room at bed time… There are no words to describe their mother’s frustration.

Just. Go. To. Sleep. Already.

Our Christmas Season

I realize it’s been fairly quiet the past few weeks here at Mt. Hope. We’ve been relaxing and savoring the season in a low-key way. We’ve had a few activities, but I’ve chosen not to fuss with pictures so that I can fully enter into the moment.

:: The boys had their Christmas choir concert the first week of December in a gorgeous old stone church with stained-glass windows. The church we attend on Sundays meets in a middle school cafeteria (the middle school I attended years ago) and jeans and flip flops are regular attire, so the atmosphere at the concert felt especially lovely and festive to me with all the kids in their Christmas best. The choir additionally performed earlier in the week at a local retirement home.

:: Levi’s CC Challenge class met on December 1st, 5th, and 8th, and he has had some work to continue the past two weeks. Apparently, he has decided to make his short amount of work take all. break. long. to complete.

:: We had the house decorated by December 10th for a belated St. Nicholas Day celebration—our traditional Christmas party with our best friends. We spent a lazy and glorious afternoon together making marzipan and enjoying each other’s company.

:: My best friend, Char, is my own personal Christmas elf. She loves Christmas so much and her excitement spills over to bless me. My sister stopped by to chat and complimented me on the darling star garland hanging at the top of my entertainment shelving unit. I had to tell her that Char made it for me. [Shannon was not surprised.] And then she complimented me on my gorgeous greenery wreath. Yep—Char. And then Char sent me home with a container full of decorated sugar cookies and fudge, which I shared with the kids, and homemade baklava, which I shared with no one.

:: Russ bought me a new flute as an early Christmas gift, and I’ve been playing daily.

:: My ChocLit Guild book club met for our annual cookie exchange. I always look forward to book club, but book club plus a huge plate of goodies to bring home is as good as it gets. I shared my favorite almond strawberry thumbprint cookies.

:: Russ and I attended a Christmas party for one of the businesses he works for. We’ve been attending this particular party for years—a room full of truckers. As in truck driving instructors. Seriously. But I get both prime rib and lobster, so it’s all good.

:: We attended a quintessential small-town nativity pageant with Char and her mom and kids. It was about 45 minutes away, held in an old elementary school (now the small town’s event center). This pageant has been a community tradition for 74 years! There were nine scenes with full sets and costumes, and a choir singing numbers between scenes. So lovely.

:: This year, Russ had the brilliant idea to put our Christmas tree on the front porch. Now I’m wondering why we have never done this before! With such a tiny living space for our rambunctious, always-home family, even a small table-top tree feels overwhelming in the living room, but this year we purchased a slightly larger tree and the boys had a blast decorating it. We can easily see it through the windows, so it doesn’t feel as if something is missing.

Right after we put it up, a major storm blew through with high-wind warnings. I was questioning our decision for a few hours there. Now we’re in the middle of flood warnings. It’s a blustery, wet, sloppy mess out there.

[You can see our new paint color in these pictures. It didn’t get finished [sigh], but at least it isn’t blue with a mismatched blue shop in front of the house. I guess I’ll have to put up with the caulk marks by the front door, random blue tape here and there, and the piles of stuff on the porches and around the shop until the spring. I’m learning to not care.]

:: The kids continued with AWANA this month, and now they are off for a couple weeks. Swim team practice continues all month long for Russ and the boys.

:: Levi and my sister both ended up with the stomach flu a couple nights ago (several days after Rilla was sick) and I’m having déjà vu. We spent weeks last Christmas break taking turns with the stomach flu, and I’m praying it doesn’t continue to make the rounds this season.

:: When I first pulled all the Christmas books off the shelf, I didn’t think I’d need to do any other Christmas decorating. We have so many!! So the boys have been reading and we’ve been working our way through the Christmas movies.

:: Christmas cards go out on Monday. Nothing like the last minute… I suppose I should wrap gifts at some point also…

:: We’re spending Christmas Eve at our house with Russ’s adopted parents, Ron and Haley.

:: Christmas Day will be spent with my family, as usual.

:: Levi’s 13th birthday is the following week—on New Year’s Day.

:: And then we have something fun planned for two days later… [surprise!]

How are you celebrating this Christmas season? Are you busy or relaxed? Or both?

With Love, The Scovel Family [2014]

Instead of working on getting my Christmas cards mailed, I creatively procrastinated by reminiscing over our Christmas card pictures through the years.

And now I’m sharing them with you instead of mailing this year’s Christmas cards.

This was our first family Christmas card picture back in 2002. Levi was almost a year old.

I don’t know if we sent out pictures or cards the following year, but this is what our little family looked like. I was pregnant with Luke when we attended my sister’s retro Christmas party.

We did manage family pictures the following year.

This is one of my all-time favorites.

Then Leif arrived. We were in the process of moving during this Christmas season. This picture was taken in my parents’ driveway, and our house is at the base of the hill in the background.

I had a blog by the following Christmas. My favorite out-takes were from this family picture session.

We took family pictures at the beach this year (here and here), but I ended up scrapping them for this picture collage and it is my favorite Christmas card out of all the years.

2008:

I loved our family photos this year. [I can’t find the pictures of this month on my computer, so this size is the best I have.]

2009:

And then our family was complete!

2010:

I LOVE the following picture of all the kids.

2011:

This is the year I had pictures way ahead of time, and then didn’t get the cards sent out until February. Oops.

2012:

We managed a picture of the whole family last year. Hurrah!

2013:

 

Now that I’ve taken a nice little trip down memory lane, I suppose I should sent out my Christmas cards. Tomorrow.

 

Do you send Christmas cards in the mail? (I know I’ve gotten cards from a couple of you!)

Last Minute Shopping? Games!

My boys have been on a game-playing kick lately, and I’d like to foster that habit in the new year. The bulk of my gift-giving tends to be books (of course!), but now that the boys can play games independently and are slightly improved in the area of keeping game pieces together, games may start to out-rank books in the gift department! The right games promote delight-led learning, cooperation, good sportsmanship, and time spent with family and friends. They are good for hours and hours and hours of enjoyment! And…they are easy to wrap. [hallelujah!]

Oddly, my boys have been begging for the Herb Fairies course that teaches about herbal remedies. It was developed by a local company called Learning Herbs. Two families in our Classical Conversations group shared about this course during their family presentations, and the boys were intrigued. The course wasn’t available at the time. Then it was. Then it wasn’t. But I purchased Wildcraft! An Herbal Adventure Game (from the same company, but now available at Amazon), and I think they’ll love it. It says it is for ages 4 and up, so Lola can play along! [I think I may add A Kid's Herb Book, because books—and I can’t help myself.]

Next up, Ticket To Ride. The original (#1 bestselling board game) is a railroad adventure across the United States (perfect for our geography studies this year), but I’m so tempted to buy the companion games for Europe, Asia, Nordic Countries, and more! [Some are expansion sets and some are stand-alone games.] The recommended age range for the original set is 8-12, but the companion games add complexity for a wider range of ages.

The award-winning Settlers of Catan finishes off my gift list this Christmas. I know the boys will love this one. Leif is a champion game-player (he was the family’s reigning Monopoly champion at the age of 4), so he’ll do just fine with Settlers of Catan even though the listed recommended age range is 10-14. This game with expansion packs should keep the boys entertained for years to come.

(This last-minute shopper is thankful for free two-day shipping!)

Are you finished with your Christmas shopping? What is the gift you are most excited to give?

[This post contains affiliate links. When you shop Amazon through my links, I receive a small commission on anything you purchase, even if you don’t purchase the recommended item! Thanks for supporting Mt. Hope Chronicles!]

A Few of My Favorite Things

C. S. Lewis

:: Check out these fantastic videos of his essays illustrated/animated! [I can’t pick a favorite.]

:: C. S. Lewis: The Undragoning of Eustace @ Jennifer Neyhart [So beautiful. Check out her other C. S. Lewis posts, as well.]

:: Thanksgiving and Desire, Ordinary Time and Advent, and C. S. Lewis Week @ The Rabbit Room

It takes work to see the extraordinary things in “ordinary” time: to see a sunbeam shining through a cracked door into a dusty shed as a parable for the modern world; to see praise as “inner health made audible”; to see a world in a wardrobe.

:: The Legacy of C. S. Lewis @ The Imaginative Conservative

For in both his fiction and nonfiction Lewis, like Eliot, affirmed such norms as the rightness of order, not anarchy; the desirability of cultural change coming about slowly and organically; and the high value of custom, convention, and continuity. He also stressed the importance of individual responsibility for one’s decisions and actions; the necessity of recognizing man as a flawed creature, and of mistrusting the naked human ego and all utopian talk of men being like gods; and the overarching imperative of recognizing a transcendent order in the Person of God, the Author of Joy as revealed in the doctrines of orthodox Christianity.

Fairytales

:: What If Fairytales Weren’t Fairytales After All? @ Tates Creek Presbyterian Church [go read this one!]

What if our novels and films were both untrue and true? Untrue because they are figments of human imagination; true because they are portals into another reality, a greater reality of which our physical reality is a part not the whole.

What if we tell stories because we are made in the image of a God who Himself is telling a story that we are all a part of? We certainly cannot see this God anymore than Harry Potter can see J.K. Rowling, but there are signposts everywhere that we exist within a story written by an Author.

:: Redeeming Santa @ Tates Creek Presbyterian Church

Allowing our children to encounter and even believe (children don’t cognitively believe like we believe. They have an ability to get lost in fantasy without detaching from reality. Maybe that’s what Jesus means when He said, “Unless you become like a child you cannot enter the Kingdom…”) in fantasy is one of the greatest ways to prepare them to believe in the true and better story to which all other stories point. To deprive them of fantasy is to reinforce the lie of our secular age that there is no fantasy.

:: I Saw Mommybloggers Dissing Santa Claus by Marc Hays @ Kuyperian Commentary

If myth “blurs the lines between fact and fantasy” to such a dangerous extent, why do we read stories to our children at all? And if we’ve decided to read them stories, then we would crush their imaginations by perpetually reminding them that this is not real. In fact, we read them stories because fiction is more real than not. Fiction is vicarious living, whether or not the protagonist has magical powers. Stories by humans will always teach us about what it means to be a human, and there are no stories that are not written by humans.

 

Cellos (and Music)

 

:: Why Music Theory? by Caleb Skogen @ Classical Conversations

Music theory…teaches how to communicate well through studies of order, harmony, relationships, ratios, dissonance, consonance, tension, and time. Within these studies, one is pushed passed the mere notes and ideas of a score to discover more of music’s grandiose purpose. Many of us do not generally think about music or the arts as means for understanding God, but studies in music theory can help one understand that form is important to our Creator and that it should be used in ways that reflect His character. This is an appropriate pursuit of the beauty that Plato wrote about.

CiRCE

::  How to Read a Brook: Some Notes on Creation-Literacy @ CiRCE. On Wordsworth, Augustine, and stopping reading to read well.

Books are mankind’s words about God and the world, but the world is God’s word about himself. As the Psalmist writes, the heavens “pour forth speech” and “reveal knowledge” which runs “to the end of the world.” The cosmos then is not full of unanswerable questions (as it would sometimes be convenient to imagine), but unquestionable answers—the visible, audible, tangible, smellable, tastable, altogether incontrovertible testimony of the Three-in-One.

:: The Wonder of Unexpected Supply @ CiRCE

Perhaps teaching itself is a poetic endeavor; or perhaps poetry, in it’s ability to work directly on the affections, is the purest form of education.

:: Off Stage by Tim McIntosh @ CiRCE Magazine [Read the rest of the CiRCE magazine here, or request the GORGEOUS print copy (pictured above).]

Yet the starkness of the stage highlights the incredible power of Hamlet’s yearnings. Richard Burton as Hamlet cries, “What should such fellows as I do, crawling between heaven and earth!” His longing leaps off the bare stage, an incandescent reminder that God has planted eternity in the hearts of men.

Sisters

:: Your Adult Siblings May Be The Secret To A Long, Happy Life @ NPR

"The literature on sibling relationships shows that during middle age and old age, indicators of well-being — mood, health, morale, stress, depression, loneliness, life satisfaction — are tied to how you feel about your brothers and sisters."

Education

 

"When people are bored, it is primarily with themselves." —Eric Hoffer (HT: Gutenberg College)

::  The 3 Characteristics of an Educated Man @ The Art of Manliness [This is an older article, but I thought it was fantastic.]

The real test for the modern educated man is the ability to entertain himself when technology isn’t available or is not socially acceptable to whip out. Can you entertain yourself at a boring meeting, while camping, while conversing at a dinner party? The educated man can, and he does it, ironically enough, by retaining an important ability of his childhood—curiosity. The educated man is insatiably curious about the world around him and other people. In any situation, he sees something to learn, study, and observe. If he’s stuck somewhere with neither phone nor company,  he uses the time to untangle a philosophical problem he’s been wrestling with; the mind of the educated man is a repository of ideas that he can pull out and examine to pass the time in any situation.

Books and Movies

::  First Trailer for “The Little Prince” Movie Released @ The Reading Room

 

:: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 by Jeffrey Overstreet @ Letterboxd

:: “We will need writers who can remember freedom”: Ursula K Le Guin at the National Book Awards @ Parker Higgins

"I think hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom. Poets, visionaries — the realists of a larger reality.”

:: 50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men @ The Art of Manliness

:: The Green Ember is here!

Every Soft Thing

An Upcoming Journey ~ Creating a Life You Love

 

My friend Mandi at Life Your Way is launching an incredible 12-month e-course for 2015!

Each month, participants will explore a different life theme such as Rest, Create, Serve, and Explore. Inspiration, encouragement, opportunity for discussion, and practical resources will be given for each theme by a panel of experts passionate about their topic. Mandi has organized a stellar line-up of contributors (I know you will recognize at least a few!), and this course will be a rich experience to make the most of a new year!

I am honored to be leading September’s theme, Learn.

I cannot express how much I am looking forward to exploring the idea of filling our adult lives with learning—not for the sake of a product or a job or even our children but for the soul-enlarging pleasure of attention, wonder, and expression!

Consider taking the course with a friend!

LIVE. creating a life you love will be launching January 1st, but an early bird offer is available until December 15th. Click here to read details about the course and check out the themes and contributors!

Will you join me?

Book Project ~ Participation Request!

I’m working on a major book list project. It’s a combination of my own must-read suggestions and a “best books to read” challenge for myself this coming year—something similar to Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.

So give me your top 5-10 must-read books.

Classics. Modern fiction. Non-fiction. Historical fiction. Children’s books. Poetry. Short stories. The best of the best.

My book list includes books I loved, obscure (The Little French Girl) or well-known (To Kill a Mockingbird), books I hated but everyone should read anyway (1984), and books that made me think (Hamlet).

Help me create my “best books to read” 2015 Challenge!

 

Share your best books. Tell me what genre. And give me a reason.

Hallelujah

Because Everyone Needs a Little More Lola

Challenge A Update and Thoughts

Or “On Adolescence and ‘I’d like that hindsight NOW, please.’”

Or “More Questions Than Answers”

Raising adolescents is a tough job. Homeschooling adolescents is like training a magnifying glass on the process! All those bumps and imperfections and struggles stand out in sharp relief when you’re at it 24-7 and wearing both the teacher and parent hats!

I read this on the Libertarian Homeschooler’s Facebook page a couple days ago:

“Toddlerhood and early adolescence told me more about myself than they told me about my son. They were a crash-course in what was potentially ugly inside of me: ...impatience, anger, ignorance, lack of charity, selfishness, lack of self discipline, pride.

They outgrow toddlerhood and adolescence. It leaves them. But we are left looking at our flaws and asking ourselves, 'Was that really the best you could do?'”

Like a knife, people.

Even when I’m at my best [not often], the questions keep coming.

Grace or tough love?

Let up or buckle down?

Relationship or character?

Help or step back?

Raise expectations or cut some slack?

Adjust according to personality, gifts, and weaknesses (don’t shove a square peg in a round hole) or do hard things?

Medicate the child or medicate the parent? [Half of me is kidding, half of me is very, very serious. Vats of Dr. Pepper, people.]

Give rewards or exact consequences?

Increase freedom or responsibility?

Hold their hand or let them fail?

Some kids thrive on one, some the other. Some parents are gifted with intuition. Some are not. [sigh]

Every child/student is different.

Let me repeat that.

Every. Child. Is. Unique.

Each enrolled student is going to have a different experience with the Classical Conversations Challenge Program.

• Some kids are going to find Challenge a piece of cake. Work done independently. Work done neatly and thoroughly. Work done in just a few hours daily during the work week.
• Others (and their parents) are going to spend hours and hours and hours and hours. Some in a state of constant focus. Some in a constant state of distraction. Either way: blood, sweat, and tears. [Levi]
  
• Some kids are going to excel in the group environment with presentations and discussion (and possibly struggle at home). [Levi]
• Others are going to excel in the work done at home (and possibly struggle in class).
  
• Some kids will want to do the bare minimum. [Levi]
• Others will spend 10 hours reading about the science topic (or the entire science encyclopedia) or drawing one perfect map. [Levi]
  
• Some kids are sweet, compliant, and mild-mannered.
• Others are in the wild, unpredictable, unrelenting, exasperating throes of adolescence. [Levi, heaven help us]
  
• Some kids fill their schedule with Challenge work.
• Others have several extra-curricular activities to balance. [Levi]
  
• Some kids are only-children or have older siblings and a quiet, study-conducive environment.
• Others have several younger siblings who are insanely distracting and require much of their parents’ time and energy. [Levi]
  
• Some kids are focused and internally motivated.
• Others are imaginative, wiggly, and distracted by pieces of fluff or a pencil and paper or their hair or a cloud in the sky and are neither internally nor externally motivated. [Levi]
  
• Some kids find the busy work easy and the concepts difficult.
• Others grasp the concepts quickly and find the detail work tedious. [Levi]
  
• Some kids rise to a challenge.
• Others get overwhelmed and defeated quickly. [Levi]
  
• Some kids prefer to work alone.
• Others thrive on constant interaction, discussion, and affirmation. [Levi]
  
• Some kids have consistent, self-disciplined, patient, understanding, intuitive, wise parents.
• Levi has me.

I could go on and on here, but you get the idea. For a few kids, it could be a maturity issue and one year might make a difference. For others [Levi], it is a personality thing and 5 years might not change a thing [again, hindsight NOW, please!].

What I love about the Classical Conversations program is that it is customizable and the parent has the authority to adjust the program to fit the student. Most of the seminars are easy to lighten or supplement. Just communicate with your student’s tutor!

A few ideas and examples:

:: Exposition and Composition (Literature and Writing)

Lighter work: audio books, fewer items on the ANI charts, worksheets as oral discussions, parent-typed reports, skip occasional papers.

More challenging work: literary analysis using Teaching the Classics, enter authors and historical events on a history timeline, use more elocution tools in each paper (IEW style elements), read additional books with or without writing corresponding essays.

:: Research (Science)

Lighter work: single paragraphs, no style elements required, write papers every other week, parent-typed reports.

More challenging work: longer reports (3-5 paragraphs) and style elements required, research animals specific to geographical region being studied in debate/geography, watch documentaries, dissections, watch Khan Academy videos.

:: Logic (Math)

Lighter work: lower level of math (below Saxon 8/7) or a different math program such as Teaching Textbooks or Life of Fred, modify the amount of work done for each lesson (just drill and practice or odds or evens), work through problems orally, complete lessons at a slower pace and continue through the spring and summer, skip investigations and tests and return to them after Challenge classes are finished in the spring.

More challenging work: higher level of math; complete all drill, warm-ups, lessons, practice, problems, investigations and tests on schedule (in Saxon math, this is quite an accomplishment); define all math terms and rules in notebook and memorize; watch Khan Academy videos.

:: Debate (Geography)

Lighter work: label black-line maps (possibly countries only) rather than hand-drawing maps and study using the free online games at Sheppard Software; skip capitals, geographical features, and/or geography terms.

More challenging work: define (look up in dictionary) and illustrate all geography terms in notebook, study each geographical region using the information in the atlas, read additional books about each region, prepare food from various countries, watch documentaries or travel shows, or learn about the culture, arts, and literature of a country of each continent.

:: Grammar (Latin)

Lighter work: study vocabulary, grammar rules, and declensions only (no exercises); do all work verbally or with flash cards [students repeat all Latin lessons in Challenge B].

More challenging work: complete all exercises, memorize prayers or songs in Latin, add a Latin roots vocabulary program, diagram complex English sentences.

:: Rhetoric (Clear Reasoning and Apologetics)

Lighter work: read chapters of It Couldn’t Just Happen together and discuss (no written summaries).

More challenging work: any ideas? Maybe additional reading?

:: Extracurriculars

Consider clearing your student’s schedule of busy activities during the Challenge year if they are overwhelmed. We eliminated many commitments, field trips, and errands this year so that there wouldn’t be as many distractions.

Or maybe your student will need additional activities or learning projects to round out their education and fill gaps of time. Art, history, additional foreign language, volunteer positions, family Bible time.

We’ve chosen a few priority activities:

Church

All the kids are attending AWANA this year one evening each week (in addition to church on Sunday). This is great mid-week social time for Levi in addition to the Bible studies (and much-needed date night for Russ and me).

Music

All three boys participate in a weekly choir rehearsal with music theory homework and seasonal performances.

Sports/Exercise

Levi swims with the swim team for an hour, 3-4 afternoons each week. (He often has another hour to socialize or try to complete school work while his brothers swim with a different group after his is finished, so swim team consumes 3 hours almost every afternoon—year round—as well as swim meets on occasional weekends.)

One last thought:

While Challenge students are (ideally) learning how to manage their time and take ownership of their education, this does not mean that parents should remove themselves from the process. The reward of making it to this stage should be the shared dialogue, the conversations, the big questions, the engaging content, and the interaction. Learn along with your student!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Levi’s Challenge A class meets tomorrow and then again on Monday (due to classes that had to be postponed and rescheduled) for Blue Book assessments and a class party. After that, he’ll have a solid week’s worth of school work in addition to some catch-up work, but I’m hoping he’ll manage plenty of down-time over the break, as well. And after Christmas and his 13th birthday on New Year’s Day, we’ll gear up for second semester. I’ll let you know how that progresses!

Grandpa

My grandpa, who lives in California, was here visiting last week. We are so thankful for the time we spent together! Lola spends Mondays at my mom’s house while the boys are at Classical Conversations, so she had a day with Grandpa all to herself! My mom took the above pictures of them playing a Peter Rabbit game together. (Mom posted more pictures here.)

I’m so sad that I didn’t get more pictures of our Thanksgiving together, but I did get this decent shot of him with my ragamuffin kids the day before he left.

Just for fun, I’m sharing the newspaper article about my grandpa that ran in his local paper for Veteran’s Day this past month.

 

My grandpa also received the French Legion of Honor Medal in a ceremony last year. He has been knighted by the French government! I just discovered a YouTube video of the ceremony.

We love you, Grandpa!

Details

As I child, I loved books that had detailed illustrations I could pore over for hours. My most favorite was The Littles and Their Friends by John Peterson—not the chapter books, but an illustrated picture book that showed where (and how) each group of friends lived (under tree roots, at the garbage dump…). I can’t tell you how many hours I spent with that book.

As an adult, I discovered more books with detailed illustrations that I would have adored as a child such as Peter Spier's Circus (or any books by Peter Spier, People is another great one), any of the books in the Anno's Journey series (Anno's U.S.A. is a great one for our U.S. studies this year, but I’ve also collected Spain, Britain, and Italy—each has so many little hidden gems that adults can appreciate as well from history, art, and literature), What Do People Do All Day? (or any other Richard Scarry books), In the Town All Year 'Round, Through Time: London, and so many others. As you can see, I have a soft spot for them!

These books do not make excellent read-alouds. They are not for “get-to-the point, already” children. They are not ideal for children who are overwhelmed by a lot of detail. They are for children who will pore over them during quiet time, one-on-one, until the books become a part of the landscape of their imagination.

This past month we’ve enjoyed three more books with detailed illustrations.

:: The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body

We’ve been studying the human body for the past few months, and a friend introduced us to this work by David Macaulay. We’ve enjoyed several other books by the author, most notably The Way Things Work, so I knew my boys would love this one as well. Macaulay draws fascinating illustrations and describes the body systems in a compelling way! (Some of you may want a heads-up that he indeed describes in detail the reproductive systems and how they work.)

 

:: Underworld: Exploring the Secret World Beneath Your Feet

This picture book alternates between hand-drawn illustrated pages (my personal favorite) and pages with photographs (more of a DK or Usborne style).

 

:: Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes

This book has lovely thick papery pages, and works well as a read-aloud also.

 

Do you have favorite picture books with detailed illustrations?

Do your children spend time just looking at books?

What We’ve Been Reading [part 2]

[Again, a sincere, gigantic thank you! to those of you who have clicked through to Amazon from my links. I receive a small commission on anything (shoes, tires, dried berries, sunglasses, anything!) you put in your cart and purchase after going through my links. And those small commissions go a long way in supporting my book addiction children’s education.]

So many books have slipped through the cracks. I need to write up a “what we’re reading” post weekly!

I completely forgot that Luke has read (recently?) all seven of the Terrestria Chronicles (also available in kindle edition), a Medieval-themed Christian allegory series that was recommended (I think!) by my friend Rebecca from Renaissance. (See, I’m losing my mind!)

And also:

:: Christopher Mouse: The Tale of a Small Traveler

:: Ice Whale by Jean Craighead George (author of my boys’ favorite My Side of the Mountain trilogy). Luke really enjoyed this one.

:: The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case: A Precious Ramotswe Mystery for Young Readers by Alexander McCall Smith. The boys previously read Mystery of Meerkat Hill, and Leif will be receiving The Mystery of the Missing Lion for Christmas. These are fantastic easy chapter books that stand out from the usual twaddle of that category. [Also check out the author’s Akimbo series!]

:: Brother Hugo and the Bear by Katy Beebe (picture book). This story is a delightful and humorous way to explain the process of making books at a monastery during the Middle Ages.

:: The Vermeer Interviews: Conversations with Seven Works of Art by Bob Raczka. I love Vermeer’s paintings, and this book is an entertaining way to learn about them!

:: A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet by Kathryn Lasky (picture book). Phillis Wheatley shows up in Liberty's Kids, the animated series about the Revolutionary War (one of our must-own video series), so the boys were interested in reading her story.

:: Master Cornhill by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. Luke just finished this adventure story about a twice-orphaned eleven year old boy set in London in the 1600s during the Black Plague and the Great Fire—perfect complement to our current history studies.

Leif has also read a few of the books I posted in Luke’s list (Peter Nimble, The Night Gardener, Gulliver’s Travels), but we found two more Treasure Chest books (Alexander Graham Bell and Leonardo da Vinci) at the library.

Levi has been reading random books (and many of the books I’ve already listed). Or, I should say sneak reading, because he uses up all of his free reading time in not focusing on his school work (and reading when he is not supposed to be reading).

And then there is my reading, which slowed way down when September hit.

It took me a while to get into The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge, but then I loved it very much. I realized how much I prefer to have my own books rather than borrowing from the library, because I couldn’t underline my favorite passages and then revisit them later. I did, however, manage to type up a couple:

p 155

Charles lit another cigarette and the spurt of flame illumined cruelly the sly weariness of his face. His father’s grief went through him like a sharp physical pain and he shifted in his chair. Parsons when they preached did not stress sufficiently the weariness of sin. That was its chief punishment, he believed, for sensitive temperaments like that of his son. You could be a cheerful sinner if you were tough, but you had to be tough.

p 164

[I]f you understand people you’re of use to them whether you can do anything tangible for them or not. Understanding is a creative act in a dimension we do not see.

p 260

So this blessing of loneliness was not really loneliness. Real loneliness was something unendurable. What one wanted when exhausted by the noise and impact of physical bodies was not no people but disembodied people; all those denizens of beloved books who could be taken to one’s heart and put away again, in silence, and with no hurt feelings.

Then we must talk about Marilynne Robinson.

Or, rather, mention her, because talking about her will be a post all on its own. A very long post.

I will simply share here that I read and fell in deep love with Gilead some time ago. Robinson just recently came out with Lila, and I set my heart on reading Housekeeping and then Home before Lila. Well, Home split my heart wide open and I just couldn’t move on to Lila without a break. (For those of you who have not read Robinson, you do not read her books for the plot. You read her books to feel what it is to be another person. To think and feel as they do. And to think about the thinks and feel about the feels.)

I made the mistake of reading Gone Girl instead. As if that would help me feel better. Ugh.

So I went on a crash diet of modern romance books, a couple Katie Fforde's and The Rosie Project, and now I think I might be able to handle Lila. We’ll chat about all four books when I’m finished.

I also read Number the Stars and Amos Fortune, Free Man so that I could participate in literary discussion with Levi as he is working on his persuasive essays for Challenge.

Three more picture books to share tomorrow, and then maybe we’ll move on from talking about books for a while. At least a day or two. Grin.