Books!

Since we scaled back on the crazy a few months ago (See post about that here), I have had a lot more time to read aloud to my kids!  I love reading to them.  When I mentioned a book that I was reading to Turner recently, one of his friends said, "Doesn't he know how to read?  Why do you read to him?"  It made me so sad!  Sometimes when I read to my "little" kids (Regan age 10, Turner 8, Cooper 6), I find a stray teenager sitting nearby, unable to concentrate on what he's doing because he's engrossed in the story.  That's what it's all about!

I try to read things to my kids that I know they wouldn't choose on their own.  Here are a few of our most recent reads.

Peak, by Roland Smith.   It is a realistic fiction book about a 14 year old boy and his journey to summit Mount Everest.

I read this about a year ago and knew that I wanted to read it to the younger kids when they were ready for it.  Boy, were they ready!  They loved it!  When we neared the end, Turner didn't want me to read more than one chapter a night because he didn't want the book to end! We checked out every book on mountain climbing from the library, and a couple of documentaries about climbing Mt Everest.  We also read up on some history of Tibet and Nepal, and can even segue into a study of religion!  (I am starting to sound like a homeschooling mom!)  Turner really only likes to read non-fiction, so I love finding a book that is going to be a springboard to finding lots of non-fiction that he hasn't read before!

He has also decided that he will be climbing Mt Everest one day!

Before Peak, we read The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks.  I remembered reading it to the big kids when they were little kids, so we decided to give it a go.  They LOVED it.  There are five books in the series, so of course we read all five.  Some of the books in the series were better than others, and the kids definitely enjoyed these more than I did.  Turner was especially fascinated with the last book, in which Omri, the main character, travels back through time and space and is in the world of the Indian.  It is at a time when the tribes were being decimated by the settlers and the military.  Turner was in tears several times.  He was so mad at those settlers!  When we finished reading those, his non-fiction books of choice were about different Native American tribes, religions, traditions, etc.

We watched the movie after we were done with the whole series and were terribly disappointed.  It wasn't what they were hoping for.

During Christmas break, we read Charles Dickens', A Christmas Carol.

It was very difficult, but they looked forward to reading it each night, and they got emotionally involved in it!!  It only took us a few days to read, so if you're interested in reading Dickens to your children, I would highly recommend starting with this!  This led us not to non-fiction books to read on the side, but movies!  We checked out several versions from the library.  I'm sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that our favorite version was:

Watching this just after we had finished reading the original made us see how well it really sticks to the story!  We loved it!

Currently, we are reading an oldie, but a goodie.  David and the Phoenix, by Edward Ormondroyd.

We had a very old, well-read copy of this in my home growing up.  I never read it.  I knew that it was my brother Dale's favorite, but it just didn't appeal to me.  Recently, Dale posted a link on Facebook that led me to see an interview with the author, and it intrigued me enough to check out the book.

The kids are enthralled.

I'll give more details when we finish it.  And I'm sure we'll be checking out lots of books about mythical creatures!

Meanwhile, I'm on the prowl for some great books that have female protagonists.  Each of the books I've read to the kids recently has been starring a boy.  I have nothing against boys, but I think it's important for my daughter AND my sons to see girls as the stars more often in books.  I'm thinking maybe Dealing with Dragons (I may have read that to Regan already though, can't remember!), Goose Girl, or Ella Enchanted? Evolution of Calpurnia Tate?  The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle? Tuck Everlasting? I would love some suggestions!

See you at the library!

Pros and Cons of Ward Boundary Changes

We live in an area with a lot of new home construction.  The ward boundaries change every few years, usually resulting in a new ward or two being created.  It is wonderful to see the church growing, but there are definite pros and cons of boundary changes.

Yesterday, it was announced that a new ward would be created with parts of two existing wards that were very large.  We are in the group of people that will be in the new ward, the Liberty Ward.

With this new change, we are reunited with a group of people that were in our ward years ago, many of whom are some of our favorite people.  I am so, so, so excited to get to be more involved in their lives!

Last night when a couple of the kids were a little sad about the change, we sang, "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold."  It's not like their friends have died!  They just won't be in the same classes every Sunday!

Honestly, I am so happy about this new ward that was created, that I am having a hard time being sad at all.

Except for this:

  I JUST finished updating the last of the scout shirts with the right numbers.  Now I get to remove twelve numbers and replace them.  I'm super enthused about that.

Mom's Musical Heaven

My kids enjoy making music.  I know that.  But you don't always see it in the every day practice routine.  Some days practicing is fun and fulfilling, and some days it's just checking things off the chart.  As a mom, my job is to make sure that they are progressing and working hard, but still enjoying it.

Much to my delight, I woke up the other morning to the sound of music!  I grabbed my video camera and started shooting.  I was trying to be stealthy (that's why it's from behind), but as you will see by Regan's mid-song jammie dancing, she discovered me and decided to ham it up a bit.

A little background on this song:  It is about ten songs ahead of the song that Turner was working on at the time.  Regan learned it on violin several years ago, but it is in a different key.  So Turner is partially sight-reading it, partially playing by ear.  Regan is along for the ride.  It's a great song, and the way Turner is working and learning, he will be playing it for real in a few short months.  Enjoy their rendition of "Two Grenadiers!"

Half Naked Cellist

Cooking!

My kids have always loved helping me in the kitchen.  Recently, Landon has spent a lot of time in the kitchen, working on his cooking merit badge (which is now a required badge for the Eagle award!).  He is quite competent in the kitchen, probably more so than I was at his age.  He can cook several meals completely independently, from scratch, and is confident enough to do so.

Porter makes no bake cookies often. He has the recipe memorized.  And he knows that if wants to see the light of another day, he had better clean up after himself.  He also has to share.  So he will make one cookie the size of a dinner plate, and six more the size of regular cookies, and then he says that everyone can have one.  Of course he's already working on his, so no one else can claim it.  Who knows, he probably licks it first. 

Regan has also been in the kitchen a lot lately.  Most recently, I arrived home about two hours after the rest of the family on a Sunday afternoon.  The house smelled warm and inviting.  Regan skipped over to greet me and told me that she had made chocolate chip cupcakes.  What a nice surprise!

She made them from scratch.

She searched the internet for a recipe on her own.  

She separated eggs!!!! (She was supposed to beat them to stiff peaks, but she had no idea what that meant, so she just stirred them up a bit!  Lol!)  I didn't even know she knew how to separate the yolks from the whites.  I guess she's been paying attention!

I was super proud of her.  And the cupcakes were delicious!  

Unfortunately, the family movie we chose to go with them wasn't so great.  We just finished reading the five Indian in the Cupboard books, and the kids loved them, so I got the movie from the library.  It was terrible.  The kids were disappointed.  

But, going off on a tangent, they are doing all sorts of research about Native Americans now, and I think that Turner may become an activist for Native American rights.  He is so ticked off that the settlers stole their land.  Ha!  You go Turner!!

And now, a video from last year, that Regan made for a school project.  It was a how-to, and had to be based on a book.  So she made molasses candy, from the Little House books.  Hope you enjoy!

Super Powers!

We have a running joke in our home that Hayden is Superman.  Cooper pretends to believe that Hayden is really Superman, and he tries to convince all of his friends that it's true.  He usually shows them this picture (photographed by Ben Leavitt), and that's all she wrote.

Today Cooper wrote the following to Hayden in his email:  Dear Hayden,  You're my best super hero.  I love you very much.  And you are my super man!!!!! Love, Cooper

Hayden's reply made my day:  I love you little dude. Keep working towards developing your superpowers. Someday, you will realize what you really are, what you can do. Elder Oliver

 Super Hayden at age 3, before he was fully aware of his powers.

Turner's Scripture Case/Carry-all

Turner takes his scriptures to church each week.  Little did I know what else he was taking as well!  I did notice his scripture case was a little bulgy.  So I took a peek inside. 

So far so good, right?  So I decided to unpack it, to look for hidden treasures.

       

And here are the contents all laid out.  Clockwise, starting at the left:

1.  Scriptures

2.  Necktie, still tied.  Presumably removed immediately after leaving my presence.

3.  Hangman Game Notepad

4.  Three airplanes made from notepad

5.  Big thick white notepad (I'm assuming paper airplanes from this were confiscated)

6.  Children's songbook

7.  Small notebook

8.  Scripture marking crayons

 

 I took a look in the little notebook, and this was the first thing I saw:  "Church Days, Chapter 1.  We sang 'Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd.'"

 And then the sacrament prayers written out.

 And then reality.