What's In My Teapot?

As I was thinking what to write in today's book review, I wished that I could simply say, " Everyone must read Being Mortal !" and be done with it. It really is that good. And while the book is not necessarily one you read for pleasure or in order to relax- which is probably why it took me all month to get through it- the content is deeply thought provoking and thereby well worth wading through to the very end. I often have trouble putting together a succinct review on the books that I read, and this book is no exception. In fact, it is probably one of the most difficult to date since I fear I will not do justice to what the book has to say, as well as the conclusions that the author comes to. One of the best ways to tell you what the book is about is to give you a quote by the author in the introduction: "This is a book about the modern experience of mortality- about what it's like to be creatures who age and die, how medicine has changed the experi...

I recently had a saga going on in my house that reminded me strongly of the book  If You Give a Mouse a Cookie . In that story, the trouble starts with an innocent little cookie and escalates from there. In the story of my life, the snowball effect started with a simple statement: "I need a new bookcase." The need to replace the small existing bookcase in the living room with a larger one became apparent as I was sorting school supplies and eying all the LightUnits, teacher's keys, readers & workbooks that were finding their way into the room in preparation for school. Last year I kept the books that I wasn't using upstairs on another bookcase, but that was rather unhandy and there just wasn't enough room for everything this year! After all, not only were there more books now than ever before, but there were more students! Thankfully I have a principal who takes the word of his only school-teacher seriously. I said I needed a bigger bookcase one night...

Yesterday was Elasa's official first day back to school at the white house with the green door. In this school, there were no new backpacks or shoes, no packed lunches or yellow buses roaring about. There was, however,  a stack of brand new books, a pupil with freshly-combed hair, and a teacher reporting for duty, and apparently that was all we needed, for second grade commenced without further ado. Elasa was not required to register as a student with the school district this year, as she doesn't turn 8 until early winter, so our workload is relatively light once again as I am mainly focusing on math, reading and language arts. Subjects such as science and history will wait for next year, when she will be registered and thereby required to do them. Christian Light Publications once again come to the rescue with two out of three subjects, and I am excited to be using them after the success I had with their math last year. And speaking of math, we did indeed...

Most children's ears will perk up at the mention of the word TRAIN ! Or at least that's the case for three out of three of my children, and by what I've observed, they're not alone! I am not sure what it is about these hulking machines and their whistles, but trains can turn grown men back into children like nothing else, while at the same time turning children into dreamers with visions of someday being the engineer behind the throttle. We recently went on a little scenic train ride in Walkersville, MD, and the idea came to me today, while I was at the library trying to decide which children's books to review, that I could tell you about that trip while at the same time reviewing some favorite children's train books. Two birds. One stone. Perfect. Our family was accompanied on our ride on the  Walkersville Southern Railroad  by Wesley's sister, Elizabeth, her husband Andre. their two children, Pierre & Helen, and Andre's sister, Heather. One...

August came in with a rush of picnics and gorgeous weather, and if I could will the summer to go on and on I would. I don't know if it was the fact that I did some school with Elasa today, or the change in my neighbor's tree, or the particular blue of the sky, but suddenly there was a twinge of autumn in the air, and it made my heart do that nostalgic little drop at how fast time is moving on. How is it that my oldest son will be five this month? And how did I get to be the mother of a seven-year-old starting second grade, anyhow? But there, it's only yet the beginning of August and my first brave little zinnia finally bloomed today, so let's focus on that...and oh, yes, the fact that I have something new on the shelf waiting to be read! (Do you find new books as cheering as I do?) Choosing August's book came easily this time because I spied it as the  Summer Read at my local library, and I figure that if it's worthy of that kind of attention, then ...