Eleven

Philip's birthday is today! He shares the date with good people. We had a fairly typical day, except that piano lessons were today rather than yesterday, thanks to all the ice. After we ate tacos (Philip's choice), the brothers entertained with a series of bad jokes. We opened presents (John Mark is dying to get his hands on Philip's new Spiderwick Chronicles boxed set), and Philip was thrilled with the 3-D hologram nightlight that Becca bought him Gatlinburg. We ate chocolate cake and Spumoni (MOM!! There's something inside my ice cream!!) and then Grandma and Grandpa called to sing "Happy Birthday." The conversation from Philip's side went something like this:

Hi Grandma!......... No, not really (sigh). I had piano, homework, and got grounded (he got grounded for spitting off the second balcony at Annie two days ago).....Hey, did you see the lunar eclipse??........... I'm going to work for NASA......HUSH!!!.... Not you, Grandma, I was talking to Nathanael.... and after that, there was a lot of giggling- Grandma must have been pretty funny. Here's his birthday cake:

He's not 56. His sister couldn't find two "ones" in the cake miscellany box, but she found a five and a six (5+6=11, right?) but she decided that was confusing, so she found 11 regular candles too. Happy Birthday, Philip! I'm sorry that you have such a strange family, but we love you!

Happy Things

Here's my random list of this week's Things to Be Happy About:

*Our co-op went to the school matinee of Annie yesterday, followed by lunch at Pizza Inn and a whirlwind school day in which no one learned much of anything. It was fun.

*Last night, the entire family stood out on the front porch bundled in coats and blankets and howled at the lunar eclipse. What an awesome sight!
(the moon, silly, the moon was awesome...)

*The ice has returned! It's like a divine intervention from God saying, "STAY HOME." Of course, we have not experienced the loss of power, cable, etc. that many others in the area have... that's a happy thing too!

*Ice Days and a backlog of great books to read are good companions

*American Idol is back! Our family enjoys watching it together and John has made our computer into some sort of wireless T Vo, so we don't have to skip Wed night church to watch it. (Just kidding... maybe...)

*I received a box in the mail full of fab ebay purchases earlier this week: three skirts and a really cute top, all for $29 including shipping. Love 'em!

TBC...

Safety Tip #73

A Public Service Announcement, courtesy of Nathanael:

Keep that in mind as you head to the beach this summer.

Play Day

John woke up this morning determined to get all his paperwork done, but really and truly, he was in the mood to play! The little boys had movie gift certificates from Christmas, so we took them to see The Spiderwick Chronicles this afternoon, where we ran into Christina, Zach and Madison. What fun! Afterwards, we used the Chick-Fil-A coupons they won at the Valentine's party yesterday, then John browsed Best Buy and Circuit City while the boys played all the latest video games. After we got home tonight, Philip and I went on a concert date to see the Symphony Pops play John Williams. They've been talking this up in children's chorus for several weeks now, so when John got free tickets at work, Philip was thrilled. They played music from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, E.T., Superman, Harry Potter, Jurrasic Park, and best of all: Star Wars! Even better, Obi Wan, Princess Leia, Storm Troopers, Darth Vader and lots of other characters showed up! It was a fun concert for Philip's first "real" trip to the symphony. Philip has definitely had a busy weekend!

Quiet is Relative

We sent the Two Teens off on a youth group trip to Winterfest in Gatlinburg for the weekend, and it is very quiet around here. John Mark seems to think it's his personal duty to manage all his younger siblings, and it generally keeps things stirred up, since the siblings do not particularly want to be managed by John Mark. It's very quiet without him, although that seems an odd thing to say, considering that I still have three boys here...

Anyway, we had the homeschool group Valentine's Party today, a day late- don't ask me why 'cause I don't know. It's been the little boys' hot topic of conversation for the past two weeks, so they were beyond excited. Considering that, you would think that they would put a bit more work into their Valentine boxes- the church gym was full of shiny, glittery, heart-covered boxes, but no! Philip shows up with a taped-together granola box. I am such a bad mother.

Ok, in all fairness, I just had other creative priorities this week. The 4-H Communications Day competition was tonight, and Philip and I spent our "break week" throwing together a demonstration together for him. I was so sick back in January when the registrations were due that I figured we would just have to skip the competition this year, but our Extension agent told us to go ahead and pull something together. Philip is his father's child- all he needs is an audience- so he loves to do the speech competitions. He also loves science, and he had his heart set on doing a presentation on Super Novas and Black Holes. I told him that was way too much research for one weekend. "Ok then," he replied, "how about geology- all those rocks we have downstairs?" I told him he does not know anything about those rocks and he would have to do a great deal of research to find out about them. He was going to have to choose an easier topic this time around! In desperation, he begged, "What about gravity??" So much for easy topics. In the end, he entered the Health category and talked about "Bones: The Inside Story" and all was well. Now he knows all about the four bone groups, Haversian Systems, rickets and osteoporosis. We went to Steak n' Shake for celebratory cheeseburgers and shakes afterwards. Sometimes it pays to be a talker!

Two Teens

Today, my Becca-girl turned 13, and I am the mother of two teens! Philip, Becca's next younger brother who totally adores his older sister, spent his very own gift card on jewelry for her at Walmart. (Smart boy, that one!) When her dad asked what she wanted for her birthday, she requested a new Bible, so he made a special trip across town to purchase one for her- a hot pink and brown number with pink-trimmed pages and a fashionable belt closure. Since he is not "up" on teen fashion, he was not too impressed with his purchase, but she was, and they are both quite pleased. He was glad to buy this for her and asked if she wanted anything else. "Well," she said, "I'd really like it if you'd fix the dishwasher!" Oh, she's such a smart cookie, and I think her dad just might do it for her. We all have our fingers crossed...

We love you Becca- you are a joy. Happy 13th Birthday!

Winter Blahs

This coming week is break week for co-op. I am so thankful for breaks- just when I think "I can't TAKE this any more!" we get a break. Unfortunately, I have a lot on my mind with planning for next year and, as the de facto organizer for the co-op, I usually end up on the receiving end of everyone's complaints and problems. Sigh. Some days I want to go back to the good old days of tripping happily through life and letting someone else be in charge. Did I mention I was thankful for this break?

I am so bummed that Papa Murphy's pizza closed. I can never go back to Dominoes or Papa John's.

On the bright side, there is a scrapbooking night at church tomorrow night, and I am so behind on my pictures. It's been several months since I've even ordered prints from Snapfish. I love the idea of digital scrapbooking, but it is so darn expensive to print the pages that I am still stuck in the Dark Ages of photo splits and die cuts. But I love a good scrap night, with some yummy snacks, laughter with friends, and hopefully, lots of completed pages.

Tonight, I am going out to dinner with John. I am crazy about that man, in spite of the fact that he makes me insane some days. He is my absolute best friend in the whole world. I've never had scads of girlfriends the way some women do. I am private, I enjoy spending time by myself, and I just don't need the talk-time that other women seem to need (to my husband's relief). Even when I was young, I always had just one or two "best friends." Sometimes I'm envious of the relationships that other women have with each other, where they just call up and go out to dinner or a movie together, but I wouldn't trade a bit of that for having a husband as a best friend. So anyway, we're going to dinner tonight, and I am looking forward to spending a fun winter evening with my very most favorite person on this earth. I am a blessed woman.

The Game Day Birthday Boy

Happy Birth-day, Cameron! Yesterday, John's older brother David and his wife Stacie had their first baby. Or rather, Stacie had him and David just stood around and watched... we gals know how that goes. Anyway, what a cutie! (the baby, not David) I'm sure it won't be too long before Stacie has her boy all decked out in his tiny Patriots duds, but we won't tease Cameron about being born on the day the Pats Dynasty ended in Superbowl XLII, because we're a sensitive family that way. Really, we are.

Really.

The Book Review 2007

My January got so messed up that I didn't have a chance to do my annual Book Review List for 2007. I was heavy on the historical fiction and Biography last year, mainly so I could learn more about the time periods I was teaching in history (WWII during the spring and ancient history this school year). Historical fiction is my favorite genre anyway, so it was no great sacrifice :-). I added some notes this year in case you're looking for some great reads (or some to avoid!)

Historical Fiction = 17
Biography= 7
General Literature = 4
Reference = 3
Sci-Fi=3
Classics-2
Other Mystery/Thriller = 2
Other Non-Fiction = 2
_____________
Total= 40

*= one of my favorites. I rated the books by how much I enjoyed them- not necessarily their literary merit; 10 is highest

*Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery- 10
I still love the Anne of Green Gables series as much as I did when I was a teen. "Rilla" is a coming-of-age story about Anne's daughter, Rilla, set during WWI. It's a keeper in my library.

Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields- 6
A look at the life of Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill A Mockingbird. I found the relationship between Lee and Truman Capote fascinating. He owed her much more credit than she received for her behind-the-scenes work on his best-selling book In Cold Blood.

Act of Treason by Vince Flynn- 3
Flynn should have stopped while he was ahead; the Mitch Rapp series needs to come to an end.

A Voice in the Wind (Mark of the Lion Series #1) - 5
and
An Echo In the Darkness (#2 in the series) by Francine Rivers- 4
After reading a classic like Quo Vadis, it's just really hard for other books on the same subject to measure up. But if you like some ancient Roman history mixed with your Christian fiction, this is a good choice

On Secret Service by John Jakes- 4
I am sorry that this is the first book by Jakes that I've read, because I think he's got better stuff out there. At least I hope so.

*The Winds of War- 10
and
*War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk- 10
Some of the best WWII historical fiction I've ever read. Fortunately, the books are far, far better than the wretched miniseries from the 1980's.

*In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton- 9
A WWII battleship carrying over 1,000 men is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sinks, leaving the survivors to float in the Pacific Ocean at the mercy of elements and predators, without anyone realizing the loss for more than four days. A spellbinding story of survival in one of the worst naval disasters in US history.

*Ghost Soldiers: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II's Most Dramatic Mission by Hampton Sides- 9
Another gripping read! The story of the American soldiers who were taken captive on the Bataan Death March, and the man who spearheaded their daring rescue when MacArthur's troops arrived to retake the Philippine Islands.

Rosa's Miracle Mouse: The True Story of a WWII Undercover Teenager by Agnes Lackovic Daluge- 6
One you can read with your kids! The autobiography of a courageous German teen who spied for the Allied Forces as part of the Munich underground during WWII.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas- 5
I had such high expectations for this book that I'm afraid I doomed it from the start. A rare case in which I prefer the movie to the book.

Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis- 6
A retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, and way deep if you stop to examine all the spiritual truths Lewis explores in the story. Many people consider this their favorite book by Lewis.

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare- 7
I love her books as much as my kids do! This one is set during the time of the Roman Empire. It offers a fascinating perspective on Jesus' ministry through the eyes of a teenage Jewish boy

The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw- 7
Another page-turner, set in Ancient Egypt, which my kids and I both loved.

*Corelli's Mandolin: A Novel by Louis De Bernieres- 10
A gut-wrenching and laugh-out-loud funny love story set on the Greek island of Cephallonia during WWII. Fortunately, the book bears little resemblance to the wretched movie starring Nicholas Cage and Penelope Cruz.

Simple Genius by David Baldacci- 3
Baldacci's old stuff is much better.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer- 6
The emaciated body of a young man is found in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness in 1992...

I'm not usually drawn to books like this, but I went to high school with Chris McCandless, the subject of the book, and his sister Carine. The author interviewed a number of McCandless's friends and it was the strangest feeling reading their comments because I *knew* these people, and yet... I didn't. It's a compelling book, and I hope the movie, which I hope to see soon, has done it justice.

Homecoming- 4
and
The Farther Shore by Christie Golden- 4
Pure escapism for Star Trek Voyager fans who want to know what happened after the series finale.

Jack Higgins: Three Complete Novels: The Eagle Has Landed; The Eagle Has Flown; Night of the Fox by Jack Higgins- 6
Well-done WWII espionage fiction. If you like Tom Clancy, you'll like Jack Higgins... or vice versa!

*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling- 9
Not my favorite book in the series, but a satisfying ending

*Tramp For the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom- 10
I love Corrie Ten Boom! I reviewed this book here

*A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute- 10

"A Town Like Alice" tells of a young woman who miraculously survived a Japanese death march in World War II, and of an Australian soldier, also a prisoner of war, who offered to help her--even at the cost of his life...."

Another book that is, fortunately, much better than the BBC production.

The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas: 500+ Fun and Creative Learning Activities for Kids Ages 3-12 by Linda Dobson- 5
I wrote a review here

The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer- 5
A controversial Holocaust memoir written by a young German law student who went into hiding during WWII and eventually married a Nazi officer who helped her maintain her false identity.

Flight of Eagles by Jack Higgins- 6
Another WWII espionage novel from the spymaster

*Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why by Laurence Gonzales- 10
I didn't quite know what I was getting when I began this book, but it turned out to be one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read. It explores the science behind survival, whether you are stranded in a blizzard, swept out to sea, or facing a domestic crisis. It was absolutely fascinating reading.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven- 6
What do you do if you get stuck in quick-sand? Or are chased by Killer Bees? How do you excape from a sinking car? Just in case you ever wondered...

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks- 6
I finally got so mad at Nicholas Sparks for killing off his main characters at the end of every book that now I actually check the ending to make sure it's worth the read. Not as good as The Notebook, but satisfying.

The Greatest Weddings of All Time by People Magazine- 5
Once, while I was reading the Life section of the local Sunday paper, my husband asked me why I bother reading about all those weddings and engagements. "You don't know those people," he said. He's right... I guess I'm just nosy.

Books to Build On: A Grade-by-Grade Resource Guide for Parents and Teachers (Core Knowledge Series) by E.D. Hirsch Jr. -5
Because I'm always looking for the best in children's Lit and because I love Charlotte Mason's idea of education through "living books"

Star Trek Voyager: Endgame by Diane Carey, et al.- 5
The book form of the Voyager series finale

A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery- 5
Does not rank anywhere near the Anne of Green Gables series, but L.M. Montgomery fans will still enjoy

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham- 5
"You're reading a football novel??" was my husband's reaction when he saw this book. Well, yes and no. I did come away with a *slightly* greater appreciation of the game of football, but generally, I glossed over the football parts in favor of Grisham's wonderful tour of Italy. I had a hard time liking the main character, but it was a short, fairly enjoyable read.

*The Masters of Rome Series by Colleen McCullough:
The First Man in Rome- 6
The Grass Crown- 6
Fortune's Favorites- 7
These are the first three books in a (mostly) historically accurate 7 book series, set during the last days of the Roman Empire. "The First Man in Rome" tells the story of the rise of Gaius Marius and his protege and friend, Lucius Cornelius Sulla. It's been the most difficult book in the series so far, partly because I found McCullough's prose difficult to decipher at times, partly because she has so many story lines, and partly because of her accurate but graphic portrayal of the barbaric nature of Roman times. Sulla's story in particular is difficult because of the depravity of his background.

"The Grass Crown" follows the decline of Marius and the rise of Sulla, and "Fortune's Favorites" chronicles Sulla's dictatorship and death as well as the rise of Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, who would eventually form the First Triumvirate. The books become progressively easier to read- partly, I think because someone did a better job of editing, and partly because McCullough narrows her focus as she reaches an era in which there is much more written history to draw upon. I am enjoying the series, but I think that it takes a real history junkie to wade through it. That being said, this is some of the best *historical* fiction I've ever read.