when the sun sets late

As summer approaches and it begins to stay lighter, later, we are left with 3 hours of daylight after bedtime. What to do with all those hours? Sometimes we stay up and spend that time enjoying the great outdoors. Other days I need bedtime to get here as fast as it can. It is then that we read, everyone in their respective beds. 

This is the stack of books Emma came home from the library with.

We either need better blinds to block out that sunlight or bigger muscles to carry those 

ever increasing stacks of books if we are to get through these summer months!

Did I ever tell you how much I love my ginger-snap? Her personality matches her hair in all the best ways. 

She is one of the most unique people I have ever met. She teaches me daily not to take life so seriously. 

She does her own thing and doesn't care or even notice that she may be the only one dancing to the music in her head!

This is Nya re-telling me a story about balloons, just as the Librarian did today during story time.

It is a personal favorite of mine when she pretends to be all grown up and speaks to me as if I am the

 child and everything I do is the most fantastic achievement. 

I quite welcome hearing things like, "Yes, that's right!", "Good job!", and, "You did it!" 

If my 3 year old thinks I can do it, who am I to argue? 

shift work

I was introduced to the mormon channel tonight, by my sweet sister-in-law Julianne. She told me of a couple of conversations/interviews she heard that she found truly inspirational. I was eager to get home, tuck my wee ones into bed and listen. As Julie Beck talked she related our lives to that of shift work. The simile made me smile, and I began to think about my own life. I don't mind the day shift. We wake up usually refreshed and ready for a new day. The day shift brings chores and self-care. It involves scripture study and family prayer. We fall into learning; books are opened, journal pages filled, and math puzzles solved. So many things await us; new things to learn, new adventures to have, some old ones to finish, and fresh games to play. 


Then there is the afternoon shift. This is the shift that is the very hardest for me. Everyone is learned out, worked out, tired out, and hungry. We might even be a little bit tired of each other. This is the shift that as Sister Beck puts it, "we need to be at the top of our game". Tears come more easily, feelings hurt more readily, and little ones need extra love. Dinner is also anxiously awaiting preparation. This is the shift I anxiously await the arrival of a much needed new pair of eyes, ears, and arms - Daddy! 


The evening shift follows. This is usually my favorite shift, and not just because bedtime is only around the bend (although there are days when nothing is more appealing). This is a time for bubble baths. It is my time to wash and wrap warm towels around clean heads and toes - to snuggle, to read, to kiss and hug, and to tuck away for the night. This is a time I use to bond one on one with the older children. The younger ones usually take up much of my energy during the day, simply because they demand my attention in a different way than the older ones do. But the older children and I have a special routine at night. When the smallest of the smalls are snoozing, when the house has gone to bed, when jammies are donned, I exhale and we bond in the pages of books. Each child has a novel that I read to them. We snuggle in my bed, and enter a world of fiction. This doesn't happen every night, but as often as it can. It is our time to escape into imagination.

Noelle and I are reading this book. This is our second time through - we love this book. 

It reminds me a bit of The Lord of the Rings, but girly.

 Bergen and I just finished this one. It made us both laugh out loud. 

This is a book for boys, about boys, involving pirates, murderous mermaids, and gigantic flying reptiles. 

If you have a boy, I think I can safely say they will love this book.

 And this book, which is a sweet story about a ballerina, a mouse, and a missing voice, is being enjoyed my Emma and myself. 

Not only are we shift workers, but overtime is mandatory. Vacation days are few and far between. And the pay does not come in the form of many digits. Neither is it in fame.

No, It is subtly revealed in sticky jam kisses, and spontaneous I love you's. It is in the eyes of the child who seeks your comfort when hurt or discouraged. It is in the little hand that holds yours. It is in the plea, "mommy, watch me". Our reward is in a place we cannot see. We are the president, the princess, the pop-star that first captured the hearts of our children. It is in that part of them that is just for us. The corner of their hearts that only we can fit into. That is something money could never buy and fame could not fulfill.

We are the shift workers, we are the mothers.

a book and its cover

We went to the library for Family Home Evening last Monday and since Darren was with us I was given extra time to peruse the bookshelves. This was such a treat. I always get so excited when I go here. I wonder what I will find. I must admit that unless I have been given a recommendation to look for in particular, I definitely judge a book by its cover. I am drawn to certain colors and graphics. Also, the title of a book has a great deal of importance for me when it comes to the choosing. I found a few that I couldn't wait to get home and start. Unfortunately the last 4 books I brought home I have put back down. Some because I just couldn't get into them and others because of the content, one of them after only the second page. If you have to say that word (it begins with the 6th letter of the alphabet) in the first few pages of a book you will lose me every time. (That word has no place in the english language. I cannot imagine an more unintelligent word) The next morning when I had that book by the front door ready to take back to the library, Noelle opened it up and began to read. I asked her to put it down and told her (in non-specifics) the reason why. She looked at me and said, "Well why did you choose a book called "When We Were Bad"?" She had me there. I had no response for her. In her sweet mind the title should have given me the red light before I had even checked the book out. I love that girl.

So the next trip we made I started a new search. I didn't have to look long. At the end of an isle, on top of the shelving cart I found these. 

So far so good. I am loving each one.

I would still love a really great fiction novel though....... if anyone has any suggestions?

Dear Juliet,

I feel as if I know you. I feel as though I can relate. I too, think perhaps I am better at writing than living, that maybe I am better behind words than in real life. I have naturally curly brown hair, and know the curse of which you speak.

From the very beginning I wanted you to find someone. Someone you could love and who would love you back with an unending passion. Someone with whom you would grow old and grey and be more in love with at eighty than the day you were married. When you first met Mark Reynolds, my heart hoped for you that this would be the man. He was charming and handsome, and every good thing we imagine our husbands will be. I hoped this would be the prince charming of your story.

I fell in love, right along side you, with all your new friends from Guernsey, and as you got to know them through their letters I feel I did as well. I could imagine their faces, their houses, and their friendships.

You have made me want to write letters, real letters, with paper and pen.

I wish to leave this life, if only in my imagination, and join you in yours.

I long for my own Sophie and Sidney.

The night Mark proposed I wondered why you did not leap with joy and shout out, "Yes!" And then from that moment outside his apartment, when your feelings were uncertain, I wanted you to leave. I wanted you to get on that boat and sail away. And then I knew - from the very first instant you laid eyes on Dawsey, I knew that I could never be satisfied if you did not end up falling madly in love with him, leaving everything you know and spending the rest of your life as Mrs. Dawsey Adams on that isle, in that cottage by the sea.

I want you to love Kit. It is not hard for me to picture her, as she reminds me so very much of my own little brown curly haired, grey eyed girl - inquisistive and thoughtful, and in possession of an iron will. I want you to care for her, for always.

I did not want to know what I now know about Elisabeth. I wished her a safe return home. I wished her to be able to hold her baby and raise her up. I could not help but cry when I read the letter concerning her fate. These people, these events, this is their history. Maybe it wasn't Isola, or Eben, Remy, Eli or John, but whatever their names, these people affected by this war, really lived and died, and endured what we cannot imagine, and for this reason did my heart break. Not only for the fictitious character of Elizabeth, but for all the Elizabeths that really lived this kind of life.

I want to live with the talent and kindness of you, Juliet, the strength and courage of Elisabeth, the spunk and giant heart of Isola, and when I am an old lady, the grace and beauty of Amelia.

Thank you for opening my eyes to a world that was both so ugly and so beautiful. To a world were the human spirit underwent such suffering and yet found comfort and hope and a will to survive in family, friendship, and books.

Sincerely, Shelli McCullough

I am just over half way through and I can barely stand not knowing what comes next, but I am also so very nervous to find out.

This book will make you smile, break your heart and mend it back up again, as the characters become alive in your imagination.

get lost!

This is the second time we have been here this week. This is one of our most favorite places to be. 

 Of all the worries and insecurities I have about homeschooling, there is one thing that fills me up and gives me hope and lets me know that I have nothing to worry about!

 These children LOVE books. They could read and read and read. Being a book lover myself, I secretly thrill at the sight of them in the library. 

Actually, I rarely see them. Once we are through those doors they all disappear into the section of their choice, and I reluctantly have to gather them all up when it is time to go. 

 Back at home they disappear once again to snuggle on couches, in beds, or even on the book tray itself.

I love nothing more than when my children and I can get lost - in a good book that is!

family virtues

For those who care to know and those who ask me questions about the kinds of things we do for homeschooling I thought I would pass this along:

We started the Virtues Project this year. I am loving it. Every day the kids have the opportunity to earn appreciation cards when they have been seen displaying a virtue. When they earn a certain number of cards they get to pick a reward from the jar. I have had to put a cap on how many cards I distribute a day! 

For those who feel that it is wrong to reward, that the act should be a reward in itself and that the kids will learn to do things for the wrong reasons - I hear you and I understand. I have worried about this myself. But when I see the things they are doing for each other and the areas in which we are all improving, I would rather have them learn these things and get a reward, than do nothing at all.

If you want to know more about this program (founded by locals) you can go here. 

Teachers Assistant

I would love to be able to sit and read every book and  help with every puzzle whenever I am asked, and although I can a lot of the time, sometimes I cannot. This comes with the territory of having a large family and other children who need my time and attention as well. Instead of worrying or feeling guilty - how will I ever home school them all and give them the time and attention they need? - I have to remember that I have older children that can and are willing to help out. Like today, when I was asked by Tate to read him a story. I told him that I would in a minute as soon as I finished what I was doing. Emma, having heard the conversation asked if he would like her to read to him. He was delighted. Tate did not care if it was read by Emma or myself. He just wanted to hear a story. I believe that they gain so much from being able to serve and help each other. So in my absence and limitations, something else is gained - a bond between siblings that necessity helps create. 

Matilda

What do you do when all your daughter wants is to curl up on the couch with a book and a pillow and read, and read, and read - only to ask, when she is done, if you will take her to the library?

You leave her alone and watch as her little mind absorbs the story and she becomes immersed in that world, and then you silently give thanks for these precious moments when it is witnessed to your heart that what you are doing is right and is working. That you're children are not only learning to read, but learning to love it. And then you take her to the library!

Medieval Math

We love these books! They make math so much fun, for everyone. They help children (and adults) understand different math concepts and terminology in a fun kid friendly way. Today we read some of these books, and then I got out our wooden geometric shapes - I sent the kids on a quest throughout the house, each with a different solid shape. They were to find a certain number of household items that matched the shape they had. It was amazing what they came back with! For the rest of the afternoon they pointed out cylinders, spheres, cones and all the other shapes we learned about today.

We don't have this one - and I am very excited to find it and read it!

A few of our favorites:

I am always on the lookout for really great books. 

 When I am at the library, whether or not I pick up a book is usually based on its illustrations. They seal the deal for me (isn't that what our mother's taught us all NOT to do - judge a book by its cover). I know, I am probably missing out on some really great stories. 

But I just thought I would share some of our most beloved story books with you.

The first 5 are all written by the same author, she is one of our favorites - Amy Krouse Rosenthal. She has a great sense of humor, which she uses to get important messages across to children. Read her, she is just fun!

Sophie's Masterpiece by Eileen Spinelli, Someday by Alison Mcghee, and The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton all made me cry (but I am a big baby when it comes to things like that).

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett is a great little book to introduce how punctuation can completely change the meaning of a sentence. 

And Wynken, Blynken and Nod by Eugene W. Field, first published in 1889, is just a wonderful old classic. 

(I actually hand painted that poem all along the walls of Bergen's bedroom in our last house, and if you can believe it, I didn't take a picture. And it was cute, darn it!)

Planet Earth

I picked this fun book up at Winners. It has an inflatable globe that the kids can play with, and play with they do! 

Little House on the Prairie

My girls are reading through The Little House on the Prairie books right now, and loving every minute of it. We planned to do a sewing project last Friday and I asked the kids to think of something that they would like to make. Bergen choose a little pillow for his stuffed animals, and the girls choose...bonnets! They each did such a great job.
Home schooled kids, some might say.
But that is the beauty of it all. I love that my kids don't know and don't care what other people think and that they feel so perfectly safe at 10, 9 and 7 to sew bonnets and pillows with mom. My children aren't awkward or strange, they get along really well with their non-home schooled friends. BUT they are absolutely free and comfortable to be who they are and do what they want to do.
I am all for keeping kids, kids for as long as possible. They will grow up, that is inevitable. They will spend most of their lives as adults. But they will only have 1 childhood, and I intend to let it last!