Free Books

As a home school mom I like my children to read the best books possible. I remember going to a home school conference many years ago and hearing the term "twaddle books". What is that? Here is Charlotte Mason's (British educator) definition: Twaddle = dumbed down literature; absence of meaning.

Instead we are supposed to read living books. Charlotte Mason's definition again: Living Books = books that are well-written and engaging---they absorb the reader---the narrative and characters "come alive"; living books are the opposite of cold, dry textbooks.

Well, in our home we read what some may consider twaddle, mostly living and occasionally even dry boring books. Ask Rachel about the history books she reads in our Robinson curriculum.

Now for the free books I promised. I heard about the first website from an overly excited non-twaddle home schooling mom. However, I found her obnoxious, and disruptive so I chose to ignore any of the advice she offered that day! But as the years went by, the book shelves are filling up, and occasionally I can't find the book my child really wants to read. So I remembered non-twaddle mom's advice and turned to gutenberg.org, and more recently, booksgoogle.com Here you can find a huge assortment of (non-twaddle) books, which are no longer in print, and whose copyrights are expired . They are free for you to download, print, etc. We print our non-twaddle books on a Brother 5250DN. It is capable of printing duplex which saves a lot of paper. After printing I place them in 3 ring binders, the white ones from Costco. They have a pocket in front that you can place your title page in. Ok, it's not like holding a real book, but my kids don't seem to care! If they spill on it, leave it outside, or whatever - just reprint the pages you need to. When we're done with the book we take it out of the binder and store it in a box. I guess in time we may have a box problem. But for now they all fit nicely in one box.

What do we print? Bret's favorite books are Tom Swift books by Victor Appleton, Garret loves Arthur Scott Bailey. and Rachel has read most of the 5 Little Peppers series. There are more, but my post is getting too long.

Happy Reading!

Let me in!

Here is a video of the bird!
Lilly named him "Yellow
Birdie". He is a Hooded Oriole. - Rachel

Rachel woke up Monday morning to our little friend asking to come in. He left mid morning and I didn't know if we'd see him again. Here he is, and more persistent today about coming in than he was yesterday. We have the screen open now so we can listen to him chirp! - Mom

Ladies Night Out, Seasons

Yesterday morning my sister-in-law surprised me with a call. She had an extra ticket to the symphony. Did I want to go? I hesitated, and Wade answered for me - "Of course you want to go!" Yeah! I really did want to go, I love the symphony! I love to see the elegantly dressed people, I love to sit in those seats, I love to study the orchestra, and most of all - I love the sound! Especially last night's - entitled "Bravo Beethoven". Before the symphony I had the privilege of dining with my sister-in-law and two of her special friends. Encouraging conversation, good food, and wonderful memories. Thanks Cindy!
This morning my sweet little girl all dressed for church left to pick flowers. We were going to learn about seasons. Gen. 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years. She brought her special flowers to Sunday School to show her friends what God gives us in spring. Papa was helping today because Grandma is sick, he brought blossoms and immature peaches, plums and apples. We tried to guess what the fruit was - of course the kids thought they were grapes. That is what they looked like! So we explained that God would make this fruit ready in the summer time! As it grew, the heat from summer would ripen and sweeten it - yum! Thank you God for seasons! And for a little girl to share your creation with!

What kind of bird is this? Maybe Mary can tell me. This is the best picture I could get from the girls bedroom window.

Flashback Friday

My children are growing so fast! Here are a few oldies from a trip we took to Morro Bay 8 years ago this week.

Rachel and Bret on the beach.
A cool place to look at tidepools.
Bret - This guy was always getting wet! He still loves the water!
Bret and Papa
Our special tea party! We made scones from a mix and served them with lemon curd. We drank out of beautiful tea cups (a gift from Grandma). Rachel recently used hers at a church tea party. I reminded her of this special day with Grandma. Notice Bret in the picture - he wasn't about to be left out of our tea party (there was food involved!)

Have a good weekend!

Happy Anniversary

Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. Psalm 127:1

April 9, 1994 - April 9, 2008.

Air Soft B-Day!

Today we celebrated Bret's belated Birthday with a few good friends.
This is Rambo, aka Wade (my hubby!) Last night he played Lazer Tag from 11:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m., slept three hours and was at it again!The previous owners must have used this for a hummingbird feeder, today Rambo used it to hold his weapons while he rested.
This is Capture the Flag team #1.
Capture the Flag - Team #2, and the winners. They had Rambo on their team.
Thunk! Garret shot Bret with a 350 FPS handgun, (I have no idea what that is, but it looks like it hurt!)

Lunch time! Rambo is explaining the next battle they will reinact. Black Hawk Down!
The girls!
We made time for cake and singing! The troops at rest!

Preparing for the next battle. These are the bad guys!

Here are our American Heroes in Black Hawk Down. Rambo is discussing strategy with his Navy Seals.
Happy Birthday Bret!

To Don't List

Here is something for all the moms like me (or maybe I'm the only one).

To-Don't List
In an interview Dr. Howard Hendricks of Dallas Seminary is quoted as saying the following:
"It is obvious that none of us can do everything. So you have to make choices. I find that a person has to choose between the things that he or she can do and the things that he or she must do. That calls for elimination. We all have to-do lists. We need to-don't lists."
I challenge you to spotlight about five things that only you can do, or should do. Put those on your to-do list and put the rest of the things on the to-don't list. Then go about delegating and training others to take over for you. - Messies Anonymous

This week I taught my youngest three to clean toilets, I'm closely monitoring them, and I have to say I've been impressed. At our last house the toilets were so bad because I never delegated this job, I thought I was the only one who could do it right (and I didn't do it often enough). Here's my idea for this house - and our four toilets. Three toilets get cleaned every day. So, three children clean and one child gets the day off. Maybe they won't do the best job every day, but everyday a less than perfect job, beats a once every other week mom job.

I'll spend the day thinking about what else to put on my "To Don't List".