Much to learn, much to do

My own snippets...

I'm enjoying having a bit of extra time.  Even little things were too much for a while there, with so many kiddo things to be thinking about and helping with.

I had noticed my Mother's Day flowers were sprouting new leaves by the time they were about ready to go to the garbage, so I saved a couple of the more vigorous looking stems.  I consulted a super plant-smart young man I know and asked him if there was a way that I could encourage them to grow, and maybe make my own rose plants.  (I should note that I've purchased and planted I believe 5 rose bushes since we moved here, and none have survived.  I seem to have that effect on many plants, which is why I enjoy things that take pretty much zero effort and just do their thing, like the bushes on the north side of our house that my husband doesn't appreciate but I love because they were one of the first things I planted here and they still look fabulous.)  Anyway, this young man taught me about rooting powder.  Up till today the stems have been in water, but I finally got some rooting powder a couple days ago and now they are in potting soil.  Here's hoping I did it right and that it actually works.

I want to practice drawing.  Two of my siblings took art in high school and they can do amazing things, so I feel like maybe I have some of that in me somewhere.  Our art projects in Vanguard this year were especially fun and inspiring, enough to make un-artful little ol' me want to do and try more.  In Webelos we've been working on our Artist badge, and we had this lovely lady in my neighborhood come to talk to the boys.  She talked about her journey to becoming an artist.  One thing I thought was especially fun was that when she was little her mother would draw beautiful faces with lovely hair and a stick figure body.  Then her mom would challenge her to finish it with nice clothing.  Our artist put together these great art kits for the boys, gave them some drawing advice (like start small, because it's easier to draw smaller versions of things), and we walked them outside for another part of the badge - draw something in nature.  They were excited to show off their drawings to her and have her oooh and ahhh over them.  Anyway, she got me thinking even more about it.  Jamie has a book he brought to our marriage (from his days working in a craft store) called "Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain" that I started working through 7 years ago (I know that from the dated drawing attempts that were in the book).  I guess I should have kept going then, because then I could be using those amazing skills now, right?  While I was flipping through it the other day I noticed a spot where it mentions Leonardo da Vinci.  Apparently he only did art the last 10 years of his life, and he spent the first 2 of those years working entirely on learning to draw, knowing how important it was.  I checked out a book by the same author on color, and I caught this quote by Van Gogh:

I have lots to work on this summer.

Cleaning out so we can work on the basement is a huge priority.

Lots of planning for Vanguard, both for the portion I teach and since I'm the group advisor now.  That's been a lot of fun so far.  Every time the other group leaders and I meet  there have been so many great ideas and a lot of sharing back and forth.  I'm really excited for the year.

I've got a stack of books that I need to set some goals to work through (mainly for Vanguard).  As soon as Vanguard was done I started reading "Watership Down" again, but told myself I had to shoot for 50 pages a day.  The first two days I hit that.  The next few days were far more each day.  I have a few that have been at the top of my list for a few years ("Daisy Chain," "Precious Bane," and "Villette"), but there are always things that need to be done first, and I think it will be the same again with others I need to read, like "10 Great Souls I Want to Meet in Heaven" and "7 People That Changed the World" for Vanguard preparation.  I really love reading about all these greats!

I'm glad we have so much shade in the backyard.  The girls are swimming right now and I'm typing away.  Guess I need to bring my books outside with me and let them play in the water all day every day.

I've also told my girls that we need to work on some good home/work habits during the summer so when things get busy again we'll already have those in place and maybe they'll stay there.  Maybe?

Journeys

At our homeschool group earlier today, I overheard a few of the youth talking about a video on how Lord of the Rings should have ended, and they retold the story. At the council in Rivendell when it was decided the ring needed to be destroyed, Gandalf says he has an idea, and the next thing you know, a few of the Fellowship are at the gates of Mordor taunting Sauron, while Gandalf and Frodo fly in on giant eagles and drop the ring into the fire. Gollum dives in from who knows where and catches it, but still falls into the fire. Ring destroyed, the deed is done, and they all fly happily home.

Listening to the story, I immediately started thinking, "But . . . ! But . . . !" when one of the listening youth quietly replied, "But Gandalf would never have become Gandalf the White."

Precisely.

They all stopped, and the conversation turned another direction. But I continued it in my mind.

Gandalf would never become Gandalf the White.
Aragorn would never become king.
Frodo would never stretch to his end multiple times and still come out successful.
We never would have fallen in love with Sam's big heart.
Merry and Pippin would never be separated or find their bravery.
Legolas . . . just rocks always, but we wouldn't have seen him take down an oliphant.
Gimli would still hate elves.
Boromir would never feel the pull of the ring and realize the doom of it, enough to fight to the death to protect those saving it.
Gollum would never make it as far back to good as he did (even for a while).
The Ents wouldn't have gone to war.
The strongest bonds of friendship I've ever read about or watched would never be forged.
The four hobbits wouldn't appreciate their home nearly so much.

And on, and on. Just thinking about it all makes me want to read the books or watch the movies again to make notes on all that wouldn't have happened to make our hearts so full it overflows out our eyes when all those friends come together again in the end, successful.

Journeys aren't just about time, how long or short something takes. Journeys are about doing, growing, becoming.

Tough Chicks

After a wild and crazy day at the zoo (where there was an attempted attack on Erin and my nephew by a baby Siamese Crocodile and the tigers were more playful than we've ever seen them), we had dinner, the two middle girls had a bath, and we pulled out a couple of library books to read.

I picked up the first one, a book called "Tough Chicks" that Carolyn had checked out. When I started to read, I quickly got the feeling that I would be getting more out of the book than they would.

Not that it isn't a light, fun story. Three baby girl chicks are born and immediately prove to not be the normal variety of chicks. They do all sorts of wild things, getting into things they aren't supposed to, doing things they shouldn't.

"Make them be good!" called the animals.
"They are good!" Mama Hen clucked.
But sometimes even she worried.

I had to chuckle at one page in particular because I'd had a similar experience today at the zoo. When we go, we always joke that they zookeepers are going to think Carolyn is one of the monkeys and try to keep her there. She will usually ask a zookeeper if she can have a monkey, and when they say no, she'll ask if she can pet one (she hasn't talked anyone into it yet). She thinks the whole place is one giant jungle gym. In several areas of the zoo they have guardrails in front of the cages that are perfect for swinging on, and she sits, hangs, flips, and sometimes flops on them. Today we went with my two sisters and their kids, and as Carolyn was swinging away on one of them, my niece, who had been told not to do that, walked over to me and said, "Isn't she supposed to stop doing that?" I didn't respond, thinking, "But she's so GOOD at it!"

In the book, one of the three chicks likes to swing off the cow's tail, and after one particularly wild swing which causes the other chicks to run for cover, Mama Hen calls to her to be careful, then adds quietly to herself, "Nice form."

When a crisis happens on the farm, they are the ones to come to the rescue and save the day.  Happily ever after and all that.

This book is a treasure. A wonderful reminder for this mom that I have good kids too. They may be wild, loud, boisterous, active, nutty, playful, and disruptive, but they are good kids. And I can't wait to see what all that craziness becomes. If I'm still sane by then.

WOO HOO!!

Aimee Ray, author of "Doodle Stitching" (thanks again Cindi!) had a giveaway for a new book she's got a project in, and I won!

Check out my name in print (I feel so famous) and my "acceptance speech."

And by the way, she's coming out with another "Doodle Stitching" book in October. The instructions and designs in the first one are wonderful. Can't wait to see round 2.

Marni Half a Brain

A few months ago Melanie told me something that I thought was incredibly clever.

"Mom, you should be extra smart right now because you have two brains!"

I praised her for great thinking, then explained that unfortunately, half the brain in my head slid down to the baby.

Upon giving birth, this has proven to be true, since I feel like I only have half a brain now.

I've decided that new mommy brain is far worse than preggo brain. I wonder how long it takes for those cells to regenerate... if they do. I think they do, because I remember feeling significantly smarter than I do right now about 10 months ago.

Thank goodness we have plenty of books in my current reading level around here right now, like Hat by Paul Hoppe and a few Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems (we love anything Mo Willems).

Creating

Feels like it's longer than it really has been since I said hello here. My excuse? Let's see, I could pull this one again and say I'm too focused creating elsewhere. That is actually very true, and not even in the preggo sense (though that too!).

The homeschool group Adam is involved with on Thursdays reads then discusses one book a month. I was asked to lead the discussion in November on the book "Little Britches," which I highly recommend and would be happy to lend out to anyone that gets in line (the two copies we own are checked out right now). Leading the discussion means putting together questions for them to think about as they read so they come ready to talk about the book. Everyone up to that point had passed out a list of questions on a sheet of paper. But when I got handed this I went into ultra over-achiever mode and made this great tri-fold bookmark, complete with questions and lines to answer the questions. Handy because it was always with the book! I've done two more since then ("Boy in the Striped Pajamas" and "The Whipping Boy"), and it looks like I will probably be making those whether I'm in charge of the discussion or not.

I was also asked to help publish the assignments (termed "inspirements" since they can pick and choose from a list rather than a set requirement) for the kids each month. Again, over-achiever mode kicked in, and rather than just creating your basic list, I turned it into a whole newsletter, complete with dates they need to remember, the selections they are memorizing, and a couple of articles, all jazzed up and perdy. Just passed out the second newsletter Thursday.

So that's kept me busy "creating."

Reading "The Element" helped me see that creativity and imagination are used everywhere. I started a whole post on that that I never finished, but it's fun to notice now the kinds of things my creativity kicks in for.

On top of all that:
* I'm also the scout committee chair now. I'm so excited about that, but I've been working on getting myself organized and trained.
* I'm helping coach Adam's mock trial team, which thankfully will have both their competitions done in just over a month.
* I'm gearing up to teach a writing class for Adam's Thursday group, which I'm expecting to be a blast for them and me.

* And all the regulars - wife, mother, teacher, etc. etc. (you know what I mean)

Why be bored when there are so many great things to be doing?

There's a Difference, Eh?

I've said two things in the past that came together in my mind today.

1. "This book is so great I read it in a day!"
2. "This book is so great I'm only halfway through!" (This said after working on it for a couple of weeks or longer.)

There's a difference, eh?

On the flip side, the same thing could be said for books you're not enjoying, just maybe a little different.

1. "This book is so terrible I'm just going to race through it."
2. "This book is so terrible it's taking me forever to read."

Interesting.

Looking at 2010

I guess it's that time of year again! Well first, I must say how great it feels that I accomplished my "learn to make bread" goal last year. Exciting when I start a goal like that at the beginning of the year and by September, be teaching a class to others about it. I love the feel of the dough, and enjoy trying new bread recipes.

This year I'm going to stick with the homemakey theme. I really want to learn more about sewing, try some different projects, and see how that goes. I have a great machine that really should be put to better use, and sewing is in my heritage, so in a way I feel like it's something I should do to honor that. To report, I already started something new and already messed it up in the cutting process. It was a really basic pattern to draw out, and I read part of it as 6" long while it was supposed to be 9" long (sideways pattern piece, easy mistake). So looks like I'll be making a smaller cute handbag for one of the little girls. Too bad I cut a bunch of extra 6" long pieces trying to be on top of things.

Reading-wise, I'm not going to plan the same way I did last year. I thought it would be nice to have a list to check off from, but after making the list I learned about many books I either didn't know about then, or it was just the right time to read them. Things like "Do Hard Things," "Circle of Quiet," "Here, There Be Dragons," "Hunger Games," and "Catching Fire." So I think I'll be smarter this year and just throw out a number. I'm going to say 40 knowing I've got a baby on the way, but that will actually probably help the cause since babies make me sit more and I usually have a book in hand while feeding.

I also want to do more Book of Mormon study. Not read-straight-through kind of stuff, but jumping around, studying to know it better.

And one more - lose weight. Most people think I'm kidding when I say that, but I'm to the I'm-going-to-be-pregnant-till-the-end-of-forever point. Sick of maternity clothes, sick of feeling like I can't move. And I still have 2 1/2 months left. I think it hit earlier this time than it has in the past. I saw a pair of my pre-preggo jeans the other day and was thinking how nice it will be to wear them again, when I realized I still had more time to wear maternity clothes than I've already been wearing them. It was a depressing thought. But, I expect we'll be jumping back into the full swing of life soon and *hopefully* the time will go back to flying. Or I should just enjoy this time to slow down and take it easy. But that is so not me.

This morning I told the kids our baby will be born THIS YEAR, and February 1st I can say the baby will be born NEXT MONTH, so bit by bit we'll get there.

And there we go for 2010!

My Current Reading System

My reading and actually finishing a book has really dropped in the past few months. Dramatically. But I have an interesting new way to read. See, there are so so many interesting books out there, and only so little time to read them all in. When I do park myself to read it's far more studious than it's been before, and I really try to dig out the messages I need to learn from what I'm reading.

Since that takes a lot more effort and concentration, without blocks of unadulterated time it just doesn't happen.

So. Now when I hear about a really interesting book I check it out from the library and it sits next to the couch with all our other library books. When my card is (again/always) getting full and I have more holds waiting, I look through the books I actually checked out for myself, see if they are some I really want to look into more and return those I don't. I will usually at least look through the table of contents and maybe flip to a chapter or two, read a little, and either put it back in the pile or add it to my library bag to be returned. Fiction usually gets the first chapter read. Very few books actually get read all the way through. Except all the fun children's books. If I checked them out I read them to myself and decide whether it's good enough for me to read with everyone else or not. (Sidenote: We have some new favorite children's books, the Dragon books by Dav Pilkey. We read and giggled over the first two again and again and again, and had to track down all the others at the library.)

I usually make 2 trips a week to pick up holds, because twice a week I'm right in the same neighborhood. There are always things waiting for me.

I started this new system without realizing it. I try to narrow myself down and decide on a book (or three - currently "Power of Positive Parenting," "Song of the Lark," and "Leadership Education") to read and finish, but there are so many others out there that compel me to at least take a look. I have to wonder if I'm transitioning towards something else. Maybe one of these days I will wake up and realize I don't want to read everything, and I only want to read certain things. Or maybe it's a pregnant thing, and after this baby is born I'll have some focus again.

Only time will tell. I'll let you know if I notice it's happened.

Books I recently checked out:

"I am Murdered: George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson, and the Killing that Shocked a New Nation"

"The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything"

"The Pioneer Woman Cooks" by Ree Drummond

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"

"Arming Your Children with the Gospel"

"Embroidery"

"Hiking and Backpacking"

"John Adams" by David McCullough

"The Jackrabbit Factor"

"The Power of Positive Parenting"

"Thou Shall Prosper" (was going to take this back today but the table of contents kept it here)

"Usborne Book of Peoples of the World"

For even more fun, some of the books currently on my hold list at the library:

"Bridge at Andau"

"The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game"

"Christlike Parenting"

"The Christmas Sweater"

"The Duggars: 20 and Counting!"

"The Help"

"My First Summer in the Sierra"

Personal Revelation

I've been tossing a question around in my head for a while. I love to learn new things and want to constantly be learning and studying great books, but lately I've felt really disorganized in that. Like I had no direction, no goal, no anything. So every time I was ready to move onto something new I just felt lost as to where to go, and I've ended up reading less because of it. Saturday afternoon I was driving home from helping to paint the barn at my grandma's house, thinking about it again.

Saturday night I attended the general Relief Society meeting. I don't think there was anything said that made me think of it, but at one point the same question popped into my head, and a moment later I had my answer. I need to study things about home and family.

Before going to bed that night I took a few minutes to stare at my bookshelf and pulled off most of the books that I felt like could fit into that category. Here's a partial list:

Daisy Chain by Charlotte Mary Yonge (currently reading)

Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott

Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

Nurtured by Love by Shinichi Suzuki

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

Little Britches by Ralph Moody

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney

The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen Covey

The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd

The Book of Mormon: It Begins with a Family (essays)

The Book of Mormon: A Pattern for Parenting by Geri Brinley

Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinkley

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Song of the Lark by Willa Cather

Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss (thanks Lara)

Like I said, a partial list. There are some here that might leave people scratching their heads but I have my reasons how they fit into home and family. It was also just perusing the bookshelf next to my bed, not all the other bookshelves throughout the house. I'll stick with these for now.

This also includes home and family skills I need to learn. The ever-hovering cleaning/decluttering skill I find so hard to keep up with, canning, meal planning, gardening, and many other skills I can learn to strengthen my home and family. All the things I'm currently a failure at. This list could go on for miles, but I'll spare you the gory details.

I'm excited! I noticed a book that I had checked out from the library recently that doesn't fit here, and I can easily decide to take it back for now and save it for another time. Doesn't mean I'm not willing to throw in other books, but that my focus is on home and family.

Direction. Purpose. Peace.

Any other suggestions for my list?

Face to Face with Greatness

I have been feeling very uncreative lately. Like someone stuck a cork in my bottle of creative juices. I was blaming this on Madeleine L'Engle's "Circle of Quiet," which I am currently reading. Hands down one of the best books I've read. Beautiful and inspiring, full of greatness and truth, but maybe my head is so full of that that until I'm done with it my own thoughts won't flow as freely. Or maybe it's something else entirely. Maybe I just have nothing to say.

Because of that I'm going to share some of Madeleine's greatness. There are so so many things I could share (and I'm sure you'll be hearing more of her), but there is something that makes me say "YES!" every time she mentions something about it, because it's something I strive for and is a goal in teaching my children as well - coming face to face with greatness.

Oliver DeMille states that "reading and working with greatness inspires selves to become greater," and "who we are changes as we aspire."

Madeleine L'Engle talks about it in this way:

"When we talk about ourselves as being part of the company of such people as Mozart or van Gogh or Dostoevsky, it has nothing to do with comparisons, or pitting talent against talent; it has everything to do with a way of looking at the universe. My husband said, "But people might think you're putting yourself alongside Dostoevsky." The idea is so impossible that I can only laugh in incredulity. Dostoevsky is a giant; I look up to him; I sit at his feet; perhaps I will be able to learn something from him. But we do face the same direction, no matter how giant his stride, how small mine" (38).

When she was being rejected by publishers, "It was great writing which kept me going" (39).

And more:

"Nobody can teach creative writing--run like made from anybody who thinks he can. But one can teach practices, like finger exercises on the piano; one can share the tools of the trade, and what one has gleaned from the great writers: it is the great writers themselves who do the teaching" (61).

"A great painting, or symphony, or play, doesn't diminish us, but enlarges us, and we, too, want to make our own cry of affirmation to the power of creation behind the universe. This surge of creativity has nothing to do with competition, or degree of talent. When I hear a superb pianist, I can't wait to get to my own piano, and I play about as well now as I did when I was ten. A great novel, rather than discouraging me, simply makes me want to write. This response on the part of any artist is the need to make incarnate the new awareness we have been granted through the genius of someone else...

"It is beauty crying out for more beauty" (147).

I actually feel terrible in a way for sharing this now, knowing that she'll be dropping more gems on this through the rest of the book. But here I go to hit the publish button, all in the name of sharing greatness.

I am loving learning from Madeleine.

More on Book Choices

I got this quote by Richard H. Cracroft e-mailed to me the other day. It goes right along with this post from a month ago.

"Because life and time are short, we will be able to read only a few thousand books in our lifetime. When we pick any book, we are ruling out hundreds and thousands of other books. How important it is then, to choose time-proven great books that will foster the Holy Spirit and enable us to rise to greater levels of truth and beauty and insight and understanding and, hence, spirituality. Many great men and women have found that a steady, systematic approach to literature has enabled them to fill their beings, in a lifetime of good reading, with the great thoughts of men and women of all ages, for through reading great books we are put in touch with the great minds of all time, and we become their spiritual and intellectual heirs."

This is in response to a question about how to judge literature as good or bad. The rest of the article is excellent too. I highly recommend it. If I wasn't already getting picky about what I read, this helped me be even more so.

Brain Wreck

I woke up this morning and thought, "I am not going to read anything about CPSIA today. I'm just not. I have other things to do." Then I made a list of everything I was going to do today.

Then I went to my computer. I'm rubber necking. There's a brain wreck out there in the CPSC, and I can't look away. I am so weak.

I'm not going to reiterate everything being written, but The Book Room has been posting tons of great information, including links to other posts and information. The Common Room has been writing eulogies for now targeted books. (I've personally added several to my wish list.)

It is ludicrious to think of books, clothing, and everything blanketed into this legislation as hazardous materials. While well-intended, I cannot imagine the thought process that expanded this law as far as it has. Even California and their stringent laws (you've seen the labels, "This product contains a chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer") had to prove a risk before products could be added to their lead law, and swarovski crystal, though high in lead, wasn't included because the lead isn't in an accessible form.

The Common Room posted this picture. We've all read the jokes about how we ever survived with only mom's arm as a seat belt (nevermind car seats), playing outside barefoot all day long only stopping in for meals, riding bikes with no bike helmets, drinking from the hose, chewing on crib railings painted with lead-based paint. Now we can add, how did we all make it this long with our mothers and grandmothers reading to us?

I'm glad people are writing about this. I hope people are listening.

What really chaps my hide for today is this really neat video of Julie Vallese, a CPSC spokeswoman and former director of public affairs talking about the CPSC's "very big sweeping piece of legislation" (0:40, that alone should scare you) that involves children's products, which are defined as "anything sold for the primary use of a child 0-12." Lead is defined as a "banned hazardous substance," as is anything containing it.

Ms. Vallese states that resellers are not required to test products they sell (which is why snopes made a false determination on the claim about the CPSIA), BUT they are required to obey the law. So if not test, how do you know? We really get a great insight into Ms. Vallese's superhero talent when she suggests resellers "look at it" (5:30) to determine if their products contain more than 600ppm lead. Thank you, Ms. Vallese! You don't have to pay to test! Just use your laserbeam eyes and determine whether there is too much lead or not. She also suggests calling the manufacturer about every product that comes into the thrift shop. Right. Watch the video closely, you can see her brain sliding out her ear.

I have to say the best part of the video is when she states that there is "misinformation being floated out by...the mommy blogs...that they are just not understanding" (about 3:10 in the video). Don't tick off the moms lady. Don't tick off the moms. Type "mommy bloggers spreading misinformation" in a google search and you'll find a whole lotta ticked off moms.

I guess we're all terrible mothers because we actually want to keep these "banned hazardous substances" in our children's hands. But I'm going to keep talking about this because I don't want to have to buy books on the black market.

The Handmade Toy Alliance goes point by point through the myths about CPSIA.

If you want to look at lists of lead recalls for yourself, here's the CPSC website.

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will...shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."

Thomas Paine

Marni
Mommy Blogger

CPSIA - Bad to Worse

I first heard about the CPSIA Act in December when an eBay jewelry friend e-mailed me asking what I knew about it. My reply, "Nothing." December is always busy so I didn't read more about it then. In January another eBay jewelry friend e-mailed me about it so I did more looking. I got a little nervous, given the fact that it is in regards to lead in products intended for children, and yah, I've got a little business making children's jewelry. About half of what I sell is banned as of February 10th, anything with crystal on it (lead is part of all we like about crystal).

But enough about me. What is really chapping my hide is how this silly thing is affecting books. My kids don't regularly chew on books, and I've never heard of anyone getting lead poisoning from a book, but guess what? Books are included under the act. I can't even think straight over this, so just read more about it here at the BookRoomBlog.

For those that don't want to go read that blog, the basic gist is that books older than 1985 cannot be resold. So used bookstores are throwing them away, because what else are they supposed to do with them?

One of the quotes posted on that blog mentions that the government is trying to destroy history. I don't know if I could go that far, but I love older children's books because they have real home-grown values. Kids being taught honesty, hard work, love, virtue, and kindness.

Did you know there are book burning memorials? There are.


This one in Berlin is the site of the May 10, 1933 Nazi book burning. It is a translucent panel showing empty bookshelves below ground level. There are enough empty shelves to hold all the books that were burned. Nearby in Heinrich Heine's words it says, "Where books are burned, in the end people will burn."


So far libraries are exempt (probably an oversight), and I know there are lead-free reprints, but really, just go read these for my sake:

"Big Sister, Little Sister" by Charlotte Zolotow
"Big Brother" by Charlotte Zolotow
"Pelle's New Suit" by Elsa Beskow
"Pumpkin Moonshine" by Tasha Tudor
"The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes" by Dubose Heyward

Pass on your old favorites so I can make sure I get to those too.

Even if you haven't heard of these, there are plenty of others you have, like the Beatrice Potter books and even the first Arthur books by Marc Brown.

BookRoomBlog also has other information, including a post on who to contact about this.

I wonder what the true intention of this straitjacket is. Seriously, I would like to see the cases of kids getting lead poisoning from buttoning their coats, zipping their zippers, and eating their books. We're all about protecting the individual, but at what cost?

More on this from Semicolon, here, here, and here.

As Marcellus puts it in Hamlet, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

2009 Book List

I've been thinking about my helter-skelter way of reading (usually a few but sometimes several at a time, finishing some and not others, etc. etc.) and decided I needed to come up with a list to work towards. I'm not saying I have to finish this during the year, but it's a goal list I want to work through. I actually hope it's these and more, especially since I'll also be reading with the kids and the book group, not to mention all the wonderful book review bloggers that add more to my list and those impulsive library and book store finds. I plan on marking then off as I go, maybe more will sneak in.

I think there's a good variety. Here you have it, in no particular order (except Daisy Chain since I already started it):

FICTION
Daisy Chain by Charlotte Mary Yonge (working on it)
Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis (0, 1, and 3 done)
Phantasies by George MacDonald
The Wise Woman by George MacDonald
At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald
DONE Life of Pi by Yann Martel
DONE Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter
Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene Du Bois
Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
DONE I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Les Miserables (this is scary, I mean the BIG one) by Victor Huge
Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath
Eight Cousins by Louise May Alcott
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
DONE Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
DONE Silas Marner by George Elliot
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Lonesome Gods by Louis L'Amour
Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
DONE Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
DONE The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart

NONFICTION
21 Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
Bonds that Make Us Free by C. Terry Warner
DONE Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute
Ravens in Winter by Bernd Heinrich

A few maybes because I love them so much and it's been a couple of years since we spent time together (I'm giddy thinking about reading them again):
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (working on this)

All are new to me except The Chosen (read it years ago) and the Narnia series (read them for the first time a couple years ago). And one I've been halfway through for at least 6 months, but am ashamed to say which.

"You are the same today as you will be five years from now except for two things...the people you meet and the books you read." --Charles E. Jones

Here's to a year of GREAT READING!

Added Feb. 2, 2009 - 2009 BOOK CLUB LIST
DONE January - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
DONE February - WORK: Wonderful Opportunities for Raising Responsible Kids by Debbie Bowen
DONE March - The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
DONE April - The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
DONE May - Walk Two Moons by Susan Creech
June - Sara by Orson Scott Card
DONE July - A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
August - All is Swell by Robert F. Smith
DONE September - Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute
DONE October - Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
DONE November - Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
December - Gift of the Magi and Other Stories by O. Henry

2009 Book Group Planning Coming Up

Our book group will be getting together in a week to plan the books we'll read throughout the year.

Any great suggestions? Favorites you've read in the past year?

I plan on tossing "Leadership and Self-Deception" and "The Princess and Curdie" in the ring.

In 2008 our book group read:
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Peacegiver by James L. Ferrill
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
I am a Mother by Jane Clayson Johnson
Hatchet by Gary Paulson
Any book about finances
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
One of Ours by Willa Cather
Train to Potevka by Mike Ramsdell
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens
Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons

Book Review: Little Women

I love "Little Women." I've been basking in the glow of its wonderfulness since I finished it a couple weeks ago. This is the first book I've wanted to study deeply and write about since graduating from Utah State 10 years ago (no, this isn't that). It is on my list of books I want to study for the rest of my life.

In a very small nutshell, this book is about values, and most especially, family values. I found the simple teachings to be deeply refreshing.

"Learn to know and value the praise which is worth having."
"Watch and pray, dear, never get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your fault."
"Trifles show character."
"A woman's happiest kingdom is home, her highest honor the art of ruling it not as a queen, but as a wise wife and mother."
"Principles...may seem like prison walls to impatient youth, but will prove sure foundations to build character upon."

Mrs. March is a wise mother in every way. One of my favorite passages comes after Meg has been out with friends and overhears her friend's mother gossiping about the "plans" Mrs. March has put into play for her daughters by encouraging them to be close to their wealthy neighbor and his grandson. Meg is upset by the assumption, and upon arriving home and discussing it with her mother, she eventually asks her if she does have "plans" for them.

"Yes, my dear, I have a great many; all mothers do, but mine differ somewhat from Mrs. Moffat's. . . I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good; to be admired, loved, and respected; to have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send. To be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman, and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experience. . . My dear girls, I am ambitious for you, but not to have you make a dash in the world--marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wanting. . . I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace."

Mrs. March's words, actions, and example were perfect to help her daughters reach that vision. Her wisdom and teaching to help them reach it were so pure, I underlined just about everything she says. Her determination in this shows by how firmly she has trained herself. Apparently she had a temper of her own like Jo's, till she finally decided "I must try to practice all the virtues I would have my little girls possess, for I was their example. . . The love, respect, and confidence of my children was the sweetest reward I could receive for my efforts to be the woman I would have them copy."

Funny, the week after I finished "Little Women" I read a little snippet about an article where the author calls it not only "stale" and ranks it with other "badly written" books, but he also says it's "a little creepy." No, I am not bitter. Just sad that those of lesser vision don't realize the beauty of this book.

I could say much more about it, but suffice it to say, I definitely definitely definitely recommend it.

P.S. Just found this review that has a lot of good points as well.

Who Helps You?

I've been really enjoying our DI finds, reading books that I never did when I was younger. Right now I'm reading "Little Women" (WOW - a new favorite), and the kids and I are just about done listening to Madeleine L'Engle read "A Wrinkle in Time."

"Are you fighting the Black Thing?" Meg asked.

"Oh, yes," Aunt Beast replied. "In doing that we can never relax. We are called according to His purpose, and whom He calls, them He also justifies. Of course we have help, and without help it would be much more difficult."

"Who helps you?" Meg asked.

"Oh, dear, it is so difficult to explain things to you, small one. And I know now that it is not just because you are a child. The other two are as hard to read into as you are. What can I tell you that will mean anything to you? Good helps us, the stars help us, perhaps what you would call light helps us, love helps us. Oh, my child, I cannot explain! This is something you just have to know or not know."

64 Books

The Hall Family has been on a book hunt. With a mission to expand our home classics library, we scanned the book shelves at three DI's the past couple of days, and now are 64 books richer. When you consider that many cost only $.50 and $.75, it's not a horrible investment, though there were the $1.00, $1.50, and $2.00 books in there, plus a few other 'treasures' the kids found during the expedition.

It's exciting to have so much greatness at our fingertips.

Jamie found a set of four books called "Out of the Best Books." I guess they were written to be used in Relief Society groups back in the 1960's to study literature together, but there are poems, short stories, and excepts with a discussion section after each. As it states in the preface to the first volume, "the best way to study literature is to read it... Literature is vivid and exciting and provocative--but only when we have read it." And so, we read! After looking through them I'm excited to read and use them with our homeschooling, and at only $1 each!

Here are some of my favorite quotes on reading.

Exciting and New

I've come across some really interesting blog posts lately, and a couple new blogs I've started to read.

From Mormanity, here's some interesting information on the whole Ammon story and why it plays out the way it does. And to think I always thought Lamoni just had a clever roundabout way to get to kill Ammon even though he was so annoyingly nice. "I don't want to marry your daughter, I just want to be your servant for a time, perhaps until the day I die!" (Okay, so that's not a direct quote.)

This one isn't a blog, but I learned about it on a blog, and it really... really... really... bugs me. Especially since Utah just passed a law that kids have to be in car seats until they are EIGHT! At least I did my part e-mailing the governor telling him not to sign it, but he did it anyway. If you haven't checked out TED.com, DO. I, like Lara, would love to watch every TED video. So many videos, so many kids to play with, so many dishes to wash, so many books to read, so little time. Thus the messy house, ha! Priorities, priorities.

Another interesting blog I learned about from... somewhere... is Interesting Nonfiction for Kids. Not one I read every word of, but it's fun to read what authors have to say, and learn about books we might not have.

Speaking of kids' nonfiction, we found a great series of books at Barnes and Noble. Adam wanted me to buy the Predators one, but at $17 (their price) I told him we would check the library. They didn't have any of them, but I e-mailed them about the books and now they have most of them! And lots of copies! We're totally impressed with every one we've seen so far. I don't know how to search for the whole series at once (different names, different authors), but if you look at one it has the others under the "Customers Who Bought This Item" section.

And for something old, I went looking for this the other day. I remember my dad bringing home a video of this he had borrowed from someone, and being amazed by it all. Still so cool! Too bad nowadays they just band together to gripe.