The Great Holmes

Oh my, what is it about Sherlock Holmes? I just can't seem to stay away. I just finished my latest fix last night --

"Sherlock" from the BBC. Fabulous! I loved almost every minute of seeing Mr. Holmes so perfectly at ease in modern London. But, why, oh why did they only make three episodes? Luckily more are scheduled to air late this year - unluckily I imagine it will be some time until they make their way to Netflix. Waiting, oh bother!

I'm obviously not alone in my love for the great detective. Check out some of these variations:

"Sherlock Holmes" 2009

Fast moving and funny, this was a great introduction for my uninitiated husband, and we had fun seeing the similarities in some of our other favorite shows.

And then there's House,where all of our mysteries are of the medical variety. A version which I shan't recommend, but certainly love.

And Psych; silly, funny, not precisely Holmesian, but maybe if Holmes had been raised in a slightly more functional family?

And back to the original medium, I love the Beekeeper's Apprentice Series. Probably my favorite of them all. We meet an older Holmes through the eyes of Mary Russell, his protege and eventual wife. I spent last summer reading one right after the other, and I must say that I still miss the characters! For the first few nights after I finished I would climb into bed, and when I realized I couldn't join in their adventures, I'd wonder about what they were up to. I know, I'm nuts! The newest edition will be out in September, and may be the only reason to rejoice in the ending of summer!

Spring Cleaning – Family Life

1. Work on Obedience without Reminders

2. Solidify Rest Time as a Quiet Renewing Time Every Day
-C needs to stay in the Wood EVERY DAY
-H is going to need two baskets (toys or magazines) as he is no longer sleeping :(
-Girls need to rotate between their bedroom & family room
-We need either a fixed time that will work with all lessons, or a way to track variable times

3. Reduce TV

4. Revise Routine – Less TV, More Outside, Some Free Time when they can practice #5

5. Teach Children Where We Do What
Tables – Art, Games, Puzzles, School Work, Etc.
Sunroom – Reading, Quiet Visiting
Wood – Toys
Downstairs – Noisy Play
Outside – Noisy Active Play

6. Complete School Year while I prepare for “Summer School”

7. Add Daily Blogging – as something fun for me!

8. Replace School with Individual Time on Fridays

9. Help R with her Transition to being a Young Adult

10. Focus on my Three Ingredients for a Happy Life:
1-) The Ability to See (look & listen to people)
2-) A Hope in Christ
3-) Determination (vision & a willingness to work)

What I'm reading right now...




We're doing Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink as a lunchtime read aloud and it is a big hit! It is fun to read, and appealing to all my kids - my little boys (3&5 - though I think the three year old is mostly focused on his food) and my big girls (12 & 9). We see Caddie, a smart and brave eleven year old, coming of age in a big family in the 1860s in frontier Wisconsin.












This is my current book club book and I am loving it. I can't wait to write about what I'm learning. It may be that this life-long pessimist is ready to convert!












The Lighting Thief is a pre-read for my oldest. It's fun, definitely light and is very reminiscent of Harry Potter. So far, I've no problem with it, but I'm only a quarter of the way in, so the jury's still out.













This beautifully written book was a gift from a dear friend of mine who is herself, a fabulous mother. It is full of lovely stories of motherhood, which, while inspiring, are real not really-sweet.








A fairly varied collection if I do say so myself!

What are you reading?

Albert
by Donna Jo Napoli

This book was the highlight of my week. It was yet another FIAR treasure. A book read each day for a week is a special joy. My kids make new discoveries on each trip through, join in for lively choruses of their favorite lines, and we all feel the book’s lessons sinking deeper inside of us.

“Albert” will stand as one of my favorites for the year because I can so relate to the main character. We meet Albert in his apartment, which he can’t quite seem to leave. His daily ritual of sticking his hand out the window always begins with the promise of a lovely walk out of doors. But the walk never comes to fruition, for Albert can’t tolerate the “bad noises” that lay outside.

That is, until the perfect climax. I love this moment, the moment after which Albert will never be the same. As Albert reaches his hand out the window, a cardinal drops a single twig in his hand. And then, the cardinal couple proceeds to build a nest in his hand. Albert exclaims, along with me and all my children every time we read it, “Umm, excuse me, but my arm’s not a branch.”

Albert’s will to nurture this young family, helps him to overcome is fear of the outside world. We see the cardinals care for their eggs, the magnificent hatching, and eventually the new little birds learn to fly all while Albert stands with his hand out the window. And then my favorite lines:

“He listened to laughter nearby, a good noise, and the siren of an ambulance far off, a bad noise. And Albert knew now that both were part of this big, wonderful world.”

It’s a lesson I need to learn, a truth I hope to plant in my children’s hearts. And a story is the perfect seed.

"Three Cups of Tea" - Thoughts before Colloquia

Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Themes
Role of Women
Mission – imperfections
Promises – Greg’s Mission to make and fulfill promises?
Education and its power to change
Role of western more economically advanced countries in the development of less economically powerful countries
Interaction of different cultures-ability of each to learn from each other



Questions
If our biggest goal was to develop strong families, what would we do differently than Greg?
Is the shunning of the crude man a valid form of governance?
How do Greg’s imperfections – shyness, poor communication w/superiors influence his ability to achieve his mission?
How do we get accurate news/information?
Is Greg’s focus on the education of girls going to have any unintended consequences?
How should we help? How can we help in a way that shares what is ultimately true and good about our lives w/out sharing that which only seems to be true and good?


Writing
Unique voice – does it help/hurt? Why is it used?


Big Picture
I want to take my mission seriously. I want to live it, not just hope that it happens.
I want to be more open to the seemingly impossible.
I want my children to grow up with stories of people willing to sacrifice for others.
I want my children and myself to better understand the concept of mission.

Ten Books for a Four-Year-Old Boy

My four-year old has always loved to sit on my lap and have me read to him. My shelves are overflowing with picture books, and he loves to scan their shelves and choose the perfect one for me to read, or to add to his book bag for rest time. Yet I feel like this abundance of books can detract from his connection to any one of them. His sisters had fewer, and seemed to love them more, though their lives also had fewer distractions and more attention from their mother, so who can say what is the true cause.

But ever the plan maker, I decided to choose ten books for him, ten books for the rest of his four-year-old year. I’m not exactly sure how I will make them special, I’m certainly not going to ban the others. I’ll think on it, but simply choosing them makes me feel better.

Ox-Cart Man
Corduroy
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Angus and the Ducks
Tacky the Penguin
Emma’s Pet
The Paperboy
The Day the Goose Got Loose
Harry the Dirty Dog
Tikki Tikki Tembo

Oh, no – I forgot I Heard Said the Bird! Hmmm... I’ve already agonized extensively to get it to this point. I don’t think I can part with any of these – and eleven is just not as lovely as ten. I guess there is always the day when I choose Ten Books for a Five-Year-Old Boy.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Early this year we listened to a fabulous audiobook, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare and read by Mary Beth Hunt. It was a great story, and the experience was enhanced by the rich and vivid reading of the reader. A thrilling combination of historical setting and genuine characters and relationship made this a memorable book.

I loved the experience of listening to an audio as a family. The homeschooling curriculum we use, Sonlight, has a lot of reading aloud, and I was looking for a way to save a bit of time. It was nice to free up a bit of time in our homeschooling day, but there were other unexpected benefits. The little boys were so cute. I was amazed at the way they picked up on the emotion of the book. They didn’t always know what was going on plot-wise, but they would perk up and start asking questions at tense or joyful moments. And something about listening to an audio with my kids, rather than always reading to them, seemed to change the dynamic of a shared book. Instead of always being the driver, I was a passenger right along with them, able to enjoy the scenery and feel like “one of them.”

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a powerful book. It brings a brilliant focus to the conflict between cultures; a strict Puritan society and its intolerance for a determined but humble Quaker woman. As we come to know the young girl caught in the crossfire, we feel her deep desire to find her own way and her frustration with the limitations of her community. The lasting impression of this book is the strong emotion, I felt deeply for the characters and they truly came alive for me.

My oldest daughter also loved it saying –
“I liked how she was a loyalist to the king and how the book made it seem like she was going to marry someone else, and it was ‘unexpecting.’ I also liked what they said about the old woman being a witch; I thought it was interesting that back then they persecuted women that were thought to be witches. I love how it was realistic, exciting and romantic!”

Summary:
Vivid picture of life in early America – Connecticut 1687
Best appreciated by 10+
Great on audio
I loved it!