Top 10 Tuesday - Dinner my kids actually eat

I have some picky eatters around these parts. So often I make things for dinner that my kids don't like or wont eat. Here is a list of what my kids will actually eat for dinner. As a result we eat these all the time. Off the top of my head this is what I can recall that they eat if I make it.

1. Cheese and Olive Calzone: this is what I made last night for dinner and they actually asked for seconds. They don't want any meet just cheese and they love the black olives in them. If I am in a hurry I just make these on pita bread. My kids ask for these all the time!



2. Corn on the Cob: This isn't a main dish but it is one of the things my kids ask for. They usually don't eat corn unless it is on the cob. They love the little corn cob holders I picked up at the dollar store so now they don't complain about how hot the corn is on their hands.



3. Chicken Nuggets and fish sticks: whenever I ask what the kids want they would like for dinner, Ian always tells me, Chicken nuggets. It is a very quick and easy food. I will often slip in the fish sticks just because I usually try to have fish at least once a week. Usually we eat these with rice which Henry always loves.



4. Pancakes, French toast or Waffles: In answer to my question about what to serve for dinner, Sophie always says she wants breakfast for dinner. I guess my oatmeal pancakes and some scrambled eggs and fruit isn't such a bad dinner.



5. Spaghetti and meatballs: This has to be meatballs not just browned hamburger. For some reason it makes a difference. Twirling the spaghetti is fun too.



6. Pasta with pesto: I usually make this meal with some grilled chicken. And amazingly the Broccoli also goes over when it is mixed in with the sauce. I have forgotten the real name for the pasta that my kids like. We always call it honeycombs.



7. Salad: This is just the run of the mill green salad with lettuce and celery and sometimes spinach. They love to dip the carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers in dressing. This is how I got them to eat salad. They wanted to dip the different veggies. They are even venturing away from Ranch to French or Russian Dressing.
One great secret I also have for getting them to eat veggies is to let them sneak them while I am cutting. They think they are being sly by stealing tomatoes or cucumbers but in reality I am leaving them close enough to be stolen on purpose. It is amazing how the same vegetable on their dinner plate is yucky but they love it when it is "forbidden" food.



8. Salmon: It doesn't matter how I cook salmon they usually eat it. I use canned Salmon on salads and sometimes even make salmon patties. I also just bake it in lemon and pepper (Yum!). I also have a great Salmon and Tomato recipe that my Husband always requests when he gets to give his 2 cents on what to make for dinner.



9. Tacos/Burritos: This one doesn't go over all the time but I serve it hopes that they will grow to like it better. usually I have to make quesadillas for them. But I add some beans and such when I can. Again... they love to dip. So a mild salsa is a must!



10. Ham: I don't serve this very often but my kids ate and ate it the last time I did.



To be honest.... It was actually really difficult to come up with 10 dishes that I make and that my kids actually eat and not complain about. Sophie doesn't like things to mixed up. She perfers foods to not have sauces. The boys will eat a bit variety of things. Henry loves rice and potatoes but the others just don't go for it. I know my Mom told me I was a picky eater when I was younger and there are still a lot of food I will gladly pass over but I have also gotten over a lot of food prejudices also. So there is hope that my kids will learn to eat more things. Sometimes I think they live on Breakfast cereal and Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches.

Who would have thought

Just another funny quiz. I guess being short and green isn't so bad. And sometimes what I say, comes out sounding like Yoda.

We are learning to sign

About 2 weeks ago I picked up a DVD called Signing Time. I had heard of it from other homeschoolers but hadn't tried it myself. Sophie has shown interest in Sign language and I had taught her a few signs and the alphabet. That is about all the sign language I knew.

I was surprised my almost 2 year old loved it. He hasn't shown a lot of interest in watching T.V. yet. He sat there mesmorized the first time we watched Signing Time. We have watched that one DVD almost everyday since. He sits and makes the signs with the children on the T.V. My older kids at first thought it was a baby video but soon were just as excited to watch it whenever Henry asked for it.

Today Henry brought me a sippy cup and then made the sign for water. WOW is this a change! He also has been combining signs too. He signed and said "more eat" today. He hasn't ever put two words together yet. I will be gettting the other DVD's in the series from the library soon. We are all enjoying learning to sign.

Our Day out with Thomas

We went to the Santa Cruz Mountains to see Thomas on Saturday. This has become an anual excursion for us. Sophie was such a die-hard fan of Thomas we took her to her first Day out with Thomas when she was just almost 2. We have been going every year since. We don't always buy tickets to ride the train pulled by Thomas. Most of the event is open to anyone who shows up. So for the price of parking we had a great picnic in the Santa Cruz mountains. And the kids got to have their face painted, bounce around in bounce houses, watch a clown perform, jump around on a bunch of bales of hay and listen to a lot of Thomas music. The kids always have a great time!

Scooters

This morning we went for a walk around our block. Ian decided he needed to ride the trike and Henry always loves to ride/push the little 3 wheel scooter. Sophie threw a fit because she didn't have anything to ride. We have been rather lax about getting her a new bike or scooter. Eventually I got her to go on the walk but told her I would check online to see if anyone was selling one. So when we got home from our jaunt around the neighborhood she made me sit down and check Craigslist to see if there was one listed. Amazingly there was one and it wasn't more than 15 min drive away, so I emailed them about it and they quickly got back to me. This afternoon we picked it up and my girl was in heaven. A big girl scooter at last!



After seeing Sophie nice new scooter the boys thought their old Trike and Scooter weren't good enough so faught over the new scooter as well. It was a little beyond Henry's abilities so he soon gave up and went back to his scooter that is perfect for him. Ian has decided that he now needs a new scooter too. I told him we would keep our eyes out for one.



Sophie asked me if I had a scooter when I grew up. When I told her no she said "oh, they didn't have them in the olden days?". I told her "Scooters weren't as popular when I was a kid. Most kids had rollar skates. (This does date me. we didn't even have inline skates then) But what really made her think I was old was when I told her we had horses when I grew up. We rode them all over the place even to the store. Now she fully believes I grew up in the olden days. In reality it was just a small town in the hills. I wasn't a city dweller then. Country folk can do such things.

Learning through Music

We have always played music for the kids. When Sophie was a baby we started to play classical music for her. We had a bunch of Baby Enstein CD's and would play them at times. We moved onto other types of kid music. We ended up listening to Thomas the Tank Engine music because Sophie was so thrilled with Thomas. We also listened to a lot of Children's Favorite Songs which is 4 cd's put out by Disney Records. They had a lot of great classic songs that every kids should know. We also listen to some standard kids fare that we find at the library (We use the library's extensive music selection a lot!) such as The Wiggles and Laurie Bernker.

We still listen to classical music but we have moved past the baby enstein music and other lullabys. We play the London philharmonic orchestra or some other famous orchestra play the pieces and the kids dance around the living room.



A few great internet finds for music:

Kiddie Records Weekly is a site where someone has gathered some of the great stories and shows from around the 40's and 50's. Taken the old records and digitized them. My mom recognised a few from when she was a kid, including her favorite Rusty in Orchestraville. Sophie loves listening to all these old stories. I burn them on a CD and she plays them in her room as she is building houses out of blocks for her little plastic animals.



Singing Science Records is another site that has taken some old records and digitized them. These are so fun! And I know they have really sparked interest in different types of science. Ian loves the space ones. I thought Soph would like the nature ones but actually she loves the songs on the experiments CD the most. We listen to all of them.

We also listen to some great LDS children's music as well. Scriptures Scouts are some of our all time favorites. We now own all 5 sets and my kids can't decide which is their favorite. I know these CD's have taught my kids a lot about the scripture stories and some basic gospel principles. We sing along with these as we drive around in the car. Each Sunday Sophie sings an Article of Faith for the bishop so she can earn her piece of candy.

Even little Henry learns from listening to music. We had a CD playing recently. One that I had just picked out of the CD shelf at the library. I wasn't paying too much attention to it as it was playing. Henry got all excited and started waving his arms around and I finally realized that he was doing the arm movements that he had learned at library story time. Henry was actually listening to the music and made the connection between what he had hearn and something he had already learned. I don't know why this was so shocking to me. He just isn't the type of kid I would have expected that from. Most of the time we don't even make through story time.

Our stereos sure get a work out! They are almost always on. But it is nice to know that they are learning as they are listening.

Just a simple hearing test.

Today we took Sophie in for a hearing test. She has them periodically. This was the worst one yet. Even the Tech giving the test was almost loosing her cool. Because Sophie was born with a cleft palate she has had countless doctors visits. You would think she would be used to them by now. She has a plastic surgeon, a ENT and a speach therapist that she sees at least once a year. On top of pediatrician visits etc. But all the visits have only made her more fearful and harder to get her through. She gets herself very worked up and then can relax and let the doctor do the exam, test or whatever.



During our visit today she wouldn't let them look in her ear with the little light tube because she said it would hurt. She covered her ears with her hands and screamed at the doctor. Eventually I had to hold her in my lap and wrap my arms around her arms and hands and with my other arm hold her head just so the tech to look in her ear. She was just screaming and they weren't doing anything except looking in with a light. Then when the tech wanted to put the head phones on her, she would freek out because they were going to be (they weren't even on yet) too tight and she kept asking if it was going to be loud. It is amazing they got anything out of her. In the end we were told that her right ear drum isn't vibrating effectively so she isn't hearing all the tones out of that ear. This is the same result that she had a few months ago when we had this test done. So now we get to actually see the ENT doctor and see if we have to have another ear tube inserted. I really hope we don't have to do this!

She had ear tubes put in when she was 1 year old along with her palate surgery. We spent the next year putting wax ear plugs in her ears everytime she had a bath or went swimming. She loves swimming and we go to the pool all the time. I don't know how well this is going to work. We see the ENT in about a week. I am crossing my fingers that something else can be done rather than an ear tube. But she does need to be able to hear so we do whatever we need to do.

Top 10 Tuesday - Five in a Row Books

It is Top 10 Tuesday again. Here are 10 of our favorite Five in a Row books. These are the books my children really got excited about. Not every book as been as popular as others. These ones have really stuck with my children. So in no particular order......

1. The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack
We loved learning about China. Sophie now points out the Yangze river whenever we see a map of China. We also had a big Chinese food dinner and ate with chopsticks. The paper lanterns we made hung in my daughters room for ages.

2. Wee Gillis by Munro Leaf
My husband loved this book. He loves bagpipes and Scottland. We timed this book around the Scottish Festival that is held in our town each ear so we went and saw some highland dancing and listened to bagpipers.



3. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
One of our favorite things we did was build the Eiffel tower out of legos. My kids now recognise the tower anytime they see it. They also loved it when we took pictures of them doing all the things we do to keep ourselves healthy. I took pictures of them washing their hands, eating healthy food, drinking water, pretending to be asleep in their beds. We then printed the pictures and made a little book talking about all the things in the pictures. What kid doesn't love to pose for pictures and see themselved in pictures.



4. Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
I was surprised this was so popular. My kids had me read this over and over. For some reason they were facinated by the slave running away to freedom. They also really loved us learning about the big dipper. We made a little star projector out of a tin can and a flashlight. We projected differet constelations on the ceiling in a dark room. They loved this. My daughter got all excited when we she was able to point out the real big dipper in the sky one night when we visited Grandma's house

5. Duchess Bakes a Cake by Virgina Kahl
This is one of my favorities to read. I love books that are writen in rhyme. We of course baked a cake the week we rowed this book. We learned all about castles and kings and queens and knights. We picked up the Magic tree house book "Knight at dawn as a go along. This was our first Magic Tree house book. We now get a few new ones everytime we go to the library.



6. Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
We read this one all the time I can almost do it from memory now. My boys love books about cars and trucks and the like. Ian particularly loves this book. This book takes place in a made up town so for geography we studied about Utah. Utah claims to have "the best snow on Earth". So we learned about Snow and Utah. One of the things I remember most about this book was the day we studied signs and then went on a drive and pointed out all the road signs as we drove down the road. We also read a book called I read signs by Tana Hoban which is actually just pictures of signs that we see around us. After reading this book my daughter pointed out every Open or Closed sign we saw on any stores we visited and every Pull or Push sign as well.

7. Giraffe that walked to Paris by Nancy Milton
We had already studied paris and france so we focused our study on Egypt and Giraffes. Sophie loved studing about the sphinx and pyramids. We also rolled out a long paper and measured 16 feet which is how tall the giraffe was. We drew a giraffe on our paper and then hung it on the wall and onto the ceiling.


8. Another Celebrated Dancing Bear by Glady's Scheffrin-Falk
This was a really interest shifting week for my daughter. We studied about Russia and I decided to show the kids the part of the movie Fantasia where the Nutcraker suite is played. She loved it so much she asked to see the whole movie the next time she got to pick. She watched that and asked for more classical music. She is still thrilled to listen to Beethoven, Mozart, Hayden, Debussey, and pretty much anything that I play for her. She has been facinated with music ever since. She has even started some very basic piano lessons and music theory.

9. Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley
I have actually visited Venice so I was able to show my photos of being there to my kids. They loved this. While in Venice my sister and I painted masks. So we made cat masks and decorated them with glitter and feathers and pompoms. They loved this!


10. Katy no Pocket
This is a Before FIAR book but we rowed it one week so we could study about Australia and all the Australian animals. We worked on Animal classification this week. Learned all about marsupials. We read this book all the time. The boys particularly like it. Maybe because it is illustrated by the same person that does Curious George, another favorite of theirs.

I just took a look at a list of all the books for Five in A Row and as I look at the list there I see many other books we have rowed that we have loved as well. Owl Moon, Night of the MoonJellies, How to bake and apple pie and see the world, Lentil, Make way for ducklings, the Clown of God, Very Last First Time, They Were Strong and Good, Cranberry Thanksgiving,The Rag Coat, The Glorious Flight...etc... we really haven't had one that we didn't enjoy. And we have taken something from each of them. Maybe this wasn't such a great topic for a top 10. Maybe I should have just said these were the 10 that popped into my mind first.

We haven't rowed all the books yet so we still have a lot of learning ahead of us. Hip Hip Hooray for Five in a Row!

Yes..... another Harry Potter post!

I am sorry to post again about Harry Potter. It has been days since I have thought about little else. Not obsessed or anything. I just finished the 7th and last book. Without spoiling the book. Let me just say it was GREAT! I found myself laughting, crying, smiling, wincing, and biting my nails though most of it. I can't believe how caught up I got into the lives of these fictional characters.

As I already said I reread books 5 and 6 last week to prepare myself for book 7. I finished book 6 on Friday night. We went to Barnes and Noble that night to see what festivities they were holding there. We saw kids dressed up as wizzards and witches. And we played some trivia games. I can't say I did extreamly well. I couldn't tell them what James' wand had been made of or what kind of broom Cho Chang rode. But it was fun. The kids colored a few harry potter pictures and played a few games. We left the store just as the die hard fans that were waiting until midnight to get their books were just getting started.

I read through Deathly Hallows quickly because I didn't want to have it spoiled for me. My husband was disapointed that we didn't read it together. He likes to read them aloud. We read the first 5 together. But I couldn't resist reading book 6 while he was at work. So I didn't even start this one with him. I knew if the book was here sitting on the shelf I wouldn't be able to wait for him. He is still only on chapter 10 or something. Only because he couldn't steal it away from me for long. But now I have finished it and he can have it to himself.

I really enjoyed that this book fills in back information on some of the characters. I loved the ending. It was about what I expected would happen. I can't wait to discuss this book with some of my friends once I know they too have finished it.

We made cornhusk dolls today. I saved some of the husks from corn that we ate a week or so ago. I didn't follow any kind of directions I just made it up as I went. They were small but turned out alright.

I was just informed by my daughter that they stink. They were sitting on the counter drying and they do have a moldly smell to them. I wonder what went wrong? Do they just need to dry longer? Does anyone know of some good directions for corn husk dolls? Maybe I need to consult a pro.

No camera shy kids here.

My kids love to get a hold of the camera. I went to upload my photos today and I found much of the memory card filled with pictures my kids took of each other. This is one of their favorite games. They pose for the camera and then get to take a few. I often get pictures of the floor or the corner of the room as well. sometimes very close up pictures of toys or books that are laying around. Many of the pictures are of only part of the face or sometimes the foot, shoulder, hand, or ear of the subject. Some of the shots that they get are so great. Shots I wouldn't have ever thought to take. Here are just a few cute ones.




Poor Henry he must not have gotten to take many pictures. This is the face of disapointment.

Spelling

I have never been a great speller. Since about 2nd grade I have struggled with spelling. I was given the label of a bad speller about that time and have spent the rest of my life living up to that label. I guess this quiz proves it!

I Scored a 80%!

I can remember receiving books, about how to improve spelling, for Christmas. I even got an electronic spell checker to carry around with me in high school and college. I thought since I actually made it through college I would be a better speller. But I guess I really need to work on this! 80% isn't good enough.

Top 10 Tuesday

I thought I would have a reoccuring theme for Tuesdays. I am starting "Top 10 Tuesday". On Tuesday I am going to share 10 of my favorite things. Or 10 things that make me think or that I have learned lately or whatever happens to come to mind for that day.

Today I wish to share 10 thing I am grateful for this week. These may not be the most important things in my life but they are some of the small things that I have found to be thankful for this last week.

1. Cloth diapers
This may seem like a strange thing to be thankful for since I do get to wash them and such but I haven't had to buy paper diapers in almost 2 months. Ian is finally potty trained and uses "Undies". And with Henry wearing cloth diapers we aren't buying the huge boxes of diapers anymore. YEAH!


2. The Very Hungry Caterpiller
Henry loves this book. We have a board book version and a large hardback. He brings me this book a few times a day and asks for me to read it to him. For those few minutes he is happy, not getting into anything and quiet.


3. Aqua Fitness
I go to the YMCA and take Aqua fitness 3 times a week. I started doing this about 2 months ago. It has really helped me tone and strenthen my muscles. I don't get as tired in the afternoons and most importantly my back doesn't ache as much.

4. Zout
I go through bottles of Zout very quickly. It works so much better than shout or spray and wash. It gets the stains out my kids clothes that used to just stay there. Zout is my new laundry room buddy.


5. Our Pulic Library
We have a great library and we use it alot. We go there every week for story time. The librarians know my kids so well that they even have been known to keep books aside that they know my kids will like. We are very regular in our attendance so they know when we will be there. I don't know how we would homeschool without this great resourse.

6. e-mail
I am not a phone person. I hate having to call people to ask them things. I have to really make myself return phone calls. I love being able to sit at the computer and type a quick note and have 10 people get it. I love being able to send something to someone and have them recieve it a few moments later. What a great thing e-mail is! What did I do before it?

7. IChat
We love to video IChat with Grandma and Grandpa. (We also communicate with aunties this way too!) They live a 2 hour drive away so we don't see them as much as we would all like to. So it is great to be able to see them over the computer. The kids show them projects they are working on and we have even shared songs and such. another one of those technology advances that we really enjoy.

8. Cooler weather
We have actually been studying weather this week so it is on the mind. We have had very nice weather for July this week. We are wearing our shorts but not needing the AC turned on. I have been told we may even get rain some time this week. I love summer rain.

9. Clean soft sheets
My husband and I love flannel sheets. They are on our bed year round. We both like the softness of them. When I put on a nice clean set of sheets it is just so nice to lay there in bed and watch t.v. (Yes our TV is in our bedroom)

10. Clementines
We bought another box of clementines this week. We all love these little fruits. My kids think they are so fun because they can peal them themselves. They are easy to pack in a lunch or in mom's bag.They aren't as messy as a big orange. They taste great too!


That's it for today. I will come up with another Top Ten list for next Tuesday.

Does everything I say start with "No!"

No! Henry don't throw food
No! Henry, we don't play in the fish tank
No! the bathroom isn't a play place
No! we don't hit
No! you must stay in your car seat
No! please stay in the shopping cart
No! don't jump off the furniture
Oh... Hen...ry!

I could go on and on. It has just felt like one of those days where I have spent the whole day keeping Henry out of trouble or scolding him for doing something he shouldn't. I really need a new word. What I am saying now doesn't seem to be getting through to him. Although he is certainly able to say it back to me. It is one of the only clear words he uses.

2 year olds are so fun!

Saw the Movie, now need to really get reading!

I just have to say one more time... Thank You to my sister for babysitting today while my husband and I caught a matinee showing of Order of the Phoenix. We don't get to the movies very often. I think the last movie we made it to in the theatre was the 2nd of the Pirates of Carribean movies (We haven't even seen the latest one, we will wait to see it on DVD I guess). So this was a real treat! So far we have been able to get to all the Harry Potter movies on the big screen.

My husband left the show saying that this was the best one yet. He said that about the 4th one too when he saw that one. He really hates the 3rd one. He thinks it was butchered by the director. I had a hard time saying that this one was better than the others. Not because it wasn't good but because it is the continuation of the story. I just feel like we are getting installments of the same story. I don't think anyone would watch this 5th movie if they haven't already seen the others. I don't know if you would even really understand it. So much of what goes on in this movie depends on what happened in the previous movies. There were even a number of flashbacks from the earlier films which I really enjoyed. I admit I really got caught up in the film. I thought the acting was very good in this one. Better then seen previously. And I just loved Luna. The girl that plays her hits the character dead on. She really made me smile. :)

I admit I sat there watching it thinking about all the things that were missing or that were altered. I have been reading this book the last few days and I have made it about halfway through. So it is fresh in my mind. But how could it be any other way. It would have to be a mini series for you to get all the details in. My husband I and agree it would have been nice to see St. Mungos. We wanted to see Gilderoy and Nevil's parents, but I understand something had to give. Most of the film was very well crafted and they kept the flavor and essence of the book without cramming everything in.

Some of my favorite bits were with Ginny Weasley. Ginny becomes a more prominent character in the next book so they really brought her out a bit more in this film. The looks on Ginny's face as she leaves the DA class when she knows Harry is interested in Cho. And all the bits where they show her strong spells. It will be interesting to see how she will shine in the next film. Ginny has in the films so far seemed so secondary and small. But I guess that is how she is in the books too. Harry just starts to really notice her in the 6th book.

The Umbridge bits were great too. You just loved to hate that lady. And they didn't even included half of what she does in the book. And those anoying cats!

Fred and George are always great! Those guys just always seem to have fun. Love the skiving snack boxes. Their exit on their brooms was very well depicted too.

The ministry of Magic was almost as I pictured it. For some reason the dark walls were too dark for me. I pictured them in gold or something. But to each their own. The department of mysteries was almost as I saw it as I read the book, except the rooms that they left out of course. It would have been something to see the room with the clocks and the egg that becomes a bird. And the brain that attacks Ron. What was there was done very well.

Ok. this post has turned into quite the move review. I really enjoyed the film. I have loved all of the movies. Even the third film that my husband said is the worst one. If you are a Harry Potter fan. Go see it. If you haven't read the books then read them first!

Ok... off to finish book 5 and 6 before next Saturday.

Oatmeal Pancakes

I have been trying to make things from scratch lately. Rather then use Bisquick I have been making pancakes without a mix. I love the idea of making Wheat pancakes and our personal favoritie is Oatmeal pancakes. A little more fiber and nutrients than pancake mix. Here is the recipe that I found for Oatmeal pancakes. It is from a Gold Medal flour cookbook so I am going to type it exactly as it is found. For our family of 5 I usually double it and there is plenty for all of us.



1/2 cup of Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup of buttermilk
1/4 cup of milk
1 Tablespoon of sugar
2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 egg

1. Beat all ingredients in a medium bowl with a hand mixer until smooth
2. Grease a heated griddle, if necessary, with shortening, using a pastry brush
3. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the hot griddle.
4. Cook until pancakes are puffed and dry around edges. Turn and cook other sides until golden brown
Serve with applesauce if desired.

** I rarely have buttermilk so I substitute the butter milk with clabbered milk. Usually the first thing I do is measure my 3/4 cup of milk and add a Tablespoon of Lemon juice (You can also use vinegar but lemon juice just sounds better in pancakes to me.). Let it sit for a few minutes while you measure out all the other ingredients. Add the clabbered milk and then mix it up. Leave out the extra 1/4 cup of milk when usuing clabbered milk.**

My kids love to make these pancakes with me. They ask for these pancakes for dinner sometimes or even afternoon snacks. Ian loves them with Nutella on them. Sophie loves them topped with big chucks of Strawberry Jam.

I have only one week!

I was going to reread all the Harry Potter books before book 7 comes out. I read through all the books the last few weeks before book 6 came out so that I was ready for it. But I just realized that there is only a week left before the last book comes out. I think I am going to have to content myself with books 5 and 6. I started Order of the Pheonix this morning and made it through the first few chapters. I should be able to finish these two books before I go and pick up the 7th book on Saturday.





I don't buy the books in hardback. I wait and buy the paperback versions later. I can usually find very nice copies on the used books shelves at the library. But inorder to read the book the day it comes out I had to put myself on the waiting list at the library. They have 180 books ordered. I am 122 on the hold list. I even asked the day they would have it availiable to put on hold. Evidently a lot of other people did as well. Within a few hours of it being availiable on the library cataloge it was already held by over 250 people. I heard someone at the library today ask the librarian about it and she looked on her computer and said the waiting list is over 500 people now.



As you can tell I am a real fan of the Harry Potter books. My children know all about Harry Potter, they see me read the books and Harry Potter books have been up for discussion at book club and such so my kids know that they are very exciting and that a lot of grown-ups love them and talk about them all the time. Sophie has often caught me looking at Harry Potter websites trying to see what different theories people are tossing around. We have even gone to Barnes and Noble for some of their pre book release parties. My kids have even played the computer game at Grandma's house. They have not had these books read to them yet however. They aren't quite read for them I think. I told Sophie that when she turns 10 or 11, I would read them with her. I told her that she would probobly be able to read most of the words in the book but that the themes of the books were a little mature for her. For now she is content with that explaination. There are a lot of books that I have had to give her an age for which she would be able to read it.

Anyway.. gotta get back to Order of the Pheonix. With as many interuptions and I get to deal with books don't always go quickly.

I think they got me right!

What Type of Homeschooler Are You?

Abraham Lincoln

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Ronald Dahl books continue

Last night Sophie and I finished the BFG by Ronald Dahl. This is 4th book we have read by Dahl. I have to say the BFG was one of the harder ones to read. I stumbled over some of the odd language as I read it aloud. It was the funniest one of the bunch we have read so far. Sophie and I were busting out laughing at some parts. It was potty humor we we laughing at, wizpoppers and such. But how can you not laugh when the BFG lets a wizpopper loose infront of the Queen of England!

Sophie has decided that we aren't done with Dahl yet. She saw the book Matilda on our big book shelf. I found it on the library used book shelf a few weeks ago. She is very excited to start it next. I don't know anything about this book so we will have to see how it goes.




I don't know why Sophie loves these types of stories so much. We read the Wizard of Oz series last year and we made it through about 8 of the books before I talked her into moving on. She would have gone through them all but I asked to read something else since the books plots are so similar. We then read some of the Narnia series. She really enjoyed the first few books. I think the later books are a little more mature because I could tell she wasn't getting as much from them or staying as focused on them. She loved the Magicians Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

We have also read The Trumpet and the Swan and Mr. Poppers Penguins. She loved these as well. She loves books with magic or talking animals or something out of the ordinary in them. I tried to read the Little House on the Praire books with her but after the first one, Little house in the Big Woods, she wasn't interested in going on to the next one. I will try them again in a little while. Ian likes to listen to the children's picture book versions of the stories. Maybe I will read them to Ian when he gets a bit bigger. Sophie can listen in.



It certainly is entertaining to read all these children's books. Many of which I never read as a child. Or at least I don't remember reading them or having them read to me. James and the giant peach is one book that do remember my Mom reading to me when I was a child.

So what I am wondering now... is do I get to reread all these again with Ian and Henry? I know Ronald Dahl will be a boy favorite. There is a lot of boyish humor in them. Or maybe it is just childish humor which is why they appeal to all kids. I know there are several more books Ronald Dahl has written. We will see what we get to read after Matilda.