Love Your Library

We visited the library to day, and as usual we came home with a big basket of books. I love the libary. What could be better?- free books that don't clutter up precious shelf space, an outing for the children , games and movies that can be borrowed..... In my opinion it doesn't get any better.
Here are a few of the goodies we borrowed today: "The FamilyBook: Amazing Things To Do Together," "Sugar Snow: A first Little House Book," "The Wheel On The School,"  "Vegetable  Soups,"...The list goes on and on. Despite how happy all of our "finds" make me, I feel a sadness in my heart. The particular library I went to today places the due dates on the back of the books. Many of the books we borrowed had not been checked out in two to five years. Just thik- all these beautiful books sitting on the shelves, waiting to be read to a 'hungry' little boy or girl, and they are just sitting...and sitting. About a month or so ago, Philadelphia announced the closing of many  of its libraries. The irony was almost too much to handle; Old Ben mst be turning in his grave. Everyone is alarmed that a public library would close (including me). However, when I see these beautiful books not being used, I can see the dilemma: why pay for a service tht people don't use? I urge everyone to support your local library as much as possible. Most of all this means visiting frequetly and checking out books regularly. The temptation in this media-flooded world is to not want to have to "borrow" books. We want to own them. I am so guilty of this my self. There are definitely some special books that we want on our own shelves, but borrowing should be the rule. Hope you have fun at your library!~ Happy Reading~

Not The Perfect Child, But Oh How Happy He Makes Me

    The danger in blogging, as many people are aware, is thinking that the person blogging has "perfect " kids or the "pefect" life, etc... My dear friend explained this best on her blog, so here is a link to an incredible window into the blogging world. I hope you will take a moment to read it. It is worth it : http://melissawiley.com/blog/2008/12/23/real-life/

That being said, I must share a little story about Ben. He is not perfect, but he is dear. Today he asked a friend what he wanted for his birthday. His friend told him, and Ben was so excited to go out and buy it(with his money). I told him that maybe he didn't want to spend so much, as he doesn't have much money, but he said, "It's OK, Mom. I asked him what he wanted!"  Later he said out of the blue, "I don't know why, but I just love buying presents for other people. It makes me so happy."
     It's little things like this that soften my response towards the children when they are not being quite as 'angelic.' I think when I make mistakes the Lord must do the same thing. He sees the big picture, so his heart is fillled with compassion. He wants us to always do right, but He loves us so much that even when we make mistakes,He sees the good. I want to be like that!

A Little Vangogh Before Bed

"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together."

"As we advance in life, it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties, the inmost strength of the heart is developed."
                             ~Vincent Vangogh


check out all the great sayings at : http://www.allgreatquotes.com/

Monday, September 28~2009

Today started out quite cloudy and ended up beautiful! As I write, the moon is shining brightly, and the clouds are being blown across the sky. It is so invigorating. Here are todays highlights : 

              * Making beet soup ~ I'm so glad Travis likes soup!

              * Working on Math U See with Emily~ we have such fun doing this program together. We like 
                 it better than Saxon!

              * Making an Autumn decoration for the side porch~Pumpkins and corn from the garden

              * Reading to Tommy and Mary Margaret

              * Watching Emily at her first gymnastics class. She is so good at gymnastics!!!

              * Finding just what we needed for the choir performance at Goodwill

              * Feeling the wind blow and watching all the dry leaves swirling in the air

              * Looking at the Praying Mantis Oliver found

              * Looking at a mutant Sunflower Oliver found- the byproduct of cross-pollination gone awry

              * Finding a nice gingham tablecloth at Walmart that I got with a gift card. What a nice present!

              * Ben found wonderful shoes for his birthday ( a present from Sister Alice, my aunt)

              * Seeing Ben read late into the night. He is now reading The Giver by Lois Lowry
              * Saying prayers and reading with Emily, Oliver, and Mary Margaret
              * Oliver and Sam harvested the Sunflowers

Happy Things~ "The World is so full of a number of things, I am sure we should all be happy as kings"....

Another fun "thinking" activity to try:  Think of Ten things that made you happy today.

Here are mine:

1. Ben asking me if I would like to go to the Frontier Culture Museum (we did...it was great- such a beautiful day)

2. Oliver bringing me a glass of ice water with a lemon in it.

3. Beets that were given to us by the kind lady at the FCM(see #1)

4. My clean bedroom

5. Milking by moonlight

6. wishing Mom and Dad goodnight on the phone

7. seeing Will take the kitten up to sleep with him in his treehouse

8. getting an e-mail from a dear friend I haven't heard from in a while

9. a small octopus makes a lovely addition to our "museum"

10. St Francis~ The Saint, The church