Sara's favorite book's

Josefina

This book is about Josefina, her three sisters and dad, who live in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1824. I like all the American Girl books.

Encyclopeidia Brown

"Encyclopedia" solves mysteries in his town. These are fun to read and figure out.

Magic Tree house

Two kids have a treehouse and if they read a book there the tree house transports them to the place in the book.

Little Britches.

Ralph Moody and his father work hard to provide for their family.

Nancy Drew

A girl that solvs mysteries.

Nim's Island.

This book is about the adventures of Nim, a girl who lives on an island with her father.

Little House on the Prairie.

Laura Ingalls and her family live on the prairie, experience a lot of hardships, but also enjoy life together.

Sea Biscuit

Tells the story of Sea Biscuit, a racehorse who nobody thought was worth anything but will go on to prove them wrong.

Inkheart.

A girl and her dad, when ever they read a book something would come out of the book but to replace it something must go into the book.

Rapunzel's Revenge

A fun remake of the old fairy tale.

Princess Academy

A school to learn how to be a lady.

Spiderwick Chronicles

The Grace children move into the Spiderwick Estate and discover a whole world of faeries they never knew existed.

Sara

Marie's Favorite Books

These are my top ten favorite books.



1. My Grandma gave me this one to read. It is called High Button Shoes by Jennie Brown Rawlins. It is the true story about the author and her family when they move to Idaho in the early 1900's. The funny thing about this book is that her family has 6 girls and one boy (the youngest) just like our family. Their Dad is even the branch president. (I couldn't find a picture for this one.)


2. Princess Academy is about a girl that lives on a mountain with her family. They are living a happy life mining linder. A special stone that the King uses only for his Palaces. And then the King announces that the future bride of the Prince will be found on Mount Eskel. So then all the girls within the ages of 12 and 17 have to attend an academy to learn how to be a princess.

3. For eight-year-old Ralph, each day was filled with adventures as he learned to ride a horse named Fanny, made friends with an indian named Two-Dog and joined a cowboy named Hi on an authentic western round-up. But after his Father dies of pneumonia everything changes.

4. Almanzo's chores get him up at dawn and keep him working till dinner-summer and winter. But it is fun, and builds character. And was there ever a boy who loved horses more? Was there ever a boy with a bigger appetite.

5. The Andrews family goes on vacation to visit their great aunt Ella's dairy. Aunt Ella decides to give her very old and cherished Book of Mormon to Brandon Andrews. But after that they have to protect it from a man that will do anything to get it.

6. Man of the Family is the sequal of Little Britches. Since Ralph's Father died he must quit school and get a job wherever he can find one to provide for his five siblings, and his mother.

7.The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe is about 4 children who enter a magic wardrobe and find the magical land of Narnia. But once the White Witch learns that they are there she gathers forces to keep the prophecy of the four Kings and Queens of Narnia from coming true.

8. Prince Caspian is the sequel to The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. It is one year later for the four siblings, and about one thousand years later for Narnia. They return to Narnia when they are summoned by Prince Caspian to help fight the battle against the Telmarine army and put Prince Caspian, the rightful air to the throne in his place.

9. My Grandma gave me this one to. Calico bush is about a French girl who comes to the U.S with her Grandma, and her Uncle. But after they die she is orphaned by a family to encounter indian attacks and much more.






10. Song of the wind is about a family that moves to the west during the Texas panhandle. They have lots of fun and many adventures with Indians, outlaws and a whole lot more. Guess what! This is another one that my Grandma gave me. Thanks Grandma!!!!!!

MARIE

Incredible Edible Book Cake Contest

The girls decided even though they couldn't be there to participate in Grandma's grand opening of her bookstore The Purple Cow they still wanted to make a cake based on a book. One of our absolute favorite books is The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas. It has to be read by dad because he does all the voices and sound effects. The pig uses man toys like pneumatic drills and dynamite to destroy the wolves' houses.Debbie, Laura, and Abby each helped frost the pig and put on its eyes, nostrils, and mouth (which is a Flying W). The instructions for the pig is here. Sara and Marie did the wolf cupcakes. We did a variation of the instructions here. I think they did a great job!

Spoonerisms

A spoonerism is the accidental transposition of the initial sounds of two or more words according to the Oxford English Dictionary. I do this all the time and didn't even know there was a name for it. Then my mother-in-law showed me Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein. What a riot! This is truly a billy sook as it says on the cover. It is full of poems that have spoonerisms throughout to make for a fun read and some really hilarious mixed-up words. Here is a piece of my favorite poem:

"Runny fad a hamily
Matter of fact, he had
A sother and two bristers,
A dummy and a mad."

I laughed so hard when I read that. I think it was just the picture of a dumb dad and mad mom that it conjured up in my mind. Here are links to a few more poems and pages in the book.

Do Whid It? Runny and Dankee Runny's Jig Bump

Anyone who has been around me enough knows I talk with spoonerisms all the time. In fact when my MIL was reading the book out loud her daughter said "This sounds like the kind of book for Montse." Well, earlier today I did a real doosie. Laura came up to me needing her pants buttoned and I said, unintentionally of course, "Do you need your butts pantsoned?" Let's just say that Joseph, who was in the room, got a real workout for his cheek and stomach muscles. He was laughing that hard.

Recent Happenings

Ira, Eve and I are home sick today. I feel bad about not going to church. I was supposed to fill in for the organist in Sacrament meeting and it’s my week to teach sharing time. I feel like I’ve abandoned my duties but I’m just too weak, achy, and tired to get anything done. I can barely even hold Ira. The sickness came on fast yesterday evening and I also felt somewhat nauseous. Now I’m just weak and exhausted. I’m so glad we have a wonderful Primary President who just took over my sharing time with a happy heart. It’s all planned out and easy – on the creation. But she is by herself today because the other counselor had a beautiful baby boy on Wednesday. (Congrats, Melanie!)

On Friday we took the kids to Fallon to visit with grandparents while Joseph, Ira and I went on to Reno. While Joseph did an endowment session in the temple I went to the mall to do some shopping. I had two goals in mind: 1. Go to Sephora and try Bare Minerals, 2. Find a simple black skirt to wear while I’m still ‘in-between’ sizes (meaning not quite fitting into my regular church clothes yet, they are a little snug). After going to several stores I did find a black skirt that I liked and it fit really well, but then I saw the price tag and the skirt is still at the store hanging on the rack. :D There is no way I’m going to pay that much for a skirt that I’m hoping to wear for only a few months. Next I went to Sephora and had a blast as I got a make-up makeover. I LOVE the BareMinerals foundation. You can read more about it here.

We went to Deseret Book when Joseph was finished at the temple. We easily spent $200 on new books and Joseph also bought a new set of scriptures. He had them embossed with his name but we didn’t realize until we got back to Fallon that the bible they embossed was a used one with someone else’s name scratched out underneath Joseph’s. We are hoping it was just an honest mistake (the clerk was an elderly lady) but the scriptures we purchased were brand new and the bible they gave us was not. We had to call them on Saturday and they will make it right whenever we can get back to Reno. Other books we bought were
* ‘What Latter-day Stripling Warriors Learn From Their Mothers’ by Ardeth Greene Kapp,
* a small leather bound version of ‘Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith’ (it looks like scriptures and is small so it can fit in your scripture case),
* a new ‘Church History in the Fullness of Times’ (our other one is falling apart),
* easy piano music to Pride and Prejudice for the girls,
* a CD of ready made Primary talks
* and ‘Daughters of God: Scriptural Portraits’ by S. Michael Wilcox, which I first learned about here.

The last store we went to was WinCo (Joseph calls it Mexico because of all the Mexicans that shop there after 5pm). We bought food to resupply what we’ve used from our food storage. The cashier made the comment that we must be purchasing for a small army. When I told her we had seven children she replied that I looked to young to have seven kids. Joseph, who has a quick wit, said it was my new make-up. :D

We spent Friday night in Fallon and then traveled back home Saturday morning. The long drive seemed shorter as we listened to Farmer Boy on CD. I think that’s my favorite Little House book. The Audio tapes are well done, being read by Cherry Jones. The girls helped us put all the food away and then we watched movies, cleaned the house, and I got sick.

Great Books

I've been meaning to post about this book and am just now getting around to it. I read "Incident at Hawk's Hill" by Allan Eckert aloud to the girls. It is based on a true story about a six year old boy who wanders off in the Canadian prairie during the summer of 1870. He is lost for two months and is taken care of during that time by a female badger. The descriptions the author gives of animals and their habits and habitats are very detailed. It is amazing how a small boy could survive on raw meat and live like a badger for two months. It is miraculous how his family did not give up their search for him and were able to find him when everyone else had given up hope.The girls and Joseph were hooked after the first page. It is a must read!

Another amazing true book we've read is "Sarah Whitcher's Story" by Elizabeth Yates. Little Sarah gets lost in the New Hampshire woods and is taken care of by a bear. Check these books out and read them to your children. They'll love them!!

Children's books

Athena asked what my favorite children's book is. Here's my answer. I have to many to pick just one! :D So I've picked a couple from each 'level'.



My favorites to read to my 2-5 year olds are one's with repetition like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Eric Carle's books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do See?

For the beginning readers (ages 4-7) I love the good old Golly Sisters and Amelia Bedelia books. They are so much fun to listen too!



At about this age all of my girls have wanted to write their own books too and usually make up their own stories featuring Amelia Bedelia or The Golly Sisters. The girls do a great job and I type them up and make them into little books that the girls illustrate themselves.


And for those independent readers (ages 7-10) I just love the Little House books, The Moffat books by Eleanor Estes, and The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright.



The stories and adventures contained in these books are so appealing to children. And some are so hilarious they must have been taken from personal experience.

One day, maybe I'll get up the nerve to try my hand at writing a children's book or start smaller by writing a story for The Friend. Only time will tell!

Summer Reading Fun

Here's just a sampling of the loot the girls received from the bookmobile for doing their summer reading. This is Marie's stuff. She got stickers, lip gloss, bookmarks, small balls, a card game, pencils, 4 very cool books, and coupons for a free game of bowling and free french fries. The other girls got just as much and more coupons for free ice cream as well.
The craft that Ms. Ginny brought was bug houses to color. As the soon as the kids were done decorating their houses they spanned out across the yard looking for bugs. Eve found a baby praying mantis.

Little Britches

We finished reading 'Little Britches' by Ralph Moody Monday night. I've been reading it out loud to the family at night before we go to bed. We thoroughly enjoyed it! True stories are usually the best and this one didn't disappoint a bit. If you have never read 'Little Britches" I highly recommend it! (There are some swear words: h---, and d---, and they do take the Lord's name in vain, but reading it out loud to the kids I was able to skip them without their noticing). It is about Ralph Moody's family when he was about 8-11 years of age as they try to make it farming in Colorado in the first decade of the 1900's.

Monday before lunch Sara came in to the kitchen and informed me that Marie was "bawling like a baby. I think she's reading a sad part in the book." Poor little Marie wanted to finish reading the exciting part we stopped at and just couldn't put the book down. She read the rest of the book and was saddened to find out the Dad died in the last chapter. She came in with red, puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. After that we weren't looking forward to Monday night at all for two reasons, 1: we didn't want to finish the book, and 2: we didn't want to read about the Dad dying. We sat down to read anyway. I was reading out loud and did pretty good reading about the father's passing away until I came to the words that ran through Ralph's head, "So long, partner. So long, partner. So long, partner." That started the flow! I put the book down to wipe away the tears and saw that all the girls were crying their little hearts out and Joseph's eyes were all red and brimmed over as well. Those last two pages were the hardest to get through! Boy, what a hardship it must be to go through an experience like Ralph had.

Well, know that you know the ending, go and read the rest of 'Little Britches'. You will enjoy it immensely.

Quiet Books

My Mom purchased these quiet book kits for my sister (Nestle) and I to make for our children. I hate to have projects hanging over my head so this past week I decided to knuckle down, buckle down, and do it, do it, do it! They were a lot of work but turned out sooo cute! The books were a hit at church yesterday and did keep the girls quiet. Pictured are the covers of the books and just a few of the pages. My favorites are the mailbox, I Spy, and the stones for the Jaredite barges. The girls' favorites were the dolls with clothes, I Spy, switching around the animal heads, and the telephone (pictures of relatives are tucked into the pocket). If you click here you can see where to purchase the kits. Warning: they are a little pricey!

A bit of light reading. . .

NOT! These are just a few of the books on my 'to read' list. Of the books pictured here I am currently reading "Life of Joseph Smith" by George Q. Cannon and "Prelude to the Restoration" by the Sidney Sperry Symposium.

I'm trying to follow "A Mother's Educational Course for Latter-day Saints". I'm not doing everything listed, just picking and choosing what I feel drawn to read and what I have time for.

This morning I woke up at 6am, exercised for 1/2 an hour, read for another 1/2 hour, took my shower, and read some more until the rest of the family woke up at 8am. (Lazy bums!) I told them I hope they do that more often. It was nice to have quiet solitude to charge my battery before another crazy, wonderful, girly filled day.

Too Many Tamales

The girls and I made tamales yesterday. We made 3 1/2 dozen in the morning to feed the fence building crew lunch. We then made another 4 dozen in the afternoon to freeze. We had such a good time and the house smelled wonderful! This picture was taken two years ago. We had been learning about our ancestors and the girls wanted both sides of the family represented so they dressed in their pioneer costumes and made tamales.
We ate so many tamales yesterday we were reminded of a book my mom sent us called Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto. It's a great children's book we've enjoyed reading over and over again.

Writing Books

We've had a week long break from school and it was hard to get back into the groove today. Yesterday the bookmobile came and I didn't feel like doing anything else after visiting with the other moms and their kids for two hours. I took some pictures of the bookmobile but forgot to take some of the librarian and her dog 'Cruiser' so I'll post those in a couple weeks when she comes again.

Eve and Marie had a choice for language arts in November. They could either do their regular English and grammar or they could each try to write their own books. They chose to write books!

Marie decided to write about her ancestors, her grandmothers and great-grandmothers in particular. She has written a chapter on each one telling stories that occurred. Marie has called her grandmas asking them for stories and has giggled so much she's gotten the hiccups several times! She has done a fabulous job so far.

Here's me and my Marie with her long beautiful hair. She wants to get it cut on her birthday in January and send in about 10"-12" to Locks of Love. I must admit I'm a little hesitant about it because her hair is so pretty, but I'm also quite pleased that she is so willing to give to others. She's always asking what she can do to help me.





Eve has written a book about our family - a chapter on each one of us. It is very fun to read her views on our personalities, etc. She is extremely observant!

Eve is like a carbon copy of me. We are so alike it's a little scary. Her favorite pasttime is to curl up on the couch wrapped in a blanket and read. This is her favorite picture of us because, "I look more like your sister than your daughter!"

The girls will be hand correcting their grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors this week and then taking a lesson on using the thesarus. Five neats in one paragraph are a little much don't you think? After that they'll be typing them into the computer, 'publishing' a few copies and wrapping some to give as gifts to grandparents.

Overall, it's been a great process for the girls to learn how to apply what they have been learning.