Three Things Thursday

Thursday again? That means it's time for Three Thing This Thursday!

1. Thank You! Thank You Thank You!

Thanks for the encouraging words regarding last weeks themed edition. I really appreciated it. I was thematically obligated to share 3 fears, and while the ones I expressed were true, the degree I feel them is rather small. I am glad that those reading this enjoy it. I will keep it up.

2. The Good Wife (CBS)

Of all the new shows this fall, this was the one receiving much of the early acclaim. It stars Julianna Marguiles as said wife. BTW Julianna, Terri Hatcher called, she wants her hairstyle back. That aside, I quite like the show. It has a good supporting cast, and plays well as part procedural part human drama. (I don't have cable or tv reception, so I watch it at cbs.com)

3. Blogoversary Contest

Kristen at We Are That Family is celebrating 2 years of Bloggy Goodness. You can celebrate with her by joining her contest. Simply blog about how your family is That Family and link to hers before midnight tonight. I went ahead and shared my story: A Purple Present with Lucy Inside. Show her what youv'e got!









That's it for me. Now it's your turn.

Next time: Facial Hair Considered

WFMW not workin' for me

Word Count Wednesday :
100 Words or Les

Works For Me Wednesday is among my favorite blog features. I have been a frequent contributor in my first 9 months of blogging.

WFMW hasn't been working for me lately. As they say in break-up parlance, It isn't them it's me.

My usual WFMW routine had me up past midnight on Tuesday nights. I have a men’s group that meets at 6 a.m Wednesdays. Something had to give. Sleep won.

I’ll still contribute to WFMW but today I am starting a new Wednesday tradition. Tell me what you think.

Next Time: 3TTT

A Purple Present With Lucy Inside

Kristen at We Are That Family is celebrating her 2nd Blogoversary by letting other families share how They are "that" Family. We are That Family because we have 5 crazy people who love each other. This story I posted about earlier this week illustrates that point beautifully.

 

Last year about this time, in preparation for her third birthday, Lucy began announcing what she wanted as a gift. Her wish: A purple present with cookies inside. That is all she would talk about when the subject of birthdays came up. This was one of her first Lucyisms even before I had a blog to feature them. So on her birthday she certainly did receive a purple present with cookies inside. (She was upset with other people who gave her other gifts, but she quickly got over that.)

A few weeks ago Amy bought a beautiful outfit that Lucy is wearing in the pictures below. When she wears it I have taken to calling the ensemble, a purple present with Lucy inside.

Today at our Home School Co-op, just prior to me taking these pictures, Lucy and I had the following

conversation. . .

Me: It's a purple present with Lucy inside. Lucy: Daddy, I do not like that name. Me: But, Lucy I love you.

Lucy: I love you too, Dad. But, I still don't like that name. It was a very mature conversation especially since the one with the best lines is NOT YET FOUR!

So, congratulations Kristen on being that family and blogging that family for two whole years! Next Time: WFMW

In Praise of Out Walking

Out Walking is probably the first blog I ever read. When exactly I began reading it, I am not quite sure. It was a few years before I took up blogging myself. I discovered it by looking up some Christian Artist on Google. I think it was John Fischer but it may have been Randy Stonehill. The blogs author, Steve West has years of involvement in Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and he is a gifted communicator. His blog topics include movies, books, music, and culture just to name a few.

Mr. West makes many recommendations at his blog. He writes so eloquently and persuasively that I have found myself that I have found myself acting on many of his recommendations. To date I have been genuinely pleased with the results.

First, it was the movie Once. He described so glowingly that I found myself looking for it through our local library system. Once I found Once I discovered a thoroughly engaging film about an unusual musical collaboration.

Once was filmed on a much smaller budget than the similar themed Hugh Grant Drew Barrymore vehicle Music and Lyrics. In actuality, Music and Lyrics is a poor man's Once. The story is less engaging, more predictable and the music is far inferior.

The word vehicle I used to describe the Barrymore-Grant coupling ,may be one reason. Once is story and song driven not star driven. Sorry! I didn't mean to shift into review mode. Click here to see the original review that caused me to watch Once and ultimately buy the soundtrack.

The next piece of advice I followed in Out Walking had to do with an Album called Making God Smile. It is one of those artist tribute anthology compilations that the CCM industry tends to produce with reckless abandon.

The tribute is to Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson. It turns out that West was the executive producer of the album. I purchased it through his amazon store. When I received it I only recognized a few of the artist and less of the songs. But, I enjoyed what I heard.

What I appreciated most was the artist liner notes that spoke so powerfully of Wilson's influence on the musicians covering his work. Much focus was on an album, Pet Sounds, that was being hailed as a seminal work of not only the Beach Boys but of Pop music as a whole.

I was so intrigued by the music and the noted that I again went to my public library (I don't buy much) and procured it.

Pet Sounds, given high praise at Out Walking as well, is worthy of all the accolades it has received. I hope to review it soon in these very pages.

There has been so much that I have enjoyed of what Steve produces at Out Walking. Here are links to two fairly recent posts that I highly recommend. One is about his travels and the other is a story he wrote.

I dig this blog because of it's eclectic style and highly personal nature. The personal fuels the eclectic, and vice-versa. These are also 2 major goals of my blog. I hope that my readers enjoy my work even a fraction of how much I enjoy his.

Next Time: A Purple Present with Lucy Inside.

What happened in school today

Charlie Reads, Emma Writes, Lucy Abstains.

Teaching is not all about breakthroughs. Some days are just ordinary days where, if you measure progress with graphs and charts, nothing changes. I have many days like that.

In many ways, today started like that. Charlie and Emma worked on their Bible, Math, and Art with the same strengths and weaknesses they exhibited yesterday.


Then Lucy bought me a pile of books she wanted me to read to her and I got an idea. I called Charlie to join Lucy and me at the couch. He thought that I was just inviting him to listen to the stories, which I often do. But I had other plans.

Charlie is not reading to his second grade level. One could almost say he didn't read at all. In fact, early this summer we were afraid if he didn't start reading soon, at some point we would need to enroll him in public school for special education. This summer we engaged a teacher friend of Amy's to tutor Charlie twice a week.

At first it seemed like he wasn't gaining any ground. By the end of the summer we could see him making a steady progress. Once the school year began, he seemed to reach a wall and the progress ended. About 2 weeks into the school year, I tried a new approach and he began reading better every day. It was so exciting to see him progress. Last week with some help from a very kind librarian I found a website that suggested books based on your child's reading level. I checked out some of those books and Charlie has been reading to me from them this week.


The bunch of books Lucy gave me included a title that was a favorite of Charlie's at Lucy's age: Go Dog Go by P.D. Eastman. I asked Charlie to read it to her. He did awesome! Now, Go Dog Go is not hardest of books to read, but for a kids' book it is rather long:64 pages. He just barrelled right through it. Now as part of our Friday schedule Charlie is going to read to Lucy. I am so proud of him!

My daughter Emma, is a reading machine. She read two of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books in less than 1 week. She is always reading. Writing is a different story. She is taking a Chronicles of Narnia class I am teaching at our home school co-op. The assignment this week was to write a 5 paragraph essay on the Magician's Nephew. She finished it yesterday and typed it up today. It is the story of the Magician's Nephew from the perspective of Polly, a young girl from late 19th century England. It is not the best paper in the world and it is certainly not the breakthrough that Charlie is having, but it may well be an early step on a path to a breakthrough that is yet to come.

Before I share that story with you, let me tell you about my youngest's achievements. She went a whole day without drawing on the walls. This is an achievement in itself. She loves drawing and is prolific in how much much art work she can put out in one day. The problem is the world is literally her canvas. She draws on paper, sure. But she also draws on tables, walls, computer screens, floors, books and herself. I fear for our bunny. We hide all the markers and crayons and yet she finds them. I have included a picture of the masterpiece Lucy colored on her wall last week and another of her washing off said masterpiece. Last Saturday she lost all coloring privileges (among other things) for a week. This week, since coloring seems to be her love language, I have eased the coloring restrictions to crayons only as long as she was supervised. Today, she did get a hold of a marker, but chose to use it on paper rather than on her usual victims.

So that is how my day went reading, writing, and no vandalism. Before you head back to Six Word Saturday at Show My Face Dot Com or just go on with your day, I invite you to enjoy my Daughters Essay:

Polly's Adventures

By Emma Roller

My name is Polly. My friend, Digory and I had many adventures together. These are some of them: We got into other worlds. We found the witch. We found Narnia and had adventures inside.

One day, Digory and I were in the rafters when we found a door. We walked into the room and the big chair moved. Digory’s uncle stepped out and he offered me a yellow ring. I vanished when I touched it. Digory came after me. Then, we realized we could get into other worlds.

We found ourselves in a ruin of sorts that I did not like. In another room, we saw lots of people. Digory liked this lady so much, that he called her a queen! I called her a witch. She was a witch and a queen!

Later we found ourselves in a empty world. Then a singing began that seemed to create the world. We liked the song until we knew the singer was a lion named Aslan. After he made the animals, he sent us to get a special apple. When we came back, he took us home.

That is my story. We got into other worlds. We met a witch. We found Narnia. I learned a lesson: Do not take yellow rings from old men! The End.

Today's post is part of a special 200th anniversary of the Carnival of Homeschooling hosted at Consent of the Governed.

Next Time: In Praise of Out Walking.