888 Reading Challenge

I'm going to attempt the 888 Reading Challenge next year. You can check out the rules at http://www.triple8challenge.blogspot.com. Here's my list (subject to tweaking):

888 Reading Challenge

1. Women Writers
The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog (Elizabeth Peters)
Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)*
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)*
Middlemarch (George Eliot)*
Suite Francaise (Irene Nemirovsky)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)*
The Nine Tailors (Dorothy Sayers)

2. Christianity
Against Christianity (Peter Leithart)
Christianity and Liberalism (J. Gresham Machen)
Angels in the Architecture (Douglas Jones)
Lost in the Middle (Paul David Tripp)
Life in the Father’s House (Wayne A. Mack)
A More Profound Alleluia (Leanne Van Dyk)
How Should We Then Live? (Francis Schaeffer)
Revolution (George Barna)

3. Adoptive parenting
Adoption Parenting (Jean MacLeod)
Attaching in Adoption (Deborah Gray)
Adopting a Toddler (Denise Harris Hoppenhauer)
Talking with Young Children About Adoption (Mary Watkins)
LifeBooks (Beth O’Malley)
Parenting Your Adopted Older Child (Brenda McCreight)
Our Own (Trish Maskew)

4. Classics
Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)*
City of God (Augustine)
Henry V (William Shakespeare)
Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan)
Middlemarch (George Eliot)*
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)*
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)*
Paradise Lost (John Milton)

5. Inklings
Till We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis)
God in the Dock (C.S. Lewis)
Pilgrims Regress (C.S. Lewis)
The Abolition of Man (C.S. Lewis)

6. Books about Books
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived (Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan, and Jeremy Salter)
Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel (Jane Smiley)
101 Best Scenes Ever Written (Barnaby Conrad)
Every Book Its Reader (Nicholas A. Basbanes)
Reading Like a Writer (Francine Prose)
The Case of the Missing Books (Ian Sansom)
Deconstructing Penguins (Lawrence Goldstone)
How to Read a Book (Mortimer J. Adler)

7. Nonfiction
Making the Mummies Dance (Thomas Hoving)
Amusing Ourselves to Death (Neil Postman)
All the Clean Ones Are Married (Lori Cidylo) – Moscow, Russia
Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortenson) – Pakistan
Stalking the Wild Dik-Dik (Marie Javins) – Africa
An Odd Odyssey (Glen David Short) – Mexico & Central America
The Seven Laws of Teaching (John Milton Gregory)*

8. Education
The Seven Laws of Teaching (John Milton Gregory)*
Climbing Parnassus (Tracy Lee Simmons)
Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire (Rafe Esquith)
Rediscovering Catechism (Donald Van Dyken)
Talking of Dragons (William Chad Newsom)
Increasing Academic Achievement with the Trivium of Classical Education (Randall Hart)
Norms and Nobility (David V. Hicks)
Wisdom and Eloquence (Robert Littlejohn)

Happy reading!

Our little bunnies found a home!

Remember the baby bunnies Noah and I fostered for a couple of months? Well, they're now settled into their new home - together! We are just tickled about this, as it can be hard to find someone to take three rabbits together. We expected them to be split up. But they really were so fun together, with their different personalities. And Sally, especially, seemed to need her siblings near (she's the shy, cautious one). The people who took the bunnies home also took home another sibling pair of baby bunnies, Wyatt and Cassidy. So their house is lively now, I expect.

Here are more recent photos of Lucy and Charlie Brown outside for playtime, and Sally posing for Noah in the bunny barn.

So Many Decisions!!

So we have finally reached the time to get the adoption process rolling. We first attended a seminar of an adoption agency about five years ago, back in FL. Then came the layoff, and eventually the move, followed by some more layoffs. Now, dh has been gainfully employed for a year, making a good salary, so we are ready to move forward.

We have chosen an agency, and I *think* we've agreed on a country (Russia). We are trying to figure out what age range we're comfortable with, and whether to specify a girl, or be open to either. (Guess who wants to ask for a girl?)

We need to put a fence around the pool, which annoys dh, although he knows we need it, because it will mess up the aesthetics of the backyard. C'est la vie.

Where all the money is going to come from is still not fully determined. I am working two part-time jobs, and we are hoping dh can get some freelance work. He also just got a raise. So basically we are trying to squeeze the budget a little tighter, too. No more Starbucks!!! Can you believe it? I hope they have Starbucks in Moscow. I will have a frappuccino to celebrate the finalization of the adoption.

I figure taking care of rabbits, teaching Spanish, and giving up Starbucks is a small price to pay for a new child. Oh, I can hardly believe it's really going to happen!!

Pray for us. Pray for God to bless our financial situation, and provide all the money we need when we need it. And pray for God to prepare us as we educate ourselves about parenting an adopted child. And pray for our child to be cared for lovingly while he/she waits for us.

Making Music

Yesterday, Noah and I made the trek to ASU for a special event. The college students in the music practicum class demonstrate their instruments to homeschool kids, and then show the kids how to play, letting the kids try each instrument. I am hoping Noah will be inspired to learn one of the instruments; he showed a lot of interest in several, including my favorite (cello), as well as xylophone, snare drum, and oboe. Here are a few photos.

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

My pirate name is:

Captain Jenny Kidd

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

It helps to find out your official pirate name. Have a great day, mateys!

Sovereignty and Suffering

I found this video to be very powerful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WT_WUOyud4

Wendi

First Week of School

Last week was our first week of 5th grade. It was a busy week; we had a co-op meeting Tuesday and a WIC board meeting Thursday. We still managed to get most of our work done.

The thing I'm most pleased with is Noah's writing. We're using IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) materials. This week, he wrote a key word outline of "The Boy and the Nuts", then wrote his own version. He embellished a bit, of course. Here it is:

THE BOY AND THE NUTS


Once upon a time there was a boy who was strolling along in the park one day, and he saw some other kids that were at play. But he didn’t want to play with them, because he was looking for a fast food restaurant. Then, up ahead, he saw something. It was a jar! He ran over to the jar hoping it had hamburgers, but it had walnuts.

(Ed. note: Here he pasted a photo of walnuts, with the caption below.)
Walnuts are a good snack. These walnuts are in their shells.


As the boy put his hand in the jar and grabbed a handful of walnuts and TRIED to pull his hand out, but couldn’t. He burst into tears. Then a man came by and said “If you could be satisfied with fewer, you could get your hand out.” “Sometimes you have to give up a little to get what you wish.” And the boy obeyed him and the man’s theory worked. THE END

Baseball Madness!

Every summer, the Arizona Republic newspaper and the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team sponsor Read Your Way to the Ballpark. Libraries hand out special posters for kids to keep track of how much they've read. They get little prizes at the library, and the grand prize at the end is a voucher for a Diamondbacks ticket. Those who get the D-backs ticket can also enter a drawing to attend a baseball clinic with the D-backs at Chase Field. This year, ds was chosen, and went on Saturday.





He had a good time. The kids got to take home goodie bags, including a cool D-backs baseball cap. And they got autographs from the pitcher, Dustin Nippert.

I was on the radio!

Last week, when I went to my bunny caretaker job at the rabbit rescue, the head of fundraising was there being interviewed by a journalist from K-Jazz (a local radio station). I was interviewed as well, and she recorded me feeding the bunnies.

I did say some articulate things, but the only part that ended up on the air is my high-pitched talking to the bunnies as I fed them. But the piece turned out well.

Here's the link so you can listen:

http://www.kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200708/fluffybunnies

For more info on the controversy, check out http://www.bhrabbitrescue.org

Chef Noah

Noah learned to make French toast yesterday, so this morning he made breakfast for everyone. It was delicious! He told me I won't have to make breakfast anymore for the rest of my life, or until Noah gets tired of French toast.

Playtime!

It's always fun to let the bunnies out of their cages to play. (Well, Oreo mostly snuggles up to me and insists on being petted.) Here are a few photos from this morning's playtime. The babies are five weeks old now.

Here Charlie Brown is exploring the bottom shelf of the bookcase.










Here is Sally. She's the shiest of the three; she will often hang out in the cage for awhile before joining the fun.










Lucy is grooming herself (washing her face) in this photo, but it looks like she's praying.









When they've been exploring and playing for awhile, they start to get tuckered out. Here, the three cuddle up behind the lamp base.

Aren't they sweet?

The foster bunnies are here. They are active and curious, but still like a good snuggle. Oreo likes them, it seems, and hops around playing with them some. I took some photos, but they don't stay still much, so they're hard to photograph.

This is Lucy.


This is Sally.


And this is Charlie Brown.

Watch this space!

Noah and I are going to be "fostering" a trio of baby bunnies from the rabbit rescue. They're only about four weeks old! Awww! Check back here Tuesday night for photos! Maybe even a video!

Planning, planning, planning

So I've decided that Monkey Boy's 5th grade year will start the last week of this month. I've ordered all the books, and most have arrived. I'm most looking forward to history (Explorers to 1815) and writing (Institute for Excellence in Writing). He has recently decided he wants to be an author/illustrator when he grows up, and he's writing a book about the adventures of his rabbit. This is the first time he's ever written so much just for fun! So I am hopeful that this year his writing skills will take off.

Here's what we'll be doing:
Veritas Press Explorers to 1815
Student Writing Intensive A (IEW)
Phonetic Zoo
Shurley Grammar
Math-U-See
Building Thinking Skills 2
Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization (IEW)
Training Hearts, Teaching Minds (Bible devotional based on Westminster Catechism)
Literature: The Twenty-One Balloons, The Phantom Tollbooth, Johnny Tremain, The Sign of the Beaver, Carry On Mr. Bowditch, Dangerous Journey... still need to finalize this list.
And at co-op: science and art, and hopefully Spanish

Whew! I'm looking forward to it!

Hope for Women and Babies

I just spent the weekend in the White Mountains with some other women from our church. We were there to do some volunteer work for a fabulous ministry in Show Low. The lady who runs the ministry, whose daughter was one of the women from our church, is dynamic and full of faith and passion. It was great touring the women's clinic, where they can even do an ultrasound for women whose pregnancy tests come up positive. They do counseling and education there, and they have a store where the women can buy things for their babies with "money" earned by taking classes. There's also a maternity home for pregnant women/girls and their babies. I loved spending time with the young woman living there now, and her amazingly sweet 6mo baby.

We spent all day Saturday working hard, unloading and sorting donations for Dinah's latest enterprise: a resale boutique. Some of the other women spent their day painting and organizing at the boutique, a weird building with lots of odd rooms off of other rooms. We got to sleep at the house parents' cottage.

I can't wait to go again. I loved seeing what God is doing there, how many women and babies are being helped. I hope more women will join us next time.

No big surprise here.

You Are A Chocolate Ice Cream Girl

Dramatic. Powerful. Flirty.

What Flavor Ice Cream Girl Are You?

Restaurant Meme

I've been tagged by Sally to do this restaurant meme.

Here are the rules:
*Link to the name of the person that tagged you
*Include state and country you live in
*List top 5 favorite local restaurants
*Tag 5 other people and let them know they've been tagged


Here are my picks for our little corner of Arizona:

1. Grimaldi's. Yum, yum, yum! Small family-owned place with TVs in the corners. Steven discovered it before Noah and I arrived; he likes the sandwiches with Boar's Head meats. Heather introduced us to the Greek pizza, which is now one of my all-time favorite foods. They even deliver to my house! (Not just my house. Other people's houses, too.)

2. Abacus Inn. Right next door to Grimaldi's! I've only visited it once, but am definitely looking forward to repeat visits. Their won ton soup is much heartier than most; in addition to the won tons, there is shrimp, beef, and veggies in the broth. Mmmm. Their kung pao chicken is atypical, and I wasn't a big fan (that's usually my favorite dish), but shrimp lo mein was scrumptious, and they have good egg rolls.

3. Elephant Bar. Okay, this is a chain restaurant, but it's good! Steven doesn't like it as much as I do, but they have a really yummy chicken dish - Shanghai Chicken?? that I just love.

4. In-n-Out Burger. Another chain, as Sally mentioned, but it's impossible to make a list of best places to eat without mentioning our beloved In-n-Out Burger. The fries are freshly made, the shakes are perfect, the burgers delish. Simply the best.

5. Papa's Perks. This award is given posthumously, as our favorite little family-owned coffee shop is now closed. We will miss the friendly service, the excellent lattes, freshly baked pastries (apple scones!!), and the free Wi-fi. Sigh. Cabin Coffee is good, but it's just not the same. For a frozen coffee beverage, I recommend The Coffee Bean.

Now I'm hungry.

I'm going to tag:
Nancypants
Jessica
Ree
Amy
Kate


You're it!

Wendi

Over Three Years Already??

It's hard to believe it's been three and a half years since this photo was taken. We were driving across the country, from our old home in Florida to our new home in Arizona. We stopped at a visitor center just over the AZ line from NM to stretch our legs and play in the snow. It still seemed very unreal that this was our home state.

In some ways, Arizona seems like home. We have friends and continue to make new ones. We are members of a church, partiipate in a homechool co-op, and I sing in a chamber chorale. We're settled. We recognize many varieties of cacti, and admire the rocks in our neighbors' landscaping. Yet, every once in awhile, it still strikes me as odd that I live in Arizona. Like when I am on the freeway and see signs for "Los Angeles" or "Tucson". When I was growing up, Los Angeles might as well have been on another planet; it was a faraway place I never expected to see. Now it is a wearying 7-hour drive, in what I have discovered is an endlessly long state of CA. But a sign on the freeway "Go this way, and you'll be in L.A." still seems strange. Where in the world am I?

I'm here.

Virtual Castle Church Door

I just found out about this site: http://www.castlechurch.org. It's like a virtual Castle Church door; you can find articles, books, podcasts, and links having to do with Reformed theology or of interest to the Reformed community. Cool!

Check out this new blog!

My son has started his own blog. Check it out at http://www.forcewithyou.blogspot.com!

Win an apron!

Okay, I have no idea yet what "Nancypants" will ask us to do in order to win an apron, but I'm sure it will be within the bounds of modesty and propriety. After all, she's a pastor's wife. So click for more info.

Cutest. Bunny. Evah!

Here are some photos displaying the incomparable cuteness of our bunny, Oreo.



He seemed interested in the camera, until he realized it wasn't something he could chew on.







Here, he seems defensive, like he's being interrogated by Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes". "Affidavit? What affidavit?"






Stretched out to his full length, pretending he's Superbunny.





Aaaah! Tummy full of carrots and timothy hay, it's time for a siesta.

We love bunnies!

My boy and I still volunteer at the rabbit rescue shelter. We are always meeting new bunnies that steal our hearts. This time, it was Giggles, a sweet and friendly bunny girl. Here's her picture. You can't tell in the picture, but she has one brown eye and one blue eye. We are thinking of bringing her home to be Oreo's snugglebunny. Just waiting to see if Steven is willing....

I always knew I was special!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Imperial Majesty Wendi the Disheveled of Giggleswick on the Naze Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

My latest literary obsession

I've never been a mystery fan per se, although I did enjoy Nancy Drew as a child, and I had a crush on Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy when they were the Hardy boys on TV. I remember in 6th grade, my friend Allison was going to marry Shaun Cassidy and I would marry Parker Stevenson when we grew up. But I guess they didn't wait for us! I digress. But I am completely addicted to a series of novels by Elizabeth Peters. The main character is Amelia Peabody, a British woman who decides to use her inheritance to travel to Egypt (she has always been fascinated by archaeology). She is strong-willed, intelligent, and outspoken. She's also romantic and a fiercely loyal friend. The stories take place in Egypt on various archaeological digs, where mysterious things always happen. The author has thorough knowledge of Egyptology, and an excellent, witty style. I highly recommend the books.

Fun in Flagstaff

We spent Friday and part of Saturday in the Flagstaff area, playing in the snow. We went sledding at Crowley most of Friday, then drove up to Snowbowl so Steven could show us the bunny slopes and convince us to try downhill skiing sometime. Of course, it's me who needs convincing, not Noah. Noah is always ready to do any insane, dangerous, and exhilarating activity at a moment's notice. He wants to try snowboarding. We shall see.

I was, however, more than ready to try cross-country skiing, so Friday evening we headed over to the Nordic Center and rented skis and poles. Skiing in the quiet, snowy forest under the full moon and all the stars was totally fun. We loved it! Despite the cold (it was about 12 degrees when we finished), I was too hot in my down jacket. That's some workout! (In my defense, I am not as chubby as I appear in the photo. My fluffy-puff-marshmallow jacket and loose-fitting track pants make me look huge! In reality, I am within 2 lbs. of my Weight Watchers goal. So there!)

I feel so blessed to live near the mountains, and have these opportunities. I love sledding, too, and wish I could have done it when I was a kid. I defy you to sled without whooping, shrieking, and hollering. It's impossible!

Urban Coyotes

On the way home from the skate park this evening, I was again surprised by the sight of a coyote in our densely populated suburban area. I know they live in the open desert, and in rural areas, but it still surprises me to see them in our neighborhood. I only see them after dark; where do they go during the day?

Noah's latest artwork

I wanted to post this picture, drawn by Noah. It's a ComicCon parade. You can see there is an Ewok float, a Star Wars Episode I float, and a superhero float. Very creative as usual.