Boever lending library

In regards to amount of books that grace our home, I am often unaware at how many we really do have. We own a couple thousand books easily. There are books in every room of our home. With homeschooling, books are such an essential part of our day and consume most of our learning. I usually forget to record each child's current favorites, but want to remember because it usually is read over and over and over.

Vianney

Her favorites right now are ALL books to the extent to which she can SHRED them. One of her nicknames is "Shredder." I hear several times a day "Mom, Vianney is shredding." Office Max had a sign up last month in the window that read "Stop Shredding at Home." I drove the kids by so we all could get a good laugh and we all agreed "STOP SHREDDING AT HOME!"

Zellie

Do you see who she is reading too?
I am sure they both loved the story. Personally, the very sight of seeing her sitting there reading to her doll, makes me grit by teeth to a low stubble because it is so precious.
NOTE: the infamous pile that follows me around

Like all things Zellie, even her books are cute, the way she looks at them are cute, the way she pronounces their names are cute, and the way she listens is cute. Her current favorites are:

The Enormous Carrot

The Enormous Carrot
By Vladimir Vagin

Before naps I tell her to pick one book and she always says, "Normous carrot." too which, I ask as though I didn't hear her and ask again "Which book?" She says, "Normous Carrot."The first two characters in the book are Floyd and Daisy. I purposely act like I really don't know the rabbits names at the beginning of the book just so can hear her say them again. She falls for it everyday and several times a day.

me: "Zellie, what are the rabbits names?"
Zellie: (thinking and acting like she doesn't know their names) "Fwoyd and Daisy." Did you catch that? Fwoyd. She said Fwoyd. Two-year-olds shouldn't say Fwoyd.

Her current next favorite is:

Pancake Dreams
by Ingmarie Ahvander

This is a cute little story about a boy named Stefan whose family moves to Jordan and he misses his grandmother's pancakes which he use to eat everyday when they lived near each other in Sweden. Stefan's friends in the book are Ahmed, Mayank, and Deniz. They know the names of his friends and it cracks me up.
Again, I always ask Zellie "I forget, what's the boy's name?" She wrinkles her middle brow and says, "Hmmm, Ste-fawn." Two-year-olds shouldn't say Stefan either.

Everyday, she gets a huge pile of books and will flip for hours. I went to check on her the other night to see if she was asleep and she was flipping through books in her bed. The only light that was provided was the light coming through the window from the moon. She had been in there a good hour. Poor thing. She's gonna look like this if I don't get her a reading light soon.

Others that are hot on her reading list:

Danny and the Dinosaur
by Syd Hoff

One Was Johnny
by Maurice Sendak

Rose

If only there were enough hours in the day to read to Rose. She will be playing in the other room, and if I even begin to read she is at my side in less than one second completely entranced by every word. She is doing well at reading on her own, but is at the cute stage of adding a long "e" to every word. Cute-e. It doesn't matter what I read to her as long as I am reading. Although, if I have her pick these are her favorites

Catholic Children's Treasure Box
By the Maryknoll Sisters

She specifically likes book #3 which is about St. Therese and her father. There is a part of the book when he calls to Therese and says, "Come little Queen, give me kiss." She loves this part and always asks to read it over and over. So of course, her nickname is "Little Queen or Come little Queen." I even hear Zellie saying, "Queen, you took my baby."

This leads to her next favorite

Where the Wild Things Are
By Maurice Sendak

In the book, Max is titled "The King of all Wild Things." I change the words to Rose "The Queen of all Wild Things." giggle. giggle. "Mom, please read it right." To which I reply, "Oopps, sorry." They fall for it every time. cute.

The Tale of Tricky Fox
By Jim Aylesworth

This fox outsmarts two little old ladies, but didn't fool the third. She is a clever old bird. Another one by this author that they love is:

Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy
by Jim Aylesworth

They all love this book because there is a repetitive chant throughout that says,
"It's gettin' late, and piggy's by the gate saying', 'No, no, no, I will not go?" We all shake our fists and shout it every time. Often, if they ask to do something when it is near bedtime I will say this chant to them.
"It's gettin' late, and piggy's by the gate saying', 'No, no, no, I will not go?"
giggle. giggle.

Lillie
Do you see the fat hobbit on the end? She is just waiting to shred.

She, too, is another one that I could read to for days and she won't blink. I am sure it is their age, but I'm so glad they love to read. Lillie is doing wonderful with her reading and loves it. She works hard everyday doing her readers. Right now, I find her several times a day reading to Zellie. Zellie follows me around most of the day saying "Read to me on this couch. " Lillie is eager to comply when I am busy. We used the book
"How to Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" with both her and Rose. It is a fabulous book and works very well. Those on the top of her list right now are:

The Seven Silly Eaters
By Mary Ann Hoberman

I love this book. I love reading this book to them. They laugh every time like it was the first time I read it to them. On a side personal note, I am overly-sensitive to books that portray big families as crazy and chaotic. The mother is a mess in the middle of the book from her ridiculous attempt to make seven different meals for all seven of her children. Goof ball! BUT, it was nice to find a book not published before 1962 that portrays children as a gift.

What could be better than this?
by Linda Ashman

I love discovering books randomly at the library that are so good. This is a beautiful story about a King and his wife who in their single days were very adventurous and happy, but knew something was missing. They met each other and fell in love and began their new life together. Even though they loved each other deeply and were surrounded by anything and everything their heart desired, they still felt something was missing. They end up leaving the castle and all their wealth and start living in a simple little cottage. Their first son was born and the rest of the story is filled with the "True beginning of their lives." This baby. In a sense, it was as if they had a second chance to see life again as a child once their child was born. My favorite line is:

"And when they could listen, and move at your pace,
The world had a new sort of grace:
It seemed quite a magical place."

The couple is sitting watching their son play by the ocean and they are content, deeply enjoying their new pace.

Dominic

He is at the wonderful age where books are like candy to him. He loves reading and his idea of fun is heading to the library "Just with you, Mom." I love watching him in the historical section scanning and picking out his favorites. We've been trying to read the classics this year and these are the tops on his list.

He is always reading something, somewhere.

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

We are currently reading Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.

He also loves the Hardy Boys and the Magic Tree House Series. We await eagerly each time Mary Pope Osborne publishes a new book. He writes it on his calendar. They contain a lot of great historical information.

Books are such a part of our day that I need to write down more often how each child changes their affections to new stories. We've been known to check out 70 books at a time at the library. I love seeing them come home and spread them all out and go through each one hunched over.

Clark Griswold

Clark is on top of our roof. It is 8:26 PM and John is outside hanging Christmas lights. We've never hung lights before so this is kind of important. He can't see a thing and our roof is very, very steep. Really. He might fall a good 40 feet in some places. My mother was telling me a darling story of her childhood. She lived in Houston a good portion of her childhood and her parents put up 1 strand of Christmas lights outside. She KNEW everybody thought their home was beautiful. She thought people drove down their street just to see their lights. Of course, I wanted it all to flow with white lights, etc and our children just desperately wanted colored lights. They were all in bed when John finished, but I had to run in and get them up. We were all standing outside in bare feet and their faces were priceless. True joy!

How can I tell you?

When I found out we were expecting our second child, John was in optometry school in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. We found out on the feast of St. Maximillian Kolbe. I had wanted another baby the minute I layed eyes on Dominic. I was so overwhelmed with love that I couldn't wait to have another baby. I felt that it would be to good to be true to experience such wonderfulness again. So when I looked over and saw the double lines, I couldn't believe it. A whole new person! Who will the baby look like? Will the baby be a boy or a girl? We announced to John's class that night that we were expecting! Everyone was giddy! One guy came up to us and said, "Congrats, but you want like 17 kids so what's the big deal."
How can I tell you that I've never had this one. This one is special to me, to John, to God. This one has a soul, a brain, a purpose. Why do numbers matter? I could only hope to look into the eyes of my 17th child and tell him or her how wanted they were, how there are 16 other people at home yearning to hold you and love you. How you will be the child of my old age.
We found out last Thursday that we are expecting another baby. John told me that from now on he is telling people we have six children. We do. All life is sacred especially in the womb. I told my mother how I feel more giddy than ever. Every time I find out we are expecting, I always say to myself, "I can't believe we get another baby."
Our fertility is a gift. We vowed before we were married that we would never take it for granted. I cannot wait to meet this little one and kiss the neck. I love the neck.