Book Worm is an Understatement!

This evening Kimball and I worked together to make up his bed with clean sheets. Since has a full sized loft bed, I sent him up top and asked him first to pass down to me anything that wasn't bedding. I expected five or six books, but here is what I got:

• Ivanhoe
• 2 Roald Dahl books
• Leven Thumps volumes 1, 2, and 4
• The Bronze Bow
• 2 Star Wars Cookbooks
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• 3 library books about magic (for his Halloween costume)
• The Book of Think
• Obessessed with Star Wars
• A Star Wars Fandex
• The most recent issue of Lego Magazine
• A take out menu to our favorite sushi place (the kind with photos of all the sushi rolls)
• Canterbury Tales (A kid's version)
• Much Ado About Nothing (The Shakespeare Can Be Fun series)
• Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites
• a Kindle guide (yes, all these books, AND he owns a Kindle!)
• The Time Travelers
• 3 chapter books for 2nd graders that I'd checked out for Ian
• 4 picture books he'd swiped from his younger siblings' bookcases

By the time he passed down the tenth book I was laughing, but by the time we got all of them down, we were both hysterical. That's 26 books, a magazine, a fandex, a users' guide, and a menu! Perhaps we need to change his bedding more often!

Lost in Another World

Lately, if you can't find Henry, he's likely in the world of Roald Dahl. He discovered Charlie and the Chocolate Factory about two weeks ago and since has gobbled up five Roald Dahl books. This childhood bookworm couldn't be more proud.

Eight Tag

I have a few post ideas cooking right now, but I haven't had the time I need to spend on such weighty topics as the economy, teaching our children modesty, and saving traditional marriage. I hope to do these posts next week when we're taking a week off of school, but as I am putting lots of things off until next week, it may be just as busy as all the others!

Anyhow, Rebecca tagged me for a game where we can tell any 8 random facts about ourselves. I've tweaked it a little, and I won't tag anyone, so just read and leave me a comment! And stay tuned--my next post is #200 and I have a giveaway planned.

Eight Things I Wish I Had More Time For:

1. Reading--I have been reading Wives and Daughters for 2 months now--pathetic
   
2. Blogging--this twice a week posting is driving me crazy
3. Calling friends on the phone--this is a rare treat anymore, but used to be my daily staple
4. Studying the scriptures--I do get in 30 minutes most days, but I'd love to spend more
5. Traveling--although money is also to blame here
6. Spending time with extended family
7. Cleaning and Household Projects--sad, but true
   
8. Developing New Talents--I really want to learn to sew, practice the piano, and so much more.

Eight Books I'm So Glad That I've Read:

1. The Book of Mormon--I couldn't navigate my life without this one, hand in hand with number 2. I spend time reading it every day and it never gets old or fails to fill my cup.
2. The Holy Bible--see number 1.
3. Covenant Hearts--click to read my review. The best book on marriage I've ever read.
4. The Well-Trained Mind--although I am still working through this one, I use it as a reference. It helped me develop my philosophy and hopes for homeschool into real plans.
5. Anna Karenina--this powerful novel so beautifully depicts the Russian consciousness of the time and illustrates the tragedy that comes from selfishness and adultery. Possibly my favorite novel of all time.
6. The Out-of-Sync Child--excellent resource on Sensory Integration Dysfunction/Sensory Processing Disorder.
   
7. On Becoming Babywise--this book is considered to be quite controversial. And yet, most of the criticisms on it seem to be based on "hearing about the book"-- I did not find it's method of helping babies sleep through the night to be rigid or cruel at all. What I took away from this book was a philosophy to feed my baby when they first wake rather than right before it's time to sleep again. I tried to keep them on a 3 hour schedule, although I think you can tell if your baby is truly hungry and I certainly would bend in such situations. I always made sure to change their diaper before putting them down so that they would fall asleep in their cribs. My outcome (with babies 3 and 4--the babies I had after reading this book)? I did not have babies crying themselves to sleep. If they cried, I picked them up. What I had was babies who knew how to fall asleep without me suckling them, rocking them, or sleeping next to them. They were both sleeping 12 hours straight at night before they were 8 weeks old. Twelve hours. This method worked much better for us than what he had done previously, which was get the baby to sleep, put him down, and hope he stayed asleep. Those babies eventually had to be trained to put themselves to sleep when they were much older--and that's when the real "crying it out" took place!
8. Pride and Prejudice--How could I not name this one? It's not that it has made me a better person or anything, but it is so well written, so delightfully funny, so very Jane Austen. This book is here for all of those great books that I couldn't fit on this list of eight.

Eight Foods I Can and Will Eat Any Time of Day (all are homemade unless otherwise noted):

1. Macaroni and Cheese
2. Apple Boysenberry German Chocolate Lemon Meringue Pie (German Chocolate from Marie Callendar's)
3. Fresh Bread
4. Granola (Homemade or Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond)
5. Cheesecake
6. Anything Chocolate
7. Fresh Salsa
8. Cookies

(Notice a trend there? It's almost all sweet.)

Eight Things I Love About Being A Mom:

1. Kissing a squishy, chubby cheek
2. Saying "I Love You" after family prayers
3. One-on-one tender moments with my kids
4. Sharing books I love with my kids
5. Hugging, holding, and rocking
6. Singing
   
7. Trying to interpret a one-year-old's language
8. Watching them sleep
   

Book Exchange, anyone?

So, I was invited to participate in a chain-letter style book exchange. I need to pass it on to six people and I only want to send it to people who will actually do it. (I am generally the person to drop the ball on such things--fair warning if you send a recipe swap my way!)

Here's how it works: You send one book to the kid on the top of your list. (I bought this one online that I found cheap and then I didn't have to go to the effort to ship it, because you know how postally challenged I am. Go to half.com.) Then you photocopy the letter, move the names up, and put your kid's name at the bottom of the list. You send it on to six friends. If everyone plays, your kid gets 36 books in a couple of weeks. I figure, even if everyone doesn't play and just some of them do, my kids will be thrilled to get a book or two in the mail.

So, who out there would like to be included? I would love to send this on to you. Please please please! Send me an email if you do. My address is sleepymumATgmailDOTcom. Here's hoping that I get at least six takers. And don't worry--if I get more than six, I can always share you with my sister, who has the same task.

"Richer than I you can never be. . .

I had a mother who read to me."--Strickland Gillilan

I have always loved great children's literature. I come by it honestly. From my babyhood, my mother read wonderful books to me. She says that by the time I was walking, I would follow her around with a book, begging her to read. She'd wash a few dishes, then read me a book. Finish the dishes, another book. Put in some laundry, read me a book. I was a bookworm as a one year old, and I think that it is not just because she read to me, but also because she cared enough to find high quality, well written and illustrated books. All children's books are not created equally--there are plenty out there that are complete junk.
I remember when I was in eighth or ninth grade my parents started talking about moving the family to somewhere more affordable (they fixed on St. George, Utah) so that my dad could quit his job as a salesman and open a children's bookstore. It was my dad's middle age crisis dream--he was afraid that his job should be making the world a better place, and he wasn't sure that selling guitars and drums to rock stars really qualified for that. (I think that raising six children was his contribution to improving the world.) This children's bookstore dream came before the big box Barnes and Noble or Borders and long before Amazon.com forced many small, independent bookstores to close down. When I saw You've Got Mail, The Shop Around the Corner reminded me of the children's bookstore that they dreamed of.
I have done my best to instill the love of reading in my children by using the same method that my mother did--by filling our home with beautiful, well-written books, and by making them accessible to my kids. They have bookshelves in their bedrooms that are overflowing with books. We read a lot together (although I will admit that I used to spend more time reading to them five years ago when I only had two kids. The upside is that now Kimball will read aloud to them as well--and he does great voices!) We are all passionate about books around here, and there's nothing that I love to see more than finding one or more of my kids reading quietly, wrapped up in the story unfolding. Even the boys who can't read yet will sit and "read" for ages, because they have so many of their books memorized by now that it's almost as enjoyable as being read to. (Last week, they took all their pillows and blankets and big stack of books into the refrigerator box that is still here and made a "book cave." Aren't they cute?)
So, because I love children's lit and because I want to share that with you, I have a new section on the sidebar of my blog, entitled, "Fall in Love with Children's Lit." Go check it out. I've made a link for each book so that you can easily get them on Amazon if you are so inclined. Or go to the local library. I will be adding books regularly and will also try to post sometimes featuring specific authors, illustrators, or series that we enjoy. One of the great things about quality children's literature is that you as a parent (or aunt, uncle, babysitter) can enjoy it as well.
Feel free to comment here about your favorites that aren't on my list yet. I just made this list in a few minutes tonight and it is by no means comprehensive--it is a work in progress.
Now, if I can just find where I put my book, I'll curl up for a few minutes before bedtime. Happy reading!

Caught up in the World of Wizardry

It's Harry Potter season. Between the movie coming out two weeks ago and the new book out last weekend, everything's coming up Harry. I ordered my copy of Deathly Hallows to come via Amazon on the day of the release, but I relinquished it to hubby. You see, I generally re-read the entire series with each new release. This time, since I have a pile of books stacking up in my must-read-as-soon-as-possible pile (which is next to my bed and becoming too cumbersome), I have opted to read only book 5 and 6 before savoring the final book to the last crumb. I started listening to book 5 on tape on the way home from Whittier and am now deep into the school year, incensed by Dolores Umbridge and wishing I could tuck in with the students at their feasts. Just once I'd love to be there with the ceiling of stars and the tables drooping with feast food!
So, I'm not going to spend much time on this blog--I want to get back to my book, and a girl only has so much time to read when she has four children, including one who is teething and one who "thinks he needs to go potty" every 15 minutes--have I created a monster?
Here's a site for fun HP games, quizzes, etc.
Now, back to my book!