The Best Snow Day Ever!

We have had such a great day today.  We woke up to a beautiful snowy day. We were expecting snow but not until later in the day.  Dad found out that all of his classes were canceled.  We were all able to do some things we wanted to do--I was able to clean off my desk and begin a new Bible study.  Virginia was able to "visit" with one of her on-line friends. James Martin sat and watched True Grit (one of his very favorite movies) and John Thomas read and worked on a few things for school. 

For supper we had delicious Stouffer's lasagna and salad.  For dessert, Dad made us a huge bowl of snow cream.

As if this wans't wonderful enough, we played their Richard Scarry game they had received for Christmas.  The children have always loved Richard Scarry, and I don't think they will ever outgrow these great little characters.  Daddy joined us and we had a blast with the game. 

Later, Virginia worked on her cross stitch while the boys and I had a Richard Scarry coloring party.  She had "Flipper" on in the background--the great show from the 60's. 

You can see why we think this was the "Best Snow Day Ever!"

Classical Music

In our homeschool, we love classical music. We thought you might like the beautiful piece by Beethoven.

Speaking of Eleanor Estes . . .

Many years ago, I think when I was in third grade, I read this story in one of our reading book collections of stories.  I found it again a while back and bought it for Virginia.  We have just found a book of writing activities to go along with this beautiful story,  I can't wait to start it with her this week.

Well, we have finished another of the Moffat books by Eleanor Estes.  We have completed The Moffats, The Moffat Museum, and now, Rufus M.  We'll get to The Middle Moffat before too long.  These lovely stories are set in the New England town of Cranbury, and detail the everyday lives of the Moffat family.    World War I is in the background, and we learn of rationing, oleo, mailing cards to soldiers and the Armistice.  However, these stories are mainly about the joys of childhood--joys in everyday life. The chapters are longer than many chapter books written today and there are no deep meanings and lessons about life other than the love of family and the extraordinary fun in ordinary things!

We have read these books and others like them (Homer Price, for example) aloud for years now.  Please be encouraged to read to and with your children even after they are past the Dr. Seuss books!

A Find

Last night, we went to the big city and did a bit of shopping. I needed to get Virginia some socks, and there were a few other things on our list.  We ended up in Barnes and Noble (of course), and I found this book for John Thomas.  He loves history, atlases and information about the great cities.  This book seemed to have it all.

The author, John Julius Norwich is not only an historian, but has had quite a celebrated life.  He served in the British Foreign Service and is a member of the House of Lords.  He was also a BBC personality.

In any case, John Thomas loves all of the marvelous pictures, maps and artwork that make up this handsome book.

Patrick Stewart's Scrooge

This year, we have decided to let Patrick Stewart do our reading of A Christmas Carol. We were able to download an abridged version of this great actor reading this great story. I can't tell you how much he brings to this role. We can almost see Marley's face on the door!

We have turned this annual reading project into a full-fledged unit study. I found a reading comprehension workbook full of vocabulary and writing exercises as well as information about Dickens and 19th century  England.  We even have one of the very inexpensive Dover coloring books we will be using. 

After we finish, we will all watch the Patrick Stewart version of the tale.  We bought this last year; it is still available on Amazon for under $7.00.  I have never seen a better adaptation.

Patrick Stewart had a marvelous one-man-show of this several years ago; I would love to have seen that.

Anyway, when we are finished with A Christmas Carol this season, the children will have something to add to their literature notebooks.  Many home-school families study the great literary works this way--this approach adds so much to comprehension and enjoyment.

Fan Art From A Redwall Fan

Hey, everyone! James Martin again. As you know, the last time I posted, I posted about the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol. I am also a huge fan of the Redwall books by Liverpudlian author Brian Jacques. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Jacques in 2006 when I attended a release celebration for his book, Voyage of Slaves, that is a part of another series he is working on. Here is some fan-art drawn by me, based off of the fight at the end of his book Redwall:

I based the art style off of a screen capture from the Redwall TV Series. I just finished reading that book for the third time in my life. It was great!

Thanks for reading and may your swords stay sharp! (Try to guess where that comment came from! *wink*)
James Martin Justus