Horton Hears a Who

Horton Hears a Who is one of our very favorite stories.  We have read it so often that we all have it pretty much memorized.  I can stop reading halfway through any line and the boys can finish it.  I'm just sharing this crummy cell phone video of it because it makes me smile.  :)

Books and randomness...

I took these pictures a couple weeks ago, intending to document the book finds we came across in September:

Here are some library finds (all inspired by recommendations on various blogs I follow)...

And some yard sale finds...

And the current top favorites in our house. These are the books I have to read over and over and over. The Spanish book in the middle is actually Bug's favorite. He brings it to me, begging me to read it all the time, telling me "Different Book!" because he knows there is something different about it.

And of course, some library books for Mama (and Daddy), too.

These I received from Ohio's Department of Natural Resources. Educators can request free materials from them, and I got Field Guides to: Birds (+CD of bird songs), Reptiles, and Dragonflies and Damselflies. If you're not in Ohio, check with your state's Dept. of Natural Resources and see if they offer similar goodies for you. Did I mention they were FREE?

Monkeyman: Hey Mom, where are the wooden spoons? Me: Whyyyyy...? Yeah, we're looking into getting drum lessons for this guy. Oh, did I mention I had a migraine on this day? Yet I still had to smile at his delight while doing this.

Photo courtesy: Monkey

Happy guy Bug. He was blowing in the straw and making his milkshake erupt all over him. I figured he was already a mess, and he was quite enjoying himself so I let him continue while I took pics.

Oh, and one more random nugget: last night I was perusing an online microscope supplier's website, and my husband came in the room and saw the scope I happened to be looking at and said "Oooh! I want that! I wanna play with it!" It just amused me because I feel exactly the same way - it's always nice to see that we're on the same page!

Welcome to my library

Inspired by a post I saw on another blog that I follow, I thought I'd share my library. Here's the main section. This is one wall of my living room - my husband and his friend built these shelves for me a few years ago based on a sketch I drew. They are my very favorite thing about my house.


I estimate that I've read about 20% of these. I only keep books that I a) love, or b) haven't read yet. If I've read a book and it was just okay, I purge it. (Confession: I do have a tendency to acquire books at a faster rate than I can read them!) While I originally purchased most of these for my own pleasure or curiosity, I plan to use them in homeschooling too - I want to use real books vs. textbooks as much as possible.


This side is mostly fiction. The top shelf contains my all-time favorite books. The four shelves below that are all fiction books, in alphabetical order by author. The very bottom shelf, behind the recliner, is full of board games. The shelf above the window, which you can't see too well, is an old, not-quite-complete set of Mark Twain's works.


This side is mostly nonfiction, organized by topic. Shelves on the left side, from top to bottom:
1. Antique/Collectible
2. Astronomy/Physics
3. Science/Math/Travel
4. Biography/Memoir
5. Biography/Memoir/History
6. The large shelf on the bottom is all Usborne Books (children's books).

Shelves on the right side, from top to bottom:
1. American History/Political
2. Religion/Philosophy
3. Science Fiction
4. Various paperbacks, both adult and children's
5. Humor/Miscellaneous
6. Finally on the bottom are larger books from all categories that don't fit in the smaller shelves.


These two shelves are in our den/office/guest room/homeschool room. They contain homeschooling materials and also photos and family history stuff. I love these shelves - they belonged to my grandmother.


Here's a closeup of some of my homeschool stuff.


And last but not least, here is the shelf in the kids' room.

Yeah, we have too many darn books... but that is a happy problem! I figure it's better than having 3,000 pairs of shoes, right?