What I'm Thankful For

Today I am thankful for:

• Flowers blooming in my garden.
• Getting to spend time cuddling, talking to, and loving on a baby this morning.
• History class starting next week.
• Good music to listen to.
• Good books to read.
• Being able to put off encumbrances and focus on the important things.
• Almost all of my families completing their program plans.
• Having friends over regularly this month, before things get too busy.
• Sound preaching every Sunday.
• Fairly good sleep lately.
• A new, and very good, blueberry muffin recipe.
• Blueberry season.
• God's faithfulness.
• Sunny days going into fall.
• Public libraries.

More Summer Reading

I am almost done the summer reading list! I have one more on hold at the library, and I just need to pick it up (it came in the day after I was at the library this week).

There aren't many to mention this time; I think I was close to finished last time I reported. 

I have read the first book in the DreamKeeper Saga: The Dragon and the Stone by Kathryn Butler. It was a good story, full of imagination, allusions to Christianity (I think it's intended to be an allegory, but not quite), and fun. I have just started the second book as well.

Not fiction, but I did look at two book in The Story of the Orchestra series: The Planets and Carnival of the Animals. They were fun, with buttons to push to hear parts of the symphony as you read a story (and I learned that if you stack the books and one is too heavy, it will also make the music play!). It's a good way to introduce classical music to kids and maybe adults as well.

Someone had recommended the Brave books, a whole series of picture books by different authors, including Kirk Cameron. I could only find a few at the library, but they're pretty good on the whole, although some of the stories are more engaging than others. They teach life lessons from a biblical viewpoint and include the Brave Challenge at the end of each book, with games and activities to reinforce the lessons. I'm considering them for the church library.

Not on my original list: 

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. A friend read it to her boys, cried a lot, and insisted that I read it as well! I cried a lot too, and loved it! It's beautifully written and wonderfully engaging.

I stumbled upon The Library of Unruly Treasures by Jeanne Birdsall. I enjoyed her Penderwick series, and this one (a stand-alone) was also fun. It has a neglected girl, a wonderful uncle, a young neighbour, a library, and some tiny creatures that usually can't be seen by anyone over the age of 6. My only problem was that she and the librarian justified the theft of a portrait; I don't really want children thinking that crime can be justified so easily.

I also started reading more the the Dear Canada series, just for fun. There are several newer ones that I don't know.

It's been a fun summer of light reading.

August

August is gone, although the summer weather is still here. After all, it's still 3 weeks until autumn. My flowers are blooming and my tomatoes are ripening. We're hoping for a week or two without rain so the farmers can get the hay in.

August was a nice, sleepy month, just as it should be. It was nearer to the end of the month before I began thinking about fall and look at work-related stuff; until then, it was quiet days.

I spent some time with friends. I went out for dinner to one family's house and had another family over to visit and went for sushi with other friends. We had a baby shower for my newest granddaughter. Not much else happened. 

I read a lot in August, continuing my quest to read as many children's books as possible. I'm still waiting for one from the library; I'm next in line!

Really, it was quiet. I started looking at building curriculum for next year. I enrolled enough children to hold history class this fall. I began looking at program plans and answering emails. I ordered a couple books for my professional growth plan and put others on my "for later" list at the library, but I haven't started reading them yet.

It's September now, so it's time to get going. There is church history curriculum to review and prep, program plans to approve, meetings emails to set up, meetings to book, and all the things that come with fall.

Summer was good, and I feel better now. I've been spending more time in prayer and Bible reading/study, and I'm starting to memorize Scripture again. I'm very thankful for the rest, and I'm ready for the new year.