New Guitar!

There was a great bargain on an electric guitar. It was just meant to be for us to come across it since we were not looking for it. We stumbled across it at a store today. Austyn had mentioned a couple of times that he wanted one. Kev wanted one as a child and never did get one so he was happy to get it when he saw the price. The guitar was about 75% off!! And we picked up a cheap amp and wires at Walmart. We used the strap from our Guitar Hero guitar. Austyn LOVES it!!

Here is a picture of him with his guitar tonight. It turns out that we read a book tonight about music and there was a CD in the back of the book to listen to the music. Austyn played his guitar while listening to the composition. The book is called "Pictures at an Exhibition by Anna Harwell Celenza". It's a true story about how some music came to be written in the 1870's in Russia. It's about three creative friends with big dreams. One of the men dies and one of them becomes depressed while the other collects all of the dead man's paintings together for a public exhibition. There is inspiration at the exhibition and the story continues from there. The book shows how an artist could be creating music but can see images in his head while doing it. The composer's name was Modest Mussorgsky and the piece is called "Pictures at an Exhibition".

It's funny how things just fall into place without intent. We end up getting a guitar and this story was the next one to read in our pile of books. It couldn't be better timing!

He approached me tonight to let me know that he loves his guitar better than anything he has (he reminded me that he loves me more). What a wonderful thing for him to have! I'm so happy that he loves it so!

“The guitar is a small orchestra. it is polyphonic. Every string is a different color, a different voice.” ~ Andre Segovia

Our Tent!

 

  

The kids wanted me to make a tent for them. We couldn't find our tent. We thought we'd put it up in the basement. Instead I got some large sheets and rearranged the furniture in the living room so that the tent could be over the couches. The kids loved it. They played in there all day. I put it up a couple of times since and they love it. We even did some history reading inside the tent. Once Zoe and I fell asleep in there and woke up with our two cats snuggled beside us. In the above picture they each have their favourite stuffed animal with them. Austyn's in his room and Zoe is in hers. Some of the time Austyn had another blanket in between the two rooms. LOL! 

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." -George Santayana

Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves

 

This is, BY FAR, the best parenting book I've EVER read! I was told about it by a friend and have finally read it. I first must say that I was impressed after purchasing it to read that the authors mentioned in the beginning of the book who had influence to it's contents. Many of them follow along the same ideas and values that I do and for me that was so amazing because it's hard to find content for my kids that follow my beliefs. Many of the authors mentioned I've read books from. There are aspects of the book as I read that I can see how "being present" and following "the flow" of the child and there are definite unschooling references. 

I catch myself before reacting most of the time and do my best to separate myself from the situation so that I can respond to the needs of my kids. We are still working on some issues we are having but I know that sometimes these things take time. I am also not as hard on myself as I've been in the past. I find with other books I'd give up on reading them because I'd be so hard on myself, but this time I'm different. I'm sure that may have something to do with all of the other reading I've been doing, but it still has something to do with this book. I am going to have to read it again in a couple of months. The information in it is so different to what society says or what I was brought up to do.

It is a plan for parents to bring up children with respect and without punishment or rewards. Through her plan that she calls S.A.L.V.E. I've found that I'm going deeper into myself and learning why I react the way I do with my kids and how it isn't them at all. Kids mean well and only end up not meaning well when they've been taken the wrong way for too long and become desperate or feel insecure. I am going through a healing process and dealing with past experiences just through the process that I am going through with my kids. I'm learning so much about me and about them. It is just an extension of what I've been learning about already and the timing couldn't be better. 

The other great thing is that the skills learned in this book can also be used with other relationships (work, spouse, friends etc.) I used S.A.L.V.E. when having a disagreement with my husband this weekend and the pain body that came up from my past actually brought tears to my eyes for a moment. We got through it fine and I think that by sharing my "S" from S.A.L.V.E. experiences with him helped him to see what I was going through. I also asked him important questions that he could walk away with and think about within himself. 

Through the plan in this book the children and parents become healed from old hurts and learn to live together in the now (presence), in harmony, and with love. The other important thing here is that although there is a deep attachment built through Attachment parenting practices (CoSleeping etc.) the child learns detachment with his/her feelings. What I mean by this is that the child sees that his/her parents or a sibling didn't cause the feelings but that the feelings are owned by the child and that it's okay to feel. There are tips to get the child through the feelings okay so that they can move on. There are many examples, ideas, and tips throughout the book for many different scenarios. What a great book! 

"There is no right or wrong behaviour. The only meaningful choice is between fear and love." ~ Gerald Jampolsky, Ph.D (as quoted in the book)

Book Sharing Monday

I'm late. We were away yesterday morning and the rest of the day was a blur. Here is our book.

Between The Tides by Fran Hodgkins is a great book about all of the interesting animals that live between the tides and how they survive while the tide is low. The illustrations do a great job of displaying how the animal changes for the tides. Austyn found this book very interesting.



"If you lived where the sea was and then wasn't you could...
Hold on tight.

(The periwincle snail clings to rocks and seaweed with a strong, muscular foot. When the tide goes out, it hunkers down to trap water inside its shell. If it gets pulled off, the periwinkle withdraws, closing its shell tight with a special door called an operculum.)"

100 Books-A-Month Challenge, Reading My Library

Our month was cut down to half since we were away from home and most of our books for two weeks.

February 2010 Reading list

Read to Austyn and Zoe:
1. A Birthday for Bear by Bonny Becker
2. Arthur Babysits by Marc Brown
3. Arthur’s Birthday by Marc Brown
4. Arthur’s Nose by Marc Brown
5. Arthur Writes a Story by Marc Brown
6. Boo to You! By Louis Ehlert
7. Carl’s Sleepy Afternoon by Alexandra Day
8. Clifford The Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
9. Dear Deer by Gene Barretta
10. Dog’s ABC A Silly Story About the Alphabet Emma Dodd
11. D.W., Go to Your Room! By Marc Brown
12. D.W.’s Library Card by Marc Brown
13. Elliot Bakes a Cake by Andrea Beck
14. Fly High, Fly Guy! By Tedd Arnold
15. Fritzi Fox Flew in from Florida by Leah Komaiko
16. Goodnight, My Duckling by Nancy Tafuri
17. Have You Seen My Duckling? By Nancy Tafuri
18. Here is the Wetland by Madeleine Duuphy
19. I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! By Karen Beaumont
20. If You Decided To Go To The Moon by Faith McNulty
21. Know-It-All Sharks! By Irene Trimble
22. Little House, Little Town by Scott Beck
23. Little Quack Loves Colors by Lauren Thompson
24. Little Quack’s Hide and Seek by Lauren Thompson
25. Little Sharl by Anne Rockwell
26. Looking Closely Through The Forest by Frank Serafini
27. Lousy Rotten, Stinkin’ Grapes by Margie Palatini
28. Max’s Dragon by Kate Banks
29. Mickey Moonbeam by Mike Brownlow
30. Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra
31. Moonshot. The Flight of APPOLLO 11 by Brian Floca
32. My Visit to the Aquarium by Aliki
33. Nana’s Cold Days by Adwoa Badoe
34. Never Take a Shark To The Dentist (and other things not to do) by Judy Barrett
35. Not Norman. A Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett
36. Ready or Not, Dawdle Duckling by Toni Buzzeo
37. Silly Billy by Anthony Browne
38. Snow by Manya Stojic
39. Space Probes by Steven Kortenkamp
40. Stick by Steven Breen
41. The Bully Blockers Club by Teresa Bateman
42. The Cat Who Walked Across France by Kate Banks
43. The Little Mermaid by Enid C King
44. The People Could Fly by Leo and Diane Dillon
45. The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter
46. The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher Beatrix Potter
47. The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle by Beatrix Potter
48. The Tale of Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter
49. The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist and Julia Gorton
50. The Wheels on the Race Car by Alexander Zane
51. Toad by Ruth Brown
52. Touch and Feel Farm Animals by Julie Aigner-Clark
53. Velma Gratch and The Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison and Kevin Hawkes
54. Voices In The Park by Anthony Browne
55. What Can You Do With An Old Red Shoe? By Anna Alter
56. What’s So Bad About Being and Only Child? By Cari Best
57. When Giants Come To Play by Andrea Beaty
58. When The Silliest Cat was Small by Gilles Bachelet
59. Where is Home, Little Pip? By Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
60. Who Hoots? By Katie Davis
61. Wolf Song by Mary Bevis
62. Yankee Doodle by Mary Ann Hoberman and Nadine Bernard Westcott

Read to Zoe:
1. Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
2. Dinosaur Roar! By Paul and Henrietta Stickland
3. Do Your Ears Hang Low?
4. Good Night Baby Donald by Grolier
5. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
6. Grumpy Bird by Geremy Tankard
7. Happy Easter, Maisy! By Lucy Cousins
8. In The Spring by Craig Brown
9. Little Quack by Lauren Thompson
10. Little Quack’s Bedtime by Lauren Thompson
11. Little Quack’s New Friend by Lauren Thompson
12. Little Red Riding Hood by The Brothers Grimm
13. Mary Had a Little Lamb by Mary Ann Hoberman and Nadine Bernard Westcott
14. My Mommy is Magic by Carl Norac
15. My Mommy’s Wedding by Eve Bunting
16. Sailor Dog Jig by Margaret Wise Brown
17. Ten in the Meadow by John Butler
18. The Gold Cadillac by Mildred D. Taylor
19. Whatever  Happens to Baby Animals by Bill Hall

Read to Austyn:
1. Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp by Rene Cloke
2. Django by John Cech
3. Julia Morgan Built a Castle by Celeste Davidson Mannis
4. Kissimmee Pete, Cracker Cow Hunter by Tan Day
5. Space Travelers by Seymour Simon
6. The Princess and the Frog by Vera Southgate
7. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Anne McKie
8. About Crustaceans by Cathryn Sill
9. Between The Tides by Fran Hodgkins
10. Meet the Shark by Catherine Vadon

Austyn and Zoe Read Together:
1. Wow! City! By Robert Neubecker
2. Morning Has Broken by Eleanor Farjeon

Zoe Read:
1. All Around The Block An Alphabet by Judy Pelikan
2. Big Fat Hen by Keith Backer

My Books Read:
1. The Power of Now by Echkart Tolle