Twitterature (Inaugural Link Up May 2014)

I am quite excited because this is my first time joining in for Twitterature at Modern Mrs Darcy.  I have often piped up with what I am reading in her comment box, but I decided that talking about what we are reading is so fun that I have to do this, too!  Twitterature is why I started becoming interested in trying to spruce up this blog.  So, thanks, Anne!

Here's what I've been reading:

Hatching Twitter by Nick Bilton (ebook) - How appropriate for my first link up!  I actually heard about this book from Modern Mrs Darcy, probably on Twitterature.  It was a fast read and quite interesting.  I don't know much about tech startups, and learning about Twitter was a neat glimpse into the lives and interests of people with skills that are far different from mine.  Evan Williams taught himself code before he invented Blogger (Blogger!), and then he became one of the founders of Twitter.  I had to take a deep breath after each chapter, I was reading so fast.  #techdrama #dofriendsandbusinessmix #creationstory

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon (ebook) - I think I stole this title from Modern Mrs Darcy's Pinterest book boards.  Fast read and very encouraging.  I appreciate that Kleon doesn't seem to take himself too seriously.  I sadly didn't realize that the adage "There's nothing new under the sun" was biblical.  Kleon had some interesting suggestions, such as his log book.  I stared at that illustration for a while.  I have realized that I am very taken with artistic process.  Fascinating.  I already started to read it again, but I keep waiting for it to disappear from my Kindle app because it's an electronic library checkout.  Also, the author claimed what one of my best curriculum and instruction professors often touted in class: the best teachers know how to steal.  They see what's good and emulate it.  #notpretentiousthankgoodness #thanksfortheencouragement

The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith (hardback) - Pre-ordered a while ago, Nester continues to inspire me to let go of perfection and embrace what is in the land of interior design and decor.  I appreciated that it wasn't just a retelling of her blog but a nice narrative of her learning journey with houses.  She reminds me to not take decorating so seriously, to try, to embrace limitations, to love where you're at, and many other things. She can talk philosophically about houses and gives great practical tips, too.  I will be rereading this for sure.  She totally inspired me to not give into perfection paralyzation and dig in.  She knows us, and it shows.  #faveblog #nesterrules #idhtbptbb

Something Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It by Jennifer Fulwiler (hardback) - Another favorite blogger, another current release.  I just finally got to pick this book up.  I probably would've read it by now, but I am hindered by the hardback that I really wanted to have.  I could've bought it for Kindle, but it's nice to have this one in hardback.  It's just hard to read while holding a baby.  I know a lot of Jen's story, but I have enjoyed the details, getting more of her story filled in while reading this one.  She's had her first son and reading The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.  That's as far as I've gotten!  (Is that too much of a spoiler?) #loveconversionstories #faveblogger #joefulwilerisfunny

The Family-First Creative: 42 Tips for Following Your Dreams While Putting Your Family First by Jennifer Fulwiler (ebook) - Jen wanted to thank all the people who supported her by pre-ordering her memoir; so, she wrote this ebook that was only available until the book came out.  I zipped right through it, and I'll very likely zip through it again, as her tips seem hard won and proven.  There were a lot of neat things in it like her recommendation for the St. Catherine of Siena Foundation's Called and Gifted Series and the reminder I needed: even if no one sees what you create, the world is better place because you did it.  Art can serve you.  Creativity is for all humans, not just the super talented ones (which I do not mean snarkily- I love creative and super talented people.  And I love people who don't feel super talented but create anyway!)  Like this blog: who cares if no one sees it!  That's not why I started it.  I started it because it looked like fun.  I'm not going to pressure myself to perfect it.  If I want to work on it, I will.  If I feel like writing something, I will.  Jen seems to get that.  #thanksjen #familyfirst #conversiondiary

The bookshelf in my head most often includes: 

just started StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath  

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Strangers and Sojourners by Michael O'Brien (my husband bought this for me on Kindle a while ago, and I haven't dived in yet....I don't know why not!  Father Elijah was amazing.  So is O'Brien's art.)

Hooray, my first Twitterature!  How about you?  What have you been reading?

A New Way to Declutter

(source) 
Not my basement

Put it all in the basement and then decide what can stay in the basement.  That's the long and short of it.

I'll back up.

I had a baby almost four months ago.  She joins two older brothers. I've been a determined declutterer for a while now, but it kicked into higher gear with the birth of another child in a two-bedroom house.

Suddenly, I couldn't handle the toy tubs in the living room.  They would get dumped, toy parts would get jumbled, and then, we'd just throw it all back in, too weary and/or annoyed to put the piggy bank coins back in the piggy bank toy.  You know?  I could not look at it all. I needed clear surfaces more than ever.  (This was randomly validated by a Holly Pierlot post I stumbled onto postpartum.)

Not long after baby was born, I hauled those toy tubs down to the basement.  Then, the rest of the toys in the living room (bag of costumes, musical instruments, larger toys) made their way down as well.

Soon, anything that was just sitting out where it didn't belong made it's way down to the basement.  Fun box?  Sensory rice bin?  Bye-bye.

When you have too much stuff in a given container, it all comes spilling out.  It forces decision-making.  It's that or live with things falling out of cabinets or having to move three things to get to the one thing you wanted in the back of the cabinet.  Dana at A Slob Comes Clean is very good at talking about accepting your container's (cabinet, drawer, box, house) limitations.

My house is a container.  The things that are sitting around, getting in the way, causing visual stress are going downstairs.  Sure, that's making the basement a mess, but here's the thing: unless I know where it's going, it's not coming back up.  I'm pretty determined this time.  Those things have to prove their worth.  

Some of you might cry foul: what about the kids' toys, right?  They've hardly asked for them!  They don't seem to remember what is down there.  I've been asked for a remote controlled dump truck and excavator.  I was also asked for Buzz and Woody once.  That's it!  Isn't that something?  

This positions our family nicely for a toy library, a rotating bin (though I'm leaning toward the library), and some new furniture in the living room for toys.  That's where I get stuck.  What to purchase to organize the toys.  I'd really love shelves that are neatly labeled so kids are empowered to put them back where they belong.  I don't want to shell out the big bucks for the nicer looking furniture, but the cheap stuff looks....cheap.  

We'll see where this goes, but I think I'm on to something.  

Prove yourselves, things.  Prove yourselves.  Or be prepared to exit my house.

Confession

So,  I got up in the wee hours of the morning for these two:

but not these two:

Bad Catholic.

But you know, it doesn't mean that I won't (or haven't) read more about them lately.  I am far more familiar with JPII, and I continue to enjoy learning about him.  I have loved learning about his Theology of the Body.  As for John XXIII, I look forward to learning more about him, especially after I heard that he would leave the Vatican in the middle of the night like Pope Francis to visit people who were homeless.  I am fairly certain I saw his tomb at St. Peter's.

I liked Reading Catholic's 7 Quick Takes on the two new saints.

Pope St. John Paul II, pray for us!

Pope St. John XXIII, pray for us!


Did you rise early for the canonizations?  Learn anything new about the popes?

Mapping History

I was excited to receive this in the mail the other day.  Michele Quigley made a beautiful Book of Centuries for her online store, and when she opened the store back up again not long ago, I put in my order as soon as I could.

Michele also made a free, printable version of a century book available on her Mater Amabilis site.  From what I've read, people have had fun creating books, making them their own.  I thought Michele's was really pretty.

I think it will be pencil-only.  At least for a while.  A nice, sharp pencil.

Purchased or created any learning tools lately?  Any Book of Centuries fans?

An Advent Countdown with Books: 2013 Edition

It's that time of year again!  A little pre-Advent planning for this booklist helps get the season off to a terrific start.  I am revisiting last year's booklist for this year's tweaking.  I am also hoping to purchase a few of these books, especially the Tomie dePaola books, for our collection.  I have been blessed to find books used; so, I am hoping that will be the case this year, too!

Sunday, December 1st is the first day of Advent this year.  I will need 24 books, 1 Bible for the 25th, and possibly 12 books leading up to Epiphany on January 6th.  I have no leftover wrapping paper that will really work for this project, but I will just purchase some inexpensive paper for the 24 books, wrap the Bible in some pretty gold paper I still have and tie it with a gold ribbon (also already have), and maybe have enough for the final 12 books.

I will also split the content of the books up into Advent and Christmas, with the 24 books being focused on feast days and preparation for Christ's birth and the final 12 books being about celebrating Christmas and Epiphany (lots of books on the 3 wise men we haven't not read yet, not to mention St. Wencelas and St. Stephen).  Books will be scheduled for the night before a feast.  So, I will begin reading about St. Nicholas the night before St. Nicholas's Feast Day (December 6th).  Though, St. Nicholas is so fun that we will read about him more than one night.  Last year, we read the books right before bed.

Here's the list:

Sun, Dec 1: The Story of Christmas - Pingry & Thornburgh
Mon, Dec 2: An Early American Christmas - dePaola
Tues, Dec 3: St. Joseph's Story - Guadagno & Lo Cascio
Wed, Dec 4: Saint Nicholas: The Story of the Real Santa Claus - Joslin & Cann
Thurs, Dec 5: Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend - Stiegmeyer & Ellison
Fri, Dec 6:  The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving - Mackall & Porfirio
Sat, Dec 7: Immaculate Conception (booklet) - Winkler
Sun, Dec 8:  Our Lady of Guadalupe (pop up) - Serrano, Davano, & Guzman
Mon, Dec 9: Tony's Bread - dePaola
Tues, Dec 10: The Candle in the Window - Johnson & Elliott
Wed, Dec 11: Our Lady of Guadalupe - Bernier-Grand & Engel  
Thurs, Dec 12: The Birds of Bethlehem - dePaola
Fri, Dec 13: Tomie's Little Christmas Pageant - dePaola
Sat, Dec 14: The Little Fir Tree - Brown & LaMarche
Sun, Dec 15: Bambinelli Sunday - Welborn & Engelhart
Mon, Dec 16: The Night of Las Posadas - dePaola
Tues, Dec 17: Bear Stays Up for Christmas - Wilson & Chapman
Wed, Dec 18: The Gift of the Christmas Cookie - Mackall & Chabrian
Thurs, Dec 19: The Very First Christmas (a Hallmark book recorded by hubby's parents in 2010)
Fri, Dec 20: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell! - Colandro & Lee
Sat, Dec 21: A Gift from Saint Francis: The First Creche - Cole & Lemieux
Sun, Dec 22: Room for a Little One - Waddell & Cockcroft
Mon, Dec 23: The Legend of the Poinsettia - dePaola
Tues, Dec 24: Gospel of Luke 2:1-14  Family Bible, NAB -  (can find online at USCCB)

Wed, Dec 25:  Stephen's Feast - Richardson

Thurs, Dec 26: Good King Wenceslas - Henterly
Fri, Dec 27: The Twelve Days of Christmas - Long
Sat, Dec 28: An Angel Came to Nazareth - Knott & Kneen
Sun, Dec 29: The Nativity - Sanderson
Mon, Dec 30: The Friendly Beasts - dePaola
Tues, Dec 31: The Clown of God - dePaola
Wed, Jan 1: Mary, the Mother of Jesus - dePaola
Thurs, Jan 2: O Holy Night - Christmas with the Boys Choir of Harlem - Ringgold
Fri, Jan 3: The Last Straw - Thury & van Kampen
Sat, Jan 4: Humphrey's First Christmas - Heyer
Sun, Jan 5: We Three Kings - Spirin
Mon, Jan 6: Baboushka and The Three Kings - Robbins

A blessed Advent to you!  What's on your reading list this Advent?

An Advent Countdown with Books

I created a list of books I wanted to introduce to the boys during Advent 2012.  I drew inspiration from a couple of places, and I was excited to try out unwrapping a book each night.  It ended up being a lot of fun, a great way to use up some wrapping paper, a good introduction for each feast day, and a fantastic way to keep the focus on the meaning of the season.  For example, we read Saint Nicholas, the story of the real Santa Claus the night before St. Nicholas Day, and because we love him so much, we read another book about him the next night. I linked to books that we particularly enjoyed.  I don't know what we read the first of December.  Wait, maybe that's when Advent began?  I already don't remember!  

Staring at this list more and more, I don't believe this is the most updated list.  I feel as though I moved the books around a little more than this.  Oh, well......at least I have these titles.  Some books we already had, some we got through interlibrary loan, and some we purchased.  We will probably be purchasing a few of the Tomie dePaola books, though I was glad to peruse them via library loan first.  

All I did was wrap each book at lightening speed during quiet time with my husband's help and label them with the correct calendar day on a back corner of the wrapping.  I set them all aside in a canvas bin and placed it in our bay window.  I did not wrap the family Bible until later in the month, in order to have access to it.  When I did wrap it, I used a shiny gold paper to get the boys' attention that this book was a very special book compared to the selections that came before it.

2: Merry Christmas, Strega Nona

3: The Story of Christmas

4: A Stocking for Jesus

5: Saint Nicholas, The story of the real Santa Claus

6: Saint Nicholas, The Real Story of the Christmas Legend 

7: Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

8: Immaculate Conception  (booklet) 

9: Our Lady of Guadalupe by Bernier-Grand & Engel  

10: An Angel Came to Nazareth

11: Our Lady of Guadalupe (pop up)

12: Lucia and the Light

13: The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story

14: The Very First Christmas (a Hallmark book recorded by hubby's parents in 2010)

15: The Night of Las Posadas

16: The Nativity

17: Great Joy

18: St. Joseph's Story

19: Bear Stays Up for Christmas

20: Who is Coming to Our House

21: An Early American Christmas

22: Little Star

23: Room for a Little One

24: Gospel of Luke, family Bible (wrap in gold, very special wrapping) Luke 2:1-14

Off the top of my head, highlights of the collection included our new Our Lady of Guadalupe books (so nice to have books about her!), The Night of Las Posadas, Bear Stays Up for Christmas, Who is Coming to Our House, and An Early American Christmas.  We also enjoyed reading the dePaola book about the poinsettia, but I don't remember when we read it.  It either made its way into the wrapped collection without an edit to the list, or we read it after Christmas.  Room for a Little One is awfully sweet, as well, setting a quiet and hushed scene for the arrival of a special little one.  Bear Stays Up for Christmas is secular but very sweet.  Its illustrations are lovely, and the friendships depicted are charming.  An Early American Christmas, a piece of historical fiction, depicted what it might have been like in colonial New England when a family moves to town that celebrates Christmas more demonstrably.

I did not enjoy the Rudolph book, which was a shame because it was the old, Montgomery Ward version that is attached to memories for my husband's side of the family.  It was terrible.  I don't even think my sons enjoyed it.  It will not make it into next year's collection.  I was surprised to find the addition of magic in the Strega Nona books (one was read after Christmas Day), but I did like them.  Little Star was also a little disappointing.  Too wordy.  Lucia and the Light scared my almost-five-year-old a bit too much right before falling asleep.

I was also going to prepare some wrapped books for at least the first eight days of Christmas, but I let go of that thought after a while.  Maybe next year.  One of the books I received via library loan was The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola, and I really enjoyed it because of how it mentions Christmas reverently in the story.  I think I will have to add that one to our collection.  

What about you?  Did you create an Advent book countdown?  Any favorites you'd like to share?