Books: The Diary Quilt Wouldn't be Complete Without Them....

Books
What do you think -- add titles to the books, or leave them blank?

I love books.

I teach my boys at home. With books.

I've been reading since I was four, and have rarely been without a book since.

When we moved to Brazil, one-third of the boxes we packed and shipped over contained books, and that was the barest of the bare essentials; we did, painful as it was for me, leave some behind. Even gave some away.

I read on a Kindle now, but anything I already own in paper form is staying. I still read those, too.

This block is about all of that. About me, about reading, about my passion for reading. About teaching my boys, using books. Real books. Books they read over and over and over again.

It's a tribute to the many people in my life who helped me fall in love with reading. A tribute to the literature rich curriculum we use in our home school. A tribute to the years of bonding over books that I have had, will have, with my boys.  A tribute to the friends, real life & on-line, who've helped me along the way, encouraging me in my teaching endeavors. It's a tribute, most of all, to the single thing I love most in this world (as far as objects go): Books.  

To all the friends, characters in print, who filled my teenage years.

To good and untame lions and a world on the other side of a wardrobe door.

To Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern.

To a wise lawyer, raising his tomboy girl & football loving son, teaching them to climb inside someone's skin....or stand on his front porch....and see the world through someone else's eyes.

To a tight-knit band of teenage boys, fighting against society, who taught me what being Golden is all about and then made me cry like never before when a gallant young man was shot beneath a street light.

To a Bulldog and his Prince, now out of print and my copy ruined, who endured much at the hands of a boarding school headmaster who was a little bit "off," yet who found true friendship in each other.

To a young college graduate, who died too young but taught me that love means not having to say you're sorry. Because you're forgiven before the words leave your lips.

To the friends I didn't make until later.

A boy who grows from 11 to 18, learning what it means to do the right thing, to believe in something and to stand for something bigger than yourself.


To Pooh, with no shirt, and Piglet in green, and saying goodbye to Christopher Robin, the most poignant goodbye in literature if you ask me.

To a little Chinese immigrant to the United States, who learns baseball and how to mimic cartoon characters and how to make her American classmates laugh, and who helped me help  my boys learn to live in Brazil.


To a real life mariner who lived a heartbreaking life and made me cry buckets. 

To the Austin family and Charles Wallace and Meg and adventures that moved me way beyond.


To a clockwork man, and the boy who built him, who was introduced to me by my oldest son, a friend that he discovered on his own.

To elves and dwarfs and hobbits and men, who together journey an impossible journey to destroy the greatest evil they've ever known, and to my Chemist who first made me read of their tales.

To so many more, old friends, new friends, yet to come friends. Because nothing's better than books. 


What is your favorite book? And how many of mine do you recognize? And, most pressing, should I embroider titles on the books in the block, or leave them blank.......and if I should, how on earth do I narrow it to six books?? 

Book Review (by my 10 year old): Harry Potter Deathly Hallows

The  older two boys have been reading the Harry Potter series in anticipation of the release of the final movie installment.  Both boys are determined to finish the full series before the July 15 debut of HP7pt2, or Harry Potter 7 Part 2. We fully intend to see the movie opening weekend if at all possible.

While The Writer is not yet done, The Artist, age 10, finished Book 7 this past week. He was thrilled. I was thrilled. We've had a few (very brief) conversations about the book  -- things like, "What was your favorite part??" answered by, "Umm, the end."  And, "Was it sad? What did you think about......was that surprising?"  answered by, "Yea."

In  order to find out a little more, I handed The Artist my newest Secret Weapon for school -- a Book Review Book Mark. The boys will fill one out for every school book they read this year, fiction and non fiction. Sometimes they'll have to turn these comments into an actual paper in paragraph form, but for Harry Potter I decided the book mark was enough.

Without further ado, here's what The Artist, age 10, thinks about Harry Potter - Deathly Hallows.

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J. K. Rowling
Type of book (mystery, sci fi, etc.):  fantasy
Setting (where/when):  Hogwarts, London
Main Characters:  Harry Potter, Ronald Weasely, Hermione Granger
Brief Summary:  It's about three teenage wizards going on an adventure to stop a great evil
Rate the book from 1 (best) to 10 (worst):  1
Describe your favorite part of the book:  the end and the epilogue
Describe your favorite character in the book:  I like Harry Potter cause he defeats You Know Who
Explain why you would  or would not recommend this book: (no answer given)

So, wow. I feel a bit bittersweet that my boy has read this most wonderful book. I have to tell you, The Artist was around 6.5 yrs before he started reading and 7 at least before he was reading fluently. So, for him now, at 10, to be reading books like Harry Potter.....just wow. Helps the bittersweet that it is a book series that has had a pretty big impact on me....the emotion in book seven gets me every time.

But this isn't my review, this is The Artist's review, so I'll stop typing now. Except, let me just say that I love love LOVE his brief summary: "...three...wizards going on an adventure to stop a great evil."  Yep, I'd say he got the gist of it.

What about you? Read it? Or not? Love it, or hate it? Interested to hear what you think on the matter!

Another Accomplished Scholar: The Writer

As you can probably guess from his blog nickname, my oldest son The Writer is more in tune to his literary side than his math side. I won't go so far as to say he's more right-brained than left-brained; the boy is phenomenally good at things like building and constructing (with Lego as well as any other material you hand him), and he's quite the engineer, really.

But math, which he's good at when he let's himself be, is not at all his favorite subject. He'd much rather be doing, well, anything else. Anything but math.

And this year, his 8th grade year, he started Algebra I. Today, he had his first Algebra test. He scored a 90, an A. And I couldn't be more proud.

(side note: I seem to say that about my boys pretty often.....)

Of course, in typical Writer fashion, he pulled some answers out of thin air. Or, more accurately, he flipped a coin for at least one of the True/False questions. (he got it right). And he let me know, though not too loudly, when a problem was tripping him up.  I've come to expect that kind of thing and just ignore it. Or tease back.

When he really showed himself? The last question was a word problem, asking "If the Henderson family traveled 782 miles, at an average speed of 68 miles per hour, how many hours did the trip take?"

The Writer added the following:

"Adding the time it took for each stop light, toll booth, traffic, and bathroom (or lunch) breaks, Who knows?"*

(*pssst, Mom, the answer is 11.5)

As proud as I am of his 90% on the test, I have to admit I laughed, out loud and for real, at his final answer. Truthfully? His creativity there makes me just as proud as the A in Algebra.

I really am Mom to a fantastic bunch of boys, and my oldest is leading the way. What has someone done lately in your family to make you smile? 

A Story by The Adventurer, Boy Genius (aka, the story that blogger ate)

I have a guest post today! Yes, my very own 6 year old son, with some commentary and translation by me. It promises to be hilariously fun, so set down your drink (far, far from your computer) and enjoy.

The scene starts with my not-yet-literate 6 yr old, The Adventurer, asking to "play Type" on the computer. That is 6 yr old code for "I want to type in Word, please."  I, being the fun wonderful mom I am, said Sure.

Here is an excerpt from what he typed (the full document is a few pages long....), with pertinent translation by me.

THBIBYYINNNHGTHGHGHHTIBHU(:&9900000MVJVBUBYDYGYFYVNLNYUIRYVYRYRYVGRRYGYUGYRG

 What that part says is that an Evil Sensei has just threatened to kill some little kids if they don't give him their money. Note the smiley face, which indicates the Sensei is quite gleeful about this. Also note the "billions and billions of moneys" he plans to take from the kids. Clearly my son is genius.

9999990000000000000000000000TURUHYUHIRUTUIHUHUTHRUGHUHYHYRYTHTH(((;************(((;

Okay, now we see the really billions of moneys that the Sensei in fact took from the kids, and thus did not kill them, since they gave him their money. Aren't we relieved that the little children are only threatened, not really killed?? Yes, I was too.

Also, do you notice the winking emoticons? Those are the super really happy kids, winking at each other and "making their eyes like this (insert goofy 6 yr old winking face here)" because they are so super really happy.

And do you also notice that string of asterisks? That is not code for swear words, that is a snowball fight from one emoticon little boy to the other. Brilliant, I tell you. Brilliant.

One final clip, just to prove my boy's genius beyond a shadow of a doubt.  This comes at the end of page four...

:(  <  :) 

In case you are not well versed in emoticons, that's a sad face, and a happy face. Between them? That's an open book. The happy face emoticon is reading to the sad face emoticon, and the final line of this story by The Adventurer reads, once translated, "Wow, that was scary. What would have happened if the sensei had taken our money??"

Yes, you read that right. My not-yet-literate (except in emoticons) son just typed up four pages of gibberish that are his efforts at telling a story. Not just any story, but actually, when we get to the end of it, a story within a story.


Boy Genius, I tell you. Pure Boy Genius. 

Last Day of School!!!

Yes, folks -- today was the last day of school for the boys.

We are celebrating by eating chips, watching movies, playing Nintendo, and having a nice, quiet craft hour.

There might also have been some snuggling in the hammock, and an extra cup of coffee because it is freezing outside.

(by freezing, I mean 20*C/68*F. Which is seriously cold.)

What are you celebrating today??? (if the answer is "nothing," feel free to make something up!)

Speaking Portuguese: Are We Fluent Yet?

We get asked, often, if we speak Portuguese, are we fluent, are the kids fluent, and any other variation on that question that you can possibly imagine. I was asked this again recently by fellow blogger Ray, a Brazilian living in the US.

Since I get the question all the time, and the answer is really too long for a reply comment, I thought I'd put it out here for all of you who maybe wonder but haven't asked yet.

The short answer is "Yes."  And "Not really." Any of you who currently live outside your home country, or ever have, will understand that, but for the rest of you,  let me explain a bit.

Language learning comes in waves and layers, and the first step to answering the question, "Do you speak the language?" is really understanding what the asker is actually asking. Does he mean, "Do you speak enough to get around?"  Does he mean, "Do you speak like a native?" Is he really interested in "At what point between 'not a word of it' to 'like a native' are you currently in your language learning process?" See what I mean? It's not an easy question to answer.

If we draw a line, with "not a single word" on one end and "like a native" on the other, and understand then that I'll spend most of my time somewhere between the two, creeping ever so slowly towards that elusive "like a native" endpoint, you'll understand how the answer can vary so greatly.

Most people who ask the question mean, "Can you get around in town? Do you really have to do everything in Portuguese?? Are there no English speaking people most places, really???" The answer to that one is yes, I do everything in Portuguese (outside of the home), and no, most places, there aren't English speakers to help out.

Some people then ask, "Are you fluent??" and I haven't honestly figured out how to answer that, because "fluent" can mean something totally different to each person. For me, I keep "like a native" as the ever-present, seemingly unattainable ideal. In that case, the answer is no. Not even close. But, the situations where I have to pause and admit I have no idea what word I want, or I have to use a different phrasing than I would use in English, because I can't translate exactly -- in other words, the times I find my communication skills lacking or hindered -- those are fewer and fewer every day.

Do they still happen? Do I still sometimes resort to pantomime and made up sign language? Yes, of course. Do fast talkers still hopelessly trip me up? You betcha. Do technical situations, with language I don't use in the everyday course of life, scare the bejeebies out of me?? Yep, they sure do. But, can I muddle through and successfully, even if awkwardly, navigate my way through pretty much any situation, all in Portuguese?  Yes, yes I can.

Does that make me fluent, though??? I don't know.

As for the kids, which is what Ray really asked about, the older two boys have had far more formal lessons than I have had. Their grammar is far better than mine, because I learned most of my Portuguese on the street, talking to the vendors at the fruit fair or the hippie fair. The boys, on the other hand, have had over a year's worth of lessons from a native speaker who comes to the house twice a week. Luci works with each boy for an hour at a time, two times a week. She's made sure to teach them educated Portuguese, proper grammar, and she doesn't let them slack off. In that way, they speak better than I do.

But they don't use their Portuguese as much. So, I muddle through, learning as I go, and sounding every bit the clumsy foreigner when I do speak the language. Meanwhile, my boys are quietly in the background, sometimes correcting me when I make mistakes. When the opportunity comes up, and the motivation is there, they seem to be further down that line towards "like a native" than I am. They just don't always have the motivation to actually speak in Portuguese.

The youngest, on the other hand, understands it well, pretends not to, and mostly refuses to speak Portuguese at all. Except for on the days when he asks me almost nonstop what the word for (fill in the blank) is in Portuguese, but I can never guess when those days will come. His Portuguese skills are largely based on his mood for the day, and as such, are totally unpredictable.

Oh, and as for the Chemist, he speaks and writes worlds above my level. He speaks Portuguese at work all day long, writes technical and professional emails in Portuguese, makes phone calls in Portuguese and I've not seen him stumble over understanding or expressing himself in ages. If you asked me about his level, I'd call him fluent. If you asked him, he'd say no way.

And that's the rub -- the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know and the more often you recognize your own mistakes. Which is why I'll never answer "yes" when someone asks if I'm fluent. No matter how it might seem to the person asking.

*note: this has been about my speaking ability, which is totally separate from my ability to understand the language; the distinction there and the fact there's a difference between the two is subject of a whole nother blog post, one I don't know that I'll ever write. Suffice it to say, just like young children, we often understand more than we can say, except when faced with a fast talker. 

Backyard Bird Count: The Brazil Version

I've learned in the past few years that every February, there's an official Backyard Bird Count in North America. It's a way for amateur bird watchers to help out in counting what species are where, as some study group tracks migration patterns, and are numbers of various species increasing or decreasing or staying the same. It's a fun little thing to participate in, and it happened this past weekend.

Being in Brazil, which of course is South America, I can't go to the Backyard Bird Count website and post my results officially; it's North America only. But I can post here, and since I managed to get photos of almost all the birds I saw, I thought it would be fun to share with you.

We feed the birds in our yard, so all of these are "regulars" to our yard. We often sit out on a Saturday and just watch the birds coming and going. Some have definite personalities, and we've come to know the hummingbirds, even, as "the mean one," "the nice one," "the baby," and "the brown one."  I only got pictures of the mean one and the nice one; the baby is too fast and the brown one stays for too short a time. She's very pretty, the brown one, so I hope to someday capture her on film.

Here they are, then, for you to enjoy -- what birds frequent a yard in urban, tropical Brasil in February. You may click on any photo to enlarge it, just remember to click the back button after if it opens in the same window.

The Mean One - and above him, see the little yellow bird peeking out?

 hummingbird: we saw a total of 3 of the blue/green hummingbirds, though at most 2 at a time. 

The mean one chases off anyone else when he's around. 

two of the small yellow birds, drinking from the hummingbird feeder

We have a huge number (for us) of these small yellow birds living in the vine that shades our yard. 

The highest count I had at one time was 7+; they are hard to count, as they hide in the vine and move around a lot. I can say for sure there were 7 at one point, maybe more. Most times we can count 5 or 6 before becoming uncertain if we're re-counting the same birds, just moved around. 

The Nice One, mid-drink

"A Pool Bird" - one of the big yellow birds
We are not sure if these are adult version of the small yellow birds (yellow belly)
or a different breed. We have TONS of the small ones who hang out all the time,
and probably 3 or 4 total of the big ones who come around.
We call them "pool birds" because we first noticed them hanging around the pool at the apartment. 

 Highest count at one time this weekend was 2 for these large yellow birds. 

I'm not sure if they are adult versions of the small ones, or a slightly different breed. 

Two blue birds, eating papaya. I think male/female pair. 

 Highest count this weekend was 2 for the bluebirds; sometimes we've had 3 or 4. Usually they come in male/female pairs, as seen here. They are a bit skittish and usually do not come while other birds are present, except for the small brown birds (shown further down). 

one of the small yellow birds, after taking a bird bath. 

 We keep that little basin full of water for the birds to use as a bird bath. 

I loved seeing this one all fluffed up and messy, just out of the bath. So cute! 

2 blue birds, eating papaya; 2 large yellow/pool birds, waiting their turn.
(click to enlarge)

 High Traffic! Two blue birds, two big yellow birds. If the blue birds had seen the yellow ones, 

or the yellow ones had moved closer, the blue birds would have left. 

Most of the birds do not share the fruit or eat at the same time as other species. 

Both of these, however, have lately been feeding each other (the male feeding the female of the pair). 

two big brown birds.

These big brown birds are Mean! They chase off each other and the other species of birds who try and eat while they are there. Highest count at one time for these was 4, though I've seen up to 6 at one time in the past. They are fun to watch, as they do a lot of posturing, chasing, etc. before settling down and letting one another eat. I just don't like when they do that to the other breeds of bird, too. 

same two big brown birds

blurry, sorry, but only shot of this guy I got.
This is a small brown bird, black face and black marking on the chest. There are 2 or 3 of these who come around,
though less often than the other regulars. 

 I only saw one of these guys this weekend; there are 2 or 3 who come around, but not as frequently as our regular crowd. They are very pretty, though, and I'm disappointed I only got this very blurry shot.

Quite a crowd!
click to enlarge -- there are 3 small brown birds (not the black chested ones) and 1 blue bird
eating the papaya/waiting by the shelf, plus another small brown bird on the planter at the right. 

 The small brown birds -- highest count this weekend was 4 at one time, and they are all shown in the photo above (click to enlarge). These little ones will also come into the laundry room and use the dog's water dish as a bird bath, and they will land on our picnic table and eat crumbs. Brave little things! 

(also in the photo, one of the blue birds)

a dove on the neighbor's solar panel, behind our house. 

A lone dove; usually they are around in pairs. We are inundated with doves and pigeons; houses here spray anti-pigeon spray around the roofs and things. They make a huge mess, roosting on your eaves and, well, cleaning up what falls on the ground below them....not fun. Ick, ick, ick. 

I didn't go around looking for the pigeons, so don't have a count (can't see them from the yard, since they are on the roof) but there are tons. The doves, not as many, and not as annoying, either. 

This is a short video (really audio) clip of the small yellow birds singing in our shade vine.

Turn up your volume, and enjoy! This is our sound track most weekends, all day long. 

Did you participate? Did you even know such an event takes place each year?? What birds, if any, do you normally see in your area??