While the apple cake baked...

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We read some more apple books.

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The Apple Cake This is a charming story about an old lady who wants to make apple cake but has plums instead of apples. She chats along and trades, continuing to give up what she has to meet the need of somoene else. Nicholas baked a delicious, yeasty apple cake using the recipe on the back of the book with 

Alyosha's Apple This is a lovely fairytale told and illustrated in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. A young orphan girl ventures bravely into the forest to seek healing for her borther.

Brother Bartholomew and the Apple Grove Sadly out of print, this is a beautiful parable of humility and stewardship.

Apples to Oregon Papa moves from Iowa to Oregon and the whole family and lots fruit trees go along for the ride. There are plenty of facts mixed in with the tall tale.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World This one is a classic favorite. Gather the necessary ingredients for an apple pie from locations all over the world and have a grand time enjoying the process.

Folks Call Me Appleseed John This is the legend of Johnny Appleseed told by John Chapman himself.

Rain Makes Applesauce This one is pure whimsy. It was introduced to me by a friend who came to stay in my dorm. Her boyfriend lived in the suite downstairs and when she came from New Jersey during her senior year in high school to visit Patrick Murphy, she slept in my room. Later, she, too, went to UVa and she was a sorority sister of mine. She could quote this whole book by heart and she did frequently when it rained. My friend Patrick died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and somehow this book has become part of our repertoire on that day. 

For more about our Storybook Year, read here. 

You can find the cake pan here.

needle & thREAD

We had two weeks off from dance after the end of the summer season and before the beginning of the fall season. During that time, my friend Heather and her husband completely overhauled the look of the studio. Heather bought some ready-made Martha Stewart drapes at Home Depot. They were each about 30 inches short for the floor-to-ceiling windows where she wanted them to hang. Her initial thought was for me to take a third panel, cut it, and sew it to the two window panels to lengthen them. I let that idea roll around in my head for a few days and decided that I couldn't really match the repeat and make that seam look decent. Kristin suggested colorblocking with the accent color. So, that's what I did! I'm fairly pleased with the result. My really good Shark iron tumbled from the ironing board in the process and heaved a final sigh. I still look at these drapes every day and think they need a better pressing. And I need a new iron.

I've started a whole new set of headbands. I'm not overly enthused about them;-) Headband burnout, no doubt.

And, I've ordered two new Oliver + S patterns, the Playtime Dress, Tunic, and Leggings and The Library Dress. Maybe I'll even take the plunge into knits this year. 

 

Reading? Let's see, what am I reading? I've been chronicling much of our reading in the Storybook Year archives. as we ramp up to our fullest potential during our learning hours at home, I'm kind of hopping from one of their books to the next. Not a whole lot of time for me. But it's coming... I'm thinking that I need to take those Storybook Year posts and gather them together and categorize them by topic so we can all find them more easily. What to do you think?

What are you reading and sewing this week? 

I am eager to hear!

  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

    Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).

Peace in Our Day

I've been sharing resources with you in the afternoons, trying to offer a little reflection of our days. This morning, I read three books with my children over breakfast. 

A few years ago, my mother attended a book signing by author A. B. Curtis. She bought a book for my children and mailed it to them. I have to admit I was skeptical of a children's book about the tragedy of September 11, 2001. How do you capture the horror in rhyming verse and whimsical pictures? You don't. Instead, Ms. Curtis tells the story of St. Paul's church, an historical church that stands fewer than 100 yards from where the towers stood. The chapel became a refuge and launching point for the rescuers who were on the scene. Every time I read the book tears well in my eyes at the thought of the fireman who hung their shoes on the chapel fence before they went into the towers:

Oh what gallant men did we lose

Who never came back to get their shoes!

The book is a gentle re-telling. Our children are surrounded every day by references to the horror that forever changed our world. They will ask what "9/11" means and they surely deserve to be answered. But, they should not see that footage and they should not be bombarded with remembrances more appropriate for grief-stricken, terrorized adults. Childhood is all too brief. Very soon, they will be old enough to learn the details of the day. For now, this book tells them a story of hope amidst the charred ruins. A story we all need to hear.

You can read the entire book and see the pictures here. But get the book. Really. It's worth holding in your lap.

Fireboat is a whimsically illustrated children's book that tells the story of John J. Harvey, a fireboat that witnessed the growth of New York city throughout the 20th century. There are lots of intersting little things to learn about culture and about fireboats. It's a gentle, happy picture book. Then, the book takes an abrupt turn and becomes stark when the author reaches September 11, 2001. She focuses onthe heroes and not on the violence, but this is still a very realistic book and the whimsy evaporates into the bright blue sky, just as it did that Septmember day. It's a good read and it's  story that somehow sticks with us long after the covers of the book are closed. I strongly suggest parents preview it--you might you want to use it with children older than the typical picture book age.  To extend the conversation, you might visit the John J. Harvey website or take a peek at the study guide for the book.

It's not technically a 9/11 book, but I love to read (sing) Wendell Minor's inllustrated version of America the Beautiful. On the page where we sing, "Thine alabaster cities gleam/Undimmed by human tears" Minor has painted a picture of the fallen tower site with the towering lights gleaming upwards to commemorate the loss. It's an image that just fits that particular place in the song written so long before the event. And this book, this song, these words--they do so much to heal hearts and remind us of the blessings of this great country.

Nicholas squirreled away for awhile with  A Nation Challenged (the Young Readers' Edition).

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Then, this afternoon, we all sat together and spent some time thinking about peace. We were guided by one of the excellent e-courses offered by Mariah Bruehl, author of Playful Learning, easily one of my favorite educational resources. 

This course, Be a Peacemaker, is an opportunity for parents and children to discuss with each other ways to bring peace into ourselves, our homes, and ultimatley, the world.

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Over the course of conversation, we shared what comforts us, what brings us peace. I could see Katie plotting ways to make the house smell like the Basilica next time she thinks I need to bring a little calm into my soul. At first, I was going to exclude Stephen and Mary Beth from the lesson time, but I invited them to  join instead. As she set off with her printable, Mary Beth (nearly 17) asked, "Will you use this to help us next time we feel stressed?" Good plan. I think these are keepers, for sure.

Have a very peaceful evening friends!

A is for Animals

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As we travel along the Alphabet Path, we don't reach the zoo until the very end. But Wednesday was just so beautiful and I knew that it was way too early for anyone to have already organized school field trips and I was pretty desperate to inhale great gulps of fresh air, so I declared that "A is for Animals" and off we went.

Long ago, I promised Stephen that when he finished the entire Apologia Zoology Series, he could give us a tour of the zoo. He was a most impressive tour guide. Seriously, they should hire this kid to sell the series. He learned--and retained-- so very much. 

We had a glorious day. Katie was given free reign with the camera. Nearly all the "big camera" photos are hers. And even though we'll revisit the zoo, both in story and for real, at the end of the Alphabet Path, I did bring our just a few zoo books for the occasion.

Zoo: For the youngest set. A very simple introduction to the zoo and the people and animals there.

The View at the Zoo: Darling rhyming book with whimsical illustrations. See the zoo from the animals' perspective.

If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo: A little girl who lives on a hill above the zoo tells various animal keepers to remember that the animals are welcome at her house if ever anything should go wrong at the zoo. There's a flood and...

A few more zoo books here and here:

My Visit To The Zoo

100 Animals To Spot At The Zoo

National Zoo Board Books

Z Is for Zookeeper: A Zoo Alphabet

We'll do it up big with zoo books in the spring.

For more about our Storybook Year, read here. And, there are Storybook Science books, from A-Z, linked here, scroll down on the lefthand side.

iPhone shots:

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Amber on the Mountain

One of my favorite books in the autumn, just as school is shiny and new, is Amber on the Mountain. It's the sweet story of Amber, a girl in the mountains, far from school and books and even pencil and paper. Another little girl, Anna, moves into the town for a time while her father builds an "impossible" road. Anna teaches Amber to read and gives her a great gift in the process. She so persuades her that she can "do almost anything if you fix your mind on it" that Amber teaches herself to write after Anna leaves. 

The book is beautifully illustrated with rich, luminous pictures and we all sigh a happy sigh every time we greet Amber and Anna. We've had a bit of a rough beginning this semester in the reading department. It's hard when you are well old enough to read and write and people littler than you seem to do it much more naturally and easily. Much perseverence and hard work is going to be required this year of some of my middle kids. But reading and writing are worth it and they know it.

{Karoline, on the other hand, is reading right along and setting all "reading lesson" plans on end. Note to self: don't order the reading program in the spring and think you can set it aside until fall. It just might be irrelevant by then.}

For more about our Storybook Year, read here.