A new Passion.

Brian has been reading to us most nights after dinner for years! We absolutely love this family time. But as for me I have never been one to sit down and enjoy a good book! I don't enjoy reading and I usually find my mind wondering all over the place. However, since I started homeschooling I have completely enjoyed "Read Out Louds" with the boys.

I recently found a bunch of books called "the Great Classics for Children" at our Book store. They were an amazing price so I snatched up 6 of them. I must admit I had heard of all of them but I only know the story of 2 of them. Hayden immediately grabbed "The Wind and the Willow" and started reading. I was pleased with my great bargains and that Hayden jumped right into them.

Well today I ran across the following article and it made me even more pleased that I bought the "Classics" for my boys. The study was here in the UK but I can assume that studies would show the same statistics if it were done in the US.


CHILDREN’S CLASSICS ARE GATHERING DUST ON THE SHELVES,
ACCORDING TO RESULTS OF NEW SURVEY


Traditional children’s literary classics are in danger of disappearing from our culture,
a survey has revealed.


The survey of more than 2,000 parents across the UK revealed that 78% believed
their children were not being introduced to traditional literary classics.


And the findings of the survey, commissioned to mark the launch of an ambitious
city-wide Treasure Island reading project in Bristol, appear to justify their fears.

· Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous tale has been read by only 5% of
youngsters, although two-thirds knew of the story of Long John Silver, Jim
Hawkins and Squire Trelawney.

· Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden was less well known but
slightly better read – only 58% of youngsters had ‘heard of it’ but 6% had
read it.

· More children knew of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland –
74%, but still only 12% had read it.

· Peter Pan and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, were both known
by every youngster yet only 12% had read JM Barrie’s tale compared to 81%
who had read JK Rowling’s.

So the new Passion, I want to read all the Classics we have to the Boys! I don't want my boys to miss out on the stories our Parents and Grandparents enjoyed. I also want them to enjoy more then just the 2 hour DVD version.

Update!

Here is a quick update on the happenings the last couple weeks!

We did get an offer on our house but it turns out that she needs to sell her house first! We still have it on the market for a couple weeks but we feel the Lords leading to rent it out. We originally thought we would rent it for one year and then sell it when the housing market starts moving again. But we are now seeing the advantages in keeping it long term as a rental. I think it is a little scary to own a property overseas but I am warming up to the idea. We have dear friends just a couple houses down the street who are going to manage the property for us. We also had another surprise this week concerning the property tax. We assumed that once we leave the country we would have to the pay the $2,400 + tax but the council told us that as long as an American is living in the house we are exempt. YA!!

Along with renting out the house comes a TON of work for Brian. He said he could sell the house "as is" but he wouldn't rent it! That perfectionist is coming out in him. So, he has been really busy fixing up little odd things around the house. After we pack out we will need to tackle all the walls with a coat of paint.

We pack out in one week! YIKES!! I am not ready for that. WAY too much to do.

The last couples weeks have been full of questions and searching for us concerning cars and houses. We considered renting for a year but it just seems silly to throw all that money away. We then checked into Base housing, the wait on the Internet says 30 days. We called NC and they informed us that all the housing in our rank had just been demolished and that it would be 3 years till they are open. So, now we are back to looking at houses for sale.

I think we may die of heat in NC!

The weather here has been great!! It has hit 75 degrees the last couple days and that is hot for us.

I was checking the forecast in NC and it is 105 and very humid! Oh man, we are not used that kind of heat!! The humidity is going to be the killer for me.

The good thing is there are AC's everywhere.

Gage had a follow up today!

and it will be his last as he was declared "Clinically Healed" today! Orginally the DR said 12-16 weeks but he has been realeased at 7 weeks.

Gage is of course beyond thrilled!! He doesn't have to hear Mommy say "Gage, be careful", "Gage don't use that arm" and "Gage STOP running". His only restriction is no contact sports or wrestling for another 2 months.

He missed baseball sign ups by 2 weeks. But I am hoping that the Youth Director will waive him and allow him to play. He did get to practise last night with Levi's team. It was so nice to see him doing the things he loves again. I do have to confess, everytime he hit the ball or was running for base my heart raced a little faster.