Savvy by Ingrid Law

Savvy is a coming of age story with a little bit different twist. When the members of the Beaumont family turn thirteen they receive their "savvy" - a supernatural gift or ability of some kind. Fourteen-year-old Fish has the ability to stir the wind and the rain into gale force winds while older brother Rocket causes electrical surges wherever he goes. (Sometimes this is a good thing, and sometimes not so much).

Mibs is the next sibling in line to turn thirteen and the book start on the eve of her birthday. The family is somewhat on pins and needles as the day approaches. You never know what someone's savvy is until it arrives - and with the case of Fish's weather disrupting abilities, the family was forces to relocate inland to keep him away from oceans and large bodies of water.

Unfortunately, on the eve of Mibs' big birthday, her father and the light of the family's life is seriously injured in a car crash. The book takes off as Mibs and her siblings try and find their way to the neighboring town without being notices or causing too much havoc on their way there ... all the while Mibs is discovering and trying to tame her savvy that shows up right on time.

This book is extremely creative. I love the idea behind this story and the fact that the abilities that the Beaumont family has are not the normal "superpowers" that one would expect of them (such as X-Men type abilities). They are all just a little bit on the quirky side, which add to their charm.

Savvy would be a great read-aloud for summer for older kids ... 9 and up, I'd say. There is one instance where Mibs' name is combined with a slang word that I wouldn't want my girls to hear (and I thought was unnecessary), but that could be completely avoided in a read-aloud. This book has screen play written all over it as well - I won't be surprised when I see this adventure coming to the local theater!

Savvy has been selected as a Newbery Honor book. Named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery, the Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Thanks to Kids Book Buzz for the opportunity to review this book! Other blogs reviewing this book: A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Booking Mama, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maw Books Blog, Never Jam Today, Olive Tree, Our Big Earth, The 160 Acrewoods, Through a Child’s Eyes.

Weekend Scrapping

Used: Bloom & Grow kit, designed by Ali Edwards, from Songbird Avenue. Proceeds from the sale of this kit (up through April 30) are donated to Autism Speaks. These tutorials from Ali's site walked me through making this layout.

Kindergarten in Our Home

Amy asked me for some details on our homeschooling plans for next year and I'm happy to oblige. We're getting so excited for this fall and I'm slowly gathering the materials I will need (or think I will need).

For this coming year, we have decided to enroll N1 in a two-day a week program with a local church. I will school with her on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and she will go to a very small kindergarten class (10-12 students) on Wednesday and Friday. I will be responsible for her Bible lessons, language arts and all that entails, and math; the school will handle social studies, science, and art. Of course, I am not limited in what I want to do at home to supplement their programs with extra activities or real-alouds that tie in and there will be some of that that I hope to do. Truthfully, I went back and forth for months on whether or not we should put N1 in this program - I could see definite pros and cons on both sides. We've decided to go ahead with it for this year, and then reevaluate after kindergarten.

With that said, I was working towards two plans - one if she went to school two days a week and one if she would be home. I'll list all my thoughts below and what I was considering in hopes that it might help someone else. :)

Bible

We're going to use the Catherine Vos Study Bible and read aloud from it. It looks to be the logical (and well recommended) next step up from the Jesus Storybook Bible which we have LOVED. We will do daily reading and I plan on getting a large wall size map of Biblical lands that we can mark on - locations, where individuals lived and their travels, etc. I've also purchased Draw and Learn the book of Proverbs. N1 is my artist and loves to draw and color - each lesson has a few verses that you discuss and then a prompt for something to draw or color. I plan on all the girls doing this together (at their own level) in the morning as part of our table time before the 2 and 3 year old will be "released" to some play time while N1 does other work.

Language Arts

N1 and I have been doing some language arts for about a year now so I will just continue on with what we have been doing. That includes continuing with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and Explode the Code workbooks. She is currently in EtC Book 1 so I am tentatively planning us to work up through books 2 and 2 1/2 for her kindergarten year. The only thing that I will add to this is A Reason for Handwriting. We'll wait and start spelling around 2nd grade, however, I do have the Doltch sight word lists that we work on sporadically.

Math

We'll be using Saxon K. :)

Social Studies

The school she is attending is going to be covering American History and Westward Expansion this next year. They do a four year classical history cycle and we are coming in on year 4. I had already been planning to do some American History with N1 over the next year so this will tie together nicely with read-alouds that I've been thinking on. Two resources that I will be turning to for read-aloud suggestions are Turning Back the Pages of Time (An American history library book list) and the American history lesson plans on Elizabeth Foss's Seredipity blog.

Science

I hadn't truly decided on a plan for science beyond working on a nature journal with N1. I don't think there needs to be much more than that for Kindergarten. One resource that I love is Keeping a Nature Journal. Several others that I want to look at (but haven't had a chance because they aren't at my local library) are Pocketful of Pinecones: Nature Study With the Gentle Art of Learning : A Story for Mother Culture and Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children. If we were going to do anything beyond nature observation and journaling, I was considered putting some basic lessons together on our bodies. Books I was looking at (but haven't purchased) included: The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia (Kingfisher First Reference), Everybody Has a Body: Science from Head to Toe, and The Way We Work.

There! I'm such a novice at all this I hesitate to even say let me know if you have any questions. :) But, if you do, feel free. I'm working on some read-aloud lists that I want to try and work through this next year - both for fun and to tie in with her history so I'll share those as I have things pulled together.

Friday Felicities ::: April 24

Things that make me happy....

• My husband (in general) and the fact that he bought me some diet coke last night (to be specific) since I will be at home today waiting on the internet/phone man. :)


• fresh ideas.


• best friends that understand when you have to hang up on them because someone knocked over a cup of chocolate milk on carpet.


• school supplies and books.


• Psalm 91.

Happy Friday!

Bloggy Book Review ::: Elisha's Bones

This book would make a great adventure/Indiana Jones-type read for the guy in your life! (Just a little reminder that Father's Day is coming up!) The search for the bones of Elisha, thought to have the power to bring the dead back to life, leads Professor Jack Hawthorne on quite a ride, and unburies some things he had thought were left to his past. This book was clever, clean, and full of twists and turns ... another great one to take to the beach or on your summer vacation. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. :)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Every year, professor of antiquities Jack Hawthorne looks forward to the winter break as a time to hide away from his responsibilities. Even if just for a week or two. But this year, his plans are derailed when he's offered almost a blank check from a man chasing a rumor.

Billionaire Gordon Reese thinks he knows where the bones of the prophet Elisha are--bones that in the Old Testament brought the dead back to life. The bones of the prophet once raised the dead to life... but they vanished from history in a whisper.

Bankrolled by a dying man of unlimited means, Hawthorne's hunt spans the globe and leads him into a deadly conspiracy older than the church itself. A born skeptic, Jack doesn't think much of the assignment but he could use the money, so he takes the first step on a chase for the legendary bones that will take him to the very ends of the earth.

But he's not alone. Joined with a fiery colleague, Esperanza Habilla, they soon discover clues to a shadowy organization whose long-held secrets have been protected . . . at all costs. And he soon discovers those sworn to keep the secret of the bones will do anything to protect them. As their lives are threatened again and again, the real race is to uncover the truth before those chasing them hunt them down.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Elisha's Bones, go HERE

Kids Pick ... from the library stack

I don't have much time to write this morning so I'm going to highlight a recent book from our library stack that I have read NUMEROUS times since we checked it out. :) It is The Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman.

This is the retelling of Little Black Sambo, and old folk tale. From Wikipedia:

The Story of Little Black Sambo, a children's book by Helen Bannerman, a Scot who lived for 30 years in Madras in southern India, was first published in London in 1899. (An American edition of the book was illustrated by Florence White Williams.) In the tale, an Indian boy named Sambo prevails over a group of hungry tigers. The little boy has to give his colourful new clothes, shoes, and umbrella to four tigers so they will not eat him. Sambo recovers the clothes when the jealous, conceited tigers chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of delicious melted butter. The story was a children's favourite for half a century, but then became controversial due to the use of the word sambo, a racial slur in some countries.

My girls LOVED this story. Loved, loved, loved. I can't tell you how many times I read it to the 3yo. The story is fairly repetitious - as he meets four tigers in a row, the dialogue is very similiar with the the exception of a different article of clothing being mentioned/taken. I would read the descriptive parts of the book and N2 would read the words of both Babaji and the tigers ... "Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up!" Folk tales are some of my favorite to read with the girls because of the history and culture that are woven throughout; as in this case, the girls got a small flavor of Indian dress and speech.

For more Kids' Picks, head over to Five Minutes for Books!

Other Kids' Picks Posts:
~ Books by James Mayhew
~ Betsy-Tacy
~ Each Peach Pear Plum
~ The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments

This Week's Menu

I was telling my husband yesterday that we have managed to fly through our groceries this month! I'm not sure if the girls were on a growth spurt or what, but I definitely noticed that we didn't leave much in the way of leftovers after most meals and my pantry shelves and freezer selection is looking quite bare. As I've mentioned before, I try to do a big monthly grocery run (which won't be until this coming weekend or the first of next week) so I'm am trying to see what I can come up with with what I have. I'm mostly missing things for main dishes/dinner ... don't think I'll have any problem getting by with breakfast and lunch since that is mostly just me and the girls. As long as we have Cheerios and peanut butter, we're good. :)

Anyway, what I've come up with is:

Monday: honey lime chicken, green beans and crescent rolls
Tuesday: breakfast dinner instead of our normal Tuesday crockpot fare. I'll make biscuits in the morning, and then when we run in the house from dance class, I'll scramble some eggs and cook sausage links that I found in the freezer.
Wednesday: Awana night = quesadillas. Also, I'm having some friends over for a low-key homeschool meeting and I just happen to have all the ingredients in the house to make try out a scone recipe from a new cookbook I was sent to review. Will definitely share if it's any good!
Thursday: pizza meatloaf, broccoli, some other veggie (corn? peas? have some of both in the freezer)
Friday: pizza night
Saturday: oven baked fried fish and hushpuppies (thanks Meredith for the suggestion!) I found two bags of fish in the freezer so we'll use one and save the other.

That leaves me with just a few things that I will need to pick up at the store to get us through the week - all which I believe I can get at Aldi's. Yea! God was gracious to give me some menu inspiration when I was doing some planning this morning! :)

This post is cross linked with Menu Plan Monday and Make-Do Monday. :)

April, in a nutshell

A little something different for Monday... seen via Heather and Cheri's FB page:


Current Book(s): The Heart of Homeschooling by Christopher Klicka; a new Mary Higgins Clark my mom just dropped off at the house; and Isaiah.


Current Playlist: Karyn Henley for the girls ... every time we get in the car.


Current Shame Inducing Guilty Pleasure: trail mix of any kind. Salty + sweet.


Current Color(s): This bright-ish blue that I am seeing everywhere. I don't know what to even call the shade, but I love it.


Current Obsession: Cleaning out the stack of magazines underneath one of the tables!


Current Drink: Diet Coke, of course. :)


Current Food: Nothing is jumping out at me right at the moment. Although, I have been all about grits at breakfast lately.


Current Favorite Favorite: Binders ... for labeling, for organizing, for color-coding. Binders are my friends right now. :)


Current Wishlist: To continue working towards a good home maintenance routine. I've been on the ball the last couple weeks and it's helping ... now to continue!


Current Needs: Apples. We are out. And the girls look in the fridge every day to see if any more have magically appeared.


Current Triumph(s): See note above re: home upkeep. A small triumph, but one none-the-less. :)


Current Bane(s) of my Existence: Sugar. In almost all forms. I've been watching when I eat it lately and have decided that sugar makes me sleepy and crabby. Not a good combo. We are going to try "not speaking" for a week and see what happens.


Current Celebrity Crush: Not so much.


Current Indulgence: Did you see the part above about trail mix? Ties in with this one beautifully.


Current Mood: In need of coffee. And yes, that is a mood. :)


Current #1 Blessing: Girls that are sleeping better at night ... for the most part ... comparatively speaking.


Current Outfit: jammies!


Current Excitement: Have I mentioned that I'm planning and making lists for homeschooling for next year? So much fun. (And Amy, I will try and do a post when I get it all figured it out!)


Current Link(s): I'll share a favorite blog this morning ... one that I recently spent some time at being encouraged with littles and for some ideas with the girls: Preschoolers and Peace.

Friday Felicities ::: April 17

Things that make me happy...

• a husband that seems to be doing great after unpleasant dental work yesterday!
• Watching a few episodes of the X-Files with T last night after the girls went to bed. (Yes, I admit it. I loooooooved the X-Files when they were on.) :)
• Planning and making lists for Kindergarten with N1 this fall. We are SO excited.
• a 5 year old that is on her first big adventure with Grandpa to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
• a day with just time with my two little munchkins ... and that WILL include lunch at McDs!
• the fact that Snow White comes out on DVD this fall! (And yes, I have it pre-ordered!) :)
• watching and listening to N1 read me her first book all by herself this week. Kindergarten is just around the corner.
  
  

Happy Friday. :)

Mother's Day Giveaway @ Five Minutes for Books

Five Minutes for Books has a great Mother's Day book giveaway in process and you won't want to miss it!

Recipe by Request ::: Honey Chicken and Made-Up Mexi-StirFry

Honey Chicken
(Recipe from Kristen at Once Upon a Time)

• Place 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot and add 1-2 cups of water, not quite covering the chicken.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Cook on "High" for 3 hours.
• Drain water.
• Remove chicken and cut into cubes.
• Place cubed chicken back into the crock pot.
• Combine the following and pour over chicken:
  - 2/3 cup melted butter
  - 2/3 cup honey
  - 4 Tablespoons prepared mustard
  - 2 teaspoons salt
• Turn crock pot on low and cook 1 additional hour.
• Serve over white rice and accompanied by steamed mixed vegetables and homemade bread.

Any my mexi-stir fry I made the other night ... delicious and totally made up. If I remember right this is what I did:

• cooked several diced chicken breasts in olive oil until cooked through, sprinkling liberally with taco seasoning throughout the cooking process until they looked like they had enough seasoning. :)
• added to the cooked chicken/olive oil: diced potatoes (I used red potatoes because it's what I had on hand), black beans (homemade from the freezer), frozen corn, and diced green pepper.
• covered the pan with a lid and let simmer and cook until the potatoes could be broken apart easily with a fork. Maybe 15-20 minutes?? Check and stir every so often just to make sure that it isn't sticking, but there will probably be enough water/moisture if you use frozen veggies/beans like I did.
• Serve!

We ate it wrapped up in a flour tortilla with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese, but I also ate just a little bit on my place by itself (since E stole my tortilla!) and it was so yummy with a little bit of ranch dressing drizzled across it. We were out of sour cream or I probably would have used that first ... salsa would have added a nice kick (and will to my leftovers) but that would have made it too spicy for my munchkins.

Anyway, totally cheap and easy and quick! And I must give a tip to Mer because she is the one that inspired me to make stirfry for dinner last night. :)