Avid Reader Becomes Obsessed Reader

I have never had to force my kids to read. Read fiction, yes. Non-fiction, never. They always have their noses buried in books, mostly about whatever animal or scientific project is their current interest.

I remember one of R's teachers commented, during parent-teacher conferences, "I love that he reads all the time. I would just prefer that he not read while he's walking. He might trip." Agreed.

But I could not have imagined that getting a Kindle reader would transform my avid reader into an obsessed reader.

A few months back, he asked my mom if she would get him a Kindle reader for his 12th birthday. She called to make sure we were fine with it. And, because he was smart enough to pick the model that only allows him to read - no game capabilities - I figured, What the heck. Let's do it!

Nonna and Nonno bought it, got him a case in his favorite color, and kept it squirreled away until his actual birthday. So, this weekend, after a fun birthday camping trip with some of his best buddies, he was able to unwrap his Kindle.

He had also gotten some giftcards and used them to pick a few eBooks online. Now, instead of reading for an hour before he falls asleep, it's more like two to three hours! And, perhaps, it's the novelty of the thing, but that's an amazing jump.  I still love my paper pages, but I will never argue with a tool that helps a child read more. I never thought I would say this, but I am a fan of the Kindle!

Do you have one? What do you think?

Summer Reading {by R}: The Unwanteds

I know, I know...summer vacation hasn't yet started for us. But we made a carefully curated list of books the boys will read over the next 8 weeks and R got started early when he borrowed this from one of his best buddies. He must have liked it because I see the sequels on his want-list for his kindle. Okay!

Book: The Unwanteds (click for the goodreads listing, click to find it on amazon)

Author: Lisa McMann

Comments: The Unwanteds is a great book to read. It starts out in a world called Quill and the creative ones are sent to their death because “Creativity is an infraction” in Quill. The Unwanteds are secretly saved by a magician and are in a world of the Unwanteds filled with creativity and magic. The Unwanteds is a book about a few childrens' experience in the new world called Artime. I highly recommend this book for people who love adventure and creativity. I couldn't put it down and read it in two days.

Inspiration for My Ornithopter {by R}

On Sunday I met a guy when hiking to the top of Garrapata. He was carrying a wooden glider made mainly of foam and balsa wood, but was reinforced with fiberglass and carbon fiber.

It had two servos sticking out of the wing to control it. The guy made it himself. He said its best to experience making it from scratch instead of getting a kit.

He launched it with a surgical tube sling shot, then he controlled it with a remote, gliding along the currents blowing up the side of the hill. He likes to follow the turkey vultures flying on the wind currents because the vultures rarely flap their wings. Instead they rely on the upwards currents that he needs to fly his glider. 

This has inspired me to make my own flying machine, an ornithopter. I'll post photos  of my creation later. For now, here are a few more photos of his glider. It's not named yet!

The Making of Mountain Bikers

Jake and his buddies mountain bike out at the old Fort Ord regularly. On Veterans' Day, he took our minis on their first adventure. They had a great time. Today, he decided it would be a fun family outing. Ummm...okay.

Off we went...

I survived and left the profanity-laced thoughts rattling around in my own head. But I did yell at Jake at one point: This is what you and your friends do for fun!?! 

I only hit one tree, but I fell into poison oak. So, I went straight home and Tecnu'd...and opened a beer.

I turned around at the parking lot to this view.

"What are you doing, Dylan?" I demanded.

I'm standing on my bike. Duh, Mom.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

We watched Danny with Daddy...on YouTube.

"Who's Danny?"

I don't really know. He does tricks like this.

"No more Danny!"

Jake just sent me our mileage and elevation changes. I survived 7.27 miles. My husband labeled it "fun ride." Hmmm...that's not the descriptor I would use!

Fort Ord - by R

We went and collected native seeds today. Before that we stopped at ACME. I ordered an Aztec hot chocolate and my brother got a Mexican hot chocolate. Mom and Dad got coffee, I think. My brother and I added lots of cinnamon to ours. I like mine with a bit of spice in it. Then we went to Fort Ord.

We were collecting seeds so we can them the Bureau of Land Management the seeds. They will plant them around Fort Ord. We were led in a large group to the sticky monkey plant. We picked the pods that were at a 90-degree angle. The rest were leaves.

Next we came to a patch of mock heather. They had fluffy seeds that were yellowish-white. They had leaves that look funny and come off the stalk. They look like a fan. I accidentally picked seeds from the coyote bush. I thought it was mock heather. It has fluffy seeds that are completely white and it has small broad leaves.

After the mock heather, we came to a Toro manzanita. Manzanita means 'little apple' and it does have little berries that look like small apples. You can even make an apple cider with them.

Then we came to a California sage bush. It smelled good. We just pulled the seeds off and threw them over the bush. A bigger bush will grow.

Chemise is a plant whose seeds you can pull off really easily. D and I threw them in the air like confetti. The last plant we came to was black sage. I thought it smelled better than the other sage. This on you had to break-up the pods to get to the seeds.

We went back to the beginning for a barbeque lunch that they had made for all of the volunteers. We hiked two and a half miles!

With the seeds that we collected they will plant them somewhere else. It will help to make barren areas into a forest.

Fort Ord Seed Picking - by D

Today I went to Fort Ord to pick seeds from native plants.

In the morning, my mom said, "We are going to do a forest work-out!" When we got to Fort Ord my mom was surprised how many cars there were.

Our docent was named Shawn. He handed us a bag for picking seeds and we started walking up the road. The first native plant we picked was the sticky monkey flower.

Shawn showed us how many pods we should pick. He said everybody should only pick two percent of the pods.

We walked up a hill and he showed us how to pick mock heather. We learned about five other plant species, too - manzanita, black sage, coyote bush, California sage, and chemise. I learned that you have to plant the manzanita within one kilometer of where you take the seeds. California sage is not a true sage, but black sage is. And Shawn will plant all of the native seeds that we collected.

Taking a Stand, Staying Home with My Family

I am, admittedly, not a shopper. I truly dislike shopping, especially browsing. I go to the store with a list and get what I need. So, skipping the stores on Black Friday isn't tough for me. And, normally, I would just head out for my hike and keep my mouth shut about what everyone else chose to do. 

But, I am appalled by this trend of retailers opening, not just on Black Friday, but on Thanksgiving. 

For crying out loud, stay home, give thanks, play a board game, read, or just cuddle on the couch in your post-feast haze. Thanksgiving is about being grateful for what you have and spending it with people who are important to you. It's not about getting the best deal before the person behind you in line can snag it. Spend time with your family and friends and not the deal-crazed lunatics with dollars signs in their eyes and coupons hanging out of their pockets.

Thanksgiving is quintessentially American. Dating back to the 17th century, it's about unity and breaking bread with family and community. It's a pause. It's not overtly religious, but it feels reverent and respectful. So, when I saw this campaign on Facebook, I shared it.

"Because I believe in family, I pledge to not shop on Thanksgiving. If I'm shopping, someone else is working and NOT spending time with their family. Everyone deserves a holiday."

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be helping. The list of stores that will open on Thanksgiving Day keeps growing. It's disturbing. Walmart, Toys R Us, Kmart, Old Navy, Sears, Target, JCPenny, Kohl's. Do you frequent any of these stores? I do. Or, I have in the past. I am taking a stand and will be spending my dollars at stores where actions speak volumes about how they feel about their employees. I may be a member of the "me" generation, but I find this trend nauseating.

As plugged in as we all are, if you must shop, do your retail therapy online. Your orders will be fulfilled on the next business day. You won't know the difference, I promise. Maybe we can at least keep the physical stores shuttered for the day and allow employees to stay home with their families. 

As a mother of young(ish) children, I think about the fact that my boys get more pleasure out of playing with the box that a fancy new toy comes in than the gadget itself. They love empty boxes because they can turn them into whatever they want. They can invent a board game or make a hut. They certainly won't know that you saved 80% on their Christmas present because you stood in line for 2 hours. But they will remember whatever you do that includes them.

Here's what we did last Black Friday...we took our best friends down the coast, crossed a river in our underwear, built a driftwood fort, and had a delicious picnic of Thanksgiving leftovers. 

These four kiddos - and even my husband and I - talk about that day frequently. We're talking about doing it again.

I'm not going to be shopping on Thanksgiving, or the day after. I'm going to focus on what I have and do what I can to try to stop this holiday from being gobbled up by greed.