Online Book is Now Online

You may have seen it on the top of this list on the top right of my blog ----->
I finally finished assembling the online version of the collection of my writings. I actually finished it near the end of last week. But I'm just telling you about it now because now I've finished formatting the pages, and I added pretty pictures to the Table of Contents page. I hope you enjoy it. No need to read through it too quickly. It took a long time to assemble, and can take a long time to go through. More importantly, now it's there, available, for those times in which you need information from article included in this collection.

The collection will continue to grow. This is a life-long background project. Eventually, I hope it will become a well-varied source for information and thought-provoking entertainment.

Opinions or suggestions for improvements to the site or to any specific article therein are welcomed.

Books and Bookcases

Brian and the boys went camping this weekend. It was wonderful. I've taken the boys camping a lot in times when Brian's out of town, or off the continent, and I did lots of camping as a girl, but Brian hasn't had the camping opportunities I've had, so we were both excited at the chance for a boys-only trip. I got 24 hours of Brooke time! Mostly, I ran errands: car washed, car oil change, car new battery (good timing on that one, it was about dead); also lots of little errands I'd been putting off. I meant to also use the time to write everyone back on emails, but as you can see that didn't happen. I did get to do my favorite pastime, though, which is cruzing around Borders on a Friday night. But I'll get back to that in a minute.

One errand I ran yesterday was finally ordering our three custom-made bookcases. It was my 3rd trip to the place, we had a hard time choosing all the details and the color to stain the wood. So, after two weeks of changes, we finally decided for sure what we wanted on Friday morning. It will take a month for them to be made, but they will be great. They are being made to fit specifically in our loft (hereafter to be called the library). Eventually, we will get two more pieces, one for under the window, and another bookcase to finish off the wall, so then it will be two solid walls of bookcases. Well, actually it'll be that right away, because I'm putting the bookcase I already own in the position of piece #5 for now (about 2 years). I bought some stain from the bookcase makers so sometime in the next week or two, I will stain my already-owned bookcase to match the new ones that are coming.

The main problem is that books and other shelf-requiring items are piling up, and I need to organize them in order for my brain to work properly again. So, I think I'll make a space in the loft / library, then just begin making stacks of books that I'll leave there for a month until the shelves come. That way, I can begin organizing books into categories, I can stain this bookcase, I can remove the installed shelf in the loft (also with books on it), and I can begin removing books from around the house to make space everywhere else.

By the way, does anyone know a good method of labeling subjects in a home library?

The funny thing is that these shelves will be ready to install almost exactly when the school year will end at our homeschool, so I'll have to get everything taught and tested and done this "year" in my dis-organization. I will work hard at it, though, because it's important to teach them everything and to have a full year. The good news is that I just began my end of the year testing, and they have each almost completely finished the lists of things to learn this year, as listed on my site here, so this last month will be lots of fun.

Then, we will start on next year's school, in pieces, throughout the summer. We don't normally do this, but this fall we will have a 2 month school break in the middle of fall next year, so we need to get 2 months ahead in the schoolwork this summer to allow for that.

Back to Borders. I've finally decided Borders is better than Barnes and Noble. I like B&N, it was the first large bookstore I knew in Tucson, it's beautiful, and my sister, Kim, and I have many good B&N memories. But now it really comes down to the fact that Borders has better selection. Even bn.com doesn't have as many choices as borders.com, which is probably because it is teamed with amazon.com. When I buy a new book -- which, if it were averaged out, would be about one book every 2 weeks -- I am picky about which book I want. I look online in advance, scour the options, read parts of the book in advance, etc., so by the time I get to a bookstore, I know exactly what I want. And, the every time in the past year I've then gone to B&N to get the book, I've been disappointed. Probably 20 books were not there and needed to be ordered. And that's out of 20 books that I was looking for in that year. That's it, I've learned my lesson.

Not that Borders is perfect, but they're much, much better. Probably 40% of the books I seek are available in the store at any time. That's pretty good, considering the rare topics I demand in my reading material. Anyway, I currently have a list of 13 books that I'd like to get. Two of which I've already read, but they were borrowed, and they were good, so I'd like to have my own copy for reference and loan-out. Last night, I bought one more book, and I'm enjoying it!

I really noticed this weekend with the boys gone, that the main thing I do when I have free time is absorb information. I love it. This weekend I read books, I researched ancient history and languages on the internet, and I watched history and science tv programming. Well, that and the new Stargates which came out last night. :-) I also got to do a lot of singing in the car which is fun.

So, that's the point for today, that I like learning more than I remembered that I like learning. This is one thing I love about being in my 30's. I feel like the 30's are a time for self-actualization, for finally becoming who you will become. And I like me!

Pictures of the Garden and the Future Library

As a follow up to the Backyard Pictures Blog below, here's a current picture of my backyard.

Since you can barely see the back of the long yard in the first picture, here is a close up of some of the trees in the back of the yard. There are ten trees in the back half of the yard.

Just for Kim and Michael, here is one of the many baby peaches we have growing in the backyard.


The new bat house! In Texas, there are many bats, and bats are very good. Every bat eats its body weight in insects every night, and don't harm people or plants or anything. This bat house is still empty; I hope it to become occupied sometime in the next year. It's a tiny house, but about 75 bats can easily live in it.

Beautiful new spring oak tree leaves in my backyard.

And here's something my tree is just getting old enough to do, make these green ball things. I'm sure they have to do with making baby trees, but other than that I don't have any idea what they are.

This is my smaller garden plot. This garden has a decorative grass, camera right, belonging to Alex. The rest of the garden I cleaned out this winter, and last month sprinkled with a bag of native wildflower seeds. The plants are coming in nicely and soon we should have a variety of local flowers.

The strawberries are in season. We get several a day this time of year.

This is my new naval orange tree. I've always wanted citrus-in-a-pot. :-) Here you can see the baby oranges that are growing this season.

We are going to create a library in our upstairs loft -- the open area at the top of the stairs. The bookshelves will be simple. Like this one, however, with no crown on top, because we will be putting multiple bookcases together. We will get that rounded shape on the top lip, though.

Here are some other bookcases that our bookcase-maker makes. They are simple, and picture that they will be stained a much darker color. I wanted this wonderful around-the-corner piece, but it didn't fit nicely into our floorplan.

Here is the half of the loft / library that we will leave semi-intact. The children's kitchen will be moved and the one bookcase that we own now will go in that location. The chairs will remain where they are.

Here's a view of the other side of the room. The white shelf at standing eye level will come down, the small bookcase currently seen on the left will be moved away. In that space, on the left wall, and the space to the left of the window, there will be three 26" matching bookcases. Two on the left wall, intersecting with one more on the window wall. There will be 11" of dead space between the bookcases in the corner, so visually the bookcases will continue straight from one wall to the other. Then, with the 4th bookcase on the right of the window as I said before, it will be almost 2 solid walls of bookcases! I'm so excited.

Right now we can fill about half of it with our books, board games, DVDs, and, well, more books. I really like learning out of books, can you tell? The rest of the space is for future books, especially for the kids now that Alex can read and Sam's coming along, and for display items that I never get to display. I also want to have space to display books cover-front periodically in the bookcase, to make them easier to spot and more enticing to the reader. This will make a great third room (besides TV room downstairs and computer room in master bedroom) where people can rest and be without a tv or computer monitor in the room. Homeschooling can also half take place in the library, instead of all in the master bedroom at my desk like we do it now. I know I'll love it, since I've ALWAYS wanted a wall of books, but I also hope that it will prove to be a benefit to my husband and kids, and future kids, so that they can learn to love books, and learn that the books and the references are there when they need them. I'm so excited!

Pictures of the Kids this Week

Here are pictures of Alex and Sam from around the house and around the state from this past week.

The kids and the furniture had to stay up on the bed Monday while we were having our carpets cleaned.

Sam and Papa enjoying each other at Sea World.

Sam is showing off that he now owns a dolphin key chain to accompany his dolphin poster with the same picture. He begged me for a day and a half to take this picture.

Alex and Sam this morning in my garden. It's spring, so some of the plants in the front are still tiny seedlings. Sam is getting strawberries to eat.

Ahh, he found one. Here, he had just popped it in his mouth.

Today we shopped and played at Whole Foods. This is the playscape on the roof of Whole Foods.

Hi Mom! Look how high I am!

We had a long hard day at homeschool, so Alex needed lots of playtime too.

Here's a picture from last week. In his free time, Alex invented a really cool pump/siphon system involving the bottle seen here in his hand. So, I gave him "The Science Award". That's one thing I love about homeschooling, that I can spend time on what the kids enjoy. Don't mind his facial expression there, the flash from the camera was giving him trouble that day. This was the only shot we got with his eyes open.

Cute Boys!

Fred Thompson for President

This is the guy I want to win the Republican Nomination. He hasn't even technically entered the race, but he's all set to do so as soon as his obligations to work are completed around June.

I wanted Mitt Romney at first, merely because he was the best of the bunch, but now that this guy is close to throwing his hat in the ring, I'm very excited about it. He's very honest, very straightforward, incredibly smart and experienced, and a good man. And I think I also like that personality, you know he'll do what he says. I trust that; it makes me feel safe.

In the last two or three elections, basically since I've been old enough to vote, I never gave the Primaries more than a passing interest. There were so many candidates, and I always figured they'd pick a good one, then I would vote in the Final Election. But after the last few General Elections, I know that I need to be more pro-active. I see from experience that we can't just sit by and assume either party will choose a reasonable candidate in the Primaries. So, you could say, that's the other reason I'm so gung ho right now. But mainly, it's because I like this guy, I love his positions on the issues, and it's the first time I've really been in favor of someone instead of just choosing the lesser of two evils.

Beautiful

From the Barenaked Ladies, the Bathroom Sessions

As you can see, I'm really enjoying this new venue of theirs. The Barenaked Ladies is / are? my favorite band. I like the complicated music and lyrics, and especially like Steven's voice.

This was recorded during a break in touring last month. Ed saw simple youtube videos and thought he'd do his own. Now, if we can just get Steven over to his house to do more as a duet. :-) The band is currently finishing their tour in Europe. Meanwhile, we get these enjoyable, and sometimes better than original, versions of songs. I can't list all of my favorites here; to see more, click on the link of the title of this blog entry.

Some Fantastic

Some Fantastic, Barenaked Ladies, from the Bathroom Sessions

Free

Just to update you, today I was released from being Primary President, which, for those of you who don't know, it means I was in charge of the whole children's organization in our church. It was a big job, and I liked it, but it was definintely time for a change.

So, I have more time now, which I can use to straighten up my life, get lots of homeschooling done, work on home improvements, and... I should have a much more fun and active blog from now on. Look forward to it! :-)

The Evolution of My Backyard

I was trying to explain my backyard landscaping in an email to my friend Brian in Florida today, and I just thought pictures would be the best way to go.

When we first moved in, 7 years ago this month, the backyard was all dirt. We are the first owners, the backyard was just flat, with weeds and with dirt that the builders added after they finished building. There was lots of construction trash in the dirt, many weeds, and lots of thick clay. The clay couldn't even be walked on if it was wet at all, it just stuck to you and pulled your shoes off. So, first, we sodded the whole yard right away.

Here's Alex next to a newly planted tree and young sod. My house is on camera right.

This picture and the next one show the backyard at 2 years of age. That's Alex in the picture below, at 2.5. He was 6 months old when we bought the house. Here you see the sod, there's a small garden in the back (camera right), that now I've moved closer to the house.

I had just planted 13 small bushes along the back fence to eventually cover the fence (shown below), and two small trees (shown above).

The back yard last summer:
Now we have a playscape we got used from a friend, there's a food garden on the right, and a flower garden in the middle which had sunflowers last year, but this year it just has wildflowers in it. The back fence is completely covered with those bushes.

That's Sam swinging. The trees you saw before are now huge. The one on the right is taller than our 2-story house.


Also, there are six new trees in the back of the yard, for shade and fruit. The apple trees grow well, but don't get very well pollinated. The peach trees, and an orange tree I just got this year, did well this pollinating season and have tiny fruit on them already.

Here's a picture of the yard from last week. It's still early spring, so the garden isn't in its full glory yet. the grass is still half-dormant, and the trees' leaves aren't all in yet, but you get the basic idea. The back fence is all solid-green with those bushes, though it's hard to see that in this picture.

These bushes, and some in the front yard, I trimmed up last month, making them look cleaner.

I got a better rainbarrel this winter. And, a surprise to me, my herbs in pots didn't die from freezing this winter. Must've been too close to the house or something.

So, that's what I've been up to, maintaining the back yard, and making improvements to the front yard. Now, we are planning improvements for the inside of the house. :-)

Alex Dancing

Sam took pictures of Alex doing his crazy dance:

Pictures from March 2007

Sam loves his grow-in-water sea animals from Aunt Bridget!

Alex made a tug boat and a tank with kits from Grandpa Dennis.

Here's Alex playing football with the skiiers from Sea World San Antonio. Before the show they let the kids go down and play in the sand.


This is a great shot I took of Sam and Brian on a water ride at Sea World. Sam and Brian LOVE roller coasters. Alex and I are happy to wait for them.

At the penguin exhibit, they were magically transported to the shores of Antarctica.

Brian looked particularly good that day. :-)

Oh, and did we mention, Sam lost his first tooth on March 11th!!

Enchanted Rock

One day last month, I drove the kids to Enchanted Rock. We climbed to the top. It was basically Sam running all the way to the top, with us trying to keep up. It's a little less than a mile up, but an elevation change of 425 feet, so very steep.

Alex almost to the top.

You can see what I mean. Sam really ran straight up a mountain. Alex was a great climber too!

Sam at the top!

Sam climbed up a boulder as we were headed back down.

They had a great climbing day, and can't wait to go back!