Thursday, June 25, 2009

summer reading

I have chosen a few books that I want my kids to read this summer. I chose six or seven for each child and told them to choose three. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Hinds Feet on High Places

2. She Said Yes

3. The Singer

4. Do Hard Things

5. Lord of the Flies

6. Our Town

7. Nory Ryan's Song

8. Ella Minnow Pea

9. Corrie Ten Boom

10. Carry On Mr. Bowditch

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Menil Art Museum

I went to visit an art museum that I'd not heard about before. Here are a few of my favorite things about the Menil collection:

1. It's always FREE!!

2. I actually like the surreal exhibits

3. The Hunted Sky

4. recognizing work by an artist

5. seeing another work that spoke to me by the same artist

6. being able to appreciate some of the work

7. sort of bewildered by other works

8. enjoyed the "Drawings on Site" exhibit by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

9. taking my time through the exhibits

10. finding one I'd love to get a print of for my son

Sunday, June 14, 2009

time alone

With my family gone, here are a few of my favorite things I hope to get done this week:

1. read

2. exercise whenever I want

3. blogging

4. naps

5. put stuff on ebay

6. get school stuff organized

7. run/walk a half marathon

8. eat whatever

9. more reading

10. more blogging

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Turn About Ranch

I learned about Turn About Ranch yesterday. This working ranch sounds like a great place for teens to spend some time relearning some tools that will help them deal with problems and family issues in positive ways. I read through the website and really like lots of what I read. Here are a few of my favorites:


1. kids must earn all privileges, including pillows and showers all the way to leisure time and activities!

2. they also attend classes which will later transfer back to their home school

3. the ranch uses Christian ideals as a foundation

4. the ranch employs older adults as mentors as opposed to college aged kids

5. their program runs an average of 100 days

6. there are loans available for families who need them

7. employ professional and lay staff

8. provide studies and reports to show progress

9. program effective for many teens

10. they want to help troubled teens