Our family of audiobook Junkies

Audiobooks have become a staple at our house. We eat, we sleep, we listen to books, we read, and then, well, everything else. They are some of my favorite treasures since they bring so much peace and  happiness to our family in the car, while we Lego, lounging in the backyard, snuggling under blankets, and just about everywhere we like to hang out all together.

Here are some of our favorites to try...

Short books

• Moongobble and Me Series by Bruce Colville (read by Full Cast Audio)
• Magic Treehouse Series by Mary Pope Osborne
• Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series by Betty Macdonald
• A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park (read by Full Cast Audio)

Story collections

• The Olivia Audio Collection by Ian Falconer (read by Dame Edna Everage)
• William Stein Stories (read by Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci)
• Enchanted Tales adapted by Mary Sheldon (read by Audrey Hepburn)
• Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik (read by Sigourney Weaver)
• Han and the Dragon and other Tales from Japan written and performed by Elizabeth Falconer
• The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss (read by Neil Patrick Harris, Anjelica Huston, Jason Lee, Peter Dinklage, William H. Macy, Joan Cusack, Edward Herrmann)
• Frog and Toad Audio Collection written and read by Arnold Lobel
• Funny Business (A Guys Read Collection) written and read by Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, Kate DiCamillo and others

Audiobooks we have listened to MULTIPLE TIMES

• The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown
• Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
• Elementia Chronicles by Sean Fay Wolfe (read by Edward Killingback)
• Henry Huggins series by Beverly Cleary (read by Neil Patrick Harris)
• Romona series by Berly Clearly (read by Stockard Channing)
• George by Alex Gino (read by Jamie Clayton)
• Mr Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater (read by Nick Sullivan)
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (read by Douglas Hodge) 
• Land of Stories Series written and read by Chris Colfer
• Matilda by Roald Dahl (read by Kate Winslet)
• The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
• Wishtree by Katherine Applegate (read by Nancy Linari) 
• Brixton Brothers Series, Book 1 by Mac Barnett (read by Arte Johnson)
• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (read by Mary Stuart Masterson)
• A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park (read by David Baker and Cynthia Bishop)

Optional: box fort for easy listening

A not-so-sick day

My dear Henry,

You engineered your way out of school today. You played "sick" and I let you because a kid at school who does not want to be in school is probably trouble. And of course, every kid has got to try playing sick a time or two. So instead of the many things I planned to do, I went with the goal of making the day as b-o-r-i-n-g as possible. A day of naps and quiet time will surely cure any temptation to do this again, right?

We succeeded until about 2 pm when I found a 6 volt battery. Oh dear. Insta-happiness. You promptly used it to make your very first light bulb.

It worked but the filament burnt out pretty quickly. (Thank you Thomas Edison for the 1,000 attempts it took to work through that problem!)

Burnt out filament sadness.

Fortunately for you (and unfortunately for my boredom plan), you found plenty of other things to engineer. You have moved past following circuit diagrams to making up your own inventions.

My very small engineer with his circuit tackle box

Is a 6V battery more powerful than a AA? What is the world's biggest battery? How can you tell if a battery will burn a motor out? How can you make a battery? How do rechargeable batteries work?

Your head is spinning with questions.

I look forward to helping you puzzle them out. But how about AFTER school next time, eh?

Love,
Mama

The story of the Earth

“In every outthrust headland, in every curving beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.”
~ Rachel Carson

We had our first geography play group today. I was hoping to do several this summer but we will see how it goes.

We learned about continents. And we made our own continent, complete with plants, waterways, a volcano, and a lego city.

I love this planet we live on! I hope I can we can learn more about it together this summer.

Love,
Mama

Infultrated by robots

I started this game called "Robot" at the playground where I chase you while acting like a robot. It was intended to be convenient for me because, as a robot, I can chase slowly and the beeping noises keep you loving the game for a long time. The only downside is that its popularity has spread to everyone on the playground. Everyone. Thus, we play A LOT of Robot.

The Iron Giant, 1999

Then there is the ongoing discussion on the three universal laws for robots. Nothing like nerding out with a 4-year-old, going over these for the fifteenth time in one day.

WALL•E, 2008

Add to that MANY robot books we have checked out from the library. This one by David Lucas (OH MY GOSH, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH) is possibly my favorite:

Robot and the Bluebird by David Lucas

And pretty soon, a large part of my days are spent acting like, reading, or talking about ROBOTS.

You get even more of your fill watching robot movies.

Castle in the Sky, 1986

Despite the prolonged mania, I am still loving on the robots. We are one big robo-nerd family. Lucy even wants to be this one for Halloween!

Small Wonder, 1980's TV

Thanks for bringing some crazy, fun stuff into my life.

Love beep bo bo beep,
Your robot mama

Mixed fortunes

Paper fortune tellers have been multiplying in the house since Lucy came home from Kindergarten with one last week. Wonderful - something to do inside during January downpours! And look at all of this writing practice!

Lucy's scripted fortunes are pure sweetness:

• You are fantastic
• I hope you have a Merry Christmas
• You are my light
• You shine in the sun
• Everything you touch will be yours
• Santa will give you everything
• Purple is sparkly

The ones Henry dictated to Daddy for his are a bit more mixed:

• You look like a troll and an ogre
• You forget to poop in the potty
• You drink punch
• You wear underwears
• You like to swim strokes
• You like beans and rice
• You are bad!
• You are my friend

All the fun reminds me how fortunate I am to have you both. Awwww. Cheesy but so true.

xo,

Mama