The Book List - July AND Hunter's A/C unit, Solomon's snakes, and Tabby's chick!

So far the month of August has been cooler than June.  But that doesn't mean it still isn't plenty hot and humid.  Perfect for Hunter's recent air conditioning invention.  He recently took a styrofoam cooler, a fan, and ice packs, set them into a box with vents cut out, and turned it on.  To my surprise the thing cooled the air around it by 9 degrees in only minutes!

Solomon made something too.  Pasta snakes.  (LOL - he is very proud of them though it seems a little funny to post it after Hunter's project.)  Solomon picked the project off Pinterest and I bought some cheap pasta.  He strung them on pipe cleaners and we added googly eyes and a tongue.  That pasta was the best purchase I've made in a long time!  It kept him busy for hours doing all sorts of things with it. 

One of Tabby's Silkie Bantam hens sat on an egg that hatched.  Such a cute little fuzz ball:

I've been reading some books I don't think I'll ever finish this summer.  But here are two that I completed last month:

Large Family Logistics: The Art & Science of Managing the Large Family by Kim Brenneman - With only 3 children living in our home (and 2 in heaven) I don't consider us to be a "large family."  But I love reading things written by the moms of a large brood.  These moms are usually so organized and have tasks streamlined so well that I can almost always find useful hints for our household.  (And great tips for dealing with children's issues too.)  I started reading this particular book during one of Lilly's hospital stays.  I never finished it and after she died, I just didn't want to pick up the book.  But earlier this summer, I decided we needed to implement some new routines around here in several areas, and I decided to read this book through for help.  I made notes as I read and ended up with quite a bit of helpful stuff that I am still putting into action.  Yay!

It is SOOOO nice to have an older child read to a younger one

Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston - I came across this book shortly after I finished the Feng Shui book I shared about last month.  I am not sure why I like reading about organizing and all that so much - but I have for as long as I remember.  This book had some interesting things to say and I'm glad I read it.  But for cleaning out - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo remains my favorite book. 

I recently cleared out my clothes following the KonMari method.  I just love the special way of folding clothes I learned from the Life Changing Magic book.  My dresser drawers are so satisfying to look at now.  (Ha- I sound like such a geek.)  I even made some drawer dividers out of cardboard.  Of course I had to embellish them so I covered them with some wrapping paper I've had sitting around for years.

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi - I read this book to Hunter, but thought I'd include it here.  I didn't know until a decade or so ago, that Pinocchio didn't start with the Disney movie and fluffy Disney books.  The original book was published in the 1880s and, no surprise, has some big differences.  This book was a wild story and I got just as caught up in "what will happen next?" as Hunter.  Some of the situations were too ridiculous for my taste, but the character studies that the book is full of made for some great conversations.  Unlike so many of today's stories, in this book (and in many older stories) when a character makes a bad choice - the consequences are swift and harsh.  Skipping school, disobeying parents, laziness, lying, get quick rich schemes - Pinocchio learns a lot of hard lessons due to his bad choices.  But thankfully he learns from them and in the end, has developed excellent character.

Solomon's first time of feeding ducks

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." - Psalm 19:1