Hoodwinked

Yesterday we borrowed Hoodwinked from the library. I really enjoyed it and thought it a well written story. It's a different take on the Little Red Riding Hood story. Completely different. All the kids liked it too, even the big ones. To read a review, click here.

CathSwap and Other Used Book Resources

Of course, the first place to go for buying and selling used curricula and books is CathSwap.

Other resources for used books and texts:
Bookfinder
Homeschool Swap
Home Schooling Unlimited's Free Classifieds
Homeschool Used Curriculum Sites
Schoolbookauction.com.
Homeschoolbid.com

Addendum: Mary Margaret reports that amazon.com's policy is similar to eBays: "Solutions manuals. Manuals or teacher's editions that provide answer keys to student textbook editions are prohibited."
I think that our best bet is to stay with the homeschool exchanges.

One Last Hurrah

Shooting sports are over for the year. Teen Son and Teen Daughter had their final competition this last weekend. And it was a big one. The one that they work so hard for this past year.

It was the MYHEC (MI Youth Hunter Education Challenge) competition, a two-day event. Each of the 180 kids from all over Michigan had to compete in eight disciplines: 3-D archery, shotgun, rifle, muzzleloding, wildlife identification, orienteering, hunter safety trail, and hunter safety exam.

They had loads of fun competing alongside their teammates. The most fun for me was seeing all of their hard work pay off. Teen Son came home with two medals and Teen Daughter came home with a whopping seven medals. Their teammates did equally well. In fact, the senior team took away the gold as the overall best team.

Now I'm going to sit back, relax, and enjoy my last week of summer before we start school.

Used Textbooks at amazon.com

Since eBay has put the nix on buying and selling textbooks, maybe amazon.com is a source to be explored:

The Amazon.com Books team is gearing up for another successful Textbooks season. This will be our biggest back-to-school season yet!

New Textbooks:

* From now through October 7th, customers can save up to 20% off campus bookstore prices on new textbooks sold by Amazon.com.

* In addition, customers can also save an extra $15 when they spend over $150 on new textbooks sold by Amazon.com.

Used Textbooks:

* Through our extensive network of third party sellers, we are able to offer customers millions of used textbooks at up to 90% off list prices.

Addendum: The ban at eBay is on teachers' editions and answer keys. See the link in the blog entry below (August 27th).

Free Catholic CD's

I received the following email recently from Catholicity:

RE: Free Catholic CDs from the Mary Foundation

Have you heard about the easiest way to improve your spiritual life, help convert a friend, or reach souls in your parish?

In a matter of minutes, you can have FREE life-changing talks by America's most dynamic Catholic speakers speeding to your doorstep direct from the world's largest producer of Catholic CDs and audio tapes. You can order online right now:

Secure Ordering

THE BEST CATHOLIC SPEAKERS
Our speakers include the beloved Scott Hahn, Father Corapi, Christopher West, and Marcus Grodi. Our talks include "The Mass Explained", "Marriage and the Eucharist", and the world's most popular "everyday" Rosary CD. For a description of each recording or to read what listeners are saying, visit:

Audiotapes.html

AVAILABLE EVERY DAY ONLINE OR BY MAIL
This is not a "special" offer. The Mary Foundation offers these CDs every day, no strings attached, with free same-day shipping. All we ask for is a nominal donation to support expedited online handling, but you can easily avoid this fee by mailing in your request using this simple print-out form:

Requestform.html

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
For the past fifteen years, regular folks like you have done the real work of the Mary Foundation by personally helping us give away millions upon millions of Catholic tapes and CDs all over the world.

These CDs could easily cost more than $10 each, but we use a creative approach, the latest technology, and huge production volumes to make it effortless and affordable for you to change your life and the lives of the people you love most--your family, friends, co-workers, and fellow parishioners.

So your life will indeed change if you take less than five minutes to order online or mail in your request today:

Secure Ordering

May the Mother of God, Mary, our namesake, guide you as you make what may turn out to be the most important evangelization decision of your life. Thanks for taking the time to read this message.

With Christ,

Timothy Harrison
Managing Director
The Mary Foundation

Teacher Manuals Banned on eBay

eBay prohibits textbooks for homeschool teachers

PopeStNick5 - Theology of the Body: A New Translation

To read past library recommendations, or to join the email list, visit: Pope Saint Nicholas V.

Check to see if this title is already in your library's catalog. If it is, put a hold on it and check it out. If not, fill out a patron request form right away. This can usually be done online at your library's website.

Title: The Theology of the Body: A New Translation Based on the John Paul II Archives
Author: Pope John Paul II, translated by Dr. Michael M. Waldstein
Publisher: Pauline Books and Media
Date Published: August 2006
ISBN: 0819874213
Price: $29.95 (available September 2006)
Comments: See Catholic Press Wire to read about the new discovery that lead to this translation.


From the publisher:
John Paul II
Translated and introduced by Michael M. Waldstein

In this new critical translation of Pope John Paul II’s magnum opus, internationally renowned biblical scholar Michael Waldstein presents John Paul II’s magnificent vision of the human person with meticulous scholarship and profound insight.

In this vision, John Paul II presents a catechesis centered on the human person, understood within the mystery of Christ. Going back to the biblical “beginning” as recorded in Genesis, the pope discusses the bodily dimension of human personhood, sexuality, and marriage and celibacy in the light of biblical revelation.

Complete with a new introduction and new footnotes, this edition has been crafted with a penetrating eye to the past twenty years of study since John Paul II gave his Theology of the Body talks.

TRANSLATOR PROFILE
MICHAEL WALDSTEIN is Chancellor and Francis of Assisi Professor of New Testament at the International Theological Institute, Austria. Together with his wife, Susie, he is a member of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Prof. Waldstein earned a B.A. at Thomas Aquinas College, California, a Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Dallas, an S.S.L. in Scripture from the Biblicum in Rome, and a Th.D. in New Testament and Christian origins at Harvard Divinity School. Before his present appointment, he was Associate Professor of New Testament at the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife have eight children.

KEY FEATURES

A foreword by Cardinal Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna.
A preface by Christopher West.
The catecheses of Song of Songs and Tobit: a comparison between the delivered text and the longer original pre-Papal text.
A comprehensive index of words and phrases.
A scriptural index.
A reference table for other versions of the papal texts

Babe: The Gallant Pig

Speaking of English literature, Sparky and I are currently reading Babe: The Gallant Pig. Babe gets out of being Christmas dinner by becoming a sheep-pig. Too funny. But it goes way beyond that. It's a sweet story of a character who is brave and loyal to the bone. He doesn't hesitate in obeying his master or in honoring his foster mother. He doesn't stop to think of himself when he rescues the sheep from rustlers or from wild dogs. What a joy to share this with Sparky.

High School Literature Course

A lot of great suggestions were left in the comments when I asked what you would include in an American/English high school literature course. Make sure that you check out the comments here. Marcia Neill, director of St. Michael the Archangel Academy, came in late with an excellent list. I was happy to see that my two high schoolers have already read several of the suggested books.

Below is what I came up with for my teen daughter and teen son. Teen Daughter is 9th grade, so her list is for 9th and 10th grade. Teen Son's list is for 11th and 12th grade. I haven't worked out the order that they will be read yet. There are 9 books for each school year - one per month. During the summer they can choose their own reading. Both teens are avid readers and make good choices on their own.


Daughter, 9th and 10th grade:

Huck Finn by Mark Twain
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Short Stories of O'Henry
Beowulf by Anonymous
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Little Flowers of St. Francis
Call of the Wild by Jack London
Love Poems by Emily Dickinson
Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson
Withering Heights by Bronte
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Emma by Jane Austin
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington

Son, Grades 11 and 12

The Iliad by Homer (Lattimore translation)
Apology by Plato (Rouse translation)
Confessions by St. Augustine (Pine-Coffin translation)
Inferno by Dante (Sayers translation)
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Elliot
Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton
Edgar Allen Poe: selected stories and poems
Collected Stories by Flannery O'Connor
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
Here Comes Civilization by William Ten
The Quest for St. Aquin by Anthony Boucher
Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I'll also give them a few math and science titles in addition to the above. I haven't decided on those yet. In the upcoming days . . .

Danny's Novena, Day Nine

Click here for the prayer.

Pro-Life T-Shirts

American Life League has cool T-shirts for only $7.95 to commemorate its second annual Pro-Life Memorial Day (Monday, October 2nd). Shirts can be ordered through September 20, 2006. Note that the shipping and handling charges are a bit high, but still a deal. Shirts, hoodies, and hats that we've ordered in the past were well made.

Danny's Novena, Day Eight

Click here for the prayer.

Starry Sky Ranch

My friend Kim has a great blog and I just realized that it's not in my blogroll. Oops, sorry Kim! Go check out Starry Sky Ranch. If you like scrapbooking, or want to learn more about scrapbooking, go immediately to Starry Sky Ranch. Kim has a whole primer on the subject, just scroll down to August 21. Kim also likes to blog about lapbooking, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, and her great kids.

Danny's Novena, Day Seven

Click here for the prayer.

The Danny Davis Foundation

When choosing a college to attend, Franciscan University in Steubenville was Danny's top choice. Unfortunately, it was just out of his reach financially. After scholarships, loans, grants, savings, he was still $2,000 short. In the end, he chose to attend Michigan State University instead.

I know in my heart of hearts that if Danny had attended FU he would still be alive today. For this reason, I plan to start a scholarship fund in Danny's name that would award $2,000 scholarships to financially strapped FU students.

This is still in the dream stage. It'll be a few years before I can pull it together, but it will happen.

Danny's Novena, Day Six

Click here for the prayer.

Holy Hormones Batman!

You may be middle age and peri-menopausal/menopausal if:

When you see your best friend you say, "Hey Stranger" or "Hi Dear" because you can't remember what the heck her name is.

You wear layers of clothes so you won't embarrass yourself when you start stripping in a hot flash.

You say things like, "Put the trash down the hamper" and "Bring the dog in from the oven."

You buy pregnancy tests by the gross.

You've plucked a long black hair from your chin or nose recently.

Your girlfriends and you debate the value of HRT versus tofu.

You're not sure what your hair color is this week.

You wear Birkenstocks, not because they're fashionable but because they're good for falling arches.

You're losing your nouns and find yourself saying things like, "Honey could you get that thing in the shed for me? You know, the thing that's red with wheels."

You know what progressive lenses are.

Your husband never knows if he's going to wake up to Dr. Jekyll or Mrs. Hyde.

You're so emotional that you sob everytime a long-distance commercial comes on.

You subscribe to the Minnie Pauz newsletter.

You clip coupons for Poise pads.

Your kids have asked you, "Mom, are you getting shorter?"

You get in the car and then can't remember where you're going.

You not only know what "the big squeeze" is, you've had it done to you.

You've taken to wearing pantsuits.

You keep your underclothes in the freezer.

Your favorite CD is Menopause the Musical.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry, you're no where near menopause. Just go about your life blissfully, it'll come soon enough.

Danny's Novena, Day Five

Click here for the prayer.

Dannys Novena, Day Four

Click here for the prayer.

The Sloan Ranger

Our dear old friend Lloyd Sloan is a bit of a radio personality in St. Louis. He even has his own merchandise. Very cool. You can buy it here. You can listen to him here, from 5 to 7 P.M. Central, Mon. through Fri. In fact, give him a call. His is a call-in show and the more the merrier! Local callers: 314-454-0400. Toll free: 1-877-920-WGNU (9468).