Cool iPhone Stuff - Tales2Go (and a deal)

Grom and I have been enjoying books on tape during our drive time.  We've listened to some great stories.   

One we'd both highly recommend is Mr. Popper's Penguins.  We haven't seen the recent movie, but it's hard to imagine it's as charming as this classic book.  I downloaded it from Audible.com.  1 credit = $14.95.  Not a good deal.

We've also checked audiobooks out from the library.  The titles at our local branch are limited.  I can get them through interlibrary loan, but it takes time, there is a fee involved AND I have to spend time downloading the CDs onto my computer. 

But I think I've got it all figured out now.  I found an iPhone App.  

Tales 2 Go gives me access to 1600 stories on demand.  There is a monthly subscription fee, but at full price it's less than my monthly credit from Audible.  

But wait... it gets better... right now Homeschool Buyers Co-op is offering a group buy (expires 11/30/11) which could bring down the annual subscription fee ridiculously. (By the way - Homeschool Buyers Co-op does a great job supporting homeschooling families by helping them to join forces to get better pricing.  And hybridschoolers like us can benefit too.  Browse their site for other offerings).

You can try the app for free before deciding to join the group buy.  We've been using it just a few days and I'm pleased. 

Check it out!

I'm spreading the word because I think it's a great app and love listening to books.  Also if I persuade others into the group buy, the price to myself could decrease.  Just want to be totally upfront.  

All the cool kids...

do their school work at Starbucks.

When school gets hard, a change of scenery (and a cup of coffee for Mom) always seems to help.

Buddies

I took Grom and his buddy to see A Christmas Carol at the beginning of December. We had some fun taking pictures before the performance. I loved the metal backdrop.

These pictures and lunch were the best part of the day. The performance was a BALLET! Somehow we missed that detail. And because it was a matinee for school kids, they started the story in the middle. I know the story and I was lost. I don't know how the boys behaved so well. They did amazing and totally deserved dessert with their lunch.

Avocado - seed to tree

We've been eating a lot of avocados lately. Gogo loves guacamole. Surferman loves guacamole. Even Grom gets into it.

All those pits. Grom and I had to see if we could grow a tree. Watch along. We'll update as changes are observed.

October 5

Robin's Guacamole
2 avocados - peeled and smashed (keep 'em chunky)
1 clove of garlic pressed (I like to use the frozen cubes of garlic from TJs)
juice from 1/2 lemon
your favorite hot sauce to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Today's verse of the day

"He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding." - Proverbs 12:11 (NKJV)

It's the Little Red Hen in a bible verse.

Remember the story? Here's a rebus (story with pictures) version if you need a memory refresh.

And there is an app for that.

Grom's Bookbag - Christmas

Here are the books were reading this week. Happy reading!

Grom's Bookbag - How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

We have a fun Five In A Row book to read this week, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman. It has a bunch of books to read along. It will be a week full of apples, other apple pie ingredients and the far away places they come from.

The Amazing Apple Book by Paulette Bourgeois
A Cow, A Bee, A Cookie and Me by Meredith Hooper
How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA by Marjorie Priceman
Johnny Appleseed: The Legend and the Truth by Jane Yolen
What Food is This? by Rosemarie Hausherr
Apple Harvest by Calvin Harris
Children Just Like Me by Barnabas Kindersley
And Everything Nice: the Story of Sugar, Spice and Flavoring by Elizabeth K. Cooper
Apple Valley Year by Ann Warren Turner
The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
Robert Frost by Robert Frost
The Growing Up Tree by Vera Rosenberry
The Biography of Sugar by Rachel Eagen
The Biography of Spices by Ellen Rodger
The Apple King by Francesca Bosca
Pancakes, pancakes! by Eric Carle

We also have a video - Apple Farming for Kids

It's going to be a yummy week. I'm sure we'll make an apple pie and do some apple projects.

Grom's Bookbag - Falling into an Autumnal Mood

I didn't choose a FIAR book for this week. Instead we picked up a bunch of books about fall and seasonal things.  A couple of random book found their way into our book bag.

"Apple Harvest" by Calvin Harris
"Did You Say Pears?" by Arlene Alda
"Fall Leaves Fall!" by Zoe Hall
"Leaf Jumpers" by Carole Gerber
"Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert
"The Letters are Lost" by Lisa Campbell Ernst
"The Blueberry Shoe" by Ann Dixon
"Are You a Horse" by Andy Rash
"Johnny Appleseed: a poem" by Reeve Lindbergh
"I Like Bugs: the sound of B" by Alice K. Flanagan

Happy Reading!

Grom's Bookbag - Grandfather's Journey

We've been reading "Grandfather's Journey" by Allen Say. It is the story of a Japanese man who travels to live in the United States. In the U.S. he longs for Japan. Later he takes his family back to Japan where he longs for the U.S. It's a nice portrait of the story of Japanese immigrants.

There were many good books to go along. Some of them made me cry.

"America the Beautiful" by Katharine Lee Bates
"Baseball Saved Us" by Ken Mochizuki
"How My Parents Learned to Eat" by Ina R. Friedman
"Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr
"The Bicycle Man" by Allen Say (video from Reading Rainbow)
"Easy Origami: Colorful Introduction to Practical Paper Folding" by Kazuo Kobayashi
"Japan" by Ann Heinrichs
"Sayonara Mrs. Kackleman" by Maira Kalman
"So far from the Sea" by Eve Bunting
"Tea with Milk" by Allen Say
"Yoko's Paper Cranes" by Rosemary Wells
"A to Zen: A Book of Japanese Culture" by Ruth Wells

I won!

Blogland has been good to me.

This week I won Spell Quizer from Freely Educate. (And I just found out that Quizzer has 2 z's). I probably need this as much as anyone.

She has another giveaway going for All About Homophones. Homophones are those pesky words that sound like another word but mean something totally different.

The author of the book has a fun website with a homophone machine. Go play with it. It's good for a laugh or two.

By the way, I added my twitter feed to my side bar. Right now I'm mostly posting about giveaways I find in my wanderings around blogland. There is some cool stuff being given away.

Eye hope ewe win if eye don't. Aren't homophones hilarious?