Living Unabridged

Today we're celebrating the iBoy's 2nd birthday. We're keeping things fairly low-key (nothing Pinterest worthy happening here, in other words), but if it had a theme you might say it's a peanut butter party. We usually let the older kids choose their birthday dinner menu. If the iBoy were capapble of expressing such a complex thought, PB&J would definitely be his choice (along with bananas). So, I hope our friends and family like peanut butter.

Now for the links!

Learning

• Autism: Maybe It's Not What We've Been Told by John Rodakis at the Huffington Post. More research is definitely needed on this subject. (Content warning for much of this site. This post is excellent but the other "suggested posts" may not be.)
• What is a Living Book? Sherry at Semicolon tackles this question.
• The Right Book at the Right Time by Amy at Hope is the Word. I can relate to this because I owned the entire set of Anne books (a gift from my grandparents) for several years before it was "the right time" for me. Now my oldest has read them all several times and my 10 year old is working her way through the series. If you're interested in acquiring some "Anne books", you need to see this post from Modern Mrs. Darcy: Beautiful Editions of Anne of Green Gables (swoon).
• Those Who Think, Read by JD at Missiologically Thinking. (Which reminds me of the old quote about the man who won't read being no better off than the man who can't read.)
• How to Use Whimsy as a Tool by John Vorhaus at Writer Unboxed. "Keep writing. Keep failing." Excellent advice for writers (or wannabe writers).

Living

• When Friends Aren't Friends Forever by Mary at Giving Up on Perfect. An unexpectedly painful part of adulthood.
• Embrace That Five-Foot Tree: 5 Ways We Can Give Our Kids More Freedom by Tsh Oxenreider at The Art of Simple. I loved this post so much, I wish I could hand it out to every parent I know. (See also: The Hyped Dangers of Free-Range Parenting by Mark Hemingway for The Federalist.)
• 5 Reasons I'm Glad My Parents Were Strict by Joy Pullmann for The Federalist. (Think "strict" and "free-range" are opposite? They're really not. Hmm...maybe I should write a post on that?)
• Revel in Repetition by Mystie Winkler at ladydusk. Great reminders here.

Loving

• How Christianity Invented Children by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry in The Week. The excesses of Roman Emperors does not make for easy reading, but this was fascinating nonetheless.
• Naive Young Evangelicals and the Illiberal DNA of the Gay Rights Movement by Matthew Lee Anderson at Mere Orthodoxy. Long, but worthwhile.
• Bring Back the Distinction Between Public and Private by Josiah Lippincott in The Federalist. These issues are not just religious liberty issues that only religious people need to worry about.
• Are Feminists Insane? Of Course Men Should View Their Wives and Daughters Differently by Mollie Hemingway in The Federalist. This is one of those posts that I just can't imagine was necessary to write even a few years ago.
• Miracle of the Mengele Babies from the UK Daily Mail. Truly fascinating stories of survival in the worst conditions imaginable.
• Man Turned His Basement Into the Ultimate Lego Lovers Retreat (video). Two things: 1 - WOW and 2 - In case my husband or children happen to see this, NO, we cannot do this at our house.

And finally, the royal baby has arrived: Baby Cambridge's Birth Is Announced at Buckingham Palace. Prince George now has a baby sister. No name has been announced as of this post, but Alice is the Hot Favorite Among Those Taking Bets. Right now, I'd just like to add that I'm thankful I won't have reporters and photographers camped outside our hospital of choice when our baby arrives, or people taking bets on what his name might be. (Although my husband went to the bank yesterday and the teller asked him, "Have you named the baby yet?" The BANK TELLER, folks. Not even remotely a close, personal friend of ours, although I guess my husband has become a familiar sight in their branch.)

Here at Living Unabridged this week we looked at April in Review (including a few quick movie reviews) and I shared my Homeschool Likes and Dislikes.

What caught your eye this week?