Tuesday, October 15, 2024

What's in Our October Morning Basket?

*This post was originally published on 10/9/18.  Enjoy1



It's a new month and time to share what's in our morning basket.  From Medieval history to earth science, we hitting multiple subjects and mixing things up.

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The Daily Question Review:
http://creative2xmom.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-daily-question-review.html

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Monday, October 14, 2024

A Lancaster Amish Christmas {Review}


This four novella compilation includes works by authors Anne Blackburne, Amy Clipston, Mindy Steele, and Amy Lillard.  All four novella are centered around Lancaster County and the holiday season.

Lucy's Christmas Sunbeam by Anne Blackburne introduces readers to Lucy and her younger sister.  When Lucy's parents die, she takes on raising her little sister, born with Down's syndrome.  But when her boyfriend turns sinister, Lucy breaks things off and decides to go it alone. Till one day she runs into the new hardware store owner and love is awakened.  But can Lucy keep her little family together while pursuing love?

In A Bird in Hand Christmas by Amy Clipstone, recently widowed Makayla returns home to visit her parents for Christmas.  Little does she know that old flame Wyatt was recently employed by her father.  Can these two overcome old rumors to build a life together?  Or will Makayla enter into a loveless marriage with someone else?

Christmas Lily by Amy Lillard tells the story of seven year old Jacob who develops a crush on his new school teacher and sets out to play matchmaker between her and his recently widowed father.  But the two are far from friendly.  Will mother nature plot to bring the two of them together?  Or will Jacob find himself saying good-bye to his teacher forever?

In Leaving Lancaster by Mindy Steele, three sister, Louise, Beth, and Leah, discover their father has decided to sell the family farm and move to Kentucky.  All three sister have mixed feelings about the move.  With only on Christmas left on the farm, will the girls find their miracle?

It typically really hard to develop interesting characters within a novella.  However, all four authors did an incredible job of bringing their characters and stories to life.  I was very pleasantly surprised at how much interest was packed into these novellas, making them just as engaging as full length novels.  Each story is told from a unique viewpoint, from single parenthood to older marriages to second marriages.  All in all, I felt like this collection was really well done.  All the authors took the time with their storytelling and created a wonderful set for the Christmas season.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.

 

Friday, October 4, 2024

Weekend Links ll Oct 4, 2024

Imperfect Parents Discipling Your Kids When You're Struggling pin

Discipling Your Kids When 

You're Struggling


October Nature Study

Free October Nature Guide


Free Pumpkins and Corn Nature Study


This Week: 

What I'm Cooking:

Josiah helped me make beef stew earlier this week as part of his history homework.  We’re studying the Irish potato famine, but I’m all about doing the cooking activities when given the chance.  We used their recipe as a base and then made it our own.  It was delicious.

What I'm Reading:

I just started a book on developing a discipleship culture in the church.  Funny enough it goes along with some of the podcasts I’ve been listening too as well.  Lots of information to digest and think through.  Reviews coming soon.

What I'm Doing:

We spent the week catching up on appointments… well visits, pointe shoes, PSAT set up, etc.  I felt like I was in the car a lot this week.  But totally planning on getting some crafting time in this weekend.
 
What I'm Enjoying:

Carmel Apple cupcakes…
Our Scripture memory box…
Afternoon swimming…
21 Day Fix Extreme…
Cool mornings…

What are you up to?


Monday, September 30, 2024

The Christmas Gathering {Review}

 


This 3 novella collection centers around the Christmas holidays:

A Christmas Reunion by Shelley Shepard Gray--Tricia Troyer is excited to spend the Christmas reunion with her family and just as excited to see Brandt Holden.  Their connection is obvious to everyone.  However, they come from different worlds, with Brandt living as an Englisher and Tricia living in an Amish family.  Can they find a way to bring their worlds together?

We Gather Together by Lenora Worth--When Lucas and Kayla meet on the shores of Lake Erie, they discover an old family fued.  Their grandfathers once fought over the same woman, resulting in wounds that never healed.  Lucas and Kayla decide to create opportunities where the families can interact, but it seems to just create a deeper divide.  Will they succeed or will the family feud continue on to Lucas and Kayla as well?

Hitting All the Right Notes by Rachel J. Good--Four years after leaving the Amish for his music career, Mark returns to his hometown when the band manager disappears.  Suddenly broke and homeless, Mark finds himself teaching music at a teen center where he runs into an old fan... who quickly becomes a new flame.  However, Joline has a rebellious streak of her own and has a lot of growing up to do before entering a relationship.  Can these two work through their past?  Or will their old rebellion destroy their future?

All three novellas are clean, short, and heartfelt.  They are brief for small chunks of time, making them an easy holiday read for the busy season.  Characters are not fully developed, but that's to be expected with short stories.  So going into this book with the right mindset is important.  Readers do have to suspend some disbelief when it comes to the Amish elements of these stories.  The Amish invididuals in these novellas are often unrealistically forward and outspoken.  However, the second novella by Lenora Worth was definitely my favorite and seemed to be the most focused on the themes of holidays and romance.  A quick holiday read for savoring the season.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.  


What We Read in September and Our Homeschool Read Alouds ll Sept 2024

 What I Read:

Awaking Wonder: Opening Your Child's Heart to the Beauty of Learning

Awaking Wonder by Sally Clarkson

I just finished reading this book for the fourth time.  It's one that I return to again and again for inspiration and encouragment in this homeschool journey.  Clarkson goes into how she home educated her four children with a sense of wonder about the world.  It's a very unconventional method, but has yielded beautiful resuts.  Not only limited to homeschooling, many of the concepts outlined in this book can be implemented in everyday parenting.  However, with more time comes more opportunities.  This book recharges me over and over.

See my original review here.

The Screwtape Letters (The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics)

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

I can't believe I just finished this one for the first time.  It's been on my shelf for year and I finally got around to it.  This is a fictionalized set of letters from one mentor deamon to his apprentice.  He writes these letters as a way of teaching the apprentice how to entice his "patient" (human) away from the "Enemy" (God).  The letters are short and straightforward, but incredibly applicable.  I was amazed at Lewis' ability to take everyday human nature and speak to the heart of these issues.  After all this time, the principles that he talks about are still things that we wrestle with today.  Very good read.

Cold-case Christianity : a homicide detective investigates the claims of the Gospels

Cold Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace

This book has been on my list for some time.  Wallace, a cold case detective, uses his reasoning skills to investigate the claims of Christianity to see if they hold up.  This book is his own journey from atheism to Christianity and how he got there.  I love how logically and systematically he lays out his argument, showing a clear link between events and people.

The Christmas Gathering

The Christmas Gathering by

Shelley Shepard Gray, Lenora Worth, and Rachael J. Good

See my full review here.


Our Homeschool Read Alouds:

Journey to the River Sea

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

We read this book as part of our Story of the World vol 4 study.  We read it four years ago and it's just as rich and engaging as I remembered it.  Maia's parents have pasted away and she's being sent to live with family in the Amazon.  But the Carters are far from the loving famiy she hoped for.  Luckily, she has her governess, Ms. Minton, by her side.  They find many adventures during their time there... befriending a traveling actor, meeting a native boy in hiding, learning about the culture and the people around them... This book is filled with adventure, intrigue, mistaken identity, spies... and so much more.  We borrowed a copy from the library, but this one that I'd love to add to our collection.

Francis Asbury: Circuit Rider (Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

Francis Asbury by Janet & Geoff Benge

My seventh grader and I are continuing on in the Christian Heroes series, and we were excited to see a missionary to the US.  I will say this was an interesting read, but not as engaging as some of the others.  Mostly I got lost in the wide variety of individuals that Asbury came in contact with.  Several names were mentioned and I had a hard time keeping them all straight.  However, this book was interesting because it was set during the Revolutionary time period and it would make a nice addition to an Early American study.

D.L. Moody: Bringing Souls to Christ (Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

D.L. Moody by Janet & Geoff Benge

Continuing on in our Christian Heroes series, I loved this account of D.L. Moody's life.  This one was a lot easier to read after Asbury's story.  And to see the historical events and how the affect his life was so interesting.  He also mentions one of the other missionaries in his travels so we're going to be reading that one next.  It's so interesting to see how these individuals influenced each other throughout their lives.  Reminds me to talk with my kids about how their witness might unknowingly influence others.

Old Mother West Wind (Burgess Trade Quaddies Mark)

Old Mother West Wind by Thornton W. Burgess

We've read a few of Burgess' books in the past, but this is the one that started them all.  I love these short little stories with the animals' antics.  Reminds me a lot of Aesop's Fables.  I'm definitely recommending this one to my sister in law who is starting her own parenting journey.

Sing Down the Moon

Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell

This quick historical fiction book focuses on one young Navajo girl's struggle as her tribe is forced to march from its homeland to Fort Sumner.  There they fight for survival, and ultimately a return to home.  Scott O'Dell's writing is so powerful.  Although this book is short, it's super powerful.  When my eighth grader realized where these events fell into the history timeline, he was shocked.  It's a great reminder of a broken past and how far we've come.  A great reminder that people are people no matter our cultural background.

What are you reading?

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