What I Read and Our Homeschool Read Alouds ll October 2026

 Fiction:

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

I'm continuing on my journey of reading Jane Austen's work.  This was a new to me read and I'm very glad I looked up some extra resources.  They really provided the background information I needed to fully appreciate the author's satire and voice.  In this novel, we follow innocent Catherine Moreland as she emerges the protective covering of childhood and into the wider world of friendship and acquaintances.  In this world, she meets "friends" who are not always as they appear.  She must navigate social expectations and her own overactive imagination in an attempt to find worthy and fulfilling relationships.  Definitely an underestimated work of Austen's especially considering how young she was when she wrote this one.

A Mrs. Miracle Christmas by Debbie Macomber

I needed a light fun read so I decided to skip to Christmas in my audiobook selections.  This delightful tale from Debbie Macomber follows a young couple and their grandmother as they navigate an infertility diagnosis and the grandmother's dementia.  As Ms. Miracle arrives to help take care of the grandmother, strange things start happening... and the magic of Christmas ensues.  It's a predictable storyline, nothing too dramatic.  But the perfect comfort read for the holiday season.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

This was my 2nd audiobook selection and just the right length.  If you're looking to get into Dickens' writing, I would highly recommend starting with this one.  The storyline is well known enough that even if the language trips you up, you can still follow along.

Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster

This book of letters tells the story of Judy Abbott, a young woman who has spent her life in an orphanage.  Through the generosity of an anonymous benefactor, she is able to attend college and pursue an independent future.  His only request is that she write letters to him and share her experience.  Through her letters we get a glimpse into her spunky personality, as she emerges into adulthood.  I don't typically read books of letters, but this one was sweet, endearing, and had a fun ending.  It's a quick read, and clean enough for preteens and older.  

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

This was the Christmas book I didn't know I needed.  When Oswald T. Campbell faces a grim diagnosis from the dr, he makes a call into Lost River, Alabama to escape the damp air of Chicago.  Once in Lost River, he gets wrapped up in a whole bunch of wild characters, including a quirky redbird and a little girl who needs a family.  As the town rallies together for this little girl, Oswald discovers has might be finding a family as well.  Whitty, heartwarming, ... funny in all the best ways... This is the Christmas book that will keep you laughing from cover to cover.

Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock

As a first year law associate, Sydney can't afford to lose her current case.  The firm is downsizing and she has to prove her loyalty. So when her grandmother becomes sick, Sydney calls a cab to take her to her doctor's appointment.  Unfortunately for Finn Parrish, he is that cabbie.  After that first trip, Miss Callie adopts him as "that sweet boy," calling him for every errand, from Christmas shopping to purchasing a Christmas tree to setting up a date for Sydney.  Miss Callie is the star of this book.  She brings together all these people that she loves and love her in return.  But as far as a happy Christmas book, this one was pretty sad.  I kept waiting for the story to lighten up and it just didn't.  The message was good and appropriate for the holidays, but it was just a little sad for me.

Non-Fiction:

The Promised Christ by Sherri Hughes-Gregg

See my full review here.

Cherish by Gary Thomas

To Love, Honor, and Cherish... we all say those words when we get married.  The love and the honor are pretty self-explanatory, but what does cherish look like in a marriage?  What is we really cherished our spouse?  Sacrificing, prioritizing, praying with intention... learning to put their needs ahead of our own.... cherishing means helping them shine in their strengths.  Very good and very well worth reading for any marriage that wants to stay strong and healthy.

Our Homeschool Read Aloud:

A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum

This cute little story tells the tale of how Santa was kidnapped by the daemons so that he missed Christmas Eve and his delivery route.  It's a classic tale of good vs evil and how Santa's community rallies to make sure the children get their presents.  It's a fairly mild story with no major action, but just the right taste for a younger audience.  L.Frank Baum uses his beautiful gift of storytelling to bring this one to life.  I would absolutely recommend this one for PreK-3rd grade.

The Hour that Changes the World by Dick Eastman

Eastman challenges his readers to commit to a hour of prayer each day, broken down into 12  5-min increments.  We read this book as part of our morning time, slowly working through the 12 steps and taking notes about how to use each one.  It's a challenging book to read.  I found myself getting lost in the details at times.  But it's also very useful if you're wanting to take your prayer time up a notch. For our homeschool high school, we're going to be implementing this system in a shorter time periods as a way of refreshing our prayers.

What are you reading?

The Promised Christ {Review}

 

The Promised Christ by Sherri Hughes-Gragg takes readers on a journey from the Garden of Eden all the way to the first Christmas.  Written in a 31 day devotional format, Hughes-Gragg masterfully retells these events with added historical and cultural context, bringing the Bible to life.  Each day includes a Scriptural reference to read, a retelling based on that reference, and a prayer touching on the themes or truths revealed.

There was a lot I enjoyed about this devotional.  I appreciated the fact that the author included the Biblical reference each day as a way of pointing readers back to the text.  That is so important in a retelling like this one as we can sometimes forget this is someone's imaginings.  Hughes-Grant is a beautiful writer and does bring the Biblical meta-narrative to life.  I love that she tracked the redemption story all the way from the Garden of Eden to the Christ's birth, tying together both the Old and New Testaments.

That said, I struggle with the retelling style for a couple of different reasons.  For one, the author brings in an interpretation of the wise men that felt very far out in left field.  While she says she used historical research to back up her findings, she doesn't offer up that research and in fact, I tried to find support for her argument myself and could not.  Secondly, the danger of something like that is that while she offers the Biblical reference, the reader primarily relies on the retelling and again, falls into someone's interpretation and commentary, rather than reading the text, which should be the primary source for all believers.

I came away from this title with mixed feelings.  I enjoyed the easy readability and focus on making these real people.  They become relatable... human... like someone I might meet in my every day life.  And I did find this title to be better substantiated than the previous devotional I reviewed.  However, it still reads a lot into the text.  My concern is that the reader would moved from previous man-made traditions to new ones, based on this book's retelling.  For a more mature Christian, this might not be an issue.  Just a warning to read with awareness.

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

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November Holidays and Homeschool Ideas

 Looking for a few ways to add some fun to your homeschool?  Here are just a few of the holidays and fun days you can celebrate this month:

November 1st--Dia De Los Muertos
     *Read what Dia De Los Muetros really is
     *And here!
     *Bake Pan De Muerto
     *Create Sugar Scull inspired Rock Art

November 5th--Donut Day
     *Bake some Apple Cider Donut Holes
     *Sew some Felt Food Donuts
     *Do something unexpected

November 8th--National STEM Day

       *Test paper airplane designs

       *Run a few science experiements

       *Test bridge designs with marshmallows and toothpicks

November 11th-- Veteran's Day

      *Write a thank you letter to a veteran

      *Place wreaths and flowers on veteran's graves

      *Make patriotic themed pop art

November 13th--World Kindness Day
     *Help an elderly neighbor with a household chore... just because!
     *Hold open a door
     *Call your grandparents
     *Visit a nursing home
     *Smile more!  At people... everywhere... just smile at others all day long!

November 17th--Homemade Bread Day
     *Start with Basic Homemade Bread
     *Move on to some Savory Monkey Bread
     *Finish it off with some Cinnamon Swirl Donut Bread

November 18th--Mickey Mouse Day
     *Read Who Was Walt Disney
     *Learn to draw Mickey
     *Create a Mickey and Minnie Wreath

November 18th--National Adoption Day
     (This might be my personal favorite)
     *Learn about our journey here!
     *And here!
     *And here!

November 26th--Thanksgiving Day
     *Play this Roll a Turkey Game
     *Make a Thankful Journal for the family to write in throughout the month
     *Make this Turkey and Narrative Thanksgiving Craftivity

What days are you celebrating this month?

Weekend Links ll October 23, 2026

 

20 Ways to Use a Random Half Cup of Pumpkin

Best Fantasy Books for Tweens and Teens

Scavenger Hunt Printables for Teens & Tweens

Homeschool High School Woodworking Curriculum

Life Skills with Special Needs Homeschoolers

2026 Homeschool Goals ll October Update

 Happy October!  The weather has finally turned here and our days are gloriously fall.  I'm still enjoying my cup of coffee on the patio in the mornings, but the blanket I snuggle up in has definitely been getting thicker.  This time of year, my mind turns to weekend bike rides and soups in the crockpot.  So thankful for cooler weather.  

With a new month, it's also time for my monthly check-in for my 2026 Homeschool Resolutions.  These monthly posts have been so good for me personally.  Sometimes I make resolutions and then I just forget about them.  But with this monthly accountability, I feel like we're really developing new habits over here.   I've been especially encouraged by the first two as I habit stacked them with our morning time and that's really super charged our habit training.  I've copied my resolutions below and I'll put my current updates in bold, just to help keep things at the top of my mind.

Our 2026 Homeschool Resolutions:

1. Reading Scripture together--While my kids each have their own devotional and Bible study times, I would like for us to incorporate some Bible reading together.  I'm hoping this will open up some dialogue about what we're reading together and start our day on a good note.--We didn't do great on this over the summer, but when school started, our Scripture reading went right back into our Morning Basket.  In just the last eight weeks of school, we've read through six books of the New Testament, one chapter at a time.  And we started Hebrews.  The chapters in this book are longer so we're moving slower.  He reads in his NLT, I read in my NIV, and we discuss.  It's slow, rich, and life-giving.

2. Praying together each morning--I realized our prayer times together have become route.  The idea is that having this prayer time in the morning will open up an opportunity for us to share a little more freely.  And practicing public prayer will make it less intimidating to pray with a group.--This is the habit that was the slowest going.  While I have always prayed with the kids each night, I really wanted to pray with them in the mornings as well.  When the school year started in August, I added prayer to the end of our morning time.  It's been a nice way to seal our time together and launch in to independent learning.  My next goal is to rotate who is praying so it doesn't become a "mom" thing.

3. 12 Read Alouds in the Year--We love our read alouds. And I love that reading good books together gives us a chance to adventure together... even on a limited budget.  As the kids have gotten older and the books longer, 12 books feels like a good goal for the year.-- We've really been keeping up our read aloud habit, bring out total for 2026 up to 16 books so far ... with The House of Sixty Fathers and the Hawk that Dare Not Hunt By Day in May, Jungle of Bones and The Wednesday Wars in June, The Pursuit of God in July, Building 903 and The School of Obedience in Aug, and The View from Saturday in Sept.  We started The Hour that Changes the World, and it's very good.  However, it ended up being more information than our brains could hold.  So we got half way through and decided to take a break for some fiction.  During that time, we read The Kidnapped Santa and then went back to the nonfiction.

4. Go on 12 Hikes this year-- Ok, we've made hiking goals before and failed miserably..  So I'm keeping it really simple this year.  Only 12.. should be doable.--At the beginning of the year, we were not doing well with hiking.  But camping absolutely helped us out.  Over the summer, we hiked waterfalls, multiple trails in the redwoods, and trails near the lava beds monument.  Then we decided to tackle Lassen Peak, 5 mi round trip with 2,000 ft elevation gain.  The kids did great.  I took a little more time.  But we did it.  It was a great family bonding experience.

5. Celebrate Lydia's graduation--I can't believe I'm graduating my second kid.  Unbelievable!  I have a feeling the way we celebrate this one will be very different from the way we celebrated the first.  But I want to make it just as special so it's time to start planning now.--We had a beautiful graduation ceremony and family party in May.  And instead of doing a big party, she wanted to camp in the Redwoods which we did in June.

6. One on One Dates--Yes, this is parenting.  But with homeschool, parenting and education bleed into each other.  Having strong relationships and time to listen can only allow for more openness and connection during our homeschool days.--We've done a little here and there.  In the past three months, we've had a one on one at least once with each of them.  

7. Plan 6+ homeschool field trips--Having one kid graduated and two in high school, I realize more every day just how small this window of time really is.  So field trips mean so much.  Making time to enjoy learning, experience new opportunities, expand their horizons... I have 2 in the works right now, with multiple tabs open for potential learning over the next year.--Sometimes it's hard to identify where homeschool ends and life begins.  But some of the things that we did over the summer that I would classify as field trips include: going to the Lava Beds Monument and some of the trails we did in the Redwoods. So far we've gotten in 3 formal field trips and lots of fun outings as a family.  I'm currently working on two homeschool group field trips for the holidays.

8. Stay invested in our homeschool group--Our high school home group has been a lifeline this year.  Giving my kids an opportunity to make likeminded friends AND be mentored by other quality parents... WIN/WIN!  I'm definitely making time in our schedule to keep this going.--Unfortunately, it looks like our homeschool group is fizzling out for the fall.  I still have hopes of reviving it with a few families, but currently chances are looking slim.

As you can see, my theme this year is CONNECTION, CONNECTION, CONNECTION!  Now more than ever, I'm well aware of how important relationship is in our homeschool.  Everything flows from that starting point.  So happy to be raising my very best friends.

Are you making homeschool resolutions this year?