Some Great Winter/Holiday Reads

A great way to bond with your child is to read with them! Here is a list of books our family has been enjoying this season!

The Lion the Witch and The Wardobe

CS Lewis is my all time favorite author and so I am excited about introducing the children to his books early! Its a great book to read a loud as a family and to spend time talking about as you read. There are a few scary parts so use discernment - and talk about everything. It might be better for older children. We rephrase a lot of the scary parts because they are so young. There is an audio book by Focus on the Family that we LOVE and a pop up book available book as well!

Katy and the Big Snow

This book is fabulous! It has so many beautifully illustrated intricate details to look at and it an absolute classic! My boys LOVE it and its a pleasure to read :)

Winter Poems

This is a collection we have been reading through, most of the poems are rather long but good. It contains one of my favorite winter poems "Something told the Wild Geese" and also has very lovely illustrations!

The Snowy Day

This was a childhood favorite for me! I begged my mother to read all his books to me over and over! So happy my children love it as much as I did and still do! Cute story and beautifully illustrated!

White Snow, Bright Snow

My oldest really loves this book, its sweetly written and the pictures are so darling!

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

This book is classic - on of my favorites as a kid - I loved it when my mother would read it to us! Its a longer book a little more suited for older children...











Corduroy's Christmas

This is also a book my kids love, its a shorter simpler book - they love lifting the flaps to see whats underneath. All the Corduroy books are near and dear to me because my father was very close friends with Mrs. Freeman - all of my childhood Corduroy books ( which I still have) were gifts given to me directly from the author! So special!










The Animals Merry Christmas

This book is a favorite for sure in our home! They want to read it year round! Its a large book with lots of gorgeous pictures! This book includes lots of sweet stories about little animal families around Christmas time. My boys LOVE it!












Cant Wait Till Christmas

This book is wonderful! It has such a great message that some things are worth waiting for - a message that can be applied to much more than just Christmas! We actually got to meet the Author and he is such a sweet man! The pictures are adorable too!

Family Holiday!

Joshua's work has been extremely demanding - he has been so busy and tired and we haven't really been able to spend much time all together...

Sooo... we decided to take a "Family Holiday" the past few days! It was fun! I wanted to really celebrate all being together (seriously, its been MONTHS  since we have had a work free weekend and even this weekend Joshua had to work a little!)

We played soccer, did crafts, went for walks, played at parks, read stories, ate special food, had picnics and spent time outdoors as much as possible! I even baked a special cake from scratch and put candles on it! ( why not? ) I wanted them to give them a really special memory of spending time together!

On Sunday night we set up a tent to celebrate Sukkat - it was hilarious to hear the boys "helping" daddy set up the tent. They were giggling and laughing and running around! We set it up in the living room and made a little bed inside with lots of pillows and their favorite stuffed animals! Joshua made yummy burritos for us and then we watched part of a movie and played a little wii and ate popcorn and drank hot peppermint cocoa! Afterwards we all snuggled and read stories by candle light ( the kids made special lanterns for the candles ) We didnt talk about Sukkat at all - we celebrated each other more but it was good, it was sooo good!

So many special memories were made! At first no one wanted to sleep and once we did finally all settle down Caleb kept saying "psst mom - I love you" and stroking my hair. He is such a sweetheart! After they went to sleep Joshua and talked for hours - about our marriage, about God, about our dreams, it was good.  Its so easy to talk to him.  

Tonight we continued the celebration by going to the park and eating dinner picnic style by a big beautiful fountain surrounded by huge GORGEOUS trees!

The kids were full of energy but a little grumpy from staying up late the night before but they had lots of fun - and I savored my few quiet moments lying on the grass looking at the beautiful tree's and sky towering over me. The air was more humid than usual and smelled exactly like the outdoors should. I love the smell of earth and grass and tree's. It reminds me of home. It was so great to spend so much time with Joshua - he really is my best friend and I enjoy his friendship so much! 

Here are a few pictures of our picnic!

I am so excited about what the rest of the week will hold! Hopefully I will be able to get the house more organized and we will all get more quality time together! 

We've been having so much fun!

I have always wanted to make butter, and have been wanting to try it with the kids and today we did! First you start with a clean jar (any size will do - we used small baby food jars so it would be easy for little hands) then you add two clean marbles and some Heavy Cream. It will look something like this:: 

Then you shake it! We had so much fun watching it transform from cream into butter and watching and tasting the different stages! Its also fun to listen to the sounds change as it thickens!

We learned that some things take hard work - but are worth it in the end! When we got discouraged in our shaking we listened to the Jungle Book sound track and made up special dance moves to help it be fun... It worked! AND it was so adorable to hear them scat

( Be bop bam boooo!)

I don't have any pictures of this part because I was dancing and scating with them :)

Once it becomes solid you can pour off the buttermilk and scoop out the yummy home made butter! Elisha shook his so hard it ALL turned to butter! 
(Don't forget to take out the marbles! You don't want to eat them!)

We spread it over some yummy bread and it was sooo good!!

.::Sweet heart::.

We also made a heart garland out of old magazines for our home school area...

(Elisha was very excited to help with this! Caleb was still a little young for this project but enjoyed watching and handing mommy each heart while we strung them up across the wall - Lucy just laughed and ate her crackers)

We enjoyed a lovely picnic outside and then the kids went on a nature walk with daddy! They got to see and touch the river and they got to see several wild turkeys and cute little ducks! They found lots of new feathers and leaves that they put in their basket and brought home that we will use for more crafts tomorrow! Over all it was a very, very fun and full day! Lots of memories and precious moments! I am so blessed!

Our new homeschooling adventure!

(( This little munchkin melts my heart!))

We are homeschooling! I am so excited! I have dreamed about this for so many years!

One of the things I have been trying to become recently is an expert storyteller for my children. I want to captivate them and plant in their hearts a deep love for stories and reading. Every day I try to pick a story to share with them either by heart with hand motions or that I will tell with stuffed animals or sing - something special and captivating...  Today we read the Saggy Baggy Elephant and I was blessed to find the perfect elephant to help me tell the story! (he even has wrinkles!) I really enjoyed sharing this with the children today! The story has a great moral about being beautiful just the way you are. It opened up dialog about beauty and the beauty that God made in each of us (which has been on my heart for quite some time)

I am so excited about home schooling this year, (can I say it enough?!) I have been reading up on different methods and ideas and I just feel overwhelmed and honored that these little souls have been entrusted to me to teach, train and comfort. I have a very holistic approach to homeschooling, I want it to feel organic, natural, simple and almost old fashioned. I want to teach the mind and the heart. I want to teach them to see God in the stories from scripture but also in the beauty of creation that he has given us. I want to teach them to quiet themselves to breathe and to enjoy the peace and presence of Christ. I want to teach them the domestic arts, seeing through the eyes of love, and guard their precious innocence and purity.

I have been going through the house and simplifying toys and trying my best to create a peaceful simple space for all of us. I envision myself almost like a mother bird working on her nest, I want to create just the right space to raise my little ones. I am mainly focusing on simplifying and trying to add a personal hand made feel to things instead of decorating and beautifying with things that cost money... there will be a time for that (believe me I have ideas!) right now I am trying to use the resources we already have. Allow my heart to be contend with the simple.

We are going on lots of nature walk gathering things to bring home and examine, acorns, feathers, wildflowers and wild fruit, leaves, grasses, sticks and rocks! Seeing the wonder and fascination in their eyes melts me and now they are coming up to me telling me all about the wonderful and special things that God made for us to enjoy! ( Elisha just shared with me yesterday how God made puppy and bear noses! We get to smell because of God!) Not every day is a dream come true, there are moments of chaos and learning to share and get along with each other, but over all its going great and I feel so happy and in love with each of my precious priceless sweet hearts!

 

I will leave you a verse thats been on my heart::

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ...your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,and all these things will be added to you."

Matt 6:25-33

{ Teach me to have a heart like yours Lord! }

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  

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He made us beautiful!

Have to ever met some one so stunningly beautiful it took your breath away? It happens to me a lot- not with skinny girls or people with perfect make up. Its the freckly ones, the wrinkly ones, the gray and natural haired ones. The ones with shining eyes and genuine smiles. All sizes, shapes colors and styles. I usually tell them " your so beautiful" and its amazing how most of them look like they are going to cry or don't believe me. Why do we hate ourselves? Why do we cover up the way we are made? Why do we all try so hard to be the same and act the same way or like the same things? Isn't that what makes us beautiful - being unique?

I do it too. I do... I didn't even think it was a problem till a few years ago. I am starting to find so much freedom in being me. Liking what I like. Dressing how I like - or however I feel. Which most days is comfy cozy attire {clothes do not define me} Its a fight and it takes bravery some times. I feel silly writing that but its true :)

I admire anyone brave enough to be themselves and shine in the way they were meant too... we all shine so differently...its so beautiful when we are ourselves!