I am a reader of habit. I tend to stick with authors I know and enjoy. But since having children, my horizons have been stretched because, frankly it is hard for me to go upstairs to the adult section of the library and I have to choose books from the new titles rack downstairs.
So, last week, I picked up a book by Susan Meissner, a new author for me. The Shape of Mercy is a novel about a diary, the diary of a young woman accused and convicted during the Salem witch trials. It is a story about discovery, not only the discovery of what happens to Mercy but discoveries about ouselves, about how we view the world.
This was an excellent book, extremely compelling. It definitely ranks up there with the books I constantly think about when I'm not reading them but hate to finish because I know I will be sad when it ends.
I do have to say, this book is written in first person. I don't usually choose books written in first person. In this case, the book was so good, I didn't mind.
To see other books, I've read this year, check out my book list.
To all my fellow bloggers and readers, I am pleased to announce a move. I have changed my blogging venue in the hopes of being able to work with my blog a little easier. I am going to keep this blog for book reviews and school information specifically and because my older children have Homeschool Blogger blogs that I want to follow.
But, you can find me here on what will be my regular blog: The Courtney Six. Please come this week for an Open House and great giveaway!
I have recently read The Nativity by Angela Hunt and The Ninth Witness by Brock and Bodie Thoene. I decided to review them together because they are about the same time period.
I was struck while reading both of these books by the harshness of the time in Israel at the time of the birth of Christ. We often picture the nativity scene at Christmas time as a scene of peace and joy, and indeed, Christ brought peace to the world. But the peace He brought was not immediate. He was born in the midst of an extremely difficult time for His people. They suffered terribly under the rule of a corrupt Roman government. They were persecuted by Herod Antipas and later his son. Christ was born to a young girl who was probably shamed and ostracized because of the events of her pregnancy. Very few people actually believed the claims that Jesus was the promised Messiah because they were looking for a Savior who would ride in and save the day from Rome. They expected a soldier King, not a baby in a poor village, born to a poor, young girl.
The Nativity by Angela Hunt is based upon the movie that came out recently with the same name. I haven't seen the movie, but the book was very moving, I enjoy books that take the stories we know from the Bible and "flesh them out" to help us see what times would have been like then.
The Ninth Witness is the most recent book in the AD Chronicles series by Brock and Bodie Thoene. the whole series has been a look at the birth and life of Christ. This book was a retelling of the events leading up to Jesus's visit to the temple when He was twelve. Again, the reader is struck by the harshness and danger of the times. The "old"Herod is dead, but His son now rules and is intent upon crushing any form of rebellion in the Israelite regions. Corrupt Rome is in control, also intent upon crushing rebellions and crucifying any supposed rebels. The common people are poor and struggling to get by. They live in fear for their lives, still looking for a Messiah to come, not realizing that He is among them.
I highly recommend both of these books. I enjoyed them, and I await the next AD Chronicles book eagerly!
To see all the books I've read this year, you can visit my Book List here.
Yes, I have changed my blog's template once again. I have discovered that I am utterly hopeless at making these templates look the way I want them to. I have to stick with the "canned" ones. So, I am not entirely happy with this. I love Homeschool Blogger, but if I can't figure out how to "spruce things" up a bit, I may have to change my blogging venue. Any ideas?
Outside my window...I hear my children laughing and jumping in the leaves I just swept.
I am thinking...how easily I am drawn into causing myself stress by comparing myself to others.
From the learning rooms...finishing up our literature units; Math U See; reading Pilgrim Stories
I am thankful for...for sunny autumn days
From the kitchen...homemade croutons today; tacos for supper
I am wearing...pink plaid flannel pants and a sweatshirt
I am reading...Pilgrim Stories, Redwall, Anne of Green Gables to the children; A Charlotte Mason Education, Shapes of Mercy, and The Passion of Jesus Christ for me
I am hoping... that we can go to the Southern Christmas Show on Wednesday
I am creating...my Christmas lists and have made appointments for pictures
I am hearing...loud children :-)
Around the house...I did lots of laundry today and am catching up on some computering
One of my favorite things...is having Jason home in the evenings. His school is almost out!
A few plans for the rest of the week...A cooking show tomorrow night with no kiddos(Jason's home); Southern Christmas show and AWANA on Wednesday
I didn't share a picture today because I realized that I have not uploaded many pics lately! I'll have to work on that and have some to share later this week.
This week I’d like to invite you to share what YOUR “Mom” help is. Some drink coffee, soda, or chia-tea. Others check email or read their favourite blogs. Some talk a walk…. what do you do when you need to clear your head and take a breather?
Ahhh, what to do when I need a break. If I am lucky, I actually get to go to the bathroom alone without someone following me, yelling at me, or knocking on the door!
Really, I have several "breathers" that I like to take when I can.:
I always enjoy checking e-mail, Facebook, and catching up on blogs. The computer can be a real time sucker, so I monitor my time on it and make sure I don't get caught up, but it is a nice break as well as a way to connect with another adult once in a while.
My children are required to have "quiet time" from 2-4 every day. Only Rachel actually sleeps still. But Ashlyne will play alone (mostly), and then I read to Kathryne and Charles and then they have computer time. During that time, I can nap or play on the computer myself. I also like to watch Emeril Green on the Planet Green. I love cooking shows.
My absolute favorite time is at night when I can have a bath and read. That really helps hold me together.
Bible verses that I come back to again and again:
Lamentations 3- 22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
Deuteronomy 6- 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (These are my theme verses for homeschooling and good to remind me why I do what I do.)
One of my favorite big blogging sites is hosting some great Christmas giveaways. Here are the details from 5 Minutes for Moms.
Ready or not… Christmas is coming!
Can you believe it? Soon we will be singing Christmas carols, decorating our homes and trimming our trees.
This Christmas, instead of sleeping through it all, Olivia and Sophia will be taking in all the sights, sounds - and presents - of Christmas.
Speaking of presents, how is your Christmas shopping going?
Need some shopping ideas? Want to win some great prizes?
Our Christmas Giveaway 2008 is jam packed. (Please scroll down to see our current list of prizes.)
In fact, we have so many giveaways this year, I don’t know how we will cram them all into the month of November. We have more than 25 planned already — and we are adding more! It is craziness!
We will be stuffing the next three weeks FULL of giveaways!
Not only do we have toys, but we also have some fun stuff for you moms.
AND, we also have a new program here at 5 Minutes for Mom this Christmas called Under the Tree .
Under the Tree is about getting some of that Christmas magic (bloggy style!) right to some families who need it!
In addition to providing the fabulous prizes for our readers to win by commenting on the individual reviews, the wonderful companies participating in the Christmas Giveaway 2008 are providing presents to selected families who are in need this Christmas.
If you know a family who will not be able to provide presents for their children this Christmas, click over and read more about Under the Tree and how you can nominate a family in need.
And don’t forget to click over and comment to show your support and enthusiasm for Under the Tree and for the participating companies!
Now, if you’re looking for some great ideas for your Christmas shopping list – and you would you like to win some fun prizes and maybe check off some people on that list, it is time to get started with our Christmas Giveaway 2008!
Add a comment on the giveaway you want to enter. PLEASE note: You need to enter each giveaway individually so we know who wants to be entered in what giveaway. So, make sure you click over to each giveaway and leave your comment there.
Either link back to this post and include a Christmas Giveaway 2008 button in that post or on your sidebar, or link to the individual giveaways you choose to enter. We have a ton of different buttons and styles for you to choose from. Click here to get the button codes. (If you post and include the button, either in your post or on your sidebar, and link back here, you are good for all the giveaways. No more linking required.)
You may earn additional entries on each giveaway for the following:
1. Subscribe to our Feed
2. Sign up for our Newsletter
If you are already subscribed and are on our newsletter list, you qualify for these two additional entries. Please remember though to leave comments for these additional entries, as your comments are your entries. Comments such as, “I am subscribed” and “I am on the newsletter list” qualify for those entries.
Comments that we deem in our opinion to be “spam” will be either deleted or disqualified. So please leave meaningful comments to show that you are indeed a real participant who has read the review.
As always, non bloggers are welcome to participate! We understand you can’t link - but please spread the word to your friends.
Some giveaways may be open to Canadian shipping addresses. Please check individual giveaways.
Due to legal restrictions, these giveaways are not available in Arizona or Quebec.
We will begin posting giveaways Thursday, November 6th, 2008 and continue until Tuesday, November 25th, 2008.
Entries for all giveaways will be closed Friday, November 28th at 12pm EST.
Winners will be drawn randomly and we will announce the winners Monday, December 1st. We will email winners at the address accompanying the winning comments.
Please make sure to check our site and your email address to see if you have won a prize. We want to try to ensure that winners receive their prizes in time for the holiday, so we must receive your reply within 5 business days. (If you want your prize to arrive in time — the sooner we hear from you, the better!)
We will add the giveaway links to this post as they are published during the course of the event. Please click on each of the links below and comment on the giveaways you wish to enter:
PLEASE REMEMBER: You need to click over and comment on each giveaway you want to enter. We will be linking to all of the giveaways in this post and we need to know who wants to be entered in WHAT giveaway. Remember you can enter in as many of the giveaways as you want.
We will CLOSE the comments on THIS post so that people do not get confused and comment here to win the prizes. Head over to each giveaway you are interested in and comment at THOSE posts.
This week I want to invite you to share what different games you use for learning in your homeschool. Outside games, board games, or card games, and what purpose or subject you use them for.
We like to play games. It is much easier to play with the older kids and often difficult when the little ones are under foot. But, we do the best we can.
We like all kinds of card games- Uno, Dutch Blitz, Rummy, Solitaire are some of our favorites. These are all good for math skills and reasoning.
Yahtzee is another good math and reasoning game.
We have the game of Life, but is difficult to play with the little ones around because it is hard to keep up with the action. The big kids are just now figuring out the details. It's very good for math and money handling decisions.
The younger crew enjoy a rousing game of Hi Ho Cherry Oh (math), and a game we got from Discovery Toys which involves rolling a large fluffy die and then drawing a matching color card and doing the action on it.
Another favorite of Charles is Mancala. It is great for reasoning and problem solving- which is why he almost always beats me!
Outside my Window...is dark. I don't like the time change!
I am thinking...how loooong the nights seem when it gets dark so early.
From the learning rooms...using an updated schedule and some assignment sheets I made up. It seemed to work well today.
I am thankful for... my children.
From the kitchen... hotdogs and pasta and grilled cheese tonight.
I am wearing...black sweat pants and a red shirt.
I am reading...A Charlotte Mason Home Companion (still) and The Nativity (Angela Hunt- based on the movie)
I am hoping...to not have long election lines when I go with all four children tomorrow.
I am creating...a Christmas organizer.
I am hearing...the children watching Redwall.
Around the house...I was able to organize all our school cubbie shelves!
One of my favorite things...is watching football.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...to go out and vote tomorrow; a mom's day out Wednesday while the kiddos are with Jason's mom; AWANA Wednesday night
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
All my guys and their friends dressed up for Slime Time at our church Friday night
This week I’d like to invite you to share your favourite field-trip that you’ve been able to go on since you’ve started homeschool. I’d encourage you to include photos, but you don’t have to.
I love field trips. We've never done anything particularly extravagant, but here are some of our tried and true favorites:
Brattonsville- a local living history farm; They have homeschool events several times a year, and we are members, so we can just go anytime.
The local museum- It is just a small nature museum, but it is so fun for the kids- especially when we go during the week, and no one else is there.
Discovery Place- the big science museum in Charlotte NC. We try to go once a year. We've also gone to the Nature museum and the Scheile museum (a sort of history museum) which are reciprocal memberships for Discovery Place to get our money's worth.
The Riverbanks Zoo- What kid doesn't love the zoo? It's not my favorite, but hey, we can do it every few years.
I'll close with this week's field trip to our local Earth Fare store. I really like these "unique" field trips where we get to explore businesses (especially ones that hand out tasty samples).
Here are the kiddos getting ready to pet dead fish in the meat market:
And decorating yummy cookies at the end of the trip:
We had a great time last night at Slime Time. The kids went around to different games and fun activities and, of course, got lots of candy. Then (as if we didn't have enough candy) we went for a short trick or treat in my sister's neighborhood. Because their neighborhood gets so many trick or treaters, several houses were running out of candy! Some good friends went with us, and that made the night even more fun for the kids!
If you'd like to see some pictures, you can see the album here.
This morning, I took the kids to a fall carnival at Earth Fare. They played more games and got more candy (healthy candy?) and had hot dog plates for lunch. When we got home, the older kids helped Jason prep a flower bed for some irises he had gotten from his grandmother.
To Halloween or not to Halloween- That is the question.
Halloween has never been a big deal for us. I grew up going to church events with some minor trick or treating thrown in and Jason did the same. When we had kids, we never really had to discuss it. When they were really little, we dressed them in those cute baby Halloween outfits and took them to the Grandparents. as they got older, the church carnival scene has become more popular for us. The last two years we've actually gone trick or treating in my sister's neighborhood where everyone knows everyone and the whole neighborhood participates in a family friendly Halloween. We've never allowed Satanic or scary outfits. Why? Because we are the image of Christ in all we do. And is that a good testimony? Why do we want to inspire people to fear? We should be inspiring them to faith.
I know there are MANY thoughts and opinions on this issue. I an respect parents who don't want to participate at all. I would encourage you to know WHY you don't participate because I think our kids deserve to know real answers. Halloween is NOT Satan's birthday. I have actually heard this from Christian kids with well-meaning parents. Halloween Does have pagan roots, but so do Christmas and Easter. Should we celebrate those? Here's a good website I found with lots of information from a Christian perspective( and from different points of view) about all the holidays. I think our children need to be prepared to give an answer about what our family does and why. As our kids have gotten older, we've talked with them about the fact that some Christians choose not to celebrate Halloween at all and why.
So, we're headed off to our church's Slime Time celebration tonight. Our church, by the way, does not refer to Halloween at all. We do celebrate Reformation Day which is also on October 31, and is a GREAT holiday for all Christians to remember which unfortunately gets eclipsed by all the Halloween attention every October! We did a short Reformation Day study for school today.
So, Happy Halloween, or Fall, or Reformation Day- whichever you prefer. Just remember that our Jesus is Lord of ALL days, and we can celebrate Him anytime!
Rachel wore a Cookie Monster outfit all day until tonight when she decided to change into a bathing suit. I guess she's getting ready for Halloween early. She looked so cute, I couldn't resist filming her singing a few favorite tunes:
I can never figure out how to embed the YouTube video, so you'll have to click on the links:
Everyone once in a while I read a book that is so compelling with such rich characters that I just can't escape from it. When I am not reading it, I think of the characters and wonder what they are doing. I can hardly bear to leave them. But, at the same time, I am reluctant to keep reading, knowing that the more I read, the sooner I will come to the end.
If you are a reader, you know exactly what I mean. If you aren't, you think, like Jason, that I am crazy. Learning to Breathe was one of these absorbing books. I haven't read anything by Karen White before, but I will certainly look for her other books now.
The book is about facing your past and daring to dream and live that dream. A strong theme running through the book is the fear of doing something because of being afraid of how it will end. The heroine of the book is stuck in neutral- living life the way it is expected of her because she is afraid to take a chance. She collects old unopened letters, and refuses to open them, instead making up her own stories about the letters- afraid that if she reads them, there will not be a happy ending. Finally she is forced to confront reality by reading old letters for the father of her high school love, and the story she discovers is not one she would have planned. But, the discoveries she makes leave her able to face her own future with less fear and to act on her dreams. She learns to breathe all over again.
If you would like to see all I've read this year, check out my book list here.
I’m sorry that some of you skipped the last Memoir. It was so much fun and really easy once you got the first line done. I had a blast reading all the others songs, some were so hilarious! I hope if you didn’t do it yourself you went had visited the others.
THEME
The time will be changing again. I think on Sunday but not sure. Anyhow this is our 10th Homeschool Memoirs so this week it’s going to be about 10 timely facts about you! Write 10 interesting, crazy, weird, fun facts about you! Include facts about you as a woman, a wife, a mommy, a homeschooler, a homekeeper, a taxi-driver, a cook, etc . I only put 10 facts because I didn’t want to overwhelm you, but you’re welcome to do more! I just posted 101 Facts about myself on my blog, which you can take a look at if you should like.
I have to admit that I was one of the "weak ones" who skipped last week's Memoir. I tried to come up with some cutesy little song but just had writer's block! I did enjoy reading those who participated. This week is much easier. Ten facts about me:
1. I have a Master's Degree in Reading education.
2. I am NOT a good cook. (My husband says I'm not Emeril but I'm not Hamburger Helper either!)
3. I love to digital scrapbook when I have time.
4. I am rather OCD about some things- lots of things says my husband.
5. I LOVE to read.
6. I have a very good memory- especially for people's names.
7. I enjoy organizing.
8. I can play the piano.
9. I do not like confrontation.
10. When I was growing up, I wanted to have twelve children.
We have been working on self control this week in the Courtney household. We started off on Monday with a talk about what it means to be self-controlled in our speech and actions. I have been pointing good and bad examples of self-control in the children this week.
Wednesday, I had a small meltdown. I had allowed myself to be badgered into doing something instead of properly dealing with the badgeree. And while I was in the midst of doing what I really didn't want to do, Ashlyne and Rachel had a full fledged fight. I tried to break them up by allowing them to get on the computer, but they both became frustrated with the computer and melted down. I took them to two separate rooms and slammed loudly shut the doors. I then proceeded to go out on the deck to take a "time out."
When I had pulled myself together (and called Jason) I came in and called everyone to the living room to regroup. I told them we needed to pull it together. Kathryne said, "Yea, Mom, you didn't show very good self-control."
Uh, thank you for pointing that out. I did apologize and talked about how I should have shown better self-control. But, I was also thinking to myself, "If you only knew what self-control I DID show..."
Getting Organized for Christmas- Weblink Wednesday
I have started holiday planning! I am happy to announce that I have already purchased 5 gifts! 'Tis the season to begin deliberates planning in order to have a stress free, Christ focused holiday season. Every year, I have all good intentions of things to do with the children, traditions to continue, gifts to make, friends to have over. But without deliberate planning, the season will slip by without any of these things happening.
And so the planning starts. I decided to participate in Weblink Wednesday by posting some of the great holiday organizing sites I have found. Let me begin by saying, I have found books (e-books and print) that can be bought for holiday organizing. I am a firm supporter of some of the other moms out ther like myself who are making a little money on the side by writing and publishing ebooks, and I support them whenever I can. My hard drive is FULL of ebooks! But, most of this information and even cutesy forms and such can be found FREE online. So, I am going to save my money for the actual gifts this year and use free resources online to get organized.
If you don't have the time or energy to look it all up for yourself, I found this great one from Knowledge Quest to purchase. I love Knowledge Quest! Knowledge Quest Holiday Planner
If you are looking for a complete organizational site (this is the one I'm using this year), try Organized Christmas.
For Today...
Kathryne and Charles getting ready to sing with the children's choir Sunday. Don't you just love Charles's goofy look.
