3 hours ago
(I was thinking about doing a post with "Sunday best" spring outfits, but who knows when that will actually happen, so I'm just going to use one of the pictures here!)
Currently...
Reading...A book called The Mistress Of Mellyn by Victoria Holt. If you like Daphne Du Maurier books, Holt's books have a very similar gothic vibe! I like gothic-feeling books in the fall, but somehow they also work for me in the spring. Maybe it's the contrast between the cool, bright air, and the moody book.
Planning...to get back to the gym more this spring. I have been slacking on working out since February, but I was feeling generally yucky the other day, and decided it's time to step it up again. I even had Derek go to our little mountain gym with me and show me how to work some new machines.
Getting...tired of the non-stop spam calls and "we're taking a survey" texts, not to mention the RELENTLESS emails from the GOP even though I've tried to unsubscribe from the emails 20 times since 2020. I'm THIS close to voting for a Democrat out of spite. (I'm also 100% kidding about that. I could never vote for a pro-abortion candidate).
(Got this tumbler as a surprise in the mail yesterday - it makes me chuckle!)Going...a little crazy as a homeschool mom. It's the end of the school year, subjects are dropping off left and right, and my little tribe is DONE. We have three weeks of school left, we finished our math and reading curricula, and it's getting harder and harder to wrangle them in the mornings. I wanted to finish out a couple of my goals for the school year, but I'm strongly considering just giving up and doing some unit studies until we fulfill our days.
Thinking... alot about how we as younger women (let's just say under 40) tend to look at the wrong people for our cues on how we should be living life. 
For instance, on social media we follow aesthetically pleasing accounts, or read words that are well put together, and we want our lives to look just like that. We can even see someone in real life who has it together, or has achieved something we wish we could do, and we think we need to take advice from that person. And so often these pictures of life that we are looking up to are people that are our PEERS - the same age or life stage as us. They really don't have any more experience in life than we do, but they LOOK like they have it together, so we seek their advice and try to emulate them.
But the Bible says we are supposed to be taught by the OLDER women, women who have that life experience and have learned wisdom, what it means to be faithful. Why don't we younger women look to them more? Why do we think that the person who is the same age/life stage as us is qualified to give us marriage, mothering, or homeschool tips when she's right in the thick of it and doesn't have any more perspective than we ourselves do? Why don't we find wise, OLDER Christian women to emulate? I might hash this out more in a future post, but I've been thinking about it.
Taking...a deep breath. It's stuffy in my house, and I just went out on the porch for a minute. The air outside is cool and refreshing, and my breath finally reached the bottom of my lungs. I like Spring more and more as I get older.
Easter doesn't get as much attention as Christmas, or even Thanksgiving, but for those of us who are believers, this is really the most special of holidays - the day we celebrate when Jesus died in our place, took our sins away, and rose from the dead! Easter is the culmination of God's plan of salvation for His people, and there are less distractions surrounding Easter than with other holidays - the focus, at least for our family, is all on Christ. I love that about Easter, and I want to try to build more traditions for our family surrounding Resurrection Day.
We already do resurrection eggs, resurrection rolls, and read the Easter account from the Bible, but I decided I wanted to find some good books that I can eventually add to our collection and read with the kids every year. I requested a bunch from the library, and even bought a few, and we've been working through reading them all over the last couple weeks. The ones below are my favorites, books I'd like to eventually add to our own book collection if we don't already own them!
Arch Books by Various (The Resurrection, The Day That Jesus Died, The Week That Led To Easter, He's Risen, He's Alive!, etc.) - Arch books are thin little paperbacks that cover a ton of different stories from the Bible, and these are a few of the Easter-related Arch Books we own. Each book is told in verse, and usually they focus on one aspect of a Bible story, such as Good Friday, Palm Sunday, or Resurrection Sunday. I like these for a quick reminder for the kids right before bedtime of the significance of different days during Easter week.
The Garden, The Curtain, And The Cross by Carl Laferton - This book tells the story of the fall, and the plan of salvation, incorporating an explanation the curtain in the temple and how our sin separates us from God. It's a beautiful portrayal of how Jesus's death on the cross for our sins allows us to come to God directly, with no mediator except Christ Himself. This was a good springboard for discussing the Old Testament sacrificial system and how Jesus was the perfect and final sacrifice for our sin! It's told in a whimsical way, similar to the Jesus Storybook Bible (but deeper, I thought).
The Tale Of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt - This is a fable about three trees who wanted to be a treasure chest, a mighty ship to carry kings, and the tallest tree in the world to point to God - and how those things were fulfilled in unexpected ways after the trees were cut down. This one makes me cry every time I read it.
That Grand Easter Day by Jill Roman Lord - This book tells the story of Easter morning in a whimsical poem with lines that build on each other - not the most theological book in the stack, but it's a cute, fun one!
The Donkey Who Carried A King by R. C. Sproul - Reilly's grandfather tells him the story of a donkey who wanted to be important by carrying a king, and then got a little too puffed up after he carried Jesus - until he realized that Jesus himself had to carry the burden of everyone's sin to the cross. I love all the discussion questions in the back of this one!
'Twas The Morning Of Easter by Glenys Nellist - This is another one that I would not put in a theological category, but it's a fun version of the events of Easter morning, from the perspective of Mary, and to the same rhythm as the poem "Twas The Night Before Christmas". I enjoyed it!
Jesus Is Alive: The Amazing Story by Carine Mackenzie - As far as telling the account of Easter and why it matters for our salvation, I think this little book is my favorite on this list. It's a very thorough book, telling all the events of the week leading to Easter, and including the gospel at the end! I'm sure we will be reading this one every year, and I would like to collect more from this "Bible Wise" series.
Easter Is Coming by Tama Fortner - This book strikes the perfect balance between telling about Easter in a creative way for kids, while also including truths about sin and why Jesus died so we can be saved! Great for early elementary and younger, with bright illustrations.
We read several other Easter books, but these are my favorites - some books didn't make the list if I felt like they left out important points of the gospel, or if they just didn't stand out to me. I may add to this post in the future as I find other good, Christ-focused books!
I hope you all have a wonderful Good Friday, friends. It's a serious day, remembering how Jesus suffered and died in our place, because of our sin. But as the last book title says - Easter is coming! Hallelujah!
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
(Real-life photo of my messy nightstand area.)
As you may remember, last fall I fell into a terrible reading rut, and subsequently there has been a conspicuous lack of book posts on this blog. It's time we catch up, isn't it? Even though it took me forever to get out of my rut, I did finish a few book last year, and I thought I'd share those with you today. More recent reads are coming soon in a separate post!
All Thirteen by Christina Soontornvat - This was a fascinating book about the soccer team that got trapped in a cave in Thailand a few years back. This book is an account of the complicated process of rescuing the boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave, and it's full of colorful pictures as well! Really well done book, and I enjoyed it alot.
The Tyranny Of Big Tech by Josh Hawley - I listened to this book last fall on the way to the Ark Encounter, and I learned so much about how Big Tech invades the privacy of ordinary people, and how it uses that data to manipulate the masses. It's actually really creepy. If you are trying to give yourself motivation to take a social media break, listen to this for more reasons to step away!
The Last Year Of The War by Susan Meissner - I finally got around to reading a book by Susan Meissner, and I enjoyed it so much! This is the story of two young girls, one of German descent and one of Japanese descent, who meet in a U. S. internment camp during World War Two, and then are subsequently separated when they are sent back to Germany and Japan with their families. It was a sweet story about friendship, and how unexpected life can be. Her characters were really well done, and the ending was sweet.
The Accidental President by A. J. Baime - Sometime last year I became interested in reading more about Harry Truman, after realizing he was thrust into the position of President of the United States when FDR died, during World War Two, and he had to make a decision about whether to use the atomic bomb almost immediately after he became president. He knew nothing about the bomb before FDR died, because FDR basically picked him to be Vice President in name only. Can you imagine being in that situation? This book was more about how he came to be president in the first place, because it really was almost accidental - he basically was chosen as VP because there were no other candidates that would do. I also learned from this book that corruption and election hijinks have been a thing in the Democrat party for a long time. Yikes.
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins - This was another book I listened to last fall, and I honestly don't remember it that well, which tells you something about what I thought about this book. This is a retelling of Jane Eyre, set in the modern-day south - except the Jane Eyre character is a kleptomaniac, and the Rochester figure is a creepy cheat. That probably gives you a preview about the morality in this book - it wasn't good. I think there were alot of cuss words and perhaps a racy scene or two that I skipped past, but I mainly hated the ending.
Saving Cinderella by Faith Moore - I wrote a little about this book here - I loved it! This book evaluates the Disney versions of fairytales with fairytale symbolism in mind. I would love to use this book as a "movie study" unit with my girls when they get older, maybe comparing the movie versions to the original fairytales as well. Very interesting! Also note: I, like pretty much everyone in my circles, am pretty upset with Disney, and not planning to see any of their new movies or support them going forward. Their creepy agenda is alarming, and shame on them. But we do own the old princess movies (Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, etc.), and I do think there is some value in those, so we won't be throwing them out at this time. That's my very abbreviated take on all that.
Popes And Feminists by Elise Crapuchettes - This book was an interesting look at the women of the Reformation, and how the Protestant Reformation validated serving Christ through every vocation. The author presents a case about the way women were viewed pre-Reformation, how women were thought little of if they pursued an "ordinary" life path and were expected to leave their families if they wanted to devote their lives to God through a "career" as a nun. The author draws comparisons with how modern feminisms view the value of women working in the home. I don't feel like I'm explaining it well, but this was a very well done and inspiring look at the role of women in the Reformation, and how the view of women in general shifted as people were able to study God's word for themselves. I listened to it, but I would like to go back and read it sometime with highlighter in hand.
There we are, the last few books I read in 2020! I wish I could balance my schedule a little better to make more time for reading, because this is a pretty low book count for a three month period for me. Summer is coming up quick though, and I'm looking forward to a reading reset then!
What have you all been reading lately?
Resurrection Day is less than a week away, and I thought it would be fun to share a few Easter resources and favorites! These are all the things in the Easter notebook that lives in my brain.
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This Easter week guide from G3 ministries includes alot of hymns and poems, and looked really good.
Home + Haven Homeschool Community sent out Easter activity printables that we'll be utilizing this week! I can't link to the printable, but go here to sign up for their newsletter if you are interested in future printables!
We have used the Easter guide from Gentle + Classical in the past, and I may pull it out for some inspiration in the next few days.
This week we're going to hopefully use these free Easter lessons, coloring sheets, and audiobook chapters from AIG!
We love making Resurrection rolls, and if you have never done it, it's a great Easter tradition! It really drove home the idea of Jesus's resurrection for my three-year-old last year!
We will be working through our Resurrection Eggs this week too - we have this set, and my kids love it.
I bought these dresses from Walmart for my girls - hooray for inexpensive matching Easter dresses! My boys are going to wear these shirts with kakis. (They still don't mind matching for holidays.)
I get a new Adventures In Odyssey set for my kids for Easter each year (this year we are buying #18-22).
We are going to practice these two hymns this week: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross, Christ The Lord Is Risen Today
I'm listening to this album for Easter week as well!
I'm looking forward to reading my kids these books: The Tale Of Three Trees, The Donkey Who Carried A King, The Week That Led To Easter, He’s Risen! He’s Alive!, The Story Of Easter, Jesus Is Alive: The Amazing Story,
Also, I got the Bible verse cards that are in the picture above from here. I don't know if the associated podcast is good, I just got the freebie!
Are you doing anything to get ready for Easter, friends? We have had a difficult and busy month, and this week feels like a much-needed break and refreshment as we slow down to remember and celebrate Jesus's resurrection!
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Mark 11:9-10
That is what the people shouted when Jesus entered Jerusalem, humbly, riding on a donkey.
They were joyful, thinking he had come to set up an earthly kingdom. They thought he was going to kick out those pesky Romans and declare Himself king right there.
But He had something else in view - He came to die. He suffered the death we deserved as sinners who have rebelled against a holy God.
Jesus is God, and death can't hold Him - He rose again, victorious over death forever! He came to save the souls of all those people who would repent and believe in Him, all down through the ages.
Palm Sunday WAS a happy day. It WAS the beginning of His Kingdom, and His return is coming, when He will reign on the earth as King of kings forevermore.
But that first Palm Sunday? They missed it.
"It should have been evident to everybody that His Kingdom was not of this world. But they were so hysterical that they never got the point of the donkey.
You know, I hate to say it, but so many people through history have been just as mistaken as the mistaken multitude. Just like they thought Jesus was nothing more than a social reformer, there are people today who think the same thing. They look at Jesus as sort of a patriot, a reactionary, a revolutionary, somebody who has got a social message to proclaim, and they forget that Jesus didn’t come to remove poverty from the world...If you think that Jesus came into the world just to heal the social institutions, you’ve missed the point...
His kingdom is not an earthly kingdom, His kingdom is not a kingdom of physical power, His kingdom is a kingdom of spiritual reality; He rules the hearts of men."
-John Macarthur, The World's Rejection Of The King
It's time for another round of me sharing a bunch of Christian encouragement resources that I've been enjoying lately! I have come across so many good links that I've wanted to share the last few weeks, and then when I sit down to write this post, I forget half of them, so this list isn't particularly long, but it's still full of good stuff.
The G3 App - My mind has been on missions lately because of several things, not the least of which is that my cousin is looking to embark on a two-year foreign mission later this year. A couple months ago I noticed that G3 Ministries has an app where you can listen to years’ worth of conferences for free, and the 2019 conference about missions has been especially timely and encouraging for me over the past couple months! I especially liked this message from Paul Washer and a breakout message from Don Currin called "The Mission Of God At Home: Who Is My Neighbor?" (which I can't link because you can only get it in the app)!
Reformation Heritage Books - I just discovered Reformation Heritage Books a few weeks back, and I love this site! There are all kinds of Christian classics, missionary biographies, and Christian children's books for very affordable prices. I could browse on there for hours! I've ordered several books from them, and I just started John Paton's autobiography - it has already made me cry, so I know it's going to be a wonderful book. I heard an interview with the founder of Reformation Heritage Books shortly after I discovered it, and I love his story of being a kid who wanted to start a church library, and what that desire has grown into since then.
A Reminder On Catechizing - I really appreciated this article's reminder on not letting the world catechize your children. It echoed something Rachel Jankovic said in this (paid) webinar about how the world is catechizing our kids constantly, through shows, music, books, etc, and if we aren't actively catechizing our kids in the way they SHOULD go according to God's word, we aren't doing our job. I also appreciated the point that catechesis isn't just a formal endeavor, you are catechizing them by your own example - do you read your Bible daily? Spend time in prayer? Affirm examples of biblical masculinity and femininity? Present church as a wonderful gathering of believers that we GET to be a part of? All that is a also a subtle form of catechesis, and the children are watching.
I hope you all are having a good start to your weekend! I am getting ready to go once-a-month grocery shopping this morning, which always ends up being an all-day endeavor. I learned long ago not to attempt it with all five kids unless I was feeling particularly strong, but I do take one kid with me each time for a special day with mom, and now I can't imagine grocery shopping alone. It's so fun to get a little extra time with individual kids!
Happy Saturday!
The first day of Spring was yesterday, and we celebrated by going outside to play in several inches of snow. For a couple weeks I have been trying to fill out the prompts for this linkup about Spring, but literally every time I planned to work on it, it would snow and put me out of my springtime mood. But today I'm going to just ignore the weather, spray some lilac-scented room freshener to get in the spirit, and share some spring musings!
- List your favorite thing about spring. Which season do you like best?
My favorite thing about spring the last couple years has been the moment when the birds return to our house. Sometime between March and May, the trees around our house fill with songbirds, and the noise is loud enough to actually wake me up in the morning. You would think that would be annoying, but it's not at all - I love waking up to birdsong. I do not love waking up to woodpeckers, however, and unfortunately they tend to return with the rest of our winged friends.
Aside from my love for the birds, springtime is actually not particularly pleasant at high elevation - our "spring" according to nature typically doesn't occur until May, and then it happens all at once a week before summer. In the meantime, it's just an endless cycle of mud, which freezes when it snows, then melts the next week and gets tracked all over my house. I would love to visit a state that actually has magical (or at least pleasant) springs - which states are those? Please comment and tell me.
My favorite season in the mountains is most certainly fall. That's when the magic happens.
- What puts spring in your step? What does your favorite pair of shoes look like? When do you wear them?
The scattered days of warm weather put a spring in my step, along with the fact that this is the first spring in the last two years that is normal! No lockdowns (ugh, 2020), no masks (ugh, 2021). I feel free and light as a feather!
Unfortunately I can't tell you what my spring-y steps look like these days, because I don't currently have a favorite pair of shoes. Even though I've updated many things in my wardrobe over the last five years, shoes is not one of those things, and it's starting to show. My winter/spring shoes are all grungy looking or literally falling apart, but I'm limping them along. I do have some nice summer shoes though, so I'll probably continue to not buy new winter footwear for as long as I can get away with it. Eventually I'm going to have to shell out.
- Around St. Patrick’s Day we see invitations to ‘kiss me, I’m Irish’ on graphic tees and images everywhere. Are you Irish? If not, what would your graphic tee read? ‘Kiss me, I’m…”
I actually do have some Irish way back there somewhere, along with German (a quarter), English (probably a sizable fraction since it's coming from all sides of my family), and Polish. I'd like to get one of those DNA tests sometime, because apparently even siblings can have a different mix of ethnicities in their DNA. Have any of you had your DNA tested?
- What flowers would make up your perfect spring bouquet? What is your favorite floral fragrance?
Oh, I love the scent of lilac, and then probably honeysuckle, roses, or jasmine. I'm not sure how all that would smell together though. My ideal floral fragrance would certainly have to include a hint of woodiness. I like to feel like I'm walking through the woods while smelling my odd flower bouquet.
- Spring cleaning? A necessary evil or overrated? What’s your favorite cleaning tip? Cleaning product?
I tend to do some cleaning out whenever I switch out the kids' clothes for the seasons, which is in the early summer and early fall - I'll get rid of old clothes and toys at that time. As far as deep cleaning the rest of the house, I don't do that in the spring necessarily, but whenever I have time to do it over the course of the year! Since we homeschool, deep cleaning happens alot in the summer when we don't have school work. My favorite cleaning products are Mrs. Meyers, and don't say anything to me about their toxicity or whatever - I like the way they smell, and I'm going to keep using them!
- Slinkies are coiled spring toys. Did you ever have a Slinky? Silly Putty? What was your favorite toy as a child?
I did have a Slinky and Silly Putty, and a bunch of other toys! I particularly remember Pogs in elementary school. Does anyone know how to actually play the Pogs game? We just collected them when I was a kid, but I know there was supposed to be some way to play with them. I also went through a Crazy Bones collecting phase in middle school, and once again there was a "game" you were supposed to do with them, but I strongly suspect the games were just a pretense for both of those toys.
My favorite toy as a child was certainly my teddy bear though. I still have it in my baby box.
- When we ‘spring forward’ on March 13, what do you hope to do in that extra daylight?
Okay, against my better judgement...let's talk about what they are currently trying to do with Daylight Savings Time. Have you heard that the Senate passed a bill to put the country permanently on Daylight Savings Time?
I am strongly against this.
Where I live, staying permanently on DST will mean that sunrise won't happen until 8:21 AM in the winter. That is absurd to me. We try to start school at 8 AM, so now you're telling me that I may have to wake my kids up and get them started on school before the sun even rises? NO!! Why are they doing this to us?
I know that alot of people hate changing the clocks in the Spring and Fall with a passion (I cannot relate to this, I don't understand why it's such a big huge deal). But in the end, there is a reason we've been doing it this way for a hundred years - to avoid 8:21 sunrises in the winter (way too late), and 4:30 sunrises in the summer (way too early). So I personally think we should just stick with the current system, because it is more convenient. However, if we are going to eliminate the switch in the spring and fall, at least put us back on Standard Time! Why should we permanently go onto artificial time (which is what DST is) - why not go back to the time that more closely aligns with the natural clock, ie. the time that brings the sun closest to straight up at noon? That would be Standard Time. There are also apparently studies that suggest more sunlight in the morning is much better for your circadian rhythms than more sun in the evening (you have to look up the studies yourself, I need to finish this post).
Bottom line - just say no to permanent Daylight Savings Time! Write your senator.
What was the original question? Oh, nothing. I woke up with the sun, and adjusted my kids' bedtime and did nothing with the extra hour of daylight, because in reality, we had the exact same amount of daylight we would have had if we didn't switch the clocks!
- The following colors will be trending for spring soft lilac, canary yellow, hot pink, salted caramel, scarlet, sky blue. Will you be styling any of these? Is there a color you will avoid?
It's so funny to me that there are colors that are on trend for different seasons - I want to know who decides these things! I will say that I have loved all the sky blue in the stores lately. I did purchase a soft lilac top at Target, but I'm on the fence on whether I want to keep it or not. I'm also on board for the scarlet, I don't hate the salted caramel, and the other two I probably won't buy because they won't fit in nicely with my wardrobe (though I do love those colors in theory)!
- What will you be reading this spring? Do you have a favorite devotional or quiet time routine?
I am deep into rereading The Return Of The King right now. It's been a bit of a stressful month for our family, and I needed to go back to something comforting, and the Lord Of The Rings is that for me right now. I also plan to read Perelandra by C. S. Lewis in the next couple weeks. As for quiet time reading, after my Bible, I am reading The Gospel Comes With A Housekey by Rosaria Butterfield, and I just started Far Above Rubies: The Life Of Bethan Lloyd-Jones by Lynette Clark. Bethan is the wife of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and if you don't know who that is, go fix that right now.
- Share an inspirational thought or spring quote. Why does this speak to you?
Speaking of Lord Of The Rings:
"Other evils there are that may come...Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."-J. R. R. Tolkien, Gandalf in The Return Of The King
I highlighted this paragraph when I was reading the book the other day, because it reminded me that I can't worry about what the future will be like for my kids. I can shield them while they are young, till the soil of their hearts for the gospel, uproot the evil around me where I can, and trust the Lord to take care of what conditions they'll find in the future. The future is God's. It's not mine to rule, and worrying about it won't change anything.
It's also rather a springtime-y quote, don't you think? And succor means "assistance or support in times of hardship and distress" in case that vocabulary word never cemented itself into your brain (I had to look it up).
How has your springtime been, friends?
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