"October" -- Elsa Beskow

October

Golden, you are, 

October.

Golden sovereigns on your trees.

Golden guineas on your floor,

gold coins of leaves that fall

for us to scuffle through

and rustle

and rattle

and hustle

and scrabble

and dabble

and paddle

as they fall

into an October carpet

which hides

our shoes.

A bookseller (Michelle, perhaps?) at Carmichael's Kids Bookstore in Louisville recommended this author to me, and I loved the poem for October so much that I wanted to share it here. The drawings included are delightful little sketches, too, and I hope to add more by this author to our library soon!

Farewell, October. You were not as cool-temperatured as I might have liked, but you were, as always, my favorite month.

Favorites/ Highlights of 2015

Just for fun, I thought I would post a few of my favorite discoveries of 2015. 

Color:

Seasalt -- Sherwin-Williams paint color

This is my favorite color of the year, as evidenced by the fact that my entire house (minus the kitchen) is painted this color. Fair warning: it probably won't show up gray on your wall, but more green-blue-gray. I love it:-)

Music:

Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors -- They aren't a new band, but I have fallen in love with them this year. Their folksy Americana sound (please, do not mock me, as I am not a music critic) has been the sound track of my year. My husband gave me a perfect Christmas gift by enrolling me in Drew Holcomb's Magnolia Record Club (see: record player below)

Psalm 23 by Shane & Shane https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxLlpViTcic -- I first heard this song at the SBC, and it quickly became "my song", which sounds like I am in junior high. It can be found on Shane & Shane's new release, Psalms 2. Listen to it. It's lovely.

Books:

I read over thirty books last year (list coming soon!), but my favorite was All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It is a captivating novel set at the end of WW2. It looks like a dense book, but the chapters are short, so it is completely manageable. 

Television and movies:

The Flash-- Nathan and I started to watch this show in December. It's a good-heartened, fun, enjoyable superhero show. It is not dark like many other shows, the lead is winsome and engaging (and can sing and dance!), the cast is diverse, and did I mention Jesse L Martin? We love it.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens -- it was all we had hoped for, and definitely worth seeing in the movie theater! It is, above all, a lot of fun, and a good continuation of the original series.

The Martian -- we saw this movie on a whim and found it delightful.  It holds your attention from the beginning, is genuinely funny, and has a happy end (spoiler!)

Other:

Hot tea -- Nathan developed chronic heart burn this fall, and one of the homeopathic remedies he uses is a glass of hot tea every night with a drop of peppermint oil. It has become our evening tradition to put the kids down and promptly brew the tea. We like a variety of tea flavors and types, and look forward to trying more in 2016!

FAITH Tutorial http://faithtutorial.com/ -- This homeschool tutorial offered here in Jackson has been such a blessing to our family. It allows G and B two mornings a week to sit under someone else's teaching. It gives me a structure and lesson plans to follow. It helps Georgia drill her math by reinforcing it with someone else's teaching style. We love the friendships we have been forming through this tutorial as well!

Record player -- Nathan gave me a record player for my birthday. I love it so very much, and am completely hooked on vinyl! I grew up listening to records, and even logged many hours listening to recordings of classical music in college, so it feels like coming home. 

What were some of your favorites from 2015?

Challenge: Do One "Un-do-able" Thing

Life of a mom, of a parent, seems often like a life on repeat.

For instance, today, I loaded and ran the dishwasher. Unloaded. Reloaded, and now it's ready to run again. Nathan and I folded a couple of loads of laundry, yet there are still more clothes sitting in my dryer, waiting to be folded. And even more in our dirty clothes hampers. Let's not even talk about getting them put away. And bathing the kids. Didn't I just do that? Oh wait, probably not, 

because I am notorious for how infrequently my kids get baths or showers.

Ha!

Anyway, our lives are often filled with habits, chores, work that we repeat over and over again. We pick up toys only to have them strewn all over the floor again two minutes later. We make our bed only to have our kids pile on it. We wash our car, only to drive through mud puddles. Etc. etc. It can make our day to day life feel boring or worse--like we aren't making traction or getting anywhere.

I came across this article about the one thing that keeps this blogger sane, and I found it encouraging and inspiring. She goes into greater and better detail than I can, but her encouragement is to do

one thing a day that cannot be un-done. Something that will not be changed or made obsolete by eating or changing clothes or children waking from naps.

Since reading that post, I have been brainstorming about tasks that cannot be undone. Here is my beginning list, and I would love to hear your suggestions! (In my mind, it is okay if they are tasks you will repeat. They just cannot be things that can be un-done, i.e., making lunch for your family, which is gone as soon as they eat it:-)

Read a chapter in a book (there is always more to read, yes, but it cannot be un-done)

Create something (sew, knit, cross-stitch, bake a special goody)

Color in a coloring book

Write a card to a friend

Call your mother or grandmother or best friend

Plant a garden

Drink a cup of hot tea

Take a walk around the neighborhood

Weed out old clothes or shoes

Have coffee with a friend

Write a blogpost :-)

Read your Bible and meditate on it

Snap a picture of your kids, your dog, your house, yourself

What little things have you done today that can never be undone? How are you investing your time?

Things I Learned in August

*moving is hard. emotions and struggles hit at random moments, sometimes simply feeling a sadness, other times something reminding you of "home" so suddenly you can't breathe. My oldest had a couple of days where she simply felt sad and wanted to cry a lot. I understand, sweet girl, I understand.

*Faith Home School Tutorial has been a huge blessing to our family. The two big kids go to the tutorial twice a week in the mornings. Their teachers cover English, Science, Art and Math (G only), and at home we work on assignments, handwriting, history and spelling. This structured classroom setting challenges my kids--and that is SUCH a good thing! 

*Moody Sisters-- I've talked about Moody Sisters before, but I tried their new eyeliner in August and it is fantastic, with intense pigmentation that is creamy and smooth without smearing.  They have new powder foundation and liquid foundation (can I buy everything??), and their new scents are fabulous (I love the new lavender citrus scent).  If you have never purchased anything from Moody Sisters, you can use the code LFINN to receive 10% off. Trust me, you'll like it!!

*starting fresh is good. After months of prepping our house to sell, selling our house, moving to another state and settling in, Nathan and I needed a major reset to our eating habits.  We started the 21 Day Fix in August, and couldn't be more pleased with the results.  The 21 Day Fix is an eating plan with accompanying workouts that is produced by Team BeachBody. No calorie counting, and no cutting out everything you love--it's simply eating clean, whole foods in appropriate portions, and exercising daily. I followed the 21 Day Fix workout videos (7 days of different exercises), and Nathan used cardio equipment at the gym. We also drank Shakeology drinks most of the time as part of the Fix. Shakeology is a protein drink that is packed with super foods, vitamins and nothing artificial. True confession: it took me a little while to adjust to the taste, but we like it now:-) Most importantly, as a family we want to be good stewards of the bodies we have been given, and eating more vegetables and fewer carbs is the best way for us to do that! I'd be happy to answer questions you might have about this, or you can poke around this website.

*my oldest boy made a huge jump in reading in August. He went from reading a little bit, as needed, but not motivated or enjoying it--- to TEARING through books now. Baxter is reading chapter books with ease, and is so proud to show us when he finishes. His current favorites are Magic Tree House books, Magic School Bus books, and Lego or Marvel graphic novels (the kid versions, I promise). I often find him walking around with his nose in a book, and I love it (though sometimes I've given him instructions to do something else:-).

*speaking of books, Journey by Aaron Becker is a new discovery. It is delightful picture book that will capture your heart and imagination. It is spellbinding, which is a high praise considering that it contains no words. Don't worry-- you will be able to tell the story, and it will captivate you!

The author/illustrator has recently released a sequel called Quest. We just checked it out from the library this week and have already read it several times!

*I leave you with a few fun pictures from August. Thanks for checking out what I've learned recently!

**Affiliate links are included, but all opinions are my own.**

Things I learned in April

Here it is, a brief recap of April. Forgive me for not elaborating more, but perhaps that will come later!

-waiting stinks. I thought I was good at it, but I have learned this spring that I am not. More to come on that later.  Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14

-audio books help housecleaning go more quickly. Seriously. I get much more accomplished while listening to audiobooks. Audible is a wonderful way to get audiobooks for cheap. You can also check your local library to see what they have available in their download library.
Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks

-moody sisters mineral makeup is terrific! I already love their skincare line, and now I'm a big fan of their makeup as well. Find it online here: Moody Sisters Mineral Makeup

-foyle's war. amazing. Christopher Foyle is a man among boys. Check it out on www.netflix.com

-mythbusters are awesome. Seeing them live on stage was a treat.

In these pictures, they are shooting paintballs at a kid in armor.

The catch was the paintball gun was a semi-automatic weapon.

No one was hurt in this segment.

-karen swallow prior is great. We had a fabulous time when she visited the SEBTS campus to lecture for the Center for Spiritual Formation and Evangelical Spirituality.   Her book Fierce Convictions is an inspiring biography on Hannah More, a reformer who helped bring literacy to the British people and who worked to end slavery in England. I highly recommend it if you have not read it.

**some of the links above are my affiliate links**

Things I learned in March

A couple of my friends regularly do a 'monthly round up' where they discuss what they learned in that month. It's a nice way to review highlights of the month, get glimpses into their lives, and see what lessons God is teaching. I decided to join in for the month of March (linking up to Chatting at the Sky).

In no particular order:

1. My oldest girl is both growing up rapidly and yet still needs me and her daddy. G is pre-pubescent already (gasp!), and is very interested in assuming more responsibility and having more independence. A couple of nights ago she woke up in the middle of the night sick to her stomach--and she took care of herself all on her own and told us the next day! (Now, this involved her not being able to get out of the room because her door was stuck, and her younger sister finding a bag for G to use as a trash can, and then she went back to sleep until morning. No small feat!) On the other hand, G longs for snuggles with her parents, still plays with dolls on occasion, and when she fell off her scooter and hurt her hand, nothing could console her like her daddy.

2. Back Alley Roasters coffee, especially their organic Rwandan, is amazing. Nathan and I love this coffee, and love that we know the roasters personally (a professor at SEBTS). We probably discovered this particular coffee from Back Alley in February, but I am counting it as March. It's our new favorite.

3. Speaking of coffee, in March I discovered how much I love sipping coffee in the quiet of my house before my children wake up. I usually drink coffee with breakfast, and since I don't like to drink more than one cup in the morning (most days), I do not want to have coffee before breakfast. Lately, though, I have been savoring the hot cup of (Rwandan) coffee over my bible reading and prayer, in the quiet of my living room. Maybe I'll drink juice with breakfast.

4. Give me a fireplace and a stack of books and I'm a happy camper--and might never leave the room. Nathan had the wonderful opportunity to preach a men's retreat at The Cove this month. I was able to go with him, and I curled up by the fireplace with a large stack of books and was quite possibly the happiest person on the mountain that weekend.

5. You have not because you ask not. I have been challenged by this idea this month. We needed childcare for our weekend trip  to the mountains (see above), and I assumed certain people could not watch my kids because x, y, or z. But I did not ask them. Finally two weeks beforehand I swallowed my pride, set aside my assumptions, and asked--and our church family and friends stepped up. It was quite the juggling act, but our children were well-loved, well-fed, and well-played-with that weekend by many different people. All because I asked.

6. Asking applies to many areas. I am raising funds for 4000 Steps, the walk for life to benefit First Choice Pregnancy Solutions. Like many people, I post on social media that I am raising funds, but I often neglect the common courtesy of asking people to give. A good friend pointed this out to me, telling me that she did not want to just know about what I am doing, but she wants to be asked to support me. Announcing is not the same as asking. Ouch.  So, dear blog readers, would you consider supporting me as I walk for life on April 11? You can donate online at www.fundeasy.com/m/2149995

7. Next time I buy a 600+ page book, I need to purchase it in hardback.  For our weekend getaway in the mountains I bought a few books, one of which was Warmth of Other Suns. I read 50-60 pages of it while we were away, and I look forward to finishing it this month. But I made a mistake in purchasing it in paperback. It is too thick and cumbersome to hold up well with paper covers. Next time, I'll just splurge for the hardback.

8. I wanted to end with seven, but eight just has to be shared. I am addicted to these Whole Wheat Raspberry Bars that I can buy at The Grain Mill of Wake Forest. They taste like Nutri Grain bars grew up and started using real ingredients. Are they as healthy as they can be? No. Do they contain only five ingredients? (thank you, 100 days of real food) No. Are they amazingly delicious and perfect for munching? Yes. I'm trying to ration them out to one a day, but it's hard. Trust me.

Thanks for reading my rambling!

**this post contains affiliate links

First library cards!!

 We make weekly trips to the library.

The Finnlings pick loads of books each, and I pick a stack as well.

It's rather astounding how many books we check out at a time.

This past week, we reached a milestone.

Georgia and Baxter each got their own library cards.

To say they were excited was an understatement!!

I'm pretty excited for them, too. 

I don't remember getting my library card

--maybe because I had it from such a young age--

but I remember proudly signing my name on the printed cards in the back of the books.

My parents would discipline me by taking away by bag of library books.

We are crazy book people, this Finn family. Yay for the Finnlings!!

Finnlings' first Book It lunch

Book It lunches at Pizza Hut are a familiar part of my childhood.

I'm so excited that my kids can participate in Book It as well!

Georgia met her Book It goal by reading tons of books in December.

Baxter met his goal by completing his Hooked on Phonics workbook.

Eleanor and Fuller just completed their goals of looking adorably cute (they succeeded!).

The Finnlings' only disappointment with their personal pan pizza was 

that they could not get it with a stuffed crust :-)

We do not really NEED pizza in this house to inspire reading, but it is a nice benefit. 

Here is to many more Book It pizza certificates in my children's future!

An Usborne adventure!

Last summer, a friend hosted an online Usborne Books & More party.

I had heard of the books, but never taken the time to look at them closely.

I started searching the online catalog, found several titles that would be helpful for homeschooling, and bought them.

I fell in love with these books.

They are educational, colorful and fun.

They are sturdy and well-made.

My kids love them. There really has not been an Usborne book that they have not adored, poured over again and again, and worn out.

The Finnlings especially enjoy the sticker books...and the Illustrated Stories...

and the non-fiction books. I could just go on and on.

In July, Usborne had a special offer on the consultant kit.

After weighing the advantages of becoming a consultant against the requirements

(there are none), I bought a kit.

See my excitement?

These are all the books inside my kit!! Hooray for more books!!

The Finnlings are hard at work on their sticker and wipe-clean books!

I promise not to bog down my blog promoting Usborne all the time.

However, these are great books and I would LOVE to tell you more about them.

You can check them out online at https://c4375.myubam.com, 

or stop by my house and I can show you in person.

Christmas isn't far away, and books make wonderful gifts for the children in your lives!

Usborne Books & More

Last summer, I discovered Usborne Books. I had seen their displays at a few events, had friends host parties (that I never attended), and heard about them through various avenues. However, I had never taken the time to really look at their books. Then a friend was having an online party around the time I was shopping for schoolbooks for the fall, and I started looking at her Usborne catalog. And I fell in love. These books are colorful, engaging, and informative. My kids LOVE them, and learn so much from the books. Many of the non-fiction books are internet-linked, so you can learn even more information from them. The storybooks are beautifully illustrated and tons of fun to read. Usborne has an endless supply of wonderful books for homeschooling! 

So, after I bought books from my friend's party last summer, I hosted my own party. Below are pictures of some of the books from that party (some are mine and some are friends'). See the variety of topics and colors and interests? It is rare to find a publishing company that covers so many topics so well! 

My kids love their Usborne books, both the 'reading ones' and the activity ones (sticker books, art books, paper airplane kits, and more). Around Christmas, I hosted another online party and basically scored the Finnlings' Christmas gifts through Usborne. Is anyone surprised that my kids got mostly books for Christmas?

Forgive my babbling on, I just wanted to introduce you to this fabulous resource for fun books for kids (and grownups--I have learned so much through these Usborne books!!). Some of our favorite Usborne books are the Look Inside my Body book, the "That's Not My ___" series, Anna Hibiscus (which was G's first book report), and the Discovery non-fiction series. Most of my supplemental homeschooling books have come from Usborne.

I am a happy customer. I am not being paid ANYTHING to rave on and on about Usborne. However, I do have an 'in-person' party planned for July, and I currently have an e-show that you can shop from the convenience of your own home here (click Shop, and then select my name from the list of hosts). I set up the e-show so I could do some shopping for my kids, but I'd love to share with you. Be sure to look at Customer Specials and Internet Specials. If you have any questions, my consultant Jess would love to help out (www.usbornegal.com).

Thanks for reading (pun intended).

Georgia's Second Book Report

My generous father-in-law gave me a Kindle Fire that he was not using. I have enjoyed using it, and for fun I bought a couple of children's books for the kids (Winnie the Pooh and The Velveteen Rabbit). I read selections from both books to the kids, and Georgia asked to read Winnie the Pooh on her own. Maybe it was novelty of reading on the Kindle, or perhaps she just fell in love with the story, but I could not pull her away from this book! She read it non-stop last week, and was eager to finish it when I took the Kindle back from her. Since finishing this book, she has been engrossed in other books as well, and this bookworm momma couldn't be more excited! I am recalling all the times I chose reading over ANYTHING else as a child. My mom had to take my books away and force me outside; thankfully Georgia does love playing outdoors unlike I did when I was little.

I promised I will not be blogging every single one of G's book reports, but I had her dictate the report to me while I typed it rather than her writing it out herself. The report was much longer with the dictation method!

Book Report by Georgia Finn

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

                Winnie the Pooh is a book about a boy named Christopher Robin and a bear of little brain called Winnie the Pooh.  In the first story, Pooh loves honey. He went to Christopher Robin to get a balloon to fly up the tree to get the honey. Later, Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit and Piglet wanted to capture Baby Roo, so they distracted Mrs. Kanga and put Piglet in her pouch. Rabbit took Baby Roo to his house. Kanga thought Piglet was Roo when she pulled him out. In another story, there is a flood and Piglet gets rescued by Pooh.

                My favorite part of the book is the flood story. I like this story because Pooh rescued Piglet, who was stuck in the flood when it almost reached his window. The book sometimes was funny and playful too, and I liked that.  

Date taken: March 19, 2014

Georgia's First Book Report

Georgia has truly taken off in her reading recently. I will admit, teaching her to read/her learning to read was a more difficult process than I had expected. (Given how much her parents love books I thought she might be born knowing how to read. I was delusional, I know.) Since the fall, she has soared in her reading skills, making leaps and bounds almost daily. I blinked and she went from reading out loud fairly well, but still having to read out loud, to reading silently to herself--and quickly at that!

In honor of her quickly finishing a real chapter book, I had her write a book report.  The novelty of it made it feel less like schoolwork. I gave her guidelines for the report itself:

Book title and author's name

Two or three sentences about the book

Complete the sentence: "My favorite part of the book is______________"

Short, simple, to the point, but hopefully building good skills in her from an early age. I had to guide her some with her sentence structure, but Georgia did very well writing the book report and was proud of the completed work. I am proud of her!

Georgia's Book Report:

Anna Hibiscus by ________*

This book is about Anna who wants to see snow. She gets to see snow.

My favorite part is she goes to see snow and sings a song.

(After I took a picture of this report, Georgia came back to it and wrote out the snow song that Anna sings)

*The book was nowhere to be found when G was first working on the report, so the author's name is blank. However, we found it later and she filled in the name: Atinuke. Anna Hibiscus is a delightful beginning chapter book about a girl who lives in Africa. The book is published by Usborne Books; I love Usborne books, and could go on and on about them, but that's another post! 

An Elephant and Piggie Party

 The Finn family recently discovered the delightful Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems (see more about his books here). These easy readers with simple illustrations appeal to and amuse all three of my big kids, and the grown ups enjoy them as well. Georgia finds these very easy to read, and the funny stories fulfill her current love of joke telling.

The local library here in Jackson had an Elephant and Piggie party last week, and the Finnlings loved it! They posed as Gerald (the elephant) and Piggie, played games that revolved around the stories, listened to the books being read, and ate ice cream. It was a delightful time to get out of the house and be around other children (it has been so cold that we haven't had much chance to explore or make new friends).

Thank you, Jackson Madison County Library, for a fun time! You have grown our appreciation for winsome and fun children's literature (and caused our book wishlist to grow by several Mo Willems titles), and gave us a cause to celebrate during the winter :-)