Visions of Ransom Lake by Marcia Lynn McClure

Shouldn't your favorite book be on your personal classics list? If you knew me personally this book being one of my favorites might surprise you.

I was extremely sick throughout my pregnancies and had some pretty downer days. Someone let me read these books and they were the best, well-needed escape from a crumby reality. What's really funny is that Jared would read to me sometimes to help me fall asleep and he would get wrapped up in the stories too.

After our first daughter was born, Jared and I attended a Booksellers Convention and literally bumped into Marcia Lynn McClure. Jared was so star-struck that it made Marcia laugh. Never before had a guy been so familiar with her over-the-top romance novels. To this day, I read the gushy parts to Jared and we laugh and think of Marcia.

I love all of Marcia's books because the hero's are always chivalrous and proper and the heroines are always naive and innocent. They are exciting, fun to read, and full of life. Vision's of Ransom Lake is one of my favorites because Vaden has a unique sense of adventure and an ability to find something intriguing in everything. Marcia and her books will always be special to our family and I can't wait until my girls are old enough to share the experience of reading these happy books together.

The Declaration of Independence

I hate to admit this, but I've never read the Declaration of Independence all the way through before. My cop-out excuse is that I am a product of public education. One more reason why we want to home-school our kids. Shouldn't this be included in our history lessons? Maybe even toward the top of the list?

This is what I learned. I always assumed that the Declaration of Independence was meant to be a great inspirational, motivational document. It is those things and more. It lists all the facts against the King of Britain from whom they wanted to become independent. It certainly isn't sugar coated either.

I knew there would be some words to look up, but after writing them all down I didn't realize there would be two whole pages worth. So I definitely learned a lot from reading this and recommend everyone read it and study it for themselves. There is a lot we can learn from what happened backed then. I couldn't help but think that there were some things that remind me of what is going on in our government right now. Now go read it - Click Here!!

Swimming

We were going to put Kendi in swimming lessons this year, but decided that we wanted to teach her everything that we are able to ourselves. Jared works at home and is able to take time off in the middle of the day. We got a family pass for one month and Jared and Kendi have gone almost every single day to the pool.

They only spend about 45 minutes or an hour in the pool and I'm very impressed with how well she is doing. Kendi used to struggle to even put her nose under water and now she dives right in. Getting her goggles really made her love being in and under the water.
She swims faster than me. She is an aggressive kicker and I think swimming may become one of her stronger talents. She floats on her back when she gets tired.
I think going consistently everyday has helped her get comfortable in the water. Jared and Kendi absolutely love spending this time together everyday. I'm so proud of her and I love seeing a permanent grin on her face the whole time she is there.

Book Review - The Chosen by Chaim Potok

I found this book fascinating. Right off, it made me realize how little I know about the Jewish culture and religion. I had a lot of words to look up. I also learned a lot about life during World War II and how things unfolded for an American Citizen of that time. There was a lot of information that will stick with me better than any history textbook reading.

There are a lot of issues to address and contemplate while reading this story. A couple that stood out to me were the need for silence and the need for communication. And how to balance the two. Family relationships and friendship. The significance of our short little lives in eternity.

I will most likely read this with my kids when they are old enough to have quality discussions about it. I definitely enjoyed it.

Book Review - Laddie

This book took me way too long to read. I'm not a fast reader and this isn't the most interesting book I've read. It was fun, but had a lot of tangents that went on and on and on. It felt almost like you're reading someones journal and they are just writing things to remember what it was like not because it is interesting.

In the end, I did enjoy reading the book, but I think it would be more fun to read with kids. There were a lot of things throughout the book that would be good to discuss with kids.

I think we will definitely read this book with our family, but it isn't going to be at the top of our list.

Cupcake Maker

Kendi informed me that she wanted to be a cake and cupcake maker when she grows up. She knows that we spend time learning about things that she is interested in for home-school so she wanted to do a project.

We spent some time researching cake makers and looking at sites like The Sweet Tooth Fairy. She picked a project of making decorated cupcakes like some that she saw while we were researching.

Kendi made a journal entry

where she drew pictures of cupcakes and wrote about becoming a cupcake maker. She even put that she could work at Dairy Queen because they make lots of desserts.

Over the next few days, we spent a little time on this project everyday. Once we officially start home-school, we will probably only spend one day a week working on what she wants to be when she grows up.

Kendi wrote down the ingredient list and we went shopping. I like the way we worked a lot of home-making skills into this project. We got the kitchen ready and read over the directions. We talked about why we have to do the things the directions say like flouring the pan and measuring out ingredients. We counted out the 30 seconds to mix the batter before we beat it. We talked a lot about all the numbers and measurements we used. And for the first time Kendi learned how to load the dishwasher when she was done.

This was really, really fun and I was surprised at how much there was to learn beyond home-making skills. I always want to take Kendi's ambitions very seriously even if I think it may be a passing phase she's going through. I would love for Kendi to become a cake maker and we will definitely spend more time on this.

Book Review - Anne of Green Gables

Everyone should be familiar with Anne of Green Gables. Everyone has seen the movies and everyone should read the books. I enjoyed every minute of reading this book. It has all the excitement of a blissful childhood and all the melancholy of real life. This book will make you laugh and make you cry. I can't help but think that Anne reminds me of my own Kendi. They compare similarly in imagination.

This may be one of the first books I read together with my girls once we have officially started Home-School. It makes me anxious to get started and I can't wait to move on to the sequels.