The Llama Who Had No Pajama

This book of poetry is part of our Core A Curriculum with Sonlight.

I'm not the person to really critique a book of poetry as the poetry world is not my jam, however I'm going to give it a go all the same. 

On the whole the book had good poetry that helped introduce concepts, solidify what they had learned in other places and stirred the imagination. This book has all types of poetry, most of which I don't know the classifications for. There were several haikus and a couple of shape poems. Most were nice and fairly easy to read, which is a bonus, but some, in true poetic fashion, were just annoying and challenging to read out loud. 

My children really enjoyed these and always enjoyed evaluating the poems for their style and content. They also enjoyed the illustrations that went with the poems and evaluating them. Even though I found them frustrating, they were an excellent learning tool. 

I'd give this book of poetry 4 stars.

Reading Challenges:

I'm counting this is my book of poetry in the committed section for the 2021 Reading Challenge with Tim Challies

I'm also counting this as my book of poetry in level 3 of the 2021 Intentional By Grace Reading Challenge

The Story of Doctor Dolittle

This children's classic is a part of our Sonlight Curriculum in our Core A read alouds. 

I remember reading this with my crew a few years ago and it not being my favorite. While I still would not put it on my "I have to read this again list" I certainly liked it better than the last time I read it. It is definitely an adventure and having a house full of adventurous children it was fun to "go along" with Dr. Dolittle on his adventure to Africa and back to England. 

Dr. Dolittle is an excellent and clever doctor in Puddleby-on-the-Marsh and is well known by all. Not only is he an excellent doctor he is also fond of animals and begins to collect his pets, which greatly annoyed his sister. As he gathers animals in his home, he begins to learn to understand animal speak and can communicate clearly with them so that he can care for them. 

After learning to talk with the animals, Dr. Dolittle becomes the best veterinarian in Puddleby. With his ability to communicate with the animals he also collects more and more pets until no humans will come anymore because they include animals of all kinds, including a crocodile! His sister leaves the home and patients cease to come and money quickly runs out. 

A desperate plea comes from some monkeys in Africa and, after borrowing what he needs for his trip, Dr. Dolittle sets out to help the monkeys in their illness. The adventure is definitely out there, but also possible enough to imagine yourself on the journey. Many roadblocks come, but Dr. Dolittle's animal friends of all kinds come to help him out to get him to Africa and back home.

I appreciate the premise of a man being able to communicate with animals so that he knew exactly what they needed and what the trouble was with them. I also appreciate the element of taking care of living creatures and doing your best for them. Dr. Dolittle also valued human life, though he did seem to put the animals as equals, which is always problematic in my book. If you look at it as a fantasy book based in our world it's a little easier to swallow, but still a struggle. 

It definitely made for interesting discussions about cultivating your home, caring for creation and taking care of your family. My boys loved the adventure and wanted to keep reading until we got to the end. 

It's really hard to rate this one, but for it's story telling and adventure I'd say 3.5 stars, though my children would give it 5.

Reading Challenges:

Back to the Classics 2021 this is my Children's Classic

Timothy Is Two!!!

How can it be our youngest boy is already two years old? He was the first child born in our current home and has added so much life to it since he arrived! 

Timothy is such a spunky personality but also quiet and sweet. He's the first of our children I would say is shy, but thankfully with his easy going nature he warms up quickly. He loves his mama and his James and for the most part does not want to be with anyone else. Recently he has shown more affection for others, but still would choose one of those over anyone else. Even with this, Timothy enjoys being around people but also enjoys his time alone. 

Timothy is already studious, loving books, coloring, and examining what's going on in the world around him. He wants to know what everything is called and when he knows eagerly points and tells you what he sees. Timothy also likes order and, while still learning to put things back, he knows exactly where things should go and where to find what he's looking for. He is definitely particular about things and will let you know if something is amiss!

In the past couple of months, Timothy has grown in singing. He loves to sing with us "The Doxology" and "Holy, Holy, Holy" and learns the other songs we sing and play in the car. It's such a blessing to hear him sing praise songs and hymns to our God and we pray as he grows these songs will remind him of the truth of God's Word and the Gospel message to hold fast to. 

Timothy is such a little light in our house. With his bright blond hair and infectious smile he lights up any room he enters. He has that two-year-old energy but with guided direction and surety. He's always making us laugh and teaches us to slow down and enjoy the moments we have. All of his siblings love playing with him and he can always make Essie smile. He's quick to give affection and loves hugs and kisses.

I'm so thankful for this precious boy that God has given to us! 

Father, thank You for the gift of Timothy to our family. Thank You for the way he teaches us, even as a young one. Thank You for his eagerness to learn and please continue to grow that in him. Please give him the greatest desire to know You and learn all he can about You and please save him by Your grace. Thank You for the reminder that You are our light when we see Timothy light up a room. May he honor You with all that he is and be a light for the Gospel everywhere he goes. In Jesus Name I ask these things. Amen!

Faith Like Flamingos

It was such a blessing to read this book from my business coach, Katie Hornor. I found a class of hers last year at the start of the pandemic when I knew God was leading us to work on growing our ministry business that he had put on our hearts years before and have been learning from her for almost a year. As part of my continual growth I read her book, Faith Like Flamingos.

Since I've been in classes with her this past year, I have heard much of this from her teaching, but reading it brought much of it to life at a deeper level. Reading truths about being a Christian in the market place and standing out for God's glory is extremely important at this point in history. Katie is creative in the way she uses the flamingo to show different attributes of a Godly business owner like how what we "eat" shows in how we display ourselves, how we need each other to push and encourage each other in fighting the good fight and knowing what parts of your story need to be shared an when. 

Faith Like Flamingos is well thought out and put together so that it is easy to read and fluent. The chapters are short, sweet and to the point while also being personal and deep. At the end of each chapter there are questions for reflection that were very helpful and that I need to go back a revisit frequently.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it whether you are planning to start a business or not. The principles in this book can be applied to every area of the Christian walk. 

5 stars for The Christian Guide to Walking Out Your Faith in Bold Color!

Reading Challenges:

This book falls into several of the ones I'm working on.

1. A book About Business from Tim Challies 2021 Reading Challenge

2. I'm counting this as a Christian Living Book for the 2021 Christian Reading Challenge with Jason and Jami Balmet

3. A Business Book in the Modern Mrs. Darcy My Reading Life Challenge

Beezus and Ramona

This Classic is a part of our Core A curriculum with Sonlight.

I'm honestly not sure what I think about this book. It is an honest book told from the view of Beezus in third person, which is good to help process what she is thinking and feeling. On the other side I can totally understand see why Ramona is such a nuisance at four years old; she gets what she wants by annoying those around her or doing defiant things. This is good for talking about what is done well and what is poor character and to compare with what God teaches us in the Bible. 

I did like the creativity and imagination shown in some of the chapters. The chapter talking about imagination was really good at teaching how we each have imagination in different ways and in a home with ten children understanding that we will not all be creatively the same is extremely important.

I was doing OK with it until the end when Beezus was told she didn't have to love her sister all the time, which flies in the faith of Biblical teaching and makes love a feeling instead of how we treat others. While I do understand what Cleary was getting at with this discussion in the book, it was really hard to read to my children and we had to stop after almost ever sentence to talk about what was being said. You can say I'm mincing words and that's fine, but to tell a child they shouldn't love their sister all the time is destructive and hurtful. We know that we're not going to like what others do and because we're sinful we won't love people all the time, but God says to love the way He does and that is what we are to teach.

Language wise it is written well for reading out loud and for children to understand. Because of when it was written it has some of the language was "dated" but that's part of the fun of reading classics.

Because of the ending I can only give this book 3 stars.

Reading Challenges:

I am using this one for the Back to the Classics Challenge though not sure if it will be my 20th Century Classic or Classic by a Woman Author

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

This (almost) classic children's book is part of our Core A curriculum from Sonlight. 

This book is actually a really cute read, inventive and imaginative book that I enjoyed reading with my children. They made a movie based on it and the movie is not my favorite by any stretch of the imagination, but the book was short, sweet and fun.

What would it be like if all of our food fell from the sky? Such a fun thing to imagine and talk about together. 

Definitely a 5 star for this children's book.

James Year 12

Twelve years. How is it even possible that this amazing and brilliant boy who made me a mother is now twelve years old!?

I don't think I can quite find the words to express how much I love and cherish the life of James. He is full of life, sharp as a tack and loves to learn everything he can. James is kind, loving, eager to help and takes the little ones under his wing to teach and train them in everything from letters and numbers to birds and trees to the very Word of God and anything else he knows he passes along his knowledge. His creativity knows no limits and he loves to "invent" crazy machines and envision how they could be made. He comes up with new creatures, writes stories, draws and sculpts, makes buildings with LEGOs and fully taps into the creative side of being an Image Bearer. He also loves the drums and everyday is growing in his rhythm skills. He wants to play during worship services one day. 

James regularly thinks about the least of these. Whether some one younger or not as strong or someone who is without, he quickly recognizes their need and seeks to meet it in whatever way he can. I see God's care of us in the way James cares for others and he is always eager to do more. His current project is making bags to have ready to hand out to anyone we see when we're out driving. He wants to be prepared to help. He is also so tender with his little brothers and sister. Timothy is his little buddy and they spend a lot of time learning and playing together. 

His love of learning knows no bounds. If he could, James would learn everything in the world. He spends hours reading, learning, studying and would continue if we did not tell him to take a break for his own good. Right now he is very interested in nature and seeing how God's glory is displayed in nature, languages, architecture and math. He is quickly becoming a Latin scholar and is beginning to study Biblical Greek and wants to learn as many modern languages as possible starting with Spanish so he can communicate with our Hispanic neighbors. He's also working very hard on math and drawing because he desires to become an architect to design fun buildings as well as houses and churches for people around the world. 

Following in my footsteps, James is working on his first book and is working on editing his fifth draft. He is extremely excited about Ivart and is hoping to finish it this year. As part of writing this book he is designing his own planet and developing the language of Ivart's planet. It is amazing to watch him develop these things! To help with his writing, he also enjoys reading. James is currently in the middle of The Two Towers in The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R Tolkein. He loves telling us what they messed up in the movie and what he's learning from the books. We're also reading The Wingfeather Saga as a family and he cannot get enough of these incredible books! He would rather read than watch a movie any day of the week.

James also loves nature and looking at all that God has made. In his studies he has investigated many element of God's creation, but birds continue to remain his favorite. One of his favorite outdoor activities is cutting down our bamboo and constructing bird arbors around our yard. As we make plans for how to cultivate and manage our property he makes sure we know the importance of having trees for local birds to next in. It's amazing to see how he connects all of nature together the way God intended it to work together to bring life to all. 

Every morning James delves into the Word, spending time with his God in Bible reading, prayer and journaling. I have learned so much from James as God teaches him and he shares with us during our family Bible time. This past year we studied Revelation and it was James who pointed out the connections between Revelation and Daniel and the Beasts described in both! I had never realized this and I have studies both books before. What a blessing it is to see God teaching and instructing James and he then showing us the congruity of the Word of God! What a joy to see that God is sufficient and that He is at work in the life of your child! 

James is also memorizing as much of the Bible as he can. He is working on the book of James and currently has half of chapter 1 memorized along with many Psalms and other verses he has learned from drill. He takes seriously God's command to hide God's Word in his heart that he might not sin against God. 

This young man, James Marshall Jr. is such a gift from God. He loves to be with family and wants to do everything he can as a family. Our family continues to be richly blessed by his life as he grows and follows after the LORD.

Father, I thank You for the gift of James. Thank Your for saving him from the death of sin and giving him new life in Christ. Thank You for how You continue to teach and grow James in Your Word and in Your way. Thank You for the work You are doing in Him. Please guide James on Your path for him and grow him into the man You have created him to be. Give him a deep love for You and for others and continue to give him Your heart for the least of these. Teach him Your humility and graciousness that he may serve You well in everything. Keep his eyes fixed on You and on heavenly things that he may take up his cross daily and follow You. I pray this in Jesus Name. Amen.