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books I am reading and January book reading update…

Written by Joy
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books I am reading and January book reading update…

I started this post back at the beginning of February and now the month is half way over. I wanted to update you on the books that I am reading. I had made a goal for myself, at the beginning of the year to read 52 books. My book list for January, I am almost finished with them.  I am still working on Desperate – Hope For The Mom Who Needs to Breathe.  I will also begin The Mom Walk when I finish Desperate.

Most of the books I have chosen next to read, are study guides and books that I can read to help me mentor, help and encourage other women.  God has laid on my heart Titus 2:3-5.   I feel like He is leading me in the direction to help and train younger women/moms.  Lord willing and with much prayer, I gain a little more knowledge, along with courage and strength to do as God is leading me.  I am also hoping I can figure out how to do this as well.  What books have I chosen to read to learn more from, besides the Bible?

A couple of the books are by Susan Hunt, The True Woman and Spiritual Mothering.  Women’s Ministry in the Local Church is also authored by Susan Hunt along with Duncan Ligon.

I am also doing a bible study by Elizabeth George called by Loving God with All Your Mind.

books I am reading

All of my books just isn’t for studying though.  I added in a few books for fun and enjoyment.  I love books that are based in the 1800’s time period.  I love just reading and slipping away to a time period long gone.  When, in some ways life was a little simpler, yet they still had issues just like we do today.  While the stories are made up, I can still imagine life back in time.

I have the second book in the Homeward on the Oregon Trail by Melody Carlson, A Dream for Tomorrow.  I loved the first book, so I am excited to read this second one.

I also came across another book about the Oregon Trail.  It is Where the Trail Ends by Melanie Dobson.  It is set in 1841, so I am sure it will be a nice read.

The last book in this list is A Patchwork Christmas Collection.   This book has 3 stories in it along with recipes and handcraft patterns.  I am hoping to learn to crochet and knit, so this book looked interesting to me.  I have already read the first story in the book and it was pretty good.  Looking forward to finishing the other two books in this collection.

As you can tell, I do love to read.  It isn’t unusual for me to be reading several books at one time.   I love to mix the serious and fun books up.  This is the way I like to wind down and relax after a long day or, if I just want to take some time off.

What are you reading now?  What type of books do you like to read?

 

 

2013, family, , , , , , , ,

Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Athens, Sparta, Manasseh and The Powers of Mesopotamia

Written by Joy
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Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Athens, Sparta, Manasseh and The Powers of Mesopotamia

I am really enjoying the Wednesday’s Around the World link-up.  Not only do I love history and geography, it also helps hold me accountable for our lessons.  Athens, Sparta, Manasseh and The Powers of Mesopotamia is what we have studies this last week in our  Mystery of History: Volume 1 book.

We began reading about The Rise of Athens and Sparta.  Sparta was a very strong city-state.  They trained men, women and even children to do battle.  They didn’t allow people in and out of their city because they feared their neighbors.

Athens was also a large city-state, but they were a little different than the Spartans.  They enjoyed cultural things.  They loved the arts! The people of Athens enjoyed music, drama and were even known for their love of pottery.  They decorated the pottery they made with all sorts of designs.

For our activity, we were to draw a design of our own on a piece of pottery.  I could not find a terra-cotta clay pot, but did find some that were already painted a solid color and fired.  I let the kids choose their color of pot and they also decided to use colored permanent marker instead of a black marker.  I love my kids imaginations!

Claire choosing her colors

Once they chose their pot and markers, they started drawing their designs.

being creative and making their own designs

Claire and Samuel both decided to draw trees and flowers on their pots.

finished pottery designs

The finished products turned out great!

Next we read about King Menessah, the son of Hezekiah.  We learned that he was nothing like his father.  He was a very bad and evil king.  The sins he committed were horrible, including using the Temple that Solomon built as a place for God, and he put his own idols to worship, in there.

We also see a change though after 22 years.  King Manasseh was captured by the Assyrian Army and taken to Babylon in hooks and chains.  While he was in prison, Kind Manasseh began to pray!  He really prayed to God.  God heard his prayers and forgave him.  Once King Manasseh was released, he spent the rest of his life trying to fix all that he did wrong.  He tried to turn his kingdom around for God.

The next lesson we studied was about “The Powers of Mesopotamia”.  Two groups, the Assyrians and the Babylonians were in Mesopotamia.  They were very similar to Sparta and Athens.  How?  The Assyyrians were like Spartans.  They didn’t trust anyone, and were very war-like.  They were terrifying to other places around them.  The Babylonians were similar to the Athenians.  They were very educated in math.  In fact, they created several things that we still use today!  The number of minutes in an hour and the number of degrees in a circle!  It is so amazing at how smart these people were with the little they had!

Now it is your turn to link up and share what all you have been learning about in history and geography!


****disclaimer~ This link-up is not officially affiliated with Bright Ideas Press but is my own project. I am a customer and fan.  This post also contains affiliate links.

 

2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World, , , , , , , , ,

Rocky Mountain National Park ~ field trip

Written by Joy
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Rocky Mountain National Park ~ field trip

One of our favorite things to do as a family is to do field trips and go riding around our area to look for new things to do.   We love to have our own little adventures. Recently, we rode to Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park.     Estes Park was having a winter festival with lots of games, chili and a mac-n-cheese cook-off’s and music.  There were also a lot of vendors peddling their homemade wares.  We truly had a wonderful time.  It was quite cool though, the wind was blowing a lot.  We decided that we would leave and ride around a bit before it got too dark.

Rocky Mountains National Park

Once we left the festival, we realized that a Rocky Mountain National Park entrance was right around the corner from where we were at.  We decided to buy an annual pass to the park so that we can explore more of it later.  I can’t wait until it warms up and we can go hiking on some of the trails.

Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park

As we passed through the entrance, the scenery was just beautiful.  We even spotted a herd of elk just off the road.  Of course it was easy to see considering there were about 10 other vehicles pulled off and stopped in the road.  We joined right in to watch the gorgeous creatures.

Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park

The elk just stood there and continued to eat.  Every now and then, one would look up and around to see if they were still being watched.

Herd of Elk

There were two elk that decided to start head butting each other.  Those pictures didn’t turn out well.  You could definitely tell one was an older elk putting a younger else in his place!

Elk running down the road

As we left the herd of elk and continued on down the road, we saw an elk running beside the road.  God’s creatures are so amazing!

Sun setting on the Rocky Mountain National Park

As we continue on the small loop, the sun was starting to set.  The clouds were just gorgeous.  God sure does know how to paint the sky!

cool clouds over the Rocky Mountains

We were on just a small loop of the Rocky Mountain National Park.  We decided to just take this small loop since it was getting dark.

beautiful sunset over the Rocky Mountains

Riding around on adventures like this is a favorite pastime for our family.  It is time we get to explore God’s creations and a time we get to spend with one another.

I am linking up with Tonya over at The Traveling Praters for Best of the USA Blog Hop.  I can’t wait to see all the places highlighted in this blog hop!  I hope you will go visit the others who have link-up!

2013, family, homeschooling, , , , ,

Teaching Creation Thursday ~ Noah’s Ark and The Flood

Written by Joy
Teaching Creation Thursday ~ Noah’s Ark and The Flood

This weeks Teaching Creation Thursdays is brought to you by Dr. Derek P. Blake.  He is sharing with us his thoughts and a story on Noah and The Flood.

The story of Noah’s Ark and The Flood has always fascinated me.  It is a story of righteousness, redemption, and also a story of destruction and the result of sin. It isn’t just a cute little story of a man building a boat and saving animals by having two of every kind come on the boat while it rained a little bit.

Indeed, it is a real story about a real, righteous man who found favor with God. It is a story about a man who obeyed, and did that, which in the eyes of worldly wisdom was nonsensical. Through his obedience God saved this one family who truly loved Him, as well as a remnant of animals to start fresh on earth.  Yet also, it is a story of sin, and the result of sin: death. A lot of people and animals died because of the wickedness of mankind.

 

Stop by Teaching Creation Thursday on Creation Conversations.  What do you think about Noah’s Ark and The Flood?

2013, Creation, homeschooling, , , , ,

Teaching Creation Thursdays~ How Dating Methods Work

Written by Joy
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Teaching Creation Thursdays~ How Dating Methods Work

This week, for Teaching Creation Thursdays, we are sharing information on how dating methods work.  This information is from Tas Walker.  I must say, I have always been fascinated about some of the dates that some scientists come up with.  It just amazes me that some think that the earth and anything on it can be millions of years old.  How do they come up with these numbers?  It all comes down to one thing.  Man! Scientists have to make several assumptions in order to calculate the numbers they come up with. Can these assumptions be wrong? Of course they can! Read on as Dr. Tas Walker explains the flaws in dating methods.

So how do they figure out how old things are?  Stop by Teaching Creation Thursdays at Creative Conversations to see how dating methods work!

 

2013, Creation, , , ,