Wednesdays with Words (Being Flexible)

 

Every year I make a schedule out, and every year even when I leave a little room in the schedule something always seems to come up and mess it up. For the last four years my kids have attended an convention where Christian school and homeschool kids come from around the Northwest and compete in academic events, speaking events, music, art, sports, and photography.

That time is soon approaching (a whole month earlier than last year) and we are now in a mad race to get finished. Chantry is working on polishing up his poem and he will also be preaching along with photography and a science project. Destini is working hard to complete a cross-stitch project and still wants to sew a quilt and a few other things that have been put on hold. Cross-stitch is the big focus right now.

Needless to say I had to decide to set aside academics for now while we focus on these projects, because in the long run I know these are important skills for them to know and have. I randomly picked a book on my Kindle, The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Daylight by Heidi St. John for one of my Nightstand picks for March and I must say it has been a refreshing read--not deep, but it like a breath of fresh air.

Here are a few things that I found encouraging for this season that I'm in right now.

The key to successful planning is understanding that even the best plans need to be flexible. Successful homeschoolers plan for the seasons of life. 

The ability to flex with life is what most successful homeschool moms have in common. 

Right now I am attempting to be flexible as we have set academics aside (but not read-alouds!)and when the competition is over we will pick up where we left off. I admit I'm a little nervous about getting everything done before June (my brain stops working in June), but this is where I am going to rely on God to help me to focus on what is important and let the little things go as we complete our school year.

Wednesdays with Words (Penrod - Part 3)

 

 

We just finished our current read-aloud, Penrod by Booth Tarkington, tonight. Have your kids ever watched a film that made them run from the room because they can't bear to watch what is about to happen? Well, Penrod has my kids doing the same thing. If they are not running from the room they are hollering or plugging their ears! And yes, they are 12 and 15 years old. I consider this a good sign since I have felt the need to do the same a time or two! Needless to say, Penrod is quite the character. Here is one more of his escapades.

He sighed, and took from the inside pocket of his new jacket the "sling-shot" aunt Sarah Crim had given him that morning. 

He snapped the rubbers absently. They held fast; and his next impulse was entirely irresistible. He found a shapely stone, fitted it to the leather, and drew back the ancient catapult for a shot. A sparrow hopped upon a branch between him and the house, and he aimed at the sparrow, but the reflection from the dazzling window struck in his eyes as he loosed the leather. 

He missed the sparrow, but not the window. There was a loud crash, and to his horror he caught a glimpse of his father, stricken in mid-shaving, ducking a shower of broken glass, glittering razor flourishing wildly. Words crashed with the glass, stentorian words, fragmentary but collossal.

Now I'm off to order the next book, Penrod and Sam .

Check out my other Wednesdays with Words posts from Penrod:
Penrod - Part 1
Penrod - Part 2

Wednesdays with Word (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life)

I don't know if I should admit this, but I read in the bathroom. Hey, there is peace and quiet and what more can a mom crave? So my new bathroom read, if I would call it that, is Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney. 

I was a little leery to read this since I thought it was going to be a heavy read. Years ago I attempted to read Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline and didn't meet with much success--not that it wasn't good just deep. Anyway, that has not been the case so far with Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. So far it is very readable and practical.

  

My quote comes from Chapter 2 which talks about the importance of reading your Bible every day which takes discipline and motivation. 

Discipline yourself to find the time. Try to make it the same time every day. Try to make it a time other than just before you go to sleep. There's value in reading the Bible just before you drop off, but if this is the only time you read Scripture then you should try to find another time. There are at least two reasons for this. First, you will retain very little of what you read when you're so tired and sleepy. And second, if you're like me, you probably do very little evil in your sleep. You need to encounter Christ in the Scriptures when it will still have an impact on your day.

Read-Aloud Thursday: The Big Six by Arthur Ransome

I am getting this posted late. I have tried for the last two months to get this post finished and for some reason or other it never happens. Last month I am sure I started to write this post, but when I went looking for it, lo and behold, it was gone! I guess I must have written it in my mind and forgot to record it. Without further ado here it is:

 

Plunge into the Norfolk Broads as the D's join up with the Coot Club once again, this time to solve a very baffling crime. 'Why shouldn't we be detectives too?' 

When Dick and Dorothea arrive in the Norfolk Broads all set for a blissful summer on the river, they find their friends the Death and Glories in a very bad situation. Accused of setting boats adrift, sabotage and theft, the boys are under suspicion by everyone on the river. And in the meantime, the real culprits are still at large. There's no choice but to form a crime-busting team: The Big Six. As the evidence stacks against them, can they solve the mystery and trap the real criminals?

The Big Six by Arthur Ransome is the 9th book in the Swallows and Amazons Series. In The Big Six we meet up with all the characters from The Coot Club (review). I will admit that my kids have liked the books that feature the "Swallows and Amazons" better than "The D's" (Dick & Dorothea) though they did admit that The Coot Club ended up being a good story in the end. Ransome has a tendency to get off to a slow start in his books, but not so in The Big Six. This story caught my kids attention right away. They kept begging me to read for more to see when justice would finally be served, which took awhile!

As always Arthur Ransome does a fine job of making the story suspenseful with amateur detectives, sailing, and fishing, yet he keeps it loaded with a good deal of humor and keeps you laughing throughout. Another highly recommended book!

Other's we have read:

• Swallows and Amazons
• Swallowdale
• Peter Duck
• Winter Holiday
• Coot Club 
• Pigeon Post  
• We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea 
• Secret Water
• The Big Six
• Missee Lee

 See what others are reading aloud over at Hope is the Word.

Wednesdays with Words (Penrod - Part 2)

We are still reading aloud Penrod by Booth Tarkington. Tarkington loves big words which I am tripping my way through, but I have a new problem--laughter!! Oh my, Penrod is so naughty, but so funny!

 

The serious poetry of all languages has omitted the little brother; and yet he is one of the great trials of love--the immemorial burden of courtship. Tragedy should have found place for him, but he has been left to the haphazard vignettist of Grub Street. He is the grave and real menace of lovers; his head is sacred and terrible, his power illimitable. There is one way--only one--to deal with him; but Robert Williams, having a brother of Penrod's age, understood that way.

Robert had one dollar in the world. He gave it to Penrod immediately.

Enslaved forever, the new Rockefeller rose and went forth upon the highway, an overflowing heart bursting the floodgates of song. (p. 161)

And from this point Penrod is off on another adventure!

What's On Your Nightstand - February

I had a very successful reading month for February. I would love to follow this routine every month, but alas, my life has way too many of moments of busyness!

For March:

From January's Nightstand I read:

• Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - Excellent read. There is something in here for every woman. Highly recommended!!
• The Nesting Place: It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful by Myquillyn Smith - Another excellent read. Are you trying to have the perfect home? Then you need to read this book. She helps you set aside your perfections that are keeping you from having a beautiful home. Now I just need to apply them!
• The Picts & the Martyrs (Swallows & Amazons) by Arthur Ransome - A read-aloud with the kids. There is one more in the series that we haven't read, but it has not been re-published yet so now we get to wait.
• The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen - I know many people really like this book, but I am not one of them. If you're going to write historical romance (emphasis on historical) then make sure that the characters act like they are living in the historical period. I see this all the time. Books set in the 19th century with the main characters living like it is the 21st century.
• Third Girl (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) by Agatha Christie - I am almost finished with this series. I can honestly say I haven't really cared for these last few books. Christie's modern settings are quite jarring. 

I also read:

• Deepest Roots of the Heart (Legacy of the Vines) by Chautona Havig - This was an okay book. I prefer Christian fiction mainly because I want a clean read. Books dealing with theological problems annoy me, especially when the author forget by the end of the book that they had a theological problem. Not that I cared what happened, but there might be someone who does!
• Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey - A very different read compared to Tey's Inspector Grant series. There was a lot about this story that I liked, but I struggle with stories where the main character ends up being judge and jury.
• Let Us Pray by Watchman Nee - The first book off of my 2015 Reading Goals list. I have owned this book for years and I believe it was the author was highly recommended to me. Not a favorite read, but there were a few points here and there worth reading.

I listened to:

• So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger - I was in need in an audio book and this one available and since I have read many good reviews about it I downloaded it. A very enjoyable read.
• Jayber Crow by Wendall Berry - I am going to go out on a branch and just state right now that Wendall Berry is not a favorite author of mine. Yes, he does write beautiful descriptions. Yes, he does have a way with words. Yes, his stories are compelling--to a point and then they get depressingly sad. This is my second Berry book and I don't think I can handle any more. In other words--he is not my cup of tea. If you find my words offensive I am very sorry.

See what others have read over at 5 Minutes for Books.

Wednesdays with Words (Deepest Roots of the Heart)

I just finished reading Deepest Roots of the Heart by Chautona Havig. I wasn't too impressed with the story, but I absolutely loved this thought about New Year's resolutions.

"The pruning comes at the New Year as a reminder to cut away the dead and useless from our life in order that we can grow and flourish as we were intended." How many times had his father or grandfather said those words as they walked the vines on New Year's Day? Resolutions were not about what new things would become a part of their lives in the coming months but about what old things were no longer profitable for their physical, spiritual, intellectual, or emotional health. p. 173