After Four Months...

...I've finished it!! Though I didn't read it faithfully, I really did enjoy this book - I learned a lot about Ike (even wrote a short story about him...it'll be on the writing blog someday. ;-), as well as a bunch on WWII. Still, I'm glad to be on to other books...=) 

Bookshelves...

Matthew and Hensie organizing and putting books away right after moving the family room upstairs. 

The New-ies

I considered titling this post "The News" but that wouldn't work. I'd have you all thinking that I was going to announce something big (like perhaps the reason for my absence from the internet world. The reason? Well, um, busy-ness. Guests. Nieces. Reading. Dishes. Aerobics. House-cleaning. Going through our crocheting stuff, sewing stuff, and hope chests. Baking bread and cookies. CH Chorlae music. Life.).  

 

Anyway, on with the post. Daddy bought a new family computer since the old one was getting on in years and was slowing down with all the stuff we had on it. Once he unloaded all the stuff, he gave it to me for writing. It fits great(ly? didn't want to say perfectly) on the desk, though it kicks the mirror out of business. (No need to worry, though. We've got three other mirrors in our room and two more in the next, and still another in the next room, so we can still see ourselves. =P)

When we were up in Lynden, Hannah McD. and Krista gave me this quilt for a late Christmas gift! I love it!! (Thank you bunches, girls!! Did I tell you that green is my new favorite color? =) I think it goes nicely with the dark-wood bed. (Notice that adorable little dog by the pillow - his name is Lavey-Rob. Stop laughing. He's stuffed with fluff and lavender - Lavey - and Matthew said he looked like Rob.) 

Krissy also gave me this plaque. I love it, Kris!! =)

When Grandma and Grandpa were here last week, they brought Aunt Diane's old hope chest for one of us girls. Hensie was the next in line, so she got it! =)

Filled with her favorite books! =)

Books and Our Room

(Sorry the picture is grainy. With the light from the window, I can't seem to get a good-colored picture. So if you really want to see how it looks, you'll have to come and visit us! =) When we were up in Lynden, Grandpa Bob (Mrs. Weese's father) gave us two of these heaters. Momma has one is her room and we claimed the other one. We love it! It's wonderful to curl up in front of it with a book (sometimes, it's a little tight, since lots of people like to sit up close =) and read for hours while totally spoiling ourselves. Thank you so much, Grandpa Bob! 

This bookshelf has been bothering me so quite some time. If you take one book off, the rest are like dominoes and go flying behind the bed. So, yesterday, I bought bookends. This is the before picture...

...And this is after! (You can tell that first picture was taken a while ago, as a lot of the books have been switched!  =) 

I've had some cheap bookends before that didn't hold the books up and my bookshelf ended up looking like a fan, but not so with these! They're nice and sturdy! 

While taking pictures of the new stuff in our room, I thought I'd show you a couple random photos of the room. This is the top of our bookshelf.

To the side of the bookshelf is this stack of Phil's books that can't fit with the rest of the books. We're working our way (slowly ;-) through this stack. 

The bookshelf. 

The color didn't turn out very nicely on this picture. =/

New Books!

Last year (okay, December 29, at ten o'clock, right before the New Year in Texas) Hensie and I bought these two books from Vision Forum. Krista, Laura, and other ladies have read "Large Family Logistics" and have spoken highly of it, so when it was on sale for somewhere around ten dollars (50 % off!), I had to buy it! And Hensie has been wanting "To Have and To Hold" for a while, so was excited to see that it also was around 50 % off!

Next Book on my Reading List - Ike the Soldior: As They Knew Him

When I pulled this book off the bookshelf, I was so shocked (and horrified) at the size, but was a little comforted to find that although the ruler says two and a half inches thick, there is about a quarter inch of stuff that I won't read at the end (appendixes, and lists on names, numbers, and dates that are only understandable to the author.) And, the pages are deceitfully thick and the font is large (not LARGE, but bigger than normal. =) Even so, I wonder how long it'll take me to chew through this book (and I wonder if it'll be so dry I could crumble it in my fingers.)

Thankfully, this isn't my only diet of books - I do have dessert for a little washing out the bad taste in my mouth after each chapter - Louis L'Amour books, "Treasures  of the Snow", and "Jenny's War" (Which I just started reading with Lydia the other night.)

Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson

FINISHED!!! Yesterday, after about three months of reading, I completed this everything-you-need-to-know-about-house-keeping packed book! I have learned a lot and am very glad I took the time to read this thick book! (I won't write up a review about this book, since I've already posted that here.)

The New Answers Book 1 by Ken Ham

....Finished!! This is an amazing book - packed full of Biblical answers concerning evolution, creation and (almost) everything between. (If you want to get EVERYTHING in between, you'll need to buy the second and third books as well. ;-) Some on the questions this book answers are-

-Is there really a God?
-Why shouldn't Christians accept millions of years?
-Cain's Wife- who was she?
-What really happened to the dinosaurs?
-Why does God's creation include death and suffering?
-And much more!!

I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot! I can't wait to read the next one - The New Answers Book 2! =)

Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson

I've been having fun trying out different tips and ideas from "Home Comforts". It's a hard book to read through, but I'm so glad that I am taking the time to do so! I'm now about 2/3 of the way through. I've learned a lot about food, food safety, cleaning the kitchen/washing dishes, cloth, how to launder practically everything, stains and how to remove them, cleanliness, how to dust, vacuum, sweep, mop, clean anything, and so much more! This is a GREAT book for all homemakers!

Here are a couple ideas I've tried -

I mopped the kitchen floor on my hands and knees. The pros - the floor gets way cleaner and it's great exercise! The cons - "homemaker's knee" and it takes a bit longer than mopping with a mop. It's not something that I'll want to do every day of even every week. Just when the floors are really dirty. =)

To get rid of mineral build-up around faucets - wrap a rag soaked in vinegar around the faucet handles and let sit for about an hour. It worked moderately well, taking care of two smaller stains, but not the stubborn one. =/

I've also improved my sweeping and mopping, washing dishes, and how I handle chemicals like ammonia and bleach, changed my views about vinegar and soda, and I've got some great ideas about how to launder, what soaps and chemicals, etc.

Although the book looks daunting, being about three inches thick, it's definitely worth your time! It is a great reference book, too. Every homemaker should own one! (Thank you so much for giving it to me, Weese family!!)

-Susi

My Favorite Shelf

While we were still in Lynden, Daddy hung this shelf above my bed.I filled it with mostly mine and a couple of Phil's WWII books. Every time I look up there, I get inspired and want to write more in my story. =)

New Books!

The last two days I've gone to Second Chance, our favorite second hand store, I found seven really neat looking WWII books. I'm really excited to read them! (The price tags have to stay on the books 'til I get back home and can record how much I spent. =)

The Joys of Being a Flibbity-Ibbity-Jibbet Like Me

Before kissing most of my books goodbye, I left out three titles, thinking "I won't be able to read all three of these long, boring books before we get settled into our new house." I was reading at the time (Well, ahem, I still am reading it. Jane Fairfax would have finished it before now, right?=P) a book called "Stories from English History." It's not too bad. Fourth grade history book from 1901, I can handle that...right. I stopped reading it a little past the half way point when I found The Wall series at the library. Then, I got Anne of the Island, the third book in the Anne of Green Gables series. Then, I went second hand shopping and picked up two Louis L'Amour books and Anne Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl (FYI, I'm reading this book with a black pen in my hand.=) Then, Momma bought a book on William Tyndale that's really interesting. I'm now intensely engaged in three of those books, the second book in the Wall Series, Anne of the Island and Anne Frank. Then, I look over to a forgotten dust pile in the corner of my room and see that history book. Great. I need to finish that book before I keep on reading those other ones. My reading schedule is way out of whack. Oh well. Everything is supposed to turn upside down when one is moving, so why not my reading schedule?

The Wall Series by Robert Elmer

In my previous post, I mentioned getting these books at the library. I read the first book in two hours last night, then started the second, and finished it this morning. I'm half way through the third now.

It's after WWII and east Germany has been taken over by the Russians. Thirteen-year-old Erich is trying to find food for his mother and Oma. His search leads him to a mystery his father left, a strange Christian American reporter soldier, dropping candy "bombs", and hair-raising escapes.

(Okay, the cover, as well as the title, make this book look weird, but don't judge a book by it's cover!=) Amazon description - Berlin, August 1961. Sabine lives in a cramped apartment with her grandmother, mother, and older half-brother, Erich, in East Berlin where neighbors spy on each other, books are forbidden, and sometimes people disappear in the middle of the night...to the west. When Sabine discovers a forgotten underground bunker, she first uses it to escape her crowded home. After the Soviets build a barrier through the middle of Berlin, Sabine thinks of a new use for the Bunker. Could it take her family under the Wall to freedom? Or are their lives in more danger than ever?

Amazon Description - Berlin, spring 1989. Life is good in West Germany, and even the Cold War seems to be thawing in the warmer weather. As Liesl works on a class project about the history of the wall, she stumbles onto a startling secret no one will talk about. Will she ever learn the whole story? FYI There's one part in this book where the boy is disrespectful to his father.

Old Books

Today, the museum had an rummage sale and our family trooped over there for some good deals. We bought glass milk jars, canning jars, books, and little odds and ends. The books were a dollar each, or twenty for ten dollars! I found sixteen books - most were history, as well as westerns, two books on shorthand writing, an advanced arthritic book, and a fourth grade school reader.

Book Completion: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich by Eric Metaxas

Yesterday, after about a month of reading this book, I finally finished it! It did get tedious at times, but I learned a lot and am now very excited to do more reading on WWII!

''In Hitler's Germany, a Lutheran pastor chooses resistance and pays with his life. . . Eric Metaxas tells Bonhoeffer's story with passion and theological sophistication, often challenging revisionist accounts that make Bonhoeffer out to be a 'humanist' or ethicist for whom religious doctrine was easily disposable. . . Metaxas reminds us that there are forms of religion -- respectable, domesticated, timid -- that may end up doing the devil's work for him. --Wall Street Journal

''In this weighty, riveting analysis of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Metaxas offers a comprehensive review of one of history's darkest eras, along with a fascinating exploration of the familial, cultural, and religious influences that formed one of the world's greatest contemporary theologians. A passionate narrative voice combines with meticulous research. . . Abundant source documentation brings to life the personalities and experiences that shaped Bonhoeffer. Insightful and illuminating, this tome makes a powerful contribution to biography, history, and theology.'' --Publishers Weekly

''A welcome new biography of one of the twentieth century's leading lights. Metaxas magnificently captures the life of theologian and anti-Nazi activist Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), who 'thought it the plain duty of the Christian-and the privilege and honor-to suffer with those who suffered.' In the finest treatment of the man since Eberhard Bethge's Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Man of Vision, Man of Courage (1970), Metaxas presents a complete, accessible picture of this important figure, whose story is inspiring, instructive, and international in scope. . . Metaxas rightly focuses on his subject's life, not his theology, though readers will learn plenty about his theology as well. The author makes liberal use of primary sources, which bring Bonhoeffer and other characters to vivid life. For the most part, Metaxas allows this epic story to play itself out, unhindered by commentary; where he does add his own voice, the conclusions are sage. A definitive Bonhoeffer biography for the twenty-first century.'' --Kirkus Reviews

Hello Everyone!

I thought I'd do a post about what I've been up to!

Well, I've been busy with a lot of school - math, teaching history and reading. I've found that I actually enjoy doing all three! I've been teaching Matthew, Joe, and Lydia history. We just passed Christopher Columbus.

I've also been busy with piano. A couple weeks ago, I did theory testing. Now I'm working toward adjudication. After that, the recital. I'm really enjoying piano and a candy bar for every 500 minutes of practice is a great way to get your students to practice.;-)

I've been working my way through the book "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: a Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich." I thought I knew a lot about Nazis, Hitler, etc., but, really I don't! Just reading this made me absolutely disgusted with Hitler and his Nazis. It's a great book, but it takes perseverance to read, since it's about two inches thick. I'm just barely scratching the half-way point.

What have you been up to?

Viking Quest

A couple months back, Krista told me about the series Viking Quest series by Lois Walfrid Johnson. I got the books from the library and loved them! They were at the top of my wish list and Hannah bought them for me for Christmas. The other day, I started reading them to Matthew and now he loves them!

In one harrowing day, Viking raiders capture Bree and her brother Devin and take them from their home in Ireland. After Mikkel, the young Viking prince, sets Devin free on the Irish coast far from home, Bree and Devin embark on separate journeys to courage. Readers will be captivated by the unfolding drama as Bree sails to Norway on the Viking ship and as Devin travels the dangerous road home. Historical focus on 10th century Ireland and Norway makes Viking Quest a great learning tool for homeschool and Christian school classrooms. Series will include Leif Erikssonís voyage to America. Series teaches that if we ask God for help, He is with us in whatever we face. Strong male and female characters practice biblical values despite dangerous situations and the opposition of a pagan religion. Stories and characters will appeal to tween girls and boys. Perfect for family read-aloud times

Kirsten Story Collection

Lydia and I have been reading the American Girl book, Kristen Larson's Story Collection. It's about a Swedish girl who, with her family immigrate to America in 1854. It was originally written in 6 books - Meet Kirsten, Kirsten Learns a Lesson, Kirsten's Surprise, Happy Birthday, Kirsten!, Kirsten Saves the Day, and Changes For Kirsten. These books are perfect for Lydia, not being too scary, but with enough excitement to keep her mind from wandering.

In Meet Kirsten, Kirsten and her make make the difficult journey from Sweden to begin a new life on the Minnesota frontier.

Book 2, Kirsten Learns a Lesson (picture)

Kirsten must learn English at school. She learns an important lesson from her secret Indian friend, too.

In Kirsten's Surprise,

Kirsten and her Papa travel to town to get their trunk from Sweden. Their errand turns into a terrifying trip.

Happy Birthday, Kirsten!

After taking care of Mama and the new baby, Kirsten gets a birthday surprise during the Larsons' barn raising.

Book 5, Kirsten Saves The Day Kirsten and Peter find honey in the woods, but their discovery leads to a dangerous adventure.

In Changes For Kirsten a raccoon causes a disaster for the Larsons, but Kirsten and Lars find a treasure that means better times.

A picture from Kirsten's Surprise

Happy Trails

A little while ago, our dear friend Emily Clark gave us girls Happy Trails: The Story of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. We were very excited to start reading, but, as Hannah would say, it's unethical to start reading another book when you're already loaded down with five other books. But a couple nights ago, I finally picked it up and started reading. And I couldn't put it down! I read with a flashlight until 2:30 that night, and then read it all the next day, and finished it yesterday morning. The book, by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, with Carlton Stowers, is written in three parts: part one: King of the Cowboys written by Roy; part two: Queen of the West written by Dale; and part three: Partners with both Roy and Dale writing. I've read a book by Dale telling her story, so I knew most of what was said about her, but I did learn a lot I didn't know about Roy. One particular thing that stood out to me was, in part one, King of the Cowboys, as Roy was writing, he didn't say anything about being so famous. When Carlton Stowers would write sections, he said that there were more fan clubs in the United States and even in others countries than any other celebrity in American history. I better not say any more if you're all going to go out and read this book.=) Thank you so much, Em! I've really enjoyed this book and I know Hannah is, too!

The Young Underground Series by Robert Elmer

Several years ago, my cousin introduced these very interesting adventure books to us. My older siblings gobbled them up, but, I was a lot younger then, and when Hannah read them to me, I was rather bored. Recently, I decided to start reading with Matthew, and we read Adventures Down Under (also by Robert Elmer) and then we started reading The Young Underground series. Both Matthew and I were enthralled as we read A Way Through the Sea, Beyond the River, Into the Flames, Far From the Storm, A Light in the Castle, Follow the Star, and Touch the Sky.

The books are about twins Peter and Elise Anderson, two Danish children growing up in Occupied Denmark during World War Two. Each book is unique, exciting, and adventurous, as they unfold thrilling tales of the war, hiding a downed English pilot, working in the underground, being arrested in a Nazi prison, imprisoned on a renegade Nazi submarine, meeting the king of Denmark, and much much more!

These books are currently out of print, but they are available on Amazon and are at the Lynden library.

Also, some other great series by Robert Elmer are Adventures Down Under and Adventures in Zion.