Turning the Pages: 2014

This year's list of books I've read seemed long in August, but then I went several months without reading much at all. I love reading on my Kindle since that means I can read at night without bothering Allen with the lamp; lots of the books I read were on Kindle. In spring I read several books with Ben, Maddie, and Jon while we home schooled, and there were many Will asked me to read with him. I still love to read but some seasons I'm more interested than others.

Books I read with my kids are highlighted orange
Non-fiction books are written in blue

January
1. The Profiler's Daughter (P.M. Steffen) - Kindle
2. Irreparable Harm (Melissa F. Miller) - Kindle
3. George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol's Orphans (Janet and Geoff Benge)
4. Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and Whole-Foods Lifestyle (Diane Sanfilippo) - Kindle
5. Theodore Boone: The Abduction (John Grisham) - with Will

February
6. Private Games (James Patterson and Mark Sullivan)
7. Strawberry Girl (Lois Lewanski)- with Ben, Maddie, and Jon
8. Little Pear (Eleanor Frances Lattimore) - with Ben, Maddie, and Jon
9. Spiritual Leadership (J. Oswald Sanders)

March
10. Secret Adversary (Agatha Christie) - Kindle
11. Listening to Crickets: A Story About Rachel Carson (Candice F. Ransom)
12. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum) - audio book with family


April
13. Flesh (Hugh Haltar) - Kindle
14. Detectives in Togas (Henry Winterfield) - with Ben, Maddie, and Jon
15. Private Games (James Patterson and Mark Sullivan)
16. Jack and Jill (James Patterson)
17. The Gauguin Connection (Esther Ryan) - Kindle
18. Pursuit of God (A.W. Tozer)
19. An Invisible Thread (Laura Schroff)

May
20. Rich in Love: When God Rescues Messy People (Irene Garcia) - Kindle
21. Louisiana Longshot (Jana DeLeon) - Kindle
22. Taboo (Casey Hill) - Kindle

23. Inferno (Casey Hill) - Kindle
24. The Adventures of Robin Hood (Roger Green) - with Ben, Maddie, and Jon
25. Hidden (Casey Hill) - Kindle

June
26. Deadly Stillwater (Roger Stelljes) - Kindle
27. First Case (Roger Stelljes) - Kindle
28. S.H.A.P.E.: Finding and Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life (Erik Rees)

29. St. Paul Conspiracy (Roger Stelljes) - Kindle
30. Electing to Murder (Roger Stelljes) - Kindle
31. Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids (Kara E. Powell and Chap Clark)
32. Our Best Tomorrow: Students Teaching Capitalism in America (Lauren Hudson and Robert D. Hudson)
33. Fatally Bound (Roger Stelljes) - Kindle
34. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning (Lemony Snicket) - with Will
35. The Road (Cormac McCarthy)

July
36. A Touch of Deceit (Gary Ponzo) - Kindle
37. Russian Hill (Ty Hutchinson) - Kindle
38. Look for Me (Traci Hohenstein) - Kindle
39. The Last Horseman (Frank Zafiro) - Kindle
40. The Diplomat (Ethan Jones) - Kindle
41. The Recruiter (Dani Amore) - Kindle
42. Mark Taylor: Genesis (M.P. McDonald) - Kindle
43. In the Shadow of El Paso (Frank Zafiro) - Kindle
44. Don't Close Your Eyes (Lawrence Kelter) - Kindle
45. The Girl with the Pearl Earring (Traci Chevalier)

August
46. The Practice of the Presence of God (Brother Lawrence) - Kindle
47. Quicksilver (Toni Dwiggins) - Kindle
48. Least Wanted (Debbi Mack) - Kindle
49. PBL In the Elementary Grades (Sara Hallermann, John Larmer, John Mergendoller) - Kindle
50. Teach Like a Pirate (David Burgess) - Kindle
51. Absence of Light (Zoe Sharp) - Kindle
52. Deadly Aim (Patricia H. Rushford) - Kindle


September
53. Saving Grace (Pamela Fagan Hutchins) - Kindle
54. Back on Murder (J. Mark Bertrand) - Kindle
55. A Reason to Live (Matthew Iden) - Kindle
56. Murder On the Mind (L.L.Bartlett) - Kindle
57. Creating Art at the Speed of Life (Pam Carriker)
58. The One You Love (Paul Pilkington) - Kindle

October
59. Chop Chop (L.N.Cronk) - Kindle
60. Day Day (L.N. Cronk)  - Kindle
61. Nora Roberts Land (Ava Mills) - Kindle
62. Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Chris Graberntein) - with Will

November
63. Letters of a Woman Homesteader (Elinore Pruitt Stewart) - Kindle
64. Praying for Boys: Asking God for the Things They Need Most (Brooke McGlothlin and Cliff Graham) - Kindle

December
65. Black Coffee (Agatha Christie)
66. Death on the Nile (Agatha Christie)
67. Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)
68. I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced (Nujood Ali)
69. Hearts of Fire: Eight Women in the Underground Church and Their Stories of Costly Faith (The Voice of the Martyrs)
70. Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity (Jen Hatmaker)

Christmas Morning -- a bit TOO early

What a happy and busy day Christmas was! The kids were told not to get up until 6:30am, but we first started hearing them at 4:00am. That time, we sent Maddie and Jon back to bed. I got up at 4:30 because I hadn't gotten back to sleep, and Will was trying to sneak down -- we scared each other. I got the casserole out of the fridge and went back to bed. At 5:15am, I went up to tell Ben and Jon to get back in their beds and quit playing in Maddie's room. Around 6:15, I finally fell asleep... but not for long.

Randy and Shelley arrived around 8:00, just as the casserole and monkey bread were coming out of the oven. We enjoyed breakfast, clean up the kitchen, then started opening gifts. In our home, we MIGHT be a bit TOO structured, but it works for us. With very few exceptions (usually only when we know the kids are opening the same thing) we open gifts one person opening one gift at a time. When the torn paper is put in the trash, we move to the next person and gift. Usually Allen passes gifts out while I snap photos and keep the list of who gets what from whom. Very. Orderly. :)

With all that order, we were opening gifts all morning.

As we've done before, the six of us drew names for gifting.Will gave Ben a Calvin and Hobbes book and an "adopt-an-alien" kit; and Ben gave Will a laser maze game. Will picked a great book for Ben -- once he began reading, he didn't stop!

Maddie gave Allen a hatchet.

Allen gave Jon a take-apart puzzle and a book of word searches and other games.

Jon gave me a mixed-media art kit with some tablets.

I gave Maddie a tent and camp set for her dolls.

The kids (and adults)  got a LOT of gifts that made them really happy -- some they asked for, some were surprises. All of them got lots of great books, handmade scarves, and Western boots. The boys all got Nerf guns, fishing poles, and fishing gear; Maddie got doll accessories (loft with desk, pet dog, chair, and more), a sewing kit, and several craft kits. Allen got me some nice wooden kitchen chairs that took him most of the afternoon to assemble, but he got to use the new cordless drill I got for him. It really was a fun day, but by mid-afternoon, I was exhausted. We ended the day a bit early after a couple rounds of Twister.

Preparing for the Celebration

Christmas carols on the radio all. day. long.
A long -- really long -- grocery list
Allen and the boys went to one grocery store for the specialty items
Sarah and Maddie went to another store for the rest of it
All arrived home about the same time.
Put away groceries
Maddie made an encouraging sign

Started cooking and cooked for 8 hours
Allen and Maddie made biscochitos

Ben chopped celery for the chowder

Sarah made ham and corn chowder for Christmas Eve

Jon and Will took pictures

Sarah made Christmas morning casserole with help from Maddie and Ben

Dutch butter cake
Chocolate cherry crumb bars
Egg nog cookies
Chewy ginger cookies

Allen heated tamales
Maddie's friend Rylie stayed and ate dinner with us
All sweets were taste-tested
More than once

Gingerbread Village

The last few years our family has really enjoyed building "gingerbread" houses. This year, about the time we were discussing when we would fit it in, Allen and I attended a work Christmas party and had a sitter stay with the kids. They were delighted that she brought along gingerbread houses to decorate. The craft wasn't as elaborate as we've done in the past, but it was just enough to let the kids have fun.

Will's

Jon's (rectangular):

Ben's

Maddie's

All together (the tent-shaped house is Holly's -- the sitter):