Turning The Pages: 2017

January

1. Thomas Jefferson Education (Oliver DeMille)

2. Thomas Jefferson Education For Teens and Every Adult Who Wants to Change the World (Oliver DeMille)

3. Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations (Alex Harris and Brett Harris)

4. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Mildred D. Taylor) - with BMJ

5. Almost 12 (Kenneth N. Taylor) - with BMJ 

February

6. King of the Mound: My Summer With Satchel Paige (Wes Tooke) - with BMJ

7. Number the Stars (Lois Lowry)

8. The River (Gary Paulsen) - with WBMJ

9. The View From Saturday (E.L.Konigsburg) - with WBMJ

10. The Winged Watchman (Hilda Van Stockum) - with BMJ

11. 15th Affair (James Patterson and Maxine Paetro)

12. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)

13. Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems - with BMJ

March

14. Out of the Dust (Karen Hesse) - with W

15. Miracles on Maple Hill (Virginia Sorensen) - with BMJ

16. The Second Mrs. Giaconda (E.L. Konisburg)

17. W is for Wasted (Sue Grafton)

18. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) - with W

19. The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (Bette Bao Lord) - with BMJ

April

20. General Butterfingers (Catharine Bowman Smith) - with BMJ

21. X (Sue Grafton)

22. The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had (Susan Wise Bauer)

23. Lights in a Dark Place (Rebecca Davis) - with BMJ

24.  Henri Matisse: Drawing with Scissors: Masterpieces from the Late Years

25.  The Children’s Book of American History – with BMJ

26.  In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson – with BMJ

27.  Every Soul a Star (Wendy Mass) – with BMJ

28.  Belay On (Boy Scouts of America)

May

29.  The Landmark History of the American People: From Charleston to the Moon, Volume II (Daniel and Ruth Boorstin) – with BMJ

30.  In Search of the Source (Neil Anderson & Hyatt Moore) – with BMJ

31.  The World Wars (Paul Dowswell and Ruth Brocklehurst) – with BMJ

32.  I Will Always Write Back (Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda) - with W

33.  The Summertime Survival Guide for Parents (Rebecca Kochenderfer)

34.  Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriett Beecher Stowe, audiobook)

35.  The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)

36.  Rescue the Captors (Russell Stendal)

37.  The Scent of Water (Elizabeth Goudge)

June

38.  The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Thorton Wilder)

39.  The Island of Dr. Libris (Chris Grabenstein, audiobook with WBMJ)

40.  Brian’s Return (Gary Paulsen, audiobook with WBMJ)

41.  Summer of the Gypsy Moths (Sara Pennypacker)

July

42.  The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins, audiobook)

August

43.  Mere Christianity (C. S. Lewis, with friends)

44.  Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Grace Lin) – with BMJ

September

45.  Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (Elizabeth Foreman Lewis) – with BMJ

46.  Hudson Taylor: God’s Adventurer (Phyllis Thompson) – with BM

47.  The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun (Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway)

October

48.  The Master Puppeteer (Katherine Paterson) – with BM

November

49.  I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade (Diane Wilson) – with B&M

50.  Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need for Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments (Richard J. Maybury and Jane A. Williams)– with WBMJ

51.  Breaking Stalin's Nose (Eugene Yelchin) - with BM

52. The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam (Quang Huynh and Vo-Dinh Mai) - with BM
53. Rickshaw Girl (Mitali Perkins and Jamie Hogan) - with BM
54. Teresa of Calcutta (D. Jeanene Watson and Louis H. Rock) - with BM

December 55. Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart (Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada) - with BMJ 
56. The Art Forger (BA Shapiro)
57. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) - with WBMJ
58. Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia (Jean Sasson)

Twelve Months

It has been twelve months since I last posted a family story. I did keep my reading list updated, but, overall, I've not blogged in a year.

I've been busy. 

I've been distracted. 

I've been overwhelmed. 

I've been avoiding writing.

Though we started the 2015-16 school year homeschooling only Will and Ben, we brought Maddie home in January, and Jon in the middle of February. Every time I thought about blogging, I was overwhelmed with all the unfinished tasks at home...

Shadow died a bit more than a year ago, and every time I sat down to consider blogging, I was overwhelmed with sadness... 

Will and I went to Uganda a year ago, and every time I considered blogging, I was overwhelmed with how many stories I had not written...

It was not just the mission trip tales, but the homeschool stories, the nature-outside-our-window happenings, the end-of-the-school-year ceremonies, the summer vacation and summer camp narratives, the early morning adventures, the beginning-of-the-school-year pictures and the yarn that just kept going and going, but in a tangled ball. I was too frustrated to try to work through it.

And every time I tried to write, my dog's photo smiled at me...and I cried. 

Now that it's been a year of yearning to get the stories written, I'm just jumping right in -- the last year of words is gone, and I'm not going to dwell on it. Instead, I am choosing to start with NOW.

What does NOW look like for us?

I am still overwhelmed with the unfinished home tasks...

I am still often overwhelmed with sadness without our loving furry family...

I am still overwhelmed that some really great stories are unwritten...

All four kids have been home schooling this year -- Will is in 7th grade, Jon is in 5th, and Ben and Maddie are in 4th. They go to Venture classes on Tuesdays, so I get a day "off," and they go for a couple hours on Wednesday afternoon. It has been a school year of ups and downs and learning to navigate uncharted waters (for us): growth spurts and the onset of pubescent attitude; curriculum that worked for some kids, but not all of them; figuring out how to empower our child with learning differences; finding the rhythms that work for our family. 

Our family is still very involved in scouting. Allen is leading the Trail Life unit that Ben and Jon are in; Will is back in Trail Life with his buddies. Maddie is an Explorer with American Heritage Girls, and I am in a new role mentoring our troop board and four other troops. Both groups still meet weekly at the same time, and both have at least one activity per month on a weekend.

Ben, Jon, and Maddie are taking music lessons. Though Ben played guitar last semester, he switched to drums in January. Jon is also playing drums, and Maddie is playing ukelele. Will focused on speech this school year, and has spent many hours researching apologetics for competition. This competition season is over, but he is already working on next year's. 

In our spare time, Allen and the kids play lots of games -- a few video games on the weekends, but lots of board games after dinner throughout the week. I've been painting (as a Christmas gift, Allen enrolled me in an online weekly art class). The kids and I read -- a lot! We read for school, but we all really like to read in our spare time, too.  All the kids spend a lot of time outside and with neighborhood friends. 

We have one not-cuddly cat, Pickles, about 16.5 years old, who has really enjoyed being the only pet. I have many times during the week when I wish we had a cuddly kitty or dog, but then I realize how much easier it is without the extra messes to clean up. The reasonable side of me tries hard to convince the other side that one cat is enough... but I still really miss what I had with Shadow, Ramses, and Tico...

Now...

I am writing about life again, but I will be okay with the times when living it is more of a priority than recording it.