November Twitterature

Today I'm linking up with Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy to share "short, casual reviews" of the books I've read in the past 31 days.

I love to talk books on my Facebook page , too, so stop by if you have a chance. 

{As always, post about books contain my affiliate links.}

The Scarlet Pimpernelby Baroness Orczy

This was the final classic from my challenge to myself this year. It was a quick read and now I think I need to see a movie version.

#classic  #historicalfiction

Life After Lifeby Kate Atkinson

I expected to love this and I did for the first half.  After that, the book started to drag and I thought I would never finish. I was expecting the finale to make up for the dull middle.  It didn't.

#fantasticstart  #willthisbookeverend  #partdrama  #partfantasy

The Riverby Beverly Lewis

I read this book because I've never missed a Beverly Lewis book, but I'm starting to lose my enchantment with them. The stories all seems to run together in my mind.

#amishfiction  #Christianfiction

Lip Reading by Harry Kraus

Harry Kraus's fiction is well-written and engaging, but this wasn't my favorite of his books. If you like medical drama, though, it's a good choice.

#medicalfiction  #Christianfiction  #artificialblood

I didn't find stellar books to read this month, but I enjoyed browsing these books for the ideas and photos, rather than the text: 

#drooling  #50daysuntildowntonabbeyseason5

Speaking of books, ideas, and reading, have you downloaded your free copy of my new eBook, Books for Christmas: What to Buy the Young People in Your Life?

Things I Love Right Now

1) Well-written Christian fiction

I find that often Christian fiction is too fluffy or too contrived and preachy for my taste.  On the other hand, with secular fiction, I have to be careful in what I select to avoid strong language or sexual situations. I love when I find high quality Christian literature.  These are two books that I have enjoyed this week (one I finished and one I'm still reading through): 

2) My WoodWick candle 

I love to hear it crackle as it sits on the counter in my kitchen and I love the autumnal pumpkin nutmeg scent.

3) Warm meals and new recipes

I cook year-round, but I've enjoyed using my oven again without overheating the rest of the house. Some of our recent favorites: buffalo mac and cheese, sausage stuffed shells, chicken piccata, and pumpkin butter muffins.

4) The Betsy series by Carolyn Haywood

I'm reading the books aloud to my girls, but since we've developed the habit of reading a chapter or two while the kids have an evening snack, the boys have been listening in, too. Written in the 1930s and 40s, the stories are quaint and simple.  We finished this one yesterday: 

5) "In-between" weather

It's November and it has been in the upper 60s so far this week.  I don't mind.  The kids have had more opportunities to play outside this fall than all through the hot, humid summer.  Our dog isn't complaining either.  He loves all the extra exercise, attention, and hugs from Alaine.

6) Dark evenings

I don't embrace change well, but I love when we return to standard time in the fall.  There is something cozy and unhurried about eating dinner when it is dark outside and then settling in for the evening.  With five kids in the house, it is rarely peaceful and quiet, but I can try to imagine it!

7)  Running with people

Aside from races, I've always run alone, but throughout the fall, I've had the chance to run with other people on the weekends.  One Saturday morning when the kids were sleeping over at their grandmother's house, Brian and I ran about six miles together.  The time flew by as we talked for the better part of an hour. I've also had the opportunity to meet up with a few people on Saturday mornings to run a three-mile route.  Again, the flow of conversation keeps my mind off of the effort.  On these runs, I don't care about the pace or the distance. I simply enjoy the companionship.

What do you love right now?  Let me know so I can love it, too!

A New School Plan

Our method of schooling has always been to do the majority of our learning together.  The kids work on a select few subjects independently (math, English, some health), but everything else is a group effort.  That has worked seamlessly for us...until this year. 

Owen, my 8-year-old third grader, is a strong visual learner.  If he reads or sees something himself, he retains the information, but if he listens to it being read aloud, he zones out.  We first started noticing during our nightly family devotions.  Brian would read a passage and Owen could barely recount the passage, often not even remembering who the story was about. I suspected it was the same during our history and science times at school, but he seemed to be gleaning enough to skate by. 

Two weeks ago, Brian was off from work for several days with a back injury so he was home to observe us during school.  I read a section of our science book out loud and when we started discussing it, Owen couldn't answer any of the questions I presented.  I decided to change tactics and asked him to instead tell me something he remembered or found interesting.  He couldn't do that either.  Brian suggested we try a new approach to learning for Owen that works with his strengths. 

{Why had I never considered that?!  Sometimes it helps to have fresh eyes introduce a new perspective.}

Last week we started our new school plan for Owen.  In order to maintain a sense of togetherness, I wanted him to be covering the same topics the rest of us were covering so while we delve into  The World of Columbus and Sonsby Genevieve Foster, he goes to his bedroom and reads a passage from a book about Columbus, too.  He started with  Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbusby Peter Sis which gave a thorough but brief overview.  Then he moved on to Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?by Jean Fritz, and he'll finish with Columbusby Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire. 

When he is done his day's reading, he rejoins us and tells us the highlights of what he read.  He is thriving with the new approach!  He shows us pictures.  He asks questions.  He reads us sections of what he read that day.  He has probably retained more in the past few days than he has the previous three months!

Our plan for science is similar.  On Tuesdays, while the rest of us read from  The Burgess Bird Book for Childrenby Thornton Burgess, Owen chooses any bird from National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds: A Beginner's Guideby Kim Kurki, reads the text, and studies the sketches.

(Incidentally, this book is included in my eBook Books for Christmas.  We own a copy and I love the artwork and way the information is presented visually.)

After Owen reads about one bird, he writes a fact about that bird in his nature journal.  On Wednesdays,  all of the kids update their nature journals with sketches to the birds they studies the day before.  The only difference now is that they are sketching different birds.  They love to compare drawings, though, so each of them is also learning small bits about what the others are studying!

Do you ever change curriculum or alter your method mid-way through the school year? 

eBook

My new eBook is here and available for FREE!    

Click on the book cover to download your copy!

I'd love it if you would share this resource with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.  I've made it easy for you.  All you have to do is copy and paste:  

I just got my free copy of Books for Christmas. Get yours here: http://from-my-life.blogspot.com/2014/11/christmas.html #booksforchristmas


 

{Weekend Links}: Food Edition

Have you noticed how of all the things I talk about here on my blog and on my blog Facebook page, the two topics I visit the most often are books and food ?!  Today's collection of links is all about food.

I shared on Facebook a list of pumpkin foods we've sampled this fall and a reader asked for specifics.  Here are links to the recipes:

• pumpkin butter
• chewy pumpkin butter cookies
• pumpkin corn muffins
• baked pumpkin pie oatmeal
• pumpkin pie smoothie
• pumpkin pie French toast
• pumpkin hot chocolate

We also ate pumpkin pancakes (canned pumpkin added to our standard pancake recipe) and  pumpkin spice waffles (prepared by my mom and dad for Sunday afternoon lunch).

My other theme in my kitchen this month was soup.  Brian, especially, asked me to add soup to our menu as soon as the weather turned cool(er):

Among our old favorites, I have cooked two new recipes:

• Thai coconut soup with chicken and rice
  
  
  Some of us liked this soup more than others did, but there were several of us who ate seconds (and maybe thirds!).  I purposely made more rice than necessary so I could make rice pudding with the "leftovers."  We ate the soup with warm flat bread, a recipe has become a family favorite this fall.  It flies off the table when I make it.
  
  
• copycat creamy Panera tomato soup
  
  
  Okay.  So I made this knowing I was the only one who would eat it, but I liked it and I'm sending a bowl along to my dad who loves tomato soup.

One last link, not food related, but what else?  It's book related! My new eBook is releasing next week.   Grab your free download of Books for Christmas: What to Buy the Young People in Your Life starting Monday morning!

My Favorite Podcasts

I want to start by saying I am not an audio learner.  I zone out on audio books and if you try to explain the direction to a game out loud to me, I'll politely nod and then read the instructions for myself.  

I've discovered this school year that one of my children is also a strong visual learner. We read a large part of our history and science curriculum together, including every child and grade level in a group learning environment.  It's becoming obvious that this method is not working with my visual learner.  He appears to listen, but when asked a question or asked to retell what he's heard, he remembers nothing. Sometimes he can't even tell me the name of the person we spent the past 20 minutes studying.  We are working on developing a new plan of action for him that I'll share on the blog soon.

Having said all that, I am surprised at how much I enjoy listening to podcasts. A couple of times per week I go out for a long, steady run and podcasts keep my mind occupied while I go the distance.  (For shorter speed runs, music is best because it doesn't require as much concentration.)  I also occasionally enjoy podcasts while I'm folding the laundry, when I'm in the car alone, during quiet time, or before I go to sleep at night.  (I generally don't wear earbuds when my kids are in the room.)

Here a few podcasts I enjoy and you may, too:

The Inspired to Action Podcast
If you're not sure which to choose, start with this one: My Story: How God Takes Brokenness and Makes it Beautiful.

The Simple Mom Podcast

It's the next best thing to having someone to talk to while I run.  A great conversational podcast? All the Sheets with Myquillyn Smith (The Nester)

Another Mother Runner Podcast

This is a secular podcast that covers a variety of running topics for women (specifically mothers) at all fitness levels, but it's not boring.  I promise!  My fave episode lately is this one: How to Run a Sub 2 Hour Half Marathon.

Read Aloud Revival Podcast

If you've read my blog for very long, you know this episode is right up my alley: A Lifestyle of Reading Aloud.

Do you listen to podcasts?  Any to recommend?

5 Hot Chocolates to Warm Up Your Week

The mild temperatures are trying to hold on a little while longer, but even 72 degree days (like what we're expecting today) begin with chilly mornings and end with brisk evenings. It's time to break out the hot chocolate.

When I say hot chocolate, I don't mean the powdered stuff mixed with water.  That will do for my kids in a pinch, but I like my hot chocolate rich, chocolatey, and with a milk base. Here's how you can have some of what we're having:

Indulgent Hot Chocolate

There are two ways to get a cup of standard chocolate.  You'll have to sample both to see what you prefer.  ~wink~

For the first, whisk 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder with 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar.  Add a few drops of water and whisk until you get a syrupy consistency (like the photo below), then whisk in 8 oz. very warm milk.

Alternatively, you can skip the dry ingredients, but as you heat your 8 oz. of milk on the stovetop, stir in ¼ cup of dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips until smooth.  The chips will not melt completely and you will have little slivers of chocolate floating in your cup.  It's decadent!

*****

Once you settle on a method to make your base cup of chocolate, you can experiment with some of these varieties. 

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Add 1 tablespoon of peanut butter to your cup of chocolate. Whisk until it is incorporated. 

Autumn Pumpkin Hot Chocolate
Whisk ⅛ cup of pumpkin puree into cup of chocolate and top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon and nutmeg.

White Hot Chocolate
Substitute ¼ cup of white chocolate chips for the plain chocolate ones.

Mint Hot Chocolate Substitute mint chips for the chocolate ones or add a few drops of mint extract before drinking. For an extra treat, drop 1-2 peppermint patties into your cup!