On the warm summer evenings, it’s outside on the patio, nestled in the big wicker chair my husband got for me. Late at night, it’s propped up on pillows in our bed as I try to convince my little one to eat his fill before we all get some sleep. On Sunday afternoons, when our…
“Everyone was anxious to have all his homework done before supper, because then came the most beautiful time of the day, the evenings spent together. A fire was lit in the fireplace. The older girls brought their knitting, the younger ones, their dolls or dwarfies; the boys and their father usually worked on wood, carving…
Amy Parker is back with another in the “A Time to Pray” series: An “I Love You” Prayer. The huggable illustrations in this heart-shaped board book are by Frank Endersby. And it’s all just like a Valentine, in a bright and shiny book for little ones! Before it had been in our house a day,…
It’s been a delicious month for books… My husband surprised me with one of the first of my friend Lanier’s Low Door Press editions of Kilmeny of the Orchard for Christmas… He’s reading it aloud to me so we can enjoy it together. (I can’t believe I’d never even heard of this L.M.M. book until…
I started out last year with grand plans to keep track of every cent we spent. I kept every receipt and faithfully separated out items and figured totals in each budget category in Microsoft Money all the way through…March. By the time December rolled around, I was just about to throw away my overflowing folder…
I grew up with a little divided bank—there were three little spots for giving, saving, and “fun”, and one big spot for “goal money.” But my thrifty young self put a label over the “10% savings” and turned it into “10% goal”, allotting the 70% for savings. (The savings label has long fallen off, but…
It’s a story about a farmer and his family, making it an instant hit in our house. This particular farmer, like ours, grows a lot of things on his farm. But unlike our farmer, he also grows Christmas trees! The Pine Tree Parable is a sweet tale with cute pictures. On each page you see…
It takes time to intercede for others in prayer before the father, and prayerwalking allows for that time. Intercession is an essential ministry, not a last-minute, last-ditch effort of casually throwing things in God’s lap. Prayerwalking is not an easy way to “take care of prayer” while you get good exercise. it is a call…
A mid-sized board book with fun, illustrations, Night Night Blessings by Amy Parker is a great way to teach your children to thank God for their blessings each night as they go to bed. Written as a prayer, it thanks God “for the blessings You give from ‘Good morning!’ to ‘Night night.’” My girls loved…
The pictures are positively charming, capturing the essence of the autumn season in bright, cheerful tones. The theme is A Pumpkin Prayer of thanks—for the wind and the leaves and family and friends and all the colors that autumn brings. My girls particularly appreciated the page with the little mice sitting on an ear of…
I didn’t grow up with Hermie and Wormie. (I’m kind of too old.) But my girls will. (They’re just the right age.) When our new Hermie and Wormie books arrived, we sat down to read them and I finally met Hermie, “the Common Caterpillar.” The board books were perfect for my 2-year-old. And my almost-4-year-old…
It seems like the parenting books that have the most answers are the ones about which most questions are asked. And the more I parent, the fewer answers I have. Which is, perhaps, why my two most favorite books on parenting at the moment are books of personal reflection from a mother’s heart, and not…
The End.
The End.