Beach

Our favorite place. 

Hair

I cut off 12” off my hair this summer and donated it. It sure is weird to have short hair. It hasn’t been this short since college and I’m missing the ease of a side braid. 

Robin Hood costumes

The boys requested Robin Hood costumes this spring and I finally got around to making them. The middle son then wanted to be Will Scarlett. So red felt and cloth was purchased and I started on another costume. They were super easy to sew. 

Bibs in grey

My sister in law loves neutral colors. 

I like things bright and colorful. 

 I made these as neutral as I could. 

Tablecloth to napkins

Some of our cloth napkins have been wearing out after almost 13 years of daily use. So I took this tablecloth that I had purchased many years ago and never used and turned it into 12 new napkins. The bonus was that they were already half hemmed since the table cloth was hemmed. 

Chickens

One of my kids asked for baby chickens for Christmas.  He specified that he wanted them to fit in an egg and that he could hatch them.  I searched and searched for a baby chick pattern that was cute.  And the only one that I could find was one that came with a pattern from ikatbag. It came with a pattern for a big chicken as well as the small one.  One I saw the big chicken pictures I fell in love with it and had to make one (and then two more).  I laughed out loud when I was making this chicken.  I opted not to make the egg chute in the chickens (the original chicken can pop out eggs). 

Picture with the baby for size. 

Picture with the Christmas tree for scale. 

Robin Hood Hats

I recently made 9 of these hats for my kids and some of their cousins. They were requested by my 9 year-old for his birthday party (that ended up being cancelled because of sick siblings).   Usually I don't like mass producing projects. It gets old to make the same thing repeatedly. But this one wasn't too bad and the end result is fun. 

Some chairs (before and after)

A friend gave us this little folding chairs and they had seen a lot of love in their lifetime. 

I had an old oilcloth tablecloth that someone had given me.  So I added some padding and recovered the seats with oilcloth.  

Is it perfect? Nope. 

Would they be cuter if I repainted them and also covered the top part? Yep. 

But are they functional and do my kids love to use them? Yes. 

Would I actually find the time to paint them now? Nope.  

Now they can actually use them and they aren't sitting around my garage gathering dust. Quick fix for the win! 

Us

Books of 2021 Post

I started keeping a list of the books that I read 7 years ago challenged by the Tim Challies reading challenge.  I decided that I could probably read 26 books (which is one every two weeks) even with two small kids in the house. That year I read 30-some books. The following year I challenged myself to 35 books and made it into the 40s. 60 in 2018. 57 in 2019. 68 in 2020. I set my goal for 52 this year and read 62.   

2018 List

2019 List

2020 List

2021 List

A few notes on this year's list:

a) My number of finished books fell slightly this year. I did finish two quilts, spent 60 hours earlier in the year helping my in-laws move, and kept a flower garden.  

b) I do a ton of pre-reading of library books.  I try to keep new books coming in about every 1-3 weeks in our book basket depending on the subject that we are studying.  So I get a massive number of books on a subject from the library and pick the ones that are the most interesting and visually appealing. But I don't finish reading most of these books and I don't count picture books on the list. 

c) The number of fiction books is still higher than I would like (23 books), but 19 of those were read to the boys (83%). Some were for school, others were just for fun (strawberry, peach and apple picking in an hour from our house and my brother lives two hours away - so we do a lot of listening while we drive). The other 4 books were the Wingfeather Series, which I pre-read to read to the boys and was disturbed by them and decided to hold off on them (I really did not like them).   

d) I did not count the audio books as a separate category. I used goodreads this year (instead of a paper list) and I couldn't figure out how to record that.  I use the library to download books and listen to them as we drive around. 

e) John Owen tops the year as the most read author. But C.S. Lewis comes in a close second. 

f) I abandoned quite a few books this year from the library due to not having enough time to finish them. I would have been really bothered by that a few years ago. 

g) I used the library for 40% (down from from 45% last year) of my books. Note: The library in my town did not have some of these books, but inter-library loan did - if first you don't succeed try try again. 37% of books were ones that I already owned. 

h) I only bought 2 books (that I read) this year. Down to 2% of my reading total from 15% last year.  

i) I only borrowed one book from a friend this year. 

j) I finished up studying the minor prophets over 10 months and have thoroughly enjoyed them and several commentaries. I would write about them in a separate post, but I doubt I will find time. 

k) I include my Bible reading in here only if I finished the Old Testament (which I only read the minor prophets this year - so I did not include it in the page count) or Psalms (which I did two times) or the New Testament (which I did just did parts of). If you take those away from my book count, I only read 58 books.  

2021 Best of (Favorite Books)

If I had to pick my absolute top books of the year I would have to go with these. The Glory of Christ was my absolute favorite the rest are in no apparent order:

1. The Glory of Christ - John Owen 

2. Parenting by God's Promises: How to Raise Children in the Covenant of Grace - Joel Beeke 

3. Love Came Down at Christmas: Daily Readings for Advent - Sinclair B. Ferguson

4. Parenting with Words of Grace: Building Relationships with Your Children One Conversation at a Time - William P. Smith

5. Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament - Mark Vroegop

But these are all really close to the top. I could argue for almost all of them to have a spot in the top 5, but I can also argue a reason why they didn't make the top 5:

6. What Every Child Should Know About Prayer - Guthrie

7. Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi - Thomas Verner Moore

8. The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia, #5) - Lewis

9. Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times - Owen

10. Do You Pray? a Question for Everybody - Ryle

 11. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) - Lewis

12. Around the World in Eighty Days - Robert Lewis Steveson

And these books I liked, but not quite enough to make it on the favorites of the year, but they all excellent books, if you choose to read them:

13. Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age

14. The Annotated Treasure Island 

15. Charlotte's Web

16. Swallowdale (Swallows and Amazons, #2) 

17. Paddington Helps Out (Paddington, #3)

18. The One Year Praying Through the Bible for Your Kids  - Guthrie

2021 CHILDREN’S BOOKS

In previous years I wrote down how many books I read to my kids from a few months and Extrapolated out the data. However, this number is definitely increased this past year as we have focused on having a book basket that is stocked with whatever subject we are studying in school. It averaged out to 5-10 a day. 

I also do a bunch of pre-reading/skimming of books for the boys to read and for history. I've finally gotten used to picking out books on the libraries website and have found it is easier than going in person with 4 lively children. Also, our library partners with about 10 other libraries and so their website allows me to see and pick out those books as well. I still spent entirely too long on the library's web page looking for interesting children's books. But I have learned to appreciate this service, while still missing browsing the library shelves in-person. 

I have noticed that the quality of children's books has dramatically decreased recently.  There are so many computer animated books and books based on tv shows. They have boring plots, terrible dialogue, and ugly illustrations.   

Extrapolated out this equals about 2000 - 4000 children's books.   

Bee quilt

I made this quilt for something different. They aren't my favorite colors. But it was a fun quilt to make. 

hello, from one of the kids' stuffed animals. 

All stowed away and ready to quilt. 

This is how much binding I had left over. It was so close to being not enough. 

Finished!

Living with boys

Hobbits or Elves are visiting today.  I made the boys' cloaks and they are constantly being used for all sorts of things. I love them. 

Bag for a friend

One of my friends told me that her favorite bag had gotten old and worn out.  She said she wished she could have a new one. She loves sailing and all things nautical. I had the perfect fabrics in my scrap bin! 

I added two pockets on the inside after she mentioned that she loses her keys in her bag. 

Sneak peak of the Bee Quilt I made this year in the background of this picture. :) 

Pencil case

This little pencil case was made for a niece's pirate themed birthday.  The boys picked out the fabric. 

(I have since made 5 other pencil cases for the boys and it is one of the most useful things I have made.  We use them all the time for school and church). 

New quilt or two

I started a new quilt. I've always wanted to make a 1930s feedsack quilt. I'll post pictures when I finish. 

Calvin and Hobbes

Years ago Jared bought me the complete collection for Calvin and Hobbes and we also have a few extra smaller collections around.  The boys have discovered them recently and laugh and laugh and laugh. Also, it does my heart good to see the boys reading to each other.  It is sweet. 

Worse before it gets better.

I started organizing all of my recipes. This is the first step. They had grown too big for one binder. I removed all the recipes that I have never used or that we didn't like. Next steps is to use the adobe scan app and take pictures of all my Cook's Country recipes that I love and organize them in the correct categories because I am having trouble remembering what recipes are in which month of the magazine.  Maybe you will get an update when I finish... in ten years. 

I have a couple other post, a detailed list of my meal plans for the last three months and my food budget, some craft posts, some new favorite recipes, and a few house projects, but they all seem vapid. I miss writing about my life, but I also don't have the time to devote to it. I process things better when I am writing things out. 

The last few weeks has been rough. A good friend of the family died, people we know have been in the hospital (with Covid and strokes and brain tumors), Jared is in the midst of his last two classes for his Master's degree, my in-laws downsized (and I spent 50-60 hours packing), etc. And those are simply the externals. Four kids has been way more overwhelming than having three. Tailoring school lessons to specific children has taken up so much of my time. And I always feel like I am behind. Always behind. 

A good friend reminded me once that we all have stuff going on.  It isn't as if any of us is problem free or doesn't feel the weight of the world every once in a while (or all the time). 

So maybe you need to hear this as much as I do. The boys and I have been memorizing hymns for school.  Last month was All the Way My Savior Leads Me. It has been so encouraging to hear the boys humming in around the house or have it pop into my head throughout the day. What a blessing it is that we have a Savior that walks beside us each day, that gives us grace for every trial, and does all things well. 

All the Way

All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside? 

Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide? 

Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell! 

For I know, whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well, 

For I know, whate’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well. 

All the way my Savior leads me, Cheers each winding path I tread, 

Gives me grace for every trial, Feeds me with the living bread. 

Though my weary steps may falter, And my soul athirst may be, 

Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! a spring of joy I see, 

Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! a spring of joy I see. 

All the way my Savior leads me; Oh, the fullness of His love! 

Perfect rest to me is promised In my Father’s house above. 

When my spirit, clothed immortal, Wings its flight to realms of day, 

This my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way, 

This my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way.

Faithful to the End

She was my age when I met her. That is hard to believe because she seemed much older that I feel now. Time is a funny thing. 

I was about ten when she invited my family and another family for dinner. She was brave and warm and welcoming to all 9 of us kids. I don't remember many events in my childhood, but this one has always stuck out to me. Maybe it was the Kinder Joy Egg that she gave us at the end of the evening (the official kind from German with the chocking hazard parts inside). 

She had a pool at her house. Anyone was welcome to use it at anytime. One time I went with some of her neighbors while she was on vacation. 

It is incredible to me how many people knew and loved Mary. But she treated them all like family and it was a joy to be around her.  

--- I want be a joy to be around and open my house like Mary. 

She had a job with FexEx in management or something (10 year-olds don't remember these details). But what I do remember is that she left all of that to go back to school to be a math teacher at an under-privileged school in our area. She taught 5th, 6th, and 7th grade math and I can guarantee you that she was the best teacher that they had. She loved her students and was involved in many of their lives. 

--- I want to love others like Mary. 

My brother was born on Christmas. And I don't know if she felt sorry for him because he was gypped the birthday or because he was an only brother with four sisters. She came from a large family and she understood these things better than most people. Whatever the reason, she brought him a homemade pizza for many of his teenage birthdays.  

When I had my fourth baby she was one of the first people to hold her.  Shortly after she called and said she had a meal for me - I expected some of her famous pizza, but instead she brought authentic German noodles and chicken. What a treat. 

My sister is in the Air Force and would bring the boys these chocolate stuffed Hippos from Germany when she went.  One day I ran into Mary at a baseball game and we were talking about my sister and I mentioned the funny hippos. Several months later she showed up at my door with a huge package of these chocolate Hippos.  

--- I want to take the time to let people know I care with thoughtful gifts like Mary. 

Mary helped to run a ministry that built ramps for people with disabilities. We had discussed the boys coming to help her in a few years when they were a bit older. It is a huge loss that they will never get to serve with her. 

When ESL was short a teacher she would sub on short notice. She loved the ministry and would talk about volunteering more when she retired from teaching. We will miss her cheerful face.

In high school Mary asked me to join a committee at church. It was one of the first times someone had treated me like a member of the church and a soon-to-be adult. I really respected that and it made a huge impression on me.  

--- I want to spend my time serving others like Mary. 

Mary loved baseball. Maybe we both loved a deal; we often ran into each other at $3 Monday nights at the local baseball stadium. We would chat about how we had eaten dinner before we came to avoid buying the overpriced food and laugh about how few people came out on Mondays. It happened so often that we made plans to sit together in the Spring of 2020. It never happened. So we started planning for Spring of 2021. Now it will never happen either. I will miss her every time I go to a baseball game and expect for her to pop up and say hello. 

There are very few people that I can think of that I would have all good things to say, maybe that says something about me more than the people around me. But I can honestly think of nothing about Mary that was bad. I have never heard her complain. She always showed up and she always loved people well and showed us all the love of Christ. What a wonderful example. 

This weekend my kids will receive their own Kinder Eggs (the fake US kind without the chocking hazard parts) in memory of Mary.  She was faithful to the end. I wish they could have known her.  I want to be more like her. 

I will miss her until we can meet again. 

Warm woolen mittens

Aren't these the cutest?!? And the warmest too! I'm in love with these mittens that I made using this pattern from IkatBag: 

http://www.ikatbag.com/2021/01/mittens-for-grownups.html. 

I keep them in the car and use them for driving and loading groceries, but I keep stealing them out for daily walks around the neighborhood too.  They are wool on the outside and pink fleece on the inside.  It was a super fun pattern to make and you might see a few more pairs in the future (probably the Fall) once I get my hands on some more fleece.