schickHouse

Doodle Stitching

i'm so excited! on a whim, steve stimulated the economy for me the other night and ordered this doodle stitching book. it arrived yesterday and looks fantastic. i've had the itch to try my hand at embroidery, although the most i've ever done in that area was some unfinished cross stitch when i was about twelve years old. i'm really excited about how it looks so well explained and the projects looks fun. i can't wait til i learn some stitches so i can embroider a shelby drawing onto a pillow or something. the author/artist is aimee ray. ~bec.

Elsie Dinsmore

this past saturday, steve pulled into a garage sale for me. i hardly did any saling last year, and i do miss it. i was quite excited and satisfied to find the first three books in the elsie dinsmore series! i had been thinking of ordering these for probably two years. but to find them for 50¢ each instead of $13 each was thrilling! ~bec.

Winter Reading Challenge

the winter reading challenge is coming to a close. and for me, counting down - 27 hours (or so) til we leave for florida, it is basically over. i didn't read as much as i wanted to, didn't get every book on my list done. but i know that it did spur me on to read more than i would have otherwise. i had nine books on my list. i finished four, am in the middle of two, and have three to delve into yet. and as always, i keep coming across more books (usually online browsing) that i add to my hope-to-get-to-someday list. and then a few that hit the sooner-than-later list. i have this one on its way to me. i try to control myself. even though i firmly believe i WILL read all of these, i figure there's no reason to break the bank at the present time if i have a stack already beside me waiting to be read. ~bec.

Winter Reading Challenge

ok! i'm jumping into Trish's winter reading challenge! and i'm glad for the incentive. my personal goal for reading this year is Bible reading (7 days/week) plus at least 15 minutes a day of other personal reading (6 days/week) - and minerva louise doesn't count for personal reading. *i want to note here that just five years ago it was impressive if i read just one book a year. thanks to God, my hubby, my parents, and "some scam" for teaching me that 'the one who does not read is no better than the one who can not read.' i am so blessed!* of course there are scads of books i'd like to read, but i want my list to be achievable or else i know i'll just slack off. i chose books that are already on our shelves, just waiting to be delved into. i looked at the calendar and realized that we'll be heading off for vacation just as this challenge wraps up, which will be a nice reward. so, besides painting the bathroom, wrangling the four angels, and keeping my head on straight, here's the books i'm going to read by march 20. (oh, and i included a couple that i've already read between the start of the challenge and my tardy posting.)

1) The Way They See It: A Book for Every Parent About the Art Children Make by Brenda Ellis
2) Liberty Square Observed and Noted by Tom Smith
3) One Blood by Ken Ham, Carl Wieland, & Don Batten
4) The Family Worship Book by Terry L. Johnson
5) 21 Most Amazing Truths About Heaven by Dave Earley
6) Little House In the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (with Shelby)
7) Everyday Talk by John A. Younts
8) Don't Make Me Count To Three! by Ginger Plowman
9) Free Indeed by Dr. Richard Ganz
10) Hints for Parents by Gardiner Spring
11) Balcony People by Joyce Landorf Heatherley

bexboox

i just walked myself through adding a list here on ye ol' blog. on the right, you can see a list of books i am currently "in." i may be reading straight thru, i may be browsing & skimming. the books may be mine (i prefer because then i can hilite) or they may be borrowed. i may love them, i may not. at any rate, right now i am "in" too many for my liking. i haven't been reading consistently like i would like. and i thought that perhaps having this little list would be a fun-for-melancholy-me way to give myself motivation to keep reading. see, odd as it is, it is some kind of fun for me delete a little book off that list, type in the isbn of a new interest, and watch that new little icon pop up! strange, yes. but i've come to appreciate my strangeness. ~bec.

Book Frenzy

i've been finding a lot of books that really interest me lately. here's about half of the books i'm currently reading. (this is unusual as most of the time i refuse to start more than two books at a time for fear i'll never reach the end of any of them.)

21 Most Amazing Truths About Heaven by Dave Earley. this one i'm reading with a sunday school class. it really makes me think about my preconceived notions about heaven, and it really makes me more excited to get there.

Welcome with Love by Jenni Overend. borrowed this one from the library. turned out to be a wonderful book for helping the children understand what's coming with the homebirth. illustrations are soft and loving but thorough. it'd be really great if it were from an overtly Christian perspective.

The Consumer's Guide to Childhood Vaccines by Barbara Loe Fisher (National Vaccine Information Center). borrowed this one from our midwife. i'm about 1/3 through it. very informative. glad to have someone to point me to what i'm looking for.

A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ by Rick & Jan Hess. just got this one from the box truck today! looks great, and i'm really excited to read it. glad to have another reference to compare it to 'Be Fruitful & Multiply' by Nancy Campbell (which i also really like). this one's supposed to have a lot of humor in it, which was mostly absent from the other.
~bec.