This One's for the Girls

For the Love of Reading

I've loved reading ever since I was in the first grade and my teacher,  Mrs. House--the pretty lady with the light chocolate skin and the big wide smile--decided to divide the class into three reading groups: the red birds, the blue birds and the yellow birds. Mrs. House never said it outloud, but it didn't take long for everyone to figure out that the red Birds were the best readers in the class. It made me proud to be picked as one of the "best readers" and I've been devouring books ever since. Recently, I was talking to a school teacher who said that she hates to read fiction, and it just blew me away.  Truly,  it saddens my heart EVERYTIME I meet someone who doesn't enjoy expanding their mind through the pleasure (or sometimes the chore)  of reading a book.

This book questionaire seemed like a great way to talk about all of my favorite books.  Hat tip to Jennifer at Snapshot for the original set of questions.  OK, here we go.  I've added to it just a bit...

1.  What books sparked your interest in reading? Meaning, what books first took reading from being a forced activity to being an enjoyable pastime for you?

• Anything by Beverly Cleary

• The Nancy Drew books (I owned about 60 of these--my grandmother gave me two for each birthday and we bought more in between. Then there was the library of course.)

• A series of books that were my mother's when she was a little girl. I can't for the life of me remember the titles or the author. They were about a girl who vacationed in Cape Cod and I was totally enthralled with the idea of getting to ride in a sailboat and make all of the boys fall in love with me. :) The girl wore a very light, tan-colored lip-stick, which I thought was extremely sophisticated. This might explain my current lipstick afficionado.

2.  Which three books have most changed your life (in a practical, tangible way)?

• Proverbs 31

• Titus 2

• Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliott  (This is probably the single most influential book in my life.)

• Confessions of an Organized Housewife by Denise Schofield

• The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace

• All the Way Home by Mary Pride (I don't endorse everything in this book, but she has a very unique way of looking at the world that made me proud to be a stay-at-home-mom at a time in my life when I was feeling ridiculed for doing so. She is actually too legalistic for my liking today and I would never give this book to a new believer!

• Biographies. I think I love biographies, because I love to see God's sovereign hand in the history of people's lives. I often find encouragement in reading about the little twists of Providence that totally turned the course of one's life. Some of my favorites include Patrick Henry, John Adams, Elisabeth Elliott and Keith Green.

3.  Which three books (outside of the Bible) have most shaped your thoughts on God?

• Desiring God--Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper

• The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul

• The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

• God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew--my husband (then "just a friend") and I read this together back in college and we would get together after assigning each other portions of it. It greatly influenced our ability to live by faith when we were struggling newlyweds. We still talk about Brother Andrew and the laundry soap, and have had many similar experiences in our own lives.

• The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur

4.  Which book(s), if any, have you intentionally read more than once?

• I hardly EVER reread a book--but I HAVE reread all of the Mitford Series books by Jan Karon each time a new one has come out!  Well, I think I've only read the series four times, so that's not EVERY time...

• I've reread Babywise by Gary Ezzo each time I was just weeks away from delivery (that would be five.) Please don't hate me for this because I don't endorse everything about the man, but the eat-waketime-sleep schedule has really worked for all of my babies and has helped with the rhythm of things around here. My children are fantastic nappers and sleepers and they can go to sleep easily, without an hour of backrubbing or rocking. With five children, I am very thankful for that! I also thank God for the concept of play-pen time, everytime I need a safe place for baby to play when I'm tied up with something. In case you're wondering, I WOULD NEVER LET A BABY CRY ENDLESSLY--so please, no emails about the horrors of Gary Ezzo.

5.  Which three books would you recommend to a brand new Christian?

• In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon

• The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos--I know this sounds funny, but I have discovered with some of the gals whom I disciple, that this child's Bible is a great way for a new Christian to do a quick survey of the Bible--particularly the Old Testament.

• The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur

• Marriage books--The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace or The Exemplary Husband by Stuart Scott

• Parenting books--Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp or A Mother's Heart by Jean Fleming
• Books for singles-- Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliott and  Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris

6.  Which three books do you plan to have your kids read? (Or - "Which three books were most exciting to read to your kids / to have your kids read?" - for thoseof you who already have children)

Oh my goodness--there is no way to make this an exhaustive list. I have tried to make all of my kids keep up with the Sonlight reading lists on their level. Those lists are such a good mix of quality literature, pertinent history and books that are spiritual in nature. When the kids were younger, they enjoyed most all of the books on the Five in a Row book list too.

Others--Lord of the Rings series, Elsie Dinsmore series, All Creatures Great and Small series...I could go on and on.

7.  Books that stand out--(i.e. Ones we've REALLY enjoyed as family read-alouds:)

• Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

• Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

• Chronicles of Narnia (books on CD) by C.S. Lewis

• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (annotated and beautifully illustrated version retold by Mark Thomas)

• The Sugar Creek Gang books by Paul Hutchens

• The Rod and Staff Bible readers

• Leading Little One's to God by Mariane Schoolanad

• Child's Story Bible by Catherine M. Vos

8.  A book that made you cry

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

9.  A book that scared you

Hell to Pay--the Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Barbara Olson

10.  A book that made you laugh

Stories I Couldn't Tell When I was a Pastor by Bruce McIver. I'll never forget sitting up in bed late one night with my husband, reading these little vignettes by a retired pastor. The stories hit sooo close to home and had us howling and crying at the same time.

11.  A book that disgusted you

Bee Season by Myla Goldbert--This has to be the sorriest excuse for a book that I've ever read. I'm convinced that it's autobiographical--it was too psycho/strange to be fiction.

12.  A book you loved in elementary school

The Luckiest Girl by Beverly Cleary "Her mother knew she wanted a yellow slicker but, NO, she had to go and buy her the pink slicker with the matching hat." Oh, I remember that story like it was yesterday! I remember that the main character ordered vanilla ice-cream and that the other girl on the double date ordered black coffee and that made the main character feel dowdy. I remember that she bought a dress made of pique, because it made ME want a dress made of pique--and I finally made myself one in my college sewing class!   Fun memories.

13.  A book you loved in middle school

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.  I had never heard of this book  when I "accidentally" picked it up off of the school's library shelves. I started it that afternoon while waiting for my parents to come home from work and read until I finished it at 1am. It was the first time I had ever stayed up too late reading a book, and it was a very delicious experience.

14.  A book you loved in high school

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

15.  A book you loved in college

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew

16.  Anymore favorites?

Anything by John Grisham

17.  What are you currently reading

• Godless by Ann Coulter

• The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks
• Above all Earthly Powers: Christ in a Postmodern World  by David Wells

17.  What's your family reading?

Cole- biography of Andrew Johnson (in addition the 2,000 pages on the postmodern church for his next doctoral seminar...)
Emma- Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan, The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, Discussing the DaVinci Code by Lee Strobel and Elsie's Troubled Times by Martha Finley
Tru- The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkein
Ty- Jurassic Park (ugh...)
Ava- a Magic Tree House book

Gee, your hair smells...

Evangelistic?????

What will they think of next?

I'm So Glad You're Here! Welcome!

Isn't this going to be loads of fun?  I L-O-V-E home tours.  The little town in which I life hosts a tour of homes every Christmas and every year I have a standing date with a couple of girlfriends.  It is so fun to nose around in other people's homes, looking at how they decorate, how they organize, how they LIVE!    So, without further ado...

WELCOME TO MY HOME!

Well, before you get to my house, you'll have to drive through the little hamlet of a town that I've learned to call home for the last four years.  When you pull into town, the first major thing you'll see is this:

That's our County CourthouseDrive a little further down the highway, turn right into my neighborhood and you'll see my house!  Isn't it beautiful??Just kidding.  The house pictured above is on the national historical register and I just adore it.Here's a REAL picture of my house...
Oh, I'm so glad you're here!  Come on in!  The first room you would see if you were walking through my homewould be my living room...Have a seat!  Make yourself comfortable!Well, maybe in a little bit. Let's keep moving throughthe adjacent dining room...I got the idea for painting the stripes off of Trading Spaces.  I told my husband that I wanted the wider strips to be light green and the the skinny stripes to be darker and that I wanted all 4 corners of the room to be in the "middle" of a skinny stripe.  (In other words, I didn't want 2 different colors meeting in a corner.)  Cole did the math and I did the painting.  Doesn't it look like real wallpaper??

Next, come on through the kitchen.

This is the tiniest kitchen I've had since seminary days. My house is a church-owned parsonage, and we're the first family with more than one or two children to ever live in it. Still, I spend a lot of time here and I've learned to make it mine.  The last pastor's wife had a fetish for country blue which I absolutely hate, and so you don't get to see it.  I hope to replace it this year.

We've moved around a lot throughout our ministry and marriage--but whenever I finally hang this plate up in my kitchen, I know we're "home."

Here is where I sit when I blog to you everyday: If I turn around, this is what I see: And this: Oh, alright--we're all so nosy, aren't we? I know you want to see the dishes. (Fransecan Apple, my favorite vintage southern pattern.) My motto is: "A girl can never have too many dishes!"

Moving right along down the hallway, I'll take you to the boys' room. They have fun collecting Coke memoribilia...

Next, teen-ager Emma's room. We plan on painting and doing curtains for her birthday this fall. She sort of has a pink and black theme going...

Ava is asleep--so you don't get to see her room. Ah well, it's probably a mess anyway. ;) OK, are you still with me? Downstairs we go... The church finished the basement for us to give us 2 more bedrooms, another bathroom and another little living area. I actually got to help design this part of the house. Decorating it was a lot of fun.

My husband often prays for our family in this big red chair.  He loves this room--he picked out all of the portraits of Reformers that you see on the wall there.  Do you recognize any of them?  Let me help you: Luther, Edwards, Bunyan, Calvin, and Spurgeon.   

Here is baby Julianna's room.  When we found out that baby #5 was going to be a girl,  I decided to go pink all the way.  The other kids shared a more generic nursery decor.  I had a blast with this nursery.

What? Your baby doesn't wake-up with a matching hair-bow in her hair?? NEITHER DOES MINE--This is a home tour, remember? This whole thing is staged. My house is never all clean at the same time. (Just a little reality check there...)

Next, my bathroom...this is where I got the inspiration for my toile' blog header...

And last, but not least, the master bedroom:

Whew!  I'm tired from all of that "walking."  I hope you've enjoyed your time in my home.  If you're ever in my neck of the woods again, please stop by.   It may not look this good next time--but you'll enjoy the company!Thanks so much, Boomama, for hosting this!  It's been a lot of fun.

Pseudonyms

I've always used the real names for my husband, myself and my children.  I found solace in the fact that my sister, who has been blogging for much longer than I have, used her girl's real names.  Besides, I really like my kid's names.  :)  But in the process of switching blog servers, I became aware that not only are the words "This One's for the Girls" the name of a famous Martina McBride song, but they are also a part of a phrase that is being used by some internet p*rnogr*phers.  Ugh.  Then my sister decided that she needed to "tighten up" and now she uses pseudonyms.

I thought about changing the the name of my blog--thought about it long and hard and I almost did it.  But the truth is, I really like my blog's name; and I felt sad about the thought of discarding it.  So I'm doing the next best (or maybe better, I'm not sure) thing. 

I'm going to start using pseudonyms. 

For those of you who know me in real life, this may be a little confusing at first.  I've tried to make it as easy as possible--but you'll just have to make the mental adjustment.  Don't worry; you'll get used to it.  :)

Here are the pseudonyms:

My husband- Cole (a derivative of his middle name)

Child #1- Emma (She got to pick her own and she really likes this name.)

Child #2- Tru (A real nickname for this child.)

Child #3- Ty (ditto)

Child #4- Ava (I just like this name.)

Child #5- Julianna (ditto)

I'm still plain ole' Michelle.  My husband's name and my children's names are all fairly unique, but I figure that since my name was the #1 name to name your daughter in 1970--there's no harm in continuing to use it.  :)

Thanks for understanding, everyone.

Sort of Getting Excited...

About the...

Aren't you??

Don't know about it?  Go to www.boomama.blogspot.com

Now That's a Good Question!

Last night as were were wrapping up family devotions, the kids started the nightly bedtime stall tactics coming up with some really good questions!  Here are a few.  Think about how you would have answered...

If the angels rebelled against God in Heaven, whose to say we won't once we get there?

What's the difference between Hell and the Lake of Fire?

Can you get married in Heaven?

What are the marks of a true Christian?

We were all huddled on the couches for another hour answering those questions--with the last question ending with everyone in the family sharing their personal testimony of salvation.  You KNOWI love the babies--but oh I love this stage of life where you get to have great conversations with your kids.

It's all good.

Welcome and Works for Me Wednesday: Teach Your Kids the Presidents!

Oh, I'm so glad you're here!   If you made it from my old blogsite, would you please leave a comment?  I don't normally ask for comments, but I'm a little nervous about all of this.  I was going to wait to invite everyone over to Typepad until I had the place cleaned up a bit--but as the saying goes--"People come to see YOU, not your house."  Right?  At least I HOPE that's the case with you, because it's going to take a while to get this place in shape.

Blogger wouldn't let me post my Works for Me Wednesday video without covering half of my text-so I've made the plunge today.    Thanks so much to Jules at Everyday Mommy for helping me move my pink background and toile' header.  At least I've got the welcome-mat out!

Alright--now onto my Works for Me Wednesday idea. 

TEACH YOUR KIDS THE PRESIDENTS!

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling over the years has been all of the classical chants that we've learned.  Chanting is an intergral part of the grammar phase of Classical education and my kids have learned a plethora of information this way--the seven continents (sung to the tune of London Bridges,) the water cycle (sung to the tune of  O My Darlin',) and tons more.  Things that couldn't easily be set to music were chanted out.  I created this chant of the 43 (then 41) presidents, ten years ago when I was teaching my older two children--and it was so catchy that even my then-3-year-old-son learned them.  (Oh and wasn't he cute reciting all of them with his little lisp.)

I realized this past school year that my youngest student had never learned them and so I made it a summer goal to GET THE JOB DONE!  This time, my computer-techno-son helped us by downloading all of the pictures of the presidents off of Wikipedia, and then he set the chant to video.

Chanting really works for us!  Hope it works for you too.

p.s.  It really pained me to let everyone in the blogosphere hear my twangy voice--but that's just how much I love y'all.  So won't you please show the link-love back by changing my link in your template to www.thisonesforthegirls.typepad.com.  And as Southerners always say at the end of the call--"Appreciatcha!"

 

Welcome!

Welcome to the new This One's for the Girls!