Family Making

Lively Smiths

Charles is both friend and photography mentor. The set up for this shot was his idea.

If Candice ever takes your picture and asks you to act like retired college cheerleaders--that's what it felt like when we tried it--you can thank Charles!

Faught Family Photos

I like alliteration. The way closely connection words flow when they start with the same sound.

How about the way closely connected people come together to capture a moment in time? Even better.

Dalrymple Family

Let the family-photographs-for-Christmas-cards season begin! First up, our friends and neighbors, the Dalrymples.

Books for Boys: Don't Settle for Vampires, Goosepimples and Bodily Humor

I've heard my friends say they'd rather their sons read really long books about morally upside down magicians than not read at all.

To scan the many recent articles about the demise of books and reading in America, especially among boys, is to conclude that my friends aren't the only moms who feel that way. Given the choice between 4,000 pages of Harry Potter or nothing, well, duh. (For more on the trouble with Harry, see A Landscape with Dragons.)

Alas, there are other choices. Now they also have books about vampires, horror, crude mystery and offensive body humor. Publishers of books for boys are going to great lengths -- and great lows -- just to get boys to take up and read. Mom blogger Amy Henry describes the genre that's become so popular with adolescent males as "the barf/poop/belch genre."

About such fare Henry says, "They’re all junk-food books; trans-fat-laden, corn syrup-saturated Hostess cherry pies on the literary highway." And judging from the shelf-upon-shelf of such well-worn paper backs in our local library, I'd guess most boys are glad to help themselves to what tastes so good going down.

But you are what you eat. And what you read. If it's true that "readers are leaders," I wonder where all these readers of the books most boys are devouring will be leading us in years to come.

Still, who wants a boy who can't, or won't, read?

So that's our choice: bad literature, maybe even books that corrupt, or illiteracy. That's what the publishers of the junk-food stories would have us believe. Thankfully, there's another way.

Volume

When I take photos, I take hundreds of them. And usually, out of about 300 pictures, I'll have a dozen or so I want to post on the blog and share with friends. I might even have one or two I think is great. Maybe. It takes a lot of pictures to arrive at a winner.

Books are like that. Consider, there were between 250,000 and 500,000 books published last year (that's my very rough estimate based on my very quick and inconclusive Google search). Even if my numbers are off by a hundred thousand or more, that's still more books that you'll read in your lifetime, let alone a year. You can imagine that in a collection that large, there will be a host of stinkers. They'll be a lot of boring, uninspiring, incorrect, misleading and even harmful books. But there will also be a bunch that, while safe, are just not worth your time. Like my 300-to-1 photo ratio, the books in your library or local bookstore contain more trash than treasure.

You have to search for the good stuff.

Call Ahead

Once you find the good stuff, you have to work to find the few titles that will inspire your child. But it's work worth doing.

I love to pre-order as many good books as possible before we head to the library so that we're not limited to what's on the shelf. Even if the kids don't find many good books in stock, the "holds shelf" is full with the books I hand selected. When we get home, we have a stack to choose from. It's my secret delight to see our 11-year-old grab one from the massive pile of books, start reading, and not want to put it down. Victory!

Where to Look

How do I know what to pre-order?

• I ask around. Friends with kids of similar ages to ours, moms whose kids are grown, fellow home-schoolers, Facebook friends.

• I check websites. My favorite is SimplyCharlotteMason.com's bookfinder. It's a searchable database of "living books" (the sort that "make a subject come alive") organized by grade and subject matter. It's a little tricky to find the first time. Just look in the left-hand column under "Quick Links."

• I order homeschool catalogues. Though I've never used Sonlight or Veritas Press, I love to get their catalogs for the book lists. Because they're literature based curricula, they have great lists of good books, most of which are available (for pre-order) from our local library. These aren't the only two literature-based programs. If you know of others, please leave a comment!

Variety

The other reason you need to bring home a lot of books is that every boy will gravitate to something different. Some will relish the classics, others will want more scientific books. If you only bring home a bag full of one type of book you may find your son rejecting the whole lot. But throw in McCloskey's Homer Price, a few biographies (the Trailblazer series), a catalogue or encyclopedia-styled collection (think DK Eyewitness books) and a book of maps -- or even better, Pagoo, by Holling Clancy Holling -- and you may find him diving in.

Vary the options and he's likely to discover an author, genre, or style that suits him.

This isn't to say we should only give our sons books to read that they naturally love, but that beginning with such books will kindle their love of reading, making it more likely that they'll stick with you when you require books outside of those they'd normally choose.

Model It

Read, and they will follow. That's what we've heard but also what we've witnessed in our own family room. Even 2-year-old Teddy knows what to do with a book. He loves to hold it in his lap and flip the pages, front to back. Though he can't yet read the simplest of words, he's practicing the book behaviors he observes around him.

Before you know it, you'll be asking to borrow their books. That's what happened yesterday when I noticed Harrison with a friend-recommended-find that he couldn't put down. As soon as he finished, I opened it to see what all the fuss was about. Now I'm the one with my nose-in-a-book while I wash dishes and make dinner and walk on the treadmill. It's called Leepike Ridge and it's one of the best new books for boys I've ever read. Harrison calls it a page-turner. I call it a win for boys everywhere!

Springtime In Kentucky

What Size Family?

Is it possible to have too many babies? That's the question I answered this week on Boundless. The woman asking wrote,

My older sister is pregnant with her fourth baby and excited about growing her family. She and I were talking last night about family size, and it got me thinking about how many children are too many and if that is even possible — to have “too many” children.

If we believe in a completely sovereign and good God, what are the implications of that on determining how many children are in a family? Many say we are to use wisdom in determining the size of our family, but how is that consistent with completely trusting God's sovereignty in every area of our lives? I struggle to understand this, and I really want my perspective to be the same as God's and not tainted by my own preference or opinion.

God is in control of all things, especially which eternal souls are born into the world and when and to whom. Just like He can keep some from ever conceiving, can't He determine when a family has the right amount of children and close the womb? If so, why don't we trust Him to do that?

The rest of her question, along with my response, is over at Boundless.org.

Talking to Young People about Marriage

Since our move to Louisville, Steve and I have done more speaking, including a recent break out session at the Important Conference at Southern Seminary. In our session, I spent time with high school women talking about how their path to marriage has the potential to draw them closer to God, or push them further from Him, while Steve talked to the men. We also participated in a live Q&A panel with Dr. Albert Mohler and Dr. Russell Moore.

Keep Reading

What's For Dinner

Next to the never-ending supply of dirty clothes in need of laundering, one of the most ongoing tasks of motherhood is preparing meals. Recently my sister came to visit with her four kids and though that meant making even more food than normal, it also meant help in the kitchen!

Those helping hands belong to my niece and she loves to cook!

She was eager to show us her recipe for marshmallow pesto chicken. (I know what you're thinking. I thought it, too. But stick with me here.)

Start with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin.

Spread an even layer of prepared pesto sauce on the meat.

Slice large marshmallows thinly (Easier said than done. I'd use mini-mallows next time.) and place two layers across the length of pesto-covered chicken.

Now the fun part: roll the breasts tightly and secure with toothpicks.

Brush meat with a mixture of 2 egg whites and 1/4 cup melted butter, then dredge in cracker crumbs.

Arrange on a cookie sheet lined with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Let the meat cool for a few minutes, remove toothpicks, then slice into medallions. (It's a lot easier to cut the meat if you find all the toothpicks first. Trust me on this one.)

Serve over brown rice prepared with chicken stock, fresh garlic, and olive oil.

Voila!

I'm not sure why the marshmallows work, but they do! Everyone, even the pickiest eaters at the table, loved this recipe.

And for those special occasions--like when the cousins visit in the middle of the week--follow with a generous helping of my sister's own version of Mud-Pie.

Bon Appetit!

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

Yesterday I tried to build a fire in the fireplace and it blazed away, till the paper and fat wood had burned through. “Keep an eye on it honey, or it’ll die out after it roars through your kindling,” Steve said while we talked on the phone. Check.

This morning I asked Steve to build me a fire before he left for the office.

Thanks honey! It’s blazing. Still. And we’re on our ninth stick of firewood. I love sunny blue skies and crisp, dry winters, with a gas fireplace ready-at-the-flip-of-a-switch Colorado-style. But since we’re no longer in Colorado, I’ll take a roaring fire to keep the overcast, icy, bitter-cold-Kentucky winter company.

Besides, now it's snowing. Sideways. Better get the sleds ready.

Things to Do with Kids: Write Thank You Notes

"It's never too late to say thank you." That's what my mom used to say when I'd worry that I'd waited too long to write a note of gratitude for birthday or Christmas presents. It's a lesson I hope to pass on to our children, along with encouragement to not wait so long in the first place.

I was shored up in my resolve yesterday when Steve brought home a little book called The Art of the Handwritten Note by Margaret Shepherd. Amidst her praise for practice to improve your handwriting and buying quality pens, and paper that feels good, are her responses to the most common excuses for not writing thank you notes: "I'm too busy," "Nobody writes notes anymore," "My handwriting is terrible," and "I don't have the right kind of stationery," etc.

Not willing to let less-than-perfect handwriting or the lack of "real" stationery stand in the way of simple kindness, I got out a stack of sturdy construction paper (the good kind with vibrant colors and a smooth finish), my stash of sharpies, and what was left of our Christmas postage stamps and set the kids to work.

First, I helped them remember who gave them gifts last month and they captured names on a list.

After that they dove in with the help of a few stencils. They seemed happy for the change in our homeschooling routine and the block of time to be creative.

I was glad for the reminder to not only be grateful, but to let our loved ones know it.

Colossians 3:15-16 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.