Halloween 2010

Procrastination and frugality joined forces this year and pushed me to make the kids' trick-or-treating costumes from scratch. I have to say, I had so much fun scouring the basement for random materials and seeing the ideas come together that I doubt I'll ever go back to store-bought costumes (please, don't hold this statement over my head if I contradict myself next year!).The kids' requests were a horse (Annabell) and Thomas the Train (you can...

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Liam Visits the Island of Sodor

As all who read this undoubtedly know, Liam is obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine and his many steamie friends from the Island of Sodor. When I asked Liam what type of cake he wanted for his 4th birthday, it was no surprise that he answered, "A Thomas cake, with a train track on it and Thomas on the track."My first inclination was to create a repeat of the cake I made for Annabell's 3rd (?) birthday: a simple rectangular sheet cake with frosting...

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Suffering Is Not Defeat

Earlier this year I read and reviewed a book called Christianity in Crisis, which discusses the beliefs and proponents of the so-called "prosperity gospel." I was vaguely familiar with this movement before reading the book, but downright enraged by it afterwards. My eyes have been opened to how thoroughly this false teaching has infiltrated the American church, and even my own extended family. Given what Tim and I have been learning about the role of suffering in our own lives and those around the world, the prosperity gospel is more detestable...

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Our Homeschool Adventure

Last winter when we decided to homeschool Annabell for her kindergarten year, I planned to keep things simple and do our work at the dining room table. But then I came to my senses. Our dining room table is the catch-all of our house. I knew that if I had to clear it off every morning, get out our schoolwork, and put everything away again in another room at the end of the day's lessons, we'd never get anything done.Thus our decision to transform...

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Last-Minute Getaway

We didn't plan on taking a family vacation this year, but thanks to some unexpected changes to Tim's schedule and irresistibly low hotel prices, we made the spontaneous decision to spend what might have been the last two days of summer weather in Ocean City, NJ! It's been two years since we took a family vacation, and then it was in this same month and to this same destination. I love the empty September beaches!Though our hotel room and its continental...

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Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

The title of this book caught me first, followed by the subtitle’s mention of “a modern-day slave.” It looked like a quick read and a unique storyline, so I decided to give it a shot. I didn’t realize I was picking up a book I’d have such a hard time putting back down. Same Kind of Different as Me is a true story, one which opened my eyes to several deficiencies in my own realm of understanding, some tangible and others spiritual. If you want to...

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Book Review of Christianity in Crisis, by Hank Hanegraaff

I usually inhale a good book like fresh air after a thunderstorm. Rarely can I make one stretch more than a week, unless it’s very, very dry or very, very long. I began reading Hank Hanegraaff’s Christianity in Crisis over a year ago. I’m tempted to end this review here with a flippant, “Enough said,” but that wouldn’t be fair to Mr. Hanegraaff, or his readers. The truth is, Christianity in Crisis has some notable strengths (aside from the fact that I received it free from Thomas Nelson, as part of their book review blogger program). Before I...

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A few highlights

We've had some fun moments over the past week and a half. With the summer temps climbing and the humidity making it's dreaded debut, most of them have involved water. For example, we've discovered the joy of the "driveway sprinkler," which makes for some fun bike and scooter riding, as well as a cool place to sit after some hefty exercise.And then there are Tim's famous tractor sled rides. When the extended family dropped by for a Memorial Day dinner,...

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