Reading List {2012}

One of my monthly goals for 2012 is to read at least one book a month.  I am always on the look out for books to read so when I see a blog post about books, I tend to stop there and look over it.

This post is just going to be a listing of books read for 2012.  It will be edited as needed.  Books in bold are fiction and all others are non-fiction.  I’m not going to offer reviews on these books so my listing it as read is not necessarily a recommendation.  If you’d like to know if a book is worth your time to read, please write a comment or send an email and ask.  I’ll be glad to answer and let you know what I thought.  (You should be able to email me from my profile page.  The link to that is on the side bar.)

Books read in 2012 {in no particular order or organized fashion}

A Sane Woman’s Guide to Raising a Large Family by Mary Ostyn

Learn Me Good by John Pearson

Kiss Me Like You Mean It by Dr. David Clarke

Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider

Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte

Directed Verdict by Randy Singer

Mini Farming by Brett L. Markham

Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise by Joyce Magnin

Fit for My King by Sheri Rose Shepherd

The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian

Little House in the Suburbs by Deanna Caswell and Daisy Siskin

 

 

* I am an Amazon affiliate and if you purchase something from Amazon through a link that I’ve provided, I do receive some compensation.  However, all of these books are books that I have read and would have read regardless of my affiliation with Amazon. *

 

If you have any books that you have read and would recommend, I’d love to know!  Please leave a comment or send an email so I can add it to my list of books.  {smile}

Resources for city homesteaders {and people who love to garden}

It is amazing that there is such a growing movement towards people becoming city homesteaders.  I love to open magazines and see pictures of other urban gardens or find new blogs about the same.  It is wonderful to see others taking this journey with us! 

Maybe you’re interested in learning more about city homesteading or gardening a bit in your city home.  I’d like to share some books that have helped me along on this journey.  (Click on the book to learn more about the book.)

The Backyard Homestead

I love that this book shows illustrations of how to lay out a backyard homestead on various sized lots.  This book gets pulled out each year when I’m looking for information on various vegetables and pruning brambles & grapes.

 

 

Little House in the Suburbs

This is a new to me book and I absolutely love it.  The authors (who have a blog by the same name) have humorous writing styles and include pictures of their gardens.  Have I mentioned how I love pictures of gardens? {smile}  This book has inspired me to do more towards self-sufficiency (more on that later, I’m sure) and has given me some new ideas to try around our city farm. 

Carrots Love Tomatoes

My friend, Salinda, had gotten this book and after asking her many questions about companion planting, I decided to get it myself.  Because of this book, I’ve planted onions, strawberries, and lettuces in one small space.  (A lot of food in a small space)  I’ve also been planting my green beans with my strawberries.  I’m interested to see how it all turns out. 

Square Foot Gardening

I love gardens planted in rows but we just don’t have the space for it.  We can plant so much more in our little squares because we plant intensively.  This book tells you how to do that.  (And I really do like the visual appeal of the tidy little garden boxes.)

 

A Chicken in Every Yard

I’ve not gotten very far into this book but so far am loving what I read.  The kids and I have enjoyed reading about the different breeds of chickens and finding out that we made good choices (or probably just got lucky) in our choices of chickens last year.    David said that he wished that we had this book last year because it contains very detailed plans for building a chicken coop. 

Weekend Homesteader ebook

I have been reading these very affordable (99 cent) ebooks on my Kindle.  Don’t let the price fool you.  These ebooks are a wealth of information.  I referred back to one just this weekend as we worked with our raspberry and blackberry bushes. 

 

Do you have any books that you love to refer to as you work on your city homestead or in your garden?

Simplifying to organize

The other day I read that to truly organize your home, it is easier to just simplify what you have.  The author (and I can’t remember where I read this) said it much better than I did but the gist was this:  instead of repeatedly organizing stuff, just simplify the amount of stuff that you have.  I believe that the author was talking especially to the stuff that we don’t use or that we are holding on to use one day – the stuff that takes up space but gives us little return because it’s not likely to be used.

Since our family lives in a small house, it seems that we always have to organize.

Always.

Seven people bring in a lot of stuff.  And it seems to easily get out of control and take over our home.

We seem to always be organizing our stuff.

Always. (I seem to be repeating myself too…)

It’s time to end the cycle.  Time to quit just putting stuff into a new container, box, or whatever and just leaving it there until the next time we organize {again}. 

This month I am starting a purge of the extra stuff and have started small.  I decided to simplify and organize my recipe binders.  If you look at them here, they don’t look so bad – just a little untidy and well-used.

But then you open them up and

It’s crazy chaos that’s quite hard to use.  Who has time to leaf through pages and pages of unorganized recipes?

So what steps am I taking?

• Purging recipes that we aren’t likely to try or recipes that we didn’t enjoy. (I am being very ruthless with the culling and am going to keep those that we know we like…this step is in progress)
• Reorganizing recipes into useable groups {main dishes, side dishes, desserts, canning…}  (coming soon)
• Making a section for recipes to try (these are recipes that I want to try before I put them into the binder.  If the recipe is not well received then it will meet the recycling bin.)
• Setting a budget for how much to spend on the simplifying/reorganization project  (I’m going to try to keep it at $10 for a new 3 ring binder and some scrapbook paper.  Planning to try to use dividers that I all ready have)
• Setting aside some time to make new, functional, and pretty recipe binders (still to come)

I’d like to have this project finished by the end of this week because the next area up for simplification is a biggie:

 The closets and the clothes!

Now you know that I’m keeping it real around here because I just showed you our messy master bedroom/craft/sewing/catch all closet.

(Can not believe I just showed you that! {smile})

In addition to the recipe binder and closets, I am trying to clean out and organize one drawer a day.  By choosing just one drawer a day, I am not quite so overwhelmed with the task at hand.

Before I go, I’d like to tell you about a great book that I am reading.  I have wanted to read this book a while and the other day it ended up being a free Kindle download.  The book is Organized Simplicity.

I’ve not completed the book but so far it has been quite an inspiration to continue on the path of simplifying in order to organize. 

Unfortunately, the free Kindle download version of this book seems to not be available anymore. 

**I also want to say that I am an Amazon affiliate.  I’m not entirely sure but I think if you purchase an item from Amazon through a link on my blog posts, I will receive compensation.  I’ve put a little note on the sidebar about this.  All money made will be used to support our homeschool.  I would still recommend this book even if I were not compensated for it in this way.  {smile}**

Do you have any areas in your home that you feel would be more organized if you just simplified the amount of stuff in those areas?

 

 

What we are reading

As far back as I can remember, I have loved to read.  I love reading so much that I got in trouble in First Grade because one day I chose to read a book instead of coloring the color sheet that the teacher had given us to do.  {smile}

Since I love to read, I was super excited when my parents gave me this gift for Christmas:

 

It’s kind of hard to see it in the dark picture but that is a Kindle and it is

AWESOME!

{I wrote that in my sing-song voice so make sure you read it in a sing-song voice!}

My plan is to read at least one new book a month but I have a feeling that I’ll be reading even more with my new totally AWESOME gadget!  So here’s what we have read or are currently reading this month:

A Sane Woman’s Guide to Raising a Large Family

This is a great book and is easy to read.  The reviews said that this book would be good even for those with smaller families.  I agree.  The author, Mary Ostyn, had many great ideas throughout the book.  We have implemented some of those ideas into our home and these ideas would work for any family.  The author also has a website if you’d like to learn more about her and her family.

Weekend Homesteader 

 This is an ebook that I came across on the Kindle.  It had a lot of info about fruit trees and since we are planting some, I thought this would be a good read.  I’ve not read the whole thing but so far, it’s been good.

 Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre

 This book is one that I was able to borrow on the Kindle.  I’ve read a few things, mainly the stuff about chickens and I learned a few new things too.  I’m not sure how much longer I’ll have this one since it was borrowed…a month, I guess.

Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise

I don’t take time to read much fiction anymore but this one was listed in the free books so I thought I’d give it a try.  I’ve enjoyed getting to read something just for fun again.  {smile}

Reading for school:

Turn Homeward, Hannalee 

We are studying the Civil War and this book is set during that time.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales

We are studying Germany right now so I am reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales to them since the Grimm Brothers were from Germany.  It’s a little harder to read but the kids are enjoying hearing the fairy tales and comparing them to the modern day fairy tales. 

The kids are reading:

White Fang (Bryce – 8th grade)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Grant – 6th grade)

The Courage of Sarah Noble (Emma – 3rd grade)

 

What’s next on my reading list:

 

The Secret Holocaust Diaries 

 This is another free book that I downloaded.  I’ll be diving into it soon.

Absolutely Organize Your Family

Again, a free download…thought I’d give it a try.

 

 

The Money Saving Mom’s Budget

Can.not.wait.to.read.it!

I’ve been reading Crystal’s blog for years and I’ve heard good things about her new book. 

 

And for the fiction…going to tackle something a little harder but by one of my favorite authors:

Northanger Abbey

 Do you have any books that you love or think would be a good read?

 

Organizing the home ~ library books

I have been in an organizing mood lately so I’m probably going to bore you to tears with posts on organization!  Sorry!   A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I am on a quest to organize our family and home.  I really need this.  Ever since the birth of our fifth child, I have felt like I am drowning and can’t get on top of this household.  I really don’t like that feeling.  (And I don’t want it to sound like it has anything to do with my baby boy either.  I just need to learn how to better manage a larger number of children.)

Since we are approaching the third birthday of our child who made us a “large family”, I figured that it was about time to get this home under control!  I decided to tackle the areas that felt most out of control first: homeschool, morning/bedtime routines, laundry, and menu planning/grocery shopping.  There are posts in the works for those areas but today I thought I’d share about organizing our library books.

You see, today we made it to the library which happens to be one of our favorite places to visit.  We had a blast.  And I even have pictures on my phone that I’d like to share but I don’t have know where to find the cable to do that.  {Ahem…organize the computer cables…wink}

But back to the library…

We had not been the library in a long time.  A very, very long time.  And why?  Because we owed the library money for overdue books and a lost movie.  Ay yi yi!

Today we paid our fines and have set a system into place that will hopefully keep us from having to do that again.   Here’s what we did differently today:

 

• As soon as we walked into the house, we put all library books in a designated spot.  Each book is supposed to return to this spot when the child is finished reading it.
• We wrote the child’s/parent’s first initial and the number of books checked out on the calendar on the day that we will return the books.  I limit my children to five books each except for the two little ones who usually only check out two books.  When it is time to return books, the children will find their books and we will make sure that he or she has the same number as written on the calendar.
• Movies are returned earlier than books, so we wrote those down on the appropriate date.  The movies were placed on a little shelf by the TV.

• Our library includes printout library checkout cards (receipts) in the back of each book.  I removed all of the cards and clipped them to the calendar.  When it is time to return the books, if there are not the appropriate number of books for each person, we can check the books against these cards to see what is missing.  Maybe knowing the name of the book will help the child remember where the book might be.  Hopefully, the books will make it back to the designated book spot and we will never need this step. 

We’ve not tested this system to see if it will work yet.  I’ll let you know if it doesn’t. 

How do you organize your library checkouts? 

I’d love to hear your ideas!

Got books?

I love to read…always have and probably always will.  The library is probably on my list of the top ten places that I love to visit.  I don’t have as much time to read now since I’m in a very busy season of life but I try to read when I can.  Actually, I keep a stack of books on my end table by my “little nest” on the couch.  (I call my usual sitting place my nest because I feel like a momma bird with my chicks gathered around me in that cozy spot.)  I also keep a stack of books on my night stand though I don’t read much in bed.  It seems that I fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow. 

I’ve been a little disheartened over the years that my older children did not seem to love books like I loved books.  Then I introduced my oldest to the library and he found books on military life, hunting, and guns.  A light bulb went off in my head and I got him books about history involving guns, hunting, military, etc.  Now he reads…it does my heart good. 

My other children are starting to read more and I try to keep a chapter book going for them in addition the Bible stories and picture books that we read for school.  Currently, we are reading The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden before bed.  I also checked out the audiobook of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  We’ve not started listening to it yet but tomorrow will be a day spent on the road and I plan on enjoying it with the kids. 

In order to encourage my children to read more and to enrich my life, I’ve decided to make a goal of trying to read one book a week between now and the end of the year.  Honestly, this is probably a bit of a lofty goal, but I’ll give it a try anyway.  I plan on documenting it on the blog…maybe in a side bar…I don’t know yet.  But here is a beginning reading list for me…

Me, Myself, & Lies   by Jennifer Rothschild (This is really a study guide type book for my discipleship training class.)

A Survivors Guide to Home Schooling by Luanne Shackelford & Susan White (I’ve all ready read this but didn’t realize it until I checked it out from the library.  I’m reading back through it for some encouragement.)

The Gathering Storm by W. E. Davis  (My mom let me borrow this because I love historical fiction.)

The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola

So what are you reading?  I’m always on the look out for a good book.  When I get in the library, there are so many books that I don’t know where to start.  Also, I’m rarely alone in there so I try to know before hand what I’m getting so I can grab it quickly.  If you’re reading a good book or have read a good book, leave me a comment and let me know! 

Home school Week 5 – Fun with Food

This week was our week to get our 4-H projects to the fair. It all started on Monday when The Princess was entering drop cookies in the bake-off. This summer while curriculum planning, I asked her what she would like to study in addition to the normal school subjects this year. She told me that she would like to learn to cook. In searching, I found a book called Creative Kids: Simple Cooking Fun. This particular book links literature with cooking and I’m all about the literature! I pulled out the book and hoped that there would be a cookie recipe. There was and we had the book in our home library! Yippee! Let’s make a math lesson out of it!

So on Monday morning I read the book M&M’s Counting Book to the kids and we did the activities in the book. It was way too simple for my 4th and 6th graders but they had fun anyway. Anything involving food is fun, right? ;0)

First, we estimated what we had in our package of m&m’s. Then we sorted and graphed the m&m’s.

We followed directions and as a result we added, multiplied, and divided. Then we subtracted by eating the m & m’s.

That afternoon, the Princess baked the cookies. We had to change the recipe a little to make them drop cookies since that was all that the Cloverbuds (young 4-Hers) were allowed to enter.

The Princess had a blast baking the cookies and we are all excited about cooking some of the other recipes in the book.

The face of a happy girl doing what she enjoys.