Thursday, March 28, 2024

Recent reads

📖 Be a Plant-Based Woman Warrior (secular, health, cookbook)... Some of the woman warrior stuff was a bit much for my liking but good overall and we loved the recipes we tried. (In particular, the amaretto chocolate cherry hazelnut scones my daughter made + their German chocolate frosting on top of our own black bean brownies!)

📖 The Blue Zones (secular, nonfiction, health)... Fascinating! Some of the points seemed fishy to me but many (most?) made a lot of sense. 

📖 The Choice (Christian, general fiction)... Set partially in 1974 and partially in 2008, this Christian fiction was heavily focused on teen pregnancy, adoption, and abortion. This took a conservative Christian view of abortion. Due to the nature of the topic, this one contained subject matter some will not be comfortable with, as well as on off-page sexual assault we hear about in non-graphic language. This was my third Robert Whitlow book and I really love his writing style! 

📖 Forks Over Knives magazine (nonfiction, cooking, magazine)... My step-father-in-law bought this for me on our Boise, Idaho trip (He also eats plant-based). This month's edition had over a hundred recipes and we want to make so many of them! I've never been able to buy myself an issue is because they're $13 magazines but I have to say, this actually felt like a steal as a $13 full-cover cookbook! 

📖 Habits: Charlotte Mason Topics, Book One (nonfiction, homeschool)... Overall fine, I think? It was a very short read. I loved sone of it and of course disagreed with some of it. I'm not a fully Charlotte Mason homeschool mom, more of an eclectic style with heavy Charlotte Mason influences, but true CM-ers who don't already own her full works will likely enjoy it. 

📖 The Right Kind of Fool (Christian, historical fiction)... I really liked this... part murder mystery, part coming-of-age, part family drama. Set in 1930s West Virginia. 

Monday, March 25, 2024

Middle Grade March- Mysteries


📚 American Girl History Mysteries and Beforever characters' mysteries (secular)... I love the historical fiction element of some of these! They are not always a yes for me though. You can find specific yeses in my American Girl review page

📚 The Father Brown Reader (secular)... These ones are fun, about a cute little old priest who happens upon crimes and solves them in clever ways. There are also adult versions and a TV show (which I haven't seen). 

📚 The Hardy Boys (secular)... Some of these mysteries are more intriguing than others but they've been captivating middle graders for decades! 

📚 Nancy Drew (secular)... Some of these mysteries are more intriguing than others but they've been captivating middle graders for decades! I loved Nancy Drew when I was in 4th and 5th grade. 

📚 Precious Ramotswe Mysteries (secular, TGTB list)... These mysteries are set in Africa and they're so much fun! African animals make appearances and the audio books are lots of fun, too.

📚 The Sugar Creek Gang (Christian)... We've only read the first six but we liked them. Some find these a bit preachy but my son doesn't mind. We also tried the first movie and were surprised by a couple of changes (made to appeal more to girls) but overall liked that, too. 

📚 The Three Investigators (secular)... These are similar in nature to The Hardy Boys. I haven't read all of them and one was a no for us, though I no longer remember which one or why. 

📚 Vanished (Christian)... This one was fun for me and I would have loved it as a tween! This is the first in a series and I do plan to try the rest. 

Thursday, March 21, 2024

3/21- World Down Syndrome Day!

Image found here

3/21 is World Down Syndrome Day! It gets its date from the chromosomal cause of Down Syndrome, a third copy of chromosome number 21! We have a special family connection to Down Syndrome around here and we love books and movies featuring characters with Down Syndrome. Here's a list of some books and movies we have loved! 

📖 Different: A Great Thing to Be (picture book)... Sweet message about being proud of your differences because we're all different in all kinds of ways!  

📖 Good Morning, Sunshine!: The Joey Moss Story (secular, picture book)... This is better for older picture book readers and will bring great discussion about how undervalued people with Down Syndrome can be. Love the Joey Moss Story! 

📖 I am a Masterpiece (secular, picture book)... This delightful own voices book is written by a young lady with Down Syndrome. There's also an art storyline for those who are drawn to drawing and painting. 

📖 Life With Lily (Christian, middle grade)... I wasn't going to include this book because there is so little Down Syndrome featured or mentioned. Lily's adult aunt has Down Syndrome and lives with Lily's grandparents. It's rare to see Down Syndrome in middle grade novels, however, so I went ahead and added it. 

📖 The Lucky Few (Christian, nonfiction, memoir)... I was a big fan of this lovely memoir. Heather and her husband have adopted three children, two of whom have Down Syndrome, and their story is so powerful! 

📖 My Friend Isabelle (picture book)... This one s simple, sweet, and absolutely perfect for the youngest readers. 

📖 Out Into the Big, Wide Lake (Picture Book)... This one is focused on a child with Down Syndrome being underestimated and then proving her abilities. Loved it. 

📖 A Picture of Hope (Christian, historical fiction)... WWII France- a young journalist helps to rescue children, including a girl with Down Syndrome she has formed a fast bond with. 

📖 Tacos for Two (Christian, contemporary romance)... This You've Got Mail inspired story is very much focused on the romantic comedy, but the heroine's cousin with Down Syndrome is featured frequently. 

📖 A Thousand Tomorrows and its sequel, Just Beyond the Clouds (Christian, contemporary fiction)... Book one is a love story featuring a younger brother with Down Syndrome, Carl Joseph. Book two is focused specifically on Carl Joseph's story and his desire for more independence. 

📖 Unbound: The Life and Art of Judith Scott (picture book)... This one is more sad and is a great one to read with older children as you explore how far we've come in our treatment of people with Down Syndrome (and then discuss the direction we're heading). 


Movies: 

📺 The Homeschool Awakening- This documentary is about homeschool in general but one of the families interviewed shares that their daughter being held back because she has Down Syndrome was the primary reason they chose the homeschool route. 

📺 The Peanut Butter Falcon- This movie does contain curse words but oh, the story is so wonderful! A troubled young man embarks on a bonding adventure with a young man with Down Syndrome and then fights for his independence. 

📺 Touched by Grace- The production quality on this one isn't the best but the message is good and I plan to watch it with my kids as teenagers. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Just in case you need a reminder...

Jesus loves you! 


No matter what's been done to you, no matter what you've done. 


You are loved. 

💙

Monday, March 18, 2024

Recently Watched

As always, we tried a few things not worth mentioning here. These were the shows and movies we found most interesting, inspiring, thought-provoking, etc. You can find more TV and movie posts here

📺 2012 (secular, movie, dystopian)... My husband and I both love apocalyptic and dystopian films. This one had a lot of improbable moments, but the best usually do! Did contain I think two language issues + mention of an alleged affair but otherwise it was relatively clean and we liked it pretty well. 

📺 The Adventures of Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure (Christian-but-not-really? Or secular but clean? Family, adventure)... Weird mixture of awesome + cheesy. Basically, could have been awesome but a few of the actors were not quite developed. Good adventure story though and one I know my son will love. 

📺 Confessions of a Prodigal Son (Christian, movie)... Not the very best production quality but it was overall fine. Good message, will watch with the kids as teens. 

📺 Deep Web (Secular, documentary)... This contained a curse word right away but then none at all after that unless I missed something. Fascinating look at our justice system and really brought us a lot of discussion about right vs wrong, grace and forgiveness + justice for safety of a community, the idea of a "victimless" crime, etc. 

📺 The Homeschool Awakening (Christian, documentary)... Love, love, loved this one! Watched as a family- fine for all ages. 

📺 Invisible Hands (secular, movie, documentary)... Such a sad, important, and inspiring look at the child labor behind common products we use every day. 

📺 The Miracle Season (secular, movie)... My mom told me I'd love this one and she was right- so inspiring! Will watch with the kids as teens. 

📺 A Place at the Table (secular, movie, documentary)... This movie was so inspiring and caused me to start making an intentional choice to feed the children of our community. 

📺 Touched by Grace (Christian, movie)... Not the very best production quality but it was overall fine. Good message, will watch with the kids as teens. 

📺 UFO Secrets Declassified (secular, television, )... Not my jam and only watched because a kid was interested. But honestly, it was well-done and captured my attention multiple times.