You May Think I Read Too Much......

The Priest by Francine Rivers
The Letters of Samuel Rutherford
Her Mother's Hope by Rivers
Rise to Rebellion by Sharra
Phantasties by MacDonald
Wizard's First Rule by Goodkind
With the Old Breed by EB Sledge
Helmet for My Pillow by Leckie
Covered Wagon Women by Holmes
The Scottish Chiefs by Porter
Out of the Depths
I capture the Castle
Pollyanna grows up
a Girl of Limberlost
A lifting Up for the Downcast
Alicia: My Story
Galatians commentary by Martin Luther

and if you are interest in all the books that I am planning to read then you can go to this link and see for yourself, but these the the main ones....

Larissa's bookshelf: reading-list-2010-11




More of Larissa's books »

Don't you Wish You Could Hear This?

Daddy is bald like an eagle, huh? Like a bald eagle. -Silly Boy #1

While showering. "Kace put your forehead under the water."

"Huh?" Turns in a circle without a clue where his forehead is.

"Kace put your brain under the water."

"Oh, Okay," Turns immediately toward the water with his head tilted up.

Me, laughing hysterically. :)

"I'm gonna run away."

"What?!" I am good at freaking out, by the way.

"Not outside," I hope you can visualize the face which accompanied this statement, it's very similar to this one pictured. "I'm gonna run away to my room."

"Oh, Okay," much more calmly. "Go ahead."

Generally this little tomboy/princess just bosses people. Her two favorite words right now are "Mine" and "No". We were hoping she would be a great speaker, but she is the quietest of the bunch so far, only saying the words most needed to accomplish her purposes. Who would have thought a big mouth like me would end up with a girl who actually limits her speech?!

How We Know We Are The Crazy Ones....

Some days I wonder, how we know we are so crazy? Well, it may be the banshees that populate our home at various intrevals throughout the day. It may be the spining tops that spin throughout the rooms. It may be the crazy voices saying silly things like "momma, please put some lotion on my brain, it tickles." Or it may be the looks strangers are constantly blessing us with and the comments that go along with those looks. But generally the realities are bourne upon us that, yes, we are the nuts. But, as I have been told "Nuts grow better in some families." I think the surest sign that we are crazy, is the fact that we secretly relish all the nutiness.

How Did the Reading Go?

Some of you may be wondering, or you may not ;P, how my reading list went! So here's an update....

Books I read in the last year ......


Classics:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle* (read sleepy hollow, but haven't finished rip van winkle)
A Tale of Two Cities
Alice in Wonderland (currently reading)
Rebecca

Fiction:
Moonspinners*
The Neverending Story

History:
Killer Angels*
Bonhoeffer (finishing)
Troy*
Schindler's List*
The Pianist*
All but My Life*
The 23rd Psalm*
I will plant you a Lilac tree*

Children's fiction:
Savage Sam*
Silver on the Tree*
The Mysterious Benedict Society*
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey*
Dealing With Dragons *
the forgotten beasts of eld*
A Wrinkle in Time*
The thirteen Child*
The Frog Princess*

Christian Living:
Cost of Discipleship(again)*
The Lovliness of Christ*
Mortification of Sin
Treasures of Encouragement*
On Christian Liberty*
Saved From What*


Note: The * means finished.

Ovbiously these are not all the books I have read this year. These the the ones I had the intention to read this year. I have a whole other list for this upcoming year. I will share it soon, once I get more into the groove of homeschooling and eveything else that is involved with my job here at home.

My Quick List of 2010-2011 Reading:
The Priest by Francine Rivers
The Letters of Samuel Rutherford
Her Mother's Hope by Rivers
Rise to Rebellion by Sharra
Phantasties by MacDonald
Wizard's First Rule by Goodkind
With the Old Breed by EB Sledge
Helmet for My Pillow by Leckie
Covered Wagon Women by Holmes
The Scottish Chiefs by Porter


There are a lot more that I want to read this year, but I haven't yet made up my list. When we moved we also culled our book considerably so we are revamping our library currently. So stay tuned and I will get a new, complete list soon!

Amidst the Mess

Aren't you amazed anyones home could actually look like this? And no I was not allowing my kids to play under this very unstable mess, somehow they got past me and were in the middle of cleaning up when we snapped this picture.

You can imagine what the other rooms looked like, if this is what happened to Petra's!

We recieved our homeschooling curriculum in the middle of our unpacking and the boys were not hindered from looking through some of the new books right away. We are excited to begin this new adventure together on monday. We are a little nervous (thats me) but we are going to do fine (that's them)!

A few new things we are enjoying....

1) Being close to family has been the best thing about living here. We have actually been able to enjoy Will's family after a long separation and it has been such a blessing for the kids and us.

2) Being CLOSE to everything! Now I know we never think about living in the country when you are doing it, but MAN is it nice to actually have a gas station right around the corner and be close, oh so close, to the grocery store! I really do love living near to things!

3) Not going to Walmart. Now don't get me wrong I love wally world just as much as the next guy, but man is it nice not to go there for weeks! I don't even have a hankering to go there!

4) Just being back in the east is very relaxing. We learned so much and grew so much in the midwest, but it is such a deep burden off of us to be back here and away from all the difficulties. I know that hard times can come anywhere but it is nice to be back to a familiar place.

5) Watching my kids just enjoying life. They are playing and reading and pretending, like never before and it is so much fun to watch! They are so excited to begin 1st grade and preschool. I am ready to have even more family things to do together. It will be fun discovering more from this world together!

A Great Family Summer

As summer quickly comes to a close we are remembering all the fun times we had. Going through the west from the midwest military vehicles museum to Donner pass and ending in Chico ( the Sierra Nevada Brewing capital!). We also have gotten to spend some good times with wills family in richmond and also DC. We even got the kids handcuffed! It's cool having a police officer for an Aunt!! We all had a good time this summer and have been thankful to spend some of that time with our amazing family! We are so thankful for them!

Update

Drinking: the old stand-by Diet Dr. Pepper

Recovering: I NEVER want to move again, which probably means I will! :P

Reading: Well....I bought a kindle and LOVE it! I am reading a plethora of things right now, only down side is that there are so many free classics and such that I have a hard time not trying to read everything aat once!

Studying: 2 Corinthians, since Will has been telling me these last two months that it has a similar paradigm of ministry to what we have personally experienced which is actually pretty astute. Here's a sample:

"4:1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God."

"4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. "

"6:11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13 In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also."


"7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. 2 Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy."

"7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death."

Linking: http://www.sonlight.com/ We are starting homeschooling with Silas, in 1st grade this year and Kace in his second year of Pre-school. Using this material. We hope to have a wonderful and education year....reading! I hope they will enjoy books as much as William and I do!

Watching: Flight of Dragons with the kids amidst our mountain of boxes, i suppose you could say I needed a break!

Listening: to the kids talk about the dragons on the film, Will comment on the theology of the movie, and myself argue that we can enjoy fantasy as an entertainment without consenting to it's reality! We are crazy! Like I have said often!