Top 10 Books from 2013

Here are my top ten recommended books from 2013. I find it interesting that there is only one novel in my top ten.....Maybe this year I'll find a few amazing works of fiction to read.


Echoes of Eden: Reflections on Christianity, Literature, and the Arts by Jerram Barrs. As a Christian, someone who loves to be creative, and someone who loves to read, I found this book an amazing combination of all of those loves!

Fit to Burst : Abundance, Mayhem, and the Joys of Motherhood by Rachel Jankovic An excellent, encouraging and thoughtful book on motherhood and our Christian faith and how the two intersect.

Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir by Carolyn Weber had me turning pages faster than I have in a long time with her well-told story of coming to faith from an agnostic background, in the setting of Oxford University.

In the Midst of Life by Jennifer Worth is the author of Call the Midwife's treatise on care for the elderly and dying. This book was, as always, very well written and was an excellent starting point for thinking about how to approach the subject of dying and how to best care for those in this stage of life. Highly recommend this.

The Forgotten Garden: A Novel by Kate Morton. I've never read a Kate Morton book I haven't loved. She is the queen of the novel for me. I hope she has a new one coming out soon!


Uprooted: A Guide for Homesick Christians by Rebecca VanDoodewaard. This little book is excellent for anyone moving, having moved, or knowing someone who is/will be moving (in short, everyone). This book made me face the realities in my own life of the moves I have made and helped me to understand myself a bit better.

Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home by Gloria Furman. As you know, I love the subject of grace (in its many definitions) and talking about how grace can be lived out and seen in our homes made for an excellent book.

Spiritual Parenting: An Awakening for Today's Families by Michelle Anthony. Excellent book on parenting with many practical ideas. I took lots of notes.

Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Sheila Neiquist. The subjects of this book are so close to my heart that I couldn't help but love this book -- food, fellowship, Christ, and recipes with each chapter!!!!

10 Gifts of Wisdom: What Every Child Must Know Before They Leave Home by Sally Clarkson. Anything Sally writes is guaranteed to make it on my top list. This was a very practical book of things to make sure you train your children in before they leave home.

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Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful...

Despite the terribly low temperatures, the large snowfall we had on Sunday has been just beautiful! We are thankful not to have lost electricity for more than a few hours and so, for the most part, we can enjoy these rare days of being "stuck at home" -- something that I long for at this stage of life.

I designated yesterday as "thank-you note writing day". My plan this year was to list out all the thank you notes and put various activities in a jar to be pulled out after everyone completed a note. That way we got the thank you notes done in one day without too much complaining and we had fun along the way!

Our activities included: baking the cookie dough that was in the fridge, taking down the dining room Christmas tree, un-decorating the bedrooms, reading together, making a winter craft, eating a candy cane, and watching a snow leopard documentary.

We found an adorable penguin craft to make.

The days have been marked almost as much by pots of tea as by hours on the clock. But, I must save most of those pictures for the Tea Trolley later in the week. :)

This morning we woke to colder temperatures -- the house read 56 on the thermostat inside. Poor furnace. It managed to climb to 60 by the afternoon but I expect it won't go much higher for another day or two. But the snow looks marvelous on the houses and yards on the street. It reminds me of life in Vermont when I was a young child. This was the daily norm for much of the winter!

We do have one space heater and here is Polly warming her hands this morning.

Today was my last day "to myself" before school starts up again. I worked on menu planning and other various matters. The kids had to play on their own.

A little lunch was carried up to my reading nook.....

And the "time on their own" proved to be a good thing because the younger boys got busy making armor and dressing Laura and her doll up too.

One of the nice things about snow days is that there is more time to cook. It makes me so happy to feed the family a really well-rounded meal and that, of course, takes time! But, when you are stuck at home there is less time pressure and more time to spend on this!

Well, my electric blanket is already warming and I think the kids and I will take a few minutes to read together before we cozy up for another cold night!!!

Mondays are for Grace

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. 

You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up in another quite different, 

and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?"

-- John Boynton Priestly

The Tea Trolley: Christmas Tea

Christmas Day we met up with JK & Christina and my mom for a picnic tea in the woods.

There was something for everyone to carry. We made an interesting sight going through the woods. The other trail users couldn't figure out what to make of us, especially when we wished them a "Merry Christmas!". I think they thought we were a little too merry.

Our destination was a lovely old log cabin in the woods. Much to our horror, we arrived to find it had been burned by a bad fire and cordoned off so we couldn't go inside!

The day was saved by a picnic table around back and the fact that there was no wind.

We set up camp with my wonderful "airpot" full of boiling hot water, hot cocoa, tea, homemade marshmallows, gingerbread men and mince pies, and, the piece de resistance: sausage rolls! (regular and gluten free!).

The boys rushed down the hill to play in the frozen streams while the rest of us fixed our drinks.

We used my vintage enamel mugs that I found this fall (they are getting lots of use!!!).

And we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! (especially happy while eating sausage rolls)

The men assumed interesting conversation, including how Amazon could link Michael's published thesis on Old Testament Law with the suggestion to buy a book about prime numbers illustrated by monsters. The men were hard core too, being sure to request tea over hot cocoa.

Laura stayed close to Grandma, who always makes sure the little ones are cared for.

Did I say those sausage rolls were delicious?!

And here are the happy hosts of our Christmas afternoon and evening (we headed to their house after the walk).

Had to have plaid in the picture somewhere!!! I love using this huge blanket as a tablecloth.

And here is Grandma sporting her wonderful "new to her" coat that dropped in her lap the week before and fits her perfectly. (We always marvel at God's provision for us in many different ways).

We even managed a family photo!

And a group shot!! (children bribed with candy canes)

I think we all enjoyed the picnic so much that we will need to continue this new tradition, weather willing. And now we are all getting ready for the "Big Storm" to bring us loads and loads of snow. Walmart at 9 a.m. was already packed but now we have enough milk and eggs, fruit and veg to last into next week. And now for the Saturday chores......

Words and Wool

Well, I did get in a little Christmas knitting before the big day!! Once the Christmas Market was over I mentally relaxed by casting on a very simple hat for Laura and then making one to match for her dolly. It was so much fun and good therapy too! I stuck a red flower on and the simple hat took on some fanciness! 

The hats were completed quite quickly and there was still time before Christmas so I decided to try for matching Plain Vests. I started with dolly's and just halved the smallest size of the plain vest for her. I worked hard on Laura's and was sewing on the buttons and weaving in the ends as Michael read Luke 2 before present-opening on Christmas! Just in the  St. Nick of time I would say..... Laura was pretty excited!

I've been enjoying my other December knitting project - the Christmas tea cozy. It's knit out of some merino in my stash -- it was also a delight to have that yarn flowing through my fingers.

The best project of all is the present I received from Christina for Christmas -- a magic cake shawl!!!! Actually, she gave them to all of us ladies, including Rachel! All the details are here on Christina's blog. Wow. This is the best post-Christmas therapy ever! Christina took all her leftover yarn, tied the ends together and wound them up into "cakes" which we are using to knit the simplest of shawls. I've been so attached to this project that I have only 3 colors left! I think Christina should make these every year for the post-Christmas recovery!

Here's a picture of my mom with hers. Maybe next week mine will be almost finished!

And then for the reading......

Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir by Carolyn Weber utterly captured my full attention and swung me far, far away from my Christmas reads for an entire week. And then I was surprised that it only took me a week to read this 440-page book, especially in the midst of December when I hadn't been finding much time to read.

This book tells the story of Carolyn's journey from being a contented agnostic to becoming a Christian. The surprising thing is that Carolyn's conversion happened during her first year studying abroad at Oxford University. I kept turning the pages of this book as if it were a novel. The myriad ways and means that God reached into her life and called her to Himself was just beautiful. It was also very helpful to see her work through every one of her questions and arguments against the existence of God, the truth of the Bible, the reality of sin, etc. I am very much looking forward to reading her newest book.


Until the Robin Walks on Snow  by Bernice L. Rocque was chosen for two reasons: the emigrant family this book is about came from Lithuania and settled in the USA in the 1920's (I have Lithuanian friends), and the plot of the story involves the birth of a premature infant weighing only 1 1/2 pounds (similar to Call the Midwife story). The author is writing historical fiction about her own family and actually published the book herself. So, the writing and story line are not as gripping as something you would read in a regularly published book. However, for the two reasons mentioned above, I wanted to read this.

  Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot by Frances Frost has made me so happy this Christmas season. I managed to locate this book through interlibrary loan and the children and I are reading it together either at tea time or in the evenings before they watch their school vacation treat of All Creatures Great and Small.

The book is geared at upper grade school age and is an endearing story of an upstate New York family in the 1920's and their Christmas celebration which includes the oldest child's horse, Windy Foot. I am particularly fond of the Windy Foot series because my mother's uncle did the black and white illustrations inside the book and because I read these books as a child and my mom read them when she was a child! So, they are a family tradition!

A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story by Brenda Ashford is a brand new book written by England's oldest living nanny who cared for more than 100 children in her long career. This lady is such a good writer!! (And she's in her 90's and planning a second book!!!) I've already begun underlining because as Brenda tells her life story she weaves into it helpful advice on nurturing children. In fact, each chapter ends with a little "advice from nanny" that gives more practical suggestions. This is the book that has me hooked at the moment.....

For more ideas on knitting and reading, visit Ginny's Yarn A Long.

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