Our Current Reading

I'm usually a One-Book-at-a-Time kinda girl, but at the moment I'm all over the place.

As much of a reader as I've been over the last decade, I feel like my eyes are just beginning to open, and I feel this thirst for more knowledge...and it feels good.

Right now, I'm making my way through...

Non-LDS Books


The Cat of Bubastes by G. A. Henty-There's so much to learn from his historical fiction. Wow! Makes a great read-aloud. Long at times, I admit, but it's quite the adventure. We're all enjoying it.


Les Miserables by Victor Hugo-So great when I read it, but I find myself drawn to other books first.


LDS Books


10 Critical Keys for Highly Effective Mormon Families by William Dyer and Philip Kunz-Interesting look at what successful families do.


The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister-Beautiful. Great insights.


The Temple Experience by Wendy Ulrich-Haven't read much yet, but I'm hoping that it will help me get more out of my temple experiences.



That's it at the moment. What are you reading?

LDS Homeschool Conference Notes

On Saturday, I went to the Latter-day Learning Conference at American Heritage School, and my cup is full. What a great day! I feel on fire with excitement.

The morning began with an inspiring keynote address by Nick Gentile. Here are some of my notes.

• Doctrine and Covenants 29:34- All things are spiritual; God never gave us a law that was only temporal.
• In the Doctrine and Covenants manual, it says that man makes the distinction between temporal and spiritual, not God.
• Elder Wirthlin, at the October 2007 General Conference said that God sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming.
• Referenced the talk, An Education for Real Life, by President Henry B. Eyring.
• Described the 4R-ing system to learning: Research, Reason, Relate, Record.
• Make SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, time-bound.

For the first breakout sessions, I listened to Jane Mack and Nannette Wiggins, who spoke about how The Family School curriculum came to be. It has been a long and time-consuming process that is blessing the lives of many! They talked about "laying the Gospel as the foundation of every subject". It was an interesting class, but I didn't take many notes, I'm afraid.

During the second session, I heard from Lauri Updike, a teacher at American Heritage School. 

• Peculiar people are His treasure.
• Neil Flinders, author of Teach the Children: An Agency Approach to Education , said that true religion includes ALL the Lord has given us.
• We should treat our kids as children of God. Assume the best of them. Have high expectations.
• Use primary sources and prophetic quotes to find truth.
• Study the meaning behind words. 1. Dictionary 2. Words of living Prophets 3. Scriptures 4. Reason out a personal definition relating it to your own life.
• 4Rs help us self-govern.
• We want Christ "written in the fleshy tables of our hearts".

After the second session, I went out to a delicious lunch with a couple friends. My friend, Liz, highly recommends the book, 10 critical keys for highly effective Mormon families.

After lunch, Ruel Haymond gave an incredible class, entitled Like it or Not, Likening is the Key.

• The natural man in each of us wants to liken unto everyone except ourselves.
• It's easy to read and think, "Those dumb Nephites. If they could only see!" We need to apply to our own lives instead.
• We can overcome the natural man through hope in Christ.
• Recommends the book, TO END ALL WARS
  by Ernest Gordon and the documentary, Miracle on the River Kwai.

Next, I heard Diann Jeppson speak about Family Devotionals.

• Her family likes to "play missionary". Diann pretends to be an investigator and asks kids questions about the Church. They are supposed to incorporate an Article of Faith in their answer.
• Possible Building Blocks of devotional include: prayer, song, memorizing scriptures, Our Heritage, Teaching the Topics of Themes (her personal favorite**), True to the Faith (older kids), scriptures, spelling, creative writing, inspiring quotes, locate a couple places on a map, recite family mission statement or a family cheer, Pledge of Allegiance, Monday Morning at the Movies (watch a conference talk), read a family history story, manners, etc.
• Strategies: 1. Food is a great gatherer. 2. Give people something to do with their hands. (coloring, knitting, crochet, carving, fixing something...) 3. Be consistent, even when it has to be short. 4. Tell stories in your own words.

Lastly, I chose to listen to an experienced panel of homeschoolers.

1. To motivate your children:

• Praise them.
• Be sure your requirements are worthwhile.
• Take a long-term view.
• Set the stage with older kids.
• Work and play WITH them.
• Give stars or beans in a jar for every time they happily say, "Sure, Mom. I'd be glad to." Let them earn ice cream or field trips.

2. Favorite things about homeschooling:

• Time spent together.
• Great discussions because they learn to be good conversationalists.
• Kids become your friends.

3. Take time for yourself. Even the Savior left the press of the multitude to go apart.

Those are my notes. I'm kind of a conference junkie. I love days like this, when I can go fill my cup to overflowing and come home refreshed and ready to stretch and grow.

Emily blogs at Homespun Light, where she talks about books, homeschool, books, religion, crafts, and books.

(I wrote this post for Latter-day Homeschooling. If you are an LDS homeschooler, you'll definitely want to check it out!)

Happiness

I recently started a new homeschool curriculum with my 4 kids. It's LDS-based and covers science, history, geography, art, literature, and music. We are enjoying it, and I plan to do a thorough review soon.

Until then, if you are an LDS homeschooler, find out more about it at www.latterdaylearning.org.

(If you are wondering what the heck LDS means, it's what we Mormons call ourselves. You can learn more here.)

Today we studied literature for Family School. Each lesson is based on Gospel Principles. As part of literature today, we read The Fisherman and His Wife and Rumplestiltskin. We talked about selfishness and greed and about what brings true happiness vs. what brings short-term pleasure.

Anyway, I've been thinking about that today.

Bubs, who is 9, has a talent for selflessness. He gets it. He thinks about others' happiness before his own. On Wednesday night, he had to get stitches. It was a first for our family.

He had been taking apart on old DVD player, and he left some pieces on the floor in his room. Well, he got startled, tripped, and cut deeply into one of his toes.

It was late by the time he got back from the ER. We were all tired.

The next morning, his sister (Welly, age 7) said that Bubs was sobbing during the night in pain. She told him she was going to wake me up, but he wouldn't let her. He told her to let me sleep because I was up so late.

So unselfish. That's the beauty of it, though. We find true happiness in seeking the happiness of others. When we put our own happiness first, it falls short.

Book Review : Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson

Have you heard of the Fabulous Mrs. Stephanie Nielson of Nie Nie Dialogues fame? Of course you have...or if you haven't, it's time to find out about this amazing and lovely woman.

Did you know that she recently released a book? Well, it's every bit as wonderful as you expect it to be.

Heaven Is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy by Stephanie Nielson

Stephanie Aurora Nielson had a fairy-tale life befitting her fairy-tale name and good looks. You know, like "lips to shame the red-red rose" and all that. It was the life she had always dreamed of...the life she imagined through her paper dolls until well past the age when most girls stopped playing paper dolls anymore.

And she was happy. She blogged up her happy life, reveling in the beauty of day-to-day life as a wife and mother.

Mr. Christian Nielson was also following his dreams. He was learning to fly.

But disaster struck. Along with their friend/flight instructor, Doug, they were in a terrible crash. Stephanie came out with burns on 80% of her body, Christian came out a little better off but still badly injured, and Doug didn't come out at all.

Stephanie was in a drug-induced coma for three months. When she awoke, she didn't want to see anyone. At times, she lost all hope and believed she could never be happy again.

But gradually, as she learned to sit up again, and then stand and walk, her personality shone through, and she realized that she still had everything she ever wanted...her family and her faith.

She talks about her life as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka Mormons, which I also belong to. This book is a very non-threatening way to find out a little bit about that. It's not written in a preachy way. It's just part of her life (as it is mine).

I enjoy Stephanie Nielson's blog and have read it off and on for several years. I LOVED this book, though. It is about hope, love, joy, faith, and the importance of family. Stephanie shows us how, even in the midst of sore trials, we can find joy in the simple things that matter most (even laundry!)

I highly recommend Heaven is Here to adults and young adults. So inspiring.

Thoughts and Quotes on Humility: My Sunday Talk

On Sunday, I spoke in Sacrament Meeting (our main meeting at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) on the topic of humility. I thought I'd share my thoughts here, as well.

President Hinckley said, “There is no place for arrogance in our lives. There is no place for conceit in our lives. There is no place for egotism in our lives. We have work to do. We have things to accomplish. 

·         (Then he quoted Doctrine and Covenants 112:10) ‘Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers’.

·         (Pres. Hinckley goes on…)People ask me what is my favorite scripture, and I say I have many of them. But that is one of them. ‘Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.’

After reading many quotes and scriptures about humility, I concluded that it is essentially this: Humility is giving our will over to the Lord. It is putting our faith, trust, and confidence in the Lord. It is believing that everyone on this earth is a Child of God and knowing that our Heavenly Father’s will is ALWAYS best.

English author John Ruskin said, “The first test of a truly great man is his humility. Really great men have a curious feeling that greatness is not IN them, but THROUGH them. And they see something Divine in every other man.”

This quote reminds me of one of my favorite LDS songs. It is “A Window to His Love”.

A Window To His Love
Words and Music by Julie de Azevedo

I want to be a window to His love,
so when you look at me you will see Him.
I want to be so pure and clear that you won't even know I'm here,
'cause His love will shine brightly through me.

I want to be a doorway to the truth,
so when you walk beyond you will find Him.
I want to stand so straight and tall, that you won't notice me at all.
But through my open door He will be seen.

I want to be a window to His love,
so you can look through me and you'll see Him.
And some day shining through my face, you'll see His loving countenance,
'cause I will have become like He is

A window to His love
A doorway to the truth.
A bearer of the message He'd have me bring to you.
And with each passing year
I want to disappear
'Till He's become ev'rything
and I've become a window to His love.

One of the great stories of humility in the scriptures can be found in 1 Kings 17. This is the story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath.

·         The Lord told Elijah to go to the city of Zarephath where He had commanded a widow woman to provide food and water for him.

·         He found the widow there and asked her for a drink.

·         Verse 11, “And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.”

·         Verse 12, “And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

·         Verse 13, “And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: But make me thereof a little cake FIRST, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.”

·         As a mother, this story speaks to me. Put yourself in the position of this widow. I see her pleading with Heavenly Father. I see her praying fervently for a way to be able to feed herself and her son and live.

·         A stranger comes. A prophet. And the Lord commands her to sustain him. This prophet, Elijah, asks that she make him a cake first. I picture her watching the prophet eat in front of her starving son. THIS IS THE DEPTHS OF HUMILITY. She turned her will over to the Lord, trusting that it was best.

·         Verse 15, “And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail.”

·         Remember the scripture I read earlier. We are told that if we humble ourselves, THE LORD WILL LEAD US BY THE HAND AND ANSWER OUR PRAYERS.

 C. S. Lewis: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, cleverer, or better-looking than others. If every one else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”

Again, this illustrates that we are prideful when we are placing the focus on ourselves…and humble when we place our focus on others, especially the Lord.

Story of one of my ancestors, Ellen Breakel Neibaur:

• Ellen Breakel was a wealthy farmer’s daughter in England. She married Alexander Neibaur, who was also very wealthy. They joined the church in England and decided to join the Saints in America. They left almost everything they had.

·         Circumstances became very difficult for them as they crossed the plains. They could not afford shoes for everyone in the family, so Ellen crossed the plains with her feet wrapped in rags.

·         After their arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, the family, consisting of 7 children along with father and mother, lived in a tent. They often went hungry.

·         When they got settled and began to make a little money, Alexander bought his wife a nice pair of shoes and then she knitted herself some stockings that were blue and white stripped. She was very proud of them and thought they were very pretty.

·         A short time later, the Brethren came around collecting clothing to take back with them to meet another company of pioneers, and when they came to the house, Alexander said he had nothing to give them, but Ellen answered, "yes, we must give something,"

·         and she took them from her feet, the pair of new shoes and stockings, and gave them to the Brethren, binding her own feet in rags.

·         This story reminds me of the quote by President Bensen, “Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble.” Circumstances forced Ellen Breakel Neibaur to be humble at first. They simply could not afford shoes for everyone. But, when she willingly gave up her new shoes and stockings, removing them from her feet, she CHOSE to be humble.

·         She chose to be humble, then came the great blessing: The story says that when the next group of pioneers arrived, everyone went out to greet them. Everyone was looking at their faces, except Ellen who was scanning all the feet in the crowd. She spotted her beloved shoes. And looked up to find that the woman who got them was one of her dearest friends from England. The friend converted to the Church after Ellen left. So that must have been a glorious surprise.

Once we have mastered a humble feeling, what does humility look like? 

·         In the movie version of Emma by Jane Austen, there is a character named Mrs. Elton. Her comments may appear humble. When a man says to her, “These sandwiches are delicious, Mrs Elton. You really are a gourmet!”, Mrs. Elton responds, “Well, I never compliment myself, but my friends tell me I 

certinly know how to make a sandwich.” Several times in the movie, she uses the phrase, “my friends say…” to give herself a compliment. 

·         Does this portray true humility? True humility is taking the attention off yourself, thus glorifying God and serving your fellow man.

·         Our prophet, President Monson, is a good example of true humility. He is in a powerful position. I wouldn’t call him weak at all. There is a big difference between weakness and humility. He does great things, mostly in the form of service, but he doesn’t do them to draw attention to himself.

Please think about the answers to these questions from Alma 5: 26-28,

·         “Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble?

·         Are ye stripped of pride?

·         If ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing a song of redeeming love, I would ask, CAN YE FEEL SO NOW?”

Finally, I can’t give a proper talk on humility without mentioning our Savior, Jesus Christ. He shows us that humility isn’t weakness. It is acknowledging the Father’s will and putting it before our own.

·         We are actually stronger when we are humble because we are acting WITH GOD, NOT ALONE.

·         Perhaps the most sacred words ever spoken were the words the Lord spake in the Garden of Gethsemane. In Luke 22:42, “If thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

Making Easter More Spiritual

I'm more excited about Easter than I've ever been.

As a family, we've been studying the New Testament, and it just so happens that we were right in the final chapters of Matthew this week. Some things that have impacted me through this study include...

1. Jesus said that He could call tens of thousands of angels to His aid to stop the events leading up to the crucifixion...but He never did.
2. When the council brought Jesus to Pilate, they didn't enter the chamber for fear of being defiled and unclean from entering the home of a Gentile where there was leaven (yeast). Yet they didn't care that they were putting an innocent Man to death.
3. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, a symbol of love and fellowship for the price of a servant. He retured the money, and then killed Himself.
4. Jesus was convicted by the Jews of blasphemy against Jehovah (himself).
5. Many laws were broken in the process of convicting Jesus.
6. At Passover, the tradition was to release a prisoner. Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but the croud insisted on releasing a murderer instead.
7. One of the thieves who was crucified next to Jesus, asked for Christ to remember him when they were in Christ's Kingdom.
8. After being mocked, scourged, and hung, Jesus still wanted His Father to forgive His killers.

Tomorrow, we'll be having some fun family Easter festivities, including an Easter Egg hunt and a fancy dinner with Robby's family.

Sunday morning is going to be special. We are going to read the story of Jesus washing the Apostles' feet, and then Robby and I will wash the kids' feet. Then we are going to give the kids new scriptures of their own, scripture pencils, and scripture journals.

Sunday is also Fast Sunday. Once a month, we refrain from eating two meals. The money that we would use for those meals is donated to the needy. My favorite thing about Fast Sunday, is that we have an opportunity to bear testimony of our Savior during our Worship Services.

And Sunday evening, we'll have a yummy dinner with Robby's parents.

Happy Easter!

One Talented Family

Tonight for Family Night, we had a family talent show. So fun! It was (of course) Robby's idea. He's the fun parent (as shown in the picture above.)  :)  Here's how it all went down...

Opening Song-Y's current favorite, Once There was a Snowman
Family Business
Bubs handed out programs for The Family Talent Extraordinaire, and it went like this...

1. Welly-Read a Bob Book.

2. Y-Y-Sang an Abady (which means song in Y-Y)

3. Daddy-Professed himself to be the best fly-fisherman in the world, and then performed a rap number.

4. Me-Wiggled my ears to the tune of Jingle Bells. Yes. I really did.

5. Bubs-Drew a picture of a farm on an easel he made from Tinkertoys.

Treats!

The best part? It's all on video...but don't expect to ever see it. As Robby said, we can't show anyone because they'd feel bad that they weren't as talented as us.

Isn't it about...Time?

Remember the LDS commercials that said, Isn't it about...time?


Well, time is on my mind these days. Honestly, it's one of the main reasons I homeschool. So I have time with my children. So they have time to roam, imagine, and explore. So they have time to be best friends with each other. So we all have time to pursue our passions.


Recently, I came across the article, Old Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills by Alix Spiegel. In it, Spiegel shows how play has changed over the last 50 or so years. Play has gone from unstructured, imaginative time to time that is scripted by toys and media.


Dorothy Singer, a psychological researcher at Yale, said the following:

"Because of the testing, and the emphasis now that you have to really pass these tests, teachers are starting earlier and earlier to drill the kids in their basic fundamentals. Play is viewed as unnecessary, a waste of time. I have so many articles that have documented the shortening of free play for children, where the teachers in these schools are using the time for cognitive skills."

In another article, written by Lenore Skenazy, entitled The Power of Free Play, the author compares modern day children who participate in many scheduled activities to those with plenty of free time.

Play gets everything going: the mind, the body, the will to live. It is so crucial to child health that the American Academy of Pediatrics released a huge report on it in 2006, recommending that we stop adding hours to the academic day, shrinking recess and supervising all our kids’ activities. It begged parents to remember that even though we desperately want our kids to “succeed,” play does not take away from that pursuit. “As parents prepare their children for the future, they cannot know precisely which skills they will need for the workforce,” wrote the docs. But confidence, creativity, tenacity, problem solving, decency and the ability to have a little fun will surely help.

Besides the research, leaders of the Church have warned about having too much going on. In Elder Oaks' talk, Good, Better, Best, he discusses the value of family time.

The amount of children-and-parent time absorbed in the good activities of private lessons, team sports, and other school and club activities also needs to be carefully regulated. Otherwise, children will be overscheduled, and parents will be frazzled and frustrated...Parents should teach gospel priorities through what they do with their children.

Family experts have warned against what they call “the overscheduling of children.” In the last generation children are far busier and families spend far less time together. Among many measures of this disturbing trend are the reports that structured sports time has doubled, but children’s free time has declined by 12 hours per week, and unstructured outdoor activities have fallen by 50 percent.2 The number of those who report that their “whole family usually eats dinner together” has declined 33 percent. 

Again, I homeschool to have time with my family. What is more important than building our eternal relationships and spending time gaining knowledge together that will also be eternal?

After all, isn't it about...time?

**This is a post I created for Latter-day Homeschooling. Hope you enjoyed it!**

Mormon Messages: Parenting Video

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Family Time Under the Table

Once again, we made a fort under our kitchen table, complete with twinkle lights.

It's amazing how a cozy, little space can rejuvenate our spirits. It provided an inspiring place to snuggle and read, as well as a great location for our Family Home Evening.

What's Family Home Evening? Well, on Monday nights, we spend the evening together singing, discussing, and playing (and usually tr-eating).

We start with family business. Everyone shares something going on in their lives. Then we pray and sing a song together. Next, one of us grown-ups gives a lesson that we feel is pertanent to our family at the time. Following the lesson, we have an activity (usually some wild rumbus of a game made up by my crazy hubs....) And we finish with a treat.

The kids never let us miss.

But it's especially bonding when we huddle together in our fort.

(FHE is a Mormon thang...)

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Without fail, when people find out that I review books, and that I particularly enjoy YA Fantasy, the first question they ask is, "Have you read Fablehaven?"

Until now, the answer was no. I know. Many of you are shocked. You might even stop reading my book review blog because 'how could I possibly NOT have read Fablehaven before now?'

Well, I have my excuses, but you don't really need to hear them, so let's get on with the review already.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

13 year old, Kendra, and her younger brother, Seth, are being shipped off to visit their grandparents, who they hardly know.

Before long, they discover that Grandma and Grandpa's house is much more than it seems. In the forest just past the yard, strange creatures roam.

It's Fablehaven...a preserve for mythical creatures like fairies, witches, trolls, you name it. Seth, who is always ready to explore and break the rules, leads Kendra into all sorts of troublesome adventures.

Fablehaven is the first book in an intensely popular fantasy series. The good news is that the fifth (and final) book was recently released, so if you are just getting into the series (like me), you won't have to wait for the sequels to come out.

Highly recommended for Harry Potter fans looking for another great fantasy series. I can't wait to get a hold of book 2.

For a review of Water Keep, the first book in another one of Brandon Mull's bestselling series, click here.

Using Historical Fiction to Teach History

I wrote an article over on Latter-day Homeschooling about Using Historical Fiction to Teach History. It contains a list of our favorite historical fiction for children through teens. Check it out here.

And have a wonderful day!

Warmly,
Emily

Family Gratitude Journal

I have been wanting to do this for years (literally) and finally got around to it. I bought a large journal (at WalMart for $8) and covered it with some cute paper and one of my satiny flowers.

This journal was inspired by a Church leader, President Henry B. Eyring, who said,

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

This talk was given in Oct 2007. (You can see it in full here.) I remember being struck by the thought of the Lord touching my life each and every day. If I could only look and recognize Him in my life at the close of every day, I knew I would come out strong in testimony and gratitude.

I want that for me and my family, so each night before we study scriptures together, we are writing down in our Family Journal of Gratitudes and Inspirations, the way He has manifested Himself to us.
I also glued a copy of the talk onto the inside cover of the journal to remind me of the goals and blessings behind daily use of the journal.

We have only done this for a couple days so far, and I have already been surprised in looking back over the day, at the ways He has been there for us.

Homeschooling: Love of Learning Phase

Thomas Jefferson Education aka Leadership Education is divided into 3 categories: Core Phase, Love of Learning Phase, and Scholarship Phase.

Right now, Bubs is in Love of Learning Phase. Children in this phase are passionate about learning and flit from one exciting thing to the next, finding areas of strength and understanding. The other day, Bubs decided it would be fun to add doubles. You know, 1+1=2 2+2=4 4+4=8 etc. until he got to sixty-something MILLION! Ridiculous.

I love homeschooling. I hope his love of learning never dies.

A New Blog for LDS Homeschoolers

A new blog for LDS homeschoolers is going live today. I am one of the contributors along with several other marvelous women. I'm honored to a part of it.

Check it out. The blog is called Latter-day Homeschooling.

I wrote a post over there about the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and Hows of Reading Aloud. You can see it here.

Book Review: The Shakeress by Kimberley Heuston Book Review

The Shakeress by Kimberley Heuston

Review by Me (I could really use some reader reviews!!!)

We've all heard that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I still do sometimes. I mean, I dive into some review books the moment I receive them. Others (I admit) sit on the shelf for quite some time. I'm afraid The Shakeress is one of the latter. Little did I know, it would be such a treat when I finally got around to it.

The Shakeress takes place in the early 1800's during a spiritual revival. Naomi's parents have recently passed away, and she feels the burden of caring for her siblings. Naomi decides to move in with a Shaker community that will take care of them.

Naomi helps with gardening and doctoring. She enjoys her work in the community, but, as she grows up, she feels the urge to move on.

She finds a position as a doctor, leaving her family and community behind.

What makes this book so great, are the characters. Readers will relate to Naomi, and in so doing, will look inside themselves for answers to life's great questions.

The Shakeress is an interesting glimpse into life during this historical period, and particularly into the lives of the Shakers and early Mormons.

For more historical fiction/non-fiction book reviews, click here.

Mormon Messages: The Christmas Spirit

How to Make a Burp Cloth into a Cupcake

You've probably seen these little burp cloth cupcakes around. I mean, cupcakes are all the rage these days. When I went to make one, though, I couldn't find a tutorial, so I made one up. (I know this is really un-Christmas-ish. Sorry.)

1. Fold your burp cloth in half longways.


2. Place a coordinating piece of ribbon face-down on the top edge, and fold diaper in half again.



3. Roll the pieces together. Once in a roll, use your finger to press from the bottom and form a higher middle section.



4. Secure with another piece of ribbon and a safety pin.



5. Place in cupcake cup or tin to complete the look.


A lady in my ward (congregation) makes the burp cloths for all the new babies born...and believe me, there are quite a few, because we Mormons, we believe in babies. Really. It's in our proclamation.

I make the cloth diapers/burp cloths into little cupcakes and arrange meals for the family when the baby is born. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. It's about the best job in the church.

Book Review: Far World: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage

Far World: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage

Review by Cindy Bohn of Digging up Bohns

This is another of the great fantasy books written by a local author. For some reason, it seems like a bunch of the local LDS writers are getting known for their children's fantasy series. No, I'm not including Stephenie Meyer in that. She is LDS, but she's not a local. I mean like Brandon Mull of the Fablehaven series, Brandon Sanderson (OK, he also writes adult fantasy), Shannon Hale, Brett Helquist, Obert Skye, and now J. Scott Savage.

The basic idea is that Earth and Far World are like mirror worlds. Earth has no magic, Far World has no machines, but they are very closely linked. Now two children are the key to saving both worlds, but they can only do it by enlisting the help of the elementals to fight the Dark Circle.

The opening chapters were really solid. Marcus was up against some truly nasty folks on Earth. And I liked Kyra. But for a book called Water Keep, we didn't spend much time in the world of water. I was disappointed by that. The cover makes it look like the main characters will be spending lots of time in the water.

Still, it was a good start to the series, and I will give it another chance, mostly because I liked the two main characters.