Courageous Joy

Thursday, January 01, 2015

2015 Michael & Kids' Reading List

A sampling of what the kids and Michael are reading.....

Stacia (9)
Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport - Book 1 - Laura Lee Hope
Sarah, Plain and Tall - Patricia MacLachlan
Sarah Whitcher's Story - Elizabeth Yates
The Bobbsey Twins Adventure in the Country - Laura Lee Hope
The Big Wave - Pearl S. Buck
A Picture Book of Davy Crockett - David A. Adler
The Cabin Faced West - Jean Fritz
Bound for Oregon - Jean Van Leeuwen
Bonanza Girl
Birdie's Lighthouse - Deborah Hopkinson
Araminta's Paint Box - Karen Ackerman

Zander (12)
Les' Miserables - adapted by Monica Kulling
Davy Crockett - Constance Rourke
Kingdom's Dawn - Chuck Black
Kingdom's Hope - Chuck Black
Kingdom's Edge - Chuck Black
Oliver Twist - abridged
Kingdom's Quest - Chuck Black
On to Oregon - Honore Morrow
Behind Rebel Lines - Seymour Reit

Nolan (15)
Les' Miserables - Victor Hugo
The Scarlet Letter - C.S. Lewis
Swiss Family Friendly Robinson - Johann David Wyss
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin
The Dragon Spell Series - Danita K. Paul
The Ranger's Apprentice Series - John A Flanagan
Tom Swift Books
Billy Budd - Herman Melville
Samuel F. B. Morse - John Hudson Tiner
Brotherband Chronicals - John Flannagan

Arielle (17)
Einstein's Refrigerator - Steve Silverman
A Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Mark Twain
The Chosen - Chaim Potok
Teresa of Calcutta - Jan Watson
Cost of Discipleship - Deitrich Bonhoeffer
Veiled Freedom - Jeanette Windle
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Congo Dawn - Jeannette Windle
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
Lilies of the Field - Leslie Barrit
Cry of the Beloved Country - Alan Paton
Broom and Gloom - Christy Barritt

Michael (Dad)
The Holy Wild - Mark Buchannan
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkein
The Secret Of the Cave - Hardy Boys - Franklin Dixon
Tom Swift Books
The Rest of God - Mark Buchannan
Rumors of God - Darren Whitehead

Choosing Joy!
©2015 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

2015 Family Read Alouds

Island of the Blue Dolphin - Scott O'Dell
George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol's Orphans - Benge
David Copperfield - Abridge - Charles Dickens
Moccasin Trail - Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Hudson Taylor: Deep in the Heart of China - Janet and Geoff Benge
Shipwrecked! The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy - Rhoda Blumberg
Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun - Rhoda Blumberg
The Door in the Dragon's Throat - Frank Peretti
The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis
Escape from the Slave Traders - Dave & Neta Jackson
Hero Tales vol 1 - Dave and Neta Jackson

Lots of books I forgot to list!

Choosing Joy!
©2015 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

8th Day of Christmas

How about our Ducks? 59 - 20. I'd say they are "physical" enough to be in the Rose Bowl. LOL

We were all very aware this was one of our two final days with family in our home. I wasn't sure what we would do with the day - but I got up early and put in a turkey (my turkeys take 12 - 16 hours to cook) and waited to hear the plans.

Josiah said it well when he said he didn't need to run around and see everything - the best part was just hanging out together at home. All agreed - so we hung out.

Arielle helped Stacia put together her new Lego set. Stacia has thanked me five or six times today for the set. This was our gift to her.

I'm so happy we were able to stream the Rose Bowl and did not have to split up with the Duck Fans racing around town looking for a spot to watch it. LOL While the game played some watched, some played gin rummy and watched, some decorated sugar cookies.

I loved being able to put the final touches on dinner and watch the final quarter of the game at the same time.

Michael and I wanted to be sure we got alone time with each of the older Gherkins and so we scheduled "Pastoral Assistance Visits" with each. So very Air Force - but it works. This gave them time to ask us any questions they had for us - this tends to happen when Parental Units begin to talk about moving overseas with younger siblings. This also gave us time to check in with each one, hear anything they wanted to discuss in private and pray for each one individually. Good times. The "interviews" were scheduled for 10 minutes but some took considerably longer. We'll catch up with Josiah today.

It was reminiscent of old times to find this when we were done with visits for the night....all in one room....late at night....yep - fun times.

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 Gingerbread Competition (3 of 3)

Last year we had a gingerbread competition - men against women - at Thanksgiving. This year we had one gingerbread but didn't feel like doing it. We saved it.....and decided to do it on New Year's Eve.

This year we aren't soliciting votes - it's pretty apparent to us which team won. ::wink::

The women definitely won for cuteness....

Love Olaf's sled

2014 winners

The men? Well - the castle walls they made from the Ninja kit collapsed. Sensing they'd lost the cuteness factor, they shifted to "creativity." The more you look at this village the more gruesome it gets - though it is creative. They lost Dad and Michael when they began decorating. ::snort:: I will say I've never seen a gingerbread village like this one.

Izzak brought the darling penquins....

The fated collapsed walls

Silenced Night

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Family Photo 2014 (2 of 3)

When we took this photo on Christmas Morning, I said I'd like to have a photo with all 9+ Izaak......and then I was given a frame with a "family rules" and eight slots. I told them I needed to fill each slot with an "awkward family photo." The older Gherkins don't seem inclined to go relive THOSE memories. We did take a few photos.

"Look thoughtful - like smart homeschoolers."

Choosing Joy!
©2014 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

7th Day of Christmas - New Year's Eve (1 0f 3)

New Year's Eve. Years back we saw this idea on Debbie's blog. We immediately loved it and used it. We put an activity in each brown bag. Every hour - on the hour - we open a bag and do what's inside. We've used a variety of activities - make it fit your family and age of kids.....

One thing we usually do is a "time capsule." We didn't get this worked in last night. We had less hours than normal as we used a couple of hours to pick Michael up from the Air port. Each person brings an item to include in the time capsule that represents their year.....we talk, we toss it in...we pray...we seal the year.....and then we look at a past year's time capsule. The movers think we're nuts. Photos on that when we get it done this year. LOL

In our bags this year were:

5 p.m. - Ingredients to make individual pizzas and Gingerbread Structures

6 p.m. - Dinner and clean up

7 p.m. - Gift Exchange

8 p.m. - Two new games and puzzles

9 p.m. - Gingerbread competition - bunch of stuff which could be used - did this at Thanksgiving last year but saved it for Christmas this year.....swapped with the Time Capsule

10 p.m. - Twister and Charades (board)

11 p.m. - Nerf Battle (gun and ammo)

11:45 p.m. - Party poppers, silly string, glow sticks, confetti guns

5 p.m. - one of the choices in the gingerbread structures was Ninja men

Great to have Michael home and he jumped right into the fray

Krista helped me make crusts earlier in the day - everyone assembling pizzas

We even had a big one to put in the freezer for next Friday - and um - I didn't include this photo for the pizza but for this shot of Jamin. I love having everyone home. LOL

During this hour our teams began assembling the structures for this year's gingerbread competition. Krista and Izaak were team captains. Izaak won the draw and got to choose if they would incorporate Ninja or Nativity gingerbread figures into their design. He chose Ninja as their plan was a castle. They discovered the Ninja men were NOT pre-baked....and thus began their fated evening.

Jamin and Jared were tasked with making the Ninja

Meanwhile the women worked on cute......

The recipe didn't work like the box said it would

They decided to make walls for a castle....they collapsed.

7 p.m - the bag contained a piece of paper and they caught on immediately - Gift Exchange

Stacia mad G'ma and G'pa pillows

These "presence" were my best "presents" - Stacia gave them each DQ cards

The kids gave Krista NCIS - LA - they really combined money to bring the boys out so didn't give each other "gifts"....

Krista bought a puzzle, and then wrapped the pieces with candy in a ball of crepe paper for each of the kids. The idea was to combine the pieces to make the whole. I love her concept of family and her gifts always support that idea. Last year we got canvases that had our names and spelled out our family verse - if they were all together...the pieces are hung all over America. LOL Each strong alone - but not the complete picture.

Jared figured out the quickest way to unwrap

This girls was SO excited!

The boys gave the kids a RETRO gift - Nintendo 64.

One of the boys' memories is Michael playing Snow Board Kids with them. They gave Michael Snow Board Kids and the kids the opportunity for the same memory. Love it.

We gave the boys items for their new apartments - all are moving into new homes and apartments.

And gear....

Bre is as excited as Stacia.

Michael and I have joked for years that when we retired we'd become full time RVers with pink flamingos outside our trailer. It was a joke. It's coming true. We plan to move into our trailer until we figure out how to get back to Japan. He will retire from the USAF in 2015 and so he gave me my first flamingo! I love it.