NZ Filbruns

Book Review—Avalanche

May 21, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

About the Book

Book: Avalanche
Author: M. Liz Boyle
Genre: Christian YA
Release Date: September 27, 2019

When fifteen-year-old Marlee Stanley joins her two sisters and the sons of their family friends on a secretive hike in the middle of the night, she is thrilled and nervous. Battling her conscience, she prays that the hike will go flawlessly and that they will return to the safety of their campsite before their parents wake. The start of the hike is beautiful and wonderfully memorable.

In a white flash so fast that Marlee can barely comprehend what has happened, an avalanche crashes into their path. Buried in packed snow, Marlee is forced to remember survival tips learned from her dad and her own research.

This group of friends, ages eleven through seventeen, is about to endure bigger challenges than many adults have experienced. Digging out of the packed snow is only the first of many challenges. Injuries, cold, hunger, fatigue, aggressive wildlife and tensions in the group make this a much bigger adventure than they ever imagined. As the kids strive to exhibit Christian values throughout the trials, they learn numerous life lessons. But they are nearly out of food, and their energy is waning quickly. How will they ever reach help?

My Thoughts:

My boys love stories of outdoor adventures, especially if they include survival in some sort of emergency situation. When I saw Avalanche, by M. Liz Boyle, available for review, I thought my crew might enjoy it. We read a different book by the same title several years ago, and they really liked it, so I took a chance on a YA book (I rarely read them because I don’t like most of them) and requested it.

Marlee narrates the story. She and her sisters, Ellie and Lydie, and their two friends, Sawyer and Marshall, and both sets of parents, are camping in Colorado, as they do every summer. The five young people decide they are going to climb a mountain at night so they can see the view from the top in the light of the full moon. They wait until the adults are all asleep, then slip out of camp with their packs. All goes well—until an avalanche sweeps them down the mountain, burying some of them. They all survive—but some are hurt. Can the ones who are well find a way to get help for the others?

Without much food, and no tents, the night is rough, and so is the trek off of the mountain. Interpersonal relationships are strained, especially between the girls and the boys. Marlee learns some earth-shaking facts about boys and their feelings, and Ellie confesses to her sisters that she has a crush on Sawyer. All this complicates things. Can they lay aside their feelings and work together so they all survive?

I started reading this book aloud. We got about halfway through before my boys had had enough. I skipped over a number of passages that had to do with boy/girl stuff, and they still thought there was way too much of that. All they wanted from the story was the adventure part. I read the rest of the book myself and told them what happened. So, the moral of this story is, Avalanche is not a book for boys! If you have girls who like adventure and light romance wrapped up together, it would be a good fit.

Another thing my boys didn’t like very well was that the children in the story took off at night, without their parents’ approval. The young people in the story did come to realize they had done wrong, and they apologized, but they ended up being rewarded at the end. I don’t really care for this example, either. On the other hand, this is a story about teenagers being resourceful when they needed to be, and working together to help those who are hurt. I liked the way they learned to get along together.

I received a free copy of this book from CelebrateLit, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Any links may be affiliate links; if so, they will benefit Esther’s website.

About the Author:

Liz is an author, the wife of a professional tree climber and the mom of three energetic and laundry-producing children. She received her Associate’s of Arts at the University of Sioux Falls, where she received the LAR Writing Award for her essay entitled, “My Real Life Mufasa.” Liz once spent a summer in Colorado teaching rock climbing, which she believes was a fantastic way to make money and memories. She resides with her family in Wisconsin, where they enjoy hiking and rock climbing. Liz and her husband have also backpacked in Colorado and the Grand Canyon, which have provided inspiration for her writing. She likes making adventurous stories to encourage others to find adventures and expand their comfort zones (though admittedly, she still needs lots of practice expanding her own comfort zone). She has thoroughly enjoyed working on her first novel, Avalanche, and the sequel Chased, which will release in the summer of 2020.

More From Liz:

Have you ever been tempted to take a risk even though your conscience was screaming at you? Were you able to justify the pursuit of the thrill, actually convincing yourself that what you knew to be the unwise decision made perfect sense?

I did. So did my sisters. And so did Sawyer and Marshall Miles. When Sawyer first proposed the idea of the moonlit summit on our families’ annual backpacking trip, I was terrified. But I was also hooked. Sawyer convinced us that we would be fine, and we would be back to camp before our parents woke up with the sunrise.

Hearts racing and hands trembling, we five kids snuck away from camp in the middle of the night. Hiking toward the peak, the full moon was breathtaking, the wildlife abundant, and the experience unreal.

It became a whole lot more unreal when an avalanche, roaring, white and enormous, thundered into our path. Buried in the packed snow, I would have given anything to go back in time and change my decision to go along with this foolish idea.

Digging out of the cemented snow was the first of many challenges in the coming days. Physically, emotionally and spiritually, we were all pushed to our limits.

I had always loved hiking Colorado’s peaks. But, of course, I had never had to evacuate my own sister. I had always trusted Dad’s orienteering. Now I had to trust Sawyer, who, by the way, was the brain behind this dilemma. I usually slept best while backpacking. But, mountain nights are warmer when spent in a sleeping bag. But I can’t let my mind go there. I must keep a positive outlook and trust God to bring us to safety. That’s easier said than done.

Avalanche is a Christian teen and young adult novel. This engaging journey, told by fifteen-year-old Marlee Stanley, captures a timeless sense of adventure. The five young adults strive to exhibit godly character throughout their escapade, but they have not been in such a dire situation before. It will take immense strength and cooperation to hike out of this mess.

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

Taking a Tramp Part 3

May 17, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Here is the last installment of Mr. Diligence’s story about the boys’ tramp. Find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. I have added captions to the pictures in those two posts, in case you want to go back and read more about them.

As we went on we slowly went down. We came to a scree slide that we walked across. P wasn’t feeling well. We gave him the last of our water then went on. Simon and J were carrying his pack again.

Mr. Intellectual going onto the scree slide.

Taking a break on an island on the scree slide.

An hour later we stopped for a break. We still hadn’t found water. Fifteen minutes later we found water. It was delicious. P was able to take his pack again. We came back into the bush as we went down. It was around 4:00 p.m.

Simon with an antler he found. See the trees in the left background with red/brown under the bunches of green leaves? Some locals call them monkey trees; the branches go every which way like a Dr. Seuss tuttle-tuttle tree.

These four pictures show the descent to the river.

We followed a creek down to the river. We knew approximately where the hut was. We searched for half an hour, then finally found the hut. We had rice and tuna for tea.

The track going out to civilization from the hut.

Looking back at the scree slope they had crossed the day before. This was taken after leaving the hut on Sunday morning. They thought the scree slope looked like Australia!

Sunday morning we left the hut at 8:30 a.m. We found the track and followed that. The track eventually came out on the river. We followed the river for a while, then went back to the track. We saw a couple blue ducks. Later we couldn’t keep following the creek, so we guessed there had to be a track. We finally found the track. We cleared it a little so other people could find it. One of the track markers fell down so we used a couple of J’s zip ties to fix it. Later we saw another couple of blue ducks. Blue ducks are extremely rare. They are grayish with a white bill, and on their underside they have a slight reddish tint.

Three pairs of these ducks have been sighted in this region; this group saw two of them.

There were a few boulders in the creek the size of a small house. We ate lunch near the hot springs. Then we walked out. We got home at 3:30 p.m.

Book Review—Volition

May 13, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

About the Book

Book: Volition
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Christian fiction, futuristic
Release Date: December 31, 2019

“I should have made that left turn at Tucumcari.”

It’s Doctor Who meets mail-order brides when “rescuers” from the future arrive to save Andi Flanders from a happy life with her loving family and fiancé.

Okay, so they meant to get her suicidal roommate, but hey. Mistakes happen, right?

And as far as Andi’s concerned, they can fix them—by sending her home.

However, when she learns what happens when she disappears from home, Andi has an impossible choice. Stay in the government-controlled futuristic world she despises and never see her family again or return to the twenty-first century and doom an innocent person to death.

Volition— Life and death decisions are so overrated.

My Thoughts:

I actually posted a review of Volition on my blog already, a day or so after it published. You can read my review here. So, why did I sign up for the tour? Simple—if I helped Chautona out by promoting her book again, she would send a copy of it to my mom! I really enjoyed the book, and I love helping Chautona out, so here we are. And I hope my mom doesn’t mind my saying it, but I hear that she told my daughter that she had to exercise great self-discipline the day that Volition arrived in the mail! I know what she means—that’s the way I am with a new book by this author! So, if you enjoy futuristic sci-fi, check out this book! Or, even if you don’t. I don’t like time travel, and I don’t like sci-fi, and this book is both—but I couldn’t put it down. And now, with the way things have happened in the last couple of months, with the COVID 19 pandemic and governments seemingly using it as an excuse to establish a police state, Volition sounds quite plausible.

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Also, links in this post are likely affiliate links.

About the Author:

Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her at chautona.com and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.

More From Chautona:

What Happens When You Explore Logical Progressions?

She used chopsticks. Me? I’m a fork kind of gal. But over plates of sesame chicken and fried rice, we hashed out what our NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) books would be. Every year, I challenged myself. Once by writing drippy romance (Discovering Hope). Once by turning a sermon into a story that wasn’t preachy (Argosy Junction). (psst… links are affiliate links—they provide a small commission at no extra expense to you!)

This time, I’d decided the challenge would include writing in the first person. Anyone who knows me knows how much I don’t like the first-person perspective. As we tried to figure out what our plots would be, my friend added another challenge. “Do science fiction.”

I’ll be honest. I almost laughed her out of the restaurant. But then an idea hit me. Why shouldn’t I? I could kill two dislikes in one book. Bam! Done!

That kicked off a book I probably never would have written otherwise.

I knew doing major techno-science stuff wouldn’t be conducive to trying to write 50,000 words in thirty days, so I immediately chose futuristic over space travel. The decision to go with a form of time travel was probably inspired by Doctor Who, now that I think of it. I didn’t back then. I just went with what I thought I might be able to make interesting—to write, if not to read.

That kicked off an idea that sent my brain spinning.

What would happen if you got kidnapped and taken to the future, but returning to your former life means someone’s soul will never be redeemed?

Of course, it would take a really strong, amazing character to pull off that kind of thing. Not everyone could do it. But who… who give up her life for someone else?

That’s when I knew. That soul saved would have to belong to someone my character didn’t even like. Gotta raise the stakes, you know?

That’s also when I discovered that I wouldn’t like her—not at first.

Andi Flanders jumped onto the page with hands on hips and eyes flashing. She was livid that people in the future had interfered with her life. Then she’s broken when she realizes she can’t go back.

Fiercely independent, Andi enters futuristic Rockland with a critical eye and condemning spirit. Since most sci-fi stuff I’ve seen focuses on sleek, pristine futures full of glass and steel, I wanted to go a different direction. But how?

That’s when my solution came to me.

I’d take today’s world and push everything to logical exaggerated conclusions.

Environmentalism? We’ll have a world that tries not to encroach on nature any more than necessary
Population? I took China’s “one child” policy and made it worldwide… and then let the future deal with the fallout.
Globalism? I let them have their one-world government that protects everyone from themselves.
Apathetic faith? I didn’t persecute Christians. I just let their faith die a slow, natural death.

And then I threw in a character with a love for Jesus and a minor obsession with Ayn Rand’s objectivism. Yes, I’m aware that those two things can be mutually exclusive. That was the fun of it.

This Rand-spouting, Jesus loving, freckle-faced, fiery redhead had to deal with all if this stuff in a world as opposite from her freedom-loving self as can stand.

Ninety-thousand words later, I was done. And then I shelved the book.

For ten years.

On December 27, 2019, I got a message from my son.

He’d found a book cover design contest and wondered if he should enter. And if so, with what book? We hashed out ideas when I remembered Volition. It wasn’t edited. Done, but not edited. Could I possibly get the whole thing cleaned up before December 31 rolled over into January 1?

I decided to try.

Nolan got to work on a cover while I began editing like nobody’s business.

With the help of my amazing launch team, an incredible editor, and no sleep, the book was live on New Year’s Eve with three hours to spare.

Then my son decided not to worry about entering this year.

He lives. This is a testimony to God’s grace and control over my life. And my hands.

Or maybe it’s because he lives three hours south of me, and I’ve only seen him once since then. You don’t kill your son at your daughter’s wedding reception. Just sayin’.

But let’s go with the first reason. It makes me sound more spiritual or something.

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

Product Review—Beyond the Stick Figure Art School

May 12, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in
exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I
compensated in any other way.

I have a son, Mr. Imagination, who loves to draw and wants to learn more about art. When we were offered the opportunity to use the Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course Plus 3 Bonus Courses from Beyond the Stick Figure Art School, he was very enthusiastic. This sounded perfect—a step-by-step, incremental guide to art.

Mr. Imagination and Little Miss working on an art project.

The first several lessons went very well; both he (age 8) and Little Miss (age 5) loved doing the projects, and even Mr. Sweetie (age 10) joined us. We learned about circles and dots, and curved lines and straight lines, and practiced looking for these in objects around the house. We drew circles on paper, and made pages of bubbles, then colored them in with markers. We drew designs with each of the other components of pictures, too, and colored pretty designs. Then, we started drawing flowers. I really liked the projects where we drew a flower in the foreground and then more behind it! I have never considered myself an artist, but I could do that!

As we moved on, however, my little ones got bogged down in the repetition. We ended up skipping a large section of lessons so that I could see what the rest of the course was like, in order to tell you in this review, and found a project that they liked better. We got to draw hills, cover the nearest one with grass, and paint the picture with a watercolor wash. Everyone enjoyed that! Unfortunately, because of the lockdown due to COVID 19, we did not have proper watercolor paper. We had to use printer paper, because that’s all we have (we were not able to get more because it’s nonessential), and it doesn’t work well with watercolors.

We also were not able to get the markers that are recommended. I think if we had been able to, the earlier projects would have been much more satisfying. She recommends Prismacolor markers, and they aren’t sold in this country anywhere that I could find, even without lockdown, so I bought the only ones I could find. They were washable, which means the color ran and mixed in ways we didn’t want it to. If you want to use this course, try to find the proper markers (if you live in America, they are on Amazon—shipping is much too high for me to be able to get them that way here).

Anyway, back to the course. The next section, which we haven’t done anything with yet, is about watercolor painting. It looks fun! Even though my little ones are tired of this course, because of the constant repetition, I think I can interest them in the painting part of it. I watched a few of the instructional videos, and in them she was teaching how to create different tones of paint. Once we are able to get watercolor paper, I want to try this. As with all the other lessons, these techniques are taught baby step by baby step.

Further lessons cover acrylic painting and sculpture. I don’t know if we’ll ever get to those lessons. They sound interesting; it’s just that Mr. Imagination feels pretty bored with the lessons we have done. I feel like this course, although it is simple enough for young children to do, would be better for older ones who can understand the need for repetition.

All the lessons are presented as 1-10 minute videos, with the instructor, who happens to be a homeschooling mother herself, talking through what she is doing and wants her students to be doing. She has a lovely British accent (and I can now tell the difference between British and Kiwi!). We did have some issues with the videos. The worst simply had to do with our computer. These videos are from Vimeo, and my computer often freezes when I play Vimeo videos. We had to do a lot of reloading to make them work. Also, the sound is very quiet on some of them, and even with our speakers plugged in, we had to strain to hear her talking. Here is a picture of our dashboard. It is very easy to move from one lesson to the next, although we have to mark each one complete in order to move on. It’s extremely easy to go back to a previously completed lesson!If you have a child interested in art, this might be something to look into. It certainly is easy to use; just watch a video to see what materials you will need for a given section, then move on and watch each instructional video and follow directions. Click the image below to read what 80 different families have to say about this course.

Beyond the Stick Figure Complete Drawing Course {Beyond the Stick Figure Art School}

Taking a Tramp Part 2

May 10, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

This is the rest of Mr. Diligence’s story.

From Elizabeth Hut we wanted to go to Cone Creek Hut. There is no trail going between. We would have had to go back to the hot springs and back up another track. So we decided to find our way over the mountain.

That morning P said he was sick. We asked if we should just head down. He said he could make it to Cone Creek. We set out at 9:00 a.m. We headed up the mountain behind Elizabeth Hut. It wasn’t very steep at first. As we headed up we were climbing over logs. We came to a few cliffs but were able to skirt around them or over. After about an hour we had to go on all fours. We stopped for a rest then went on. By 11:00 a.m., we had made it to the ridge line that we were going to follow up. Half an hour later we came to a cliff where we could look down the valley. J took both tents so P wouldn’t have to carry as much weight. We decided to have lunch at the top of a steep climb. We got to the top and P collapsed and promptly fell to sleep. J crawled up and collapsed.

Looking up the valley during a rest stop.

The bushes from the center to the right of this photo are called turpentine bushes.

The ditch is a fault line. Mr. Intellectual is about in the center of the photo. They walked through the lower right area here, up to where he is and on.

They walked up the spur in the center of the photo to where Mr. Diligence is standing to take the picture.

We had lunch around 12:00 p.m. Simon and C took both tents so J wouldn’t have as much weight. P was feeling a lot better after his rest. We continued on and were soon out of the bush. P was not doing very well so J and Simon started taking turns carrying his pack. We got to the top by 2:00 p.m. We had climbed about 1000 meters. We walked along the ridge. In one place on the ridge there was a rock face that we could go around. But Simon and C decided to climb over. By that time P had taken back his pack.

Going on up the ridge. This is C, J, and P.

Looking ahead where they needed to go. They walked across the scree slope, up to the top near the right side of this picture, then followed the very top of the ridge.

Mr. Intellectual, then Simon, then P on the ridge.

Looking down the valley from the top of the ridge.

Looking back to where J and C were coming along behind.

A rock formation that some climbed over–and Mr. Diligence and some others were “smart enough to go around.”

Mr. Intellectual taking a rest on top of the world.

Lichens on rocks on the top of the ridge.

We were having a rest on the ridge before we began to go down. Some chamois ran below us. We saw one standing on a hill about a hundred meters away. Some of the others started to baa. The chamois came running toward us and got within ten meters. Then it started running circles around us. P said he had never seen that before.

Mr. Diligence took a couple of video clips of the young chamois running around, so I put them together here. It was disoriented, and trying to find the rest of the flock. The baaing in the video is the boys/men trying to get it to come closer. It ran all the way around them, and then off to join the others.

to be continued…

Book Review—Oh, Gracious!

May 7, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

About the Book

Book: Oh, Gracious!
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Christian fiction, contemporary Romance, woman’s fiction
Release Date: March 31, 2020

Life is too short to settle for just anyone.
Grace gave her whole heart to Jesus, but now he wants a part of it.

All she ever wanted was to be a homemaker.

Sure, she has a degree in physics. Yes, she could have a lucrative job in Rockland, but Grace Buscher enjoys her life as a single homemaker. As they say, it’s her choice.

As a successful business owner, a handsome guy, and heir to a small fortune, it’s no wonder Nolan Burke is one of Rockland’s most eligible bachelors. The problem is, he hasn’t met anyone who isn’t looking for a “trophy husband.”

Don’t family-centered women exist anymore?

Grace isn’t exactly eye candy. Nolan is a bit blind. So when an “accidental meeting” forges an unlikely friendship, it becomes obvious to everyone that it’s likely to become more.

But is Grace ready to give up the life she loves for the man she loves?

Find out in this completely updated, revised, and improved version of Chautona Havig’s first novel, Noble Pursuits.

My Thoughts:

One of the few books by Chautona Havig that I hadn’t yet read was Noble Pursuits. I believe it was the first book she published, and she has just now finished rewriting it as Oh, Gracious! I enjoyed reading it as she finished sections—I could hardly wait for the next installment to come along. Now, the entire book is available for your enjoyment and inspiration.

Nolan was fed up with women flirting with him and doing their best to get him to take them out—but yet he wanted to get married. He wanted a godly woman who wanted to be a homemaker; was such a person in existence anywhere near Rockland? Did he really have to move to a different area in order to find her?

Grace canned fruit to sell to friends, babysat children, and made handcrafts for her living. She had a degree in physics—but she wanted to be a homemaker. For a year now, she had proved that she could stay at home and make a living for herself, even if money was tight at times. She had given her whole heart to Jesus, she loved her life, and she wasn’t interested in changing.

And then, Nolan moved into the house across the road from Grace and they met in a rather dramatic way. Nolan was intrigued by this woman who seemed to be everything he wanted in a woman, and who wasn’t throwing herself at him. Could she learn to share her heart with a man, when Jesus already had all of it?

I love this story! It is delightfully sweet, but not mushy. I loved Grace; her focus on doing traditional woman’s work is something I really like. Her heart for God is wonderful to see, as well. Nolan was a great hero, too. He was loving, strong and sensitive—and real. There were times when both of them lost their cool, and then we got to see them calm down and make things right. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys Christian women’s fiction.

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Also, links in this post are likely affiliate links, and anything purchased through the link will benefit Esther’s website.

About the Author:

More From Chautona:

Wow, My Beloved First Book Was a Hot Mess

On my blog, I sometimes answer readers’ questions, and one of the earliest ones was, “Since you zip out your books so fast, do you ever later wish you had done something differently with them?”

My answer today is the same as back then—usually. No. Yes, I sometimes regret not being able to tell a supporting character’s story because the book has given away that person’s past and/or future. Still, most of the time, I tell the story as I want it.

But in that post about “regrets,” I said that as I learn, I definitely wish to improve sentences here, and others there. I did this already with Argosy Junction, the second book that I published. The first two or three books were experiments where I made many serious mistakes. Took bad advice. Didn’t know the right things to research. All the mistake-ness.

Total transparency here. I chose Argosy Junction to revise first because I made fewer mistakes on it. Still lots, but not as many as my first book, Noble Pursuits.

Bad editing advice, horrible cover design (twice), and just basic writing craft stuff that I didn’t know when I started this whole journey all culminated in a book I both loved (the story) and hated (the final result). Many reviewers said the same thing, too. That poor book has the worst reviews of all of my books combined.

And for good reason.

But it’s a good story—one I love, as I said—and it has some strong fans. Some readers were able to look past the problems and see the heart of what I tried to do with it. And that was a beautiful thing. Those readers, actually, are the ones I’ve rewritten this book for.

Yes, I rewrote Noble Pursuits. While every sentence isn’t completely rewritten, enough are that I considered it a new book, not just a revised one.

A few readers have panicked to see the title changed, the story rewritten. They’ve asked if I took out this or even that. I took out and added nothing that 99.9% of readers would ever notice. And it’s a better book for it.

I am updating the original Noble Pursuits file with the new text. I’m doing this in hopes that those who already own that book can go into their digital content on Amazon and get the updated version. I don’t know if it will work, but I pray it does.

Meanwhile, for those who’ve asked why they can’t buy the first book on my Suggested Reading Order list, well… now you can!

Oh, Gracious! has been a long time coming, but she’s here with a new title, rewritten content, and even a lovely new cover by the brilliantly talented Perry Elizabeth. It took what seems like forever to settle on a title, but we finally did. Why we chose Oh, Gracious! however, is a story for another day.

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

Product Review—Everyday Education, LLC

May 6, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I don’t know about anyone else, but it seems like writing, and penmanship in general, are very difficult to teach to boys. They just aren’t interested! I struggle to get them to write at all, let alone legibly. Therefore, I was somewhat interested in using Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting ebook from Everyday Education, LLC. The premise sounded great—a simple method for teaching beautiful handwriting, and good reading. I thought I would use it to supplement the Language Arts program we’re using with the boys, and get a start on teaching Little Miss to read and write with it.

When I received the ebook, I was quite interested in reading the introductory pages. The history of our current type of cursive handwriting was fascinating, and I like the premise of this book, which is to simplify writing so that everyone can have beautiful handwriting. I believe the book would work to teach a child to read, as well, assuming the child had no learning disabilities and the mother had enough time to spend with them doing the lessons. For me, unfortunately, it didn’t work well.

I did not end up using this course as a supplement for my boys. This book teaches Italic writing, which is beautiful and simple, but they had already learned the normal cursive. Therefore, I felt like it would be too confusing for them to try to relearn everything. I did use it for Little Miss, to work on letter formation. She loved doing several pages of the letters, and did very well at learning the sounds. Each letter is given a picture of a word that begins with that sound—like A is apple, E is elephant, I is igloo, etc. We didn’t get beyond writing letters, though. The program doesn’t start putting letters together into words until all the letters have been learned. Then, it introduces short vowel words, consonant blends, compound words and plural words. It then moves on to vowel-R words and vowel teams. Each of these lessons has a list of words to learn to read, and then several sentences using the words. Each of the sentences is printed with blank lines under the words for practice writing. This is one of the strengths I see in this book, that the child is expected to write directly below the example, which makes it easy to follow the model.

After thoroughly learning the shapes of the letters, children are introduced to joining them. With the Italic system, most of the letters are actually not joined, as in most cursive systems. I found that quite interesting.

In summary, this book was not a good fit for our family at this time, both because I have already taught my boys to write cursive with a different system and because of the dyslexia that runs in our family. In the introduction, this book states that everyone will be able to read well by going through this system, but I know from experience that some people will not be able to—at least not with someone like me teaching them. I tried systems like this with my older boys and utterly failed, although I’m sure some people would have done well with it. This book would work well to teach most children to read and write, however, and if I didn’t already have a course on hand to use with Little Miss I would give this one a try. Take a look at it and see what you think!

Fifty families have been using Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting over the past month and a half; see what they have to say about it by clicking the image below!

Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting ebook {Everyday Education, LLC Reviews}

Taking a Tramp Part 1

May 3, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

In early March, before we had any idea that such a thing as lockdown would happen, our three oldest boys went on a long tramp with three men who are part of our little housechurch. They backpacked to a couple of huts up in the mountains, and actually climbed to the top of one mountain. They were gone from Friday noon till early afternoon on Sunday, and came home ready to fall into bed (and needing showers!) but on top of the world and excited about doing it again! Mr. Diligence needed to write a story for our writing group, so I assigned him to write about the tramp, and email his story to Grandma. He also gave me permission to share it here, along with his photos. He wrote the story in two parts, so watch for Part 2 next week!

A few weeks ago J wanted to take a tramp up in the Haupiri valley up behind Gloriavale. Of course we boys wanted to go along. So we gathered supplies over the last few weeks. We left here on Friday at 1:00 p.m. We picked up J and went on to Gloriavale to sign at the office. They like to know so they won’t send hunters up there. We got to the parking lot and met C there. We waited for about half an hour for P but finally decided to take off walking. We strapped on our packs and walked up a four wheel drive track. P caught up to us in his truck, so we chucked our packs on the back and hopped in. We drove in for about 20 minutes then we parked.

Walking up the Haupiri River gorge, about half an hour after taking off.

Consulting the maps on the way up the river.

Then we started walking. We came to a few mud holes. But we got around those. After about 10 minutes we got to the end of the four wheel drive track. We walked up the dry river bed for a little while till P found the track that went through the bush. After a while we came out of the bush onto Peppertree Flat where there are a lot of peppertrees. They have a pinkish reddish leaf. We went back into the bush and walked on a trail for another half an hour.

Pepper Tree Flat. The red tree is a Pepper Tree.

Then one of the straps on E’s (Mr. Intellectual) pack broke. We had some flimsy safety pins that we put on. They held it together for a little while. Then we crossed the river. We walked for a little while then P said that we had probably missed the hot springs. Since we had extra time we dropped the packs on the track and went looking for it. We found the hot springs and spent a bit of time there. We found a bungee strap there so E used that to help hold his pack on. We walked up the river and across a few slips. At one slip Simon and J pushed a big rock off the bank.

A rest stop on the way up the valley to Elizabeth Hut.

Mr. Intellectual waiting for everyone else to catch up.

Simon and J trying to push the boulder off the side of the track, into the river. They did it–a boulder about three feet in diameter!

We got to Elizabeth Hut at 7:20 p.m. It was quite a nice hut. It had six beds and a table with three small benches. There was a small wood fire. P got the fire going and roasted us all. We ended up opening some windows. The hut was up on a flat area above the river. The roof was red with cream colored walls. J had broght some pasta that we cooked and had for tea. E’s and my packs had both broken. Thankfully J had some zip ties which he used to fix them. He did a good enough job that they lasted till we got home.

The river, viewed from the front of the hut.

To be continued….

Soap

April 29, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

After my mention on this blog that Gayle made our year’s supply of soap while he was home during lockdown, I received a request to share my method/recipe. It’s very simple; I found it online about eight years ago when I started making soap. I just googled something like, “soap recipes with tallow.” I wanted to use tallow as the fat, since I can usually access it fairly readily by asking a butcher for it. Then, I render it.

So, I guess I should start with the rendering instructions! Sorry, I don’t have pictures of any of this; I don’t do it very often, and haven’t thought to document that part of my life! I get the fat from the butcher. Usually I use beef fat, but I’ve also used sheep fat when we butchered our own sheep and they turned out to be very fat. I put the pieces of fat in a large roaster and put it in the oven at, maybe, 150°C. I think that might be about 325-350°F? Once a lot of the fat has liquified, I ladle it out, then roughly chop up the pieces of fat with a pancake turner. I put it back in the oven and roast it again; a lot more of the fat comes out. When I think it’s pretty well done, I just drain off all the liquid fat I can, before it solidifies.

Another way I get fat is by making bone broth. I get beef bones from the butcher, and roast them for half an hour or so in the oven. Then, I put them in my huge stock pot, cover with water and a splash of vinegar, and simmer for a day or two. Then, I strain the bones out of the hot broth and discard them, and chill the broth. The fat all rises to the top and solidifies. If the weather is cold enough I can set the pot outside (with a good lid to prevent cats from getting in it) overnight; otherwise, I try to fit it in the fridge. I carefully lift off the solid fat and scrape the goopy stuff off the bottom, then put the fat in a large saucepan. I heat it till it’s melted, and then simmer till it stops spitting—that way I know the water is all cooked out of it and it’ll keep a lot longer. Just be careful not to let it cook past that point, or it starts smoking. Let it cool before pouring into a container, if the container is plastic!

Now that the fat is ready, the soap can be made! I use 13 cups of tallow. Put it in a large stockpot and heat till it’s melted. Weigh out your sodium hydroxide/caustic soda/lye—you need 12 ounces for this recipe. DON’T LET IT GET WET YET! Measure 4 cups of cold water into a glass container. I use a glass roaster. Do not use plastic or metal for this step. If you want to use goats milk, put 4 cups of it into the freezer the day before soap making, and let it thaw till just slushy. Carefully pour the lye into the water or the slushy goats milk, and stir with a stainless steel spoon until it is all dissolved—don’t let it splash. This solution is very dangerous if it touches any skin. If it touches wood, it eats it up. I always do this step outside. Once the lye is dissolved, check the temperature of the lye solution and of the fat. They need to be fairly close together in temperature. I think the recommendation is within 5-10°F. If you’re using tallow, either beef or sheep, you need it to be warmer than if you are making olive oil or coconut oil soap, as the tallow solidifies a lot sooner than the other fats.

When the two ingredients are fairly close in temperature, carefully pour the lye into the tallow and stir. Keep stirring until it traces. You can bring it to that point a lot faster if you use a stick blender to stir. Gayle ran the stick blender for a minute or so, then turned it off for a couple of minutes to rest the motor, then turned it on again for another minute. I think it only took about ten minutes to trace, but I’m not sure—it was a busy morning!

Deciding when the soap is tracing is a bit tricky. To check for it, dip a spoon or spatula into the liquid soap and drizzle a bit across the top. If you can see it for an instant before it disappears, that’s tracing. Then, pour it into the molds quickly, before it sets. I use Tupperware 9×13 containers. Use whatever you have. If you have real soap molds that make pretty bars, so much the better—I don’t, so I make a very basic bar.

Keep the soap as warm as possible for a few days. We stacked up the three containers of soap and wrapped them in several woolen blankets, then put them in the warmest place we could find. It needs to stay warm for awhile for the chemical reaction to keep working, turning that fat into fat-cutting soap!

After a few days, you can take the soap out of the molds and cut it into bars. Gayle made the soap on Friday; on Monday when he opened the containers, it was still too soft to pop it out. I usually don’t get to this job for a couple of weeks, and by then the soap is hard enough to pop out the whole slab. Instead, Gayle used a table knife to cut it into bars, then a cake server to lift them out. When it sits in the containers long enough to harden, I cut it on a cutting board with a large knife. We like bars about half the size of the ones you buy, but you can make them any size and shape you want! Save the little bits; mix them with water later (whiz with a stick blender) and you’ll have liquid hand soap or shampoo. For now, though, let all that soap age a month or two to finish the chemical reaction. I’ve heard that a month is good, but two is better before using it, to make sure your skin doesn’t react with the lye. We store the soap in a cardboard box lined with newspaper, with newspaper between layers and space between the bars. We keep the box on top of the water heater where it’s warm and dry, because we’ve had it go moldy when stored under the bathroom sink, where it was cold and damp. When stored above the water heater, we have kept it with no problems for two years.

This soap doesn’t smell pretty like the ones you buy, but we like that there is no artificial fragrance in it. I get headaches from fragrances, and sometimes itch all over after using commercial soap for a shower. This is the soap most of us use for shampoo, as well as handwashing and bathing/showering. I rub a bar over my wet hair, then use my hands to lather it. Doing this two or three times gets my hair nice and clean. Gayle and some of the boys prefer to make it into shampoo by blending bits and pieces with lots of hot water. Esther, on the other hand, can’t manage her hair if she uses this soap to wash it, so she buys her shampoo. So, depending on hair type, it may or may not work for you.

There is a lot of information online about soap making, with pictures or videos showing tracing. Do some more research and see what other people have to say! I was very thankful for a friend who walked me through my first batch of soap—this was something I was a bit scared to try. It’s not nearly as dangerous as I thought it would be, though.

Book Review—One Rich Girl

April 27, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I was rather excited when I heard that Gwenda Smithies had written a book about her life. I met her several years ago at a meeting, and although I have not visited very much with her, I have greatly admired her. I’ve actually had more to do with her children than with her, and also talked to her mother awhile back. I was delighted to be given a copy of her book, One Rich Girl, to read.

Gwenda tells the story of her life from a third-person point of view, in a matter-of-fact way. She grew up in Nelson, and moved to Christchurch for University. There, she eventually met the man she would marry. They went on to have twelve beautiful children! Gwenda tells many stories about raising her children (the youngest of whom is only a couple of years old right now). Her joy in her family is very inspiring. I really loved reading about her experiences as the children came along.

Gwenda’s faith is also inspiring. I appreciated the way she shared about her walk with God and how He worked in her life. God’s provision for the Smithies family’s needs is also amazing—I loved the way He gave them a dishwasher when they needed one. Gwenda’s challenge with forgiveness at one point stood out to me, as well.

This is a great book to read if you enjoy stories of mothers and their children. Read this book to be encouraged to love your husband and to love your children, and to find joy in the little everyday things in life. It will also encourage you in your prayer life. I would have liked this book very much even if I didn’t know the author personally, but since I do, that adds another dimension, of course.

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

Buy your copy of the book here.