Lots of Helpers

Book Review—Prairie

June 10, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

About the Book

Book: Prairie
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Contemporary Christian Fantasy
Release date: February 13, 2013

What if you could literally wish your life away?

My name is Jessa Davidson, and I awoke one day in the place of every dream I’ve ever had—the prairie. I don’t know how I got here or where here even is, but I know one thing for certain. I can’t go home again. Ever.

If I’ve learned one thing being in this beautiful place, it’s that no matter how perfect it and its people seem, sin lives in the hearts of men and women in Prairie, too. The differences between Prairie and Pittsburgh? There are too many to count.

I grew up hearing the words of the Apostle Paul. “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”

Here in Prairie, they’re not a lesson. They’re a warning.

I’ve been given a gift—the greatest desire of my heart. A life in the place of my dreams, a chance at love and family, a sense of real belonging.

Can I hold onto it? Time will tell—time I may not have if I can’t learn to be content.

Prairie is the first book in the Journey of Dreams, a series of related but stand-alone contemporary Christian fantasy novels exploring truths in a whole new way.

My Thoughts:

Almost six years ago, I won a paperback copy of Prairie in a giveaway that Chautona Havig did. She sent it to me, and I fell in love with this story! It is so good. I don’t like fantasy, as a rule, but I loved this book. When I read it again last week in preparation for this review, I loved it again. What a gentle story, with such great lessons. I loved watching Jessa learning the way of life in Prairie, and learning to be content. What an important lesson for all of us. One paragraph especially stood out to me; when I looked back just now, I found that I quoted the same thing in my review back then! “Jessa, it’s pride. Why does anyone do anything that others have done wrong? Why don’t the consequences of other’s sin prevent people from making the same mistakes? We’re prideful people. We think we’re above consequences. We’re sinners who won’t acknowledge our frailty.”

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a good story with a lot of depth to it!

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

About the Author:

Author of the bestselling Aggie and Past Forward series, 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:

When Your Novel Teaches You an Important Lesson

I’ve told the story before, but I’ll tell it again. Prairie began as a dream. For several days in a row, I fell asleep and found myself lost in the sway of prairie grasses undulating to the strains of “Theme from a Summer Place.”

It’s a bad habit of mine, but despite being in the middle of a writing project, I wrote down my thoughts—my impressions. Two strange things happened.

First, the story came out in first person. Folks, I don’t write in first-person perspective. Not my novels, anyway. I don’t enjoy reading it, and I really don’t enjoy writing it.

Jessa, however, demanded I let her tell her story… her way. So I did. And it’s one of the fastest novels I’ve ever written.

There’s irony in that.

You see, I didn’t know where that story would go. My dream only replayed the scene of Jessa waking up on the prairie and not knowing how she got there—only knowing she could never go home. Beyond that, I hadn’t a clue.

And though I wanted to rush through so I could see where the story would take me, and though I wrote at breakneck speeds, the story unfolded at its own pace.

The people of Prairie live a different life from anything you’ve ever seen—and yet it is mostly very familiar. One thing, however, sets it apart.

Time.

Only in Prairie does time not work as it does here, and that changes everything. The story begins slowly and for a reason. Line by line, observation by observation, step by step through the grasses and down rutted lanes, the story draws you out of the breakneck speed of modern life and into a world that, if you aren’t careful, will whiz by faster than is even possible.

Here in our world, that is.

There… you’d better watch out.

Has anyone ever warned you not to wish your life away? It’s just a gentle reminder that if you’re always eager for today to end in hopes of a more exciting tomorrow, you may find you never lived.

In Prairie? It might actually happen.

To purchase your copy, click here.

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To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

Product Review—Creative Word Studio

June 8, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

One thing I want my children to learn is how to write. My oldest is a prolific writer, and my third-born son can write; I keep working on the others! It’s very helpful to have resources on hand that can help spark creativity in writing. That made me immediately interested in Sparkling Bits of Writing, from Creative Word Studio. I chose to use and review Book 1, which is intended for grades 5-6. I would love to someday use Book 2, as well, but at the moment I don’t have anyone in grades 7-8, which is the left it is written for. Mr. Diligence is working part time now, so even though he would be just over that level he doesn’t have time anymore for things like this!

I have been having Mr. Sweetie (grade 6) and Mr. Imagination (grade 4) do the assignments from Sparkling Bits of Writing. Little Miss (grade 1) wants to do everything they do, but the projects are almost too hard for her. She keeps trying, though! We received the book quite late in the review period, and then had some health issues crop up that have made it hard to spend the time I wanted to with this course, but made it through the first seven lessons. I am really liking this course!

There are three basic types of lessons in this course. The first lesson is classified as a Mini Writing Exercise. These teach various things about writing. The first was an acrostic, with a line beginning with each letter of the children’s names. Esther was inspired to write one about Miss Joy—it was pretty funny! Little Miss couldn’t understand the concept, but the boys did a little better. Other lessons teach how to use the thesaurus. Our physical one is very hard to use and is stored in an outside building, so we didn’t bother going out in the rain after dark to get it—I found a thesaurus online. That lesson was fun! I see that others talk about complete sentences or autumn words, or showing instead of telling.

The next type of lesson is Free Writing. You are supposed to take a topic and run with it—write everything you think of about a particular topic. The first was about how you are feeling right now. With boys—well, I’ll just say that was challenging. What matters to you was easier.

Reading Responses are fun. We’ve done one of those so far. It included a selection from A Secret Garden, which our children haven’t heard. They loved listening to it, and then enjoyed writing what they thought happened next. I loved what one of our boys came up with; it was totally unexpected to me. I see selections from Oliver Twist and Tom Sawyer coming up soon. Those will be fun!

There are also Friends lessons, in which two children need to work together to write something. The one the boys did (pictured here) had to do with cell phones. I thought they came up with some very good pros and cons. They enjoyed working together.

Gold piece lessons are intended to be polished until they are perfect, and then given a grade. That way, there is something to put in the report card! These are marked in the book with a star.

So, what do we think about Sparkling Bits of Writing? I really like this course! It’s creative, and laid out in a way that is very easy to use. The lessons are short and simple, but make the children think. I’m not getting the groans from this course that I normally do from writing courses. The boys won’t admit that they are enjoying it, but they act like they do. I highly recommend this course for any family who wants their children to learn to write creatively. Click on the image below to see what other families have to say about this course!

March 2021 Photos

June 6, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I am way behind with posting these pictures!

This is what the girls’ room looked like for several weeks, while we were redoing the carpeting in the hallway, which doubles as our library. All our books were packed in boxes for a few months, and stacked in the hallway, and when a date was finally set for putting in the new carpeting, I moved the books to Esther’s room. She was away for a month, and Little Miss doesn’t need all that space, so it worked.

Elijah got a new set of tools for floor laying. Here he is giving Simon a guided tour on the day he got the set.

I am doing Sonlight Kindergarten American History with Little Miss this year. One of our early read-alouds was The Missing Mummy. Mr. Imagination listened in, and was so intrigued by the story that he read ahead. He was so involved with it that he didn’t notice I took a photo of him reading!

We were given a tiny house by a man from Nelson! We met him at a friend’s funeral up that way in December, and he spent a night in our driveway in March. Several days later, he called and asked if we were interested in taking the tiny house he had been living in but didn’t need anymore. Our boys borrowed a vehicle and trailer, and drove up to Nelson on Friday night to get it. They got home with it late Saturday afternoon, also having purchased a vehicle for Elijah while they were up there!

Our little flock of goats. We don’t have any of them anymore; when one of the kids decided she was going to jump the fence and get out no matter what, we decided to get rid of them, and then we sent the nanny off to get bred. At this point, we’ve decided that they are enough work that we are better off without them, although we like goats and Gayle does well on goat’s milk.

Mr. Imagination with a katydid one Sunday afternoon at church.

Esther took this picture to show me the grain mill that a neighbor needed to get rid of. We helped this lady clean out her house when she moved away, and this mill is one of the things we took.

One week’s harvest of tomatoes!It was quite a process to get the tiny house into place! The boys put rollers under it and used a logger’s winch and chain to pull it to its corner. I was thankful that nothing—and noone—got broken!

Inside. It was just a shell; by now, it has been insulated and lined with another layer of plywood, and we plan to paint it and put down a vinyl floor covering.

We got one largish watermelon from our greenhouse this year. When we ate it, Mr. Diligence requested an entire round slice of it. Apparently, this has been a long-time wish of his!

One Saturday, Esther organized her brothers to help her build shelving for the container. She, Elijah and Mr. Diligence spent the day building two sets of shelves.

Book Review—Pursued to Eternity

June 3, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Pursued to Eternity by John Riley sounded like quite an interesting book when I read the description. It sounded like quite a few topics pulled together into an adventure, so I signed up to receive a copy of the book. I thought I might read it aloud to my family, but when the book arrived (yes, he sent a physical copy to us here in New Zealand!), I saw that it would not work well as a read-aloud for us.

Several stories are put together into one story here. The first chapter is the author’s musings about God and time. He narrates the book through the eyes of a fictitious man, whose brother was an atheist. After that first chapter of introductory material about God’s work with mankind at various times throughout history, he tells a story about hunting dinosaurs in what is now Kenya, and then relates the story of the Exodus from the point of view of an Egyptian girl who kept a diary. After that, he switches to the present.

Alan and Conner Bridges joined their entire family for Thanksgiving Dinner. After dinner, the brothers had a discussion about God and why Conner believed in God and the Bible. Conner presented many good reasons for the truth of the Bible to his atheist brother. Later in the day, Alan announced that he was going to Kenya to explore for oil.

Conner was a high school biology teacher. He was required to teach evolution, and forbidden to mention Creation—but he found ways, even so, to plant doubts in his students’ minds. Soon, his students were building a website with questions that pointed out weak spots in the evolutionary theory. Eighteen pages of the book are devoted to those questions! Of course, the school board could not handle this questioning, and Conner was forced to resign. Meanwhile, Alan was finding some very interesting things in Kenya—what did those findings mean for his soul, and for Conner’s students’ questions?

I found this book a bit disjointed. Almost too many topics are presented to be a cohesive story. The author does pull things together somewhat at the end, but the continuity of the story is broken up by many lists of facts. Also, I found even the adventure parts of the story to be somewhat dry, told in a passive tone of voice. I do like the drawings that are at the beginning of each chapter! The book itself is an ordinary softcover, a very nice size to hold while reading.

John Riley has put together a Creation Apologetics course that is on SchoolhouseTeachers.com. It looks quite interesting. It consists of video lessons with worksheets. I just watched parts of one of the lessons, and he has a variety of speakers, in many different settings. This course looks like it would be very encouraging, and would strengthen teenager’s faith in the truth of the Bible.

Upper teens who are interesting in the Creation/evolution debate would likely find Pursued to Eternity interesting. To see what other families thought about this book, click on the image below. I plan to check out some of the other reviews, because I’m quite curious what other people thought of this book.

4WD Excursion Up the Snowy River

May 30, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

Gayle, Esther, and all our boys went with a number of other people from our church on a drive along a rough track up the Snowy River. The road along this river comes out on the main road about 20 minutes’ drive north of us. They went up that road to the end, where they had morning tea at a farm, and then took the track a couple of kilometers into the bush to a former gold-mining area—the Alexander’s mine and gold stamping mill. Here is some of the scenery on the way to the farm.

Mr. Sweetie gesticulating about something at the farm. (Notice his new glasses, Grandma?)

The center vehicle is Simon’s Pajero. The one in front is his boss’s Land Cruiser, affectionately known as the Troopie (because it’s a troop carrier). My family has been talking about the electric system for this farm ever since they got home. They generate their own power with a water turbine. The power is taken to the buildings with a single Number 8 wire, and most of the year they have to leave the lights on all the time so they don’t burn out the system, because they have too much power!

The first river crossing!

The Troopie has made it across; will the Pajero and the other Land Cruiser make it?

Simon hooking up a snatch strap so the Troopie can help him get up the muddy bank. He says the water was icy.

Checking out the ruts the Pajero made. The bank was apparently about three feet high before the Troopie went up it, and then the Pajero smashed it down some, too.

Eating lunch.

A tree was across the track—it’s a good thing someone had a chain saw along!

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The old stamping mill at the end of the track. They used to use some sort of cyanide treatment to extract the gold. Here is a video I took several years ago of a stamping mill that can still be used; it will give you a bit of an idea how they worked.

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Back out at the road!

The vehicles emerged not much the worse for wear. The Troopie had no damage. The other Cruiser had some, and Simon lost a bit of trim from the sill under his door. They were pretty muddy when they got home, but that was the worst. Simon is hoping to do this kind of thing a bit more often, now that he has a vehicle for it.

Here is a video we put together from clips that Esther took of the river crossings:

Product Review—One More Story

May 27, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

I had never heard of the website One More Story before the opportunity came up to review it. I knew, when I looked at the site, that my younger children would really enjoy this. They love having stories read to them, and after hearing research about the importance of reading picture books to children, I was very happy to have more for them. It’s hard to find time to read lots of picture books!

I really like the selection of picture books that are on One More Story. A lot of them are older books. There are several by Ezra Jack Keats! We have always loved his The Snowy Day; that one is included, as well as several others. I had wanted to read Stellaluna to them, too, but had never been able to lay hands on a copy, so now they have heard that story. This site is especially valuable to us because of the poor selection of books in the libraries in this country.

Little Miss (age 6) is the one who has used this site the most. She learned very fast how to use it (very simple—you basically just click the green arrow when it shows up!), and can spend a hour at a time listening to stories. Mr. Imagination (age 9) usually joins her; the two of them spend most of their time together these days. Miss Joy often sits and listens in, too, although she gets bored pretty soon and wanders off, only to come back and check out the next book they open.

There are three ways to read each book. Children can have the book read to them with the pages turning automatically, or they can have the book read to them and turn the pages themselves, or they can turn the sound off and read the story themselves. When the story is read to them, the text is highlighted word by word. This helps children to see how we read text from left to right, and helps to make the connection between written and spoken word. I can’t say how well it works, because Mr. Imagination and Little Miss both read already, but I can see that it would work if children spent a lot of time using this site. You can switch between modes of reading for each book. There is also a vocabulary button, which brings up a list of words from the book. A definition and sample sentence is given for each word. And, after you leave a book, you are asked if you want to listen to one more story!

The text has been taken off the pages of these picture books; instead, it appears in the bar below the pages of the book. Sometimes, the text from one double-page spread is stretched over several page turns; in those cases, different parts of the pictures are zoomed in to go with the text that is being read.

There is a parent’s dashboard, which is useful if you want to keep track of the books your children have been reading or hearing. It shows which books they have read in the past week. This is a great site for young children who can’t get enough stories read to them! I especially like it on wet days when my younger ones can’t be outside but I don’t have things for them to do inside. They can entertain themselves quite well for a long time with these stories—if I let them, they will spend an hour at it!

To see what other families have to say about One More Story, click on the banner below!

A Day at the River

May 23, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Some friends from Dunedin came for a visit on a weekend in March. We took them down to the riverbed for a picnic. It was a perfect late-summer day, and the children enjoyed playing in the water, as usual.

It was a wonderful day!

Book Review—The Elnora Monet

May 19, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

About the Book

Book: The Elnora Monet
Author: Rachel Skatvold
Genre: Christian Contemporary Romance
Release date: April 27, 2021

Islanders call him the Elnora Monet.

Is that island speak for “pompous, arrogant jerk?”

When Carly Mulligan volunteered to make house calls on Elnora, she never imagined treating the richest cat on the islands. What other feline has his own wing in a mansion like the Belshaw Estate?

After a wrong turn in the mansion, Carly stumbles across a secret room—one filled with incredible paintings. Perhaps there’s something more to the man than she first thought.

Most people envy Jean-Luc Belshaw’s position. The heir to a lucrative business and family fortune, he should have everything he could dream of.

But Luc dreams of days past. Days when he traveled the world with his wife and painted the breathings of his soul disappeared with Angeline’s passing. Faith and inspiration gone, he wonders if returning to France to take his place in his father’s business is the right thing to do.

Carly has a few relational demons of her own, and she’s reluctant to trust him, but Luc’s paintings draw her in even as his story touches a long-empty place in her heart.

Only God can transform two broken pasts into a work of art.

The Elnora Monet continues the Elnora Island romances of the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.
The Independence Islands Series: beach reads aren’t just for summer anymore.

My Thoughts:

I have been reading glowing reviews about the books in this series and how great they are, so I decided to request a review copy of The Elnora Monet. It was a good way to read a book by an author I had heard of but never read, as well. I didn’t realize until I started reading it that it was a billionaire romance.

Carly was working as an assistant to her veterinarian sister Kendall. They ran a clinic out of an RV, and made house calls on the islands. Her first call, in this story, was to treat a cat who lived in his own wing of a mansion! What kind of person would have space like that? She treated the cat—and then wandered into another wing and found herself snooping before she realized what she was doing. She couldn’t believe the paintings she found in there; there was more to Luc, the cat’s owner, than she had at first thought.

As Carly got to know Luc better, he had to face memories from his past. He used to paint a lot—until Angeline died. Since then, he had not painted at all, but Carly’s snooping brought him face-to-face with his past. What should he do about it? He couldn’t stop thinking about the snoopy young veterinary assistant, either. As the two spent more time together, she had to face up to her hang-ups about men. Could she allow herself to get close to Luc?

I did not enjoy this story very much, unfortunately. If I had realized that it’s pretty much straight-up romance, I would have passed on it. I don’t mind some romance in a book, but I much prefer if there is a story apart from that. I also really don’t like billionaire romances, come to find out! I like more realistic, every-dayish stories! So, bottom line: I probably won’t be requesting very many more review books from this series—I’ll be back to my policy of being very picky—but most ladies would love this book.

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

WARNING: There are passionate kisses in chapters 13, 15, and 17.

About the Author:

Rachel Skatvold is a Christian author and stay-at-home mom from the Midwest. She enjoys writing inspirational romance and encouraging blogs. Rachel completed her first series, the Riley Family Legacy Novellas in 2014 and is now working on the Hart Ranch Series, set in the Montana wilderness and the Ladies of Ardena Series, set in medieval times. She is also a contributing author in the Whispers in Wyoming and Brides of Pelican Rapids Series. Other than writing, some of her hobbies include singing, reading and camping in the great outdoors with her husband and two young sons. You can find more information about Rachel and her books on her website: www.rachelskatvold.com.

More From Rachel:

Thank you for helping celebrate the release of The Elnora Monet by following this Celebration Tour hosted by Celebrate Lit. I hope you enjoy learning a little more about the characters and what inspired the story. Please follow the other stops on this tour and don’t forget to enter in the giveaway. Thank you!

It has been a wonderful experience working with the talented authors and editors in the Independence Islands Series. Each of these stories has a heartwarming message of faith and the characters always teach me something new. Ever since writing Kendall Mulligan’s story in Her Merriweather Hero, I’ve been excited to share her free-spirited younger sister’s story.

Carly had many struggles in the first book, questioning what purpose God had for her life. This time around, her feet are more grounded, but she still has some growing to do when it comes to faith. Carly has been a fun character to write about because of her witty extroverted personality and some of the humorous predicaments she ends up in…one of them including getting caught snooping around a billionaire’s mansion.

While not outspoken as Carly, I can relate to the character’s search for direction. Sometimes it is difficult learning to trust, especially during troubling times, but we can rely on God’s promises. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; don’t rely on your own intelligence. Know him in all your paths, and he will keep your ways straight.” This verse means so much to me because I know even when I can’t understand something, He is behind the scenes guiding me in the right direction. For Carly, it leads in a direction she never expects, but it is worth it in the end.

Certain parts of the story were inspired by my mom. If you have read Her Merriweather Hero, you know the Mulligan sisters are originally from New England, close to where my mom grew up. I love hearing about her memories of spending time at Nantasket Beach, drinking orange pop, and putting chips in her sandwich so they wouldn’t blow away. Even though I grew up in the Midwest, I still put chips in my own sandwich because of watching her do the same thing and her fridge is always stocked with orange pop to this day. Little bits of my mom’s childhood are weaved into this story, making it close to my heart.

I hope you have enjoyed learning a little more about characters and story behind The Elnora Monet. Now continue reading for a summary of the book and giveaway. Blessings!

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.

Book Review—Everybody, Always for Kids

May 18, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

I like to read from a Bible story book or a children’s devotional every morning as we begin our school day. When the opportunity came up to review Everybody, Always for Kids from Tommy Nelson Publishing, and we were offered a print copy, it was a no-brainer. I wanted this book! I’m enjoying it, and the children seem to be, as well. We haven’t quite finished it, since we’re just reading one chapter a day, but I have liked everything I have seen so far.

Each chapter has a story from Bob Goff’s life, and he works a life lesson in naturally. These lessons are designed to help children learn to love other people. The story we read this morning hit me especially. It was about his son learning to fly, and then to fly seaplanes, and how he landed on a small lake. The takeaway was that when we love someone we let them do what they are doing, without giving constant directions and cautions. That’s something I need to learn with my older children!

A lot of the stories just give practical ways to show love to people around us, like making it possible for everyone, no matter what age, to participate in a race, or ordering cake pops for people you disagree with. There is encouragement to be patient and to be forgiving (even when an expensive vehicle ends up at the bottom of a cliff in the ocean because of someone’s mistake). This is really a book for all ages—not just children.

I really like the feel of this book. It has a very nice hard cover, with thick glossy pages. The pictures are full-color and quite nice, and I like the ribbon marker—it means I don’t have to keep putting the bookmark back after the toddler looks through the book! She often picks it up and studies the pretty pictures when I’m finished reading in the morning. The size is just right, too. It’s just right to hold comfortably. I am a bit disappointed in the ribbon, though. It started fraying almost immediately, and I need to melt the edges with a flame again, for the third time.

There is a five-day lesson plan that goes with Everybody, Always for Kids. I downloaded it to have a look, but we didn’t use it. Each plan gives directions for a craft project to go with one of the stories, in which children are challenged to think of ways to show love to other people. There are also questions to discuss to spark a conversation about the topic, and supplemental activities that you can use to add even more to the experience. In looking it over just now, I noticed that one of the lessons has to do with the chapter about a time capsule. After we read that one, one of my sons made a time capsule and hid it under the house somewhere! So, I guess we did one of the activities, though inadvertantly.

If you want a devotional to read with your children, this is a good one. I highly recommend it. Also, have a look at what a number of other families thought of it.

Miss Joy in March

May 16, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

In looking over our photos from March, I’m seeing a lot of them of one person! Miss Joy is quite popular, and very cute. She’s into everything, and jabbers about everything. We can even understand part of what she says!

Her favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? This copy was given to Elijah by his grandmother, probably 15 years ago. It has been taped together and glued together, and is still being enjoyed! I just ordered a replacement, though, a board book this time, because this one got left in a windowsill overnight and the condensation soaked it. It’s still readable, but the pages are all falling out and the covers are swollen. We can’t be without this book, though!

Mr. Imagination built a couple of hammocks, and his little sisters enjoyed them.

Helping the big boys mow lawn! She must have been trying to figure out how to start it.

There are two little babies at church, and Miss Joy loves them. So does her big brother Simon!

Miss Joy is an artist. She loves to draw! She often asks for pen and “papee!” She wants to “ite!” She focuses hard on what she is doing, and keeps at it until her piece of paper is covered with her scribbles.

She also loves to climb in bed with Little Miss! It’s so much fun to read at bedtime.

I’m not sure what she was doing here in Esther’s room.

Sitting in the windowsill behind the couch. This is where Brown Bear met its demise.

One afternoon she came marching into the living room brandishing a croquet mallet in one hand, a block of wood in the other, and dangling a toothbrush from her mouth!

Another day, she figured out how to climb into the washing machine. Can you tell we enjoy having this little girl around? She sure adds sparkle to our days!

And, here is a video I just remembered making.