I am rejoicing because...

...I have 4 healthy, beautiful boys.  Despite the fact that we thought we were unable to have children.

Reading for Boys

I love to read!  I love books!  Yes, I am old school.  I am not into the Kindle, Nook or any e-readers (yet).  My son, Champ, has a Kindle Fire and I mess around with it a bit, but I love the look and feel of books, I even love the smell of books, I love the sound of the pages being turned.  I like how if I hold a thinner, smaller book - it is lighter, if I hold a thicker, bigger book - it is heavier.  I just simply love books.

When I was younger (way back in the day), we had 4 major television networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS).  Cartoons were only on Saturday until noon, with an occasional after school special during the week. At night we only could watch prime time television until about 8:00 and then the adult television shows came on and we had to go to bed.  And if the President was on - he was on every single channel.  We also didn't have gaming systems (hand-held/personal or otherwise), there was no such thing as the internet.

What we (my brother and I or my friends and I) did was play outside and read books.  There is nothing that I like better than curling up with a good book on a rainy day.  Snow days from school were awesome!  We played outside until lunch time (we were about frozen by then anyway) and then we came in and ate a good lunch and had hot chocolate - later we made snow cream - and then I would read and read and read and...well you get the picture.

I always had a book in my hand, I took one with me wherever I went (remember - no personal gaming systems back then or DVD players in the car) and if I got a minute or two I would read.

I wanted to pass down my love of reading to my children.  I think it is an excellent past time.  I feel that if children can read and comprehend what they are reading they will be able to do anything!  I read to my children when they were little hoping they would like to read.  My oldest, Lee, loves to read!  He reminds me of me, he takes a book with him at all times - very seldom do you see him without a book in his hand or at least nearby.

My second son, Champ, not so much.  I try to encourage reading and I know that Champ likes to earn money (he saves it very well too) so I told my boys that I would pay them a penny a page to read an age appropriate book.  Lee took it and ran with it (get paid to do something that I already like to do?), Champ had rather do physical labor than read.  I gave them each a spiral notebook (in the fall when school supplies are on sale they are 10 - 15 cents each), inside the front cover of the notebook I glued an envelope (flap side out).  They are to record the date they completed the book, title and author of the book and the # of pages.  When they have read a book or two they leave their reading log on the counter and I mark pd. beside the # of pages and I put the money in the envelope.  (I think when they are older they might find it interesting to see what they were reading when they were younger.)

Anthony (now finishing up his first grade year) was excited about this too.  Last year, when he began to read I set him up  a reading log too.  His first few books were 10 pages or less, so I waited until we had at least a dollar before I paid him.  Now Rance is excited about starting Kindergarten this fall so that he can learn to read!

A local publication had an article entitled 'Helping Boys Love Books.'  It had some great suggestions in the article and it also had some suggestions for books and websites that were about books and/or authors for children and middle-school aged boys. 

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Dead End In Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton
Traction Man is Here! by Mini Grey
The Library of Doom Series by Michael Dahl
Guys Read Edited by John Scieszka (and here too)
Happy Pig Day! by Mo Willems (and here too)

Hope this helps your boy(s) to love to read.  I know we are going to look up these books this summer (only 10 days of school left - YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

His Mighty Warrior - A Book Review

His Mighty Warrior:  A Treasure Map from Your King by Sheri Rose Shepherd is AWESOME!  This book is written toward elementary school age boys.  We have been reading this book as a daily devotional in the mornings before school - to start the day off right.  It would also be an excellent book to read before bedtime too.

The book is well written and superbly illustrated with a pirate theme, just perfect for little boys.  Sheri takes character traits (from simple to complicated) and explains them in a way that young boys can understand them and want to improve themselves.  She has scripture and a prayer/prayer example to back up her devotionals. 

It is written in letter style, like God has written a personal letter to your son.  I am a grown woman and I feel like I get something out of the devotional too.  I am amazed at how well Sheri explains things without it being complicated or cumbersome.

If you are a parent of young boys, I highly recommend this book.  It is the kind of book that even my older boys can get insight from and when you are finished - start over from the beginning and continue your daily devotionals.  I think this would also make an excellent gift for a new or expectant mother of a boy.


I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review, but the review and opinions are my own.



Please click on this link and rank my review on this and other books. I would really appreciate it.

From Chaos to Calm

This picture doesn't have a thing in the world to do with my post, but I hate posting without pictures and I thought this was cute. Also, a life with boys can be pretty chaotic, so maybe it does.

Anyway, I have been following Melissa Ringstaff's From Chaos to Calm series and I am really enjoying it. Check it out and see if it brings some order into your life.

It is a 15 week series, she posts Monday through Friday only and this is week 4 (but you can read the back posts - she has them available also).

Mr. Grumpy Pants

Anthony has been literally begging me to rake up some leaves so he could jump in them. It has been an extremely busy week and there just wasn't time. Sunday, Halloween day, (since I was sick and couldn't do anything else) I asked the older boys to rake up leaves in a big pile. I took some Tylenol and took a shower and then headed outside to take pics.

It was a perfect day for it. It was 72 degrees and there were lots and lots of leaves.

Anthony, for some odd reason was in a horrible mood. He didn't want to participate. He said he did, but when it came right down to it, he would frown and pout and refused to join in - just sitting on the sidelines. He even cried a couple of times (which really isn't like him - I was so praying that he wasn't coming down with strep).








Lee and Champ decided to do something about it and well, you'll have to see for yourself...



I am really proud of Champ. He has wanted a laptop computer for awhile, but it just hasn't been in our budget. So for a couple of years, he saved his money and purchased one. A friend gave me a camera for my computer (I couldn't make it work on my computer and so I gave it to Champ). Champ set his laptop up outside and shot the above video. He's pretty talented.

Falling for you...

Please forgive me, this post is going to be so random and scattered, but I just can't help it.

I love fall. It is my absolute, most favorite time of the year! The leaves, beautiful colors, leaves, the crisp air, leaves, sweater weather, leaves, homemade chili, leaves, pumpkins, leaves, I could go on and on.

Here are a few pictures of the boys having some fall fun! (I think if I were a photographer or had a decent camera these pictures would have been so much better, but I've got the boys on film and that's what counts.)





I have the boys outside right now on an acorn scavenger hunt. Anthony has been bringing in handfuls of acorns for the last week or so. So, I sent them out for a massive acorn search so I can make this...from Made.

She said she used her acorn wreath for several occasions and just spray painted it to match the holiday/season. What a great idea! Until she dropped it and had to trash it. :o(

Well, that started me thinking (I know, kind of scary huh?). What if (starting this year) every fall, I send the boys out to collect acorns for a wreath, we assemble the wreath as a family project and spray paint it (my kids love to paint with spray paint as much as I do) and change the fabric hanger each season/holiday (as another family project). By the end of a year, the wreath will probably have seen it's better days, so the next fall - we can start all over again with an acorn scavenger hunt. (My intentions right now are for this to become a tradition, we'll see.)

I have been busy crafting and sewing, but most of it is for Christmas. I don't think any of the recipients read my blog, but just to be on the safe side - I'm not going to post pictures just yet. I've crafted for my personal gifts, I have done things for friends to give as gifts. It has been so much fun!

Last year for Halloween, I started making a hooded cape. I was going to be Little Red Riding Hood. (I was making the cape reversible, so I could wear it all year.) Guess what?!?! I didn't get it finished on time. Our family's Halloween Party was at my In-Laws and I needed just 1/2 hour more to finish, but my DH doesn't like to be late, so he wouldn't wait for me to finish it. So I didn't go dressed up at all (I had no back up plan.) Well, after Halloween I did finish it and was going to wear it this year. Guess what?!?! I got Strep Throat! Frank took the boys Trunk-or-Treating at church, but I didn't get to go. Maybe next year?

For the past 4 days I have just been holding the couch down.

All Good Things Must Come To an End

Our local newspaper sells their 'End Rolls' really inexpensively. These are the rolls of paper where there is not enough paper to do another run, but there is still some paper left.

So occasionally I go and get one for the boys. It is great to just roll out a long piece of paper and let them get artistic. Sometimes they trace each other, sometimes they draw maps, house plans, or whatever suits their fancy.

Several years ago when I was an education major, the newspaper would give these to teachers, education majors, etc. Not sure if they still do that or not, but they are not expensive. Especially for the amount of paper you get.

They have 2 sizes, the regular newspaper width and a smaller version for the newspaper inserts.

It's really good for craft projects too.

Feeding Boys

Last night we had a 'breakfast supper' (by request, it's Lee's favorite - I think he would have that for supper every night if I let him). The six of us ate 1 pound of sausage, 1 pound of bacon plus eggs and bread (I only got 1 small piece of sausage). What will I do when they become teenagers? Will I be able to afford to feed them?

~Jena

From the mouths of babes

I was trying to take a picture to put with a post that I was going to do today (batteries were dead in my camera and no backups), :o(
when my 3 year old said, "Why are you taking a picture of that?"

Me: "So I can put it on my blog."

Him: "Why?"

Me: "Because I want to."

Him: "Why?"

Me: "Why do you ask so many questions?"

Him: "Because I'm a little boy."

Oh, the wisdom that little children sometimes have. ;o)

~Jena

My 3 Year Old is an Expert Driver

Today as we were leaving a fastfood joint, I stopped at a red light. When I began to drive, my 3 year old said, "Mom! You can't go - it's red!" (The light had turned green, but I guess he didn't notice since he was eating his fries.) So now I have a "backseat" (or should I say "carseat") driver.

~Jena