One Crunchy Mom’s Experience with Botox

Posted on July 8, 2025 by treeoflifemama

Ever since hearing that one of my relatives and one of my Veggie Gal girlfriends use Botox to look young, I’ve wondered about the safety. I admit they look at least ten years younger, with flawless skin, but, are they ever going to get sick? After all, the same toxin, that we are cautioned about avoiding when canning food because it causes botulism is the same one that is used in Botox. I’ve expressed the concern to my VG girlfriend and she just said she wasn’t worried.

This podcast from Hilda LaBrada Gore, above, and linked here, features a crunchy mom, Megan McCue, who got very sick from using Botox. It wasn’t just a little bit sick, it was debilitating sickness.

Here’s more about Megan and her interview, copied and pasted from YouTube:

“Megan McCue is the author of Notox and Me Tox Pretty. And today she explains how that single treatment of Botox turned her life (and health) upside down. She goes over what happened to her–how she essentially became incapacitated, unable to work or care for her children, and how her doctor dismissed her concerns, suggesting she was simply anxious. Megan goes over the history of this product, its black box warnings, its prevalent use among young people and why she is an outspoken advocate for informed consent and pharmaceutical transparency. Finally, she makes clear that the symptoms of botulism can last years, which is one of the many reasons she recommends we steer clear of it. For more information, visit Megan’s website: https://meganmccue.com Become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation (https://www.westonaprice.org/why-join/) (and use the code pod10)”

She also has written her two books shown below to go in depth about the dangers of Botox.

Credit for Book Cover Images Above and Below: amazon.com

So is Botox to be absolutely avoided? Only you can decide for yourself. Only you can decide what risk you want to take.

I was surprised to discover in the latest book by the Trim Healthy Mama sisters, Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett, that they use a Korean form of Botox. It’s the Trim Healthy Wisdom book, shown below. I bought it when it first came out and haven’t finished it. It’s a heavy tome, about three inches thick, almost 1000 pages! Pearl and Serene are known for their books on healthy eating. They promote a diet plan that recommends eating protein at every meal, and then either carbs or fat with the protein. They separate carbs from fat for weight loss to happen. They mostly recommend using whole foods so they have come to be known for promoting healthy eating. (I don’t consider their sugar replacements as “whole foods.” My review of their diet plan and how it worked for me is here.)

So when I heard that they use a form of Botox, I thought, “Wow, they are not as naturally crunchy mom as I would have thought.”

Here is the text copied and pasted from one of their podcast episodes where they share about how they keep the wrinkles at bay.

“Listener Question– “The sisters’ faces are looking lovely and smooth for their
mid-40s and 50s. Do the sisters use Botox?”

“Pearl and Serene– Do we use Botox? Not exactly. We use our own special South Korean form
of ‘tox’. Yes, it’s legal. We’ll be sharing exactly what we use and how we use it in our upcoming
book Trim Healthy Wisdom. But for now, we’ll explain that we do our own very diluted and
conservative tox injections at home and we’re not necessarily recommending others do it. But at
a certain age, we can tend to look frowny, sad, mad… and we don’t want to look that way.
Those 11s between the eyebrows and overused muscles in the forehead… the furrows take
over. We tried taping our foreheads for a time, because of the tension in our foreheads but that
didn’t give us a good result.

“There’s been a big DIY world around skin procedures since COVID. During the pandemic,
people couldn’t go and get the work that they wanted done. So, they started sharing videos from
professionals online and from those who had specific successful protocols. And we asked, “Why
can’t we do that?” So, we started to research and then we started to practice.

“A piece of advice… don’t ever just start jabbing your face! You’ll mess up! Be sure to follow
tutorials on how to do it correctly if you’re interested. The tox we use is very pure and there are
many dermatologists out there now who believe it is healthy and age-preventing for the skin. It
lasts for about 4 months and is not expensive. It helps keep the frowning, drooping, and lines at
a minimum.

“Several studies are showing that relaxing frown and worry lines with Botox can lower anxiety
and depression. One study is linked below (here) but we’ll share more of the pros and cons and
research in our book.
“We also do some other procedures such as red-light therapy and cosmetic microneedling on
our faces. One of the other main things that have helped our faces tone up is facial fitness
exercises. We’ll be posting videos of those in the future. The other important thing we have
done for our faces is use an Estriol/DHEA cream. We’ll have a lot more specifics in our
upcoming book Trim Healthy Wisdom.” (from the THM podcast transcript here)

You can watch the podcast in video form here.


Their book has come out since they made that podcast. You can buy it here. In the book the sisters have a whole chapter of resources for skin care, including a list of Facebook groups and YouTubers that teach how to use Korean Botox.

I’m OK with a few wrinkles I guess, but like the THM sisters, I don’t want my resting face to look angry with deep 11s. So I was getting somewhat interested in using their resources, until I heard the podcast with Mindy above. At the very end of it, Mindy says that the longer you use Botox the more you are creating a time bomb that will explode with health problems as the toxin accumulates. I also wonder who funded the study the THM sisters reference, the Botox manufacturer? I have to say, I am suspicious. I probably won’t ever do Botox, even the THM way.

Instead, I’ll stick with using my castor oil, as shown by the 50+ woman above and below. She says she is a holistic aesthetician. If any of you find out she’s a closet Botoxer please let me know. I’m not sure about how crunchy natural holistic that Vaseline is, which is one of the products she mentions above. I did have a neighbor when I was a young mom who swore by daily Vaseline use. She was in her 50s and had wonderful skin. It’s certainly cheap.

I do love what Mindy says at the very end of the interview that beauty from within is more important than beauty on the outside.

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Photo Journal Recap of My Independence Day Family Weekend and Some Patriotic Videos

Posted on July 7, 2025 by treeoflifemama

I had a glorious Independence Day extended family weekend! I celebrated Independence Day all week actually. Here’s what I did plus some patriotic videos.

I had to miss the annual Patriotic Devotional that’s held in BYU’s Marriott Center every year, because of my commitment to serve a shift a my local FamilySearch center. This was two Sundays ago, on June 29th, 2025. I was so bummed because Dr. Hank Smith was the main speaker. Two of my sons went to it though and shared what he said.

Here’s a video of one from a previous year, below. Anyway, for this year, my youngest son said he saw Charles Mully sitting there on the front row in his cowboy hat. He came to Provo UT to receive a Freedom Award from America’s Freedom Festival in Provo. I blogged about Mr. Mully in the posts listed over here. His story is so incredible and inspiring! What a true hero with such a generous father heart! I’d love to meet him and his wife some day.

I love what Tad Callister has to say below about the role of religion in maintaining a free people. (More from Brother Tad here.)

On Tuesday I decorated my front room. I discovered how I can decorate with my American patriotic picture and chapter books, and not have them in the way. See over here! So fun!

Wednesday night I babysat my grandsons and read aloud to them this book below. My daughter is taking a childbirth class with her husband in preparation for the birth of Grandbaby #4. So I get to babysit every Wednesday night. (It almost seems like yesterday when my mom babysat my oldest for DH and me when we attended our Bradley childbirth class when I was pregnant with the same daughter. Almost.)

They are 4 and 6 years old so I condensed some of the words. After it was over, the oldest one said, “That was a fun book!” That just warmed my homeschooling mom/book-loving heart. I showed them pictures on my phone of Mt. Vernon, Washington’s home (mentioned in the book), from my “National Treasure” tour 6 years ago.

On Thursday I met up with my sister, Emily, and her family, visiting from Maine, at BYU. We got to tour BYU with each of our sons. This is probably our third tour of BYU together. Maybe our boys will end up being roommates at BYU in just over two years. Our first tour together was 8 years ago, over here.

Then I went to the parade for the Freedom Festival on Friday Independence Day. I helped pass out flyers educating about the dangers of having an Article V Constitutional Convention. At the parade, I saw some young men decked out in patriotic garb. I loved seeing the cape with the Ten Commandments.

As this screenshot from the video above shows, happiness, according to secular philosophers and religious authorities, comes from virtue. Following any of the major religions involves cultivating virtue. For Christians, that means following the Ten Commandments.

Here’s the video with a guy from Hillsdale College explaining the Declaration of Independence.

More shots of the parade below.

I just love it when people dress up in red, white, and blues, as shown above and below.

After the parade, my youngest and I headed up halfway up a mountain to my parents’ cabin, to have a mini-reunion and dinner with extended family, including the sister visiting from Maine. The blue skies were gorgeous! For various reasons, my husband, daughter and college son didn’t come.

It was fun to see my grandsons playing with their second cousins, grandchildren of one of my brothers. It thrilled my board-game loving heart to see them playing Kingdomino, above. Then it thrilled my crunchy mom heart to see them playing outside in the dirt with rocks and leaves. Who needs the shiny plastic toys inside, after tiring of board games?

The whole group of us with so many great-grandchildren (12 out of the 13), including two tiny babies, was loud! It’s been a while since so many of us have been there at once. My brother took a family photo of the whole group with his drone, above.

We had a grand time visiting and eating. It’s so wonderful to have times when we can hang out together. The sunset that night was so beautiful, as seen from the front balcony of the cabin.

Emily and I played the Jane Game that night. She won! I am a bit rusty on my knowledge of the Jane books. I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s elegant and fun.

Photo Credit:boardgamegeek.com

Some of us went home that night, then others of us spent the night at the cabin and went home the next day after packing and cleaning. I stopped off at a thrift store on the way home (of course, after all, it was on the way, and I’m looking for jeans for my husband) and found the following goodies, but alas, no jeans. I had just been telling my sister and married daughter at the cabin that I was on the lookout for Anne of the Island, which is #3 in the Anne of Green Gables series. My sister said maybe she had it. My daughter said she remembers it missing when she was a teen, reading through my set. Guess what? I found it! The same edition, with the swooping 1980s font of the title!

I also found another beautiful Christmas picture book, telling the story of luminarias used for Christmas. I was thrilled to find those, plus Bowling Alone and Religions of the World by Spencer Palmer and Roger Keller, two BYU professors. They wonderfully explain different religions of the world. You can read it here. Bowling Alone I wished I had had last winter when my college-attending daughter had a research project. That book would have totally helped. I wanted to borrow it from the library but all the copies were out. Now I have it!

Photo Credit: boardgamegeek.com

After coming home and unpacking, we met up with Emily again and my mom at my parents’ home, to play Gardening Scrabble. I had wanted to play it at the cabin but we ran out of time. My sister became enamored with it as much as I am. (I talked about it here in my post about my favorite thrifted items. Yes I found this game thrifting! Who would give it away?! Blessed me!) The photo below shows how far we got before my BYU-attending son showed up with two of his cousins to visit with us, plus the husband of one of the cousins. We sat outside on the lawn with Grandpa and Grandma to catch up on the lives of these young adults. Then sister Emily brought out sparklers when it got dark. We never did finish the game. Emily agreed we’d play it again the next night after our last extended family dinner together.

The next day my nephew and his wife had their baby blessed at their church. While preparing for the celebration dinner, my oldest who has just moved to Ireland, and his wife, called me to touch base. It was great to hear from him and his wife and find out what it’s like living there. I hope to visit them in the next few years! Then we had another big family dinner at my brother’s place since nephew’s home is small. It almost felt like the old days, when most of us all lived in Utah, and would gather at brother’s home when all the grandchildren were still in the respective nests. It’s so amazing that a new generation, of great-grandchildren, comprises the “little kids” running around, as the grandchildren are now having babies. We topped the evening off with Emily and I playing a new game of GS. This time we also had playing my married daughter and her cousin, another cousin and his wife, both sets as teams, against Emily and me, who weren’t on a team. This game is so fun! With the special seed packet powers, the game is a lot more fun than regular Scrabble. One team scored 84 points in one turn with using only one tile! All because of a special power from a seed packet card. So fun! Then it was time to go home. Sleep felt so good after such a jam-packed family, holiday weekend.

God bless America! Here’s another great patriotic story!

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Decorating for Independence Day Inexpensively

Posted on July 2, 2025 by treeoflifemama

I finally got my Independence Day decorations up! All of these decorations that you see in these photos were either bought from thrift stores, inexpensively from a big box store, or DIYed. So I found them all easily on a budget.

Here all my tips for decorating inexpensively.

  1. Go to Hobby Lobby. It usually has decorations for the the next holiday coming up for 40-60% off. I got the flag buntings shown below from there. The photo shows two hanging together, not extended out all the way. Last year I had them extended to each form a half circle and put them outside, under my two front windows, attached to window planter boxes. This year I just wasn’t willing to do all that work so thus I compromised by putting them up inside since that took a lot less work. I didn’t have to stand behind bushes and get prickled to get them attached.

2. Decorate with books! I’m blessed to have ledges above my windows and doors that have grooves. I think they were originally designed for displaying decorative plates. I’m not sure, but I have a vague memory of hearing about that somewhere sometime. I attempted to put a Pioneer Woman platter on one of the ledges but it wouldn’t fit. But I just discovered last night that my books do! Hooray!

When you go thrifting all year round, keep your eyes open for holiday-themed picture books and chapter books. Half of the books in these photos I have found at thrift stores. The others I got from the public library’s used books sales, or I bought full price (gasp– yes I do pay full price sometimes, for homeschooling). I’m excited to switch my books out for every season and holiday. I used to attempt to fit them all on the top of the small bookcase below but now I can spread them around the room above the windows and doorways even!

3. Get banners from Jennifer Flanders of flandersfamily.info here. You can print them at home using cardstock and then tape each piece onto a long piece of string or yarn. I just love the colors and prints she uses with the pennant squares. They just look so crisp and festive! You could also print them at a public library that has computers and printers for public use and Internet access.

4. Make red, and white blue garlands with my post here.

5. Walmart, Target, and Dollar Tree sometimes have decorations that are inexpensive, yet look nice, not cheap and junky. The firework centerpieces above were from Dollar Tree years ago.

6. Use string lights. You can find these at amazon or Hobby Lobby. I love the ones in the shapes of stars.

7. Use paint safe tape or command hooks to hang stuff. I use paint safe Scotch tape from amazon and green frog tape, which is also paint safe. I use the green tape behind stuff so you can’t see it. The Scotch tape is transparent so it’s OK if it’s showing.

8. Watch the video from Teresa Elling below for more tips! You don’t have to have a porch to use her ideas. It shows an easy way to sew a pennant banner. “Sew” pretty!

Happy Independence Day! Go here for more patriotic resources.

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Homeopathy Treasures from Thrifting in 2025

Posted on July 2, 2025 by treeoflifemama

I’ve been so blessed in the past 6 months to find some books to add to my library for being a Momeopath (trademark of Paola Brown) . These are books about my favorite healing modality, homeopathy.

A few years ago, after I did an intro to homeopathy class with some girlfriends, I started reading a ton about homeopathy. I found the above book at my local public library. I enjoyed reading it but felt like I had just scratched the surface. It had so much for me to learn. I reluctantly returned it.

Imagine my surprise and thrill when I found a copy of it last week! At the Springville UT DI! For only $1.50. It had been mistakenly shelved in the children’s section. Probably because it looks like other Dorling Kindersley (DK) books. (So there’s a tip for you when thrifting for books, always check the children’s section. I have found some gems actually written for adults there, including more than one Susan Branch cookbook.)

This book is so gorgeous! In true DK fashion, it has full color photos and clear text. The photos and text feature the plants, minerals, and animals that homeopathy medicine comes from. The book explains homeopathy in simple terms, plus has recommendations for basic ailments, and questionnaires to help one find one’s constitutional homeopathic medicine.

It’s such a great follow-up to finding the Organon of Medicine by the founder of homeopathy himself, Samuel Hahnemann. Only $2.49 at the Orem UT Savers! I found that book last January. It’s dense thinking. I read a little bit every so often and then chew on the thoughts. You can read it for free online but I prefer having a hard copy so I’m so grateful I found this. Yay!!! Three cheers for thrifting and homeopathy! Sextuple cheers when two of my passions collide!

If you want to know more about homeopathy, you can go here and read more, including my healing stories using it. I’ve been so blessed by it. It’s amazing!

Then watch the video below to learn from a homeopathy guru, author and mom of 11, Sue Meyer, for an introduction on homeopathy.

Sue has a podcast here and a website here.

Also, go here and get a free ebook on homeopathy for acute care, from a professional homeopath, Priscilla Medders.

Homeopathy is the best, cheapest, and most effective healing modality. It is the medicine of a crunchy mother’s dreams. Nontoxic, cheap, and so effective!

If you want even more about homeopathy, check out Paola Brown’s website here. She has a storybook about homeopathy, which you can use with her homeschooling curriculum and her moms’ book club.

If you want more about thrifting, go here!

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Tree of Life Mama’s Picture Book of the Week: Those Rebels John and Tom by Barbara Kerley illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

Posted on July 1, 2025 by treeoflifemama
Image Credit: goodreads.com

This is one of my favorite picture books to read aloud every year when Independence Day approaches. I love to celebrate every major holiday with picture book read-alouds! I’ve read this book to my youngest the past few years after discovering it. Now I plan on reading it aloud to my grandsons this week, and more grandchildren in future years.

The subjects of the book, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, were the original frenemies, before that even became a word. They demonstrated the two truths that opposites attract yet often repel as well.

We see their opposite natures of these two Founding Fathers of the USA from the first double-page spread of the book: Tom was born into wealth. He started out life sleeping in a cradle of a sumptuously furnished home. He stayed in his cradle, blissfully sleeping. John was born into a hard-working, not wealthy family. Not poor, but not wealthy. His bed was a bureau drawer in a home not sumptuously furnished. The illustrator of the book, Edwin Fotheringham, shows baby Johnny not staying in his bed, but having climbed out and crawling away to explore. We see the introverted, withdrawn nature of Tommy and the extroverted, exploratory nature of Johnny from the very beginning.

Then as they grew, as seen in the pages of the book, the introverted and extroverted natures of these future American heroes became even more pronounced: John skipped school to fly kites, play with marbles, and have boxing matches. Tom never skipped school, instead he skipped recess, to study Greek grammar. Amazing! When they went off to college, John loved to talk and argue, so he joined the debate club. Tom avoided public speaking whenever possible and expressed himself in writing, as he hated arguments.

They both became lawyers, but they lived different legal lives. John lived on a farm and worked in mud. Tom lived on an estate and planned a new estate, his beloved Monticello. John was fat and obnoxious, Tom was tall, lean, and polite.

Did they have anything in common besides being attorneys? Yes! They both believed George III was a tyrant. They hated the taxes he put on the colonists. They both went to Philadelphia to talk with other delegates about what to do about the unfair King. The discussion ended with the two volunteering each other to write an explanation of the king’s abuses, explaining why the colonists were declaring independence. Because John was better at arguing, he persuaded Tom to write it, with very good reasoning, and Tom relented.

So Tom wrote it and the two lawyers joined other men in signing it.

That’s the basic story in this book. Even if you or your children have heard it before, it’s worth reviewing the story again with this wonderful picture book. I love that the illustrations are realistic, not too cartoony, and done in vibrant patriotic colors of red, white, and blue with the occasional gold. The story doesn’t get into the frenemy aspect of John and Tom’s relationship. You will get that when you read the Author’s Note at the end. (Always read the Author’s Note, as you will always learn more to enhance the regular story in the picture book.)

I just love this book! I love that it succinctly tells the story of the Declaration of Independence through telling the story of two of the most famous Founding Fathers. I love the illustrations and how they show so well the opposite natures of Tom and John. This week of Independence Day, I hope you find this book at your local public library and enjoy it.

Hint: the author and illustrator have teamed up to create some other great books about real people. Check out these other ones!

Double hint: If you want more patriotic picture book suggestions, go here. I’ve got chapter book suggestions for older children and adults here. Then here’s my other website with more suggestions of both kinds of patriotic books under the July sub-heading.

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Tree of Life Mama’s Family Movie of the Month: The Parent Trap

Posted on June 30, 2025 by treeoflifemama

For months I’ve wished I could blog about at least one family movie a week and one date night movie a week. Alas, I have never achieved that goal. It’s not sustainable for me with all my other stuff going on. Maybe I can keep up the pace of one movie of each type once a month.

Image Credit: Keeping Walt in Disney YouTube Channel

For June’s family movie of the month, before June is over, I’m sharing about The Parent Trap. DH and I got to see it recently on the big screen, in full color. That was the first time I’ve seen it in full color. It was at BYU. Once a month, the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU hosts a classic movie in the Reynolds Auditorium. For June it was The Parent Trap. I’ve always ever seen it only on TV and in black and white. Wow, it was such a treat to see it in color! Maureen O’Hara’s flaming red hair and the lavender and green floral dress she puts on for dinner with her ex-husband are just a gorgeous combination! See her in it at the 1:50 mark below.

I first saw TPT when I was 11 or 12 with my sisters and cousin and loved it. The whole summer camp vibe and the twins theme completely fascinated me. I’ve seen it many times since then and still love it. The remake with Lindsay Lohan, which we saw at a drive-in with our three young children, for our family birthday/wedding anniversary, in 1998, is fun but just not as good. I’m just partial to Hayley Mills’ acting. I even have a niece who looks just like her. My sisters and I also loved her in Pollyanna and Summer Magic.

Did you know? It was 64 yeas ago this month, on June 21, 1961, that it came out. That movie is responsible, I suppose, for the name “Hayley” and all its variations being in the top 20 names for baby girls ever since.

I always thought of TPT as just a fun, cute movie about sisters who get their dream when their divorced parents (spoiler alert) get married again to each other. I didn’t every really think of it as having deep meaning, but apparently it does, at least to some. One of my new favorite bloggers and podcasters, Leila Lawler, explained in one of her recent podcasts with her husband Phil that it shows something deeper. She says that it shows the yearning every child has to be part of a whole family. I’m sorry I can’t remember which episode.

I know divorce sometimes is really the best option. I’ve lived enough life to know that not every marriage should last forever, on earth or in heaven. But for marriages that break up for reasons that can be fixed, I want The Parent Trap, and Jesus, to give hope for those situations. As Susan and Sharon (Hayley Mills) say and sing, “You give a little and I’ll give a little and let’s get together!”

So if you haven’t seen the movie in a while, or at all, go watch it with your family, for purchase or rent here in YouTube. It’s in full color!

Here are some fun videos about TPT to enhance your enjoyment.

Image Credit: Keeping Walt in Disney YouTube Channel

This video below shows the body double of Hayley Mills, Susan Henning, as well as how the movie was filmed to turn Hayley into twins. Even though Susan never got billing for the movie, she ended up getting a Duckster award from Uncle Walt (one of only three). She also starred with and dated Hayley’s crush Elvis in real life, so as Hayley says in one of the other videos below, “She got one up on me!”

I was enthralled by the dad’s home in TPT, at Carmel-by-the-Sea. It seemed so magical! Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so. Here’s a tour of the home below. Part 1 is the downstairs, Part 2 is the upstairs.

The movie wouldn’t be the movie without the music! Here’s the story of the Sherman brothers writing the music. Did you ever catch that “Let’s Get Together” is played at the camp dance?

Want more movie suggestions? Here you go!

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Spotlight on a Father for June 2025, Before June is Over

Posted on June 29, 2025 by treeoflifemama
Image Credit: freedomfestival.org

I highlighted some mothers last month, in May, in honor of Mother’s Day. Two weeks ago I shared a little story about my father on Father’s Day. Before June is over, in two days, I want to highlight another father.

Credit for Images Above and Below: amazon.com

His name is Charles Mully/Mulli, or Mully for short. Sadly, he was abandoned/orphaned at age 6 in Africa. So then he spent his youth begging from door to door. Miraculously, he survived this rough childhood. At age 16, he went to a meeting and learned about Christ and committed his life to Him. Eventually he became employed as a driver. With that background, along with hard work and an entrepreneurial spirt, he came to own a transportation business, becoming a multimillionaire.

Along the way, he married and became a father of 8 children. After having 8 children he and his wife decided to dedicate their family life to caring for orphans. He sold his business so they could focus on rescuing the street children from the slums of Kenya. He and his wife, Esther, opened up their home to more and more orphans, eventually establishing places to house and educate all these children, in multiple cities in Africa. He has helped over 26,000 children! So astounding!

You can watch his story in movie form here or below. It’s amazing!

He has truly lived the scripture from the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Jacob 2:17-19:

“Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.”

After he obtained riches, he used them to clothe, feed, liberate, and minister to the street children of Kenya. I applaud and admire him and and his wife for their selfless work. No wonder the Freedom Festival Foundation of Provo UT is awarding him with the Freedom Award at the Freedom Awards Gala this Wednesday. Tonight was the Patriotic Service for the Freedom Festival. I had to miss it because of a prior commitment, but two of my sons went to it to hear Dr. Hank Smith speak. They had a Mully sighting! He was sitting on the front row in his signature cowboy hat. I feel I have had a virtual brush with greatness! I’ve seen the documentary/movie and want to read all these books about him and his family now. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Mully for your selfless heroic work. What Christlike people, reflecting Christ’s light and love in such a dark troubled world! I hope we can all be more like Daddy Mully and Mommy Esther in our own ways.

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Fun Summer Read-Alouds for Your Family

Posted on June 26, 2025 by treeoflifemama
Photo Credit: singlemomonafarm.com

Want some cheap summer fun for you and your children? Of course it’s fun to go to amusement parks, a water park, the swimming pool, the beach, hiking, or the lake, but that’s not always feasible and certainly not something most of us can do every day. Especially if you have a lot of littles.

The best, most sustainable summer activity, in my veteran homeschooling SAHM opinion, is to read aloud books to your children. Now that it’s warm weather you can easily do it outdoors, unless you’re in Phoenix, or Yuma, LOL. Here are some great suggestions for summer read aloud books. I’m showing some of the books mentioned in that list, also in the video below, and adding to it some of my own ideas.

Marcie, the mom behind the list, and shown in the video down below, says the following:

“Are your kids bored? Here’s my trick! I stop what I’m doing and read to them for 30 minutes. Then, inspired, they go off and pretend to be kids in the book we just read. They may make a wax face and pretend to be a waxworks boy like Rufus Moffat or have a cat that can type like Pinky Pye. There is no end to their adventures when we read books together!”

I will add, that advice works if your children aren’t addicted to screens. If they are, reading aloud for long stretches of time might not work. If you’ve never read aloud to your children before, you might have to build up your children’s attention spans to listening to read-alouds. Especially if they are used to flashy fast-paced and easy screen entertainment. Try five minutes at a time of reading aloud, involving food, something simple like popcorn, to make reading aloud more delightful. Gradually add more time. Use quiet activities mentioned below if needed. End your session on a cliff-hanger so they eagerly await the next session.

Credit for Images of Quiet Activities Above and Below: readaloudrevival.com

It’s great if the kiddos just sit and listen, but rather unrealistic to expect that if they aren’t used to it. It’s OK if they are doing something quiet with their hands, like drawing, paint by sticker books, jigsaw puzzles, play doh, thinking putty, fidget toys, or things like that. So I’m showing images from readloudaloudrevival.com of quiet activities to accompany read-aloud time. Make those things special and only let them play with them during read-aloud time. See more about that here with lots of quiet activity suggestions. Some people are OK with Legos. Some aren’t. They can be rather noisy if the Legos are all bunched together, causing the kiddos to have to sort through them, making a rustly noise.

I absolutely love Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright. I blogged a lot about it over here. It combines two of my favorite themes: summer and cousins.

Check out all of Marcie’s list of summer read alouds here, and be sure to watch her video above.

You can get Marcie’s study guides for some of the books on her list here. Each guide has questions and enrichment activities.

If you want help with limiting screen time for your children, learn about that here.

It’s also OK if you don’t do all the reading aloud with you as the narrator! Mama’s voice gets breaks for sure! Use audiobooks! Lots of books are available for free in LibriVox and YouTube, and for a small monthly fee (<$20) in Audible and Everand.

Audiobooks are super great for car trips. We listened to a bunch on a road trip to Nauvoo IL in 2015.

You can also just bypass the recordings in the car and use your own voice, of course. It can just be hard on your voice if you have a bunch of kids spread out in a big car, like a 15-passenger van. So audioboooks to the rescue with the speakers turned on in the back of the car too.

Some of the Betsy-Tacy books are on audio over here. Learn all about the author and her books over here.

All the Little House Books are in everand.com. Learn more about everand here.

It’s also totally OK to read aloud while your children are doing household chores. For years we had a ritual of me reading aloud while my children did the dishes and folded clean laundry. Those days are gone but still a happy memory.

Happy reading aloud! May it create many magical summer memories for your family.

We listened to Johnny Tremain on our trip to Nauvoo. Such a classic!

Here’s a super fun podcast episode with Emily from the Really Very Crunchy Mom book and Jennifer Pepito on reading aloud with your family.

If you need convincing on why reading aloud is so wonderful and how to do it, check out the books above and below.

Lastly here’s my other website where you can get many more book title suggestions for summertime, including picture books, which I didn’t show here.

I hope all this inspires you to make reading aloud a habit, not just for the summer, but all year round!

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What I Want Everyone to Know Courtesy of Lili De Hoyos Anderson, Parts 2 and 3

Posted on June 23, 2025 by treeoflifemama

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Happy Birthday to the Anne of Green Gables Book!

Posted on June 18, 2025 by treeoflifemama
Photo Credit: amazon.com

It was almost 150 years ago this month, 117 to be exact, in June 1908, that Lucy Maud Montgomery’s book Anne of Green Gables was published. Let’s have a birthday party for the Anne book! Anne’s birthday is in March, and Lucy Maud’s is November 30, but the book’s birthday is in June, so let’s celebrate!

I read the whole series of 8 Anne books in my teen years, plus almost all of the other books that Lucy Maud wrote, such as Emily of New Moon (3 books), Chronicles of Avonlea (1 and 2), Kilmeny of the  Orchard, Jane of Lantern Hill, The Story Girl, and Magic for Marigold. I also enjoyed watching some of the episodes of “The Road to Avonlea,” based on The Story Girl, on the old Disney channel. So yes, I’m a huge fan of Lucy Maud and all her works.

Image Credit: anneofgreengables.com

(Nothing like those ’80s book covers with the titles in the swoopy font to bring back memories of my jr. high and high school years! I used my babysitting money to buy these from the BYU Bookstore.)

L.M. was offered a flat rate of $500 to get her AOGG book published, with no royalties. She decided she couldn’t sell Anne for that price. She negotiated with the publisher, agreeing to the terms of a lower fee upfront, with L.M. getting 9 cents per copy sold. For generations, millions of fans around the world are so grateful that she finally found a publisher for the book.

I count myself as one of those fans. Anne of Green Gables is my absolute favorite book outside of scripture. The reason I love it so much is because it shows the life of a young woman growing from an orphan seeking love, endearing herself to her newfound family, developing her talents, overcoming her character flaws, and pursuing scholar phase. I resonated with her scholar phase, loving the fact that it showed a teen girl winning a college scholarship. Few novels show a girl doing that! In the series, Anne goes on to get married, have children, and a full, loving family life. She also becomes a community influencer as she mingles with so many different neighbors, encountering stories of joy and sorrow. Her story is just such a great tale of lovely feminine ordinary life. I have just found so much joy in reading these books and relating to them.

With that introduction, now here are some ideas to help you celebrate the birthday of the book!

Get the above book from your public library or order online and dive in! It has recipes, Anne’s family tree, crafts, maps, and descriptions of all things Anne!

Have a party to celebrate!

Set the right mood for the party by playing the soundtrack from the 1980s miniseries video here.

Make some food from the recipes in the book above or below. The cookbook below is by Maud’s granddaughter, Kate.

If you don’t want to find a book to get recipes, this website here has recipes for some food, whether you have Anne’s Golden picnic, or just a party, these foods listed below all look fun! They are all mentioned in the AOGG book. They are written by two Anne fan librarians who did research to make the recipes as authentic as possible.

–Anne’s “unpoetical” sandwiches

Photo Credit: 36eggs.com

–Anne’s Buttercup Cake (see the authors’ note at the bottom of the second recipe, the modern one, where they realize they used too much flour, so that’s why it tasted too dry and dense!)

–lady fingers

-Marilla’s Matchless Plum Puffs are here (those are actually mentioned in Anne of Avonlea, as well as the Golden Picnic)

Image Credit: 36eggs.com

So that’s the food you can have at the party. What about activities?

-Run a 3 legged race, just like Anne and her bestie Diana did in the book at the Sunday School picnic

-Play “Guess Who Said What?” Grab your copy of the book, take turns reading aloud quotes from the book, and guess which character said it.

-Take the “Which Anne of Green Gables Character Are You?” quiz, online, or print one out.

-have a book exchange, since Anne loved books and became an English teacher. Ask everyone to bring a used book, especially one that is classic fiction, and then swap books. Ben Hur anyone? That’s the book she’s caught reading at school instead of doing math.

-host an Anne of Green Gables movie marathon! Watch Kevin Sullivan’s rendition of Anne of Green Gables here with or without the sequel, Anne of Avonlea. That’s the only Anne movie/video series worth watching, IMHO. It’s a made -for-TV- miniseries from 1985. My sisters and I watched it over and over. None of the other versions come even close! It’s just so beautiful and classy with the best cast. Megan Follows = the perfect Anne, plus Jonathan Crombie = the perfect Gilbert. I also wouldn’t bother with the latter two movies on that site, as they don’t follow the storyline of the original books. I will dispense with my rant on that and move on…

Here are more fun things to do regardless of whether or not you have a party:

Watch this behind-the-scenes video of the Kevin Sullivan production below.

Watch the biography of Lucy Maud below. (Trigger warning for any time you dive into any of her biographies: tragically, Maud died by suicide. Her granddaughter revealed this family secret in 2008. Just a heads up for watching any of her biographies with young people or anyone affected by suicide.)

Take a video tour of the real Green Gables. Yes, Anne’s story is fiction, but GG was based on a real home! This was the home of Maud’s cousins, the Macneills. You can also see the site where L.M. wrote the book. That home is gone but the land remains. The video also shows the post office where L.M. worked, and from where she mailed her manuscript one last time and finally struck gold with getting it published.

A new book just came out all about Green Gables, including the diary of Maud’s cousin, Myrtle Macneill Webb, detailing life in the home as it became a tourist attraction.

Image Credit: amazon.com

Listen to Megan Follows read aloud some of the book below. She shaped my teenagehood so much with her magnificent portrayal of Anne. I think every ’80s girl probably feels the same way.

Play with some Anne of Green Gables paper dolls here, here on etsy or here in amazon. When/if I get granddaughters, we’ll be playing with these!

Above and Below Image Credit: forthejoyofbooks.com

Read all the books in the series, for the first time, or all over again! You can read them all here or listen to at least the first three volumes here. This page over here is a great guide as to how to read the books, with summaries of each one.

Check out the wiki fandom website here.

Listen to the Maudcast, a podcast about L.M. Montgomery, over here.

Listen to the Kindred Spirits Podcast here.

Image Credit: kindredspiritsbookclub.com

Discover the world before Anne came to Green Gables, with fan fiction. What was Marilla like as a little girl? What wounds did she carry from childhood which made her so austere as Anne’s foster mother? How did Marilla meet Gilbert Blythe’s father? What were Anne’s parents like? Where did Katie Maurice come from? How did Anne know how to get Minnie May through the dark night of whooping cough? How did Anne get such an active imagination? Get all the answers from these books!

Image Credit Above and Below: amazon.com

I thought I had read everything there is relating to Anne. Then I discovered Before Green Gables. I got it on CD from my local public library. If you can find it, snatch it up! The narrator, Rene Raudman, does a beautiful job bringing Anne to life. I love all the voices she has for the different characters of the story.

It is the story of Anne Shirley before she comes to live with Marilla and Matthew on Prince Edward Island. It is written by a Canadian author, Budge Wilson, who was authorized by the heirs of L.M. Montgomery to write the book. It is just as delightful as L.M.’s books! If you love the Anne books, you will probably love this one too. The book starts before Anne’s birth and goes right up to the day when Matthew picks her up at the Bright River station, which is where AOGG starts.

After I read BGG I found Marilla of Green Gables. I started it and haven’t finished it. On my TBR list for this summer!

Happy reading and celebrating! I hope you have fun with these resources and strengthen your kindred spirit relationships with those who love Anne.

“We can miss so much out of life if we don’t love, the more we love, the richer life is.” as Anne Shirley Blythe says, in Anne’s House of Dreams, #4 in the series.

Image Credit: Muddy York Walking Tours YouTube Channel
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