This is such a cute video! Watch below to glean nuggets of truth on how to stay married for 63 years. This is Erin Bates Paine interviewing Grace Hardy, the wife of a man affectionately known as Preacher Hardy. They got married when she was 18, he was 17, and they are still married, after 63 years! (My parents aren’t far behind, it’s 61 for them.)
Here are some nuggets of truth I learned from Mrs. Hardy:
-a man sees himself through the lens of how his wife sees him
-a husband wants respect
-go to church together and serve together in the church
-study marriage and learn principles about successful marriages from books about marriage. She has read a book every year of her marriage.
Want more advice on marriage? Get mine here and some from my girlfriend Joyce over here.
Deduction games are some of my favorites! I’m sooo excited that the Dice Tower, my favorite YouTube channel about board games, came out with this fun video (scroll down to see it). The video features three of the DT peeps, Chris, Tom, and Zee, sharing their Top Ten deduction games. If you love this genre take a look and get some new ideas.
This one’s an oldie but goodie. If you ever see it a thrift store, snatch it up, but only if you love word games. It’s word trivia/knowledge/spelling/anagram decoding combined with word guessing. We played it two weeks ago when my sister Emily was in town to bring her daughter to start college. Probably too boring for the Dice Tower gang though! I got it after Emily raved it about, having received it as a birthday gift from her husband. It’s out of print but you can find it used. I found it while thrifting for only $2!
So far my favorite deduction games are Things, Codenames, Secret Hitler, Chameleon, Hugger Mugger, Truth Be Told, Werewords, Moods, When I Dream, Half Truth, Wits and Wagers, and Crack the Code (which I just scored for $4 at a thrift store!). So fairly simple ones. Mostly social deduction. Notice Clue is not among the list! I got that game for Christmas when I was 11. While I loved it for years, and saved it to play with my children, which I did and still do, so many better games have eclipsed it. I’ll still play it if someone asks me to, but if it’s my choice I’ll pick something else.
We played Codenames and Secret Hitler last weekend for a game night with my teen son’s friends. So much fun! That’s the best round of Codenames I’ve played in a long time. One of the girls wanted our team to guess three cards featuring these words: “Robin Hood,” “knight,” and “arrow.” So the clue she gave was “fighter-3.” That meant we had to pick three cards that were associated with the word “fighter.” It took a lot of talking back and forth with my teammates for me to persuade them to guess the three aforementioned cards. All the while the squirming clue giver hid her face so as to not give away anything with her body language. She is a cute ginger with a lot of spunk who took her job as clue give seriously.
This game has been a perennial favorite among my children. For years, they played it for hours over the Christmas break every time the big kids came home from college. It involves a lot of bluffing and acting. I failed miserably at the game last weekend, being on the losing team both rounds, but still enjoyed myself immensely. I was delighted to see my one of our neighbor friends come alive when he played this. He did a great job convincing me that he wasn’t on Hitler’s side when he really was.
It was a moment of triumph when she revealed we guessed correctly. I love these moments of mind meld! For this game night we had a group of five homeschooling friends over, and then heard a knock on the door. It was two of my son’s neighborhood friends. We invited them in and they mixed right in! The more the merrier! That’s how I feel about games too! I’m excited to try out all these other deduction games I heard about in the video.
This one made Tom’s #1 on the list.
Without further ado, here is the video. Below that I have each of the guy’s Top Ten lists. (All images below are from the Dice Tower YouTube Channel.)
Want to learn how to use games in your homeschooling for gameschooling? Go here. Happy times to you, especially as the holiday season approaches. Cozy up as the weather gets cold, play some games, stimulate your brain, interact with family and friends, and make memories!
Book Cover Images Above and Below Credit: goodreads.com
In honor of my recent summer trip to Maine, where I toured the public library children’s wing named after Barbara Cooney, in Damariscotta, I’m sharing this picture book. Because Barbara by Sarah Mackenzie is about Barbara Cooney, a real person. She first gained fame with her illustrations of the book below, for which she earned a Caldecott Medal.
Then she got another Caldecott Medal for this book:
I just love this book so much! I read it aloud in our homeschool morning time every fall. It’s just the perfect harvest time picture book.
She solidified her fame with her book Miss Rumphius, about a real woman, Hilda Hamlin, who planted lupine seeds wherever she went. It’s also loosely based on Barbara’s life of world traveling.
I love Because Barbara because it tells the story of a woman who raised a family as a wonderful mother, and along the way modeled a passion for learning and creating beauty. She made beautiful illustrations for picture books, and wrote beautiful words for some of the books she illustrated. The book shows that a woman can be a wonderful mother and have a career compatible with mothering, not external to mothering but woven in and out of her mothering. Barbara would have been a great example of the Thomas Jefferson Education (TJED) key of great learning and teaching which says “You, not them.” (Some people have added onto this by saying “You, with them.” She seems to have done both, as far as I can tell.) The book shows her living family life with her artist easel in the center of the family home, amidst the commotion of life with four young children. She didn’t homeschool, as far as I know, but she exuded a love of learning.
The illustrations, by Eileen Ryan Ewen, are so wholesome and fresh, done with water color and colored pencil. They are dreamy! I love them so much! (I also find it fascinating that the author, Sarah Mackenize, is also doing the same thing, creating beauty like Barbara did, with her family and alongside her family, by doing her podcast and writing books with the imprint Waxwing Books.)
Here I am walking into the Barbara Cooney Children’s Wing with my grandson, nieces and nephew. Photo by my sister Emily Reynolds
The author, Sarah Mackenzie, deftly weaves the phrase, “Because Barbara did whatever she put her mind to, she…” throughout the the whole book. She does this to show how determined this woman was. Because she was determined, her talent bloomed.
I took this photo above of young Barbara, located in a display case at the Skidompha Library.
Her talents allowed her to become the following things: a first lieutenant in the army (the book never mentions that, I learned it form wikipedia, and I find it fascinating that this tiny elfin woman was in the army, the WAC!), a doctor’s wife, a mother, an artist, a children’s picture book author and illustrator, a world traveler, a “greedy reader,” “an avid gardener,” a “merrymaker,” and a “picnicker of the first water.” (The back matter of the book gives those words for some of those roles, with some tidbits about each.) She was also a promoter of children’s literacy and a generous giver. She gave $850,000 to the Skidumpha Library in Damariscotta, Maine to renovate the library. On top of that, she organized an auction for children’s picture book illustrators to raise more money for the library.
Photo by me, of a photo of Barbara, hanging on the wall in the Skidompha Public LIbrary
This is definitely a keeper of a book! It’s one to get for your Morning Basket if you homeschool, and even if you don’t, get it anyway, read it aloud again and again to yourself and your loved ones. It’s so inspirational! Barbara indeed followed the mantra of her grandfather, “You must do something to make the world more beautiful.”
This quilt depicting Barbara is hanging on the wall at the Skidompha Library, photo taken by me.
Those words show up in her Miss Rumphius picture book. She exemplified the words by creating all of these beautiful books. The phrase is now forever inscribed in stone in the sidewalk of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Maine. (I learned that fun fact from my sister Emily’s blog over here. Barbara lived in Maine like Emily does now.) When we are each determined like Barbara was, we can create beauty in the world like Barbara did. In this crisis world we live in, we need all the beauty we can get!
Please enjoy Sarah Mackenzie’s podcast about Barbara here! So yummy!
When I went to Maine last month to visit my dear artist sister, she told me about the above book. She returned it to her local public library on one of the errands we took together. Guess what book I promptly put on hold to get from my own public library as soon as I could? It was definitely something to look forward to when I got home.
I’ve been reading a story (chapter) a day from this book with my son for our homeschool Morning Basket. So fun! It has a one to two pages in each chapter that that tell the story behind some of the most famous children’s book authors and illustrators. It covers both picture books and chapter books. When you read this book you will learn some fun facts about Beverly Cleary, Maurice Sendak, Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling, and many more. If you love children’s books like I do, this a celebration of them you won’t want to miss! It’s a book you can read on your own, or read aloud to children ages 12 and up. For younger children I would skim over the pages and read aloud parts because 12 and unders tend to have shorter attention spans and more limited vocabulary.
Here’s an author’s note from the book’s amazon page:
“In my research of these authors, I began to see that our most treasured children’s books weren’t just built on creativity and imagination―many were born from extraordinary persistence and grit. Considering Benjamin Franklin’s quote, that a person should either write something great or do something great, it’s clear to me that the authors we admire most have done both. And perhaps it’s this secret ingredient that’s made their writing so genuine, so engaging, and so enduring.“
So go check your library’s online catalog and see if you can get a copy today! And do check out my sister Emily’s website for her book recommendations. As a professional illustrator herself, she has excellent taste!
It was 201 years ago on Sept. 21-22 that Joseph Smith received instructions from an angel of God, Moroni, about the golden plates buried in the Hill Cumorah. From these plates, he eventually translated the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. You can read his words about that whole process here in Joseph Smith History 1:27 to the end of the chapter.
God doesn’t do things randomly. Everything He does has a purpose and order to it. We can see this in the date when the above event occurred. Did you know it happened to coincide with the Feast of the Trumpets, a feast from the ancient Hebrews? Why is this important? It’s because this annual feast is when the Jews celebrate the beginning of the gathering of Israel. We know from President Nelson, the president and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that the Book of Mormon is central to this work of the gathering of Israel, in this talk here.
To learn more, read the article here about it by Lenet Hadley Read. You can also read her book above, from amazon.com or archive.org.
I also invite you to watch the videos above and below. The first one explains what the Feast of Trumpets is. The bottom one explains the connection of the Feast of Trumpets to the reception of the golden plates by Joseph Smith. You will learn how Sept. 21, 1823 fits in with the Hebrew feasts. Then you will learn how each yearly visit of Moroni to Joseph in September from 1824 to 1827, when he finally got to receive the golden plates, fits in with these feasts and God’s covenantal love. It’s a beautiful story of Christ’s kingdom of order and glory.
If you want a fun movie next time you have a movie date night with your husband, here’s one to watch. It’s from 2004. Even though it’s 20 years old, it’s still good.
Here’s why I like it:
-it has a middle-aged woman as the protagonist, so I totally related. Does any other movie out there have that? I can’t think of any. This movie is gold just for that! Let’s embrace middle age!
-the female lead, Christine Lahti, has wavy/curly hair that’s so beautiful!
-it’s funny
-it’s about marriage
-it’s full of good marriage counsel
-it features a mother-in-law who is beautiful and full of wisdom and is proved right. How many movies feature a beautiful, wise, fun, and nice mother-in-law? I’m so tired of mother-in-law jokes that show a her as the receiving end of so much rudeness.
-the ending has so much poetic justice. I absolutely love the last line, “The best revenge is a life well-lived!”
-the acting is superb. Christine Lahti does such a terrific job!
I wouldn’t watch this with children around. It has one bedroom scene (after the fact), some drinking, and taking of the Lord’s name in vain. So be forewarned. I give out 4 out of 5. It provides good fodder to discuss with your husband about how to make your marriage better.
It’s been almost a year since I shared a Carnivore Chronicle! It’s high time I did another one. Go here for the previous ones. Carnivore Chronicles is my series of stories about people eating the carnivore (all meat) diet. All of them have amazing results!
I just love this woman’s story. Her name is Jane Crummet. She weighed 240lbs and had so much pain in her feet from plantar fasciitis that she could hardly walk. She was taking cortisol shots and anti-inflammatory drugs. The doctor told her that surgery was the next step. She didn’t want that. So she started the carnivore diet to lose weight, thinking that would help. It did! She lost weight and the PF. Hooray! Then she hit a weight loss stall for two years, at 175 lbs. Then she gained 20 lbs back and the PF came back as well, even though she was still doing carnivore. She was a strict carnivore, eating only beef and no dairy, which is allowed on carnivore but not if you are strictly eating just meat. She eventually recognized that she was addicted to volume eating, even when eating carnivore, so she decided to do Dr. Annette Bosworth’s sardine challenge to deal with that. It’s hard to eat too much volume of sardines! As of the filming of this video, which was done in the past few weeks, she was on Day 98 of her sardine fast. She started May 28, 2024. Except for eating brisket while traveling through TX for two days, Jane has only eaten sardines since then. Her sardine fast healed the plantar fasciitis, and bonus, she lost 35 more lbs! She says she has more energy, she can keep her job that she loves which requires her to walk 10 miles a day, and she feels wonderful. Watch/hear her story below.
I’m telling you, if you have any type of symptom related to insulin resistance, which you can see in the image below, the carnivore diet may be for you. That’s because carnivore diet can be the keto diet, which Dr. Boz promotes, on steroids. It’s important to note here that you don’t have to only eat sardines to do carnivore. Save that for if/when you hit a stall on the carnivore diet. Here’s what Kelly says about that on the YouTube page of the video above, “ZERO SARDINES ARE REQUIRED FOR ALL CARNIVORES. I hope I made this VERY clear in this video: There is no ONE perfect path to healing that will work for everyone. And just because someone heals by using something like Lion Diet, High-Fat Carnivore, salt-free Carnivore, water-fasting, or even sardines, it doesn’t mean that it will be YOUR answer. BUT…I do love sharing stories of people who have continued to search for answers by doing the hard things as needed for her OWN healing. Jane inspired me, and I hope you enjoy hearing her story.”
Image Credit: Dr. Boz’s YouTube Channel
Dr. Boz has studied Jane’s story! Watch the video below to learn about the science behind the power of sardines, and whether or not it’s dangerous because of possible arsenic.
Do you want to learn more about the carnivore diet? Watch an introductory video below from Dr Ken Berry MD.
Still want more? Go here. Jordan Peterson’s family has done it with awesome health results. It might work for what ails you!
I blogged this past summer about the thirteen new hymns being released by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I’ve enjoyed singing some of them, including “My Eye is On the Sparrow.”
I didn’t know that Whitney Houston has a version of that song. I learned about that in Primary when the chorister played that version for the children. So beautiful! Those kiddos probably don’t even know who Whitney is. Anyway, a new batch of songs has been released, including “Amazing Grace.” See the video below about the new batch. Fun fact: I was a bit surprised when I saw the bishop who appears at the 32 second mark. At first I thought he was my bishop from when I lived in AZ but it turns out it be his twin brother, who is also a bishop, LOL.
I’m so excited about Amazing Grace in the new hymnbook. It’s about time! It’s now Hymn #1010 in the Hymns–For Home and Church. That’s the new hymnbook that will published in English, Spanish, Portugese, and French in the next few years. For a long time I wondered why we didn’t have Amazing Grace, that popular classic Christian hymn, in our collection. It is probably my absolute favorite hymn to sing, because of the way I can always hit that high C (when it’s played in the key of F) while singing the “me” at the end of the poignant phrase, “…that saved a wretch like me!” It just feels so lovely to be wrapped in the love of Jesus as I sing that high note.
My life was forever changed when my neighbor and friend told me that her son, Brent, a scholar of ancient languages, had studied the original meaning of the Greek word for grace, “charis,” He discovered that when Paul used that Greek word in the New Testament, that at the time, that word meant a reciprocal relationship of giving gifts back and forth. So if Paul used that word to describe God’s grace, that means Paul expects us to treat God’s grace the same way. To treat it was a two-way street, of giving back and forth, and not a one-way ticket to salvation.
Here’s the summary of the book on amazon.com:
“In ancient Greece and Rome, Charis was a system in which one person gave something of value to another, and the receiver gave service, thanks, and lesser value back to the giver. It was the word used to describe familial gifts, gifts between friends, gifts between kings and servants, and gifts to and from the gods. In Rome, these reciprocal transactions became the patron-client system. Orderly gift exchange is a key building block in the development of societies.
“Charis (grace) is the word New Testament authors, especially Paul, sometimes used to explain Christ’s gift to people. But what is the nature of the gift? Since the fifth century, a number of Christian scholars have taught that grace is something bestowed by God freely, with little or nothing required in return. This book sets out to show that ‘free grace’ is not what Paul and others intended.
“The practice in the ancient world of people granting and receiving favors and gifts came with clear obligations. Charis served New Testament authors as a model for God’s mercy through the atonement of Jesus Christ, which also comes with covenantal obligations.
“LDS scriptures make it clear that being saved comes through grace accompanied by forsaking sin and making and keeping covenants. For Latter-day Saints, being saved by grace means coming to Christ, being baptized and joining the community of saints, and continually living with thanks and praise for God’s gift. All of these expressions of grace are found both in the Greek and Pauline use of the word. Knowing what charis means helps us understand what God expects us to do once we have accepted his grace.”
So how did learning about the original meaning of grace, charis, change my life? I started praying differently. Instead of always asking for blessings, I started committing gifts to God in personalized covenants. I started promising to and covenanting with Him that I would give Him gifts. He doesn’t need my gifts, of course, but giving these gifts has helped me and helps me grow to be a better instrument for Him. It’s too personal to blog about what I promised God to do, but I have definitely felt God appreciating my gifts in our charis-based relationship and blessing me even more. He has honored my gifts by giving me more gifts. Whenever I feel stuck in my life, I know maybe I’m taking this grace for granted, or presuming upon God’s grace. It’s time for me to reevaluate, to be more consistent in the gifts I’ve already promised and maybe give more.
Here’s more about the nine new hymns. I like that the commentator says that these hymns help “soften the crust of our worship.”
I blogged about the Just One tabletop game over a year ago, over here. It’s such a fabulous game! Here’s why: it’s simple, it’s fun, it challenges your brain, it can be played with a small or a big group if you share the little easels and markers, and everyone can play every round. That all makes it a wonderful game for a party! You can make it short or long, according to how much time you have. It’s also a word association game. So if you like Code Names you will probably love it.
On top of all that, you can customize the game to make it even more fun! We just played it with 5 out of my 7 children for our family birthday party, when we celebrated my wedding anniversary last month. It’s SOOO easy to customize. Just hand out an index card to each participant. Ask each person to write a list on the index card (in portrait orientation) numbered 1 to 5 of interesting words that pertain to the family. These are words that can stir up laughter, memories, or opinions. The words can also be names of people in the family or family titles like “mom,” “son,” “cousin” etc. Remind everybody to use words that only stir up positivity. So this could be words that pertain to furniture in the home, family vacations, quirky moments, friends, favorite toys or games, pets, hobbies of family members, etc. In the regular game, you start with 13 cards that you as a group go through. The aim of the game is to see if you can get 13 out of 13 correct working together as a group. If you have fewer than 13 people than have some people make more cards so you can have 13 cards. Then use those customized cards and play according to the regular rules. Hopefully you will enjoy lots of laughter along the way. We sure did!
Variations:
Use guidelines above but put different words themed according to the holiday you are celebrating: Valentine’s, Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Or play a Family Tree version and use names and words associated with your ancestors and other relatives. How fun it would be to play on a family member’s birthday and then come up words that have to do with that person like his or her favorite food, hobbies, books, trips, possessions, etc.
He has asked that each of us, if we want to celebrate his birthday, do so by ministering to one person. I love this idea! I have been pondering who this is for me.
As I ponder I am inspired by the following stories:
First, here is a beautiful story about someone who ministered to a sad person by giving a yellow rose away. You can read it here.
Here is a story about a young woman who was in prison and ministered to her prison inmates. She told one of them, “you are a daughter of God and He loves you!” See the story here.
Then this story is about a young woman who gave up ten dollars to pay someone’s bill at the grocery store.
Want more inspiring stories? Check out my collection of stories to share with your family over dinner or devotional over here. It’s free!
Also, did you know that Elder David A. Bednar, an apostle of Jesus Christ, wrote the lyrics to a beautiful song called “One By One.” Paul Cardall wrote the music. It’s below. The sheet music is linked into my ebook above and you can find it here.
Tree of Life Mothering 