I read this to my little guy last week. It’s a picture book about Frederick Douglass, called Frederick’s Journey by Doreen Rappaport. There’s nothing like snuggling on the couch under blankets reading together! Especially if it’s cold outside, which it sometimes still is. This book was amazing! Frederick was amazing! What a wonderful man who overcame so much. I highly recommend this book, 5 out of 5 stars. I love the illustrations by London Ladd too. What a great true story to inspire all of us to overcome obstacles. Frederick overcame so much.
I thought this lesson was particularly powerful, to learn about about what makes a strong foundation for a church. One cup didn’t hold up more than one book, but with five other cups and a platform (an old cookie sheet) to distribute the weight, it was amazing to see how many books the cups could hold! Three thick dictionaries plus more! We had fun seeing how many books we could pile on, then we talked about what each cup could represent in foundation of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, including Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon, and priesthood power.
I’m also remembering to have Family Home Evenings on Sunday nights. With my husband’s new job since moving, he’s been working late every night, 6 days a week. Lately I’ve had FHE without him on Mondays. Then it’s been a struggle on Sundays to get our traditional husband/wife family executive planning meeting in and mentor meetings with my children. I finally figured it out! I will do Family Home Evening on Sunday nights when DH is home, then on Monday nights when he’s not here I will do the mentor meetings with my kiddos.
Mentor meetings are where I sit down with them individually, pray with them, talk about their big goals. We also talk about their plans for the week and how they are doing spiritually, intellectually, physically, and socially. We talk about how they are doing in each of those four areas. (I was already talking about these categories with my children before the Children and Youth program, so when the change happened, I felt like it was just for me, to accommodate what I’d been doing for 10+ years. Can I just say, Yay, that there’s no more Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in the Church! I’ve been doing a happy dance ever since that was announced! My life is so much simpler!)
I’m obsessed with this card game! We’ve played it almost every day for gameschooling this week! Here’s why I love it so much:
-everyone plays at the same time
-it involves strategy
-it involves addition, multiplication, and subtraction, so kids can hone those skills
-it involves probability, so you can go deeper in a math concept beyond addition, multiplication, and subtraction
-it is immensely satisfying to get over 20 points in a round and over 50 in a game (which consists of three rounds)
-it’s a very portable game because it’s small, so that you can easily tuck it into a purse to play away from home
-it’s inexpensive, less than $10 on amazon right now
-every game is different
-the illustrations are just so utterly adorably cute! I smile every time I look at them!
It took me awhile to get the hang of it. It seemed like a simple little game at first. It actually has a lot of complexity and depth to it. If you tune into those things you will do better at the game. Basically you are pretending to build a meal at a sushi bar. With every hand you get to pick a food item to put down on your “plate” in front of you. Then you pass your hand to the next player. Each food item has a certain number of points, but some are only worth the points if they are in a group, or if you have them combined with something else. Then the pudding, the only dessert card, is only worth points at the end if you have the most. If you have the least amount of pudding cards you are penalized. So it also teaches players to think ahead. More complicated versions of the game exist, Sushi Go Party, and Sushi Roll, but I’m holding off on those for now.
This game just makes me want to get some Japanese take out every night, to eat while we play this game and listen to some matching music. I give it 5 out of 5 stars. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Want some other ideas about gameschooling? See my two guides here.
Here’s a great movie to watch for your next date night. It’s the true story of a married couple, Lee and Leslie Strobel. You wouldn’t know it’s about marriage just by looking at the title or the cover of the DVD case, but it is. It looks like a documentary but it’s actually a story in the form of a movie. It’s based on the book by the same name. I have Lee Strobel’s sequel book, The Case of Christmas, so when I happened upon this movie, I nabbed it. I found it as a DVD at my public library, but you can also get it on Amazon Prime and elsewhere online probably.
The overall story is about real-life newspaper investigative reporter Lee Strobel. (He’s still alive.) He worked for the Chicago Tribune. He also graduated from Yale Law School. His wife started looking into Christianity and decided to accept Christ as her personal Savior. Lee did not like this, he felt it was driving a wedge between him and his wife. He wanted his old wife back without the religion in the mix. She stood firm and said she was steadfastly moving forward as a Christian. Thus began Lee’s deep examination to see if he could prove that Jesus Christ lived. I won’t spoil it for you by telling any more, just go watch it! I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
I love that this story shows how to work out disagreements in marriage. I love that it shows romance in marriage and keeps it G rated. I love that it shows the dynamics of children and in-laws affecting marriage. I love that it shows evidence for Christ. I also love that it shows anger problems and how they affect a family. It’s also interesting that the therapist in the movie, played by Faye Dunaway, can spot that the main character has father issues from a mile away. She claims that atheists tend to have “father wounds.” If you are Christian and into family life, you will love it. If you aren’t, you probably won’t.
I love this podcast with Joette Calabrese. In it, she encourages mothers to read the above book, written by a pediatrician, Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, MD.
Here’s a snippet of what she says from the podcast about raising her three sons to adulthood:
“I didn’t need a pediatrician. Those ubiquitous well-baby checkups were something I never bought into. Excuse my skepticism but they’re just a calendar-building technique for an otherwise not very busy medical specialty. Perhaps they fulfill a need in mothers who don’t trust knowing whether or not their children are well.”
She also quotes Gandhi as saying, “Homeopathy cures a larger percentage of cases than any other form of treatment and is beyond a doubt safer and more economical.”
In conclusion, I love that she encourages moms to get a PhD in mothering by studying the nurturing of children, which can certainly involve homeopathy.
“Well, I think we should be getting our PhD in mothering. I really believe it’s important that we know what we’re talking about. We should not say, ‘Oh, I can just do this,’ without doing some homework. Mothering should command our full attention. The act of mothering should be civilized and respected and resourceful. After all, we are raising a human being, our offspring, our worldly and spiritual legacy. So if you’re not up to the task and you need a pediatrician or another person to tell you to put chemicals into your baby’s mouth, then well, I guess, in a way we may even part ways and our conversation is over because that is my philosophy. I’m being a little blunt but I believe it needs saying.”
I agree! If this resonates with you I encourage you to learn from her blog here and Dr. Mendelsohns’ book above, which you can read for free here.
I’m super excited about RootsTech this year. It’s this upcoming weekend, Feb. 25-27. RootsTech is an annual conference that combines the topics of family roots with technology. I’ve never been in person but have watched whatever videos they stream every year and then archive on the videos archive page. This year it’s all online! and it’s all free! Past speakers have included Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., Scott Hamilton, Bruce Feller, AJ Jacobs, Drew and Jonathan Scott, Buddy Valastro, The Pioneer Woman, LeVar Burton, Lisa Louise Cooke, and many more. I always come away inspired. So I hope you go register here and enjoy it too! This year’s speakers include Lorena Ochoa, Sunetra Sarker, Barbara Morgan, and Nic Vujicic. It’s always fun to hear the stories and see the new technology to help us find our roots and tell our family stories. So go register! I wish I could see you there but I will get warm fuzzies knowing that so many of us, the most ever, are watching from home.
It’s snowy today. Snow always makes me reflective. It also makes me want to stay indoors and study. So that’s what I’m doing today as I prepare for my Gateway 1 Homeopathy Class. I’ve been reminiscing as well today a lot about how I raised my older children and what I wish I had done differently. More than half of my children are grown. Out of my seven children, four are out of the nest. That time went by in a blink. Oh how I wish I could go back in time and treat their aches and pains with homeopathy (HP). I had heard about it in college in one of my classes but it was so new to me that I put it on a mental shelf. Then when I started having home births, my midwife would give me some HP remedies, but I didn’t use HP outside of birth. I didn’t realize how potent and efficient homeopathy was, and that it could address a gamut of health challenges with all of my children.
I do feel blessed that I didn’t use many pharmaceuticals with my children. I only used antibiotics once, before I knew better, and said no to artificial interventions. But homeopathy would have taken us to the next level. All my children are in great health today. One son, however, has food allergies that didn’t start until he was about 12. In thinking about it lately I’ve wondered if these food allergies are reactions to a tetanus vaccination he got around that time. (I’m encouraged by hearing some food allergies being reversed with HP. That’s another post for another day.)
I didn’t really embrace using HP until I moved to AZ after the three oldest children had flown the coop, because I had a close homeschooling friend talk about Joette Calabrese, a professional homeopath.
I listened to this podcast today, sponsored by Joette. I love that it involves a mom with tons of stories about healing her children with HP. Listening to it reminded me again of just how potent and efficient HP is. This mom tells the following stories of using HP:
-for a wasp bite in her child, to calm down the swelling and pain in minutes
-for a jellyfish sting on her child, to relieve the pain, again in minutes
-for a child’s chipped tooth
-for a child’s eye injury
-for ameliorating the inflammation of appendicitis and the resulting pain of recovering from appendectomy
-for her mom’s chemical sensititivities to artificial office smells
I love hearing stories like these! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. May every mom and dad feel empowered to learn and use HP and create his/her own stories of healing with HP.
Susan Easton Black, in the video above, was the wife of the bishop of my ward (church congregation) when I was first married. I’m sure she doesn’t remember me at all but I remember her warmth, wisdom, and grace. I love the videos of her above and below. I’ve blogged about her before here.
I definitely felt the Holy Spirit as I watched the video above, especially when she tells of the Book of Mormon having at least 100 names for our Savior Jesus Christ.
Every Christmas, I love to read stories about people’s favorite Christmases, when they felt the hand of God in their life. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this darling story about a Christmas involving Susan and her children. You can read it here.
In the video below she tells her story of strengthening faith in Jesus Christ as a saint and a scholar. I hope you catch even a fraction of her passion for the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I started a homeopathy study group! We are studying the course called Gateway I to Homeopathy by Joette Calabrese. Yay! After first learning about practical homeopathy as taught by Joette about three years ago, and then listening to her podcasts for three years, I am finally, officially, one of her students.
Thank you to my friend Heidi V. for introducing me to Joette’s resources! You planted a seed, Heidi, that has grown and multiplied as I am passing on the news of Joette’s resources to many others.
So once a week I gather with over 15 women in person and over Zoom to learn about this amazing medicine. It’s so fun! I love these women and I love homeopathy. I am so excited to have embarked on this journey. I love meeting with these women weekly and learning about this most powerful medicine. It is truly the medicine that everyone wants. It works, it works quickly, and it has no side-effects.
You can read these healing stories about using it:
-for dealing with tremendously itchy skin from bed bugs here
-for dealing with excruciating foot pain that came from a mysterious source as I stood looking at a cactus in AZ
-for dealing with flu that made me feel the worst I’ve ever felt in my adult years
-for preventing the rest of the family from getting COVID when one of my family members tested positive for it
-to heal intense bruising, using Arnica gel
Do you too want to learn more about homeopathy? After years of being a mom and working with different modalities to facilitate healing of my children, I find that homeopathy is most often more effective than allopathic medicine, and even most often more effective than herbs and essential oils. Those other modalities still have their place so I use them occasionally. Here’s a case of itchy skin where I found an essential oil helped me more over homeopathy.
I highly recommend you read the above book by Dr. Dorothy Shepherd. She tells stories of people being healed with one dose of homeopathy. It all started with herself. She grew up with her mother practicing homeopathy on her. She decided to pursue allopathic medicine as a young woman. Eventually, however, she was converted to the wise homeopathic ways of her mother. As a medical student, She found herself being healed from the effects of a bee sting with one dose of the homeopathy remedy Apis, which relieved the tremendous swelling and pain in minutes. Then, she got a horrible sinus infection and was healed with homeopathy again. She went on to experience and collect many more powerful stories of healing with homeopathy, so she put them in several books, including the one above.
So far, I have found her explanation of homeopathy to be the best. She explains that all of universe is governed by laws, even our health. (I agree. President Russell M. Nelson has a BYU speech all about that here.) She cites the example of the woman in New Testament times who had an issue of blood that could not be healed by any physicians and says we have not proceeded much from that time. Then she laments that in modern times, most physicians spend more time focusing on tests, procedures, and gadgets (and may I add DRUGS) more than the patient.
As she says, “Laboratory tests are regarded as of more importance than the individual, and observations at the bedside of the individual are rarely carried out nowadays. And yet laws exist to guide the physician how to treat the sick person; but unhappily they have never been officially recognized.”
What is the first law for physicians to recognize?
It is the Law of Similium, or Law of Similars, as she explains, in the aforementioned book:
“Any substance, it may be of animal, vegetable or mineral origin, will produce certain reactions or symptoms, if given to the healthy individual for a long enough period…these self-same symptoms, if found in a sick person, would be removed or cured by the medicinal substance which produced them in the healthy individual. “
“And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land—but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate—But there were many who died with old age; and those who died in the faith of Christ are happy in him, as we must needs suppose.”
Yes! God has prepared “many plants and roots” to remove the cause of disease. Those plants and roots are captured in homeopathy remedies. Even one dose of these remedies can be magic! I’ve seen it! I’m learning all about it and I urge you to do so as well. You can read Magic of the Minimum Dose for free here.
You can also learn from Joette’s Quick Start Guide here. These are truths for every mom to know!
Watch the video below for an introductory “how” and “why” to study homeopathy. It’s part of the Quick Start Guide.
Then here’s how to use essential oils with homeopathy.
I also love that Joette recommends this book by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor. I bought it years ago when Diane Hopkins of lovetolearn.net recommended it. You can read that for free here.
Happy healing everyone! May every mom learn to be empowered to be Dr. Mom in her own home. As Joette says in the video at the bottom of this post, homeopathy puts you in control, saves you money, and contributes to your mothering legacy as you nurture robust health in your children. It also provides intellectual stimulation.
Dr. Shepherd said, “I must admit that homeopathy has never let me down. Homeopathy is a life-long study. It requires the burning of the midnight oil, but it is worthwhile.”
Here are some videos I’ve enjoyed for this week’s lesson for Come, Follow Me. These resources increase my faith in Jesus Christ and his latter-day prophet Joseph Smith. In the video above and below Rod Meldrum has a guest, Hannah, the daughter of a friend of mine. She talks about the deceptions of Mark Hofmann, which I remember happening when I was growing up.
I love that David and Emily below talk about how Joseph Knight was such a great friend to Joseph, Emma, and Oliver. May we all be great friends like that to those in need.
In the video below, Taylor and Tyler also talk about Joseph Knight. They say we don’t have to have great wealth of money like Joseph Knight did to assist in the work. We each have great wealth of something, such as social energy or time. We can give of any of these things to build up Zion. I also love the story that Tyler tells at the very beginning, of a mortal ministering angel who felt prompted to bake banana bread and give it away. to someone who was craving it. She didn’t even know the man wanted it so badly. Or that it would help him in such a life and death situation. Such a sweet story! May we all be ministering angels to those around us.
Tree of Life Mothering 