Mandi Ehman's Blog, page 5

Giving the gift of your presence this holiday season {plus our 2016 printable holiday planners!}

They’re here! The 2016 printable holiday planners are ready for you. Follow these links to download or print the pages you want for your 2016 Christmas planner or the 2016 Thanksgiving planner.

As we get ready to turn the calendar page and officially jump into the holiday season (because, yes, I consider November and December—Thanksgiving and Christmas—one season!), I’m honestly feeling a bit overwhelmed!

I love pretty much everything about the holiday season, but between now and early December, we have so much going on: knee surgery for my husband, a 3-week trip to North Carolina, Southern Florida and Disney, house projects to finish before our holiday guests arrive, outdoor projects to finish before the cold weather settles, and so on.

I hate going into the holiday season feeling stressed because I know all too well how easy it is to make the wrong decisions and prioritize the wrong things when I’m feeling that way!

There are really two common traps that we all fall into at the holidays:

1. Trying to “do it all.” Our family has a ton of fun traditions that we enjoy for Christmas—the outdoor nativity our church hosts, baking cookies for our doctor’s office, pastor and other community servants, ringing the Salvation Army bell, doing the Truth in the Tinsel devotional, Christmas Eve service at church, family get togethers, cookie exchanges, etc.

There have been years when we could do everything on the list (like the year Jackson was born and I took off work through December!), and there have been years when we could barely do any of it.

But what I’ve learned is that it’s better to stick with just one or two special things and not end up a stressed out, uptight, grumpy mom than it is to try to do everything by the skin of my teeth. And sometimes that means disappointing other people and sticking with the things that are most meaningful for our family, like sleeping under the Christmas tree and drinking homemade hot chocolate while we watch Polar Express.

2. The temptation to shower other people with gifts. The other trap we can fall into is over-giving. Generosity is a good thing; blowing your budget or going into debt over Christmas gifts is not! Believe me, I get it. I love to give gifts, and I love to pick out things that I just know the other person will love, regardless of cost. But gifts add up quickly, and you don’t want to be left with credit card bills and regret next year!

That means making a budget ahead of time and sticking to it! But it also means taking the time to think through all of the expenses ahead of time so that you don’t have surprises popping up throughout the season. (One of my favorite ways to stretch our Christmas budget is to pick up a stocking stuffers or baking supplies or small gifts each week out of my grocery budget.)

And, truly, the best gifts don’t have to cost a lot at all. There are meaningful handmade gifts like this handprint calendar or this no-sew pocket scarf, or there are opportunities to choose time spent together and creating memories over gifts that might just get forgotten or tossed aside.

As part of their onUp movement, SunTrust is committed to helping consumers celebrate without regret, and you’ll find a ton of great resources, budgeting tools, and tips in their holiday planning guide.

At SunTrust Bank their purpose is lighting the way to financial well-being. When you feel confident about your money, you can save for your goals and spend knowingly on what matters most to you.

The onUp movement was created to guide millions of people one step at a time towards a more financially confident life without ever losing sight of the moments that matter along the way.

Join the growing number of people transforming their stress into positive motivation to move onUp.

Join the movement

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SunTrust. The opinions and text are all mine.

No related posts.

  

Weekend reading: October 29, 2016

From Instagram:What time is it?! Show time! {If only the lights weren’t dead…} #christmas2016 #familytraditions #hamilton

This will be our 15th year putting up our Christmas tree on {or very close to} Halloween! The first year we were married, we excitedly prepared to hand out candy to trick or treaters in our condo neighborhood…and none came. After a couple of hours of waiting, we got the crazy idea to head to Walmart and start buying our Christmas decorations. And a tradition was born!

Of all our family traditions, this is one of my favorite. I love putting up our tree early so we can enjoy it throughout the full holiday season. This year we have a bit of travel scheduled next month, and I’m glad we’re getting it up early to enjoy it before we go. I love the glow of Christmas lights in the morning and evenings, and I love that Christmas decorating is the thing we all do together (even if my husband is notorious for rearranging our ornaments after we put them on the tree!).

This year has flown by, and “preparing for Christmas” snuck up on me a little bit, but I’m jumping in with both feet! {More on that next week.}

What I’m reading: Anchored: Finding Hope in the Unexpected by Kayla Aimee <<< sooooo good, y’all!

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

Fighting the frump

Fall Outfits for Busy Moms | Putting Me Together


7 Ways to Wear a Blanket Scarf | PaleOMG


What I’m wearing everyday this fall | Modern Mrs. Darcy

Living your best life

How not to be a spasmodic Hercules | The Art of Simple


In Life’s Most Important Pursuits, Your Only Competition is Yourself | Becoming Minimalist


Finding Your “Good Enough” | Andrea Dekker


Inspiration for your homeschool

Introverts homeschooling extroverts: Practical ways to make it work | Simple Homeschool


Want a List of Great Books in Children’s and Young-Adult Literature? Here Are My 81 Favorites. | Gretchen Rubin


The ultimate guide to homeschooling with biographies | Unschool Rules

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Are you a blogger? Don’t miss your chance to get The Genius Blogger’s Toolkit. People are raving about it!

Related posts:
Weekend reading: December 19, 2015
Weekend reading: January 9, 2016
Weekend reading: January 23, 2015
Weekend reading: June 25, 2016



     

Grow your blog, work smarter & make more money

In blogging years, I feel rather ancient. I started my first blog when our oldest was just a baby 12 years ago, and I created my first “professional” (ahem!) blog 8 years ago.

Over the course of the last decade, blogging has changed drastically, from a small group of bloggers who were well known across the blogosphere to millions of blogs in very specific, tight-knit niches.

During that time, I’ve had the privilege of working with the very best of the best in various capacities—partnering with bloggers like Crystal Paine, Tsh Oxenreider, Darren Rowse, Joshua Becker, Stephanie Langford, David Molnar, Myquillyn Smith, Anne Bogel, and other well known bloggers. (It’s humbling to know such an incredibly talented group of people and even more so to be able to work with them!)

There’s no question that blogging has grown in both opportunity and complexity. There’s no shortage of opportunity for bloggers—whether they want to support their family or get a book deal, sell handmade products or grow a coaching business. But there’s also a never-ending to-do list of things you could and should be doing to grow your blog. And that can be overwhelming.

Last year we began brainstorming ideas for a blogging bundle at Ultimate Bundles, and I was so excited about the possibility of creating a collection of tools that would truly equip other bloggers. But the response from our contributors and partners has been SO MUCH BETTER than we could have even hoped, and this collection has exceeded our wildest expectations.

Whether you’re just starting a blog or you’ve been blogging longer than I have, The Genius Blogger’s Toolkit is a must-have!

The toolkit is a collection of 62 brilliant eBooks, eCourses, audios, and printables designed to help you:

boost your traffic,
earn more money,
master social media,
skyrocket your SEO,
create and sell products,
work like a genius,
share inspired content, maximize your email list, and so much more.

The combined value of the learning products in the toolkit is over $3,600 all by itself, but that’s not even all of it!

You’ll also get more than $1,400 in bonus offers from companies like ConvertKit, Thinkific and AGhosted (the hosting company I’ve been raving about for years!).

And you get it all for a ridiculous 98% off. Yes, all of that (including 14 courses worth more than the price of the bundle) for just $97!

Worried about information overload? Don’t be: The toolkit also comes with a Genius Blogger User Manual to help you take action right away.

The most important detail, though, is that this toolkit is available for seven days only. After Tuesday night, November 1st, the sale ends and the only way to get this level of training is to buy everything separately.

I’d hate for you to miss out, so CLICK HERE to learn more or buy the bundle.

P.S. The toolkit (like all of our bundles) is backed by a 30-day money-back happiness guarantee, so you can make sure it’s right for you. Get what you need to work smarter instead of harder, grow your platform, and earn more, guaranteed. Learn more or get your bundle now!

No related posts.

     

Do we all really have the same 24 hours?

There’s a popular saying that we all have the same number of hours in a day. Or to really make the point, we all have the same number of hours as Beyonce. The implication is that we all have the time to be superstars if we really want it and are willing to work to make it happen.

For many people it is the kick in the pants they need to get moving on their goals and dreams.

But what about those of us who aren’t wasting time in the first place?

While other people might be able to cut out watching TV or sleeping in, your arms might be full at night and in the early morning hours with a clingy baby. Or maybe you have a child with special needs. Or you’re caring for an aging parent. It could be that you’re working two jobs just to put food on the table. Or you have a physical condition that makes basic tasks take longer.

Can you still accomplish great things with these limitations?

Of course you can.

We all love to hear stories about people who have overcome the odds and broken world records or accomplished great things or built thriving businesses. It’s one of the reasons that Hamilton has become such a huge part of our culture.

But if you’re in a season in which many of your 24 hours are being used up by things outside of your control, know that I see you. And I get how frustrating it is to be told that you could make the time if you really wanted to while sincerely looking back at your day for a pocket of time when you might have been able to pursue a goal (or heck, even take a few minutes to just breathe).

If you’re in a season where your 24 hours don’t seem to belong to you and just simply can’t be stretched any further, let me offer this encouragement:

1. Accept your limitations.

I’ve written about this before because sometimes there just isn’t enough time. For those of us who enjoy things like productivity hacks, time and task management, and getting things done, it can be frustrating to realize that there are still limits on what you can actually do. You can stay in the place where you’re frustrated and discouraged, or you can choose to accept—and embrace—the season you’re in. Look forward to the future with hope, but don’t become so focused on what you can’t do that you become bitter or unmotivated to even try.

2. Look for the activities with the biggest impact.

I’m sure you know this already, but as a reminder, if you can’t do everything, choose the things that have the biggest impact.

At home, that means I wash, dry and sort the laundry into baskets so that we can find clean clothes, even if I run out time to fold and put it away. It means cooking larger batches of food for additional meals. And it means we don’t make our bed (even though that used to be one of my “pressure points”) because the babies are just going to sleep in it throughout the day anyway.


At work, it means batching things like email processing, reevaluating the way I do things to eliminate redundancies and irrelevant tasks, and delegating to others if something doesn’t really need to be done by me.


For this blog, it means ignoring the list of all the things I could be doing to focus on those that 1) I enjoy and 2) will have an impact. So right now I’m focused on making my email newsletters really relevant and valuable for readers even though I could be improving my Facebook strategy, blogging more often, or cleaning up the archives as well.

3. Get creative.

I am a pen-and-paper girl at heart, but for the past year I’ve had to accept that my phone is the most effective way to get things done with a fussy baby in my arms. I’m able to type in to-do lists and reminders, start blog post drafts, do my devotional and more during moments when I simply can’t juggle pen and paper around a wiggly baby. It’s not my first choice, and I’m picking up my notebook more and more these days (more on that later this week!), but being willing to think outside the box and get creative allowed me to get a few more things done.

4. Don’t ignore self-care.

There is a difference between wasting time and taking care of yourself, and too many mothers / entrepreneurs / homeschoolers have burnt out from trying to do too much for too long. The line between self-care and indulgence isn’t easily defined by rules and regulations, but I’d venture a guess that if you’re worried about taking some time for self-care, you’re probably not getting enough. We all know that running too hard backfires in the long run, so make sure you’re making room for self-care in your schedule!

5. Reevaluate often.

As I mentioned before, one thing you need to be careful of is the temptation to focus on your limitations. If you do this for too long, it’s too easy to miss the small changes that might allow for more time to devote to your dream. Consider how you’re spending your time, not out of guilt or frustration but with a sincere desire to spot any openings in your schedule that you can use. It may be as simple as 15-20 minutes when that clingy baby begins to play happily, 30 minutes to listen to a podcast or audiobook while you drive, or an early morning hour of work before your littles wake up.

***

How do you deal with limitations on the time you have to pursue the things you want to be doing?

Related posts:
Sometimes there’s just NOT enough time



     

Weekend reading: October 22, 2016

From Instagram: This guy had what we think was a febrile seizure and so our pediatrician’s office sent us to the ER. He is NOT happy about all the poking and prodding, but we’re praying for solid answers!

On Tuesday morning, Lucas woke up in the wee hours of the morning with a mild fever. We snuggled throughout the morning, but he didn’t have any other symptoms and wasn’t particularly fussy, so we never treated the fever. At about 11:30, I set him down for a minute to start lunch and not five minutes later we heard him hit the ground hard and start screaming. At first I thought he’d fallen off the ottoman (turns out he’d just fallen over flat from standing up), but when I picked him up I could feel him seizing in my arms.

Because I tend to do well in emergencies (as opposed to dealing with everyday stresses, lol), I calmly called to Sean, “I think he’s having a febrile seizure. It’s okay, but please come.” Sean said Lucas’ eyes were rolling back in his head, which I’m thankful to not have seen, and he continued crying the whole time.

When he finally stopped (our estimate is that it was just 30-60 seconds), I quickly handed him over to Sean while I called the pediatrician, who directed us to head to the ER. Our 10-year-old said she’d come with us, so we buckled Lucas in his seat and the three of us headed out.

At the ER they took us right back and confirmed that his fever had spiked to 103. They gave him both acetaminophen and ibuprofen to bring the fever down. They also did a rapid flu test and attempted a urine culture (which we never were able to get, even after the trauma of a catheter and a collection bag), and when the flu test came back positive, they sent us home with instructions to see our pediatrician on Thursday.

We were thankful for the confirmation that it was a febrile seizure (brought on not by the height of his temperature but by how quickly it spiked) and headed home. That night I sent my alarm for every 3 hours to continue giving him both fever reducers around the clock. But his fever never even started to come back, and so I skipped the 3am dose and continued to check on him every hour. At 7:30 am when he woke up I gave him ibuprofen and again at 1:30pm, but when he still wasn’t showing any symptoms or any signs of the fever returning, I held off on any additional doses.

Amazingly, his fever never came back, and he has never shown any other symptoms of the flu. I don’t know whether his fever annihilated the virus, the test was a false positive, or it was simply a miracle thanks to all of the people who were praying for him, but I was so thankful when he woke up fever free and happy on Wednesday!

And that was enough excitement for the week!

What I’m reading: Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker J. Palmer and The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

On awesome adulting

How do you start (and end) your days? | The Art of Simple


12 Ways to Make Your Day Better When You’re Feeling Down | Live Renewed


How Awesome Adulting Impacts Your Homeschool (and Your Whole Life) | The Homeschool Sisters Podcast

On low-pressure homeschooling

The Lazy Mom’s Guide to Getting Outdoors… | Se7en


Tomatoes and timelines: Giving our homeschoolers room to bloom | Simple Homeschool


The Homeschool Hand Grenade | Brave Writer

On the menu plan

Steak Fajita Loaded Sweet Potatoes | PaleOMG


Simple Cheesy Baked Chicken | Heavenly Homemakers


Salsa Verde Chicken | Well Fed

Have a great weekend! We’re off to celebrate our little man’s THIRD birthday (how did that happen?!).

Related posts:
Weekend reading: November 7, 2015
Weekend reading: July 2, 2016
Weekend reading: July 23, 2016
Weekend reading: September 3, 2016



     

Weekend reading: October 15, 2016

From Instagram: Spotting the waterfalls.

I love fall! The fresh, crisp air. The apples. The pumpkins. The leaves changing. All of it!

This week we took a morning off school to head to one of our very favorite fall destinations: Blackwater Falls in Davis, West Virginia. Sean and I stumbled across it on our honeymoon, and when we moved to our current home, we started making it a regular day trip in the fall (it’s also very near the ski resort where we ski in the winter, but we haven’t yet taken a winter trip!). I’m not sure we’ve done it every year, but our 11-year-old referred to it as “the 9th annual trip to the waterfalls,” which I love!

What I’m reading: Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker J. Palmer and The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

When simple is what you’re after

8 Little Ways to Simplify Your Life | Be More With Less


The Key to Simplifying Your Digital Clutter | No Sidebar


Can You Find It In the Dark? My Organizational Litmus Test | Andrea Dekker

On breaking out of a funk

Ep. 03: When Motherhood is Overwhelming | Mom on Purpose (< I joined Jess Connell on her new podcast for moms to talk about tackling daily life amidst feeling overwhelmed, practical ways to simplify and get through stressful seasons and feeding your soul and staying connected with your kids when life is overwhelming.)


A Method for Dealing with Feeling Stressed & Overwhelmed | zen habits


How brain dumps can help little worriers | Simple Homeschool

Hope for election season

A gentle reminder | Rachel Kat Lee


During The Debate, These Two Did The Unthinkable And United The Country | Huff Po


The Danger of Only Saying What People Want to Hear | Becoming Minimalist

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Are you a blogger? We’re releasing a Genius Blogger’s Toolkit in 11 days that will blow. your. mind. Click here to make sure you’re the first to hear all the details!

Related posts:
Weekend reading: October 31, 2015
Weekend reading: December 5, 2015
Weekend reading: February 13, 2016
Weekend reading: June 4, 2016



     

Why morning time is a homeschool game-changer

Last fall, while counting down the weeks to our baby boy’s birth, we decided to try including a morning time routine in our homeschool day (something we hadn’t ever successfully done in the past). I didn’t know it at the time, but that decision paved the way for a complete upheaval in our approach to school.

These days, our entire school day functions like an extended morning time. We do Bible and read alouds, explore maps and history books, talk about science and math. We then do more formal math lessons “together but separately” before sending the little girls off to read, build, or color while the big girls and I do Latin and language arts.

As I reflect back on the past year, and consider the future as we approach middle school, I see this as the single most important thing I’ve done for my homeschool.

Here’s why morning time (of any length) is such a game changer:

1. It’s literally putting the first things first.

Starting with morning time as a family allows us to focus on those things that are most important before we all go our separate ways, before anyone gets caught up in other projects, and before I lose my energy and patience! I initially added it to our routine because I wanted a way to incorporate the arts—Shakespeare, poetry, classical music, and more—into our homeschool. Gathering everyone together at the start of the school day allows us to do that and more!

2. It’s a relationship builder.

My kids bicker less during and after morning time, which is almost a good enough reason to do it by itself. The structure leaves less room for misunderstanding or jockeying for their way, but I think it’s more than that. We’re also working together during morning time and having a lot of fun in the process, which builds the camaraderie and understanding between them. Do they still bicker? Yes. But it’s definitely less than when we’re all working independently.

3. It changes their perspective on school work.

No longer am I the (sometimes-but-not-always-benevolent) dictator assigning work for them to do. Instead, we’re doing it together, working alongside each other, learning together, helping one another. And that makes school feel less like work and more like family time!

4. They get a say in what we learn.

Of course, kids can have a say in their education even without morning time. But what I love is that they get a say not just in the big picture decisions, such as “What area of science do you want to study next year?” but in the day-to-day decisions. They all help choose the books we read, ask questions that lead us down rabbit trails, and “vote” on which activities to do each day (although I reserve the right to overrule them, despite their repeated attempts to skip math!), and this gives them an incredible sense of ownership over school.

5. We’re building a family culture of learning.

We’re learning together, which means they get to see me learning, getting excited about new topics, or struggling to understand something as well. Because we’re spending so much time learning together each day, it also leads to a lot of connections outside of school time that we all understand, kind of like our own educational inside jokes, whether it’s an animal or place we read about, a topic we discussed, or a historical event that suddenly has context. The best part is hearing the chorus of “Oh, yeah!” from all of the girls since we’ve discussed these things together rather than exploring them independently.

6. I am less distracted.

Before we instituted morning time, I found that I had a frustrating amount of free time during school—long enough to start something, but never long enough to to finish—which meant I spent a lot of my time attempting to multitask but really just getting frustrated at the interruptions. And the truth is that the kids were equally frustrated at trying to get my attention while I was multitasking.

Although morning time requires more time and energy from me than independent work did, it actually feels better to be “all in” during our school hours and to be equally focused on work during my office hours

Note: I have to confess that I recently realized I was trying to check my phone and answer work questions during transition times and creating these same frustrations again, so I’ve made my phone off limits during school, no matter who needs me!

7. It incorporates all of the best parts of a one-room schoolhouse.

Because we’re all working together, the boys are hearing about a variety of topics long before they are expected to “learn” them. The little girls are learning things at their level and getting a glimpse into what’s to come. And I’m able to dive deeper with the big girls as part of our group conversations. But to make it even better, they all also have the chance to explain and demonstrate things to each other. When we talked about the orbit of the moon and the earth, our oldest organized a game to show everyone else how the moon orbits the earth and the earth orbits the sun, and even the little girls like to chime in and demonstrate how they solve a math problem or what they know about the Greek myth we’re reading.

***

As I mentioned at the beginning, this was not our first attempt at morning time, but I’m thankful that I gave it another shot because the change in our homeschool has been profound, and I think we’ll be feeling the effects for years to come!

Related posts:
What is a classical Christian education?
What’s your rule of six {or seven}?
The book that makes it possible to Give Your Child the World
Ushering in the 2016-2017 school year



     

Weekend reading: September 24, 2016

From Instagram:It’s bundle week, so if you need me, chances are good you’ll find me right here. Coffee necessary, extra pens optional.

It’s what we call “bundle week” round these parts. In my role as Director of Strategic Relationships for Ultimate Bundles, I oversee a team of people who work with authors, affiliates and bonus partners to pull together each of our bundles. And during each 6-day sale, my job is to support our team and our partners in making the sale a success—answering questions, troubleshooting, offering ideas and inspiration, etc.

It’s busy, although I’m thankful that we’ve taken steps since the spring bundle to make things a bit less all-consuming for every member of our team. There’s still a lot of coffee and screentime involved, but it has felt a little more balanced, which means I got to do well visits and tutor Essentials yesterday and spend the morning at soccer today!

(Want to hear more about becoming an author or affiliate in a future sale? Find out more here.)

We’ve also celebrated two birthdays in the last two weeks (with three more to come in the next six!). I can’t believe how quickly my little people are growing up!

What I’m reading: Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty (I couldn’t resist picking this up last night after a very long week!)

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

Inspiration for your homeschool

When Your Ten-Year-Old Can’t Read | Not the Former Things


Using the bullet journal system for homeschool planning | Simple Homeschool


10 fresh homeschooling paths to add variety to your routines | Simple Homeschool


Changing the Homeschool Culture | A Brave Writer’s Life in Brief

Inspiration for your reading list

20 books everyone will be talking about this fall | Modern Mrs. Darcy


The next book on your fall reading list… | Nesting Place


Our surprise about Brenna’s new teacher | Courtney Westlake

Inspiration for dinnertime

Shrimp pad thai | The Frugal Girl


Asian Cabbage Salad with Sriracha and Sesame | Kalyn’s Kitchen

Have a great weekend!

P.S. The Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle is only available through Monday night, so hurry and get yours if you want one!

Related posts:
Weekend reading: November 7, 2015
Weekend reading: July 2, 2016
Weekend reading: July 23, 2016
Weekend reading: September 3, 2016



     

The books I’m reading…ever so slowly

This year will go down in my personal history as the year I didn’t meet any of my goals, and I think my reading goal (which I audaciously raised to 100 books this year—hahahaha!) has suffered the most. Although I love to read before bed, I end up falling asleep after a few pages, and with two 800+ page books on my nightstand, that means I’m making really slow progress through them.

But here are the books I’ve been reading over the past few months and how they’re keeping my love of reading alive:

The series that keeps me reading

I had heard so much about the Inspector Gamache mystery series over the past few years, but I typically wait for deals on Kindle books before buying them, and I hadn’t been able to catch Still Life on sale until earlier this summer. I was hooked after that first book, though.

I love the characters, and I love that not one of them is painted as perfect; Louise Penny shows the strengths and character flaws of each person throughout the series. The stories aren’t 100% believable (how often can murder touch a tiny hidden town, after all?!), but I enjoy the continuity of the series and the character development that happens over the course of several books.

And I’m loving reading more about the culture of Canada’s Québec province.

You can actually buy the whole series at once or three books at a time for a discount, so I’ve treated myself to the first 6 books over the course of the last couple of months, and I’d love to read the next three ASAP!

History books that tell a story

As the girls and I have been learning more about Africa—the diversity of the continent, the culture and history, I’ve realized how shaky my framework of African history is. I don’t have a great handle on ancient history or early civilizations, and I certainly don’t understand the history of individual countries.

Someone recommended Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader as a comprehensive overview (and at 800 pages with tiny print, it’s more than just an overview!), and it’s incredibly readable. The first section also includes an in-depth look at evolutionary theory (from a secular standpoint), and I feel like I understand the evidence and reasoning for this theory for the first time.

I also fell in love with the Hamilton soundtrack this summer, and I couldn’t resist picking up Ron Chenow’s book, Lin Manuel-Miranda’s inspiration for the musical. It’s the heretofore little known story of the orphan who immigrated to the U.S. from St. Croix, serve as an aide-de-camp for General George Washington and become one of the Founding Fathers, the author of 51 of The Federalist Papers and the first Secretary of the Treasury before being killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr in 1804. It’s a fascinating read, although there is quite a bit of conjecture on Chenow’s part to keep the story moving, and I’m enjoying the soundtrack even more as I read more of the story!

Book club selections for accountability

This is a new approach to reading for me, but on a whim I picked up the audiobook of Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker J. Palmer to join Deidra Riggs’ Forward bookclub this fall, and when Natasha Crane mentioned a book club to read through her book, Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side: 40 Conversations to Help Them Build a Lasting Faith, I decided to join that as well. The accountability to read just a small section each week feels doable to me in this busy season!

Escapist fiction, but not too often

Okay, at the end of the day escapist fiction is still my favorite; I love to read a story that transports me to another time and place. That said, I’m trying not to pick it up too often right now since I don’t have a ton of free time and I’m no good at reading those slowly, which means I tend to neglect everything on my to-do list in favor of reading.

I did enjoy both The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski (#3 in The Winner’s Trilogy) and Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah recently, and I’m planning to get Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty before my trip to Florida in a couple of weeks!

***

In other news, I think my Kindle Paperwhite may be on its last legs (I keep getting app errors and frozen screens), which would be a disaster, so I’m saving for a new one!

Related posts:
My favorite books of 2015 {and how my opinion changes in hindsight}
My 2016 reading goals {and this year’s Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge}
Inspirational Kindle books for the New Year on sale for $1.99
10 books to inspire you to take back your life



     

Weekend reading: September 10, 2016

From Instagram: Oh my heart.

I feel like we spend more time in the ER or with specialists than the average family, and I haven’t figured out if it’s because we’re a larger-than-average family or just because we’re accident prone!

On Sunday night Jackson hurt his foot while playing on the trampoline with his sisters (the story is spotty—something about spinning and landing with his foot under him), and when he was still walking on his heel on Tuesday morning we headed to the orthopedic clinic for x-rays and an evaluation. Although there was no fracture evident on the x-ray, we know from last year that breaks don’t always show up right away in little ones, and because of the tenderness he was experiencing and the way he was guarding it, we decided to soft cast it for two weeks just to be on the safe side.

After he spent 45 minutes screaming his head off (I truly had no idea he would find the cast so traumatizing!), we distracted (er, bribed…) him with a Sonic shake, and he mostly forgot that he was upset about it. The only bad part is it doesn’t hurt now that it’s casted, so instead of slowing him down, it’s actually made him braver, and we’ve spent all week trying to get him to stop climbing/jumping/running on it!

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an uneventful week next week!

What I’m reading: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow and Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

{More} easy meals for fall

Crockpot Paleo BBQ Chicken Wings | Paleo Newbie


Crock Pot Tomato Basil Soup | Food Renegade


Grilled Chicken Kabobs with Asian Marinade | Kalyn’s Kitchen


Buffalo Chicken Meatballs | PaleOMG

More than time management

Spontaneous? Here’s one surefire tip to help you thrive in a new season | Deidra Riggs


What Productivity Systems Won’t Solve | zen habits


The Importance of Margin Time | Andrea Dekker

Making room for what matters most

My birthday list: 20 things I learned this year | The Art of Simple


8 Practical Ways to Change Your Self-Description | Becoming Minimalist


10 Essential Edits to Help You get your Life Back | be more with less

Have a great weekend!

Related posts:
Weekend reading: September 19, 2015
Weekend reading: December 19, 2015
Weekend reading: January 9, 2016
Weekend reading: January 23, 2015