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mamakay

managing a household of 10 by the grace of God

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Books

Favorite Family Read Aloud Books

March 21, 2020 by mamakay Leave a Comment

family read aloud

Family read aloud books are such a wonderful way to spend time together as a family. Our family rules are that you have to be in the same room and you can do something quietly but not use an electronic device. Some of our kids knit, others draw, color or paint, the younger kids like to play with legos or lincoln logs.

I would love to read every night but that just doesn’t work out consistently so I have had to let myself be content with reading as often as we can. As we gather together to read we always ask what happened last time before we read the next chapter. My goal is to read one chapter per day but if it is compelling and everyone is still engage we will read another chapter or two depending on how long the book is.

We have read so many books over the years. These are our top 10 favorites. To qualify it has to be a book that the majority of us have enjoyed from younger kids to adults and that we would enjoy reading again.

  1. The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
  2. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
  3. Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen Taylor
  4. The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
  5. The Hobbit by JR Tolkien
  6. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
  7. The Trumpet of the Swan by EB White
  8. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
  9. Little Women by Louisa Alcott
  10. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

During this crazy time of COVID-19 isolation having a family read aloud time is a perfect activity for everyone. If you do not already own the book it is easy to find any of these as ebooks through your library or purchase them from Amazon. They are also available through Audible if you would prefer someone else to do the reading.

For more book ideas check here: http://mamakay.com/WordPress/?s=books

Let’s make use of this time we now find ourselves with and put down our phones and devices and spend time together having family read aloud time.

MamaKay

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: family activities, read aloud

Top 19 Books 2019

December 30, 2019 by mamakay Leave a Comment

Books

I read 52 books this year! I still can’t believe I read this much! My goal of 36 books was totally surpassed. Most of my book recommendations come from Modern Mrs. Darcy and various podcasts. Here are my favorites for the year.

Non-Fiction Books

So many people I follow wrote books this year! These are just a few of my favorites. I did a deep dive into the Enneagram this year and still have a couple more books in my TBR pile that I want to read but Ian Cron’s book is a great introduction.

If you need a good reboot in 2020, I highly recommend Atomic Habits. His approach is the most doable I have ever found. I am convinced that our lives our made up by our small daily choices.

  1. Atomic Habits by James Clear
  2. The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman
  3. Placemaker by Christie Purifoy
  4. The Road Back to You: An Ennegram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile
  5. The Middle Matters: Why that (Extra)Ordinary Life Books Really Good on You by Lisa-Jo Baker

Memoir Books

I haven’t read that many memoirs before but I absolutely loved reading them this year. It was hard to pick my favorites but here are my top 5 picks for this year. These women are all amazing in different ways and I learned so much from their stories. My thoughts keep returning to these books again and again.

I actually went back and read all of Ruth Reichl’s books after reading Save Me the Plums. She is an amazing writer and includes recipes in all of her books.

  1. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindberg
  2. Miracles and Other Reasonable Things by Sarah Bessey
  3. Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl
  4. Educated by Tara Westover
  5. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

Fiction

I have not read very many mystery books in the past but I absolutely loved reading through the entire Inspector Gamache series. It was wonderful getting to know the characters more each book in a familiar setting. I also discovered Charlie Lovett and can’t wait to read his other books.

  1. All of the Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny
  2. The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay
  3. The Bookman’s Tale by Charlie Lovett
  4. Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
  5. The Gown by Jennifer Robson

Cookbooks

Cooking daily for a family of 10 requires renewed inspiration from time to time. These books encouraged me to try some new things and taught me how I could cook better.

  1. Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
  2. The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook by Coco Morante
  3. Holiday and Celebration Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Bonus

My favorite Journal to keep track of all my reading (and other important notes) is my Leuchtturm1917 dot grid journal.

Here is a link to all of the books I read this year: http://mamakay.com/WordPress/2019-book-list/

I hope you have had a great reading year as well! I would love to hear what your favorite books were this year!

MamaKay

Filed Under: Books

Spring is Coming: What is your Next Right Thing?

March 19, 2019 by mamakay 1 Comment

Here in the Northern United States spring is always tricky to catch. The calendar might say that it comes on March 20th but every year is different. This year there is thick, icy snow still on the ground from our record breaking cold February and early March but you can feel the sunshine warming the earth and tugging on your soul to search for signs of spring. Calves are multiplying. The days are getting longer. The snow is receding ever so slowly (but a rapid warm up would destroy us with flooding).

Suddenly 40 degrees feels like a heat wave. It is amazing how much difference just 10 degrees makes! This is the time of year that the wind is welcome as it takes the melted snow away into the air instead of flooding my garage. In just a couple weeks the daffodils will make their appearance and we will know spring has truly arrived (even if a stray snowstorm comes our way, the snow won’t last). The winter spell has been broken.

It is true in our lives too. We often long for sudden changes. For the hard season to just be over so we could move on to the more pleasant days. But is that what we truly need? It seems to me that a slower change bends us and moves us without breaking us. As we approach this new season I like to sit down and do some evaluations. What is the state of my heart? Are there things I need to address? What does our schedule look like? Am I accomplishing the things I need to on a daily basis? What are things that my efforts would be best used on right now? What is my next right thing?

One of my favorite people, Emily P Freeman, is about to release a book to help you discern what your next right thing is. Not only that but she has some amazing bonuses for people who pre-order her book. She is offering immediate access to her online course Discern & Decide for free!! She is also offering her audio version of the book when it releases. Here is a link if you need help in discerning your next right thing.

May this spring awaken you from your winter slumber and pull you into the sun where you will receive new life to go forth in the coming days.

Filed Under: Blog, Books, Seasonal Living, Spring Tagged With: spring

We are Placemakers

March 1, 2019 by mamakay Leave a Comment

placemaker

What is placemaking? It is deliberately sending your roots deep into a place, like a tree. It means allowing yourself to be nourished by a place even as you shape it for the better.

This is a book about my longing for peace and my instinct that peace and place are indistinguishable. But it is also a book about God’s longing, a longing that weaves in and out and through the whole story the Bible tells. God longs for the place he has chosen as a dwelling for his Name.

Placemaker by Christie Purifoy

I was blessed by being included in the launch team for Christie Purifoy’s new book, Placemaker: Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peace.

I feel so much connection to Christie. Both of us were an English Lit majors. We have moved a few times looking for a place to put down roots and have found ourselves in an old farmhouse that requires so much work to keep (although not as beautiful as hers). We have found ourselves in a wilderness season where so much of what we thought was our path turned out not to be so. All along the way trees have anchored me and connected me to the place we were.

Our First House and Australian Bottle Tree

The first tree we chose at our first house was an Australian Bottle Tree. It is a fast growing evergreen tree that flourishes in Arizona. We lived in that home for 5 years and started our family there. It had a tiny yard but big vaulted ceilings. The house was a new build and it was so fun getting to pick out the carpet and counter top. It was a beautiful home and we began our journey of being placemakers. But it was a long commute to my husband’s job and so we decided it was time to move on.

  • Phoenix House
  • Our Citrus Grove
  • Palm Tree

Our next house was a beautiful home. In fact to this day I wish I could have just picked that house up and transported it with us to Montana. Our neighborhood was lined with Elm trees. We planted 3 citrus trees our first year as placemakers there: an orange, a tangelo and a lemon tree. The orange tree didn’t make it but the other two thrived and we got to enjoy fresh citrus for several years.

A funny story: Do you see that huge palm tree growing in the backyard? A palm frond blew into our yard one day and our oldest daughter decided to plant it! Lo and behold it took root and grew into that tree!

We lived in that house for 8 years. Although we loved the house itself we never felt at peace there. We tried to sell it for years to no avail. A dream grew in our hearts for a homestead. A place where we could work together as a family to raise good, healthy food. A place where our children could play outside. A place that wasn’t so hot or so full of people. And then God did a miracle in our lives. One day we received a phone call from our old realtor. He wondered, “Are you still interested in selling your house? I have someone who is interested in buying it.” And so just like that we were released from that house and decided to pursue our dream of moving to Montana.

Our Tiny Rental House

Many of us long to put down roots in some particular place, but we guard ourselves against heartbreak by waiting for a perfect place.

In the wilderness, we are given the opportunity to lay down the burden of our desire to make or remake so that when some other place invites our participation and our creative efforts, we are ready to offer those things with humility

Placemaker by Christie Purifoy

That was the rental house for us! It was tiny! 1200 square feet housing 8 people. Our front room served as the dining room, school room, library, and sitting area. We knew this was a temporary place but we were there longer than we expected. Finding our place in Montana was much harder than we thought it would be. But we found freedom in our wilderness and continued to be placemakers. We got to experience seasons for the first time as a family and we loved it! We got to experience small town life with neighbors to talk to and kids to play with and a park close by. The older kids could ride their bikes to the library without fear. Such a difference from Arizona.

Our Montana Home

Sometimes, placemakers make new. Build fresh. Start from scratch. But most of the time, they repair. They restore. They protect. Sometimes, placemaking is nothing more than the refusal to unmake.

After much searching we found our home in the country. Instead of the brand new houses we had lived in before we have a crazy old house originally built in 1949 with several additions over the years. But it came with old trees including a giant Cottonwood, a pine tree, a mature apple tree and several plum trees. This was a place we could put our roots down (and several of our children have told us we can never move).

Our Cottonwood in it’s full fall glory

An orchard is not a forest, though. Most forests arise naturally over time, but an orchard is a collaboration — an intentional partnership between us and the creator-God in whose image we are made….We do not make the trees, but we make a place for them. Like the God to whom we belong, we are placemakers.

Placemaker by Christie Purifoy

One of best things we did to be placemakers our first year at this place was to plant an orchard. We planted four kinds of apples, 2 pear trees and a cherry tree. A tree for each child plus an extra one. We have been here for 9 years now and are starting to enjoy the fruits of our labors. Each year we can jars upon jars of applesauce, apple butter and apple slices almost every fall that we enjoy all year long. We are starting to get enough cherries for a couple of pies every summer. Maybe next year the pears will be bountiful. Every fruit we get to enjoy is such a gift. We never know what will come. But God is gracious.

Our Orchard

Our life here hasn’t been all that we had hoped for. We have stumbled and fallen. But we have gotten back up. We have been refined (and continue to be). Life is messy. But God is at work and I pray that we are collaborating with him to cultivate this place for his glory, whatever that looks like.

I want to be a placemaker, how about you?

MamaKay

Filed Under: Books, Faith, Homemaking

Hello Mornings: How to build a good morning routine

October 4, 2018 by mamakay Leave a Comment

hello mornings

Ah, mornings. I love the Bible verse in Lamentations 3:22-23 that says “His mercies are new every morning.” Each day we have a new opportunity to start over. To be intentional about how we spend this particular day. I can choose sleep if I had a rough night (and that really might be the best option), I can choose to wake up earlier than my family to have a few moments to myself or I can hit that snooze button just a couple more times and be rushed through my morning.

For years I have worked on creating a good morning time routine. Some seasons it has worked better than others (read: babies). I have often been frustrated that even when I have the best plans laid out I get interrupted or I am exhausted and can’t execute them in the way I want.

This past year I was excited to hear about Kat Lee’s new book, Hello Mornings. The by-line is “how to build a grace-filled, life-giving morning routine.” She deep dives into her idea of 3 minute mornings. The concept is that baby steps will help you meet your goals. Start with very small steps and then build on them and on days when time is short you can return to those 3 minutes and it will still bless your day. Her steps are 1. God Time 2. Plan Time 3. Move Time. Doing these 3 things everyday makes such a huge difference.

Since I started following her advice I have been so much more consistent in working these things into my morning! I always want to go big or stay in bed, lol! But following her advice I notice that even when I am only able to do 3 minutes it still makes my day go so much better.

God Time

For God Time my one minute is to recite a Bible verse (frequently Psalm 143:8), say a quick prayer and sing a song of praise. My longer version includes journaling in Write the Word the Bible passage for the day, praying (using my prayer journal) and listening to praise music.

Plan Time

For Plan Time my one minute is to look over my calendar for the day. My longer version is to sit down and write out my to do list for the day and assign tasks to certain times of the day as necessary.

Move Time

For Move Time my one minute is to do a very short yoga routine in which I do Mountain Pose, Forward Fold a couple times and a Downward Dog. My longer version is do a 15 minute yoga routine using the Yoga Studio app on my phone.

Do you have a solid morning routine? What do you do to be consistent at making sure it happens? I would love to hear!

MamaKay

Filed Under: Books, self-care Tagged With: Books, hellomornings, write31days

Day 3 of Books: Bible Time

October 3, 2018 by mamakay Leave a Comment

Of all the reading I do it is most important for me to read my Bible so I try to start my day there. Some days I get to read more, some days less but God meets me whatever season I am in. There are a few different ways I use to keep me in the word on a daily basis.

My favorite way lately is using my Write the Word Journal from Cultivate What Matters. It has nice thick pages with gold foil lettering. It provides space for the date, something you are grateful for, a scripture reference to copy each day, an On My Heart section and finally a spot to pick a word for the day. Throughout the years I have found that writing scripture really helps me to focus on what I am ready and respond to it. I have often just used a notebook. Sometimes it is easy to get trapped in having to have everything perfect to begin but God again and again will meet you where ever you are.

I also LOVE She Reads Truth. I started using their app a couple of years ago. (You can buy the separate studies for $1.99 each or subscribe to the app for $1.99/month and have access to all of their studies.) After a while I subscribed to get their beautiful books. I prefer the feel of a real book sometimes plus it helps me to stay off of my phone.

I have also used the YouVersion app for many years. They have tons of Bible studies and different versions of the Bible you can study from.

I want God’s words to be firmly planted in my heart as I walk into my days so that I can reflect Him and have something firm to hold on to when there are words coming from so many directions. I need help to discern what is true, beautiful and good.

How do you make sure you get time in the Word every day?

MamaKay


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Filed Under: Books, Faith Tagged With: Bible, Books, she reads truth, write31days

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So glad you stopped by. I am a Christian wife and mother of 8 in the middle years. My kids are aged 4 to 20 and just about every 2 years in between. I write about our life as a big family, what God is personally doing in my life, food and books.

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