A Melodious Sonnet

Esther Filbrun

Midweek Mix-Up #11: A Great Revolution-Era Book, and Productivity Printables

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This week, as I was adding some books to Goodreads (follow me here if you’re interested!), I realized that I had forgotten to update this year’s reading goal for the past couple months! I was thankful that I had the record on here of past midweek mix-up posts—that made remembering what I’ve been reading much easier. So besides the fact that I enjoy putting these posts together, I was thankful I had taken the time to keep a record of what I’ve been reading!

Reading this week:

The Destiny of One, by Sarah Holman

The Destiny of One, by Sarah Holman
Progress: Finished

I finished this book Saturday. What an adventure! I’m thrilled to know I have the second book in the series, too, but I’m slightly hesitant to start it because I don’t want to get to the end and not have the third book ready to start! I found the first half of this book pretty slow going, but after the 60% mark things really picked up and I finished the whole thing one afternoon. This book isn’t quite as good as some of Sarah Holman’s later books—but considering it was her debut, I can understand. Overall, I really enjoyed the story, and plan on writing a review of it for the website.

>> My review of The Sound of Diamonds is up! You can read it on my personal blog here.

Why Purposeful Families are Important

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Recently, while reading part of my school work, I came across an interesting quote that reinforced the thought for me that purposeful families are important. By “purposeful”, I mean purposefully teaching children the skills they will need as they grow up—intentionally helping them learn the things that will make or break them as adults.

Why Purposeful Families are Important

Here’s the quote:

Midweek Mix-Up #10—Science Fiction and a Free Motivating Chrome Extension

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Reading this week:

Last week, I found this fancy Chrome extension that converts blog posts to Kindle books (and sends them directly to your Kindle) with only a few clicks. So I’ve been reading a lot more blog posts recently than I had been for quite a while. Consequently, I haven’t read a whole lot in the way of real books this week, but I have read a fair amount in . . . .

The Destiny of One, by Sarah Holman

The Destiny of One, by Sarah Holman
Progress: 27%

This is a fascinating book. The first true science fiction book I’ve ever read, I believe—apart from the Magic Schoolbus series, of course (I guess The Twenty-One Balloons is sci-fi, but that doesn’t feel like the typical sci-fi book). I’m not sure it’s completely my genre—I’ll probably be a stickler for good ole’ historical fiction—but Maria has certainly interested me in her story and quest. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Why Your Children’s Homemade Videos are Important

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Over the years, my siblings and I have made several short videos. Some were serious, others were goofy, and some were a combination. Those videos are precious memories for us to look back on.

One of the short “movies” my brothers and I have made.

I think the main reason homemade videos are important is that they are like time capsules—we were just watching one of the ones we took a year ago, and noticed that the one boy’s voice is a lot deeper now. Not only that, but many of the actors’ personalities show through—which will be fun to see in years to come.

Incorporating God’s Truth into Ordinary Life

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I’m finding I like short, to-the-point posts. Which do you prefer—short, or longer posts? In today’s post, I’m discussing incorporating God’s truth into ordinary life—not only when you’re reading the Bible together as a family, but also when you’re studying history—or doing the dishes together.

Recently, I was reading a little book called Bomby the Bombardier Beetle. As I read, I was amazed at how easily the story of creation was woven naturally into the story.

“x IMG_5258” by David Hill via Flickr

Later, I realized that we can just as easily weave those truths into different parts of our homeschooling! Perhaps we won’t be teaching on creation as such, but maybe we can teach about the fall of man, or the beauty of redemption, or something else.