Diana B.

Just Remember in the Winter

January 28, 2015 Diana B.1 Comment

“Just remember in the winter, far beneath the winter snows, lies the seed that with the sun’s love in the spring becomes the rose.” -Amanda McBroom

“Won’t you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you.” ― Richard Brinsley Sheridan

“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow’.” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” – Abraham Lincoln

“And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

I’m just taking a moment to rejoice over the roses of last summer. I never got around to posting the pictures when the flowers were in bloom. But oh, seeing these now, I can almost smell the roses.

And my dear peonies!

It almost feels like a stroll through the garden.

Thanks for visiting!

The Writing on the Wall

January 26, 2015 Diana B.Leave a comment

When I was a small child, I loved to play quietly, all alone in my bedroom. Sometimes I’d play there contentedly for hours. My mother used to say that’s when she would worry about me most. Evidently, sometimes I was “up to no good” all alone in that pink room at the end of the hall.

On one such occasion, I was up to no good with my crayons, happily drawing pictures and letters on my bedroom wall. I thought I was decorating it beautifully. But when Mama found me, she spoke in quite an irritated tone, with her hands perched squarely on her hips and her jaw set back in an under-bite. “What do you think you are doing? Why are you writing on the wall?”

Continue reading this story at The End in Mind…

The Writing on the Wall

Did someone say ‘Tea Party?’

January 26, 2015 Diana B.1 Comment

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” -C.S. Lewis

A sweet friend of mine recently informed me that January is National Hot Tea Month. How did I not already know this? Thankfully, we had ample opportunities to celebrate last week — with multiple tea parties in multiple locations.

One tea party included this darling little 3-year-old friend that my oldest was babysitting.

My youngest was a guest at a tea party with her friend and her friend’s grandma. Meanwhile, I served a tea luncheon to my oldest and one of her best friends.

And then tonight three of us had a little post-Paddington movie tea party. I won’t spoil the movie for you, but I must note that it is quite delightful and includes a very memorable scene in an antique shop during which the bear and Mrs. Brown are served tea from an enchanting toy train. It is simply magical!

This week we aim to have at least one tea party a day, during which my youngest will likely continue to practice speaking with an English accent. Yes, we are indeed Anglophiles.

Homemade scones with Devonshire cream, crust-less cucumber sandwiches and Walker shortbread cookies are some of our most favorite items to enjoy alongside a cup of hot tea. And for the tea itself, well, we have some wonderful connections at a great place called TeaSource, which serves hot tea by the pot and also sells an extensive variety of loose leaf teas. Three of our favorites that we brought home — all black tea blends — are Georgia Sunshine, Blueberry Fields, and Roasted Chestnut. I hope to try the Fireside Spice, too.

Happy tea-sipping!

A Warm Winter Day

January 19, 2015 Diana B.Leave a comment

Partly sunny and 42 degrees — January doesn’t get much better than this in Minnesota.

We soaked up the warmth at the Arboretum this afternoon — rebelling against winter by taking off our gloves now and then. One of us left her heavy winter coat at home, and another left her coat unbuttoned.

The girls took turns practicing with the camera.

The greenhouse felt warm and lush. What a joy to be surrounded by real-live, green, growing plants with leaves! My youngest was determined to do some sketching, and she liked what she saw from this little bench. My oldest, who is studying botany this semester, liked that this is a “please touch” greenhouse, and she especially appreciated the orange trees and herbs.

I especially appreciated these blooms.

Thank You, God, for the gift of this unseasonably warm January day!

Something Glorious

January 18, 2015January 18, 2015 Diana B.1 Comment

A mostly out-of-tune orchestra of trumpets and horns. That’s the strange music you hear long before you see anything at Swan Park.

Squeezing patiently through the crowd of spectators, many heavily armed with digital SLR cameras and zoom lenses, you eventually get a glimpse of glory.

Trumpeter swans! Hundreds, sometimes even a thousand, wintering trumpeter swans gather on this rare spot of open water on the Mississippi River when the marshes and ponds in Minnesota are frozen. While the river does freeze over, this particular spot in Monticello rarely freezes because of the power plant upstream.

Joining the swans are hundreds of mallard ducks and Canadian geese, too.

A riverside resident and swan-lover, Jim Lawrence broadcasts corn to feed the swans at 10:30 every morning between mid-November and March, and so the swans know him well. No one else gets this close to the wild birds.

Jim’s late wife, Sheila Lawrence, was known as the Swan Lady. She fed and studied the swans for 25 years, helping document the restoration of these birds. The swans now number close to 5,000 in Minnesota, but these natives were absent from the state between the 1880s and 1960s. The Three Rivers Park District and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources were instrumental in reintroducing them to the state in the mid 1980s when 150 trumpeter swan eggs were brought in from Alaska.

Knowing that history, it’s a miraculous, glorious sight to see so many swans. And yes, it’s cold just standing and watching.

But these majestic birds fascinate and entertain you as they interact with each other and the sometimes bully the other waterfowl.

The most amazing sight is seeing them come in for a water landing.

Their approach seems slow as they glide in on wings spanning 7 feet. Their big webbed feet seem like a strange hybrid of landing gear, water-skis and black rubber boots.

For details about visiting the swans on the Mississippi this winter, click here. And for more about the Swan Lady, check out this video from the Minnesota DNR.

10 Books for Winter Read-Alouds

January 14, 2015 Diana B.1 Comment

“Of all the forms of water, the tiny six-pointed crystals of ice called snow, that form in such quantities within the clouds during storms, are incomparably the most beautiful and varied.” -W.A. Bentley

I love snowflakes, and every January I tend to go a little snowflake-flakey around our schoolroom. As the Christmas decorations come down, up go the snowflakes! And as I stash away our collection of Christmas books, out come the snow-themed picture books! Here are 10 of our favorites in no particular order.

1. Snowflake Bentley tells the true story of another snowflake lover, W.A. Bentley, who mastered the art of photographing these “exquisite bits of nature.” This book by Jacqueline Briggs Martin is a Caldecott Medal winner published in 1998. If you like it, check out W.A. Bentley’s own book of his micro-photography masterpieces: Snowflakes in Photographs, first published in 1931 by the American Meteorological Society.

2. White Snow Bright Snow starts with a lovely poem and then tells a quaint tale about a snowstorm blanketing a friendly little town. The characters — a farmer, a postman, a policeman, and rabbits — are endearing. Written by Alvin Tresselt, this is a Caldecott Medal winner that was first published in 1947.

3. The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader features several woodland creatures preparing for snow and lean winter months. Published in 1949, it also was awarded the Caldecott Medal.

4. A delightful little boy is the main character enthralled with the snow in The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. I love that he puts a snowball in his coat pocket to keep for tomorrow and then goes inside his warm house. Another Caldecott Medal winner, this classic book was published in 1962.

5. Brave Irene is a memorable story of a little girl who loves and obeys her mother and perseveres through a trial involving wind and snow. Written by William Steig and published in 1986, this book received the honor of being a “New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year.”

6. In Owl Moon a little girl and her Pa tromp through the snowy, moon-lit woods in search of a great horned owl. This book was written by Jane Yolen and beautifully illustrated by John Schoenherr; it was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1987.

7. Combining Robert Frost’s classic poem with downright gorgeous illustrations of wintry woods makes the book Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening a must-see. The illustrations are by Susan Jeffers, and the book was first published in 1978.

8. The Tiny Snowflake is a sweet little board book about a swirling snowflake named Lacy who is searching for her special place in God’s creation. Published in 2003, this book was written by Art Ginolfi and illustrated with delightful pictures by Louise Reinoehl Max.

9. Twelve Kinds of Ice is a long picture book with simple but captivating illustrations by artist Barbara McClintock. This charming story about a family’s ice skating rink is written by Ellen Bryan Obed. It was published in 2012 and was a much-loved gift for my 9-year-old this Christmas.

10. Magnificently illustrated and filled with clever poems about the cold, Winter Bees by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen is another new favorite in our family. “Big Brown Moose” and “Snowflake Wakes” are my top two favorites. Nature-lovers will appreciate the sidebars featuring details about how the animals in each poem cope with winter weather. Also, the glossary of scientific terms in the back is much appreciated by this homeschool mom. The book was just released in 2014 and makes a great gift for nearly all ages.

Happy reading!

Snowshoes for Christmas

December 27, 2014 Diana B.1 Comment

A white Christmas is always lovely. But this year a white Christmas seemed ever more desirable because we were giving the girls snowshoes as a main gift.

It turned out that we had a white Thanksgiving and a brown Christmas. November and December traded places. We did have big snowflakes falling down on Christmas day, but somehow those didn’t stick. It’s Murphy’s Law — if Minnesotans give their children snowshoes for Christmas, there will be no snow.

Much to our delight, in the evening the day after Christmas, the backordered snow arrived. It fell thick through the windy night, and by morning we had 5 or 6 inches.

Southern girl that I am, I had no idea if 5 or 6 inches is enough snow to snowshoe in. But a few friends I consulted thought it was, so the girls and I bundled up and headed to the backyard with our brand-new snowshoes. Yes, I received a pair, too!

Snowshoes attach to your snow boots, and I think I got mine on right.

As a test, the girls trekked around the backyard for a bit.

Then we headed out onto the frozen lake, feeling very adventurous.

I can’t decide if snowshoes make me feel more like a mountaineer or more like Big Foot. But I do like them.

We left a few tracks on the frozen lake. We didn’t make it all the way across yet since it was 11 degrees and getting dark.

We’re looking forward to another snowshoeing adventure soon!

12 Board Books We Still Love

December 20, 2014December 20, 2014 Diana B.Leave a comment

Around age 6 months, my oldest daughter started chewing on her board books. And ever since then, words have been as much a part of her diet as bread and water.

I suppose that following a word-lover’s diet is what makes it hard for us to part with any books around here, even those chunky little board books with chewed up edges that my 9-year-old and 12 year-old obviously outgrew ages ago. Or did they? Does anyone truly ever outgrow a good little story?

Part of what makes some of those first board books so special is that they were how we first started sharing truths about God with our children. Stories about God’s love and His faithfulness, stories about Jesus, stories from the Old Testament — these were all first shared in board book format.

We still keep some of these special board books around for little friends to enjoy when they visit us. And so here’s a dozen of our favorite, faith-based board books — just perfect for the little one with chubby little hands who likes to help you turn the pages as you read together. Or for any one else, of any age, who still likes to hear a good little story full of truth.

God Lives in My House by Melody Carlson

God Goes with Me by Melody Carlson

God Made Them All by Melody Carlson

I Can Count on God by Melody Carlson

Jesus Loves Me by Debby Anderson

Baby’s First Book of Psalms by Steven Elkins

Just in Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado

Lift-the-Flap Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Lift-the-Flap Bible Adventures by Allia Zobel Nolan

The Story of Easter by Patricia A. Pingry

The Story of Jesus by Patricia A. Pingry

The Story of the Ten Commandments by Patricia A. Pingry

Happy reading!

Books We Love: 30 Great Books for Family Devotions

November 25, 2014 Diana B.Leave a comment

The season for Christmas shopping is upon us! Finding a worthwhile gift that will delight the whole family and help everyone grow deeper in the faith isn’t as hard as it may seem. Here’s a list of some of our favorite books to enjoy together as family devotions.

Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes by Dave and Neta Jackson

Hero Tales Volume I

Hero Tales Volume II

Hero Tales Volume III

Hero Tales Volume IV

This is a very comprehensive treasury of stories about the inspiring lives of faithful men and women; some are missionaries, and some are pivotal in church history. Each book covers 15 heroes, and for each hero the books include three stories highlighting specific character qualities and corresponding Bible verses. These are fabulous books for family devotions.

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

The story of Jesus is woven carefully throughout this uniquely illustrated children’s Bible. I love that the captivating illustrations for some of the stories are spread out vertically and others horizontally — it keeps story time exciting. This Bible makes a fantastic baby gift. It is available in other languages, as an audiobook and on DVD, too.

Mighty Acts of God: A Family Bible Story Book by Starr Meade

This book includes 90 illustrated Bible stories highlighting the mighty acts of God. I love the illustrations, and the length of the stories is just right for bedtime.

Wondrous Works of God: A Family Bible Story Book by Starr Meade

This book includes another 90 illustrated Bible stories highlighting the wondrous works of God and His character. Again, Tim O’Connor’s illustrations are wonderful.

God’s Names by Sally Michael

This book features 26 devotionals exploring the many names of God. It is very similar to the content of the Children Desiring God Sunday School curriculum, which was produced by the same author.

God’s Promise by Sally Michael

This book features 26 devotionals about God’s promises. Likewise, the content is similar to the Children Desiring God Sunday School curriculum.

God’s Providence by Sally Michael

This book features 26 devotionals about God’s providence.

God’s Wisdom: Making Him Known by Sally Michael

This book features 26 devotionals about God’s wisdom.

Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones

This beautifully illustrated book is filled with 101 individual truths to ponder. These are excellent for busy nights when you only have 5 minutes for devotions.

God’s Mighty Acts in Salvation by Starr Meade

Based mostly on the book of Galatians, this study includes 40 devotions about God’s plan of salvation.

God’s Mighty Acts in Creation by Starr Meade

Based on the six days of creation, this book includes 45 devotions.

Leading Little Ones to God by Marian M. Schoolland

This book includes 86 devotionals, which include a lesson, some questions to discuss, a suggested Bible passage and a brief hymn to sing.

Building on the Rock series by Joel Beeke and Diana Kleyn

How God Used a Snowdrift

How God Used a Drought and an Umbrella

How God Sent a Dog to Save a Family

How God Used a Thunderstorm

How God Stopped the Pirates

These books feature inspiring stories of God’s wonderful works and are great for either family devotions or personal devotions for your independent readers.

Hymns for a Kid’s Heart series by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada

Hymns for a Kid’s Heart Volume 1

Hymns for a Kid’s Heart Volume 2

Christmas Carols for a Kid’s Heart Volume 3

Passion Hymns for a Kid’s Heart Volume 4

This set is truly a treasure. Each book comes with a full-length music CD, which is produced quite well and features very pleasant children’s voices. For each hymn they include about five to six pages. Two pages focus on the hymn story, usually about the life of the hymn’s author. There’s also a one-page devotion, one sheet of music, words of all the verses, a corresponding Scripture, and a prayer. In the back of each book is a glossary of words that may be unfamiliar for children, like “bulwark” and “wretch.” The books also include beautiful illustrations. Sadly, they are no longer in print, but used copies are available.

Miller Family Storybooks (Set of 6)

Storytime with the Millers

Wisdom and the Millers – Proverbs for Children

Prudence and the Millers

School Days with the Millers

Missionary Stories with the Millers

Growing with the Millers

These books are about the Millers, a family full of sweet characters. They offer great lessons and biblical truths, and it is easy for readers to learn from the mistakes of others in these valuable, albeit old-fashioned, stories with simple illustrations.

That’s all for the list of family devotional books. Up next is a list of a dozen favorite board books — just perfect for the little one with chubby little hands who likes to help you turn the pages as read together.

Happy reading!

Fall Didn’t Even Wave Good-bye…

November 12, 2014 Diana B.1 Comment

I mentioned earlier this week that winter has made a premature arrival here in Minnesota. Just as we finished hauling off bags of leaves and dilapidated jack-o-lanterns and were only beginning to crave a turkey dinner, our scarecrow turned into a snowman. Just. Like. That.

Today I looked out the window to see a strange stillness and an all-too-familiar whiteness settling upon the lake. I grabbed the binoculars and searched for the slightest wave.

Nothing. Autumn had up and left without a farewell or even the slightest wave good-bye.

In disbelief, the girls and I hiked down to the dock. We gathered a few big sticks along the way to help us get an almost first-hand feel of this strangeness.

It took some significant poking for the sticks to break through the layer of ice, which was lightly dusted with snow.

These two are looking forward to ice skating soon — but not too soon.

Stay warm, Minnesota, and happy Nov-winter?!

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