Helpful Books on Biblical Parenting

This is going to be my last Recommended Reading post for a while.

I will leave you with some of my favorite parenting books.

• Teach Them Diligently  Lou Priolo
• Age of Opportunity  Paul David Tripp
• For Instruction in Righteousness  Pam Forster
• The Heart of Anger  Lou Priolo
• Hints on Child Training H. Clay Trumball
• Shepherding a Child's Heart  Ted Tripp
• Keeping Our Children's Hearts  Steven and Teri Maxwell

And, my husband's favorite...

• Family Man, Family Leader  Philip Lancaster

Any of these books can be found at amazon.com.  If you should choose to order, please use my link.  You will be supporting Homegrown Cozy at no extra cost to you.  Thank you so very much!

Recommended Reading...For Boys

I'm doing something a little different for this week's recommended reading.  Instead of recommending a book for you, I'm recommending a book for your boys.

All of my sons say hands down this is one of their most favorite books.  It's a favorite of my husband's too.  My father in law even carried it home with him once after spending a few days reading it while he was visiting us.

I stumbled upon this book several years ago in the book section of Sams.  It caught my eye and after reading through it a tiny bit I decided to buy it and bring it home to my men.  I had no idea it would become so well loved!

The Dangerous Book for Boys covers everything from how to make (a really good) paper airplane, to Latin, and everything in between.

  Here's just a tiny glimpse of the contents:

• The Greatest Paper Airplane in the World
• The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
• The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know
• Making a Battery
• Making a Bow and Arrow
• U.S. Naval Flag Codes
• Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary
• Girls
• Understanding Grammar
• First Aid
• Navigation 
• Sampling Shakespeare
• The Ten Commandments
• Dog Tricks
• The Game of Chess
• Books Every Boy Should Read
• Latin Phrases Every Boy Should Know
• Time Line of Early American History

and a WHOLE LOT MORE!

If you are looking for a fantastic birthday or Christmas gift for a boy (or man) you love, you've just found it!   This book is perfect for boys of all ages.  I promise once you have The Dangerous Book for Boys on your bookshelves, your men will be busy reading for hours. My honey has said repeatedly he would love to use this book as a textbook in our home school.

To order your Dangerous Book just click here.

More Hours in My Day - Recommended Reading

Happy Monday morning to you!

For right now my husband isn't working on Mondays so I don't dread Monday mornings like I used to.  We get one more day out of our weekend and I actually love it.  Our only problem is deciding whether to work or to play on Mondays.  It's a battle between yard work and going to the Aquarium or a battle between housework and going swimming.  It's always a hard decision.  On one hand the hubs being home makes it a great day to get lots of things checked off the ever growing to-do list of household projects (i.e. - stain the deck, finish the front door, put down new mulch) on the other hand Daddy being home also makes it a great day for playing with the kids (i.e. - fishing, swimming, going to the park).  I tend to lean more toward playing on these days because I want to play with the kiddos as much as we possibly can, while we can, but there are the chores of life and the weeds in the flowerbeds must be dealt with.

I was thinking about my sister this morning.  She is gutting her kitchen today.  Not her alone, she and her husband and her hired kitchen renovators.  I was thinking of her packing away all her dishes and draping plastic over doorways.  Now THAT'S a Monday!  It will be a ton of work but the end result will be SO worth it.  Her kitchen is being stripped down to the bare bones.  For a while it may be a big mess but upon completion she gets a whole new kitchen...new floors, counter tops, cabinets, and paint.  I hope she took before pictures like her older, (wiser) sister told her too.  *wink*

So what's on your Monday?  I had considered going to pick berries today but I had nightmares last night about snakes.  Not just one, but several.  Those nightmares have dampened my enthusiasm for picking berries.

For this Monday's recommended reading I want to tell you about one of the most helpful books on my bookshelf - More Hours In My Day by Emilie Barnes.  If there is one thing I would really like to have it would be more hours in every day.  This book is the next best thing.  Since we are all going to have to make do with the 24 hours God gives us we might as well learn how to best use our time.  Emilie Barnes' book helped me get organized and manage my household many years ago and still helps me get back on track when I need it.  I keep this book where I can reach it easily for quick reference.  I have written before about it and you can read that HERE).

From the back cover - From general principles to specific suggestions, time-management expert Emilie Barnes guides you step-by-step to a less stressful, more organized life.  With wisdom and encouragement, she reveals her time-proven plan - including helpful charts, detailed instructions, and hundreds of ideas - to help you...

• establish simple systems that save time and money
• turn total mess into total rest
• help your family function as a team
• creatively love your husband, family, and friends.

Whether you work in or out of your home, the "More Hours in My Day" plan reveals how you can accomplish your goals and have more time for what you enjoy!

Order More Hours in My Day here.

Recommended Reading #7

Good Morning!  It's Monday again!

We've got such a busy week coming up at our house.  How about you?

This week I am recommending another one of my favorite books...

THE WELL TRAINED MIND  A Guide to a Classical Education at HOME  by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise

I have read this book several times and I've decided to make it my reading book again for summer.  It really is a book I love.  It has been a tremendous asset to our home school and one I recommend to all homeschooling mamas.

From inside the cover...

This book will instruct you, step by step, on how to give your child an academically rigorous, comprehensive education from preschool through high school - one that will train him or her to read, to think, to understand, to be well rounded and curious about learning.  Veteran home educators Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise outline the classical pattern of education called the trivium, which organizes learning around the maturing capacity of the child's mind and comprises three stages: the elementary school "grammar stage" when the building blocks of information are absorbed through memorization and rules; the middle school "logic stage," in which the student begins to think more analytically; and the high school "rhetoric stage," where the student learns to write and speak with force and originality.  

The Well Trained Mind will help you instruct your child in all levels of reading, writing, history, geography, math, science, foreign language, art, and music.  If you decide to read this book you will be glad you did!

(If you should have questions send them to me via email - 7morans@comcast.net - or in the comment section of this post.  Thanks!)

This Monday's Recommended Reading

If you read my last post you know I am recommending we all read our bibles more.  That being said, it should come as no surprise that my recommended reading for this week is The Holy Bible.   :)

If you are looking for a specific suggestion for where to start I would suggest maybe Proverbs, or the book of John.  I was reading recently about Christian conflict resolution and the author had much great advice.  My favorite piece was, "read Proverbs until you know it backwards".  I love the book of Proverbs.  It is packed FULL of wisdom.

I'm also partial to the gospel according to John.  This was the very first book of the bible that I did an in depth study on.  It is impossible to have a favorite book of the bible since every word of it is active and living and sharper than any two-edge sword, but if I was pressed for a favorite I might say John.

So, there you go, that's my recommended reading for this week.

Read your bibles, love on your family,  and make it a fantastic week!

Happy Memorial Day and This Week's Recommended Reading

Good Morning!  I'm only going to pop in here for a minute.  Our family has big plans for Memorial Day and I'm ready to get to the sun and fun.  :)

Today, I'm recommending another one of my faves.

 LARGE FAMILY Logistics
The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family
By Kim Brenneman

I love, love, love this book!

Here are the words from the first page...

"Home is Where Each Lives for the Other and All Live for Christ."

I love that.  We don't always live like that in our home but it is definitely a goal to strive for.

Top Five Reasons I love Large Family Logistics...

#5  This book is all about the family and the home, some of my favorite subjects to study.
(I am a homemaker after all!)
#4  This book can be read cover to cover, or you can flip to a particular subject and read for inspiration.
#3   LFL is chock full of helpful ideas.  Every time I read it I come away with something new.
#2  Kim Brenneman is not "all work and no play".  One of my favorite chapters is Chapter 27 - Tea Party Day.
#1  And the number one reason I love LFL is that it is a simple how-to manual FULL of tips for managing a busy household of many children.

By the way, you don't have to have an extra large family to enjoy this book.  There is so much goodness between the covers of Large Family Logistics, any mama would benefit from reading it.  Every thing is covered here...laundry, errands, meal planning, attitudes, goals, cleaning, pregnancy, family worship, systems and survival!

If you have this book, or if you order it, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section.


HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY...today may we remember.

I hope you have a very cozy day with your family.

Another Reading Recommendation

Good morning and happy Monday!  

Doesn't the weekend just get by soooo quickly?  

I spent the last few days soaking up the goodness that was the Teach Them Diligently convention.  I gleaned so much from the speakers and look forward to sharing with you in the coming days what I have learned.  This convention had major impact on our hearts.  Not only my husband and I, but our sons too.  Our boys attended several sessions on their own and each time we would meet up they would be excited to share with us their thoughts and their notes. It made for great conversations at meal time and on our drive home.  We were certainly blessed by our time at the convention, to say the least! 

We will not hide them from their children; 
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, 
His power, and the wonders He has done...
so the next generation would know them, 
even the children yet to be born
and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God 
and would not forget His deeds
but would keep His commands.
Psalm 78:4, 6, 7

I will be writing from my convention notes soon, but for today I wanted to give you my reading recommendation (since it is Monday morning, y'all!).

Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson.  

I've had this book for many, many years.  I first heard of it when my boys were very little.  I ordered this book, read it, and loved it!  Several years later I was digging in the free bin at a local bookstore and found another copy!  I grabbed it out and it wasn't long before a friend was at my house discussing homeschooling and I was able to give it to her.  (By God's grace we've had some amazing finds in the free bin but this was definitely my best find ever!) 

The reason I am recommending this book to you...

The timing of this recommendation is very interesting.  Like I've already said, I love Educating the Wholehearted Child but also, I just spent the weekend hearing Clay and Sally Clarkson speak.  Much of what they taught came from this book and I was reminded again how powerful the home-centered learning approach is for raising godly children.  This learning approach provides a natural way to disciple and to educate your children and the Clarkson's book helps give parents practical ways to make it happen.  This is the first book I recommend when someone comes to me and inquires about homeschooling.  If a mom is considering home education for her children but is afraid she just can't do it, I always recommend that she read Educating the Wholehearted Child.  Reading this book will help you come away from trying to replicate the classroom in your home and will take you to a place of using whole books and real life learning instead.  

Here's what you will find inside...

Home Education...A Step of Faith Toward Home

Discipleship...Shaping Your Child's Heart

Education...Strengthening Your Child's Mind

Teaching Models...Learning At Home, Naturally

Teaching Methods ...Instructing Your Child

Learning Styles...Understanding Your Child

Home Management...Getting It Together

Lifestyle...Making It Work

Support...Keeping It Going

Inside the cover of this wonderful book you will find scripture, inspiring quotes, practical ideas, recommended reading, help for combining discipleship and education, lifestyle suggestions, teaching methods, reproducible forms for planning and records, and tons more.  Whether you are brand new to homeschooling or you have been at it a while you are sure to benefit greatly from reading the Clarkson's book.  It truly is, in my opinion, the handbook for Christian home education.

If you are so inclined, you can order here.

Recommended Reading #3

Happy Monday Morning to you!  Today, the reading I am recommending is Sink Reflections.

This book literally changed my life.  I have always been a bit of a neat freak.  From the time I rented my first apartment when I was 19 years old I've had a little obsession with keeping things clean.  This obsession wasn't an issue all the years I lived alone in my apartment.  It wasn't really a problem when I married, or with one, two, and three babies.  During those years I was somehow able to keep the house as clean and tidy as I desired.  However, once those babies started getting bigger and we added baby number four I started to feel a struggle taking place.  I still wanted the house "perfect",  but doing things the way I had always done them was no longer working.  With four babies I wasn't able to spend a whole entire day cleaning.  With my numerous responsibilities and the blessings of having many children, my way of "keeping house" was not working.  I needed a new way.  I knew I must develop a new strategy and a new system before things got out of hand.

Enter Flylady!

I was at a party where someone mentioned "Flylady" so I went home and looked her up.  A few days later I ordered her book and my life has never been the same.  Flylady (A.K.A. Marla Cilley) has an amazing way of getting to the heart of the matter.  She is down to earth and completely realistic and her ideas, suggestions, and routines totally work!

Her book will help you establish a morning and a night time routine (which makes all the difference!) and will get you out of any rut you might be stuck in.  You will find a cleaning schedule that works for anyone.  You will also find help for getting out of C.H.A.O.S - can't have anyone over syndrome.

I use what I learned from this book every single day.  Our house is not perfect, but I am able to keep it under control, even now with six babes, my honey, our furry family members, and a pretty steady stream of house guests.  Flylady showed me how to set up a laundry system, how to do a room rescue (lifesaver) and how to get things accomplished while not being weighed down by perfectionism.  Don't get me wrong, my laundry still backs up and our house can get very messy.  The Flylady difference is that I now know how to get out from under a huge mess.  I've learned methods for running my home which make things a lot smoother - even if I don't follow them perfectly all the time.  Applying just one of the things you learn in this book once in a while will help your family and home and sanity!

If you are in need of a new way of doing things, or if you feel overwhelmed with clutter, this is the book for you!  I promise if you read this book you will find something that helps you.  I've recommended it to many friends over the years and I've loaned my copy out so many times the cover barely stays on.  Every single person I've mentioned it to has come back to me and shared how the book helped them.  I promise it will help you too!

More Recommended Reading

This week I am recommending one of my all time favorite books on parenting.  This is not only my favorite, but my husband's as well.  We have each read this book several times and I've decided today to begin rereading it.

Keeping our Children's Hearts by Steven and Teri Maxwell

Steve and Teri are the parents of eight children, most of them adults now.  We have met their entire family and have been blessed on several occasions to hear them speak.  They are a family that loves the Lord Jesus wholeheartedly.  In this book, Steve and Teri offer direction and encouragement on keeping hearts since every other parenting issue really relates back to that.  I cannot adequately describe to you how well written and helpful this book is.  Even when we are not reading through it, we are often using it as a reference.  There is so much goodness packed into this book - sheltering, goals, appetites, influences, encouraging children toward purpose in life, discipleship, and more.  Keeping our Children's Hearts is written for parents of young children to teens.  The Bible is my first and most favorite book on parenting and this one is my second!

(You can find Keeping our Children's Hearts HERE.)

Recommended Reading

I've decided to start something new on Mondays.  Each Monday morning I will have a book recommendation for you.  It will be a book I've read and loved, and a book I believe is helpful to those who are workers at home.

 Reading is my most favorite thing to do.  It is not a stretch to say I've read hundreds of books.  There are some books that are, in my opinion, stand-outs.  It will be the stand-outs that I mention here.  This may or may not be my only post on Mondays.  (It depends how my Monday goes, if you know what I mean.  And, I know you do!)

The first book I am going to recommend is The Excellent Wife: A Biblical Perspective by Martha Peace.  This book is one of my all time favorites.  I have read it four times and I will read it again.

I purchased this book in 1999 at a home school conference in Roanoke, VA.  (The book has nothing really to do with homeschooling, it was just available for purchase at the conference.)  The Excellent Wife had been mentioned to me by a friend and was also recommended by a speaker in one of the sessions I attended at the conference.  When I saw it at one of the tables I decided to purchase it and add it to my "to read" list.  It was a year before I got around to reading it but when I did, oh what a blessing was mine!  I read it twice that year and then in 2007 I used the study guide to facilitate a women's group in my home.  There were ten ladies including myself who met together in my living room for several weeks.  Everyone benefited and grew during that time, most of all me. (I don't think any of the husbands minded watching the kids on our meeting night considering the title of the book we were reading and studying.)

Being an "Excellent Wife" does not come naturally to me.  In fact, the opposite does.  And considering all of the bad advice given to wives, it's super important to look at what God's word has to say to wives.  (If you are not careful you begin to believe what the world is teaching and accept it as fact.)  Martha Peace writes her book for wives right from scripture.  She is not giving her opinion, or suggesting her ideas.  She takes the reader to scripture and points out what God says to wives.

Although I have read many, many wonderful parenting books I have chosen to recommend The Excellent Wife first.  The best thing you can give to your children is a strong marriage.  This book will aid you in being the wife God has called you to be and will strengthen your marriage in ways you could not have imagined.  By the way, I am not simply recommending this book to new wives.  I recommend this book for ALL wives.  Even if you have been married for 50 years I suggest reading this book.  In fact, this would also be wonderful reading for young women who are not yet married.  I wish I had read this before I was married instead of believing all of the worldly talk swirling around me.   It's better than I can describe and the only way to find out if I am right is to read it.  Please let me know if you do.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

**I like to keep things on the up and up here on my blog so just as a side note:  I am not being paid to endorse this book.  I am, however, paid a small commission by Amazon if you order from my blog.  If you should choose to, you can do so HERE.**

Thank you and HAPPY READING!  :)