Scout Spring Camping Trip 2018

It's been a LOOOOOOOONG time since I did a real "life" post. I keep telling myself I want to sit down and journal more, but I don't set aside the time. I'm determined to do this more often because although I'd prefer a handwritten journal, this is going to be much faster for me, and I love posting pictures and videos along with my reactions. I want the kids to be able to look back at these posts in a few years and revive these memories.

Last October was Hunter's first ever camping trip with Cub Scouts. Brianna and I stayed at home and let the boys have their boy time, but the truth is, I really love camping, and Bri loved the idea of it as well, so when the spring campout came around, I was determined for our whole family to go. I'm so glad we did! We had the best time! It was the first time I had been camping in probably 15 years, and obviously I had never been with the entire family, so it was a really awesome experience.

Here we go!

Within minutes of setting up, the kids were off in the woods, blazing trails and already creating games. The parents kind of looked at each other, not knowing what to do with our free time. It didn't take us long to figure out we just needed to pull up our chairs, grab a drink, and start getting to know one another with no worries of what our kids were doing.

Ahhh, this is the life! We should go camping more often!

The first evening was really just spent that same way - adults just hanging out, getting camp set up, and kids exploring throughout the acres of camp. Due to us being at a scout camp, we felt pretty confident that there wasn't much trouble they could get into. They were reminded to stay within earshot of the camp site, and I'm pleased to announce we had no issues of kids running off and getting lost (that I know of - but doing a head count wasn't up to me - just kidding!) There were probably 40 or 50 kids, and plenty of acres to occupy their different games and activities.

Once it got dark, we broke out the bonfire. All kids were required to have a flashlight or headlamp, so they could sit by the fire and relax, or continue playing in the woods. It didn't take me long to become comfortable with my 7 and 9-year old kiddos freely running through the dark woods with just a headlamp on. At some point you just have to turn the "what-if" part of your brain off.

It didn't take long for Bri and this young man, Lucas, to become friends, much to Stephen's chagrin. Haha!

Why is my child wearing sunglasses at night? The world will never know...

At 10:00, it was lights out, so we started getting ourselves ready for bed. We knew the next day would be a long one, and we wanted to get plenty of sleep.

Either someone's really excited, or the flash surprised her

After a good night's sleep, we woke up early to the Bears cooking a great breakfast! Pancakes, sausage, and fruit were our fuel for the day.

Bri with her 2 other "musketeers" - "T" and Lucas. You'll notice them in most of the pictures with her.

Getting ready for morning routine which includes the flag ceremony and laying out the plan for the day

After the flag ceremony, we were told for all the younger scouts under Webelo rank it was time to go bouldering. As you can imagine, this excited our kids GREATLY. They love rock climbing, rappelling and bouldering, so this was right up their alley!

After about an hour and a half of this (Brianna and Hunter climbed the walls more than any other kid - probably a dozen or more times), we headed back to camp. It was almost lunchtime, so we actually headed to the truck and left camp while everyone else was eating lunch. We headed back to Warner Robins for Hunter's soccer game! So as if he wasn't already worn out enough from playing and bouldering all morning, now he had a soccer game in the mid-day heat! But he rocked it, as usual, and the Broncos continue their undefeated season!

The camp we stayed at was Ottawa - right in between Cherokee and Natchez camps.

When we got back, the Tigers (that's Hunter's den) were working on some belt loop achievements. We went to find them and they were doing artwork with nature. These may be kind of hard to see, but these are some of their creations:

Bri's was also a stick figure portrait

After the boys were done with their artwork, we headed to a nearby field to play a game. It was up to the kiddos to create a game, and we would play kids vs. adults. They ended up creating some mixture of kickball and soccer, where the adults couldn't do ANYTHING but kick the ball, and kids could do absolutely anything they wanted! I'm pretty sure this game was rigged from the beginning! It was actually a ton of fun and I quickly regretted going for a mile-long run earlier that morning, as one of the kids singled me out and I had to run fast and furious multiple times to get away with my pride intact! At the end of the day it was a great game, and we had an awesome time playing with some great kids.

Soon after that, it was time for "saber wars" which meant the kids created their own light sabers out of pool noodles. It was time for battle! The kids went crazy with the pool noodles in a setting with no time limit and no rules. It was very interesting! After a while we stopped them and had them get ready for Crack the Crackers, or something like that. Basically each kid got saltine crackers taped to their shirt sleeves and sides of pants, and that's what you aim for on everyone else. Whoever is the last man standing with no cracked crackers is the winner!

Making the trek back to camp

After a full afternoon of running and games, we headed back to camp. I think about 3% of the campers took this opportunity to sit down in a chair and relax. The other 97% realized they had some free time, and took off to the woods again. It was so funny to hear some of the games these kids came up with. One night someone was Jesse James and the cops were coming to get him. One kid played an entire hockey game with a stick and a pinecone, while another boy was the commentator for the game. They played football and frisbee, and discovered every possible trail throughout the woods. They played Red Rover a lot, but I think cops and robbers was the main game I heard them play.

We did pull them all back together after a while for a couple of rounds of Tug of War - and the adults got in on it at the end!



Here's Bri's team winning:




 And here's Hunter's team winning:



It wasn't long until it was time for dinner - pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, and peach cobbler in a Dutch oven! I'm telling you, I could get used to this camping stuff.

After dinner, the kids played for so long they didn't even ask for smores until about 9:30. We were going to offer them around 8:00, but they were having such a great time, and no kid was talking about dessert, we figured we would let it ride!




Eventually it was time for bed. I know the kids didn't really want to go to bed, but at the same time they were worn out from the day's events. Tigers (Hunter's den) were responsible for breakfast, so that meant early rising for those kids!

Serving breakfast like champs!

Clean up duty means getting in a line and checking every square inch of our camp site after church. Leave no trace!

Time to go home - I was trying to get a picture of just how dirty he was, but it didn't come through here!



The kiddos together and the kids telling scary stories around the campfire (Bri is being her typical motherly self here)



But the adults had it the roughest of all....




Great success, and thank you to all of WR Pack 422! It's been a great year!

Million Dollar, One Person Business (Review)

This review is for the book "The Million-Dollar One-Person Business" by Elaine Pofeldt. If you are a small business owner, an entrepreneur, or someone who has even considered going down this route, you have GOT to get your hands on this book. It is slam full of awesome ideas and suggestions. The book has dozens of examples of what has worked and what hasn't worked for other small business owners and entrepreneurs. There are hundreds of resources in here for creating websites, making things easier on you, email accounts, freebies that you are going to want, etc. And tons of encouragement for making it through the first few years.

This book is underlined and highlighted all the way through for me! So much goodness in one space. It was really helpful. I definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Waterbrook Multonah for a copy of the book.

Seeds of Hope (Review)

This review is for the book "Seeds of Hope" by Barbara Cameron. I really enjoy the genre of Amish fiction and this book really did not disappoint. It had all the great elements of a romance novel and was still unique and held my interest.

Miriam and Mark grew up together, but only because Mark spent some summers at his Amish grandfather's farm working. There really isn't any hope for a relationship between the two of them considering he is English and she is Amish. Unfortunately for Mark, his big-time lawyer position is in jeopardy. Fortunately for Miriam, that means he is spending a lot more time at his grandfather's farm. It doesn't take long for them to realize there are feelings between them. But Mark wouldn't dare leave his law firm and his whole life in the city, right?

I loved the characters in this book and the easygoing pace of the story. There wasn't a lot of drama or anything like that. It's just a feel-good read.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for a copy of the book. 

Sacred Rest (Review)

This review is for the book "Sacred Rest" by Saundra Dalton-Smith, M.D. I will just go ahead and say this is one of the best books I have read in the last year. I needed this book so badly and didn't even realize it.

The book begins with why we need rest. It is crucial for our bodies, minds, emotions, spirituality, our creativity, and even for the social aspect. Then the book talks about the gift of rest and how we can come to that place. It might be setting boundaries and telling people no. It might be taking a break to do literally nothing. It might be figuring out the love language for your family members.

I'm telling you, this book is so well written. It's like she could see into my head and my heart to know what I needed! I am in love with this book.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for a copy of this book.

Roanoke Girls (Review)

This review is for the book "The Roanoke Girls" by Amy Engel. Okay, if you are into twisted, dark, gothic stories with horrible secrets that unfold, you will enjoy this book. I'm telling you what, there is something about the Roanoke girls that makes them different from everyone else... and when you find out what it is, you will probably do a double take. I literally started flipping backwards in the book to make sure I was reading correctly when I figured it out. This is a crazy story but the storyline and characters will absolutely suck you in. A must read.

Thank you to Waterbrook Multonah for a copy of the book.

Unimaginable (Review)

This review is for the book "Unimaginable" by Jeremiah J. Johnston. Now, don't tell me that title alone doesn't get you excited to read this book. What a startling thought, that really just gives me an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The book begins with the earliest religions, and how they spanned across cultures and civilizations. One chapter goes over the aspect of how suffering and healing go together. It wasn't that long ago that people's longevity was quite short. People were desperate for healing, particularly because medical knowledge was so limited. Johnston points out that people in these times were also usually afraid of death because they didn't know what to think of an afterlife. So this may have been why Jesus was followed so frequently - his healings and raising people from the dead made him quite popular!

I could go on and on about each chapter in this book but that would make this review too long and may spoil the book. This book is a phenomenal mix of history and theology. I don't save too many books to go on my shelf, but this one made the cut.

Thank  you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Melody of the Soul (Review)

This review is for the book "Melody of the Soul" by Liz Tolsma. This book is set in the 1940s and in it, we meet Anna Zadok, a Jewish Christian who lives in Prague. She has lost most of her family due to deportation, and though she still lives with her grandmother, she is unable to perform as a violinist due to the Nazi laws. She really isn't even supposed to play the violin anymore at all, and is afraid she is going to lose that privilege when a Nazi officer begins renting the space below her. Fortunately for her, he enjoys the music, as well as her company, it turns out. He's also finding that he doesn't agree with the Nazi ideology anymore.

I really enjoyed this book. I like books that have a bit of history involved in them. I really liked the characters and found their conversations flowing and easy to follow. If you enjoy historical romances, this will be right up your alley. I did appreciate the glossary of foreign words, which included some Czech and German words used throughout the book. After seeing them a couple of times it was very easy to familiarize myself with them.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for a copy of the book.

 

Travel back in time to 1943 and meet Anna Zadok, a Jewish Christian and concert violinist whose career is ended because of Nazi occupation in Prague. Don't miss the new historical novel, The Melody of the Soul, by Liz Tolsma. Though musical instruments have been declared illegal, Anna defiantly continues to play the violin. But Officer Horst Engel, quartered in Anna's flat and dissatisfied with German ideology, enjoys her soothing music. When Anna and her grandmother face deportation, Horst risks everything to protect them.

Join Liz Tolsma and other bookworms for a Facebook Live event on February 6, plus enter to win Liz's prize pack giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• One copy of The Melody of the Soul
• A garnet bracelet
• A box of Czech Republic chocolate

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on February 6. The winner will be announced at Liz's Facebook Live Party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Liz and other readers, as well as for a chance to win other prizes!

RSVP today and spread the word-tell your friends about the giveaway and Facebook Live party via social media and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 6th!

Dynamic Heart (Review)

This review is for the book "The Dynamic Heart in Daily Life" by Jeremy Pierre. This is a great book which focuses on connecting Christ to human experience. If you are involved in counseling or ministry in any capacity, this is a great book for you to read. Pierre began by discussing our heart in depth, and how it relates to theology. In the last several chapters he really puts everything together in a simple, direct way for when you are struggling to counsel someone. He discusses how to "hear" someone's heart when they're talking to you, how to help them understand their heart responses, how to look to Jesus in all situations, and how to transition to new responses in those situations.

The book is a bit lengthy and wordy in places, but I still really enjoyed it and learned a lot from it.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews for a copy of the book.

Answering the Toughest Questions About God and the Bible (Review)

This review is for the book "Answering the Toughest Questions about God and the Bible" by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz. I think the title is pretty self-explanatory because that is the goal of this book. There are awesome questions covered in this book, each taking up a chapter. Questions about the trinity, why the Bible is hard to understand, and the differences between God and Jesus. Each chapter is chock-full of interesting information and answers to these questions, with lots of questions for the reader to use to self-reflect. A lot of great scripture is used to help find the answers.

One con of this book - it didn't really seem that unique to me. I feel like I could throw a rock in a Christian bookstore and find several books like this. But I will say this book was very interesting and an engaging, easy-to-read format.

Thank you to Bethany House for a copy of the book.

100 Books of 2017

In 2009, I pledged to read 100 books over the course of 2010. Here's my list of 107 books in case you're interested.

I did it again in 2011 (why not?). Here's my list of 109 books.

The tradition continued in 2012 where I read a whopping 144 books! Here is my list from that year.

In 2013 I kept on chugging along, reading 104 books. Here is my list from that year.

In 2014 I hit my best record yet, reading 152 books. Here is my list from that year.

In 2015 I beat my record, reading 187 books. Here is my list from that year. 

In 2016, I read 166 books, focusing on books I owned but had never read. Here is my list from last year.

In 2017, I read 123 books. Oh no, I'm slipping! No, really what happened is we added a lot more commitments to our schedule, and so I am definitely reading a lot less. The good news is that I got rid of a lot of books. So here is my 2017 list:

• "God's Crime Scene for Kids" by Wallaces (123)
• "No One Ever Asked" by Katie Ganshert (122)
• "Imperfect Justice" by Cara Putman (121)
• "In Step with the Spirit" by Sarah Bowling (120)
• "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah (119)
• "My Heart's Cry" by Anne Graham Lotz (118)
• "Murder in Disguise" by Donn Taylor (117)
• "The Most Important Women of the Bible" by Aaron and Elaina Sharp (116)
• "Rescued Hearts" by Hope Toler Dougherty (115)
• "All Things Now Living" by Rondi Bauer Olson (114)
• "The Gift" by Shelley Shepard Gray (113)
• "Total Christmas Makeover" by Melissa Spoelstra (112)
• "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (111)
• "Healing Through the Power of Prayer" by Timothy Dailey (110)
• "A Small Book About a Big Problem" by Edward T. Welch (109)
• "A Forest, a Flood, and an Unlikely Star" by J.A. Myhre (108)
• "Daring to Hope" by Katie Davis Majors (107)
• "The Unlikely Disciple" by Kevin Roose (106)
• "Undaunted" by Christine Caine (105)
• "Too Far Down" by Mary Connealy (104)
• "Prayers for New Brides" by Jennifer O. White (103)
• "Descriptions and Prescriptions" by Michael R. Emlet (102)
• "John the Revelator" by Peter Murphy (101)
• "Skipping Christmas" by John Grisham (100)
• "The Pretender" by Ta'mara Hanscom (99)
• "Doing Hard Time" by Stuart Woods (98)
• "A Woman Overwhelmed" by Hayley DiMarco (97)
• "Bossypants" by Tina Fey (96)
• "Living the Spirit-Formed Life" by Jack Hayford (95)
• "Just Walk Across the Room" by Bill Hybels (94)
• "The Proving" by Beverly Lewis (93)
• "Dark Deception" by Nancy Mehl (92)
• "The Child Safeguarding Policy Guide" by Tchividjian and Berkovits (91)
• "Mercy Triumphs" by Jana Kelley (90)
• "Gathering the Threads" by Cindy Woodsmall (89)
• "Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference?" by Philip Yancey (88)
• "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis (87)
• "The Two of Us" by Victoria Bylin (86)
• "The Lifestyle of a Watchman" by James Goll (85)
• "God's Power to Change Your Life" by Rick Warren (84)
• "Active Spirituality" by Charles Swindoll (83)
• "A Name Unknown" by Roseanna M. White (82)
• "Are My Kids on Track?" by Sissy Goff (81)
• "God's Smuggler: Young Reader's Edition" by Brother Andrew (80)
• "Grounded Hearts" by Jeanne Dickson (79)
• "Be Angry But Don't Blow It!" by Lisa Bevere (78)
• "The Essential Guide to Prayer" by Dutch Sheets (77)
• "Dragon Seed" by Marty Machowski (76)
• "Winning the Battle for the Night" by Faith Blatchford (75)
• "True to You" by Becky Wade (74)
• "Stepping on Cheerios" by Betsy Singleton Snyder (73)
• "Life is Tough but God is Faithful" by Sheila Walsh (72)
• "Spiritual Warfare" by Derek Prince (71)
• "Pray About Everything" by Paul Tautges (70)
• "Praying Circles Around Your Children" by Mark Batterson (69)
• "My Daughter's Legacy" by Clark and Gould (68)
• "The Kindness Challenge" by Shaunti Feldhahn (67)
• "His Guilt" by Shelley Shepard Gray" (66)
• "The Good Book" by Deron Spoo (65)
• "Counterfeit Comforts" by Robia Scott (64)
• "The Captain's Daughter" by Jennifer Delamere (63)
• "Little House on the Freeway" by Tim Kimmel (62)
• "Welcome to College" by Jonathan Morrow (61)
• "Hiding From the Kids in My Prayer Closet" by Jessica Kastner (60)
• "They Thought For Themselves" by Sid Roth (59)
• "Fearless" by Max Lucado (58)
• "EKG: THe Heartbeat of God" by Ken Hemphill (57)
• "The Illuminati" by Larry Burkett (56)
• "He's Gonna Toot and I'm Gonna Scoot" by Barbara Johnson (55)
• "Wait No More" by Kelly & John Rosati (54)
• "Unglued" by Lysa TerKeurst (53)
• "Forensic Faith" by J. Warner Wallace (52)
• "The Great Chattanooga Bicycle Race" by Mike Mizrahi (51)
• "He Came First" by Rod Parsley (50)
• "There's No Place Like Here" by Cecelia Ahern (49)
• "Facing the Giants in Your Life" by David Jeremiah (48)
• "50% Off Murder" by Josie Belle (47)
• "Marked Down for Murder" by Josie Belle (46)
• "All Sales Final" by Josie Belle (45)
• "Driver Confessional" by David Winters (44)
• "The Joy of Letting Go" by Vicki Varuana (43)
• "Getting Jesus Wrong" by Matt Johnson (42)
• "The Jesus Club" by Brian Barcelona (41)
• "Getting to No" by Erwin W. Lutzer (40)
• "Catch Me" by Lisa Gardner (39)
• "Midwives" by Chris Bohjalian (38)
• "Think Again" by Jared Mellinger (37)
• "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn (36)
• "A Fragile Hope" by Cynthia Ruchti (35)
• "Brave is the New Beautiful" by Lee Wolfe Blum (34)
• "No Longer a Slumdog" by K.P. Yohannan (33)
• "Six Years" by Harlan Coben (32)
• "Sunshine and Shadow" by Earlene Fowler (31)
• "Steps to the Altar" by Earlene Fowler (30)
• "Unsinkable Faith" by Tracie Miles (29)
• "Chasing Famous" by Lisa Lloyd (28)
• "Angels" by Ed Rocha (27)
• "Unchained" by Noel Jesse Heikkinen (26)
• "Making Marriage Beautiful" by Dorothy Littell Greco (25)
• "Arkansas Traveler" by Earlene Fowler (24)
• "Seven Sisters" by Earlene Fowler (23)
• "Control Girl" by Shannon Popkin (22)
• "Close to Home" by Deborah Raney (21)
• "Home at Last" by Deborah Raney (20)
• "Home to Paradise" by Barbara Cameron (19)
• "Goose in the Pond" by Earlene Fowler (18)
• "Tightropes and Teeter-Totters" by Lisa Pennington (17)
• "Kansas Troubles" by Earlene Fowler (16)
• "Amish Weddings" by Leslie Gould (15)
• "When the Wind Blows" by James Patterson (14)
• "I Am a Church Member" by Thom S. Rainer (13)
• "The 5th Horseman" by James Patterson (12)
• "The Mark of the King" by Jocelyn Green (11)
• "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne (10)
• "Witch & Wizard" by James Patterson (9)
• "It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be" by Paul Arden (9)
• "Grace Under Pressure" by Julie Hyzy (8)
• "Gianna: Aborted, and Lived to Tell About It" by Jessica Shaver Renshaw (7)
• "Life Creative" by Wendy Speake and Kelli Stuart (6)
• "Blood Orchid" by Stuart Woods (5)
• "Orchid Blues" by Stuart Woods (4)
• "Seasons of the Heart" by Donna Kelderman (3)
• "Hide And Seek" by James Patterson (2)
• "Iron Orchid" by Stuart Woods (1)

Favorite authors of 2017: Stuart Woods (always), James Patterson (always), Deborah Raney, J.A. Myhre, Becky Wade

Books that I gushed about: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer, "A Woman Overwhelmed" by Hayley DiMarco, "Stepping on Cheerios" by Betsy Singleton Snyder, "The Kindness Challenge" by Shaunti Feldhahn, "Hiding From the Kids in my Prayer Closet" by Jessica Kastner, "Getting Jesus Wrong" by Matt Johnson, "Control Girl" by Shannon Popkin

Chapter Books I read with the kids: 

• "Little Pear" by Eleanor Frances Lattimore (7)
• "The BFG" by Roald Dahl (6)
• "Scooby-Doo and the Howling Wolfman" by James Gelsey (5)
• "Ramona Quimby, Age 8" by Beverly Clearly (4)
• "Chocolate Fever" by Robert Kimmel Smith (3)
• "The Littles Go Exploring" (2)
• "Treasure Island" by Robert Louise Stevenson (1)

We read about half as many chapter books together this year than we did last year. We went crazy on library books. I'm probably going to try to read at least 10 chapter books with them this year.

Any good reads of YOURS this year? I'd love to have the titles and authors of some of your favorite reads so I can look into them!