Book Review: Redifining Beautiful

I have been reading Redifining Beautiful by Jenna Lucado this week, and really enjoying it! I love ministering to teen girls and I highly recommend this book, it is TRULY a great resource! She has done such a great job packing a lot of wonderful BIG LESSONS into a really easy-to-read, non-confrontational format. Jenna doesn't shy away from using plenty of scripture and presents the gospel in a clear "girlfriend" way that is so effective with teens! She is vulnerable and honest in a way that is very real.

Most of all I love the way she provides plenty of opportunities to personally apply the lessons with questions and fill-in-the blanks - with just the right balance so that it still seems fun -not like homework. These little fill in the blanks and the great text boxes throughout featuring "beauty tips" will really keep the interests of girls and make them go deeper -they can't just read it, by making it personal, Jenna forces them to apply it. I would love to see this book become a full girl's Bible study! I've had a hard time finding studies like this book that approach the topic of "self image" in deep, powerful way!

I plan on having my daughter Ally read the book even though in my eyes she is far from being a teen! It is deep enough in its content that more mature, college age and well grounded girls will get a lot out of it, but this book would be great for girls who have struggled with their faith or who have not had the best relationship with their dads. Jenna focuses throughout the book on how your relationship with your dad, (and your heavenly dad) shape how you see yourself. As she says in the book, "Though our earthly dads will impact who we are, it's only our heavenly Dad's love that can define who we are. It's only this Dad's love that can make us complete and fill every need in or hearts. And it's only this Dad's love that can determine whether we see ourselves, others, and God according to the standards of a new kind of beauty - a beauty we may have never known existed."

Here's a link to see the author talking to girls about the book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrm6oi-v_J0

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More Great Pictures

the daring, athletic adventurer

the quirky, imaginative fashionista

the funny, inquisitive explorer

Our Family Vacation

We had wonderful luxury accommodations in Max and Nana's camper. It was perfect, comfortable - and we didn't destroy anything the whole time!

We had SUCH a wonderful time on our vacation! We went to the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and hiked at Eagle Rock Loop. It was so fun! It started off rough with a hyper dog in a cramped space - one call to the vet and 3 adult Benedryll and she was very calm!

We did LOTS of fun day hikes - we did about 15 miles total and the kids did amazingly well! The dog's paws got really sore after about the 2nd day and she was worn out! 'Course she was hiking circles around us the entire time. She probably hiked 60 miles for our 15.

Rescue dad - pulling kids from rushing water and keeping us all safe at his own expense!

We did one big overnight hike to Winding Stair and it was wonderful right up until a huge thunderstorm that lasted from about 11pm to 5am and soaked us completely. As a result, the already difficult water crossings became VERY scary! The water rose several feet in the night.

Ally carried a full pack and didn't even complain. All the kids were SO tough!

Our favorite lunch spot.

We veered off the trail at one point and found possibly one of the most perfect spot we have ever come across. The kids named it the lagoon. It was this beautiful, deep spot in the Little Missouri River and we had fun enjoying the cool, clear water.

I'm sure plenty of people have been here before us, but it felt like we discovered it. It was so neat to find a spot that you have to hike 4 miles uphill to get to and swim across 2 rivers. WAY off the beaten path! These are the things that make hiking really rewarding.

The dog kept getting swept away by the current and that was kind of scary, but SHE loved the water! She jumped in with her backpack and ruined her dogfood, so she had to eat our food. She was too tired to eat anyway. The funniest thing she did - all the kids were bringing Dad the best rocks they could find for him to judge, and she brought Byron a rock too. A big one too, like 4 inches around.

DEEP water crossings! We had to take off our shoes and walk in crocs or flipflops. They were fun, but made things difficult. We had beautiful weather!

Here is our hero - this crossing was so difficult after the rains that Byron had to carry everyone's packs, and carry each of us across. I couldn't have even made it without him - the current was very strong.

After a day to recover we went to Shady Lake State Park which was PERFECT! We had the whole place to ourselves and we camped right by a stream and the playground. The kids made boats out of twigs and had a big race.

More day hikes and MORE river crossings. Pretty much everyone fell in at least once.

We hiked up to Tall Peak Tower and had this tremendous view! We could see all the way to Oklahoma.

Day hike up a steep cliff made easy with a climbing rope.

Because the park was so deserted, (except us) the kids really had a lot of freedom to ride bikes and play.

We experimented with lots of cool camp foods. One of our favorites we named Mookies - a toasted marshmallow sandwiched between 2 chocolate chip cookies. YUM!

Memories

Fort Fisher, NC (September 2008)

Fort Fisher Ferry

Art Class

We had a great time at our GWCHE homeschool group Art Class last night. This is my 8 year old, Gracie's painting. I have taught this same group of lessons for art classes in public schools, private schools, and all kinds of other groups but I don't think it has ever been so easy! They did SO well! 50 kids, a 1 1/2 hour class, and NO problems? Unheard of. I've never had a group so great at following directions. I didn't really think of that as a quality that comes from homeschooling. You know what I think? I think they were better at listening - maybe because they have been listened TO more than average. They LOVE the part of Art Class where we talk about Art History, too! Usually I get eye rolls and yawns for that part, but several of them asked for more pictures. Maybe I just caught them on a good night. They really produced some great art, too! They surprised me!

However, we didn't have enough time to complete our fish. So here's the steps to complete it:

1. Finish the little details in pencil if you haven't already.

2. Paint the fish with nice, bright colors.

3. After the painting is completely dry, trace over your pencil lines with a black marker.

4. Cut out your fish and glue onto blue paper. I know, it is hard to find that big paper, one suggestion is to get a piece of blue posterboard and cut it down to the right size.

Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

Okay, so it wasn't exactly fruit roll ups, but it is VERY similar to those expensive organic fruit leather strips. All my kids, as they have gotten older, have started to hate raisins, as a matter of fact, they aren't very fond of much dried fruit. They all love grape flavor, so I thought I'd be inventive with some cheap raisins. It is really hard to find fruits and vegetables they can eat backpacking, so I'm going to experiment some this week and see what I can come up with.

Okay, here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil; coat foil with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Combine dried fruit with water in a heavy saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes or until soft.

4. Drain liquid and pour fruit into a blender. Puree until smoothish.

5. Pour fruit onto foil and spread evenly, making sure there are no holes.

6. Place sheet into oven for 25 minutes. Without opening oven, turn heat off and leave oven door shut for 8 hours. Mine didn't seem to be getting done, maybe I was just impatient, so I turned it back on low every now and then to heat the oven back up.

7. Remove baking sheet from oven and gently peel fruit from foil. Set on waxed paper, right-side down, and press down.

Everyone liked them, even picky Daniel. Although he said they tasted a little too "raisiny."

Who knew bubble were more fun in the rain? The kids stood at the edge of the carport and blew bubbles into the rain. They clumped big piles of bubbles together in the rain puddles and big bubble blobs made old boring bubble stuff exciting. Good ol' rainy day fun. Mom, on the other hand was inside scrubbing muddy paw prints out of the carpet. Once again the dog opening the door by herself is a cute trick, but man, I hate it.

Chef Gracie's Lunch Creations

Gracie made these great creations for lunch yesterday. It's a dog, can you tell? She is such a great cook and kitchen helper! I was cooking some chicken in the crockpot and I said, "Gracie could you mix up some of your special sauce?" She whipped up a batch of the best homemade barbecue sauce you could imagine, and the chicken was delicious. We were talking about it with some friends later and someone asked her for her recipe, and she didn't want to share it! I guess it is a secret between her and her daddy. All I know is when they cook, it looks to me like they are doing more tasting than cooking.

We got the dog a backpack today. The kids put their bags on so she wouldn't feel strange - so maybe she would understand that it was like theirs? She tried to chew on it at first, but now she really doesn't seem to mind it. We didn't put any weight in for a while, then we tried a couple of books on each side. The weight didn't make any difference to her. We can't wait to try it out on the trail! She will have to carry her own food, 1 water bottle, and a collapsible food dish while we are hiking.

Working

Boy, our first evening of work at the Scholastic Distribution Center wore Ally and I out! It was hard work, but SO worth it on so many levels. We were working for $10 an hour credit in books -which is great. It was so nice to let Ally earn some Christmas gifts on her own - I mean how many 11 year olds can make that kind of money? And of course Ally is a book nut like her mother!
But, more than that - what a great teaching moment to teach her about work ethic! I was working side by side with her and reminding her we can't dawdle through the books as we would like to. It was a great moment to practically apply Col 3:23, " Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, no for men." Ally is such a practical kid, and she is really careful with money. But working for pay also really helped her see the value of money and work a little differently. She really wants 39 Clues book 6 which is priced at $12.99. We had been working over an hour when she began to get tired and I reminded her she had just almost paid for that 1 book! I think by the end of the night she decided to wait until the library gets it.

The Week Ahead & Behind

The weekend was a lot of fun, but everyone is completely wiped out. We worked in Max and Nana's new shed and Byron built some steps for their porch. He is so handy! Gracie went home with my brother Todd and his wife, Allison, and she got to ride horses and had a wonderful time! The highlight of her weekend? Learning to pick rocks out of a horse's hoof and trotting by herself on a horse.The girls modeling their handmade aprons - and making cupcakes.

Daniel drove the mower by himself all over the property.

We are all pretty dog-tired! Especially the dog -who, it was no secret - is truly a city dog. Country life wore her out! We have a busy week of school. We are finishing our study of reptiles and amphibians - and plants. All of this in preparation for the week long nature field trip and back country backpacking trip to Arkansas in two weeks. One of the reasons for the Labor Day weekend at Max and Nana's was to be thoroughly trained on the workings of their 5th wheel camper so we can borrow it for our trip. However, much of the trip we will be hiking and sleeping in the woods.
Ally and I will be volunteering in a book distribution center for two nights this week - we will make around $240 in free book credits for working over the next two weeks. Oops, now everybody knows what they are getting for Christmas. Neither of us mind seeing all the neat new books - so we are looking forward to it. Scholastic books uses a lot of homeschoolers for these programs - they know we will work for books.

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Evan climbing Max and Nana's new rope swing. Uncle Todd found a large marine rope and Dad and Todd had quite a challenge getting it hung in the tree. There is a great loop on the bottom, perfect for standing or sitting in. They also put a smaller length of the rope on the other side of the tree.

Nana and the girls made aprons to wear while working in the craft room. They traced a simple apron Nana had for the pattern. They are going to hang their aprons up in the room for crafting while they are visiting.

Daniel and Abby go cruisin' behind the mover.

The kids drew all kinds of fun pictures -huge castles on the sidewalk. They each planned their rooms out on paper. Gracie had horses in her room.

We had a rainstorm and the kids put on their swimsuits and played on the trampoline. Mama squirted them with the water hose to make it even more slippy and fun.

Big Rains

Finally, some big rain for our poor, brown grass! And more to come all week long! However, we are still adjusting to the whole inside dog thing! How in the world do people deal with inside dogs in rainstorms? It is bad enough having 3 kids confined inside, now the dog too! Thankfully we have this great carport which extends from our garage. I can stay dry while she heads to the grass - in theory! Unfortunately, the dog has still not gotten over her chronic stagefright when it comes to doing what needs to be done attached to the leash. She already had an accident inside today -grrr!

Daniel Hunts Dove

Daniel went dove hunting today with Dad. He shot 4 birds. Dad got a few more than that. He had a blast shooting and hanging out with Dad. Daniel even helped twist their heads off, but he said it wasn't gross. He can't wait for the girls to eat the birds.