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I read David Nasser's book Jumping through Fires . In this autobiographical work David tells his story of immigrating from Pakistan, adjusting to life in America and responding to the call of Jesus. In the middle of David Nasser's story there are stories of political unrest, teenage rebellion, romance, marriage  and children, all connected by the grace of a sovereign God. Nasser begins and ends the book with stories of traditional fire jumping on "Red Wednesday". This symbolic ritual is to burn away evil and bring happiness, a fresh start, for the new year. David's book is about how God brought him through many fires in his life, and has given him great hope and joy for the future. This is a quick read. I really enjoyed it. It is exciting to read about what God is doing and has done for people from all backgrounds, all walks of life, and to perhaps get a vision of how he might use even me to reach the lost for Him. I read Jason Chin's Grand Canyon to th...

We enjoyed two of Eleanor Estes' stories last week and I'm excited to read more of her work. She writes beautifully using rich metaphor and descriptions. Her sense of humor is lovely and her characters come to life. She has a way of just telling enough of the story so you know what is happening, but not so much that your imagination falls asleep. We read: Ginger Pye, and The Hundred Dresses. I loved both of these stories. Ginger Pye is much longer and was a perfect story for Tristan to read. It has boy appeal. The Hundred Dresses suited Ana for a read aloud. We read it in one day, though it took a few sittings, and this story is written from a girl's perspective. This book also contains a moral lesson.

Last week while visiting Nana and Poppi, we spent a day in Washington D.C. at the Museum of the Bible . It was a wonderful day. We explored the interactive kids room, " courageous pages. " We loved the audio-visual and living history exhibits on the third floor, " the Hebrew Bible, the World of Jesus of Nazareth and the New Testament Theatre ," and we enjoyed lunch in the Manna Café . If you've visited the museum since it's opening on November 18, 2017, you would know that we didn't see half of the museum. There are three floors we blithely rode past on the elevators. Yet it was a wonderful day; the kids had a blast. They want to go back, which is fine with me, I still want to see the Bible that made the voyage to America aboard the Mayflower . Getting free tickets on-line is a breeze. The bag check is new and inventive. The ceiling when you first enter is a moving slide show of beautiful photographs of architecture, which makes the admission line manag...

Happy New Year 2018! I fell off the bandwagon so to speak with blogging at the end of the year. I am inspired and hope to do better in the New Year. On this first blog post of the new year, I want to link to a list of book recommendations for science books for kids. I have checked a few of these out of our local library, but am look forward to reading them all in 2018. Science Friday book recommendations for kids . I will add a personal recommendation to the list, Chemistry: Getting a Big Reaction, by Basher. Tristan and I have enjoyed this as a jumping off point for our new science unit on chemistry. This book is light, funny and gives concise explanations of complex subject matter.  It has great illustrations that add meaning to the text.