Review: Gathering the Threads by Cindy Woodsmall

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Gathering the Threads by Cindy Woodsmall is the third and final book in the Amish of Summer Grove series.  To completely understand the story, you really need to read the entire series from beginning to end.  The series is about 2 young ladies, Ariana Brenneman (Amish) and Skylar Nash (English) and their families.  Skylar and Ariana were born on the same night in an Amish birthing center when there was a fire.  Many years later a secret is discovered that alters both girls' lives forever.

In Gathering the Threads, Ariana is thrilled to be returned to her Old Order Amish home, but she struggles with reconciling what she has learned while in the English world with everything she has been taught since she was a little girl.  She struggles with finding her place in the world.

While Ariana was gone, Skylar made a place for herself in the Brenneman family but that place is disturbed when Ariana returns home.  Skylar has to find a place for herself and make peace with her family.

Both girls must " discover the true cords that bind a family and community together and grasp tight the One who holds their authentic identities close to His heart."

I have waited a long time for this final book to be released.  That's the one problem with reading the books as soon as they come out.  The authors do not write as fast as I can read and sometimes you just have to be patient!  I loved the other two books and was eager to see how the author was going to resolve all of the situations that were going on in the book.  I like Cindy Woodsmall's stories because she writes about things that not found in your typical Amish book.

I loved the book and the way everything ended up.  It was predictable in some ways but many times romance stories can be.  Some parts of the story did not flow very well for me because some of the chapters would end with something going on with Ariana and the next chapter would shift to Skylar (or the other way around) and you are not sure what happened in between but later on in the chapter it would be explained.  I loved the different relationship aspects to the story and the theme that it is not blood that makes you family or decides your identity. Gathering the Threads was a great story, a wonderful ending to the series and I would recommend to anyone that enjoys Amish fiction.  I am giving this book 5 stars on Amazon.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation and all opinions are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC regulations.

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Homeschool Crew Review: Carole P. Roman

We first had an opportunity to review books by Carole P. Roman back in 2013 when we reviewed four of her If You Were Me and Lived in... Cultural series (you can read my review here.)  We loved the books and were excited to have an opportunity to review:

If You Were Me and Lived in the American West

If You Were Me and Lived in Colonial America

Oh Susannah: Things that Go Bump

Rocket-Bye

Carole P. Roman is the author of more then 50 children's books.  She writes books that appeal to both boys and girls in a variety of ages.  Some of her series include: If You Were Me and Lived in...Cultural Series, If You Were Me and Lived in...Historical Series, Captain No Beard, Nursery Series,and Oh Susannah.

The If You Were Me and Lived in...Historical series allows children to travel through time and visit different places in history. 

If You Were Me and Lived in... Colonial America  is an illustrated paperback book with 65 pages.  In this book children will learn what their name might have been, why many people chose to leave England to come to the New World, and what it was like when they first arrived.  They will read about what type of housing they built, what types of food they ate, and what type of clothing they wore.  They will also learn about the Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving.  They will also discover what types of jobs children had, what type of schooling they did,  and what kind of toys they played with.  In the back of the book there is a list of people such as Ann Hutchinson, Pocahontas, and Myles Standish that influenced the colonies.  There is also a glossary showing pronunciation of words and definitions.

If You Were Me and Lived in... the American West is a 56 page paperback illustrated book.  In this book children were learn about why some people chose to move out west, what types of things they packed in their wagons, and how they traveled.  They will also learn what type of clothing they had, what types of jobs they did on the way, and what types of food they ate.  They will read about the different conditions they traveled through(including crossing the Columbia River), illnesses they faced, and the Native Americans they met.  Students will discover what type of housing they built when they arrived, they different jobs they had to do there, the type of schooling, and the town that was built up.  In the back there is a list of famous people from the west including: Annie Oakley, Daniel Boone, and Wyatt Earp.  Last there is a glossary of words including pronunciation and definitions.

Oh Susannah Things that Go Bump is a 62 page paperback book and is the second book in the Oh Susannah series.  This series is made up of short chapters for young readers.  In this book, Susannah is worried because her best friend Lola wants her to sleep over but she lives in a house that Susannah thinks is spooky.  Also Lola's brother keeps teasing Susannah with scary stories. 

Rocket- Bye is a short, 30 page, illustrated bedtime story for young children.  Each page has one line of rhyming text  and an illustration.  The story is about 2 children taking a trip through outer space.

We got to choose two books from Carole P. Roman and the other two were sent as a bonus surprise.  I chose the two If You Were Me and Lived in...Historical series because we are studying American history this year.  I read the books aloud to my 6,8, 10, and 12 year olds.  We split up the reading into two days.

We loved both of these books.  The style of writing allows the children to put themselves in the shoes of children that lived during that time period.  The story teaches about important aspects of the time period in a way that applies to the children.  They would be a great addition to any history curriculum.

I read aloud Oh Susannah: Things that Go Bump to my 6 and 8 year old girls.  We do not do sleepovers in our house, but everybody has been to a place that seems scary to them.  The girls both enjoyed the story and after I read it aloud my 8 year old decided to read it again on her own.

I also read the Rocket Bye story to them.  It is geared for much younger children but they did not mind listening to it. The illustrations are really cute. It is a sweet bedtime story that the girls will be able to read to their new nephew.

Members of The Crew reviewed a wide variety of books by Carole P. Roman.  Stop by the Crew Blog to see what they had to say!

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Our Week in Review (2017 County Fair )

This week was the county fair. We have had a busy week!  We did not even attempt to do any kind of school this week.  I even had Nick excused from his class at public school this week to volunteer at the fair.  The fair is a lot of work.  The children do a Lot of work on their projects (animal projects and non animal projects) getting ready for the fair.  Parent and 4 H leaders do a lot of work helping their children with their projects and getting everyone everywhere they need to go.  Volunteers and those that work in Extension do a lot of work checking things in to the fair, judging, working in the kitchen, helping with livestock shows, and a number of other things that go on at the fair.


Monday morning we headed up to the fair and took our chickens and rabbits.  We also put up our club's fair booth and Nick and Alex helped put up the Teen Leader's fair booth.

Lily and Alex were supposed to have music lessons Monday afternoon but the teacher was under the weather and they were cancelled.

Tuesday morning we took our goats and the children's exhibits.  Market goats have to be at least 45 pounds.  When we put Alex's goat on the scale, it only read 44 pounds!  But then the goat shifted her weight so all of her feet were completely flat and the scale went up to 45.  Whew!  It took me a little over an hour to enter all of the children's exhibits.  I let them enter 5 things not counting livestock or baked goods.  Our fair is wonderful.  If something doesn't fit in to a typical category there is an other category that you can put it in.  They add categories every year based on things that have been entered.  So a few years ago when the boys started entering LEGO sets there was no category to put them in.  They added one the next year.  They also added a robotics category.  We were taking care of things at the fair until lunchtime, then we picked up Liam so we could babysit while Chelsea went to school and headed home for a few hours.

Tuesday evening Nick had youth.  We dropped him off and went back to the fair to wash and feed goats and feed chickens.  We also had an opportunity to watch the lamb and sheep show before we had to pick Nick up.

Wednesday was a long fair day.  We were there for about 10 hours. Wednesday morning we entered a few baked goods and fed the animals.  There were 9 different classes from a local school coming through the fair that day.  They set up several stations for the children to visit so they could learn about what is being shown at that station.  Alex and Christian were in charge of the chicken station.  Nick was helping with the rabbit station. They all did a great job!

We also stopped by the Grandview station so they could hold the alligator.

Judging is also done on Wednesday.  We wanted to stay and watch the chicken and rabbit judging but they were running late and the girls were starving.  We left for a couple of hours, grabbed some pizza and went to church so I could work on Kid's Club stuff.  By the time we got back everything had already been judged (except the goats) and we got to go investigate ribbons.

Emmie entered chickens and got 2nd place.  She also entered a rabbit who got third place.  Her little red riding hood doll set and sand art won 1st, butterfly painting , picture frame, and  piggy bank all won 2nd.

Lily entered chickens and they won 1st.  Her rabbit won 3rd.  She baked chocolate chip cookies that won 2nd.  Her other entries were: Little Red Riding Hood Set, sand art, and butterfly painting 1st place, Handmade doll , puzzle, piggy bank, and turtle painting,  2nd place.

Christian baked banana chocolate chip muffins and won 1st place.  His LEGO Millenium Falcon won Best of Show (he was very proud of that!) His LEGO truck, piggy bank, bridge, and sand art won 2nd.

Anthony entered chickens that won 2nd.  He also entered a variety of Tinker Crate projects.  His wooden crane, 3d view finder, planetarium, constellation all won 1st.  He also had a LEGO set that won 1st.

Alex entered a bracelet that won 1st.  He also entered a model car, LEGO truck, deer puzzle, and piggy bank that all won 2nd.

Nick had a rabbit that won 3rd (lots of rabbit competition this year!)  He baked brownies that won 1st.  He also entered a LEGO set and puzzle that won first.  Another puzzle and tin can robot won 2nd.

The Nature Seekers Fair Booth won 1st.

Christian and Alex practiced in the show ring and touched up the goats to get them ready to show.  We grabbed some quick supper and then it was time for them to get changed and ready.

They showed their goats three times.  First was for showmanship.  The second time was in the market class and the third time was for commercial does.  The boys and the goats did a great job for their first time showing.  They both earned 2nd place ribbons in their classes for market and commercial.

Thursday and Friday we just had to feed and water animals twice a day. Thursday we also had to run the dog to the vet.  She has been limping and we don't know why.  Nothing is broken but she is on an anti-inflammatory medicine for the next ten days.  Christian and Alex also had soccer practice on Thursday night.

Saturday was the Premium Auction.  In the auction you do not actually sell the animal.  You do take them into the ring and they auction it, but you keep the animal.  It is just a way for the local businesses to donate money to the livestock kids and help them be able to work on their projects.  It is not cheap to raise livestock!  And the bigger the animal the more it costs especially when you are getting started.  Any little bit of money helps, and I so appreciate that they do this for the kids.  This year was the first year rabbits were allowed in the auction.  Originally they said only grand and reserve champion rabbits would participate so I did not have Nick dress to show.  When we got there he was on the sale list.  They decided they would also allow kids whose only livestock project was rabbits so he showed in shorts and a t-shirt, but oh well.  They also auctioned all the 4 H kids to add some money to the 4 H scholarship fund.

After the sale we ate lunch and went by the car show.

We were almost home when we found out they released livestock early.  We grabbed our stuff and went back to clean up and pick up our animals.

Sunday church had a spaghetti lunch fundraiser for the youth.  We stayed to eat and clean up and then went back to the fair to pick up all of our exhibits and clean up the booths.  The fair is over!  The goats and possibly a rabbit will go to the state fair in October.  We need to put 5 pounds on Alex's goat in 4 weeks and also need to exercise them more so they gain more muscle.

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

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