Living Unabridged

October? Yes, October! Oh, October...

I'm just going to confess to you: I do not like the season change. I mean, since I'm a hot natured person, I do appreciate cooler temperatures. But I do not appreciate 20-30 degree temperature swings in one day. I lament the loss of flip-flop / sandal weather, since {gulp} now leaving the house will required finding not only shoes, but SOCKS too, for eight pairs of feet.

We're doing the big clothing switch this weekend. We're mostly done but now the house really needs cleaned. So, I'm sitting here with a cup of coffee putting together a links round-up. {obviously}

On to the links!

Learning

• It's OK to Say No by Kris Bales at Simple Homeschool. Good reminder. (I have to admit there were a few times this past week where I wish I'd said "NO" to our homeschool co-op. But then there were some reminders of why I love it too.)
• 4 Ways to Discuss the 2016 Election with Your Kids by Russell Moore. YES! (Side note: my oldest daughter and I got to hear Dr. Moore at the True Woman conference in Indianapolis and we got to meet him and talk with him afterward. Great memory for the two of us.)
• 7 Books on the White-Black Racial Divide You Should Read by Ivan Mesa. My "to-read" list just grew quite a bit longer.
• About the Music We Play at Home (With 12 Playlists) by Tsh Oxenreider at Art of Simple. I love these ideas for filling our days with music, even if I don't quite agree with some of her classifications. (Ingrid Michaelson is definitely Fall or Winter for me!) Bonus: See the end of this post for a few of my music recommendations.
• Assigned Reading, Free Reading, and Raising Readers by Mystie Winkler. Good suggestions and wise advice here.
• Opossum vs Possum from Grammarly. Did you know the difference? (Growing up in Tennessee means I've always been confused on this one.)
• I love the 1964 edition of Childcraft. I read it constantly as a child and when I got married and had kids, I made sure we bought our own set. (Off of Craigslist and the lady threw in more books when she found out we were homeschoolers). Anyway, I stumbled on this post from Plumfield and Paideia and now I kind of want some of the other Childcraft books too: Childcraft Series Overview.

Living

• What Does it Mean to Be a Cancer Survivor? by Debra Jarvis. This is a link to her TED talk, but I actually found out about her from an article in Reader's Digest. Inspiring stuff!
• 3 Terrible Pieces of Life Advice People Keep Sharing by Sean Chandler at Relevant. Yep. My oldest and I were talking about this just the other day. (Because we had been listening to Dave Ramsey on the way to her volunteer job at the library.) I advised her to not only think about what she wanted to do as a career but to thinbk about how that helps other people or brings value to their lives. (Which, when you're an introvert thinking type is not always the first question that comes to mind.)
• Simplify: Give Yourself Permission by Jamie at See Jamie Blog. This week I cleaned out my maternity clothes and the rest of the baby clothes we'll no longer need. It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. Because I did save a few meaningful things but I'm ready for some of the rest to go bless other people the way they blessed me.(See also What Marie Kondo and L.M. Montgomery Taught Me About Homemaking for some of my thoughts on simplifying)
• How to Help Our Daughters to Be Sexually Pure by Mike Leake. I hadn't quite thought of it this way but the more I reflect, the more I appreciate the insight. Somewhat related: Stop Blaming Only Boys for 'Pornland' by Matthew Cochran at The Federalist.
• Are You Really Pro-Life? by Traci Schmidley. Because actions matter.
• Why Does Anyone Care About Brad and Angelina's Divorce? by Nicole Russell for The Federalist. My short answer: because deep down, despite our often frivolous view of family, we know that divorce is sad. Divorce is a tragedy for a family, even or especially when separation is justified for safety.
• What Today's Christians Can Learn from Antiquity About Living in a Pagan Culture by Greg Scandlen at The Federalist.
• "I Hate That Guy" - What Hate in Sports Really Means by Barnabas Piper. I appreciate a good sports-rivalry (and don't get me started on Tom Brady, The Steelers, or The Cardinals, because I have Arguments against all three with a capital A) but it's obvious that rivalry turns into something darker far too often in American sports culture.

Loving

• I cosign most of these: Things You Need to Invent (So I Don't Have To) by Mary at Better Than Eden. If car companies could get on #3, like, yesterday, that'd be great. (You have to read that last phrase to sound like that guy from Office Space.)
• Two posts about politics: Why I Don't Think You Must Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils by Dan Doriani for The Gospel Coalition (and, as my husband and I have discussed this election cycle, even if you grant the premise that you ought to vote for the lesser of the two, you have to convince me which of these two awful candidates is worse and why) and a thought-provoking question: Can You Vote Your Conscience? by Bryce Young at Desiring God.
• OK, just one more political post: How to Create a Toxic Political Environment in 12 Easy Steps by Bruce Ashford. Unfortunately, we're here. But each of us can work to change that.
• "Perfect Time Capsule": Explorer's Long-Lost Ship Found from CBS News. History!
• Stalin's Body Double 1940s from Rare Historical Photos. More History! (In this case, Weird History!)

From Living Unabridged:

Posting has been light lately (my apologies for that!), but if you've ever wondered how I get supper on the table for our family of 8 when no one really feels like cooking, I shared my secrets over at Simplified Pantry: When No One Wants to Make Dinner.

Two Years Ago:

• What to Read in October
• 31 Authors Children Love (a 31 day series of 31 of our favorite authors)

One Year Ago:

• Two Things This Mom of Boys is Learning (and one year later, I'm still working on this!)

Some of my favorite resources for filling our home with music:

We love everything from Maestro Classics. We don't own all of them, yet, but those we do own get played a lot. If you're unfamiliar with these great products, they are combined music and story and they teach about music, orchestras, history, and so much more in a fun, musical way.

Some other favorites:

We use Zeezok's music curriculum to learn about composers and classical music.

What caught your eye this week?