~Greetings from our PA mountain homestead~

Today I took this sampler basket along with me when running my errands, and left samples at the bank, store, and doctor's office. Bring on the orders!                                     

           

                            Holiday Herbal Surprise

Contains goat milk, palm and apricot kernel oils, olive oil, coconut oil, sodium hydroxide, bergamot, chamomile, rose hips, fresh thyme, and tarragon-leaving a fresh, clean  fragrance.

                  Milk, Honey and Oatmeal Scrub Soap

Specially suited for dry skin, too! Contains goat milk, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, shea butter, olive oil, sodium hydroxide, ground oats, wildflower honey, and fragrance.

      

                         Vanilla Sandalwood

This intoxicating soap contains goat milk, palm and apricot kernel oils, olive oil, coconut oil, sodium hydroxide, and fragrance oil.

       

                        Raspberry Dream

A luscious creamy soap containing goat milk, sweet almond oil, palm and apricot kernel oils, coconut oil, sodium hydroxide, and fragrance.

 

Other soaps also available! Check out our family website and meet our family, tour the homestead, see the dairy goats, and order your soap.    Makes a very nice gift!

Here is a link to a home school blog by Carolyn McKeon, M.S. Ed. She is doing an online survey  regarding homeschooling styles, teaching styles and methods used to teach reading in homeschool. She states: " As a homeschooling mom myself, I know that I have used unconventional methods to teach reading to my children and sometimes I have used a very structured approach. This style reflects the type of homeschool that I run. As homeschooling continues to grow in popularity and continues its great success in educating the next generation, I am hoping that the results of this survey will enlighten other educators and parents to look at the ways parents are instructing and supporting their students to help make a difference in other educational settings.   I would like to have homeschoolers of all backgrounds represented in my survey. If you think this is something you would like to be involved with, please take a moment to share your thoughts by taking this survey. Please feel free to share this survey with as many homeschoolers as you wish. I would love to hear from all types of homeschoolers from across the country. Just click on the link and take the survey. Please be assured that your responses to this survey are intended only for the use of my dissertation and will be kept completely confidential."

Have you ever heard these cries, or thought them yourself? So many, many times through the years I have found myself saying many of these things. In the middle of the baby years, with a baby in my arms, toddlers hanging on my skirts and a preschooler, I wished for someone to help with the chores. Later, there were plenty of helpers, but more work and home-schooling to accomplish and I was sure that this was the most difficult time of my life. Still later, when my last babies were tiny, and we were sitting up to chat with young people facing life changing decisions, I was saying other “ifs.” So soon, the babies stopped coming and I wasn’t nursing any more but my nights were interrupted because of changing hormones. The temptation to be discontented was still there. Some ladies never have problems sleeping even with hormone changes....

As I was thinking about the last thirty years, I realized that one of the things that had sapped too much of my vitality was discontentment and murmuring. I remembered the joyful, singing girl that became a mother and somewhere, some of the song was lost. Where did it go when I did not have it? Why was it too often gone? I see so many, many tired, frustrated mothers who do not have the joy of Jesus on their faces. What is the answer? What have I learned over the years?

When we were married, I was joyful, and full of song. In fact, singing characterized my life. I had learned through some very, very difficult experiences of being alone, that Jesus was all I needed. When I met with Him and walked with Him my heart overflowed with song. So when I met and married my husband, my cup was really full and overflowing. Now I had a person to walk with me and to share with. I was very happy.

The babies began to come and I loved them and loved mothering. Children had always been my special interest. I had worked with them all of my life. But the babies were fussy, very fussy. They cried constantly and were sick so much of the time. Finally we uncovered allergies and began to learn how to deal with the problem. But my nights were always interrupted with little ones who did not feel well. I began to drown in the sea of self-pity and discontent. I dragged through my days. I was not serving. I was just tending house and caring for the little ones. I felt like I was failing God. Hadn’t He called me to serve others, too? My songs lost their joyfulness. My smile flashed less often. Of course, I was weary! But, remember friends, “the Joy of the LORD is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Without joy there is less strength. For a few years I struggled through my difficulties, keeping on, but really lacking joy and vitality.

Then the Lord met me in a new way and presented to me very clearly the ministry that I had in my own home, the calling that was mine, the challenge to contentment. And the sparkle came back. Oh, the babies still cried at night and I was still weary, but I was thrilled with the understanding that my children were indeed my mission field and that as I served my husband and nurtured our children I was serving the Lord. I was content to serve however I could in my little way, with my children. How sweet it was to be there, and how many, many opportunities came my way to fill others with a bit of happiness and song. This was another joyful time.

The years passed. Then some major disappointments touched our lives. Once again, I had to come to grips with the fact that my happiness is in Jesus Christ alone. No matter what I may do, unless I serve the Lord Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind and strength I will never be contented. Circumstances do affect us, and trials come, but they do not need to steal our joy. What an important lesson to learn. Why does it take us so long to really grasp this?

Here I am today, a mother of nine, ages twenty-nine to seven, and a grandmother of six. The temptation is still the same today, but the struggle is not usually as difficult. It’s like learning to walk. The more you do it the easier it is to keep your balance. The longer you look at God as a good God, easier it is to accept all things from His hand, sweetly and with contentment. Jesus is my personal friend and He answers my prayers. I do fail, but I can always go back and find sweet forgiveness and go on!

The other morning in my devotions I read this verse, I Corinthians 10:10 “Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed . . .” I thought, “Isn’t that why our happiness is so often destroyed? It is not having many babies close together, being short in finances, suffering from poor health or having a husband who doesn’t help us with the housework that steals our happiness. But discontentment surely will. A discontented, murmuring spirit will destroy us just like the children of Israel were destroyed. Our bodies will not die of a plague, but our joyful spirit will die.

Contentment is a jewel of great price. With it, a small, simple house can seem like a mansion. A frugal meal can become a feast and everything we do can be a blessing. Without it, we are irritable, the children whine and the day does not go well.

What is contentment? Webster’s 1828 says contentment is “a resting or satisfaction of mind without disquiet; acquiescence.”

I like that. No disquiet, only a restful, satisfied mind. And since everyone in our household reflects us, there will be a resulting restfulness in our homes. There will be a peaceful acceptance of what God brings into our lives each day. Peaceful acceptance brings joy, and a joyous heart overflows with praise.

Psalm 118:24 “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” When you and I learn this lesson, it changes our whole life. This is a lesson that I wish the grandmas had passed on to me. If you can see each day as a gift to you, from God, you will be able to better accept what is in the package. You will begin to rejoice. When you see your husband and your little ones in this light you are far more able to joyfully face each new day.

Can you wake up with a sigh and a moan if you understand: “This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it?” Of course not! I have taken the challenge of waking up with my alarm, and thanking the Lord for the new day and the things He will bring to me. This starts my day on the right foot and is quite helpful. After all, it is harder to grumble about something that you have already thanked God for! Then, as each spill, each challenge, and each interruption comes, stop and say, “Thank you Lord, another chance to bring glory to you.” It will change your life.

If you have never read the story, “Pollyanna” by Eleanor Porter, you have missed an opportunity to be challenged by a child who had a contented attitude and a happy outlook about things, even difficult things. Read it aloud to your children and you’ll all benefit from the message that there is something in everything to be glad about. That message is the whole of the book. It is shouted in every chapter and we have often been inspired by it.

God’s Word is full of the same message. In fact, the author of “Pollyanna”, got her message from the Word. That is where her story took root. Take a look at a few of the commands in the Word to contentment. I Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain. . .” and Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Then comes the injunction to rejoice, and that one is everywhere in the Bible. It is bursting form every seam in the Psalms and sprinkled liberally many other places. Look at a few of them. Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 40:16 “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.” Psalm 90:14 “O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” Isaiah 12:3 “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”

Contentment and joy go hand in hand. Contentment is a choice, and joy follows it. If you do not have joy, you need to get in touch with Jesus and find Him to be your satisfaction for each day. Accept Him as your Lord! Then when He gives you something you would not choose, you can recognize it as a gift from Him. This really changes how you look at everything. “Be thankful unto Him and bless His name for the Lord is good”. Psalm 100:4-5

Study contentment and joy. Learn your lesson well and you will find peace and contentment filling your heart and life daily. You may fail and find yourself bogging down in the middle of difficult circumstances. The song may go out of your heart and the light go out of your eyes. Then fall on your face and meet your Father who knows everything and has arranged each new day especially for you. Repent and rejoice. This is the day that the Lord hath made!

The following poem sums it up pretty well.

A heavy sigh, “Oh what a day!” I have to “be content,” you say. You go about, mouth drooping low Leaving depression where you go. Your shoulders stoop, your head hangs down, Contentment is your “only crown”. Contentment? That is what you say? But friend, you aren’t content today. Come now. Lift up your head, admit it. You’d like your way if you could git’ it. But since you can’t, well, “you feel good, You’ve borne your lot, just like you should.” That weary look, the martyred air You have assumed, so unaware Is not contentment, it won’t stand, CONTENTMENT AND JOY GO HAND IN HAND. -Joyce Weaver

Here is a picture of my newest creations...shampoo bars in wonderful autumn and holiday fragrances: gingerbread cookie, honey apple, and holiday brew. These nourishing bars are suitable for use as both a shampoo and soap, and are perfect for your winter skin moisturizing needs. They contain jojoba and other soothing oils. You can purchase them on our family farm website. They would make wonderful holiday gifts!

Last month I made three batches of soap as shown here. The green swirled one is a very beautiful green tea fragrance, one on the right a peach and tangerine fragrance, and the one on the top left is cran-raspberry. I made these with our own goat's milk and olive oil, coconut oil, lard, palm kernel oil, and shea butter. They will soon be available for sale-as always, you can go to our family website and order some!

Here is a sampling of my first batches of goat's milk soap. As you can see each one is different. I enjoyed learning how to make soap and have found it to be quite simple. The types pictured here are named clockwise from the top: honey, milk and oatmeal; spearmint shampoo bar (with exotic moisturizing oils); another honey, milk, and oatmeal; sleepy hollow bar (brew of ginger, clove, molases, and cinnamon with citrus topnotes); vanilla sandalwood bar, also with exotic moisturizers and butters; and a classic goat milk soap bar in the center. The main ingredients include olive and coconut oils and goat's milk from our own dairy goats; other items used included palm, sunflower, sweet almond, castor, and jojoba oils, shea butter, honey, oatmeal, and essential and fragrance oils.

Tomorrow my dear husband Shawn and I will be marking our 16th wedding anniversary. I would like to share some of the milestones we passed along the way. We grew up within two miles of one another...his family began attending the church where my father was pastor when we were both around 5 years of age.

     Shawn and his beloved grandfather                        Me and my beloved puppy

We didn't play together much or anything back then, just were in the same Sunday School class. Years later we both revealed we viewed one another as potential marriage partners from an early age. We began developing a friendship at youth outings as young teens, and he went on to college at Penn State studying agriculture while I worked as a waitress and completed  an intensive one-year nursing program. On November 10, 1990 and at the age of 21, we were finally married after what seemed like endless years of waiting...my dad performed the ceremonies.

In August of the following year, we "just up and moved" to Tennessee. We bought some acreage and began plans to build a log home...from scratch, with no help...in the meantime, Shawn put together a shack for shelter, which we used for about 6 months. That was an adventure to say the least! We carried water and used no electricity...stored some stuff on the "porch" as you can see.

He then ordered poplar beams from a local mill and began constructing our log home...this was an amazing feat which still impresses me. I am so thankful he was not injured while hoisting those 22' beams up there with his own hands. Shawn has ambition to beat the band, and raw muscle power to go with it!  Never ceases to amaze me...  That was a hot summer.

                         While in Tennessee we had two babies, Elizabeth and Roy.

 Soon after that we got homesick and headed back to Pennsylvania. We sold the property and roughed-in cabin. We moved to Berks County and were introduced to the Reading Birth and Women's Center while expecting our third baby, Rachel...                                               

 Almost a year later we purchased our first home, a 125-year old log home in Lancaster County, PA. That was sort of an investment property, as it needed a lot of work and housing was expensive there. So with little resources and a lot of will, we spent the next 10 years there, building our family and filling that home till it was bursting at the seams. Fast forward here without pictures...Baby number 9 was due to be born two months before we moved. Shawn's work opportunities were blessed and we were finally able to get things finished up there and purchase a farmhouse and acreage in Tioga Co., PA, about 150 miles north of Lancaster. We spent 2 years worth of weekends making the 3 hour trip (one way) to rennovate this home...it was priced miraculously low and suited just to our needs. We were so thrilled with everything about our new home and surrounding countryside that we couldn't believe it was real. God had blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. We were thrilled to have our own homestead, room to grow, hunt, work, and play. We could have as many gardens as we wanted and there was plenty of room for animals. Finally in May of 2004 we sold our log home and relocated to the hills of northern PA. Every day we thank God for allowing us to live

in this beautiful corner of the world.

                                       HE GIVES HIS LIFE TO ME!!!

 God has blessed us with a love that grows deeper each year. It has not always been easy, and we have been through a lot together, as any growing, living marriage. We feel we have reached a new level in our relationship, for which we are very thankful. My husband is so very loving and good to me. I am so blessed to have him as my very own, and words cannot express how much I feel for him. Shawn is a diligent worker and faithful spouse. He has always been a very hard worker and provided us with the best he could give. Spending time with us is a priority with him, and we enjoy many good times together. He loves the outdoors and has taught me and our older ones to hunt deer and trap fur-bearing animals. He has done his best to fulfill my dreams, such as having our own dairy goats and using the milk to make soap to sell. Tough, yet gentle and self-sacrificing; loving and sensitive, yet strong and unmovable, he is very flexible and knows how to relate well to others. He has wonderful leadership qualities, always working to keep things from getting stagnant or dull...always rich in experience with a full sense of adventure. He is a great man full of dreams and plans of ways to make a better life for his family and our future together. Our relationship is very important to him, and he has cultivated it very loving and tenderly, and I do so love that about him. Most of all I appreciate his humility to learn from and submit to the Lord's leading in his life. Together we wait on the Lord for direction. We live as the best of friends and still miss one another when we are apart. Here is our family today! What a wonderful blessing from God to be given all these precious children.               

From the back left: Jessica (9), Rachel (12), Elizabeth (14), Melissa (10), Shawn, Levi (8 mos), Annette (me), Caleb (5), Isaak (6), Roy (13), Owen (4), and Reagan (2).

                  PRAISE THE LORD FOR ALL HIS GOODNESS!

Being a mother of many young children, I can relate to how many of you mothers feel. It can be exasperating at times, with so many responsibilities. I used to get so stressed about all that needed to be done, and so tired just thinking about all the work yet to accomplish.
Being stressed and miserable did NOT make me happy, or pleasant to be around. I would rant and rave at my children, complain to my husband, and be a general source of unhappiness in our home. With my husband's encouragement, I decided that I was NOT going to get stressed out anymore. It just wasn't worth it. So I allowed myself to relax, learned to take things one day or one minute at a time, and whatever didn't get finished would have to wait. I learned not to over-commit myself, and to frequently evaluate my priorities. Viewing my life as a living sacrifice has made a siginificant change in my attitude, because if I am not living it for Christ, I may as well not live it at all. God gives grace to carry on when life is dreary and so very daily. He alone gives us strength. After having three or four children I realized I was trying to live by my own strength, and it was not going so well. I seek His strength and give Him the glory when others remark that they "don't know how you do it!" In serving my family, I am serving Him. That is a living sacrifice. I know that one day I will be rewarded for that if I am faithful. I would be ashamed to receive a reward if all I did was grumble and complain about my supposed sacrifice.  And I have learned to take time for myself in small ways, which has become easier as the older children can take on responsiblities to help around the home and with caring for the younger ones. I pray you will find peace in your life and that God will fill you with joy and thanksgiving to be considered worthy to be a servant of Him.

A typical day on our farmstead begins with my 6 month old boy waking up to be nursed around 5:30 a.m. After snuggling in bed with him for about 30 more minutes, I slip out of bed, leaving him to sleep for another hour. My dh and I dress and I head down to the kitchen to pack his lunch and make his coffee and toast something for his breakfast on the road. Then I fix myself some hot tea and head back upstairs to check my email and updates on my favorite forums.(Homesteading Today and Dairy Goats Plus)

After tea, I put on my boots and head out back to milk and feed the goats. The routine isn't always the same as my oldest daughter always pitches in and we share the work. Usually we let the goats out of their shelter and sweep out the pen, fill the hay racks and replace bedding, and fill water buckets. Then the two horned goats which stay in another enclosure (where we milk) are fed and the milking doe is milked. We put them out to browse and bring in the next two milking does-usually my daughter and each milk one of those. While they feed and are milked we also feed the two adult does not in milk and four kids back at the stable/pasture area. Then the milking does are put back with the others and they stay out to browse or eat hay and hang out for the rest of the day, until evening chores at 6:00, which is an identical routine. We get the milk in a cold fridge as soon as we are finished milking and then filter and put in in jars. Stainless milking pails are washed. Second dd feeds the hens and each of the girls feeds her own rabbit. Morning chores take about 1 1/4 hrs. (We aren't usually in a hurry and take time to enjoy the goats

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

My second dd and ds are helping the younger ones get their breakfast, washing dishes and starting their DIVE Saxon math lessons. I get cleaned up and tackle whatever needs to be done-laundry, straightening up the kitchen, making bread, starting school lessons...this morning I made a batch of plum jam.

Lunch is about 11:00, and a couple of the kids wash dishes. They all like to play loud music at this time, so I escape to blog for a couple minutes or something.  Sounds like Jerry Lee again today... Usually Levi wakes up from am nap to nurse about right NOW

After lunch is more serious teaching for me...I go over all their homework and give them each their next English lesson. The older two in 8th and 9th grade do most studies independantly, and I check those things daily. The younger ones are going through the Prairie Primer in addition to regular studies. They all do Bible (reading and workbooks), spelling/vocabulary, penmanship, and math in the morning and English, Literature, Science, Civics, History, etc. in the afternoon. I also work inmath, phonics, and reading lessons with my 5 and 6 yo sons...the 3 yo has to join in as well. He loves to participate! 2yo and 6 mo sons take a nap.

About 3:00 I run Elizabeth over for soccer practice at the local H.S., and Rachel goes along sometimes as she is their ball girl at the games. Everyone has a few chores around the house to help keep things clean and maintain some sense of order.  Then it is time to think about what's for dinner, which I usually start around 4:00 and we eat around 5:00. At 6:00 it is chore time again. My son brings in and washes all the eggs-we average anywhere from 12-30 eggs a day-it runs in cycles. Oldest and youngest daughters do the dishes.

It is getting dark earlier these days, so we come in from chores around 7:00 and have stories earlier than we did during the longer summer days. We read a Bible devotional to the children and then read another story. Currently we are starting the Little House series again as that is our theme for the younger three girls in 4th-6th grade this year. Everyone enjoys that. Roy helps his 4 little brothers brush their teeth, and we get them tucked in bed first. The older children read in their rooms, work on a game or project, or help fold laundry (laundry is an all day process here-lots of laundry) and clean up the house a bit before bed. Later my dh and I head to our room with baby for some together time-reading, working online, playing with baby, etc. until we head to bed around 10 pm. (No TV in this house...we left that behind when we moved and don't miss it one bit!

Having to go shopping tends to throw off the normal routine, as we have to travel 25 minutes to a store, plus the time spent there-so trips can take a few hours once all the errands are run. I shop for groceries every 10-14 days, but try to stock up as much as possible. I make whole wheat honey bread once or twice a week, and that tends to interrupt my routine, so I have to plan around that because of the time involved. Soccer games rearrange our routines as well as hunting, which several of us participate in from October through January.

I almost never work in a nap-used to during pregnancy, but there is just no quiet time with little ones. I don't get so exhausted as I used to, though because I have so much WONDERFUL voluntary help. I can't say enough about how much my children help with the work and watching the younger ones.  Most days are routine during the school year- but they are not always the same. Mondays are the worst...seems like there is extra work to catch up from the weekend.  I like routine to a point. In the summer I get lost without it.

Of course, there are a lot of details I left out...we DO take showers and garden (as time permits)...but this should give a general idea.

"The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace."  Psalm 29:11

I wanted to share an excerpt from a book written by Jackie Wellwood for homeschooling moms. Sometimes I know I will not be able to finish a job when I start, but I start just the same.That is a change for me because I like to finish things. I can tense up if I have to leave too much unfinished. It is hard to be calm as a homeschooling mother because most tasks are in process and unfinished. You know how to do a good job, but there isn't enough time to do the job right; so you just get by and then feel bad about it. I don't feel peaceful when I am surrounded by unfinished business.

There is a better way. A lot of pressure can be eliminated when you focus on doing what you can do instead of looking at what you cannot do....Calmness comes with an accurate assessment of your limitation. If you don't accept your limitations, you will be disappointed.

It is wise to seek God's direction daily so you know where to spend your time. Homeschooling is a lifestyle that dramatically affects your ability to finish anything completely the way you might like to. Acceptance of these conditions takes away the irritation that comes from feeling like you never get anything done. We get a lot done. The kingdom work we do in raising and training our children at home, while always in process, is certainly getting the job done for God. As we seek the Lord daily to determine priorities, we are blessed if we seek His strength. We can then rest in God's peace, knowing that we have done our best.

In answer to my previous blog (notice I don't do much of my blogging on this site...yet...) I am posting this link that Lisa had on her blog today (Thanks, Lis!) In making a note of it to myself, I thought someone else might find it useful also =) Have a great day!  http://www.backyardnature.net/101/summer.htm

What do you do when your children are bored? I know some of you must have some great activities to pull out when needed, and am sure we could all benefit from a few fresh ones.  I need ideas mainly to keep younger ones occupied on rainy days or when it is too hot to play; even for during the school year when Mom is busy teacher olders.  Please contribute any ideas you have found to work well!

Several of our children are gone for the week to camp and visiting friends and grandparents, but I took this picture of them last week standing by my raised bed. They don't all look their best, but I wanted to share anyway!

                                        NEW BUNNIES!

I am collecting my thoughts this morning as my neighbor is coming to interview me on homeschooling. She is writing a term paper for a college class, and so far that is all I know. I think she is doing a comparison of homeschooling and public education, so want to give good and clear answers to defend, explain, and promote homeschooling. Along with that, I desire to have the courage to explain my convictions based on the Word of God.

Our newest addition to the family ~ Levi and me 10 hrs after birth

 Levi at one month

I am thinking about what I could do to make school more interesting, fun, inspirational, and profitable for my son next year. I hate to have him sitting at his desk doing the same boring things day after day in the same textbooks, and feeling like not much of it is really sinking in. He needs to be learning some (hands on) life skills and exploring some things HE enjoys and is interested in.

I am planning to try something new next year for my younger three daughters in the way of unit studies using the Prairie Primer (any comments on those who have used that?); and am wondering if there is a good resource for unit studies for boys in 8th grade (12 yrs old). It would be great to find something that is self-guided...I would like to find some ideas and could probably make up our own unit study if I had to, although I would prefer to find one ready-made. He enjoys taking things apart, models, guns, trains...drawing, etc.

Any suggestions or comments welcome!!!

Did you ever notice how right before you went into labor the two youngest ones suddenly got miserable? Like one will get a bad cold or be teething, and the other will suddenly be difficult and unhappy ALL the time? I think they sense these things, perhaps because we are unknowing preoccupied and they need us...

Anyway, it has been that way all weekend, and I can't help but wonder if perhaps this one will arrive a bit early. (I don't want them to be hard to live with for another two weeks, that's for sure!) It is hard enough getting around without all that. I think this baby might be my biggest yet. Time will tell. I am so happy for all the help of my older children right now. They just pick up and do what needs to be done, making things so much nicer for me. It keeps me from getting too tired as well, so I can still keep on top of the preschoolers and read stories at night.

Have any of you read the Little House books about Caroline when she was a girl? We recently finished the final one in a series of four, and they were all great. Every bit as good as Laura's books. Now we are reading through the Crown and Covanent series. We read Duncan's War, King's Arrow, and Rebel's Keep.They are tough to read out loud, but thrilling just the same. We have read lots of good books this winter. Everyone really enjoys it and even though the little guys probably don't always follow it, they are listening. What a blessing to have books!