Susan, Author at The Sparrow's Home

Finally, Online Math that Works: A Review of Mr. D. Math

April 10, 2017 by Susan 9 Comments

Do you have a favorite teacher? What about a least favorite? A good teacher can make a difficult subject make sense and a bad teacher can make you hate even your favorite subject. Am I right??

My College Algebra teacher was t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e. He used to talk about how math was like a banana hanging from the ceiling, and we were all gorillas trying to reach it. He said he was going to push a chair under the banana for us. What?! Yeah, that was my reaction too. That story is the only thing I remember from his class.

We’ve been using a new math curriculum that I love, and my math-gifted-but-non-math-loving son “likes better than anything else” we’ve used. (It is still math, after all). And his reason why?

The teacher.

Cinnamon Stick Cookies

April 5, 2017 by Susan 4 Comments

Your family is going to love these cinnamon stick cookies. They’re easy to make, chewy, and the icing takes them over the top.

I haven’t shared a cookie recipe in awhile. We love cookies around here. (Like I really need to say that…is there anyone who doesn’t love cookies? BTW, we also love sunshine and puppies).

These cookies were a big hit when I started making them for study groups that we hosted. And they’re really easy..a slightly different method than most cookies, but easy!

Online Shop Grand Opening!!

April 3, 2017 by Susan 7 Comments

We’re Open!!

What are all the words for excited? Giddy. Thrilled. Jazzed. Beside myself. Yeah, all of those! The day has finally arrived to unveil what I’ve been working on for months. Special goodies just for you!

Welcome to The Sparrow’s Home Shop

(cue sound of cheering crowds)

The shop is populated by three categories: Digital Products, Handmade Products, and Recommended Resources. And while we’re starting small, we’ll be adding products along the way.

Click here to go to the shop now.

**Update** The shop closed for a variety of reasons. Largest of which is that I realized that sales is not my bag. If you want to talk tea or salve or homeschooling through high school…please drop me a note and I’d love to chat. (Chatting is most definitely my bag!)

Food for Thought #18

March 30, 2017 by Susan 7 Comments

While I’ve read a number of interesting articles this week, I’ll be taking a slightly different angle this time in Food for Thought. Instead of a list of various things that have interested, inspired or challenged me, I want to tell you a story of a lady whom I’ve never met.

Mandy Kelly blogged at Worshipful Living. I learned last week through some blogging groups that I’m a part of that she and her husband, and their two youngest children were killed in a house fire.

I’ve been learning a lot about Mandy this week, both from those who knew her and by spending time at her blog.

Quick Chicken Teriyaki & Sesame Noodles

March 28, 2017 by Susan 6 Comments

This quick chicken teriyaki and sesame noodles come together in a snap. It’s an easy weeknight meal that tastes like you ordered out!

Have you ever really wanted to like something, but you just didn’t? Part of dating is finding out what someone’s ‘quirks’ are and deciding if you’re good with that particular kind of crazy. Things like weird fears, how they handle illness, or listening to parade music for fun.

When we were dating, Greg confessed that he hated Chinese food. (Gasp!) What he actually said was “I really want to like it…everyone always looks like they’re having so much fun when they eat it.” When I was pregnant, he was kind and went with me to Chinese restaurants. Being a lover of rice dishes like jambalaya, the fried rice began to grow on him. Then a young man from Cambodia that he worked with brought homemade egg rolls to share and my picky eating husband surprisingly tried them…and loved them.

Since then, he’s found a few dishes that he enjoys (beef and broccoli, for example) at restaurants. But he much prefers when I make Asian-inspired recipes at home, like this chicken teriyaki and sesame noodles.

Is Your Church a Pew-Filled Adult Daycare or a Hardcore Training Facility?

March 27, 2017 by Susan 9 Comments

When we create a judgement free church, are we dooming members to failure? The Planet Fitness model will not result in changed lives, reconciled to God.

My eldest began working out a lot a couple of years ago, and as a birthday gift last year, we told him we’d get him a gym membership. He talked to a few friends about their experiences with nearby gyms. One guy told him stories about Planet Fitness that had us rolling on the floor laughing in disbelief.

They serve pizza? Candy? Flashing lights and alarms go off to shame people for working out “too hard.” Does this ‘gym’ even want its members to get healthy?!

I had forgotten all about it until recently, when a well-meaning Christian friend posted something about how we should “create churches that the un-churched love to attend”. For some reason, the descriptions we’d heard about Planet Fitness immediately came to mind.