If you follow both of my websites, you know that I did a top ten list for Gettingmyacttogether.com last week. I would never just shun my original website by not giving it a “Top 10 Most Popular” post too.

Over the past couple of years, I have tried to take storiesofourboys.com into a more focused direction.

Y’all know I started out blogging about parenting four boys, and my oldest son was absolutely not having it. He was right. You can only put so much on the internet about your real life. I tend to be an open book, so I had to be reminded of this.

Since then I have moved on to other topics.

Believe it or not, my Bible archaeology articles bring the lion’s share of people to my blog. That helped me decide to dedicate more of this website to articles relating to faith, Bible Archaeology, and travel. I cannot ignore my parenting/home school roots here though. The home school articles still do well.

The funny thing is we are not currently a home-schooling family. However, we have gone in and out of that lifestyle repeatedly, thanks to all the moves and COVID. Therefore, the home schooling niche still has a place on this website too.

The only way I know to categorize all those things in one place is to call this a faith-based website.

I write about all things related to Christian parenting and Christian beliefs.

The travel ties in because Christian families should go on vacation too. ha!! I don’t know. I just love travel, so it stays. To be fair. some of my travel does involve areas related to our faith, like Israel and Rome.

However, I always feel like I need a disclaimer. When you see me sitting on my rear end, eating Nacho Cheese Doritos, drinking Coca-Cola, and watching Designing Women in the middle of the day, you may feel disillusioned. The fact is that’s sometimes exactly where you find me. I am no picture of Baptist mom perfection, so please don’t expect that here.

I’m just another sinner saved by grace. I just happened to enjoy reading up on Bible archaeology discoveries and sharing neat Christian parenting resources that I may come across.

So without further ado, here are the Top 10 Most Popular Posts of 2023 on Stories of Our Boys.

By the way, the articles on this website still get far more page views than the ones on my new website, Getting My Act Together. This website doesn’t have any viral breakaway articles like my other blog does. However, its articles consistently do well and keep their traffic over time.

That’s why some of these articles make the top ten list here every year. Thankfully, I do have a couple of new ones on the list for 2024!

#1. 14 Tips for Your First Year of Classical Conversations

I wrote it in 2015, when our family was actively involved in a Classical Conversations community. While the curriculum has seen many changes since that time, the tips in this article are still extremely relevant.

If you are thinking about trying Classical Conversations, definitely give it a read. I know you will find it helpful.

#2. How the Sumerian King List Relates the Bible

See, there are plenty more archaeology nerds out there, besides just me, who want to know about ancient history and how it relates to the Bible! I love this stuff.

The Sumerian King List is from ancient Mesopotamia, The fascinating thing about it is that it references their kings as the ones before the “Great Flood” and after it. Oh, and by the way, just as in the Bible, the kings from before the flood lived insanely long lives. Intrigued? Check out the article.

#3. What it was Like to Wear a Linq Heart Monitor for 3 Years

As you can see, we cover many different topics on this blog! I have a rare heart arrhythmia called ventricular tachycardia. That is how I ended up wearing a Linq monitor inside my chest for three years. Thankfully, I am okay. My v-tach episodes are short and infrequent, and that is the key to my still being alive, without needing a zapper or a pacemaker.

#4. 20 Boy Mom Quotes that Will Make You Smile

I am excited to see this one do well. For one thing, I enjoyed writing it and creating all those Canvas. Secondly, it was actually written in 2023 and is one of my two articles from this year that made this list.

Plus, I wrote this article using my new “keyword research method” I learned from the blogging classes I took. That feels wonderful to see the classes I paid money for actually paying off for me.

I used to always write about whatever random ideas were in my head. Now I am using keyword research to become a better blogger and answer questions people are actually asking Google.

And yeah, boy mom quotes is a fun topic that is right up my alley.

#5. 10 Exciting Archaeology Finds that Support the Bible

Like I said, Bible Archaeology posts have turned out to be my specialty. In this one you will learn about Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Tel Dan Inscription, ancient New Testament manuscripts, Peter’s house, and so much more.

It is so fun to dig in to all of these discoveries and see the Bible coming more to life.

This is the other post on the list that I wrote in 2023. I discovered this topic using my new blogging skill of keyword research too. This article marks so much progress for me as I try to turn this from a hobby to a job. It’s a big deal!

#6. 10 Facts You Never Knew About the Early Church

This post was inspired by the book, Tried by Fire by William J. Bennett., where I learned so much mind-blowing reality about the early days of the church that I just had to share! I think the time after Jesus, but before Catholicism was truly established as a powerful world influence is fascinating.

The way the church grew is incredible. Check out this post to learn little known facts about early followers of Jesus.

#7. Ow! What Just Stung us in the Gulf of Mexico?

I wrote this one around 2018, after our kids were stung, yet again, in the Gulf of Mexico. You know, most people have never been stung by a jellyfish. I have only been stung hard once, and that was when I was around fourteen.

But we have had numerous encounters with getting stung at the beach. Rarely do we lay eyes on what actually stung us, so I did some reading around on the internet to learn more.

#8. What the Nuzi Tablets from 1450-1350 BC Tell Us About the Bible

When I hear about an artifact from ancient times, I like to do a deep dive to see how they might tie in to the Bible. This is one of my hobbies. I have several excellent archaeology books I keep on hand for my ancient times rabbit holes that I get into. So you can rest assured when you read articles like this one on my website, they are well researched and do not come from Wikipedia.

I break this stuff down into only the most interesting tidbits. You might find it surprisingly educational and yet easy to read!

#9. Jerusalem in Pictures: Golgotha & the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

My Israel posts are my personal favorite of anything that I have ever written. To me, it was the absolute most exciting place I have ever travelled to. I still cannot believe I even got to go!

This post has tons of full color photos of the very place where Jesus was crucified and buried. The location of Golgotha is not a random guess either. This is backed up by the Bible and archaeological evidence as well as local history. I feel like most people would love to see it and will never get to, so I tried to share everything about it that I could in this series.

Then I took all of my posts on Israel and weaved them together in an e-book. You can find the book on Amazon.

#10. Which is Better: Home School, Public, or Private School?

I began writing this list of pros and cons in 2014. This particular list was revised and re-written in 2021. As a military family, we move every few years. That has created the abrupt decision process of choosing our kids’ schools over and over again.

At this point, I have the unique perspective of having sent four boys to all three of these options: home school, private, and public schools. My honest favorite is private school. The problem is that is not always affordable.

There is a balance to life, and we each have different circumstances, as do our kids. That’s why we all have to choose what is best for ourselves. In this list, I provide the pros and cons that we encountered that affected us the most.

2023 was a fun year for me to bring Storiesofourboys.com back to life.

I largely hung up my hat on this website from 2018-2022. Now I am excited and happy to call myself a blogger again and pursue it in earnest. This year I took this website from costing me $500/year to actually making about $500. Plus, I made additional income on my new blog, Getting My Act Together.

Looking to the Future

In 2023, I also became a contributing writer to Newsbreak.com and several publications on Medium.com. For 2024, I plan to continue to contribute to all four websites (my two blogs, plus Medium and Newsbreak).

Do I want to go get a “real job”? Heck no! I want to continue to work for myself. I am putting in the hard work now, making almost no money, with the hopes of making more as I grow. So far I consistently grow each month, and that is the whole goal.

In 2024, on storiesofourboys.com, I will be bringing you articles on sending kids to college, more Bible archaeology finds, and keeping the faith through all that life throws at us. I also still have one last Italy post to share, on that eight hour train ride we took from Naples to Sicily!

Can anyone go to Sicily without constantly quoting the Golden Girls? I sure couldn’t it.

Thanks so much for all your support!

You will see a lot more articles here this year, so I hope to see you more often! Your support, just by reading my stuff, means the world to me.

Happy New Year, y’all! I hope your year is off to a happy start!

The post Stories of Our Boys Top 10 Most Popular Posts of 2023 appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Since all people and family situations are unique, all of our virtual school experiences are also somewhat different. This is how it goes down at our house. If I did not constantly check on, like borderline harass, my fourth and second graders, one would only get a fraction of his work done, one would not even watch his classes, and I would get phone calls from teachers. Oh wait. I tried my best to stay on top of them, and I still get emails and phone calls.

It can be quite hilarious. For funny stories from week one, click here.

10 Things We Learned in Virtual School this Week:

#1. Did you know you aren’t supposed to have swords or Nerf guns in virtual classes?

Obviously. I promise we told him that, but he did it anyway when we weren’t in the room. He could not understand why he could not hop around the living room with his weapons while the teacher was talking…. We had to move the entire “toy weapons bin” to the basement. I replaced said weapons with a box of super hero action figures, which he has played with all day long.

Friends, actually, be SUPER careful about this. An innocent kid in Colorado was basically arrested for doing this same thing John David did. That is one of those news stories that is so ridiculous it is maddening.

#2. My younger two could use a parent sitting by them all day long.

We need to help them make it to all the links they are sent to, keep them on track, and explain to them what they are supposed to be doing. The older two boys are mostly fine, though they occasionally need technical or algebra support.

I cannot actually be in three places at once, so we just have to let things fall where they may. Sometimes, a kid misses a deadline honestly. We fix that as it comes to our attention. All of the time, I have to walk around the house cringing over how bad it needs to be swept and dusted, but there’s no time. I mean sure, I can find time to sit down and look at my phone at night, but time to clean is just gone…

#3. If you think class is boring, you can just wrap up Creeper in a blanket, put your shorts on his head, and stick him in your seat, while you go chill on the sofa.

This way your teacher will think you are still listening! Brilliant!

#4. It turns out that even after going all the way through Calculus in high school and in college, I am useless as an algebra helper.

Scratch that. I do know how to reference a textbook or Google to help with classwork, but it will take me a solid few minutes to dig up what a function, range, and domain are exactly. I remember precious little.

#5. At least three of us now know how to take a webcam photo with the new non-Apple computers.

Eventually, we will also figure that out for the Chromebooks.

#6. What you actually need to survive second grade online is a ginormous stuffed Creeper.

You can buy them at Target stores. Some of you may not know Creeper. He is a type of being in Minecraft. Creepers can explode. This particular one poops explosives I am told.

Our Creeper can be a wrestling opponent, pillow, and your twin! He is so multi-functional!

#7. You have to scroll down to find and check the “Agree to terms” box in order for that big green sign-up button to work.

No, I surely did not spend 10 minutes trying every single different way to sign up before finally listening to the teacher answer a student’s questions before figuring this out. Her box was larger and did not seem to require scrolling. This all happened over the course of two days. Yeah. Two days we worked on this.

And there are some other things I still won’t sign in to because a person can only figure out so many usernames and passwords. Y’all, there is a limit!!

#8. Tennis has very specific postures that you use when you play, not just ways you hold your racket but also how you are supposed to stand.

File this under “things I learned while watching my son’s tennis lessons when my internet wasn’t working.”

#9. Storyboardthat.com is a really cool site for building illustrated stories!

I could spend a good amount of time on there! It looks fun. Daniel did the one above. It was the second board of his story on Pacific Northwest Native Americans.

#10. There is no ideal method for educating four children, all different ages.

….But dropping them off at school came pretty close to ideal for me!! Haaaa!!! Go away, Rona.

The post 10 New Things We Learned in Virtual School Week 2 appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

We are now on our third day of virtual school. There are four scholars in our house, and the youngest is a second grader. Do you want to know what it’s really like? It is actually quite hilarious.

I cannot even imagine what it must look like in kindergarten or first grade! How are teachers and parents doing this???

In order to maintain a healthy mind, you have to approach the whole thing with a gigantic sense of humor and absurdly low expectations. I am telling you. It is the only way we will survive it. You have to find the humor.

Things I Said This Week:

“No no no, you are not hiding under the table. If you were in school in person, they would see your face there too. You will be fine. Get in your seat.”

Thankfully, the hiding under his desk behavior only happened that first morning..

“JD, you can’t just go into the kitchen to eat snacks during class. Put that down and get back over there.”

“Augh!! JD, go put a shirt on! Quick Oh my gosh!!”

“JD, why aren’t you over here in your seat? Your class is still going on. You can pet the dog later.”

“You know they can see you, right?”

“That distracting, JD. Sit still and listen, just like in real school.”

“JD! Put the Creeper down. You are being so distracting. John David! Cut it out!”

“Why are all the grandparents on the screen asking questions? What site are you supposed to be going to? Do you know how? I don’t either. Here, move over. Okay, just go play with Daniel. I will call you when I figure this out.”

Watching the virtual 2nd grade classroom is equally amusing.

Many of the kids are being kept and helped by their grandparents. As you can imagine, they are not used to using this technology either. So you see all these sweet heads of white hair pop into the screen.

“I don’t see that link. I only see boxes.”

“Her mom only gave me the one link to use, and we just use that. If you want her to use something else, can you please send that link to her mother?”

The kids without a helper, including JD sometimes, just sit there and look at the screen like, “Eh, I don’t know what they’re talking about. Where’s my blanket?”

Kids in the class say, “I don’t see that on my screen”

“What are we supposed to be doing?”

And of course, my personal favorite…

“When is this class over?”

“After this class is over, are we done for the day?”

Y’all! Second grade is hilarious. I hope the school’s hopes aren’t up too high for *accomplishing things*. Ha!

Now this is just the funny parts.

Transitioning to virtual school has truly been a huge challenge with all their different computers, personalities, classes, and schedules. The third day of school is actually the FIRST day that zero tears were shed. But don’t worry. The boys are fine. All tears were my tears. I reserve my right to be an overwhelmed cryer…

We are going to make it, y’all, and we would love to hear your funny virtual school stories too. I know you got ’em! Share your own stories with us in the comment section below!

Oh! Let me tell you what just happened. Ha!!!

I stopped by the office desk to check on our fourth grader. He was laying down in his desk chair with his computer screen facing the CEILING. So I walked in and said, “Oh my gosh!!! What are you doin’??”

Then I pointed the computer screen right at him and made him sit up. Daniel was a little embarrassed, but he grinned sheepishly and said, “My mic was not muted. They all saw that and are laughing at me.” He knew he was wrong anyway. We moved him over to a softer place to sit on the sofa, and he got back on track.

Pssst! If you are even doing part time virtual or home school this year, you are welcome to join our support group on Facebook! You can find that here. We’d love to have you! I hope you are all able to find the humor this week too.

The post 2nd Grade Virtual School: What It’s Really Like appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

 Today little John David turns 3 months old.

   Just yesterday I was thinking I was pretty much done potty training Dan.

All of this reminds me of a really wonderful book by Dr. Seuss called I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew.

First he tries to prevent problems from happening by standing guard:

“But I’ve bought a big bat.  I’m all ready you see.

Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”

The post I Have Four Small Children and a little trouble getting to Solla Sollew!!!!!!!! appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

How cute is my most willing little helper!?

I think the concrete and the storage building got the most water, but the experience that he had from it was right on target.  : )   That was the most productive hour of our day.  Now it’s time for us to go to Joshua’s baseball game, followed by me taking the boys to a birthday party, while Alan studies for the Sunday school lesson he has to teach tomorrow.

The post Full Review of the Large Family Logistics book appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.