Bluerose's Heart

The Gospel Story Bible: Discovering Jesus in the Old and New Testaments by Marty Machowski

2012-01-27T17:52:00.000-06:00

New Growth Press (December 5, 2011) 328 pages

Description from Amazon:

Can a Bedtime Story Actually Change Your Life? It is easy to forget Jesus in the midst of frantic schedules, family squabbles, and conflicting priorities. But the truth is that he is the hero of every story, including these ordinary ones. This is why Marty Machowski puts God's plan of salvation in Christ on continuous display in The Gospel Story Bible. The easy-to-read storybook introduces your family to many captivating people, places, and events from the Bible's Old and New Testaments, showing how each one ultimately points to Jesus. As you share these Bible Stories together, you and your family will meet Jesus and learn a new, life-changing way of recognizing Christ as the hero of every story. Vibrant illustrations by A. E. Macha, child-friendly discussion questions, and Scripture references accompany each narrative to help you lead your family in exploring the Bible. You will be delighted to discover how easily even a young child can understand the original text of a story that he or she has already come to love. Ideal as a storybook for your preschooler, a devotional for your grade school student, a refresher for the adult believer, or an introduction for the new one, The Gospel Story Bible is also a companion to Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God and the forthcoming Gospel Story Sunday School curriculum.

My Thoughts:

Y'all know how much I adore My First Hands On Bible. Well, I love The Gospel Story Bible almost as much for a slightly older audience! I really feel like the author has taken great care in summarizing the Bible stories without adding, taking away, or changing important details. I won't even pretend that I was familiar with every one of the stories to know if there were any issues, but I didn't notice anything so far. The wording of the stories make me think of the way a Sunday school(or Wednesday night) teacher would summarize a story for their class. At the end of each story, there a "Let's Talk About It" section that contains 3 different questions about the story or the picture.

I only have one issue with The Gospel Story Bible so far. I know that many of you will roll your eyes at this, but the background colors of the page hurt my eyes. Each story get a 2-page spread. The story takes up about a page and then there's a picture taking up the other page. These pages alternate between bright colors. (There's about 7 to 8 different colors). It strains my eyes extremely easily and makes them "flash". I wear contacts, so my eyesight isn't the issue. I really do wish that a more neutral color had been used for the pages, but otherwise, I think this book it great!! If you don't think the colors would be an issue, I highly recommend The Gospel Story Bible.

*I was provided a review copy through B&B Media Group in exchange for my honest opinion.

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

2012-01-23T20:38:00.001-06:00

HarperCollins (January 17, 2012) 320 pages

Description from Amazon:

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

My thoughts:

When I saw The One and Only Ivan at another blog with high praise, and the fact that it's narrated by a gorilla, I knew it was a book I wanted to read. I was very curious how the author would go about writing a book from an animal's perspective, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Ivan is the narrator, and as I mentioned above, he's a gorilla. With the innocence of a child, he tells it like it is. He's very serious about what he says, but many times it comes off humorous. Other times, it leaves you needing a tissue. It's a heartbreaking story, and even more so when you find out that it is based on a true story.

As much as I loved Ivan and Stella and Ruby, Bob stole the show for me. Bob is Ivan's tiny "pet" dog. He's a loner, thinking he doesn't want to get tied down to an owner. He loves to sleep on Ivan's stomach, though, and occasionally give his opinions on various conversations.

The format of the book is a bit different. There are no chapter numbers, only names. Each chapter is only a page or two, sometimes 3. Each "paragraph" is only one to two sentences, for the most part. I reviewed an ARC, so I can't give you an example, but I really wish I could! At the beginning, you mostly get Ivan's thoughts on various subjects, but eventually those thoughts pull together to form a story. There's also small pictures scattered throughout the book.

I think it would make a perfect read aloud! There are a couple of scenes that tell just how mean humans can be. For example, there's mention that Ivan's parents were killed and then their heads, hands, and feet were cut off, and that at that moment a gorilla's hand is for sale in the gift shop as an ashtray. I really think that is about the worst of it, though.

Overall, I think The One and Only Ivan is a very sweet book that has earned its place on my boys' bookshelf!

*I was provided an ARC through the Amazon Vine program in exchange for my honest opinion.

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

2012-01-22T23:40:00.000-06:00

January is the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge over at Reading to Know.

Anne of Green Gables was my introduction into the writing of Lucy Maud Montgomery. I have fell in LOVE with it! I adore this book! This is one of those books I just loved so much, I wanted to hug it. Now I don't remember actually ever hugging a book, but there are those rare books that just earn a place in my heart. This is one of them.

You may remember from the last challenge that I watched the movies first. Anne got on my nerves just a little bit at the beginning of the movie best I remember. She did win my heart pretty quickly, though. I don't know if it was because of already knowing I loved her character or what, but I loved EVERY minute of reading her story.

I feel like I got to know Matthew and Marilla better, too. I really related to Matthew.

"Matthew, much to his own surprise, was enjoying himself. Like most quiet folks he liked talkative people when they were willing to do the talking themselves and did not expect him to keep up his end of it."

I was surprised that Anne of Green Gables ended up being as funny as it was. I wasn't expecting to laugh out loud(literally!) so much.

"Oh, we have named that little round pool over in Mr. Barry's field Willowmere. I got that name out of the book Diana lent me. That was a thrilling book, Marilla. The heroine had five lovers. I'd be satisfied with one, wouldn't you? She was very handsome and she went through great tribulations. She could faint as easy as anything. I'd love to be able to faint, wouldn't you, Marilla?"

And, Anne's story of Cordelia and Geraldine! Hilarious!

This book was like a breath of fresh air! I couldn't help thinking that a book like this is the perfect Sunday afternoon read(the afternoons that are actually peaceful). Montgomery's many descriptions of nature made for quite a relaxing read.

"Oh, Matthew, isn't it a wonderful morning? The world looks like something God had just imagined for his own pleasure, doesn't it?"

***As a side note, when I was searching through Amazon deciding which one to link to, I saw this Anne of Green Gables Coloring Book. (I ended up just linking to the one I have. It's a combination of Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea, but it was the cheapest I could find. They are UNabridged, which is important to me!)
How cool is it that there's a coloring book?! I don't know if a little girl is in my future, but I think I'll have to get this for her if I have one. I do have a niece, though! :) (And nephew #7 is on the way. We're surrounded by sweet little boys)!

I'm still hoping to finish up with Anne of Avonlea before the end of the challenge, but we'll see.

What A Son Needs From His Dad by Michael A. O'Donnell

2012-01-22T13:46:00.001-06:00

Bethany House Publishers; Reprint edition (October 1, 2011)

What a Son Needs From His Dad is a really short book at 141 pages. There's lots of wisdom packed in there, though. There were so many things mentioned that I'd never thought about!

Obviously, this book was written for men, but even as a woman, my mind was opened to many things my sons will face, and things they will need as they grow. I do think that men will get more out of it, though. It has managed to get a spot on my keeper shelf, and I will re-visit it as my little ones grow into young men!

My favorite chapter was the one on creativity!

"The benefit to your son when you become a fun dad is that correction is easier to take when he's hearing it from a guy with whom he leg-wrestles, because he knows you really like him in spite of the fact that he just soaked his sister with a hose and made her scream!"

"One important way of helping your son to enjoy life is developing his imagination. Start when he's young and introduce him to the meaning and importance of fairy tales."

"Spontaneity can actually prepare your son to be a great husband, because the element of surprise goes a long way in keeping the romance alive in a marriage."

I just really like that whole chapter! (and the others)!

With this book being so short, the suggestions made are direct and to the point. If you don't like or connect to something being said, it won't be long before you make it to another point.

Overall, I liked it!

Daughter of the Centaurs by Kate Klimo

2012-01-20T06:43:00.000-06:00

Random House Books for Young Readers (January 24, 2012) 384 pages

Description from Amazon:

Malora knows what she was born to be: a horse wrangler and a hunter, just like her father. But when her people are massacred by batlike monsters called Leatherwings, Malora will need her horse skills just to survive. The last living human, Malora roams the wilderness at the head of a band of magnificent horses, relying only on her own wits, strength, and courage. When she is captured by a group of centaurs and taken to their city, Malora must decide whether the comforts of her new home and family are worth the parts of herself she must sacrifice to keep them.

My Thoughts:

There's a couple of things to know about Daughter of the Centaurs before you decide to read it.

I don't recommend picking it up unless you're willing to give it at least 100 pages. There were many times I was tempted to give up on it, because it was just weird and a bit boring. Since I agreed to review it, I told myself to give it 100 pages. Somewhere between 75-100 pages, it got interesting enough that I kept reading. It did get better. I still won't pretend like it was my favorite book ever, but I am curious where the author will take the story in the following books. It's hard on the first book in a series, because there's so much background information that needs to be told. This book definitely seemed like a "set-up" book.

Also, Centaurs are secondary in the story to horses. This really is a book about horses, for the most part. The Centaurs could have been replaced by any other creature and it probably wouldn't have changed much at all as far as the story goes.

I do think that there was so much potential for this book. Centaurs aren't exactly a popular subject for books, and it had an opportunity to really stand out from all the other young adult books out there. I do love horses and all animals, but I really didn't care to read all the information that I got on horses and racing.

There was just lots of little things that bothered me throughout the story, too. One example: The Centaurs have a library filled with Classics. (This story takes place in the distant future). They no longer print or write books. Some modern day popular authors were listed in there with actual Classics, and it just really bugged me at some of the authors named. (One was an author of a popular young adult paranormal series. I don't have anything against the author or the series. I liked it! But, to call it Classic?) There were also too many mentions of horses having bowel movements and what kind of movement it was(runny). I just don't care for all that. I know those are just picky kind of things, so those might or might not be something that would bother you.

There is some violence, but not much. There's mention of dead bodies, and bones. Malora goes hunting a few times. At one point, she snares some squirrels and then bangs their head against a wall to finish them off. Again, that's just some details I could have done without. It wasn't enough that I wouldn't read it based on that alone, though.

The highlights of the book were definitely Zephele and the Twani! Zephele is a female centaur, and she was just unique and fun. I enjoyed reading about her. The Twani were also fun creatures to read about. When they were first mentioned, they just seemed so weird, I didn't know what to think of them. They grow on you, though. Although, I didn't hate the main character, Malora, I didn't overly like her either. I just really didn't feel anything reading about the characters. I like books that transport me into the book. When I'm told a character is happy, I want to feel that. When a character is crying, I want to feel some sympathy and tears of my own. I just didn't get that with this book.

It was a pretty clean book. "A**" is used a few times, and "pi**. That was all as far as language, though.

Overall, I'd say if you really like reading about horses, give Daughter of the Centaurs a try.

*I was provided an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

**I also thought I would mention that the cover shown is the one I have. Apparently the final cover is a bit different. You may notice the author's name, though. My cover has the author's name as K.K. Ross. As far as I can tell, they decided to go with Kate Klimo on the final one. (??)

Sea Turtle Summer by Nancy Stewart

2012-01-18T07:47:00.001-06:00

Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc (November 15, 2011) 24 pages

Description from Amazon:

Bella and Britt think living by the beach is the coolest thing ever. When they discover an unprotected sea turtle's nest, they go into action! Will their bravery and quick thinking save the baby turtles? How can do they do it, and what lesson will they learn about themselves? The book also contains kid appealing sea turtle facts. Suggested for readers:6-9

My Review:

I love children's book that are fun AND teach something. It's so easy to learn when you're having fun! Nancy has created a cute series that teaches about marine life. Sea Turtle Summer is about the loggerhead turtle and the need to protect them. I haven't read One Pelican at a Time, but I'm guessing it's just as great.

There's a list of facts at the end of the book that add to it's educational value. I don't live close to the beach, so before reading Sea Turtle Summer, I wouldn't have known what to do if I saw a sea turtle laying eggs. I think it's awesome that kids(and adults) from all over the place can learn about beach life through this book.

I also really like that the artist(Samantha Bell) has created characters of different ethnic backgrounds. That's always a bonus for me!

Overall, this was a fun, informative book that I definitely recommend!

Guardian Angel Publishing(link for book)

*I was provided a review copy from the author through Pump Up Your Book Tours in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Hidden Gift of Helping by Stephen G. Post (Giveaway!!!!!)

2012-01-17T20:25:00.000-06:00

After I posted my review of The Hidden Gifts of Helping: How the Power of Giving, Compassion, and Hope Can Get Us Through Hard Times, I was sent an extra copy to giveaway to one of you.

My review is HERE. (and the title up there is linked to Amazon, if you want to read more about it there).

-U.S. only
-I'll end this one at the same time as the CEB giveaway(Sunday night/Monday morning)

Just leave a comment, and make sure I have a way to contact you if you win.

Common English Bible, Part 4 (With Giveaway)

2012-01-17T19:27:00.000-06:00

The winner of last week's giveaway was:

Mary Beth

Congratulations! She's already been contacted and all.

If you didn't win last week make sure you leave another comment for this week's giveaway! U.S. only. I'll pick a winner on Sunday night/Monday morning, depending on when I get to sleep. :) The winners are picked using Random.org.

This week will be similar to last week's post. James is one of my favorite books, so I'll be comparing some verses from Chapter 1. I'll do it a little differently, though. It's really hard to compare verses unless they are side by side, so I'll write each verse from both translations(NKJV and CEB) before moving on to the next verse. I think that will help both of us compare better.

James 1:12-18

NKJV(12)"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love Him."

CEB(12)"Those who stand firm during testing are blessed. They are tried and true. They will receive the life God has promised to those who love him as their reward."

(I've noticed when "he" or "him" is used in reference to God in the CEB, it's not capitalized. I prefer the capitalization to any word in reference to God. I know! I'm being picky there. And the CEB isn't the only translation to do that!)

NKJV(13)"Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone."

CEB(13)"No one who is tested should say, "God is tempting me!" This is because God is not tempted by any form of evil, nor does he tempt anyone."

NKJV(14)"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire and enticed."

CEB(14)"Everyone is tempted by their own cravings; they are lured away and enticed by them."

NKJV(15)"Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings for death."

CEB915)"Once those cravings conceive, they give birth to sin; and when sin grows up, it gives birth to death."

NKJV(16)"Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren."

CEB(16)"Don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters."

NKJV(17)"Every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

CEB(17)"Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at all."

NKJV(18)"Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."

CEB(18)"He chose to give us birth by his true word, and here is the result: we are like the first crop from the harvest of everything he created."

So, what do y'all thing about the Common English Bible so far? Like? Dislike?

CEB

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Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win a paperback Common English Bible.

The Accidental Bride by Denise Hunter

2012-01-14T20:27:00.000-06:00

Thomas Nelson (January 3, 2012) 304 pages

Description from Amazon:

When a wedding reenactment turns real, Shay finds she's an accidental bride.

Shay Brandenberger is raising her daughter in Moose Creek, Montana, on her childhood ranch, nestled against the Yellowstone River. Despite the hard work, she can't seem to keep her head above water-and now the bank is threatening to foreclose. She prays for a miracle, but the answer she receives is anything but expected.

Having agreed to play the bride in the Founders' Day wedding reenactment, Shay is mortified to be greeted at the end of the aisle by none other than Travis McCoy, her high-school sweetheart-the man who left her high and dry for fame and fortune on the Texas rodeo circuit.

Then the unthinkable happens. Thanks to a well-meaning busybody and an absentminded preacher, the make-believe vows result in a legal marriage. But before Shay can say annulment, Travis comes up with a crazy proposal. If she refuses his offer, she may lose her home. If she accepts, she may lose her heart.

Shay isn't sure if the recent events are God's will or just a preacher's blunder. Will trusting her heart to the man who once shattered it be the worst mistake of her life? Or could their marriage be the best accident that ever happened?

My Review:

I read A Cowboy's Touch last year and really enjoyed it, so I'd been highly anticipating the next chapter with The Accidental Bride! Unfortunately, my memory was a bit vague on the characters, so it took a little while to place who I was actually reading about. I did finally put everyone in their rightful place, I THINK!

While I didn't like this one quite as much as A Cowboy's Touch, I still really liked it. I couldn't help but like Shay, but she did get on my nerves at times. She was just SO INCREDIBLY STUBBORN! This one was a good bit more edgy than I remember A Cowboy's Touch being. I know a great deal of you will love that about it, but others not so much. :)

I had a difficult time believing the whole "accidental marriage" part of the story. As a contemporary novel, it just didn't seem realistic. If I had been "accidently" married, it would take a great deal more for me to be willing to consummate the marriage, so I cringed at that whole part. In the author's note at the back, Denise admitted to "breaking a few laws" to make the story work. I actually feel better about that. :) I've mentioned before that as historical books, I LOVE "marriage of convenience" stories. As contemporaries, I just have a harder time with them. Despite that, I think Denise did a great job of making it work!

*I was provided a review copy through Booksneeze in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cybele's Secret by Juliet Marillier

2012-01-11T15:20:00.000-06:00

Knopf Books for Young Readers (September 9, 2008) 448 pages

Description from Amazon:

For Paula, accompanying her merchant father on a trading voyage to Istanbul is a dream come true. They have come to this city of trade on a special mission to purchase a most rare artifact—a gift from the ancient goddess, Cybele, to her followers. It’s the only remnant of a lost, pagan cult.

But no sooner have they arrived when it becomes clear they may be playing at a dangerous game. A colleague and friend of Paula’s father is found murdered. There are rumors of Cybele’s cult reviving within the very walls of Istanbul. And most telling of all, signs have begun to appear to Paula, urging her to unlock Cybele’s secret.

Meanwhile, Paula doesn’t know who she can trust in Istanbul, and finds herself drawn to two very different men. As time begins to run out, Paula realizes they may all be tied up in the destiny of Cybele’s Gift, and she must solve the puzzle before unknown but deadly enemies catch up to her. . . .

My Review:

This was my first time to read Cybele's Secret, although it had been waiting for me to pick it up entirely too long. It's the companion book to Wildwood Dancing. They were VERY different, in my opinion. While Wildwood Dancing was classic fairy tale, Cybele's Secret is very adventurous. It's maybe a little like a female Indiana Jones with a tiny bit of fairy tale world added in. There's a great deal more romance than Wildwood Dancing, since most of the story somewhat revolves around a love triangle. It's also a little on the darker side, and maybe a little more mature in content. It's still perfectly clean, though, so there's really no worries in that area.

Cybele's Secret is about Paula, the 4th sister from Wildwood. You do get to see a touch of the other sisters, but not much at all. If you're only reading this book to catch up with everyone, you will probably be disappointed. I can't say I liked it as much as Wildwood, but I DO like it. It was just different than I expected. There's a slight mystery surrounding the story, so it definitely kept me turning the pages.

In my review of Wildwood Dancing, I mentioned there was some Jane Austen in the story. It was pretty obvious throughout that story. In Cybele's Secret, I laughed the moment I realized that Juliet had managed to sneak in another Jane Austen story. I thought it added a cute touch!

I really do hope there's another book. It's very easily left to have another one written, but I don't know if that will happen. I was actually left with even less closer than at the end of Wildwood. I'm very glad I finally read it, though!

**I forgot to mention this on my Wildwood Dancing review, but in both books, while there isn't any profanity, God's name is used in vain several times. I don't remember the exact way it was used, but something like Thank G**, or Oh, My G**. I thought I'd mention that, just in case it would keep any of you from wanting to read it.

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

2012-01-10T13:21:00.000-06:00

After I read this book, I realized I could count it as part of the Classic Double Challenge 2012 over at One Librarian's Book Reviews. I only committed to reading one set of books for the challenge, but I am NOT going to count this as my one set, since the original "Twelve Dancing Princesses" is a short story. I have Peter Pan and The Starchaser series waiting for me, so that's the set that I will count. I actually have several more fairy tale books waiting, too. :) I'm very excited for them!

The Twelve Dancing Princesses:

If you'd like to read this story, just go to SurLaLune Fairy Tales. I've read two versions of the story now, and they were both different. The one at Surlalune is a good bit darker than the one I have on my shelf. Of course, I prefer the sweeter version! It seems like all the re-tellings(books) I've read add in a big dose of Persephone. I read some of the annotations at Surlalune, and Persephone is mentioned in those, too. I didn't realize there were so many versions of the "original" story.

Knopf Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (March 25, 2008) 432 pages

"Taul Ielelor had always been forbidden. Children love forbidden places, especially when they lie deep in a mysterious dark forest, where all kinds of wonderful games can be played, games that last from dawn to dusk and spring to life again next morning. At Full Moon, the lake formed the border where everything began to smell richer and to look brighter, where every sound became honey for the ears. Crossing the Bright Between made our senses come alive in a way we had never known in the human world."

Wildwood Dancing is a lovely mix of different fairy tale re-tellings. There's even a bit of Jane Austen in there! The most noticeable is "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", although there's only 5 sisters in this story. It's only been about 2 years since the last time I read it, but I had already forgotten a great deal. I loved it more reading it a second time, because I caught so much more than I did the first time.

I just adore Juliet's writing. Wildwood Dancing is classic fairy tale for me. There's a touch of romance, like most fairy tales, but it's definitely not the main focus. I love that Juliet has created flawed characters. They aren't perfectly beautiful or handsome. She seems to very quietly stress the importance of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

"The sun set beyond the colored window four more times, and inside our chamber the stories went on. Not all were joyful tales; we needed to acknowledge that love was not just kisses, smiles, and fulfillment, but also sacrifice, compromise, and hard work."

I don't think I even noticed that part the first time I read it, or even the flawed characters.

There's only one thing that I think some of you might not like. There is one sister that portrays a very unhealthy view of love. When you read it, you'll know what I mean. It's not a huge part of the story, though, so I still very highly recommend reading it. That portion of the story kind of leads up to another fairy tale re-telling. I know I'm being kind of vague there, but I really don't want to give anything away.

If you like magical fairy tale stories, I HIGHLY recommend giving this one a chance! I absolutely adore it!

Common English Bible, Part 3 (With Giveaway)

2012-01-09T19:40:00.000-06:00

I only had one entry with my first giveaway, so that's why I haven't had one every week like I had planned. I'm going to have one more, though, just in case there's any of you that missed the last one.

If you'd like a chance to win a paperback Common English Bible, just leave a comment. Make sure I have a way to contact you. This is for U.S. only.

For this week I'm going to compare the CEB and NKJV translations of Proverbs 31: 10-31
(CEB-The Competent Wife) or (NKJV-The Virtuous Wife)

CEB
(10)A competent wife; how does one find her? Her value is far above pearls.
(11)Her husband entrusts his heart to her, and with her he will have all her needs.
(12)She brings him good and not trouble all the days of her life.
(13)she seeks out wool and flax; she works joyfully with her hands.
(14)She is like a fleet of merchant ships; bringing food from a distance.
(15) She gets up while it is still night, providing food for her household, even some for her female servants.
(16)She surveys a field and acquires it; from her own resources, she plants a vineyard.
(17)She works energetically; her arms are powerful.
(18)She realizes that her trading is successful; she doesn't put out her lamp at night.
(19)She puts her hands to the spindle, her palms grasp the whorl.
(20)She reaches out to the needy; she stretches out her hands to the poor.
(21)She doesn't fear for her household when it snows because they are all dressed in warm clothes.
(22)She make bedspreads for herself; fine linen and purple are her clothing.
(23)Her husband is known in the city gates when he sits with the elders of the land.
(24)She makes garments and sells them; she supplies sashes to traders.
(25)Strength and honor are her clothing; she is confident about the future.
(26) Her mouth is full of wisdom; kindly teaching is on her tongue.
(27)She is vigilant over the activities of her household; she doesn't eat the food of laziness.
(28)Her children bless her; her husband praises her.
(29)"Many women act competently, but you surpass them all!"
(30)Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
(31)Let her share in the results of her work; let her deeds praise her in the city gates.

NKJV
(10)Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.
(11)The heart of her husband safely trusts her, so he will have no lack of gain.
(12)She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.
(13)She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands.
(14)She is like the merchant ships, she brings her food from afar.
(15)She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants.
(16)She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard.
(17)She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms.
(18)She perceives that her merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out by night.
((19)She stretches out her hands to the distaff, and her hand holds the spindle.
(20)she extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
(21)She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet.
(22)She makes tapestry for herself, her clothing is fine linen and purple.
(23)Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.
(24)She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies sashes for the merchants.
(25)Strength and honor are her clothing; she shall rejoice in time to come.
(26)She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness.
(27)She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.
(28)Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.
(29)"Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all."
(30)Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
(31)Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Don't forget to leave a comment with a way to contact you for a chance to win a paperback Common English Bible. U.S. only. I'll pick a winner early next Monday morning.

Top Ten Children's Books I Read in 2011

2012-01-09T18:58:00.000-06:00

I'm finally getting this list up! It's was my hardest, because I don't document most of the children's books that pass through my hands. There are those that stand out in my mind, though, and that's the ones listed below. These are MY favorites....not necessarily Grasshopper's favorites. I think most of them are still for later on as far as his reading goes.

These are in no order!

My First Hands-On Bible

Most of y'all probably expected this one to be on here. I just adore this book!

Donkey-Donkey by Roger Duvoisin

This one is just SO cute and sweet AND has a great message. It's one of those books that have won a special place in my heart. ;)

The Biggest Kiss by Joanna Walsh

This one simply made it because it's so sweet! The pictures are adorable, too! I think it would make a perfect Valentine's book.

Field Trips: Bug Hunting, Animal Tracking, Bird-watching, Shore Walking by Jim Arnosky

This is one I checked out from the library, but it's definitely one I want to add to our shelves someday. It made me want to start a nature journal of my own!

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

Grumpy Bird reminds me of myself at times!

The Big Book of Exclamations by Teri Kaminski Peterson

I have Annette to thank for this one! It's one that Grasshopper LOVES, too. It's awesome for speech therapy and he really enjoys working with it.

Maggie and the Pirate by Ezra Jack Keats

This one didn't make it because I thought the story was GREAT or anything. It was a bit weird! I like books with a bit of a weird factor, though. :) It was SO unusual it just stands out in my mind. And the pictures are just gorgeous! They're a little dark and a bit sad, like the story.

Maximus the Monster Roars No! by Dorothea DePrisco

I just like the message of this book of controlling tempers. I wish Grasshopper could comprehend it. We'll pull it out more later on, though!

Sam Sheep Can't Sleep by Phil Roxbee Cox

This is another one I just thought was cute.

My last one is Busy Bugs(Discovery Kids), but I can't find it online. I've looked at Amazon and PBS and all and just can't find any information on it. I bought it online from Totsy, when there was a really good deal on books. I do hate when I can't find books I KNOW exist online. I like to buy vintage books when I'm at used book stores and thrift shops. Then I come home and "look them up", just to see what I've got. :) There's one particular one I have that I've searched high and low and it's like it just doesn't exist. Maybe I'll post about it one day.

Busy Bugs is obviously about bugs, but it has all kinds of learning skills in it. It teaches about bugs, and in doing so adds in teaching about colors, numbers, verbs. I just think it's a really cool book, even if it is about bugs. Sorry I don't have pictures and links for this one. :P

That will be my last "Top Ten" post for a little while. They just really took forever with all the links and pictures. :P I have several book reviews to write up now. :)

Another Brief Break....

2012-01-05T20:07:00.000-06:00

Y'all please pray for Jonathan's family. He lost his grandmother today. She had been battling brain cancer, and it was sad relief to see her out of pain. She was his last grandparent, and he's lost them all in the past couple of years. His family has just had it rough, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

I'm going to hold my posts until next week.

Matched by Ally Condie

2012-01-05T09:16:00.000-06:00

Speak (September 20, 2011) 400 pages

Source: Swap.com

Description from Amazon:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

My Review:

I'm thinking that maybe I'm just not a big fan of dystopian books. I'm going to read a couple more before I fully come to that conclusion, though. I read The Giver a couple of years ago. I didn't write a review, but best I remember, I wondered what all the hype was about. I didn't hate it that I recall, but I didn't LOVE it. Matched was VERY similar to The Giver, except with an added love triangle. My thoughts seemed to be pretty similar for the two books. Matched got me thinking about things that a book like this should get you thinking about. I'm so grateful for my choices! My goodness, though! The thought of having all my meals(and my family's) prepared to be healthy AND delivered to us EVERY meal. "sigh" Need I say more?! :)

Matched is a relatively "quiet" book. If you're expecting lots of action, you'll be disappointed. It wasn't until the last 50 to 75 pages that I really got interested in wanting to know all the little details. It was then that the wheels of my brain started turning and making guesses about what was going to happen. I think I had it in mind there would be more happening. I read through it very quickly and it did keep my interest, and I enjoyed it. I just didn't LOVE it. Again, I don't think dystopian books are really my thing.

All of that said, I'm SO glad that so many other people like this series! When an author dares to write a good, clean book that can be enjoyed by everyone(or at least give everyone an opportunity to enjoy it), they earn my respect! So while it ended up not being MY favorite type of read, I still encourage you to give it a chance.

I've gathered up some reviews of bloggers that really enjoyed Matched.

One Librarian's Book Reviews

Clean Teen Fiction

Tales of Whimsy

Squeaky Books

My Top Ten Goals of 2012

2012-01-05T09:15:00.000-06:00

I know this list will bore all of you out there AND I know my list is probably very similar to most New Year's lists out there. I wanted to make a formal list(that I will print out), so I can remind myself what I want to accomplish. Without it, I'm afraid I'll forget about it, like most other years.

1. Spend more time with God! As far as the Bible, I decided on the "30 Days New Testament" plan. I think the first month or two, I'm just going to read through and make notes of any questions I have. Then I'll look for commentaries at my church library to help with those questions. I also want to spend more quality time in prayer. I pray regularly, but nothing like I should be. My quality of prayer needs great improvement.

2. Get to church on time! (everywhere else, too, but especially church). It's hard! Every mother out there knows it's hard! Many times I'm trying to do it by myself, and it's discouraging and there's so many times I just want to lay down and cry, and just give up. It's disrespectful on so many levels, but especially to God, for me to walk in late. I do think sometimes when others are giving those dirty looks or passing judgements, though, that maybe they've forgotten just how hard it was! :) I want to make things easier, so it's not such a huge task trying to get to church. The next goal will help with this one.

3. Organization. This is something that we've been gradually working on through the past year. We've made tons of progress! I want to continue on this journey through 2012! My very sweet sister in law and brother in law recently gave us a 4 drawer filing cabinet(a dream come true!)and this will be a tremendous help with all the extra paperwork and future homeschooling stuff I've been collecting. I've also been gradually trying to create a cleaning schedule. I've divided our house and chores into sections, so there's never a BIG cleaning day. If I can keep up with this, then the house shouldn't get TOO out of control.

4. Menu planning. I really want to cook less processed food. This is much harder than it seems! It's so easy for us to pick up a box of macaroni or a box of Hamburger Helper(we cook it with soy scrambled "meat" in case you're wondering). There's always chips and cookies around here, too. I know if I can accomplish this goal, my next one will be easier to accomplish.

5. Get to a healthy weight! After losing all my pregnancy weight, I also lost 20 more pounds. I've gained most of that back, and it's just depressing! It really is. This is a really important goal for me!

6. Potty train Grasshopper. This subject could use it's own post! "sigh" Rough times!

7. More fun play with the boys. I want to do more crafts with them and simply PLAY and LAUGH more with them! I want to spend more quality time with them!

8. Less T.V. AND computer time. During my break I LEARNED to stay away from the computer a great deal more, and I enjoyed it. I felt more free and I got in LOTS more reading time. This week of "Top Ten" posts has taken forever, so I plan on getting back away from the computer after these! :)

9. More family time outings. Where I live, it takes a bit of planning for these things. There's not a whole lot going on without a good little drive. I do want to make more of an effort to PLAN fun(and thrifty) events for us.

10. Be more positive.
This sounds so simple, but it is SO. VERY. HARD! It's too easy to get negative and complain. I want to learn to see the glass half full way more often than not.

Overall, like everyone else out there, I just want to improve our quality of life this year. :)

Lucy Maud Montgomery Challenge

2012-01-02T09:46:00.000-06:00

I'm excited that I'm finally reading Anne of Green Gables. I won't get into all my thoughts right now, but let's just say this book has definitely won a special place in my heart!

My plans for this challenge are unfortunately a little vague at the moment.

Definite plans are:
-Finish Anne of Green Gables
-Read Anne of Avonlea

I really wanted to attempt reading some Montgomery's works that I'm unfamiliar with(so I wouldn't already know how it ends), but I haven't found any of them yet. I try to avoid buying mass market size books when possible, but I think I'm just going to give that up and buy a magnifying reading page. Little words just hurt my eyes in my old age. ;) I think a magnifying page would just be the easiest route to take.

Tentative plans:
-I really want to re-watch the Anne of Green Gables movie. That's tentative, because at the moment our VCR player isn't working, and I'm not really wanting to buy another one. We just don't typically watch tapes anymore. The only version of the movie my library has is on VCR. I'm going to look around and see what I can find, though.

-I'd also really like to watch the older version of Anne, and maybe compare them. I'm going to look around and see what I can find as far as this one goes, too.

Top Ten Books That Caught My Attention in December

2012-01-02T09:13:00.000-06:00

A Pearl Among Princesby Coleen Paratore

This one just looks interesting!

The Knife of Never Letting Goby Patrick Ness

RemembranceMichelle Madow

Hound Dog Trueby Linda Urban

Just curious about this one!

The Thirteenth Princessby Diane Zahler

During my break, I finally got to finish Wildwood Dancing for the second time. I've read 3 re-tellings of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and I've greatly enjoyed them all. I've made it a goal to read all of the re-tellings of that story. This one and the next are the top ones that have made my list.

Just a little F.Y.I.- SurLaLune Fairytales is an awesome site that had various fairy tales and then books that are re-tellings of that particular story listed. I wish I had known about this site earlier. I spent a great deal of time searching for an online version of the original Twelve Dancing Princesses. I searched through all of my fairy tale books. No luck. One day when I was shopping through some old books, I found one that had the story in there. It was an exciting day for me, but this site would have made things much easier!

The Night Danceby Suzanne Weyn

Slayersby CJ Hill

I recently won one of Janette Rallison's books. I was thrilled beyond words the day I found out I'd won! I've heard great things about her books, and I'm excited to finally get to read some of her works. Now you may be wondering why I mentioned all that! :) CJ Hill IS Janette. I saw somewhere that she(or maybe her publishers) decided to go with a pen name, since this was a good bit different than her other works. Either way, I want to read it.

Dragonswoodby Janet Lee Carey

This one looks really interesting. I think I'm going to wait and see what kind of content it has before I decide to read it, though.

A Curse Dark As Goldby Elizabeth Bunce

I've seen this one around, but it caught my attention again last month.

The One and Only Ivanby Katherine Applegate

I had already seen some praise for this one, so when it came up for review through the Amazon Vine program, I snatched it up. I'm excited to read it!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T13:46:00.000-06:00

Should I admit that I actually didn't have plans to put up a big tree this year? I was going to decorate our little one(maybe 2 feet), and that was it. That tree got put up only because of rainy weather. Our fall family pictures had already been re-scheduled several times due to rain, so our photographer suggested just taking the pictures in front of our Christmas tree. :P I made Jonathan drag it our for me, and he had pity on me this year and helped "fluff" out the limbs. He did a MUCH better job that I ever have. ;) I couldn't find any of my ornaments, though! (the nicer ones we collect through the years). I still haven't found them, by the way. That is what I came up with on short notice. You can't see all the lights in the picture, but we actually ended up liking it.

I'm ready to take it down, though, and get our playroom space back. I'm horrible, I know.

I found the handprint tree idea on Pinterest, of course! We love it so much that we plan on doing another "neutral" handprint tree to hang in the playroom through the rest of the year.

I hope all of you have a wonderful, MERRY Christmas! I'm going to take a little blogging break. It's way past due, and I just need some time away from it. My blog! I still plan on catching up with all my favorite blogs! And, simply catching up with everything else, including reading. I want to have FUN reading and getting lost in another world. I plan on being back the first or second week in January. I've just got to re-set my priorities! :)

God Gave Us Two by Lisa Tawn Bergren

2011-12-21T13:02:00.000-06:00

WaterBrook Press (September 18, 2001) 40 pages

Description from Amazon:

Now that Mama polar bear has another baby in her tummy, Little Cub is bursting with curiosity. “Why do we need a new baby?” she asks. “If we don’t like the new baby, can we send it back?”
“Will you forget me when the new baby comes?”
Gently and lovingly, Mama and Papa assure their firstborn that the new baby is a gift from God they want very much, just as Little Cub was–and still is.
“God gave us you. Now he’s given us two!”
The winsome sequel to God Gave Us You, God Gave Us Two playfully affirms a child’s uniqueness and place in the family and helps little ones accept, appreciate, and love their new siblings.

My Review:

I really like this series! They're just cute and sweet, and they teach a lesson at the same time. You may remember there was one of them I didn't care for. I just thought it was a little odd, but I've very much enjoyed the other two I've read. I can't wait to add this whole series to our book collection.

I think Lisa has really captured what a great deal of older siblings are feeling when they are anticipating a new little brother or sister!

"Papa helped Little Cub dress for church. "Papa," she said, "if we don't like the new baby, can we send it back?"
"No, Little Cub. You don't send back a gift from God. He gave us you. Now he's given us two!"

I think this is a great book for families expecting new little ones, or have recently added a new little one!

*I was provided a review copy from WaterBrook Multnomah in exchange for my honest opinion.

Real by Shelley Malcolm

2011-12-20T05:00:00.002-06:00

AuthorHouse (December 16, 2010) 156 pages

About Real and Shelley Malcolm:
“REAL” is a collection of 60 inspirational stories by Shelley Malcolm, with photos by Terilee Dawn Ouimette. The stories are deeply revealing, while the photos are anonymous, focusing only on each subject’s hands. Subjects range from adolescent to elderly, from former gangster to humble homeless, international refugee to hero-housewife, from pro athlete to Hollywood celebrity. While “Real” is her first published book, Malcolm is no stranger to creative projects, as co-owner and restorer of an historic chapel, La Perla del Mar in Shell Beach, CA, and a set designer for theater and film. Shelley Malcolm was named Pismo Beach’s Citizen of the Year in 2011 for her extensive contributions and involvement in the community. Proceeds from the book will benefit the Alzheimer’s Foundation and other charities. Shelley Malcolm graduated from University of Southern California with a degree in dental hygiene. For more information, please visit http://marthamartha.net or http://shelleymalcolmblog.wordpress.com/ Shelley Malcolm resides in Shell Beach, California with her husband, Doug.

Shelley has four adult children. Her interests include painting , drawing, sculpting, building, playing piano and other musical instruments, outdoor activities including hiking, ocean kayaking, running, water and snow-skiing, international travel, sewing, reading, writing and others. Visit www.marthamartha.net for more information.

Real - The Book from David Malcolm on Vimeo.

My Review:

First of all, I want to mention that 100% of the proceeds of Real go to fund several charities. (If you'd like to see what charities, just go HERE. It's the blog for the book and the charities are listed in the sidebar).

This is a perfect coffee table book! There are 60 stories throughout the book about a different person. Each story only takes up one page, with the companion page showing a picture of the hands belonging to the person in the story. It's a perfect book to pick up and read a story or two here and there.

The pictures just really touched my heart. It's amazing what you can take from a picture of hands. Just looking at some of them brought tears to my eyes. I could "feel" how fragile or how strong the person might be, and see how some have struggled through life. They were all unique, yet beautiful!

Real is quite simply a beautiful and inspirational book. It's artwork! It's one of those books that should be shared. The fact that all proceeds go to helping others is a definite bonus!

*I was provided a review copy of Real in exchange for my honest opinion.

**There are also notecards with pictures and stories from the book for sale. If you're interested in those, go HERE.

***If you'd like to buy the book, go HERE.

****To see what other people are saying about Real, go HERE.

My Reading Challenges for 2012

2011-12-16T13:34:00.000-06:00

Reading to Know Bookclub-2012

First of all, I want to apologize for my last post about the Bookclub. I wasn't thinking when I wrote it, and I realized I very well could have hurt someone's feelings. I had no intentions at all of doing that. I really hope this person didn't see my original post, but if you did, I am so, SO sorry. I have edited it now. :) If I ever write anything that hurts anyone's feelings, I definitely didn't mean it that way.

I've already wrote about the Bookclub HERE. Just follow that link if you want to look into more details about it, and see all the books.

The Classic Double Challenge

This one is hosted by One Librarian's Book Reviews. This blog is one of my favorites, but I've always been a "silent lurker" over there. ;) I'd pretty much taken on all that I thought I could, but this challenge is just such a unique(and fun!) idea, AND she has created such an awesome list of book possibilities, that I HAVE to join in. The whole idea is to read a classic of some sort and then read a more modern "re-telling" or a book that mentions the classic in some way. I'm only going to go "small" (read 2 books-one set), but I REALLY hope to read more. I haven't decided what I'm going to read yet. Right now, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is standing out the most in my mind. I also like the sound of reading Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie and one of the books she has listed with it. Then there's all kinds of fairy tale re-tellings she has listed HERE that I want to read anyway. So, I'm not sure yet!

The Armchair Cybils Challenge

This one is hosted by Amy at Hope is the Word. It's already happening now, and goes through February 15th.

The Lucy Maud Montgomery Challenge

This one is hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know in January. I didn't do very well last year! And poor Anne! I've had full intentions of reading Anne of Green Gables SINCE last January and I STILL haven't. SHAMEFUL! ;)

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Challenge

This one is hosted by Barbara at Stray Thoughts in February. I've been trying to pick up the Little House books when I see them at used book places. I've ended up with 4 so far. Unfortunately, two ended up being the same book. :P AND, I've ended up with the last 3 books. That's okay, though. I'm pretty sure my library has at least the first two. I've never read any of these books, so I'm excited about this one, too.

The Chronicles of Narnia Challenge

This one is hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know in July. Last July when I participated, I really and truly wasn't in the best mentality to read them. I know that sounds crazy, but I'd had my reading challenged, and I was battling that while reading them. I'm through that, so I'm anxiously anticipating finishing up this series. I really enjoyed them even with my "battle", but I know without it I could have enjoyed them more! Like all challenges, I don't plan on waiting until the next challenge month to continue. I really want to read them before July. Time has a way of getting away from me, though. I've actually ended up with several Narnia and C.S. Lewis related titles since then, so they've really been calling out to me!

The Maud Hart Lovelace Challenge

This one is hosted by Sarah at A Library is a Hospital for the Mind. I've read 4 of her books now, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the girls grow up. (Well, sort of)!

I think that's it. That will keep me busy reading through 2012!

Looking for a Great Charity? Some Are Even Free!

2011-12-15T16:40:00.000-06:00

I know that there's simply no way to help out each and every charity there is out there. If you're looking for a great one, though, I want to recommend Christian Relief Fund. They are a very reputable, caring organization! Sponsors or simply monetary gifts are always welcome! Year round!

*************

If you'd like to help out for free, these are some "click to give" sites. You simply click on a button and advertisers donate to the charity. It doesn't take long! The best thing is, you can do this once EVERYDAY!

Click to Give Website

Animals

Feed the Poor

Stop Child Abuse

End Homelessness

Impact Kids Cancer

Children

Care 2 Click to Give Website
-This one works the same way. I'll just send you to the main site and you can click on all the different charities. They include: children, rainforests, cancer, animals, and many more. You can also earn butterfly credits by clicking, commenting, doing the daily action, sending e-cards, and other ways. You can swap these credits for things that are needed by someone, like safe drinking water or cement for a cooking stove. There's all kinds of things. I really like this site and there's lots to explore!

Freerice.com- This site is just awesome! It's a game that for every right answer you get, you donate 10 grains of rice to help end hunger. It's not just a mindless game, though! It will really increase your vocabulary. Not only do you donate rice, but you get smarter in the process.

Provide food for dogs at freekibble.com
You answer a trivia question. Right or wrong, you still donate kibble.

Provide food for cats at freekibblekat.com

*************

If you do couponing, you're probably like me and throw lots of them away after they expire. You may not know that those expired coupons are actually still good for 6 more months for military folks.

Coups For Troops
PO Box 147
Winnabow NC 28479

Just mail the expired coupons to that address, and they will be distributed. I don't remember where I got that address, so I'm just assuming that it's still good. I think there's lots of places you could mail them, though. Do a search if this interests you, and there might be a place close by that you wouldn't have to pay to mail them.

I think I'm going to make all these kinds of things a page, and then add to them as I go. There really are lots of things to do to help. Most of them really don't require much money, and they are all great things to help all year!

Feel free to leave any more "click to give" sites that you like!

I just realized this one is going up right after posting The Hidden Gift of Helping. I did NOT actually plan it that way! :)

The Hidden Gift of Helping by Stephen G. Post

2011-12-14T14:54:00.000-06:00

Jossey-Bass (February 22, 2011) 224 pages

The Hidden Gifts of Helping ended up being a good bit different than what I thought it would be. It's mainly written for someone who has recently moved or is going to move. That would not me. At least, I don't have any plans to move. Maybe it was because of the fact that I wasn't the main intended audience, but I had an extremely difficult time getting through it. I don't typically skim when it comes to books, but I ended up skimming a good bit with this one. I don't want my review to come off negative, because I haven't read every word, but I also can't completely recommend it for the same reason.

I did see a great deal of good advice. I think that everyone could probably benefit from many of the points made. It's not completely just for "moving" people.

"Holding grudges is a terrible way to live. It saps all the positive energy from life and drives us into an emotional dungeon. Nothing interferes with creativity and good judgement more than bearing grudges, and few things have destroyed more otherwise good and promising lives. Forgiveness, difficult as it may sometimes be, makes us stronger, wiser, and happier, no matter what we have lost."

I write that quote thinking of myself right now! The devil has really worked on me lately. I've had to pray many prayers to release anger that I have for complete strangers. The internet definitely has its downfalls!

So, you will most likely come away with some wisdom from this book!

The main points of the book are how much you will benefit from helping others. It shows through a great deal of statistics, history information, and encouraging stories that if you are going through a hard time of any sort, helping others will do wonders for your state of mind, and in some cases, health.

I apologize for not having a better review! There's no doubt in my mind that if you will be moving or have recently moved, you will greatly benefit from The Hidden Gifts of Helping!

Thanks to B&B Media Group for my review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Common English Bible, Week 2

2011-12-12T22:00:00.000-06:00

Well, my plans for posting about the Common English Bible once a week hasn't work out like I had planned. "sigh"

First of all, I'll announce the winner of the Common English Bible from my last post.

Linda Kish

She's already been contacted.

Now I'll get to my thoughts so far. When I learned that the Common English Bible was gender neutral, I was extremely disappointed. While I like to consider myself pretty open-minded on things, I have to admit I was very much close-minded on the gender neutral issue. When I learned that my favorite children's Bible of all time is also gender neutral, I realized I wasn't being fair. I hadn't even noticed anything "off" while reading My First Hands-On Bible. I'm NOT saying that I won't. I just haven't yet. I have to say the same thing about the CEB. I haven't found any verses YET that I feel the meaning of the verse was changed. When a verse is specifically talking about a male or female, the CEB keeps it that way. The only time SO FAR that I've seen the gender neutral change is for when I truly believe it was meant for both male and female. If you know of any verses where this is not the case, PLEASE give me those verses! The only problem SO FAR that I've had will be pointed out below.

As I mentioned on my last post about the Common English Bible, I really have no intentions of making this my reading Bible. I really like my New King James Version Study Bible and don't have any plans of changing that. The CEB is still simply for having a different take on Bible verses while studying.

Other than saying that, I'm simply going to give you the NKJV and the CEB translations of a few sets of verses, so you can have a bit more comparison.

Matt. 19:9 (CEB) "I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Matthew 19:19 (NKJV) "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."

As you can see, the CEB took away an important part of that verse! That's a major negative for me, but I have no doubt that there is faults with every translation! I'll consider that strike 1.

Romans 7:2-3 (CEB) "(2)A married woman is united with her husband under the Law while he is alive. But if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning her husband. (3) So then, if she lives with another man while her husband is alive, she's committing adultery. But if her husband dies, she's free from the Law, so she won't be committing adultery if she marries someone else."

Romans 7:2-3 (NKJV) "(2)For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. (3)So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man."

1 Corinthians 14: 34-35 (CEB) "(34)the women should keep quiet during the meeting. They are not allowed to talk. Instead, they need to get under control, just as the Law says. (35)If they want to learn something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is disgraceful for a woman to talk during the meeting."

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 (NKJV) "(34)Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. (35)And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church."

Mark 16:16 (CEB) "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever doesn't believe will be condemned."

Mark 16:16 (NKJV) "He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned."

The last verse up there is an example of gender neutral. I don't believe that it was only talking to men. There's no doubt in my mind that it was referring to both men and women, so I don't feel the meaning was changed.

Please feel free to leave me your thoughts, and any verses you think I'd like to know about!

Book Club- 2012

2011-12-09T17:55:00.001-06:00

I am thrilled to let you about an online book club that was created by Carrie from Reading to Know! I'm really excited about it, because as much as I would love to be a part of one, I have never had that opportunity. Until now! I think this is a wonderful way to pull me out of my reading comfort zone, and have a few books picked for me. You never know! I (or you) could end up with a new, unexpected favorite book.

Here's the line up:

January - Beyond Opinion, by Ravi Zacharias. Selected by Sky.

February - Running Away to Home, by Jennifer Wilson. Selected by *Carrie* at With All That I've Been Given.

March - The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan. Selected by Shonya at Learning How Much I Don't Know.

April - Any title by P.G. Wodehouse of your choosing (selected by Tim at Diary of an Autodidact) Just choose one. Especially if you've never read Wodehouse before. (Happy to make suggestions if you need some.)

May - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain. Selected by Amy at Hope is in the Word.

June - A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter. Selected by Stephanie at Simple Things.

July - Any book in the Chronicles of Narnia series (as part of the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge hosted annually here at Reading to Know, hosted by myself) (Again, just choose one. And make the most of it!)

August - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, by Catherynne M. Valente. Selected by Bluerose at Bluerose's Heart.

September - Professionalizing Motherhood, by Jill Savage. Selected by Stephanie at Stephanie's Mommy Brain.

October - Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Selected by Barbara H. at Stray Thoughts.

November - Jewel of Persia, by Roseanna White. Selected by Annette at Live, Learn, Love.

December - A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Selected by Carrie

As you can see, I picked The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. I feel a little bit like the black sheep of the group, which really makes me hope this ends up being a good book! ;) I think there's a good and interesting line up of books, though! I like the mix of Classics and Non-Fiction.

I already own books for 3 of the months, and I can get 5 of them at my library. That only leaves 4 for me to either find used or order. Most of them are very easy to find if you decide to participate!

I had a hard time choosing my pick! Just in case you're curious what other books were knocked off the list, here were my top competitors.

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon (I knew I wanted a fantasy or fairy tale type of book AND one that I had never read, so this one was the first to go).

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
by Jessica Day George

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell(I don't think this one is fairy tale or fantasy, but it did stay longer).

The Aviary was the last to go, but I still REALLY want to read it eventually! There were two factors that made me pick The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. One, there are a whole lot of 5-star reviews at Amazon. That doesn't always mean much to me, but when blindly picking a book that others will be reading(hopefully!), I know the chance that others will like it are a little better. Two,(and the main reason) the pictures! Go to the Amazon page and scroll down a bit for a sample of the pictures. Now I know that the pictures won't necessarily make the story great, but for me, they do help. I love artwork connected with books. I really have high hopes for this book, though!

Be sure to check out Annette's post. She tells why she picked The Jewel of Persia, which is what encouraged me to post a little of WHY I picked what I did. :)

I hope you all decide to join in the fun!

The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall Discount Code

2011-12-09T16:24:00.002-06:00

Now through December 20th, you can receive a 30% discount PLUS free shipping on The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall(and any other title) using the promo code CHRISTMAS11 at Waterbrook Multnomah's website. I really enjoyed this book! Click HERE for my review.

If you'd like to watch the video, here it is.

If you'd like to read the first chapter, go HERE.

Live Abundantly and Live Reflectively by Lenya Heitzig and Penny Rose

2011-12-07T05:00:00.003-06:00

David C. Cook (November 1, 2011)

Live Abundantly: A Study in the Book of Ephesians and Live Reflectively: Lessons from the Watershed Moments of Moses are really nice devotional books. They look very "Spring-y". They're a little bit wider than the average devotional, which leaves more room to write if you choose to do so in the book. I'd actually recommend a separate notebook, since there is a great deal of journal opportunity with all the questions. I think it's great that they are part of a set. You can collect all of them, and they really are lovely books!

All of that said, they aren't really for me. I don't have anything negative to say about them, though. The devotionals are very short. They are suppose to be 20 minute studies. It might take you 30 seconds to read the devotional, so the rest of the 20 minutes is really spent on answering questions, journal entries, and Bible reading(which is always a good thing!). I'm just not the "answering questions and journal entry" kind of person. As much as I would like to be, I've just had to get honest with myself and realize it's just not for me. Also, I have different beliefs than what the authors do. Again, I don't say any of that to be negative! IF you like to do a great deal of writing with your devotionals, I highly recommend you give these a try! And, if I knew someone that liked writing with devotionals, I wouldn't hesitate to give these as gifts.

I'm adding this in:
I gave the Live Reflectively book to my momma, and after talking to her last night, she loves it! She loves all the questions and reflecting. She also told me that she's already learned a great deal about Moses that she didn't already know. It was almost enough to convince me I should try again! ;) So, that proves it's really all about what your tastes are.

*Thanks to B&B Media Group for my review copies in exchange for my honest opinion!

My Top Ten Favorite Christmas Movies

2011-12-06T05:00:00.002-06:00

White Christmas

My all time favorite Christmas movie! Whenever I finally finish my Top Ten Favorite Movies, this one will be on there, too. You just can't have Christmas without Bing Crosby! This year I got The Very Best of Bing Crosby Christmas to add to my Cd collection.

Holiday Inn

Bing again! ;) I've mentioned before that my boys' 1st names were gotten from actors from the 50s(middle names from the Bible). If I didn't feel like I would be torturing my child for life, I would have picked Bing! I couldn't do it, though. I know Kate Hudson did, and I'm a little bit jealous that she can get away with it! I got a great deal of grief for my second son's name anyway, though. :P

Home Alone and Home Alone 2

I really like them both! These are movies that I always watched with my family growing up.

Miracle on 34th Street

The little girl in this movie is just adorable! I do wish the whole "drunken Santa" part wasn't in this one, though.

Elf

I just find this movie hilarious!

Little Women

I just really wish Jo had been portrayed by another person, but otherwise, I really like this movie.

The Santa Clause(All 3)

While 1 and 2 are my favorites, I really like all three!

The Polar Express

Last year Grasshopper LOVED this movie! This year he's absolutely terrified of it. He loves trains, and I just can't figure out why he's scared of it this year.

Jingle All The Way

Growing up I always had respect for Sinbad in the fact that he refused to cuss. I'm guessing that hasn't changed. (??) This is a cute movie, though!

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Ok, if you've been around here very long, surely you expected this one, right?! ;)

A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander

2011-12-05T19:08:00.001-06:00

Bethany House (November 1, 2011) 432 pages

Description from back cover:

Claire Laurent's greatest aspiration is to paint something that will bring her acclaim. Yet her father insists she work as a copyist. A forger. When she's forced to flee her home, her path collides with attorney Sutton Monroe, who shows her kindness by not turning her in to authorities. But when he later refuses to come to her aid, Claire fears she's sorely misjudged him. Finding herself among the elite of Nashville society, Claire believes her dream of creating a lasting impression in the world of art is within reach--but only if her past remains hidden.

The Federal Army destroyed Sutton's home, confiscated his land, and threatens to destroy his family's honor. His determination to reclaim what belongs to him reveals a truth that may cost him more than he ever imagined--as well as the woman he loves.

Set at Nashville's historic Belmont Mansion, a stunning antebellum manor built by Adelicia Acklen, A Lasting Impression is a sweeping love story about a nation mending after war, the redemption of those wounded, and the courage of a man and woman to see themselves--and each other--for who they really are.

My Review:

A Lasting Impression is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read! It has earned a well deserved place on my keeper shelf, which is getting harder and harder to do these days! There are just no words I could possibly say to express just how much I enjoyed this book. Really!

Tamera has created some of the most real characters. I felt like I knew them, like I was right there in the story with them. I laughed with them and cried with them. A Lasting Impression was one of the sweetest romances I've had the pleasure of reading, but it also went so much deeper. There are so many spiritual lessons throughout its pages, and the historical descriptions are GORGEOUS. I was pulled completely into this book!

After finishing A Lasting Impression, I read the "Author's Note" section(yes, I actually waited to the end on this one), and discovered that the story was based on real people. These are always my favorite books, so it shouldn't have came as such a surprise. It did make me like the book even more, though. There were times while I was reading through the tears that I was thinking Tamera really shows no mercy when it come to her characters. ;) The fact that it really happened explains that part, but it also breaks my heart. I hate that one character had to endure the pain that she did.

This wasn't the most edgy Christian fiction I've ever read, but I would consider it a bit edgy, just in case that might bother you. It wasn't enough to keep me from liking it, obviously! It's on the lower side of edgy, though.

Highly recommended!!

*Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for my review copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

Triple Dog Dare: One Year of Dynamic Devotions for Boys by Jeremy V. Jones

2011-12-05T14:49:00.000-06:00

David C. Cook (October 1, 2011) 432 pages

My Review:

I think Triple Dog Dare is a really cute devotional book! Now, if the intended audience for it were to read the word "cute", they'd probably pass right on by it! ;) I found myself snickering a good bit while reading the devotionals.

"If the apostle James were around today, he would wear Nikes. He probably wouldn't even care if they matched his robe. He'd be styling them simply because they helped him Just Do It. The guy could've written the slogan. He did write that part of the Bible."

It goes on to connect with the Bible. I just really like the way Jeremy wrote these devotionals(for a young man)!

There's a year's worth of devotionals in here, so I haven't read every single one. I really liked the ones that I have read, though. Keep in mind that this book was written for 9-12 year old males, and I am a 30 year old female! I think Jeremy did a wonderful job of writing for the intended audience, though. (This book is actually going to a young man that I think will really enjoy it)! Some of them do touch on serious topics, like pornography.

"You don't have to be a preacher to praise God in what you do. You can honor Him telling jokes, eating ice cream, and riding your skateboard. You can glorify Him in the classroom, playground, locker room, and ice rink-even the bathroom! You can worship Him surfing, hunting, painting, and going to sleep. He can be pleased by the way you do your homework, hang out with friends, and even brush your teeth."

There's 6 devotionals for each week(one for the weekend). Each includes a short devotional, Bible verses, challenges(dares), and a journal section to write about the dare from the day before. Triple Dog Dare is definitely a book that I will keep in mind for my boys as they get a little older!

**I've slowly been working on my "labels" and trying to be a bit more specific with a few of them. My "gender neutral" label is really just to say it's a book a boy can read. I think most books are perfectly fine for girls to read, no matter what their intended audience is. That's not the case with "girl" books, though. It's not as generally accepted for a boy to read a girl book. (I'm not saying it's wrong for a boy to read a girl book! I'm just speaking in general here). I labeled Triple Dog Dare as gender neutral, just so I wouldn't have to create a lone category just for this book. I don't recommend it for girls, though. There is another book like this one for girls, called Truth and Dare. I don't know of a girl to pass it on to, so I didn't take it on for review. It looks cute, too, though.

*A huge thanks to B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano

2011-12-02T23:07:00.003-06:00

WaterBrook Press (February 16, 2010) 40 pages

I think This Little Prayer of Mine is precious, and I definitely plan on keeping it on our bookshelf. That said, I knew about some of the issues others had with it. At one point a child asks if God will listen to his prayer, and another point where the child asks if God will love him forevermore. Of course! God will always listen to a child's prayer and He loves us all no matter what. I honestly didn't have an issue with it, but some of you might.

While I don't really care for "memorized" prayers, I do think this is a sweet book to get a child(and adults) thinking about praying. It's a reminder to thank God for His blessings along with our requests. It can definitely be read at any point, but I think This Little Prayer of Mine makes a perfect addition to our "Night, night" bookshelf.

"Whenever I feel really scared
and want to hide my head,
please help me to be brave and strong
and face my fears instead.
And when my heart is very sad,
and tears roll down my face,
please help me to be happy
so a smile can take their place."

I will be on the lookout for more of DeStefano's books!

*Thanks to Waterbrook Multnomah for my review copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

Journey to Christmas(DVD Review)

2011-11-30T09:38:00.000-06:00

Description from Amazon:

Journey to Christmas is a fascinating new reality DVD series that invites you to explore Jesus’ birth through five modern-day explorers. Shot on ultra-high-definition film and packaged as a four-part DVD church curriculum, this unique study series chronicles the experiences of five very different people—a messianic Jew, a First Nations woman, a poet, a Christian radio personality, and an agnostic lawyer—as they journey through the Holy Land to discover the true meaning of Christmas. Guided by a local historian (Nizar Shaheen) with on-camera commentary from a team of Bible experts (astronomer Dr. Hugh Ross, ancient history expert Dr. Paul Maier, archeologist and New Testament scholar Dr. Craig Evans, Biblical times culture expert Claire Pfann, and others), viewers will see the Christmas story unfold though the eyes of each member on this unique pilgrimage. Journey to Christmas lets you immerse yourself in the culture, places, and people surrounding the Nativity. Stunning photography, a reality show format, exotic locations, and fascinating commentary from a team of Bible experts make this an unforgettable Bible learning experience!

My thoughts:

I should probably mention that I don't celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ. I know! You're thinking I'm horrible. Let me explain, though. I'm just uncomfortable with the fact that it's a completely man-made holiday. I don't like that some random person(or people)-not God, not Jesus, just some random person- decided that December 25th was the most convenient day to celebrate Christ's birth, and that it was the day I need to celebrate the birth of Christ, too. I just feel like I would be adding to the Bible by celebrating Christ's birthday on December 25th, or any other singled out day or season of the year (I feel the same way about Easter)(Rev.22: 18-19). I don't judge anyone who does, though. Not at all!!!! I do celebrate Christmas as a time of family, and giving, and simply spoiling children a little, and it's my favorite holiday! ;) If you've been around my blog very long, I hope you can tell just how important Jesus is in my life! While I'm guessing there's nobody out there reading this post that has the same opinion as me, I do think that most of you would agree, in this case, if I'm uncomfortable with it, I shouldn't do it.

Now that I've got that out of the way, I'll continue with my review. Overall, I really enjoyed watching Journey to Christmas! I would be thrilled to walk where Jesus walked and sit where He taught. That would be an amazing experience! I don't have any plans to travel to Israel, though. I'm not saying I won't, but it's not in the works anytime soon. That's why I'm so glad I was able to experience a tiny bit of the Nativity Story through my TV screen.

In Journey to Christmas we meet 5 people with various backgrounds and faiths who take the trip to Israel to learn more about the Nativity Story for different reasons. I hate to say, even though I did like the series, I could have did without the "reality show" part of it. Sometimes the people just annoyed me, and I felt too much time was spent on watching them play and talk. Most of the "5" were traveling to Israel to decide if they believed in Jesus or not. One was going for artistic inspiration. It just annoyed me! And, I hate that they were constantly referred to as "modern-day wise men". I would have loved to have seen more educational type content. I LOVED watching the history part of the video. If you already know a great deal of background information about the Nativity Story, then I have a feeling you'll be a bit disappointed. It is just basic information about the customs of the times, but parts were still fascinating to me. I don't really get how it's being advertised as a church curriculum type of video, though. I think most people will want to watch this video to have a better connection to Jesus and His birth. While that does happen, I just don't think the spiritual content will be what most are hoping for.

There was one particular part that I really liked. The girls were learning how to season olives. They were with a few women from Israel, and you could tell how peaceful they were. One of the girls(part of the 5) mentioned how overloaded we are. We've constantly got cell phones ringing and computers in front of us. The women in Israel kept their hands busy, but they're hearts and minds were at peace. It just really made me think. There were times when I completely disagreed with what one of the "5" were saying, and there were times when I absolutely agreed with what they were saying.

Just in case this would bother you, I want to mention some of the paintings that are shown. There's a couple of nude-ish paintings, but one is shown over and over. Each episode is 45 minutes long. This apparently aired on television first, because there's obvious "commercial" breaks(without the commercials, though). Due to those breaks and the fact that there are 4 separate episodes, there's a good bit of repetition. One picture shows up several times due to all that, though. I didn't study the paintings or anything(I actually tried to ignore them for the most part), but I think a woman's top is the only actual nudity shown. I think the rest is pretty well covered up.

I'm thrilled to have Journey to Christmas as part of our DVD library. I just wish it wasn't set up as a reality show type of thing. While I do think that you'll have plenty of issues with the video while watching it, I definitely think it IS worth watching, though!

*Thanks to Tyndale for providing me a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Top Ten Books That Caught My Attention in November

2011-11-29T13:07:00.000-06:00

November's list of books has probably been the hardest for me to narrow down to only 10. I've saw so many great books this month, and my reading list has expanded a great bit! It hasn't helped that I've started shopping around for Christmas presents, and have found even more that I want to read.

I really wanted to start giving links to posts that made me want to read a book, but I'm not going to this month. Sorry y'all! I'm trying to hurry and whip this post up before the end of the day. Between trying to catch a few online deals the past few days(there were some great ones!!) and being sick the past week, I've gotten behind on reviews and reading. I almost never get sick, which I am beyond grateful for, but when I do, I pay for it! Here goes, though:

Something to Hold by Katherine Schlick Noe

I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this one. I've been looking around for Native American fiction, and this one looks promising.

Child of the Mountains by Marilyn Sue Shank

This one doesn't come out until April 2012, but I'm excited about it, too.

Bomba the Jungle Boy by Roy Rockwood

This one seems to be out of print, but if I ever luck up and find it at a used store, I'll snatch it up!

May B. by Caroline Rose

The Woman Who Heard Color by Kelly Jones

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

The Reluctant Prophet by Nancy Rue

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

These days I'm very hesitant to pick up YA fiction, unless I know it's clean. I saw a review that of this one that really intrigued me, but I don't know much about it. If you've read it, let me know if it was clean please. :)

Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

There were so many more, but I guess those are the ones that gained my interest the most. What books made your NEED to read list this month?

The Reader, Responsible: Guest Post by Rachel Starr Thomson

2011-11-28T07:59:00.001-06:00

Today I'm welcoming Rachel Starr Thomson to Bluerose's Heart! She is the author of the Worlds Unseen Trilogy.

Rachel's Guest Post:

As a kid I read hundreds of books. Maybe even thousands. My memories of childhood are all woven up with fantasy worlds and plot lines; with places I’d never been and people who weren’t real, but seemed to be. I read both fiction and nonfiction of all kinds. I read less now (I’m an adult with responsibilities, it seems), but still plenty: I read the Bible and books of theology, history, or Christian living every morning; I edit manuscripts all day; and I regularly read fiction for the purposes of review. My life is inescapably literary.

But there was a period of time, in my late teens, when I almost gave up reading entirely. I also gave up writing after only just having started seriously (after years of playing around with it, I wrote two novels in my early teens and started a book on missionary history—the latter was never finished, alas). The reason was that God had burst into my life in a new way, and I was so busy walking with him, fellowshipping with real people, and serving in ministry that I didn’t have time for books.

The pendulum, of course, swung again. “Free time” began to happen again, and I discovered that books actually played an important and irreplaceable role in my life: they developed my mind and imagination in ways that translated into real life. I was happier, more grounded, more creative, and more spiritually effective as a reader than as someone who didn’t have time for books.

But I’m glad I had that period of time away from the worlds of paper and ink. It taught me something important: that there’s a world of difference between responsible and irresponsible escapism.

Merriam-Webster defines “escapism” as “habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine.” That kind of escape can be done irresponsibly. It can be a way of taking ourselves away from reality so that we don’t have to deal with it, of leaving people in the lurch and never really discovering ourselves or God or anything else that really matters.

On the other hand, escape can be valuable and responsible, because it can give us new perspective, new courage, new hope, and new imagination to carry back with us into our “real” lives. We can use what we discover in books to shape ourselves and our reality outside of them. I’ve been able to gain understanding of human nature while I read that later enabled me to show greater compassion or connect on a deeper level with another human being in the “real world.” I’ve been able to take the joy or beauty in a story and use it to see beauty and experience joy in real life. I’ve been able to carry visions of goodness and truth, seen in fiction, into the reality of my prayer life, my daily habits, and my lifetime goals. Books impact our minds and imaginations, and so much of the way we live begins in those places.

Of course, this definition of responsible reading—reading to find strength and inspiration for our lives outside of books—also requires reading good books as often as we can. Rejecting twaddle and embracing the truly great and holy in literature (“Christian” and otherwise) is a discipline in itself.

Rachel's Website

World's Unseen Website

About World's Unseen: (from Rachel's Site)

Warrior, Singer, Seer, Healer, Listener, Voice.

For five hundred years the Seventh World has been ruled by a tyrannical empire — and the mysterious Order of the Spider that hides in its shadow. History and truth are deliberately buried, the beauty and treachery of the past remembered only by wandering Gypsies, persecuted scholars, and a few unusual seekers.

But the past matters, as Maggie Sheffield soon finds out. It matters because its forces will soon return and claim lordship over her world, for good or evil.

An orphan, Maggie’s steps have been dogged by tragedies she’s always seen as disconnected. But when a dying friend appears on her doorstep with proof that the empire is lying about the source of its power — proof in the form of an ancient scroll — she learns that her own tragedies have been part of a deliberate plan to crush the truth. Convinced of the scroll’s importance, Maggie agrees to carry it to the only man who can read it, a scholar who lives across the sea in the eastern reaches of the continent.

Maggie’s journey connects her with rebels and dreamers and makes her the enemy of terrifying shadow creatures and the powers of the empire. And so the past is revealed, and an ancient war begins again, with the Gifted at the heart of it: six individuals whose powerful gifts point to a world beyond their own. The Singer, the Seer, the Healer, the Listener, the Warrior, and the Voice must join together to show their world what is true and what is false — and in the process, to save them all from the evil that lies at their door.

The Seventh World Trilogy is an epic fantasy, beautiful, terrifying, pointing to the realities just beyond the world we see.

Thank you so much for being with us today, Rachel!

Me and the Pumpkin Queen by Marlane Kennedy

2011-11-23T05:00:00.002-06:00

Greenwillow Books; (July 28, 2009) 192 pages

This is one of those library book I apparently thought I couldn't leave behind. I think it was an attempt to hang on to the last of Fall. Doesn't that cover just look Fall-y? And, I've grown to think very highly of the Greenwillow Books label!

In Me and the Pumpkin Queen, we meet Mildred.

"There's a bunch of T-shirts with sparkly words on them: Princess, Spoiled, Sweet. I see an orange one with the word Pumpkin in a fancy lettering and grab it. Not only does it catch my attention for obvious reasons, but Mama used to call me Pumpkin. She didn't care for the name Mildred either, even though that is what she named me. She named me Mildred 'cause my grandma, her mother-in-law, never cared for her when she first married Daddy, and that bothered her something awful. Mama thought if she named me after her, Grandma would like her more. Mama was very smart. It worked. Grandma was nearly as brokenhearted as Daddy and I were when Mama died."

It really ended up being a cute book! It's about Mildred's adventures in grieving the loss of her mother and simply growing up. I don't recommend this book for boys, by the way. There's nothing bad at all about it, but I don't think little boys need to be reading about how a girl feels about getting her first bra. ;)

Ever since Mildred's mother died, she's been trying to grow giant pumpkins. Me and the Pumpkin Queen tells of her 4th year of raising pumpkins. I was really surprised that I seemed to be holding my breath waiting to see the outcome of the pumpkins.

If you're looking for a really sweet, quick, light read, Me and the Pumpkin Queen is definitely a good choice!!

Ice Cube Award by Midge Noble with Interview

2011-11-22T06:00:00.001-06:00

Balboa Press (September 7, 2011) 48 pages

I was honored to have the chance recently to read Ice Cube Award: Learning To Be Cool Under Pressure by Midge Noble. I really wish this book was in every single classroom out there! Anger with children just seems to be getting worse these days. I feel like there's so much out there pulling parent's attention away from their children and they just have to grow up too quickly. I think it comes with anger. (Just my little 2 cents)! I benefited from it, though, and I'm 30! :) My little Grasshopper already has some struggles with anger(as does most 3 year olds...I think), so I have no doubt he will benefit from it one day.
If you know of a child struggling with anger, I highly recommend Ice Cube Award.

I'm extremely grateful to Midge for allowing me to do an interview with her! I think her answers are all the convincing you will need to know just how special a book Ice Cube Award is.

-Would you tell us a little bit about Ice Cube Award?

Ice Cube Award is a book for children that focuses on anger management and bullying. In the story, Dani (a female character) has trouble being told no, losing, being teased and when things don't go her way. She lives in Ice Town, and when she gets angry, she gets hot and melts things. She has melted her classroom walls, her sister's crib, the pew at church, the store floor, and when she eventually melts the statue of the mayor, the town has had enough and is ready to ask her family to move. Dani has to learn how to stay cool under pressure, control her thoughts, and manage her feelings.

-I understand a special young man inspired the story. Can you tell us about him and his inspiration?

I worked with a young boy who had a huge anger problem. His rages could be quite explosive and he destroyed my office on more than one occasion. We had worked for a while together and one day I asked him to draw a picture of himself feeling happy and without all the rages he was used to having. He brought me a picture of himself with a goofy grin and a necklace around his neck. When I asked about his drawing, he said that the picture was of himself being happy and that the necklace was an ice cube that kept him cool. The story of the Ice Cube Award popped into my head. I continued to work with him and he began to make progress toward controlling his rages and using specific skills to manage his feelings. Tragically, about two months after that session, he died in a house fire, but I truly believe that he had earned his Ice Cube Award and I dedicated the book to his memory and inspiration.

-Was Ice Cube Award a family project?(Was your daughter the illustrator?) If so, what was that like?

Thank you for asking about the illustrations. Actually, my cousin, Candy Noble Wallace is the illustrator. She lives in Virginia and also illustrated my first book, Sheba: Home Is Where Your Heart Is that focuses on abuse, neglect, trust, and finding your forever home. It has been an honor to work with her on these projects.

-Do you have plans to publish anymore children's books?

I am in the process of writing the sequel to Sheba: Home Is Where Your Heart Is. It is titled, SHEBA, The Tail-wagging Adventure Continues! I feel that the books I write come to me because the stories have purpose and want to be told.

-Can you leave us with some tips to help children deal with their anger?

Know that you are in control of what you think, say, and do.
You are in charge of your feelings, and can stop anger anytime you want to.
Take deep breaths to calm yourself down.
Tell your brain to calm down.
Remind yourself that just because mean things are said about you, that doesn't make it true.

Midge, thank you so much for the lovely interview!!

If you would like to see more about Midge and her books, just go to Midge's Website
.

About the author:

Midge Noble is a licensed professional counselor in the state of North Carolina. She received a Master of Arts Degree in Counselor Education and Research from Appalachian State University and has worked in the counseling field since 1985. She has worked as a school counselor, a counselor for terminally ill children and their families, a mental health counselor, and now is serving children and their families in private practice. Noble works extensively with children who have been abused, neglected, bullied, or are the bullies. This is her second children’s book.

What's On Your Nightstand? (November 22nd, 2011)

2011-11-22T05:00:00.002-06:00

I absolutely love reading other people's What's on Your Nightstand posts, but I've always felt I was too much of a "spur of the moment" reader to be able to participate. I really want to organize my reading just a tiny bit more, so I'm going to participate this month and see how it goes. I've told myself this isn't a contract or anything! ;)

I've actually already got several books read this month that are simply waiting on a review to be finished and posted. These are the books I hope to read through the end of November/December, though.

Life Application Study Bible Devotional: Daily Wisdom from the Life of Jesus
-I'm still trying to do this devotional, but I won't lie. I'm not doing it as much or as detailed as I want!!

The Hidden Gifts of Helping: How the Power of Giving, Compassion, and Hope Can Get Us Through Hard Times Stephen G. Post
-I have this one for review. I've barely started it, but I do know that it's different than what I expected. I'm not the target reader for it, but I'm still hoping to come out of it with some wisdom. Hopefully!!

A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander
-This is another review book. I've started it already, and I'm really liking it so far.

Alabama Brides by Sandra Robbins
-I won this book, and I really just can't wait to read it!! I'm looking forward to finally reading some of the works of Mrs. Sandra.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
-I had a bit of time to kill before picking up Grasshopper from class, so I looked around a bit at the library. I was simply dropping off some books I had checked out. I had no intentions of checking out anymore books! I knew I had plenty at home to keep me occupied(for years!). Can you believe I walked out of the library with 3 books and 2 movies?! My goodness, I have no self control when it comes to books!
I've been curious about this one for awhile, though, and apparently decided it was time to read it.

Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
-This is one of the other library books I ended up with. It looks cute.

The Strictest School in the World: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken (The Mad Misadventures of Emmaline and Rubberbones) by Howard Whitehouse
-I bought the whole set for my birthday back in July/August(autographed!). :) I really just wanted to read them myself, but I figured, especially with autographs, they would be something great to pass down to one of my sons one day. I hate that I haven't made time for them yet.

I got to shopping at a goodwill store a few towns away a couple of weeks ago, and found some great books. I mean, jump up and down excited kind of books(for me)! Then there's simply the books already on my shelf that I've been wanting to read awhile. Here's a picture of what I'd love to read if I had tons more reading time.

I'm pretty well stretching it with my list for this month as it is, though, so maybe some of them will make next month! :) And, I'm very grateful that I don't have all the reading time in the world. Especially lately, I've been reminded just how blessed I am to have to my rowdy little boys. Yes, even when I want to go out back and scream at the top of my lungs. I love them very much! ;)

So, what's on your nightstand?

Common English Bible, Week 1 (With Giveway)

2011-11-21T09:25:00.001-06:00

I was recently invited to participate in the Common English Bible tour. I don't know a thing about it at this point. I don't even have my copy yet. (Update: I received it Saturday, but haven't had a chance to sit down with it, so I'm continuing with this post as planned). I decided to be part of the tour, though, because I like trying out new versions and translations of the Bible. I don't think it hurts to have different versions to look at and study. To me, it's somewhat like having commentaries.

I'll be perfectly honest and say that I don't have any intentions whatsoever of making the Common English Bible my "main" Bible. I'm trying it out solely as study tool. I may end up really liking it. I may end up hating it. I'll let you know my honest thoughts, though, as I go along. And keep in mind that while I am extremely conservative with my beliefs, I'm still just a simple, stay at home mom. These are purely just my opinions and thoughts.

The tour is running from November 20th through January 31st. For every week that I post about the Common English Bible , I'm given the opportunity to offer one of my readers a softcover edition of it. I just can't pass up the chance to offer as many of my readers as possible the chance at one of these to try out. So, I'll be posting my thoughts once a week throughout the tour. My plan is to give you the NKJV and the CEB translations of specific sets of verses, so you can compare and decide if this is a version you might like. I'm going to try to especially post controversial verses, to see how much, if anything, has been changed.

If you would like to be entered, just leave a comment with your (spam-free) e-mail, and I'll randomly draw a winner each week.

For this week, since I don't actually have the CEB yet(see my update above), I'm going to simply use some of the verses that were e-mailed to me.

2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NKJV): 15 "and from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

2 Timothy 3:15-17 (CEB): 15 "Since childhood you have known the holy scriptures that help you to be wise in a way that leads to salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. 16 Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, 17 so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good.”

Roman 15:4 (NKJV): "For whatever things were written before were written for out learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

Romans 15:4 (CEB): “Whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction so that we could have hope through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures.”

2 Peter 1:19-21 (NKJV): 19 "And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in the dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scriptures is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

2 Peter 1:19-21 (CEB): 19 “In addition, we have a most reliable prophetic word, and you would do well to pay attention to it, just as you would to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Most important, you must know that no prophecy of scripture represents the prophet’s own understanding of things, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will. Instead, men and women led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

I'm new to the idea of "gender neutral" translations, so I'm not positive yet, but I'm pretty sure the CEB is gender neutral. At this point, that is very disappointing, if so! As much as I've been against "gender neutral", though, I actually kind of like the way it is used in the verses above. I have saw verses in other versions that I strongly disapproved of, so we'll see how it goes with this one as I go along. Let me know your thoughts about the Common English Bible so far! I'm just now getting started and learning about it.

The Common English Bible Facebook Page- When you like the page, you are able to print off some calligraphy Bible verses.

Common English Bible Web Page

CEB Twitter

Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to enter for a softcover Common English Bible . U.S. Only.

Finding Our Way Home by Charlene Ann Baumbich

2011-11-17T19:16:00.000-06:00

WaterBrook Press (March 13, 2012) 336 pages

Finding Our Way Home was a pleasant surprise for me! It's a beautiful story about an unlikely friendship that forms between two people. Sasha is a retired ballerina, thanks to an unfortunate dancing accident. She moves back to her deceased mother's house in order to recover and attempt to pull herself out of depression. She hires Evelyn as a live-in helper. Evelyn is a 19 year old girl who is completely lost in the sappy land of love. She's incredibly book smart, but maybe a little naive in the "worldly smarts" department.

Evelyn is what surprised me the most with this story. I didn't know a whole lot about the book when I decided to read it. I expected Evelyn's character to be older and more of a nanny type of character. She wasn't even close to that. She's only 19, for one. She's newly engaged and struggling to keep herself and her thoughts pure. She's one of the sweetest characters ever, and I'd be very surprised if she doesn't charm her way into everyone's heart. I was constantly laughing at her in the first part of the book, and then constantly crying with her as the story progressed.

I had a hard time picturing Sasha as a 30-something year old woman. She relies on help to simply walk and sits in a chair wrapped in a shawl watching birds. I kept picturing her older. She doesn't start off with the best attitude in the world, so as expected, it took a little bit for her to grow on me.

There is just the tiniest bit of fantasy in Finding Our Way Home. It's so tiny, it's almost not even there. I definitely wouldn't label it as fantasy, though. I also wouldn't label it as a romance. It's a story about friendship and family. That said, there are some sexual references throughout the story. It's always when one of the characters are thinking back on memories. It wouldn't consider it edgy or anything, but if you're an extremely conservative reader, it might be a tad much.

Charlene is definitely on my reading list now, and I can't wait to eventually read the other books in the Snowglobe Connections Series.

*I was provided an Advance Reader's Copy through the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest opinion.

Gratitude Giveaway (Winner Picks 2)

2011-11-16T22:23:00.000-06:00

The Gratitude Giveaway Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer.

The winner gets to pick 2 books. I tried to include different genres, so hopefully there's 2 you want to read!

Your choices:

Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
(I have NOT read this book, so I don't know if it's clean).

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon

Restless in Carolina by Tamara Leigh

The Next Queen of Heaven by Gregory Macguire
(I have NOT read, so I don't know if it's clean).

Dragons of the Valley by Donita K. Paul

My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren

Rules:
-Since this giveaway is to thank my followers, you do have to be a follower.
-U.S. only
-Ends November 27th @ midnight

Just leave a comment with your e-mail(spam-free edition) and what books you'll pick. You can change your mind if you win. That's all! Good Luck!

Don't forget to click on the blog button up top and enter all the other giveaways!

Dancing on the Inside by Glen Strathy

2011-11-16T05:00:00.000-06:00

iUniverse Publishing (July 7, 2011) 236 pages

Social phobia: Excessive fear of embarrassment in social situations that is extremely intrusive and can have debilitating effects on personal and professional relationships.

The symptoms and signs of social phobia include blushing, sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, muscle tension, nausea or other stomach discomfort, lightheadedness, and other symptoms of anxiety.

Credit HERE.

I've suffered with social phobia my entire life, so when I discovered Dancing on the Inside was about a young girl with social phobia, I knew I had to read it. Jenny is the main character, and she really wants to dance ballet. Dancing on the Inside is her journey of discovering what she can do to deal with her phobia.

I really wish this book was around when I was younger. I didn't understand that I had a social phobia. I just thought I was really weird, and it was a struggle. It still is!!!!!! It is HARD living with social phobia! (And for the record, I was NOT home-schooled. I went to public school). If you know a young girl who you think even might be suffering with social phobia, PLEASE get her this book. It won't take the phobia away, but it will help her know that she's not alone. Simply understanding what's wrong and that there are others with the same problem is help all by itself. I honestly don't know if social phobia can be "cured", though.

Social Phobia goes way beyond being shy. It's important to know that people with social phobia are completely normal on the inside!! We're just as unique and quirky and fun as all the outgoing people out there. Our bodies just don't allow us to express who we really are when we're out in public or around people other than close family and friends, and many times not even then. It's very frustrating! Dancing on the Inside gives you a very tiny glimpse of what it's like for someone with social phobia.

"Show me how to be like you. So I can see how it feels."
Jenny had never tried to explain how it was to be her before. "I don't know how."
Ara jumped off the bed and walked to the door. "Okay, pretend I'm you walking into the dance studio." She mimed walking to the door, head down, twisting a lock of hair around her forefinger. "What am I doing wrong?"
Jenny laughed and then began to study her. "Well, to start with, you're walking too fast. You're worried about who might be in the room already and whether they like you enough to want you to be there. You figure they probably don't, so you go slow and hope to sneak in without attracting too much attention so they won't notice you and start making fun of you."
Ara tried it again more slowly. "Okay, what else?"
"You need to hang your head a little lower to one side. Close your body in a bit more. Try to make yourself invisible."
Ara changed her body language to match Jenny's description.
"Now look for a spot to sit away from everyone else, where you can feel completely hidden but watch everything."

While I'm a tiny bit different than that description, it gives you a good idea of what it's like. I tend to have to keep myself from running to "my spot" in the back corner. I don't typically move slowly, because the slower I move, the more chance others have to see me. I also have to enter a room with "blinders" on. I can't think about other people or I wouldn't be able to enter the room, period.

If you decide to read this book, and I hope you do, it's important to know that it's a "quiet" book. It's not filled with action. It pretty much only deals with ballet and Jenny's phobia. You get a very BIG dose of ballet in this book. In fact, most of the book takes place at the ballet studio. I don't know a thing about ballet, but the author really seemed to have done his research or already knows a lot about it. To be honest, all the ballet words just went right over my head.

I can't recommend this book without warning that I do think reading it needs to result in a parent/child discussion! Jenny and her new friends Ara do a good bit of lying and scheming in the story. Sometimes, it's just Jenny and sometimes, it's both of them. Some of their decisions were just dangerous. At one point, Jenny makes it clear that while she does feel guilty about lying, she would do it again, because it was for something that she really wants. I wouldn't want a child to come away from reading this book thinking they should lie to get things they really want. Parent/child communication is key! There's also a very brief comment about every girl and boy NEEDING a career, because without money, there's no happiness. I won't go into detail, but I both agree and disagree with the comment. If you read this book, and run up on that paragraph, just know it did cause me to stop and think about whether I disliked it or not.

All of that said, it's real! Very few, if any, children are going to make it through life without getting into some mischief. I also know that most children out there wouldn't change what they've been taught by reading something different in a book. I still just wanted to mention it.

I found Dancing on the Inside to be an educational experience even as an adult, so I definitely recommend reading it, or getting it for a young girl or boy(if he's interested in ballet). There is a boy in the ballet class, but he's really barely mentioned through the story. I'm really looking forward to finding more social phobia books out there, and I'm extremely glad I read this one!

*I was provided a review copy through the Pump Up Your Book tour in exchange for my honest opinion.

Armchair Cybils Challenge Check-in

2011-11-15T08:54:00.000-06:00

Since my last Armchair Cybils Challenge post, I've only got one book review posted that counted towards the challenge.

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton

I've read My Rhinoceros by Jon Agee, but I still haven't posted my review. I've had it drafted for awhile now with some other picture books, and I just haven't finished it. I have so many drafted posts waiting, I really should spend some time finishing them all up!!! I should have it in time for the next check-in, though.

I've also read Dancing on the Inside by Glen Strathy. That review will post tomorrow. This is an awesome book for children suffering from Social Phobia. I wish it was around when I was younger!

That's all for this time, though.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

2011-11-14T09:35:00.000-06:00

Originally published in 1978, 128 pages

Source: Library

Sideways Stories from Wayside School has to be the biggest bunch of nonsense I've ever read! As you may remember, this was a book on my Top Ten Books I Want to Re-Read list. I really liked this series as a child. As an adult, I just can't figure out what I ever saw in it. I was so shocked at its stupidity, I actually wanted to stop reading it. Since it is pretty short, though, I finished it, just so I could actually count it towards the Contentment Reading Challenge. 1 down, 4 to go!

Wayside School is a school that was mistakenly built UP 30 floors, instead of being built sideways. The 19th floor was mistakenly forgotten, too! So that there's a story for each floor, you get 30 different stories that for the most part stand independent from one another. (The 19th chapter simply tells you you're not getting a story since the 19th floor doesn't exist).

Just to give you a taste of what is in the pages of Sideways Stories from Wayside School, I'm going to share part of Chapter 14.

"When Sammy first came into the room, he was four feet tall. But after Mrs. Jewls removed six of his raincoats, he was only three feet tall. And there were still more raincoats to go.
Mrs. Jewls circled his name and removed another coat. She threw it out the window. Then she put a triangle around the circle and threw another one of his coats outside. She kept doing this until Sammy was only one-and-a-half feet high. With every caot she took off, Sammy's laugh got louder and louder and the smell got worse.
Some of the children held their ears. Others could hold only one ear because they were holding their nose with the other hand. It was hard to say which was worse, the laugh or the smell.
Sammy stopped laughing and said, "Hey, old windbag, if you take off one more of my coats and throw it out the window, I'll bite your head off."
"They smell too bad for me to allow them in my classroom," said Mrs. Jewls. "You can pick them up when you leave."
"They smell better than you do, Pighead!" Sammy shouted.
Mrs. Jewls didn't stop. She took off another one of his coats, then another, and another. Sammy was only four inches tall, three inches tall, two inches tall. At last she removed the final coat.
All that was there was a dead rat."

A dead rat! "sigh"

There's no doubt in my mind that children enjoy these books. I did! As I was telling Jonathan about the previous story, he told me he remembered There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom being one of his favorite books when he was a child. He didn't realize that the same author wrote both books, so apparently it was just as corny as Sideways Stories from Wayside School and it triggered something in his brain.

I'm disappointed, but I did learn that not all books were meant to be enjoyed by children AND adults. That said, from looking at Amazon reviews, plenty of adults enjoy these books, too. They're just not for me, though!!!

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton

2011-11-09T05:00:00.001-06:00

Before I start my actual review, I want to give a shout out to MomsKidsBooks. This is a site dedicated to finding great reads for children. I won The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic a couple of months ago from them, and they sent me a bookmark with the book. On the back is this:

What Makes a Children's Book Great?

-The language is rich and the words are well-chosen.

-It is respectful of a child's intellect.

-Illustrations, if present, reflect artistic beauty.

-It teaches something important to learn or simply provides wholesome entertainment.

-Biblical views are not contradicted.

-Engaging and memorable ideas are conveyed.

-It inspires.

-Good character traits are modeled.

-Emotions such as joy, empathy, anticipation, or others are stirred.

-It provides value for all ages of readers.

-Children and parents alike want to read it again!

Isn't that an awesome list?! Any site dedicated to finding reads like that is great in my book! Definitely check out MomsKidsBooks!!

Okay.....on to my review!

Dial (December 2, 2010) 352 pages

I didn't know a thing about The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic when I started reading it, so I was a bit surprised at what the story ends up being about(in a good way). Persimmony Smudge has broken her family's Giving Pot(a pot that provides what you NEED, not want), so she heads to the woods to get another one. Little did she know that this would be the start of quite an adventure in trying to save her entire island! I'm also a bit surprised that Persimmony wasn't my favorite character. While she is the main focus, I didn't connect to her quite as much as I thought I would. My favorite character was King Lucus. He's a spoiled brat, which is NOT usually my favorite kind of character. I guess I could see his potential shining through, though. The biggest quirky trait of King Lucus is probably his love of pepper. He will do anything to get more. Well, he will make others do anything to make sure he gets more! He especially loves it with his sweet potato soup.

The Rumblebumps were my favorite part of the book, though! They just had the heart of a child, and it touched my heart to read about them!

"They came like whispers. They came like the sad, plodding hours of night. From the west the Rumblebumps slowly slinked into the town, barely lifting their big flat feet off the ground with each step. Their empty pockets sagged uselessly from their many coats, their chins hung so low they almost brushed the dirt, and their eyes overflowed with sorrow.
The sight of them filled Persimmony's heart with an unbearable ache, for though watching a Rumblebump laugh is like getting caught in a tidal wave as it breaks, watching a Rumblebump cry(a rare thing indeed) is like standing on the shore while the sea foam swirls around your feet and sucks you deeper and deeper into the soggy sand, until the sea and the sand finally swallow you whole."

I've been pondering the ending, and I'm just not entirely sure how much I liked it. I only somewhat get the "happily ever after", and in books like this, I do love my "happily ever after". I don't expect them to be all sugary sweet all the time, but I like just a bit more closure than what I got. Don't get me wrong, though! I completely love part of what was going on with the ending. There is just so many life lessons to be taken away from reading The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic. I immensely enjoyed it, and it's definitely a keeper for my boy's bookshelf. While the main character is a girl, I think this is still a great book for boys, too!

*The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic is a Cybils nominee, so it will be counted as part of the Armchair Cybils Challenge @ Hope is the Word.

Bible Animals and Noah Jigsaw Book

2011-11-08T05:00:00.002-06:00

Grasshopper was extremely excited a couple of weeks ago to receive a package from Kregel Publications. So was I, just to be honest! ;) Inside we found the Candle Library - Bible Animalsand the Noah Jigsaw Book.

Bible Animals is a small set of 6 board books. They are about well known Bible stories, but to add a bit of a twist, they are told from the point of view of the animal involved in the story.

Elephant Keeps Safe(Noah's Ark)
Lion Misses Breakfast(Daniel in the Lion's Den)
The Pig Who Shared(The Prodigal Son)
Little Sheep Gets Lost(Lost Sheep)
Donkey Helps A Stranger(The Good Samaritan)
Big Fish's Supper(Jonah and the Big Fish)

I thought they were very cute! Grasshopper just absolutely loved them!! On the same day, he also received a Toy Story book and a Bug book. The fact that he wanted nothing to do with those books for awhile should tell you just how much he loved the Bible Animals books.

There are many times when I have a 3 year old on one hip and a 6 month old that is just as heavy in a car seat in the other arm with a diaper bag threw over my shoulder. When it comes to entertainment, it's important that I get the most out of the smallest package possible. That's exactly what I've got with Bible Animals!

My plan was to take a picture of the books beside my hand to show you about what size they are, but Grasshopper wanted them! That would be his hand. :)

Later on, we sat down with the Noah Jigsaw Book. Grasshopper very much enjoyed it, too. There's 6 "9-piece" puzzles throughout the book along with the story of Noah. I loved that when you pull out the puzzle pieces, the picture is still there as a guide for Grasshopper. He does great with the individual picture type puzzles. While this is a bit of a challenge for him, he needs the challenge! If it's too easy with the picture underneath, the puzzle can always simply be put together away from the rest of the book to make it more challenging. This puzzle book is a VERY sturdy board book. It was definitely made with little ones in mind!

Another thing that I love about both sets of books is that at the end of each story, the book tells you where you can find the full story in the Bible.

We absolutely loved both book sets!

*A huge thanks to Kregel Publications for the chance to to read and play with these books!

The Christmas Note by Donna VanLiere

2011-11-07T05:00:00.006-06:00

St. Martin's Press (October 25, 2011) 224 pages

Source: Booksneeze Review

I just cried all the way through The Christmas Note! If you are emotional, make sure you grab some tissues before you sit down with it. My momma loves the Donna VanLiere books, so I've read several of them. It has been a few years, though, so apparently I forgot just how emotional her books are. My memory of the characters in Donna's other Christmas books is very vague, but I did recognize several of them. Like the other books, we get new characters as the main focus, but the previous main characters are still very much in the background.

In The Christmas Note, we meet Gretchen and Melissa. The chapters mostly alternate from each of their points of view. They become next door neighbors when Gretchen and her two children move into the same condominium as Melissa. Melissa isn't overly welcoming to the family. The story unfolds from there, slowing adding in details about the past. Being a novella, it is a very quick and entertaining read! It will definitely get you into the Christmas spirit, in many different ways!

"She was still as she listened to the reading from Luke and wiped her eyes when all the children sang "O Holy Night" and "Hark! The Herald Angel Sing." I cried, too, and I caught Dad rubbing his eyes. For Kyle's first tour of Afghanistan the soldiers sang "Silent Night" together on Christmas Day, and Kyle said nobody dared look at one another because there wasn't a dry eye in the whole bunch. Seems like the songs of Christmas have the same effect no matter where you are in the world. I cried through the entire service again."

There was just so much to think about in The Christmas Note! I had to set the book aside quite often, because I couldn't see the words past all my tears. That's really not saying all too much coming from me, though. To prove that, does anyone know the "new-ish" Lowe's commercial where a couple is dancing their way through life? I cry...every time! Like I said, that's not saying much! ;)

I still cry thinking about a scene in the book involving cookie dough. It completely breaks my heart at what horrible parents there are in the world. I'm nothing to brag about when it comes to parenting. It's hard!!! But, I can't imagine anyone being so horrible to a child! I know it gets much worse than that, unfortunately. There are just so many hurting children out there, and they need our prayers. Constantly!! I do LOVE the message that the worth of a mother isn't determined by how she cooks. It doesn't matter if the cookies come from a store bought roll of dough or if they are made from scratch out of the pantry. While I am trying very hard to cut most processed foods out of our house(slowly!), it won't make me a "better" mother.

While the story touches on very difficult topics, it is a bit sugary sweet at times. Especially with my Christmas stories, sugary sweet is perfect for my tastes, but if that's not your thing, you might not appreciate the way some things work out in the book. The Christmas Note will be a perfect addition to my momma's Christmas book collection!

*There's no profanity in here, but God's name is used in vain: My ***, etc.

*I was provided a review copy through the Booksneeze program in exchange for my honest opinion.

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp

2011-11-04T05:00:00.002-05:00

Zondervan (January 17, 2011) 240 pages

Source: Library

***A couple of you(you know who you are) ;) were looking forward to today's review. I've already posted this one at Goodreads last week, so I hope y'all aren't too disappointed! ;)

One Thousand Gifts was really an impulse read for me. I did want to read it, because a few months ago, I had somewhat advertised the book with one of my link-ups. I stopped after one, though, because I decided I better figure out what the book stood for if I was going to advertise it. When I was in the library a few weeks ago, it was on the new shelf, and I surprised myself when I ended up checking it out.

I have such mixed feelings about it, though! It took me about 1/4 of the way to get used to the way Ann writes. From there to about 1/2 way through, I actually found the book quite beautiful. But, it just lost it's touch for me after that. I DO think that the message of the book is a great one. Who couldn't benefit from learning to be more thankful....for everything!!!

There's just So.Many.Words! MY!! For me, the message just got lost in all of it at many points.

There's one time Ann's husband tells her to look at the moon, and suddenly she grabs her camera and goes running through a field. Why? Is she convinced she might actually catch it since it's so close? Is she trying to get a better shot on the camera? Is she simply trying to enjoy the moment without her kids? The way it's written, I'm left wondering what on earth was going through her mind. And that's just one example.

Apart from that, I just didn't like some of the wording Ann uses. Here are a couple of examples:

"A glowing sun-orb fills, an August sky the day this story begins, the day I am born, the day I begin to live.
And I fill my mother's tearing ring of fire with my body emerging, virgin lungs searing with air of this earth and I enter the world like every person enters the world: with clenched fists.
From the diameter of her fullness, I empty her out-and she bleeds. Vernix-creased and squalling, I am held to the light."

That was on the first page, and I actually put the book down and debated whether I wanted to continue. Obviously, I decided to keep going. :)

"I want to be in God and God to be in me, to exchange love and blessing and caresses and, like the apostle-pilgrims, my eyes open and I know it because of this burning of the heart:this moment is a divine interchange. I raise my hand slightly, finger imperceptibly the air before the canvas and this is intercourse disrobed of its connotations, pure and unadulterated: a passing between. A connection, a communicating, and exchange, between tender Bridegroom and His bride."

There were several times reading that I just simply had a feeling of unease, and I couldn't put my finger on why. I didn't love One Thousand Gifts, but it is Ann's spiritual journey and therefore, it is beautiful, in its own way. There is a good message of thankfulness, if you can find it in all the words. The whole concept of writing down our blessings is just a wonderful thing! I don't see how that could be negative in any way!

More Randomness.....

2011-11-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

Do you ever think long and hard about a decision and come to a conclusion, only to change your mind? Unfortunately, I do that quite often. Just ask Jonathan! ;) (But not on huge decisions, just little ones). I've changed my mind on the negative reviews. I will post them for some books. If I can help it, though, I won't post negatives on new authors. I will just post on books that have been around longer or are more popular. I've decided that helps you get to know what I like and don't like in books, so you know whether or not you want to take my book recommendations. You'll get one tomorrow! :)

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Also, for anyone who likes watching Christmas(or any holiday) movies, I'd like to point you in the direction of It's a Wonderful Movie. This blog gives you a list of all the holiday movies playing at any given time. I don't watch much TV, but if there's a movie I really want to see, It's a Wonderful Movie alerts me, so I set the DVR. It's just such a lovely blog!

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During the Maud Hart Lovelace Challenge, I had mentioned my plans on a "history lesson" post. Just in case anybody was looking for that, it just didn't work out. I had all my quotes and some information. I had a very difficult time finding the information and pictures I needed to make the post presentable, though.

On Pinterest, I found these pictures of the Betsy-Tacy Convention, and I thought they were very interesting!!! (I assume since they are on the internet and I found them at Pinterest that it's okay to share this link. If it's not, I will immediately remove it, though!!!!) Also, the pictures I liked the best are closer to the end(there are over 200 pictures), so keep clicking through them. :)

Also, Audrey has started a new blog, The Betsy-Tacy Encyclopedia. Simply awesome!!!! If you're a Betsy-Tacy fan, you'll definitely want to check it out.

India Was One by An Indian: Book Feature and E-Book Giveaway(10 Winners!!!!!!!)

2011-11-02T12:42:00.001-05:00

I'm thrilled to introduce you to a new book today, India Was One. I haven't read it, but I've been assured it's perfectly clean! It has been getting great reviews, so make sure you stick around for your chance to read it!

Author Interview:

Tell us a little about India Was One.

The idea for the book’s storyline had been playing around in my head for a while. I finally decided to pen it down in January, 2010. When I started to write the book, it took me less than a week to pour down my thoughts. I knew where I wanted the chapter to end. I knew how many chapters I wanted. But then it took me over year to expand on my ideas.

You've chosen to publish India Was One anonymously....tell us about that decision.

I want the readers to concentrate on the story without being distracted by my religion, caste, etc.

What is the target age group for readers of your book?

10+. The book is for everyone. Although the story takes place in India, it has a universal message of love, friendship, tolerance and patriotism. Anyone, of any age, from anywhere will be able to relate to it.

The synopsis:

…Suddenly, he saw something shiny at the bottom of the abyss. He squinted his eyes to see what it was. He ran back to his binoculars and turned them to see what it was. Sharp barbed wires that separated the two mountains came into focus. He had come as far as he could in his country. But she was standing in another country.
He was in South India and she was in North India…

Have you ever imagined India being divided into two countries? What happens to the millions of Indians who are from South India but are now residing in North India? Kaahi & Jai were two such people who got trapped in this situation. Everything was going smoothly for them and suddenly, their world turned upside down.
How will they get together? Will India become one again?
Take an exciting journey with them from their college days in Mumbai to their life in the US and back to India when they find out that India is divided.

Here are a few links to help you get better acquainted with India Was One.

Website(http://www.indiawasone.com) There's all kinds of information here. You can read reviews of India Was One.

Interactive Map of India

Giveaway:

The author has VERY generously offered 10 e-books to my readers. You don't have to have an e-reader for e-books. You can read them from your computer, so everyone has an awesome opportunity here!

Mandatory Entry:
Simply leave a comment with your e-mail address. (Spam free edition)

Extra Entries:
-Like India Was One on Facebook. (This page gained over 10,000 fans in a month!!!!)
-Follow India Was One on Twitter.
-Advertise in any way you would like. (Twitter, Blog, Facebook, etc)
-2 extra entries if you agree to review India Was One if you win.

This giveaway is International!!!!!!!!

I'll pick the winners November 11th.

Top Ten Books I Want to Re-Read Soon

2011-11-01T08:10:00.000-05:00

Carrie @ Reading to Know did this post, so I decided to follow in her footsteps. I signed up with the Contentment Reading Challenge (hosted by Amber @ Season's of Humility) at the beginning of the year to re-read 5 books. Just 5! Do you know how many I've re-read?! Not a one! I've only got 2 months left to accomplish that task. I'll most likely be picking from this list, though.

Wildwood Dancing
by Juliet Marillier

I'm actually re-reading this one right now. Finally! I figured it's about time I give it a proper review. I've been talking about it for so long! It's one of my favorite books ever! (Just in case anybody has been wanting to read it, it's only $4 at Amazon right now).

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

This is probably my favorite series ever. Several years ago(I was married at the time, but no kids yet), I read through the whole series all at once. I just adored it!

A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman

This one speaks for itself! Just such a beautiful book!

A Tailor-Made Bride by Karen Witemeyer

Another lovely book!

Christy by Catherine Marshall

Surprisingly, I prefer my plain old red cover on this book. My grandmother let me borrow her copy a few years ago, and I loved it so much that when I saw it at a book sale, I snatched it up. I watched a few episodes of the TV show, and didn't really care for them. I should probably give more of them a chance, but they just had to change up so much that it was distracting for me.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This is one of the few classics I've read through the years, and it was required reading in school. While all the other books on this list are some of my all-time favorites, I don't remember much of anything about this one. I feel I need to know what this book is about!

Watership Down by Richard Adams

This book was a Christmas gift from my grandmother in my younger years. I remember it being a couple of years later that I actually read it, but I do remember really liking it. It's time to refresh my memory, though.

Wayside School is Falling Down and Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

It's funny that I was looking at the dates of these books at Amazon thinking there was no way I was that old when I read these books! I would have been in high school(or close) with some of the dates. A quick search assured me the original dates of publication were much earlier! ;) One was even before I was born.
I remember loving these as a kid, though! I'm curious if I would still find them as appealing as an adult.

Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa Terkeurst

I apparently need to read this one again. Immediately!!

The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien-Jones

I read this one last year and loved it. I read it thinking there would be a sequel, though, so I'm curious what my thoughts would be now knowing that it is a standalone.

So, what books make your re-read list?

The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund

2011-10-31T20:00:00.002-05:00

Bethany House (September 1, 2011) 378 pages

Source: Bethany House review copy

I was drawn to The Doctor's Lady for the Native American aspect of it. It's based upon the lives of Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding, the first white women to cross the Continental Divide and travel to the far west, and their husbands. In 1836, they traveled to Oregon to start a mission with the Nez Perce natives. The story is a mix between fact and fiction. Some of the plot was taken right from the journals of Narcissa(with a fictional addition, of course). That makes the book even more intriguing to me.

As much as I hate to admit, I was bit disappointed. Not completely, because I was very impressed with Jody's writing, and I will definitely pick up more from her. The Doctor's Lady isn't about the Whitman's mission with the Nez Perce. It's completely about their journey to the Nez Perce. I just adore good Fiction books about Native Americans(I'm NOT talking about "manly" books with scalping and all that.....I'll gladly pass on all those)! I really don't know of a whole lot of them, though, so I jumped at the chance to read The Doctor's Lady. I was just hoping there was more of the plot actually involving Native Americans. Other than that reason, though, there's absolutely no reason to be disappointed with this book. It's a beautiful book! If God ever blesses me to be pregnant again and I feel like I'm having a rough time, I'll have to think about Eliza, who traveled across dangerous terrain her entire pregnancy....sick and exhausted. She makes me look like a spoiled brat! ;) I don't know if that part of the story was fact or fiction, but I can't imagine how hard that must have been.

Most of the story is about Marcus and Narcissa, though. (Eli and Priscilla in the book). The missionary board won't let either of them go on their missions unless they are married. They decide to marry in name only, so they can be the missionaries they want to be. I don't think that you'll be surprised with the outcome of that! :) The Doctor's Lady was a very sweet romance.

*Thanks to Bethany House for my review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T09:57:00.001-05:00

Have you saw the new White Chocolate Candy Corn M&Ms? Until I saw THIS post at Angel Foods Kitchen, I hadn't. I don't walk up and down the candy aisle unless I have a specific reason. The last thing I need is even more sugar. But, I did see this post, so I couldn't resist! We just made our regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and added the M&Ms in place of the chocolate chips, like April suggested. Next time I'll use her recipe, though, because I don't love mine!

I would show you a picture of my finished cookies, but, I won't lie, they're not pretty! Not at all. (They were good, though). I still remember volunteering to make cookies at my church's VBS one year. I'm still embarassed about those cookies. I should have just went and bought some pretty ones. I do like baking, but cookies are my hardest project when it comes to baking. Well, and bread! You should see my last attempt at bread. It ended up being a weird cross between a biscuit and bread. It actually tasted decent, though! :)

I won't say that the White Chocolate Candy Corn M&Ms are my favorite candy ever, but as something new, they were good. And, they're just a fun Fall treat!

I hope everyone is having fun today!! No trick or treating for us. I have two little boys getting over colds. Should I admit that dressing up two children in costumes and driving around for candy in the cold is not my idea of fun in the slightest kind of way? ;)

I'm behind the times........

2011-10-28T14:34:00.000-05:00

I finally created a Facebook page. I'd love for you to "like" it. On the Bluerose's Heart Facebook page, I will link-up my posts, favorite posts from others, and quotes I like. There's so many times I want to share things, but just don't go to the trouble of creating a whole post for it. I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook, but in this case I think it will be good.

On another note, I will no longer post any negative reviews on Bluerose's Heart, unless required. I will, however, post all my reviews(even negative) at Goodreads. I've debated back and forth on how I wanted to handle negatives, but I think this is best. I do want to remember why I disliked or liked a book, so I'll use Goodreads for this purpose and save my blog posts for only books I really love. So, feel free to friend me on Goodreads. My only exception will be if I was part of a blog tour and was removed due to negative thoughts. I will remove those books from my lists as though I never had them.

And on yet another note, I finally signed up with Twitter, too. I'll pretty much use Twitter to post about giveaways. Most giveways have extra entries for Twittering, so that's what it's purpose will be for me. :)

Lastly, I've also added the email subscription option. It's over there in the top right corner.

I think that catches me up just a tiny bit! :)

The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall

2011-10-28T10:29:00.003-05:00

WaterBrook Press (October 4, 2011) 208 pages
Source: Blogging for Books

Description from Amazon:

After Gideon coldly broke her heart, can the warmth of the season revive Mattie’s hopes?

Mattie thought her childhood sweetheart adored her until he abruptly ended their engagement on Christmas Eve.

Three years later, will learning the truth behind his rejection restore her Christmas joy – or open the door to even deeper heartbreak?

Spend Christmas with the Amish in this story of love, romance, heartache, and restoration.

My Review:

Christmas books seem to be a huge target for novellas. Maybe because reading time is always so much slower during the holidays? I'm not usually a novella fan. I prefer my book full-length. But, at this point in my life, I do appreciate a good, shorter length book. Sometimes I just can't wait to get to the happily ever after, and I get to read about it a bit sooner with a novella.

The Christmas Singing"was a very sweet romance. I don't think there was any characters that I didn't like. They all won a place in my heart, and I'm hoping maybe a couple of the secondary characters will end up in another book! My momma really enjoys Christmas novellas, and this one will definitely head her way!

*I was provided a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Few Favorites for EARLY Speech Therapy

2011-10-27T05:05:00.003-05:00

I'm linking up with Read Aloud Thursdays @ Hope is the Word.

I want to re-emphasize the "early" part! While Grasshopper still likes these books, he has slightly advanced past some of them. These are the books that got the most speech response and participation from him, though.

My Big Word Book by Roger Priddy

This is a big 80 page book FULL of pictures of objects and animals and just tons of everyday items. This is a great way to see what a child already knows. Grasshopper would point out pictures and say what they were. Then we could introduce new pictures along, too. This is just an awesome book for speech therapy!

Animal Sounds illustrated by Aurelius Battaglia

This book is about as simple as you can get! It has pictures of animals and the sound that it makes. Grasshopper loved it, though. We have lots of animal books, but this one got the most response from him.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle

I've already mentioned this one before, but it really is great for early speech! We really like the Eric Carle books. We have several on our home shelves and checked out a couple from the library this week.

Peek-a-Zoo (Little Scholastic)

I definitely wouldn't look at this one and think of speech therapy, but it was one of our top books that gained participation from Grasshopper. I think at the time he was at one of his "low interest" stage in books. This one has textures and all that kept his interest. It also has lots of "general" type animals. (fish, lion, frog, cat, etc.) While he has advanced past this one now, I think Firefly will really enjoy it a couple of months. It is geared more towards really young.

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?

We have quite a few Dr. Suess books on our shelves. I love that there's so many levels. While some are perfect for now, some will have to wait for a little while until Grasshopper advances to them. Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? is one that is great for early readers, and a great way to teach sounds.

I'm hoping next week to feature some of the speech type books he's enjoying more these days. I'm so happy he's in a phase where he LOVES books right now! We're reading a great deal more to take advantage of it!! I hate that it does come and go, but we keep trying.

Grasshopper Goes To Preschool....

2011-10-27T05:00:00.003-05:00

I figure this is a great time to update on Grasshopper's speech since it's been awhile.

First an update on sizes:

Grasshopper's 3 year check-up:
21 pounds
32 inches tall

Firefly's 6 month check-up:
18 pounds
27 inches tall

As you can see Firefly is rapidly gaining on big brother!! :)

Grasshopper recently saw a specialist for his size. Before putting him through a great deal of testing, they want to make sure his nutrition is on track. He has to have 2 pediasures a day, and 6 meals. We have to add as many extra calories as possible to his food. He's a very picky eater. He does pretty good as long as we constantly change up his food. At 6 meals a day, I have to stay on my toes thinking up new food choices. I do try to keep it simple as much as possible, though! It's unfortunate that with adding so many extra calorie boosters to his food, I've put back on some of the weight that I'd lost. I'm trying to find a good balance for all of us! The pediatrician informed us that she thinks we could feed him a bazillion calories a day and he still wouldn't grow. He will most likely need growth hormones to grow, but I'm putting forth my best effort on the nutrition part!!

Grasshopper is 3 now, so that means he "graduated" out of the Early Intervention program and got turned over to the school system. For a momma who plans on homeschooling, let me tell you how hard this was for me! I had to think of things that would make me be excited for this change. His preschool room is part of the kindergarten building(the one I went to as a little one). It's right beside the elementary school. He's been going for a few weeks now. It's 3 days a week, for 2 1/2 hours a day, so not a huge amount of time. He really needs this therapy. To qualify for this preschool, a child has to qualify in 2 out of 5 categories. Grasshopper qualified in all 5 categories with flying colors. (which isn't a good thing).

He really has came a long way as far as speech. He's still not close to where he should be, though. He only has a few 2-3 words phrases. He's picking up words on a regular basis, though. His comprehension has a long way to go, too!

One of my biggest concerns with preschool was sickness. Grasshopper stays sick throughout the winter without school. Having a tiny baby in the NICU for 3 1/2 months really makes a person more aware of germs. We are extremely careful with germs! He still gets sick, though! So far, it's only been colds. Bless his heart, though, he has a rough time with them and in general, they stick around for a week and a half each time. He's currently on his second cold since starting a few weeks ago. As far as I've seen so far, he's the only child in his class. He goes to plays and activities over at the elementary school, though, and plays with the kindergarteners. So, there's lots of opportunities to get sick. I'm not complaining. He needs to be around other kids, but I'm still concerned with what he COULD bring home.

When he first starting going to class, he would gladly leave me behind and run to his teacher. I was glad, but it almost hurt my feelings a little bit. :) Now he cries when I leave him, and I've learned it's so much better to have him not care when I leave. No matter what, though, he's always welcomed me back with a big smile and outstretched arms, saying "There's momma!"

It funny that I talked myself into being excited about preschool by telling myself I could get in some exercise while Grasshopper was at school. While it's only a 15 minute(with no traffic) drive to the school, I just figured it would be easier if I stayed in town, instead of coming home. Me and Firefly were going to go to the park and walk and read(and nap for Firefly). It worked great for about a week. Firefly hasn't been sleeping well for the past month or so, though, and it's caught up with me. I'm exhausted! There was one morning that I didn't get to crawl into bed until 5 in the morning. (Thankfully, it's not usually that bad). I'm not a big napper. I suffer from nightmares on a regular basis, and when I take naps, they're worse. I also wake up with panic attacks with naps. I find that most the time they're not worth it for me. Lately, though, I HAVE to take a nap to survive. If I get both boys to take a nap at the same time, I take one, too! (Therefore, I just haven't had a whole lot of time for reading). For preschool to be for such a short amount of time, I'm a bit surprised at how badly our little routine has been thrown off. We're working hard to find a balance in it all, and have added new things to our schedule to simplify. I'll write about some of those changes another day. :)

Well, that was mostly just a whole lot of rambling, but for anyone who was curious, that's a bit of what's new in life around my parts.

Top Ten Books That Caught My Attention in October

2011-10-26T17:04:00.000-05:00

I know this is a day late, but time just got away with me!! This month has flown!

The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell

I love birds!! I'm scared of hummingbirds, only because they're so terribly fast and I'm scared they're going to fly right into my eye. Otherwise, I absolutely adore birds! I desperately want to read this book! :)

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

I don't know how much this one has to do with birds(The Aviary, either, for that matter), but there's those birds on the front. It's my second most wanted book this month, right underneath The Aviary.

Crinkleroot's Guide to Knowing the Birds by Jim Arnosky(really, though, any of them!!)

Have you ever seen a book featured at another blog and suddenly decided it HAD to be a part of your book collection? Hopefully, I'm not the only one! Amy @ Hope is the Word featured the Crinkleroot tree book and with the combination of the title, the picture on the front and her high praise, I suddenly decided that I needed all the Crinkleroot books on my shelf!! I checked out the one Jim Arnosky book that my library had(review soon) and I loved it. I really hope to get these books in the next few years for homeschooling aides!

The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs: Discover Amazing Butterflies, Moths, Spiders, Dragonflies, and Other Insects! by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards

My Grasshopper has developed a huge fascination with bugs, and we're trying to feed that curiosity. I remembered seeing this book featured by Carrie @ Reading to Know awhile back, so I put it on my wishlist. This might end up as a Christmas gift, because that's only 2 short months away. We always shop for sales early to put back for Christmas, but end up giving the boys their stuff early. So as of right now, we don't have any Christmas shopping done. :)

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

Another book featured by Carrie. She described it as weird. You know I HAVE to read this one!!

Get Wisdom! by Ruth Younts

This one was featured by Annette @ Live, Learn, Love. I think it looks really cute AND beneficial!

Womanly Dominion: More Than A Gentle and Quiet Spirit by Mark Chanski

Has anybody read this one? What did you think? While it caught my attention, I'm not positive I want to give it my reading time. :P

Anything by Elisabeth Elliot

Anybody have a favorite of hers that you would recommend I start with?

The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! by Carleen Madigan

I strongly believe in the power of reading(obviously). I've always been one to cook and eat processed food entirely too much. I was recently reading a book that opened my eyes on just how unhealthy that habit is. Well, I knew, but not to the extent that I do now. I'm trying really hard to cook better and healthier for my family, so this book really appeals to me!
While we have a decent sized yard(not huge! but more than if we lived in the city), it's "hilly", so there's not a huge amount of gardening space. I'd love to make better use of the space we do have, though! This book seems to feature raising and living off animals, too, but we have no plans whatsoever of raising animals other than our dogs and the cat that decided it wanted to live in our woods. :)

Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich

This is another one along the lines of the previous book. I think this one is a memoir. I've said in the past that I didn't like memoirs, but after loving one that I read recently, I realized that if the subject matter is REALLY something I'm interested in, I enjoy memoirs more than I realized. I'm actually reading one at the moment. While I have mixed feelings about it, I have been reading through it quite quickly and enjoying it.

What books caught your attention this month?

Howl's Moving Castle(The Movie)

2011-10-25T10:31:00.000-05:00

DVD Release Date: March 7, 2006
Run Time: 119 minutes
Rated PG (There's an extremely brief scene showing a partial shot of Howl's backside. At the time, he's in a weakened state and being carried to a bathtub).

Description from Amazon:

In Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated masterpiece, journey beyond imagination and enter a "breathtaking fantasy world" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) filled with adventure, humor and heart. Sophie, a quiet girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome but mysterious wizard named Howl. The vain and vengeful Witch of the Waste, jealous of their friendship, puts a spell on Sophie. In a life-changing adventure, Sophie climbs aboard Howl's magnificent flying castle and enters a magical world on a quest to break the spell. Featuring the voice talents of Jean Simmons, Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Blythe Danner, and Billy Crystal, Miyazaki's artistry comes to life on DVD with inventive characters, unique storytelling and richly detailed animation.

My Review:

I'm NOT an anime fan in the slightest way. I've attempted watching several different anime movies and cartoons. I think way back in my teen years, I liked Pokemon, but that's about all I remember liking as far as anime goes.

I'd heard good things about Howl's Moving Castle
, though, so I watched it. I knew it was based off a book by Dianna Wynne Jones, and this was a book that I really wanted to read. I didn't think I would get to read anytime soon, though, so I settled for the movie.

I LOVED it! It has quickly made it onto my favorites list!! When I watch a movie that I really like, in general I won't read the book, because I know it will ruin the movie experience for me. That isn't a rule, because I do have lots of exceptions. Howl's Moving Castle
is one of those exceptions. I'm actually left so confused at the end that I know I have to read the book. There's just so many details that I feel I've missed out on. And the ending....it is so incredibly rushed, I'm somewhat mad. So rushed, that it's almost corny! And yet, I still loved it!! I honestly don't know why I liked it so much, but I did.

Because of this movie, though, I'm actually wanting to give anime a better chance with some other movies. I have a few on my "hope to watch soon" list.

Betsy-Tacy and Tib and Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace

2011-10-17T07:26:00.003-05:00

1941, 1942
Source: Library

I'm just amazed while reading these books how different the times were! In all of the books so far, the children get to roam around the neighborhood, and somewhat do what they want. And, it was perfectly normal and acceptable. My childhood and my children's childhoods have been so very different than that. Maybe it's different in some parts, but it's just so dangerous out there these days. Not just because of creeps, but because we're all just in such a hurry, so there's roads everywhere, and therefore speeding cars. I'm sure time AND place have a lot to do with it, though. (I'm not talking about general yard type roaming....) ;)***
I do love my modern conveniences, and I'm thankful to God for putting me in the time and place that I am, but reading books like these always make me see some of the things younger generations are losing. Times were so simple in many ways(but harder in others).

Betsy-Tacy and Tib is by far my favorite of the first three books! There were two stories in this book that really made me laugh! They were just so incredibly cute!

One is when the girls decide to cut each others hair. This story really reminded me of one of my childhood adventures. I didn't have any friends persuading me, though. I saw my momma getting a haircut, and naturally I decided I needed a haircut, too! I have very short hair in my kindergarten picture.

"They went to Betsy's house first. And when Betsy's mother saw them she shrieked. Grownups don't often shriek, but that was what Betsy's mother did.

'Betsy!' she cried. 'Tacy! Tib! Whatever have you done to yourselves!'

'We've cut off out hair,' said Betsy.

'But why? What for?' cried Betsy's mother.

'To remember each other by,' said Betsy."

Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill read as one big story as opposed to the first two books, which seemed more like lots of little short stories. It wasn't as cute as the first two, but I guess that's to be expected. The girls are growing up and their stories are growing with them. I still enjoyed it, though, and I'm still looking forward to seeing how the girls grow up. While I still have the most in common with Tacy, I'm starting to relate more and more to Tib. I like how she seems a bit embarassed by some of the things Betsy and Tacy do. That reminds me of myself when I was younger.

I had to send my library books back, so these were the only three I got to read. I do have one more post in the works, but this will be my last review for now. I definitely plan on finishing the series as soon as I can, though. I'm just too curious how the characters grow up to not. I shouldn't have checked them all out at the same time. My plan was to have them for a month(re-checking them out at 2 weeks), which is what I did. I didn't read them those first two weeks, though. :P

If you'd like to participate in this year's challenge, it's not too late! Just go to the Maud Hart Lovelace Challenge Page and link up at the sign-up post. Make sure you say I sent you, because it gives me an extra entry in this week's giveaway, which I REALLY want to win. ;)

***I came back to put this in. I'm guilty of bad wording so much!! When I was talking about yard roaming, I don't want to take away from the importance of simply that. It's more than my kids will get for a long time with where I live! I had edited out a chunk of my post up there, so I realized with what I did post, it looked like I was saying that yard roaming was nothing. Not what I meant! ;)

Armchair Cybils Challenge @ Hope Is The Word

2011-10-15T19:45:00.001-05:00

I decided to join in the fun @ Hope is the Word by participating in the Armchair Cybils Challenge.

These are nominated books that I've already read. Sorry. I don't have them divided by category.

Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham

The Princess Curse by Merrie Caskell

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

Fifo 50 States by Hayley Rose

Abandon by Meg Cabot

Entwined by Heather Dixon

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater-I read this one, but didn't like it at all, so no review for it!

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Under a Fairy Moon by T.M. Wallace

There were some I liked, some I LOVED, and some I didn't like at all.

These are the nominated books that are already sitting on my shelf or have already been accepted for review, so they are the ones I plan on definitely reading for the challenge. (linked to Amazon)

The False Princess
by Eilis O'Neal

Dancing on the Inside
by Glen Strathy

Kat, Incorrigible
by Stephanie Burgis

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic
by Jennifer Trafton

My Rhinoceros
by Jon Agee

These are just a few of the nominated books that I would love to read by the end of the challenge, but it all depends on which ones I'm able to get my hands on. You'll probably recognize most of these from my "Top 10 Books That Caught My Attention This Month" posts. :) I do NOT plan on reading all of these, though.

I'll Be There
by Holly Goldberg Sloan

The Mockingbirds
by Daisy Whitney

Sass & Serendipity
by Jennifer Ziegler

Small Town Sinners
by Melissa Walker

Inside Out and Back Again
by Thanhha Lai

Too Shy for Show-and-Tell (Little Boost)
by Beth Bracken

13 Curses
by Michelle Harrison

A Tale Dark and Grimm
by Adam Gidwitz

Liesl & Po
by Lauren Oliver

The Apothecary
by Maile Meloy

The Aviary
by Kathleen O'Dell

The Midnight Zoo
by Sonya Hartnett