Book reviews: So Shines the Night & Intentional Parenting

So Shines the Night by Tracy Higley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book a lot. It is historical fiction set in Biblical times, though the main characters are completely fictional.  I appreciate that the author lets us experience what things may have been like in these times without taking so many liberties with a well known person from the Bible. It definitely gave me a new appreciation for what early Christians dealt with!  The author shows the Ephesians devotion to their gods and the culture of the times as people are dabbling in sorcery and animal sacrifices.  One of the Christian characters who was not able to have a baby is thrilled when she takes in a child that the parents have left to die at the river due to a physical deformity. It gives the reader a view of the risks new believers took in following Christ in those times.  The story follows Daria, a widow, as she struggles to make her way with no one to help her as her father and husband have both died.  She meets Lucas who offers her a position teaching him Persian if she goes with him to Ephesus.  Lucas himself is struggling with his desire for vengeance for his wife's death and getting close to some dangerous people in the process.  Both characters meet Paul, the great evangelist from the Bible, and we also meet other famous characters such as Timothy and Priscilla and Aquilla.  The story was interesting and was full of romance and mystery with a great twist at the end.  This was an excellent read and I would recommend it.

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.


View all my reviews

Intentional Parenting: Autopilot Is for Planes by Sissy Goff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. It was a great reminder that you can just float through your children's lives and parenting experience or you can be intentional and be a parent with a purpose. The authors gave lots of examples from their lives and counseling practice to go along with the book's themes. While the book encorages you to be intentional about your impact on your kids lives it also gives pages of parenting and discipline tips. They are not in depth, just a paragraph or so for each tip, but I prefer it his way as it is a great way to remind yourself. The authors reference other books that they have written and after reading this one, I would love to read others! I would recommend this book for any parent. For new parents its a great way to dip your toes into the themes before moving on to more in depth readng. Afor experienced parents, an excellent reminder to make sure you are on the path you want to be.

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 

View all my reviews

Pajama Eaters!

Instead of an Easter basket, I decided to make L a Pajama Eater!  

I bought the pattern by Sew Fearless which means that I can make them to sell.  Which I plan to do!

My daughter has the habit of stepping past (or on top of) all the jammies on her floor she has only worn for one night to get new ones!  So, Theoretically, this will help with that problem as she was told she can only have out what the PJ Eater can fit!  

See the zipper? I am pretty sure she stuffed about three pairs in there this time, but hopefully we can whittle it down to one at a time!  These little guys are so cute sitting around too! 

This little guy snuck into her room when she was sleeping and sat down to wait... I'm kind of surprised those Peeps made it through the night....

I had to make a few adjustments; since I don't keep felt around (and of course a certain store was out of white!), I made the teeth like I did on E's dinosaur jacket....oh wait. It looks like I never blogged that.... Anyhoo.... like the teeth on this jacket tutorial.  Much more time consuming that felt, so I'll be getting some of that... otherwise I followed that pattern. Great pattern if you want to try a few!  The pattern included the rights to sell them, so I will be sewing up a few in the near future!  Drop me a line if you want first dibs!

Matchy Matchy Easter....

I finally got the kids dressed cute for Easter this year... No group picture unfortunately. The only one I got was less than satisfactory since the baby didn't understand why he couldn't have breakfast (wanted him to not be bored during breakfast at church!).  

Anyway, I sewed L a little dress, and the boys little matching bowties. I basically followed this tutorial but made double bows, and used elastic to hold them on. 

They looked so adorable... Maybe they should wear bowties and button downs every sunday...

L's Dress was sort of based off this dress by Simple Simon & Co; I used the flutter sleeve tutorial on this page, though I think they missed a seam allowance in the directions, so it was a little shorter than I wanted... I am very happy with the dress though.  I traced a tee shirt to make the bodice and then just added a full skirt.  I lined both top and bottom, since the fabric is a little light. 

The flutter sleeves were flipped over for all the pictures... oops!

She was happy with it, and they all looked great!

Cheap-O Planner Portfolio

After using my iPhone as my main calendar for a few years, I've decided to go back to a paper planner with hopes to use it to be more organized and productive in general.  I didn't really want to pay loads of money for a nice one in case I didn't use it and had actually thought a lot about diy-ing one. Then I found one for $2.50 at the Family Dollar, and the cheapskate in me grabbed it up! Its pink, which is fine, but I wanted to have pockets to tuck in bills to pay, and other paperwork I want to have on-hand. So, I designed myself a little portfolio!  Prettier and more functional! 

I have a lot of scraps leftover from sewing all my diaper clutches that I sell, so I scrapped some coordinating ones together, and added an elastic and a button to keep it closed and hold everything in there.  

I actually like this planner a lot; it has a clear plastic over the front so I've stuck some post-its in there with my top five sewing to dos, and household to dos ( you can see where my priorities are... nothing is crossed off the household list, lol) and some extra post-its as well.  I plan to use one on my weekly page to do some weekly to-dos that can be easily moved to the next day.  I wanted a few pockets, so there are 2 to tuck things into and a pencil pocket.  

Well, there she is.... I'm off to spray it with some Scotch Guard and see if that keeps it cleaner than my white and blue diaper clutch... :)

Oh and by the way... if you need a great site for free, cheap and EDUCATIONAL apps for kids, check out http://www.smartappsforkids.com/ !! I love this site, and right now they have an ipad mini giveaway going on!

Book Reviews: Avenged, Ollie Chandler Collection, Shattered, and Goodbye to Yesterday

Avenged by Janice Cantore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a pretty quick though enjoyable read for me. It follows Police Officer Carly Edwards as she encounters the bodies of three executed gang members which escalates tense relations between the two rival gangs.  Of course, there is more to the situation than it would appear and Carly pursues the case.  Journalist Ginny Masters aggravates the situation by believing Carly to be a corrupt killer, and attempts to ruin Carly's reputation. As I said, I did enjoy this and would recommend it to mystery lovers, though it is not a very detailed mystery. This is the third in the Pacific Coast Justice series and though I think it would have been enjoyable and helpful to read the first two, it isn't necessary to enjoy this one.  I did think that the journalist Ginny Masters' irrational beliefs throughout the story were over-the-top and rather hard to believe that someone could be that... well... stupid! There was really no discussion of this as the book closed either.  Otherwise, I enjoyed the book, and would read more by this author.

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 


View all my reviews

Ollie Chandler Collection: Three Novels: Deadline, Dominion, Deception by Randy Alcorn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

At this point, I have only finished the first book, and must say it was great! I love Randy Alcorn, his books always make you think. This novel follows journalist Jake Woods through a car accident and the subsequent death of his best friends, one Christian and one...definitely not.  As Jake assists in investigating the deaths, his experiences lead to change in his political beliefs and faith and his relationships with his ex-wife and teenage daughter. The book discusses hot and controversial issues such as abortion, sex ed in schools, and gay rights.  As a christian, I agree with the views promoted but it may come on a bit strong for someone with the opposite views.  Overall, I felt there was an excellent story line and lots of thought provoking discussion of important issues. I'm not sure why its called the Ollie Chandler collection, as the detective Ollie Chandler is a rather supporting character to Jake's.  I've begun the second and it appears that it will follow another supporting character, a co-worker of Jake's at the newspaper, Clarence.  I assume that there will be some mystery Ollie will be involved in, but either way, I'm looking forward to the last 2 books in the series and would definitely recommend them!



I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
View all my reviews

Shattered by Dani Pettrey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this follow-up to Submerged.  This novel continues to follow the McKenna family.  The mystery part of the novel was great. It kept my attention as the McKenna siblings, with a bit of help, investigate the murder of a professional skiier in order to exonerate their brother who was found at the scene of the crime.  The romance centered around the youngest sibling, Piper, and Landon, the Deputy who was taken in by the McKennas when his family fell apart.  Now, this part for me was readable, and I enjoyed the characters; however, I felt that the romance felt a little high school and silly.  The two characters are madly in love but neither sees that the other feels the same, and when they do finally show it, they later retract it and cause confusion.  And though Piper is an adult, her older brother Cole is angry when he encounters Landon and Piper kissing.  It all seems a bit silly and juvenile.  Overall though, I would recommend the book and I do very much enjoy reading them.  They are pretty quick reads, entertaining, though also thought provoking as the characters discuss and live their faith. I look forward to more in this series as, in the last book as well, there were some pretty big hints towards future relationships!  Excellent read for romance and mystery readers!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

View all my reviews

Goodbye to Yesterday by Wanda E. Brunstetter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I was pretty disappointed with this one actually. It's a tiny book with large print that in reality is only the first few chapters of a "real" book.  I would have been pretty disappointed had I bought this book. There is nothing that is resolved in this part of the story.  It sets up for continuing the series but in no way can be read on it's own.  It honestly felt like a rip-off- a way to make money by forcing people to buy different parts of the same book.  I'm not sure what the publisher or author's goal is for doing it this way, but I really didn't like it at all.  With regards to the story, as I said before, this booklet introduces the reader to Meredith and Luke, a newly married Amish couple dealing with the stress of a lost job.  I can't say that I enjoyed this too much either.  It seemed to be dragged out too much, and the adding of Dutch words or phrases then explained by an awkward repeating by the second person in the conversation drives me nuts.  This part of the story shows the stress of the couple as Luke lost his job a few months back, then his excitement and her misgivings as he goes to Indiana (from Pennsylvania) to learn and buy a business from his uncle only to experience "tragedy" as the back flap puts it. Which is exactly where the "book" ends.  I was so annoyed by that that I really cannot recommend this book at all.  I honestly would not bother unless you  LOVE Amish fiction, and are willing to buy multiple books to get one story.

I recieved a copy of this book for review from the publisher.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Congo Dawn

Congo Dawn by Jeanette Windle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was an excellent book.  It was a detailed look at life in the Congo.  The story centers around former Marine Lieutenant Robin Duncan and her work as a translator in the private sector for a mercenary company.  While she thinks their mission is a helpful one, as the story progresses she encounters many people who feel otherwise as they intrude on local villages who have already been terrorized by rebels in their past. While arriving at her site, she encounters a former friend and the story also revolves around their second meeting as well as clearing up misunderstandings from their past.  The story had plenty of action and an excellent storyline as well. There is a bit of romance, but the focus is definitely on telling the story as opposed to throwing in romance for romance's sake.  This is a book by a Christian author and is very well done, compared to others I have read!  The faith aspect of the book is not overwhelming and is believable as the main character works through a new understanding of God and her faith in the midst of so much pain and suffering.   I would recommend this book and look forward to reading more by this author.  

I recieved a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.

View all my reviews

Knitting!

I'm happy to say, I now consider myself a knitter!  I have achieved one of my lifetime goals! Hopefully it's not too sad that one of my lifetime goals is knitting...

Anyway, for Christmas 2 of the gifts for our family exchange were a Burton Bear cowl for my niece and a hat for my nephew.

This is the Burton Bear Cowl on my five year old daughter... it is the toddler size but oh well! This was my first knit in bulky yarn, and I LOVE it.  It makes everything go so quickly!  I cannot claim credit for the ears, as they are crochet and I have not crossed that off my "to learn" list yet.

And my nephew modeling his new hat, which also happens to be my first attempt at color blocking!  Surprisingly simple! I will definitely be doing some more as this is such a cute hat and I'm pretty sure it won't fit him past this year... (Note to self: Measure head before assuming the pattern needs adjusted...)

Isn't he a cutie?  Looks so innocent there...

More knitting to come as I recently finished a Fear of Committment Cowl for my sister and am working on a cowl sweater shrug wrap for ME! Finally...