The Parenting Breakthrough: Real-Life Plan to Teach Your Kids to Work, Save Money, and Be Truly Independent by Merrilee Boyack


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A friend of mine told me about this book and said I had to read it. She loaned it to me and I am so glad I read it. It is full of so many helpful suggestions, particularly about teaching your kids to work. Like any parenting book, there were a few things I disagreed with or thought were a little over the top, but most of her ideas were extremely helpful. I thought the section were she listed by age what jobs kids should be able to do was particularly good. This book was definitely worth reading.




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The Mother in Me: Real-World Reflections on Growing Into Motherhood by Kathryn Lynard Soper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book has been sitting on my dresser for several weeks. I was looking at the "clearance" books at Deseret Book and found it for $2.99. I vaguely remembered reading about it on some websites and thought it was worth picking up. I'm so glad I did. The other day I stuck it in the car figuring that since it was essays, it would be perfect to read when I am waiting to pick up at pre-school or piano lessons. I started reading it today while I was waiting at pre-school, read through baseball practice and finished the last couple essays after the kids were in bed. I loved it. It was the perfect encouragement for the stay at home mom. The essays were honest and real, but encouraging at the same time. There is something so comforting about reading that other mothers struggle with the same things you do. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it really only applies to moms, particularly moms of young children.



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The Forbidden Sea by Sheila A. Nielson


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was amazing! I can't wait for my girls to be old enough to listen to chapter books so I can read this to them. The story in this book follows a fairly typical fairy tale type pattern, until you get to the end. The choices the main character makes for her future are a little different than what you would find at the end of most fairy tales. I love the strength of the female main character in this book and I love what she learned about beauty and worth and how it important it is to recognize your own worth, whether those around you see it or not. There are so many great discussions you could have with daughters regarding this book. I checked it out from the library, but it is one I will be adding to my to buy list.




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Cleaning out the Closet

I have had sick kids since Friday, and I am about ready to scream.  I have been trying to make the best of it and finally tackled cleaning out my closet on Saturday.  I ended up with 5 garbage bags to take to D.I.  I am semi-horrified that I managed to get rid of this much stuff and still my closet is not empty.  I have such a hard time getting rid of clothes.  It is crazy because it's not like I feel any emotional attachement to them.  I just always keep thinking I might wear it.  This time I really tried to get rid of anything I don't regularly wear.  I found a couple of things I had completely forgotten about, a sweater that I wore to church on Sunday that is especially cute and I had only worn 2 or 3 times.  The entire time I was going through stuff I had to keep telling myself that getting rid of the stuff I don't or can't wear makes it so I can actually buy new stuff.  It feels great to have gotten rid of that much stuff, now the trick will be if I can stay on top of it.

Favorites

A friend gave the Paper Doll Game by eeBoo to my 4 year old daughter as a belated birthday gift.  This has got to be the best game out there for pre-school age girls.  It is so simple.  You are essentially taking turns dressing up your paper doll.  Games can be so hard for young children to grasp and this one is perfect.  The focus is really on taking turns.  There are no difficult rules to explain and it doesn't hurt that it is darling!  I have no idea where my friend got it, but if you are looking for it, you can go here. 

I ordered Hillary Lang's Kitchen Gnome Embroidery's for dish towel's here.   I finished my first towel and I love it.  My husband thinks I am strange, but I think the little gnome's are about the cutest things ever and I love the way the red trim I got to sew to the bottom of the towel's turned out.  The only thing I hate about these flour sack towels is that they require ironing.  I never iron, so the towel has not spent a lot of time hanging in my kitchen.  I kept trying to tell my kids and husband not to use it, it was just for decoration, but you can guess how well that lasted.

I spent yesterday making cupcakes for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet and I tried piping the frosting on for the first time.  I will definitely be doing this from now on.  I bought disposable piping bags from Michael's (used the 40% off coupon) and got a giant tip.  It cost a few dollars and saved me all kinds of time.  Frosting 3 dozen cupcakes would normally take forever and there would be problems with the knife sticking to the cake and the crumbs getting all over in the frosting.  None of that, slick and easy.  If you haven't tried it, you must, they turn out looking fancy and take you half the time and there is no messy piping bag to clean, just a plastic bag to throw away.

Valentine's Day Party

For Valentine's Day we decided to host a family dinner.  The rule was the food had to be heart shaped or pink or red.  We had a great time.  Here are some pictures of some of the food we ate:

 I made chicken patties and we cut a heart out of them with a cookie cutter.  One of my sister-in-laws made the most awesome flourescent pink mashed potatoes.  They will definitely be a stand-out in everyone's memory. 

 Another sister-in-law made these darling heart shaped jello's.  She also made rolls in a heart shape, unfortunately I didn't get a picture before the kids dug in and ruined the heart shape. 

For desert we had heart shaped chocolate waffles with strawberries and whipped cream and valentine sprinkles.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I saw a review for this book on a blog I follow. I then happened to see it sitting out on a display in the children's section at the library, so I grabbed it. I absolutely loved this book. I definitely plan on reading it to my kids. It is a simple story, the author describes as being inspired by Chinese fairy tales she read as a child. The author of the blog I saw the book on said that she loved the book because it illustrated values she wanted to teach her children. I agree! This book focuses on finding happiness and contentment with your life. It also illustrates the joy found in family. It was a quick and easy read and would make a great family read aloud.




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