February Books

These are the books that I've read in February, my "other" books.  Feel free to read the list of 12 books that I'm planning to read in 2013.  You can also see all the books I've read this year and find links to their reviews on my Pinterest page.

6 Ways to Keep the Little in Your Girl

My wonderful husband gave me this book and the one below as Christmas gifts.

Synopsis:  Written for mothers of tween-aged girls (ages 8 - 12), Six Ways helps mothers of girls navigate all the tricky things in her girl's life.  It tells clearly how to tell your daughter about puberty and how to keep her from becoming too boy-crazy too young.  Gresh speaks about modesty, appropriate clothing and toys as well as appropriate media that your young daughter should and should not be exposed to.  

My Thoughts:  This is a must read for every mother with an 8-12 year old daughter!  There are so many things that scare me about this world for my daughter.  I want my her to have every chance to be pure and innocent for as long as she possibly can.  I want her to love pretending and reading books and playing with her doll right now instead of thinking about clothes or makeup or boys.  This book gives very practical advice on how to keep your little girl a little girl.  I love Dannah's easy to read, conversational style and I love how current the book is (talks specifically about celebrities such as Mylie Cyrus and Lady Gaga).  You can bet this will be kept and used as a resource in our house for a quite a while.

8 Great Dates for Moms and Daughters

Synopsis:  Written as a companion book to the Six Ways book (listed above), 8 Great Dates lists out 8 places to take your tween daughter and 8 things to teach her on those dates.  Studies have shown that a daughter's relationship with her mother is the single most important relationship that she has in her tween and teenage years.  Gresh gives 8 ways to keep the conversation open with your child while affirming her individuality and teaching her about the beauty that God created in her.

My Thoughts:  Another great book by Dannah Gresh.  Finding ways to connect to your tween daughter and finding great, unique ways to teach her how beautiful she is, is very hard.  Luckily Dannah created a cheat-sheet for us moms.  The dates listed in the book include visiting an art museum to learn how men look at women's bodies and subsequently, why we should dress modestly; getting a facial done at a local spa to learn how lovely and unique every human face is; and going on a special, fancy date with both mom and dad to learn how important purity is.  I think Julie is a little to young to appreciate these dates right now, but I will be coming back to this book in a year or so and following every word.  (Both Dannah Gresh books correspond with her SecretKeeperGirl website.  Feel free to go there for more information.)

When the Snow Comes, They Will Take You Away
This book is so old, it's not currently being sold on Amazon and there is no picture of the cover.  This was a recommendation from Honey for a Women's Heart in the biography section.  I checked it out of our local library.

Synopsis:  This memoir by Eric Newby follows him through his imprisonment in a POW camp in Italy in WWII and his journey through Italy for 4 months, after his release.  Throughout the story, Eric is helped numerous times by the Italian people in the countryside, people he had formerly thought of as his enemy.

My Thoughts:  This was a very unique book.  I learned so many things about WWII that I didn't know.  I never realized that Allied POW's in Italy were released at the time of the Italian surrender in Sept 1943.  However, no one came to get them because Germans were swarming the country.  So those prisoners had to either survive in Italy and hide from the Germans (or those loyal to the Germans), escape over the mountains to Switzerland or make their way through Italy to the south and cross the battle lines to where the Allied forces were fighting.  Newby does a great job of helping the reader realize that the Italian people were not really the enemy.  Their government was the enemy, but, like everyone around the world, the Italian peasants just wanted the war to end and for their sons to come home.

While the subject matter and storyline were unique, reading the book was a little tedious.  There were a lot of descriptions of mountains and trees and ridges.  There is a map at the beginning of the book which helps as you're reading, but it still took a while to wade through the imagery.  That being said, I still wanted to keep reading.  I still wanted the story to go on.  And I still enjoyed it.

The following are all short e-books that I got free on Amazon.  The titles pretty much give a good description of the books, so I won't include a synopsis on these.  They really only take an hour or so each to read.  If you are looking for free Kindle books like these, visit ereadergirl.com.  She lists all the best of the free fiction, nonfiction and kids books for the day.

Real Clever Solutions and Ideas

If you could see all the bookmarks that I saved from this book on my Kindle, you would know that there really are clever solutions and ideas in this book.  I found great ways to remove soap scum and to make nontoxic drain cleaner.  This is a very useful little book.  (Look for it to pop up free again on Amazon or pay the $0.99 for it.  It's worth it.)

55 Things to do for $5

Don't waste your money on this.  I thought there would be good, cheap entertainment ideas in here.  But no, the ideas were things like people watch, exercise or do your gardening.  I really don't consider those things entertainment.  From the title, I thought it was going to be more creative.

25 money making businesses you can start in your spare time

This e-book lists 25 ideas for online business.  Each chapter includes a few paragraphs about what the business is and how much it costs to get started.  Then there are a bunch of websites listed that you can visit for more information on the subject.  If you are really wanting to start an online business and have no clue of the business choices out there, then this book would be helpful.  If you are aware of the business options out there, then this book won't help you much.

How to become a successful work at home mom

This one was just OK.  It was aimed at someone who formerly had an outside job and wanted to transition that job to home.  It's not really for a mom trying to start up a home business.  Also, the author is based in the UK so some of the things she wrote about did not apply to Americans.

The Makings of a Young Entrepreneur

Written by a 5th grader - a 5th grader! - who has a successful online jewelry business, this book is very impressive.  Aimed at children, I found Gabrielle Williams to be very well spoken and very relevant.  She talks about not only the fun part of a business but about the hard work involved in starting and running one.   Not only is she a successful businesswoman at such a young age (she started her company when she was 7), she is a sought after motivational speaker.  This is a great book for any child who has ideas of becoming an entrepreneur.

Making Money on the Internet - 197 Ways to Increase your Income from Home in your Spare Time

I thought this was one of the worst books I've ever read.  I almost didn't include it on the list because I so disliked it, but I figured bad reviews are just as important as good ones.  It looks like this book is long and might have good info, but no, really the author just uses really big fonts for the chapter titles.  There is hardly any real information in any of the chapters.  Pretty much it's just a list of websites to visit, those that promise you money for one reason or another.  Most of the chapters end with the author admitting that he hasn't visited that site and doesn't know much about it and that you should do your research.  Really?  I could have figured all this out with one Google search and a little common sense.  The crowning jewel in this bad review was when the author mentioned writing an e-book for money.  He says to be sure to check and double check the book for errors.  Then he has both a spelling mistake and a grammatical error in the next chapter.  Guess he doesn't practice what he preaches.  Don't bother with this book...ever.  (Hmm... I can't find this on Amazon anymore.  Just know if you do see it out there, don't get it.)

Fearlessly Frugal: How to Save Money on Your Laundry

I help measure how useful a non-fiction book is to me by how many bookmarks I save.  This book had a lot compared to the length of the book (which wasn't very long).  The author divides the book up into washing, drying and removing stains.  Then tells you ideas on 3 levels, depending on how frugal you really want to be. I like the choices she offers and I like her organization.  It makes it easy to go back and reference.  If you need some help saving money in the area of laundry, pick this up today.  It's totally worth $0.99.

I read 4 full-length books in February (3 listed on this post as well as Echoes) and 7 shorter e-books.  That brings my total up to 13 books for the year (I didn't count the e-books).  I'm well on my way to reaching my 40 book goal.  See all the books I've read on my Pinterest page.

Week in Review: Feb. 24 - March 2

I'm a few days late in getting this out.  I apologize.

We had the wonderful privilege of starting the week with my brother and his family as they prepare to move overseas.

Monday was pretty much recovery day here.  The kids were tired from the trip but, like little troopers, we all got up and made it to school on time.  Although there were claims (at 7 AM) that they were both going to come home after school and take naps, it didn't happen.  But it's fine, I didn't really expect it to.  We just made sure that everyone got to bed on time.

I took it easy knowing that my pain would increase some after sitting in a car for a long time.  And it did.  But I'm learning better how to handle it when my pain increases and what to do to lower the pain level.  It took a few days, but I recovered and I did not go into a tailspin.

David had a special day on Tuesday.  He officially became a Wolf Cub.

The way they do things in Cub Scouts confuses me sometimes, but this is how I understand it.  Each grade in Cub Scouts is assigned an animal.  First graders are Tiger Cubs, second graders are Wolf Cubs, and third graders are Bear Cubs.  You are called that animal name at the beginning of the year (i.e. David has been called a Wolf Cub all year) but you really don't achieve that rank until now, at the Blue and Gold Banquet.

David got his Wolf Cub patch and is officially a Wolf Cub now (even though he's been called a Wolf Cub all along, go figure).  That means he finished all the requirements in his book.  He can still do the electives in his book for the rest of the school year but he doesn't become a Bear Cub until next August.  And it means I have another patch to sew on his shirt.  Did I mention I don't really like sewing patches on things?

Proud parents

The week ended by poring over new designs, car designs to be specific.  Both kids worked hard on Saturday, drawing out car patterns to be cut out of a block of wood.  David gets to build a car for his Cub Scout Pinewood Derby and Julie gets to build a car for the Awana Grand Prix.  And Tim gets to help build both of them.  Lucky Tim.

Can't end the post without this priceless picture of Julie.  We ordered a pizza from Papa John's and she decided she was going to try the pepper included in the box.  Kudos to her for deciding she was going to try something new.

She only got as far as sticking the pepper on her tongue, then she did this.

Guess it's a NO on the pepper.

Eshakti.com: Custom-Made Clothes & Special Discount Code

When I was a little girl, my mom used to make most of my clothes.  From dresses to shorts to those cute little rompers that were so en vogue back in the early 80's, she could do it all.

My sister, also, is a wiz on the sewing machine.  She quilts and make her own curtains for her house.  She even made me a dress one time in college.

Me?  I didn't inherit that gene.  I call it the "sewing gene" and it's not in my genome.  Every time I touch a sewing machine and try to be crafty on it, I end up in tears.  Yet, I love getting items custom made to my measurements.  So, what's a girl to do?

Luckily, a great website is out there to solve that problem.

Eshakti.com

Eshakti.com provides customized clothing for women.  When you visit the site, you can choose to order a style in a standard size (i.e. 2, 4, 6, etc) or you can have it made according to your exact measurements.  You also choose from many customizable features on each item, such as skirt length, sleeve length and neck opening.  (See how the dress above was made from the same style choice just with different customization.)

It's as if you were at a seamstress's shop commissioning clothing made just for you.

Here are some styles I love (you can visit their Pinterest page and see tons of choices):

Want a dress or skirt or shirt made just for you?  Eshakti can help.  Exclusively for my readers, Eshakti.com has provided a discount code good from now until March 10, 2013.  Just enter TNSTYNTHEC and save 20% off your order.  Give yourself the gift of customization today!

** Update:  The promotional code was not working this weekend but it is up and going now (just tried it and it worked!).  The deadline for the code has also been extended to March 25. **

**Code has to be entered in the 'Promotional Code' box. No Minimum Order Value. The discount code is not case sensitive. The code can be used any number of times until the validity period. This code can be clubbed with any other gift coupon or gift card in the same order. This discount code is not applicable on our Overstock category. Not applicable on previous purchases. 

The Gratitude Project

One word.

That's the concept that has been floating around the blogospohere recently.  Find one word to focus on for the year.  Instead of making lots of different resolutions and goals, grab a word for the year and center your resolutions and goals on that word.  It makes a lot of sense.  It funnels down your thoughts and actions so you can really focus on how you want to live your year.  (You can see it explained a lot more eloquently here.)

As I read about this concept and thought about it, several possible words came to mind to focus on this year: Contentment - satisfaction; ease of mind
Worship - reverent honor and homage paid to God

But the one I chose is:

Gratitude - the quality of being grateful or thankful

Too often I get caught up in the "woe is me" world.  I complain and lament about all the things that go wrong instead of looking around and noticing all the blessings that God has given me.  When I stop and think about all the things that go right and all the wonderful things in my life, I realize that I am a lot more blessed than I realize.  I need to realize it and I need to be aware of my blessings.  But more than that I need to be thankful for all the great things I have and I need to thank the one who gave them to me - God.

How does this play out in real life?  I decided at the end of January to start a Gratitude Journal.  Each day that I write in it (and I don't write in it every day), I find three things to be thankful for.  And it's cheating to write the same three things down over and over again, so I find three unique things to be thankful for.  I write them down along with anything that God has taught me that day.  It's so refreshing to go back and read where I was a month ago and where I am today.

Gratitude in a journal is all well and good but I also need to be accountable to others.  So each Thursday I'm going write out one of my journal entries including my gratitude list.  I would love it if you join me and write me a comment of something that you are thankful for that day.  Let's turn our focus off of what is wrong in our lives and onto what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. And let's think on those things.

(From Jan 29)
I'm thankful that I have access to a lot of books and I can fill my time with reading.
I'm thankful that I have great heat in my house and I feel less pain because I'm warm.
I'm thankful that my computer is portable and I can take it to the chair that feels most comfortable to sit in.

"Whatever our need is, it is met by looking away from ourselves and casting ourselves with abandon on our Savior.  We must run to him.  He is the source of everything we need.  He is the solution." - The One Year Devotional Walk with God

"O, Lord, my God, I take refuge in You." Psalm 7:1

Fun with Family

We started off last week with a trip and we ended the week with a trip.  We're not usually such busy globetrotters (if visiting our state and the next state over even count as globetrotting) but the schedule just worked out that way.

And I'm glad it did.  We got to spend the weekend with my brother and his family.  They are going to be moving overseas soon and we want to cherish all the time with have with them now, while they are still in our country.

I'm chilling with my nephew at the bowling alley.

 We spent the weekend doing lots of fun stuff.  We went on a tour of my brother's current apartment.  Then we decided to get our bowl on at the local bowling alley, the hoppin spot to be (seriously, there were 40 full lanes of bowling and a waiting list to play). I made a 54.  Oh, yeah, baby, I'm that bad at bowling.  Even the 4 year old beat me (he did have gutter guards though, so I should get a handicap for that). We played for a while at the 2 story Barnes and Noble, which was complete with a train table for the kids and hundreds of books to browse through for the adults.

For dinner we went to our first Mongolian Grill.  I was really neat, you choose your own meats and veggies to go in your bowl and they grill it all up for you.  It was so good.  We're going to have to find a place around here that does that.  I ate every bite.

On our mini-hike - the weather was beautiful!

Walking along the mini-waterfall on our mini-hike.

On Sunday after church, we decided to go on a little hike.  My sister-in-law, Desha, had been told there was a waterfall by the lake near their apartment.  So we walked out there.  The waterfall was about 5 minutes away.  It was pretty, but more of a mini-hike.  We kinda thought it was farther away then it really was.  The kids were more adventurous than the adults and walked all over all the rocks, until Julie stepped in the creek, then she was done.  The boys probably would have walked on it all day if we let them.  Us adults?  We mostly watched from the side.

Sadly, we had to say good-bye at around 3 o'clock.  It took us about 6 hours to get home and we didn't want to get home too late because the kids had school the next day.  We enjoyed spending this time with our family.  We're storing up these memories for those times when they are far away and we miss them.  We'll get to see them one more time before they fly off into the world.  

What about you?  Did you do anything fun or adventurous this weekend?

Pinteresting Pins: Pizza & Broccoli/Rice Casserole

Do you pin?  Are you on Pinterest?  If I don't already follow you, leave me a comment with your Pinterest name and I'll come find you.

Time for more Pinterest trials.  This week it was 2-ingredient pizza dough and broccoli/chicken/rice casserole.

When I was a little kid, we lived so far out in the country that the pizza delivery man was not an option.  My mom's solution was to make pizza ourselves from scratch.  My sister, my mom and I would measure out all the ingredients for the dough. We'd mix it up, knead it, and roll it out.  Then we would add sauce, cheese and any toppings.  It was all great fun back then.  We got dirty.  We got the floors dirty.  We loved it.

Fast forward to now.  I decide it will be great fun to make my own pizza dough just like we did back then.  However, since I'm not a big "make it from scratch" kind of person, I thought trying this 2-ingredient recipe (Greek yogurt and flour) would be the perfect solution.

2-ingredient pizza dough

My first mistake was to try this on a school night when we had to be at Cub Scouts at 6.  Second mistake was to let my Greek yogurt expire then make a last second run to the store with two kids after school to get more.  Should have just postponed the experiment at that point and ordered pizza from a pizza place, after all I don't live way out in the country anymore.

But I'm a glutton for punishment, I guess.  Really, it wasn't that bad.  I mixed up the yogurt and flour, and then more flour, and then more flour.  Until it was finally the right doughy consistency.  I kneaded, and let the kids knead, then kneaded it just a little more.

Sorry it's so blurry.
My 7 year old can't seem to hold my phone still.

Then I let the kids roll it out ... and it was tiny.  So I used the last of the yogurt and more flour and made just a little more dough.

I put it all together and got this weird oblong kind of shape.  Stuck it on a large stone and just went with it.

The final product

So I'm sure you're wondering how it tasted.  It was OK.  It was not as good as the pizza we made growing up.  And despite what everyone on Pinterest says, I could taste the yogurt.  The good news was both kids ate it and seemed to like it.  They weren't over the moon about it but it was OK pizza, they said.  I don't think I would make this again.  It was a lot of work for only having 2 ingredients and I was stressed the whole time.  I'm not giving up Little Caesars or Freshetta just yet.

Broccoli/chicken/rice Casserole

This recipe involved a bit of prep work, but after all the chopping, it was super simple.  Throw it all together in a bowl and mix it up.

I liked the fact that the recipe made me four meals.  I served one that night and put three in the freezer for later.  When I had a friend with the flu this week (and all four of her kids had the flu too!), I could just grab a frozen casserole and send it to her house.  So nice to have enough to keep and enough to share.

  

The bad news?  Making this created a huge mess of dirty dishes in my sink.  Sigh!  No rest for the weary.

The good news?  The kids, including David, both tried it and ate it.  David, who doesn't usually like rice, said it was good.  He didn't eat a lot but he tried it, which is a big deal.  Julie loved it and kept asking for more.  I am excited to add this to our usual menu.  It was great!

Stay tuned for more Pinterest trials.  I might dive into the DIY or organization pins next time, you never know.

Did you try out these recipes?  Let me know what you think in the comments or on my Facebook page.