Crocheted Softies Book

The other day I got another fun surprise in the mail! I won another giveaway from Sew, Mama, Sew’s Giveaway week. This giveaway was from Vegan Craftastic. I won Crocheted Softies, a book about how to crochet 18 different cute little animals. Since I don’t know how to crochet, I was planning to give the book to my mom if I won. So, I have passed the book along to her and hope that she will learn to make a few of the creatures inside. There is a cute little fish and octopus. I think both of them, along with the crab would be fun additions to the beach house.

Crocheted Softies

Thanks Vegan Craftastic and Sew, Mama, Sew for having the giveaways!

Book Review: Hunger Games Series

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The Hunger Games Series

Everyone was reading The Hunger Games…but I said, nope, not gonna do it. And then I did. I had read the synopsis and didn’t think it would be interesting to read about kids fighting each other and killing each other. Amy started reading it and said, no you really should give it a try. So I did. And I read the first book in about two days!

Books two and three were not yet available in paperback, so we managed to borrow them from the library. Once Amy finished Catching Fire, I had it read in just a few days too. I could hardly believe that I wanted to read the books so much. They are well written and quick reads that leave you wanting to never put it down until it is over! I finally got to the last book and must say that, as with the first two books, for the most part things were unpredictable. I never saw the twists coming and it was great.

I was a bit surprised that the books are written for fifth graders and am even more surprised that they are making a movie of it. I don’t think I need to watch the movie….I know what happens…and often times movies will ruin the world you created in your head as you were reading the book.

If you are looking for a interesting and quick read, try The Hunger Games series. Just make sure you give the first book a chance…I wasn’t too sure during the first few chapters (which is when I usually give up on a book) but I gave it a chance and I’m glad I did.

Book Review: Still Growing

Still Growing

I read Still Growing back in the beginning of summer. I barely remember Growing Pains but I do remember Kirk Cameron. I’ve also seen FireProof, one of his more recent movies.

When I saw he had written an autobiography, I decided to check it out. The library happened to have this book too, so I added it to my hold list and it came up pretty quick. Overall it was a pretty quick read.

I thought it was interesting to see some of how he grew up and got into acting. It was also cool to see how becoming a Christian played a role in how he would accept roles. He also used his influence in the show, Growing Pains, to change part of the story line because he didn’t agree with it. I already knew how in the movie FireProof his character kisses his wife. Because of the strong views and feelings he and his real life wife had about this, the characters’ kiss in the film was actually done with his real life wife but in silhouette. What a great example to others and a great testimony to share.

If you are interested in seeing how his beliefs shaped him and his career, this could be a good read for you.

Book Review-A Stolen Life

A Stolen Life

I remember hearing about Jaycee Dugard being found after an 18 year long abduction and confinement. When I saw she had written a book, I immediately added it to my library hold list and swap.com want list. I was last in line out of  88 people for the book from the library. Much to my surprise, the book became available faster than I thought it would. I have been reading a lot this summer (I have four more book reviews to write and that’s not even all the books I’ve read!).

I finished up reading a book about Elizabeth Smart when this book came up for me to borrow from the library. I quickly finished the other book so I could start this one. After reading this book for two days, I found out that it was only a seven day rental from the library! I got to work and finished it up in just four days of reading.

Part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to read what happened to Jaycee, but part of me really wanted to know some things…like how does someone stay in that environment for 18 years without trying to escape? She answered many questions I had. There were many things that I didn’t want to really know and she did tell those things too. It is so hard to believe that someone can do such things to an 11 year old girl. Jaycee is an amazing woman to have made it through all that she has and now to be building a great life for herself and her girls.

Jaycee did a great job telling about her life and everything she went through. I’m sure writing it down and reliving all of it was hard but also therapeutic. I wouldn’t suggest this book to everyone…but if you have some interest in her story and you can handle some of the pleasantries that happened to her, it could be worth the read.

Book Review: Heaven is For Real

Heaven is for Real

Have you questioned if Heaven really exists? Do you believe it is there?

I had heard a few people mention they had read this book and thought it was amazing. My sister had a copy and offered to let me borrow it. I read the book in two days. If I had the time, I could have finished it in one. It is a quick read and really interesting.

The book is told by Todd Burpo. His four year old son started revealing information about Heaven after having surgery. Much of the information he revealed was accurate descriptions of things that happened in other parts of the hospital while he was in surgery but had no way to know about and also accurate descriptions of Heaven and people that were there. The little boy had been in church and knew things from the Bible but not to the extent that he would know so much about Heaven unless he had seen it.

I must say it was a fast and amazing read. If you are looking for a book to read, I would suggest picking this one up. It might make you think about what you really believe and it might make you question things too.

I have been reading a lot of books this summer, so look for more reviews coming up!

I Got Lost-

Well, I didn’t really get lost….Summer just took over my life. Over the past, almost two months, I have been on vacation, had a sick kid, taken Little Monkette to four weeks of swimming lessons, taken over the Homespun Chic Marketplace with Amy, sewn a lot of special orders, read a bunch of books and sent Little Monkey off to Kindergarten!

I am hoping that, in the next week or two, I can get a new ‘schedule’ of life together and get back to blogging. I have lots of things to write about and plenty of pictures to share! I do plan to keep blogging and I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long. I realize most of the people that have still be visiting are coming from links and google searches, as most of my ‘readers’ follow through RSS feeds. I bet you were surprised when this popped up in your readers!

Since I think most posts are pointless without a picture…here you go- I took this on our trip to the Keys. It is one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip!

Bird in the ocean

Book Review- The Help

The Help

Big Monkey and I went to the movies about a month ago and saw a preview for a movie coming out called, “The Help.” It looked interesting to me and I thought we might want to see it when it came out (or at least once it was on dvd). I did some looking around online and found that the movie was based off a book, “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett. I decided that it might be fun to read it first. I looked at our library’s website and saw that they had the book. I placed it on hold and picked it up two days later. I didn’t realize that the book was over 500 pages long! I don’t remember the last time I read a book that long!

I started reading the book and between evenings after the kids went to bed, driving to and from camping and while at camping and finished it within about two weeks! That is probably the fastest I’ve ever read such a long book. I really didn’t want to put it down but often had to force myself so that I could get some sleep! I have some ocd when reading (okay and at other times too) and I have a VERY hard time stopping reading unless it is at the end of the chapter. Many of these chapter were more than 12 pages, so it was a commitment to read another chapter. I just had to make myself go to bed and come back the next night!

I think it was pretty well written and I thought it was interesting. It is a fiction novel but some of the stories are based off of the author’s experience in her own family with their maid. I don’t have any experience with black maids, “help,” being the time frame that I grew up in. It was interesting to read and see how life was during that time period (a time period that really wasn’t that long ago). The characters made you want to know more about what they were going to do and made me ‘fight’ for some characters more than others.

After reading the book, I’m not so sure that I need to see the movie. I already have my own vision of how everyone looked and acted and a movie producer and casting director might mess that up! There are also a few scenes that, while they weren’t overly graphic in the book, I’m not sure I want to see on the big screen depending on the producer’s ideas of how to present it. Maybe I’ll wait for the dvd and then decide if I want to watch it. If you are looking for a good, interesting summer read, I would recommend this book.

Where Did I Go?

Where did I go?? That is a great question. It is not like me to not be blogging….for the most part I have been here, reading lots of blogs, working on projects and taking a camping trip. I just haven’t managed to fit any blogging time into that. I am hoping to fix that. I have some things to tell you about, so hopefully I will find some time to sit and type it out for you! I would like to give you a list to help me remember the things I want to write about (like I did over here). Updating with links as they are posted!

From the previous list–

• I still need to tell you about the shirt I ordered from an Etsy shop

New stuff-

• Camping at Paynes Prairie State Park
• Brownie Oreos
• New shirts/onesies
• Special Order Bean bags
• Another book I read
• An earring order from an Etsy shop
• Two soap orders from two Etsy shops
• Little Monkey’s Valentines for his classmates
• Little Monkey’s Birthday shirt
• Birthday Twirl Skirt

I think that’s it for now….lol that is quite the list! Hopefully I’ll find some time to get to writing and show you some pictures too!

Choosing To See

Choosing To See

I asked for this book for Christmas and received it. (Funny I asked for two books…before this I don’t even know the last non-children’s book I read cover to cover!) I was able to pick up this book when we went camping over new year’s and got about half of it read.

Choosing to See was a book that I honestly didn’t want to put down. I wanted to just sit and read it straight through, but even camping, that wasn’t possible. I did try and get some reading in at night and nap time once we got back. It didn’t take much longer before I had finished the book.

It was a great read. Lots of ups and downs, happy and sad, you’ll laugh and cry. I learned a lot about the Chapman family that I didn’t know before (For instance, Mary Beth’s last name was Chapman even before she got married to Steven! How handy was that!). The book shows their amazing faith and strong belief in God and how he will provide in all situations. No one wants to bury their child and they certainly don’t want to have to do so because of the actions of another child.

Mary Beth tells about life before Steven, life with Steven, life with their kids, adopting their three girls and all that comes with it. I was amazed by their belief and faith in God. Not sure why, because of course they have great faith in God, but in the unbelievably hard times they still did and while they may have questioned God and his decisions, they never questioned that he was in control.

I would recommend this book, especially to moms, but really anyone could get something great out of it. I have already loaned out my copy but once it comes back, I would consider reading it again as well as loaning it out more.

Thank you Mary Beth Chapman (who by the way has no clue who I am or that I’m writing this) for your willingness to share your experiences with the world. It was a blessing to read how God has changed your family through every circumstance. From being a SCC fan, it was cool to read about how things came together for you guys back in the day. I remember The Great Adventure-we sang that music with our church youth group for choir tour!

Happy New Year!

(I had written this post three times already to have it post on New Year’s Day…but every time I saved it, it ended up being an empty post. I got tired of trying to figure it out. So now that we are back from camping, I am rewriting it and posting it on New Year’s Day.)

Happy New Year! Hope you had a great 2010 and that 2011 has lots of great things for you. I have lots more that I want to write about and hopefully you will stick around for it.

Here is some of what is to come  (Update with links to the finished posts):

• Alafia River Camping Trip
• Casserole Carrier Version #1
• Casserole Carrier Version #2
• Little Monkette’s New Kitchen
• Little Monkey’s heart for others
• My new sewing toy
• A new book I’m reading
• Etsy Shop Review of a shirt I purchased

Most of this is to help me remember what I want to write about! I hope some of it will be interesting to you too.