Book Review: When Hope Blossoms

First off... I promise this hasn't become solely a book review blog. However, I do love good books!!! :) And I am soooo happy for the privilege of reading them in exchange for a copy. If you are a blogger and love books, I recommend getting involved in some of the great review programs available. I do reviews for Bethany House, Thomas Nelson and Waterbrook. Ok.... on to the review!

Amy Knackstedt is a young Mennonite widow who is doing her best to get a new start for her family in the town of Weaverly, Kansas. She has three children, and is doing her best to earn a living with her quilting business. Her next door neighbor, Tim Roper, a former Mennonite, who has also lost his spouse. Tim runs an apple orchard and is still grieving the untimely death of his wife and son.

When I finished this story I thought, "This is the Kim Vogel Sawyer I know!" Such a great story line! (An improvement, in my humble opinion :) over her last novel.) This is a contemporary novel, instead of historical like many of her books. I really liked the development of the characters, especially the children. Some authors have a hard time representing children accurately, but these children, at very different ages, all seem very real and accurate to stages they would be going through. The book kept my attention, and was very believable. I really like how she dealt with raising a child with special needs. Very enjoyable read!

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Thank you to Bethany House for this review copy... my opinions are my own!

Book Review: The MoneySmart Family System

The MoneySmart Family System by Steve and Annette Economides is an in depth resource book as well as instruction "manual" in helping your family learn how to manage money. I choose to review this book, mainly because I knew it was something my husband would be interested in. (He is the official money manager in our home.) There is sooo much jam packed into this book. I'm not even sure where to start.

First off, it is an enjoyable read. Books like this could easily read as text books, but the Economides do a great job in keeping the book interesting. They use many stories of their own family as well as families they know to illustrate their points.

This book could also be classified as simply a parenting book. They have a lot of practical advice for how to keep your family on the right track. Being over committed is a common problem in today's society, and the authors have very practical advice on how to keep families from falling into that trap as well as building family unity.

Most chapters have a section at the end showing how to relate the information to children at different ages. Through the whole book they are building the groundwork for raising independent, confident adults. It is much easier for lessons to be earned at a young ages. As they say, "The cost of an unlearned lesson will always escalate with time." Better to learn a lesson the hard way, when the most lost is $5 or $10 rather than $10,000!

Honestly... there isn't enough room for me to write everything about this book! If you are a parent, or plan to be, then this book is for you! Also you can check out their website: http://www.americascheapestfamily.com


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Thanks to Thomas Nelson (Book Sneeze) for this review copy... my opinions are my own.

Book Review - Almost Amish

In the book, Almost Amish by Kathryn Cushman, two families find out what it would be like to live as Amish in today's society. Julie and her two children, along with Julie's sister-in-law Susan and her daughter, go to live in an old farm house and experience the simple life. It's all done for reality television, but what the two families learn is what is truly important and what is real. Julie also learns a lot about who she is as a person and what she really wants to be.

The premise of this book really interested me when I first got the opportunity to read it. So many times in my review book choices, I stick with authors and genres that I know I will enjoy. And very rarely am I disappointed. (Thus so many positive reviews!) :) This book was a little different for me. It really sums up the big interest in Amish fiction in the Christian fiction market. (I do enjoy a little of that myself!) I think so many of us yearn for a simpler life, but the important thing is to really figure out what is really REAL and the most important. Both the women in this book learned some of those things and made it a point to stand up for what they believed was right and best for their families. An great book that grabbed me from the start.

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Thank you to Bethany House for providing this review copy. My opinions are my own. :)

Thrifty finds!

Yes, once again... Mom and I went to our favorite thrift sale!! LOVE that place!! We actually went twice... the first day we went, our favorite building wasn't open yet. So... of course, we had to go back the next day! (And I'm glad we did... we had a lot more time to browse, and I got a chance to have a quick chat with bloggy friend, Shelly, and other good friends - the "J" family!)

First, a couple of finds from the first day... I collect Boyd's Bears Yesterday's Child figurines. Mark's mom is always finding them for great prices, but I rarely run across them! (It's great to have a mother-in-law with an eye for bargains!) I did find this one, and I love it! It's more fallish - I'm wanting to collect more seasonal figurines so I can rotate them. (I'm not into a whole lot of knick-knacks, these are the only ones I collect and there aren't many more I really like... love the vintageness of these pieces!)

So sweet! This one is "Waiting for Grandma." It reminds me of myself... when I was young. About this time every fall, my grandparents in Idaho were getting ready to make their annual trip down to Texas for a month long visit. They usually brought a truck full of apples from their farm to sell. Happy memories!

I also was thrilled to find me some real cowgirl boots!

Just a few scuffs, but almost brand new looking and for just a fraction of the cost!

Now on to Friday's shopping and our favorite building!!! We always find really good "treasures" in this building! I found a few books.... (Sigh.. me and books. I'm afraid it's hopeless... if there's anything I have more of than shoes, it's books!)

And how about those vintage covers on a couple of children's classics?!


A glass globe:

Can you have too many? So fun to put cute things under!

Some various and sundry things:


Aren't those vintage games great? I've been on the lookout for some classic games for a while. Not exactly sure what I'm going to do with them yet, maybe hang them in the family room - fun, non-breakable wall art! The puzzle is an annual holiday tradition with Mark's family, and we don't always have a "Christmasy" one to do. The set in the bottom left of the picture is a Scripture memorization curriculum as best I could tell... I haven't looked into it a whole lot, but for 25 cents, who could go wrong? :)

I found a few more games... some for me (maybe):


And some for our kiddos at church. We have a prize box that they earn points for (by being good, helping, and listening in "big" church, among other things...) Some of the kids said they didn't have games at home to play and wondered if we could put some in the box. Soo... I found a few for a fraction of the price new. I'm sure they will be excited to see them appear in the box! (Except for the "Bendaroos" that's for a fun, open-ended craft some night!)  :)

 

Seriously, Mom and I get the "itch" to shop this sale a few weeks before it opens yet again (They hold it in the spring and fall.) Love me some good thrifty finds! Anyone else found any good deals recently? :)

Finished Object Fridays - Big Sister Shirts

Funny. It seems like when I was doing FOF every week or even every other week, I hardly had any projects to share... now - when I do it once a month - I have a hard time picking WHICH project to share!! This one wasn't too hard to pick though. Such a fun and exciting time for our little church family. We got to welcome a new little member! :) My friend Regina just gave birth to baby girl #4 a couple of weeks ago!! Welcome to Baby "D!" (or "Love" as she will be known here...)

Last year my mom, with her nose for bargains, found a Cricut machine at a local Goodwill. My sister and I snatched it up and we share joint "custody" of the machine. And.... since she's off at college, guess who gets to store it!! :)

A while back Melissa made these shirts for Brittany's boys. I had heard that this kind of project was easy with the Cricut, but I wasn't too sure until I got into it. (It is EASY, but even easier if you know how to run the machine... I'm learning!) :) I used this tutorial - great explanation!


So Regina came over one afternoon and we started working on these. I finished them up and made a little surprise for baby "D!" I also made bows to match.


Here they are posing with their shirts right after they got them:


And here are the three big sisters posing with the little sis!!

Yep... they are ALL smitten with this little one!!!

And wouldn't you be?? This is a picture I took of her just this week:

She's growing and changing so fast!!

Maybe you have a project to share? I'm excited to see what you all have been working on!!

~PS. Just FYI, Cricut doesn't know I exist... not an advertisement, just craftiness at work! :)