Book Review: An Amish Christmas

Amish fiction has to be one of my favorite genre of books to read.  There's something about the life of the Amish that intrigues me and relaxes me.  I often tell my mom that I know that they work extremely hard, but I love their simplicity in life.  They don't have all of the outward demands on their time.  They concentrate on their families and I love that. 

An Amish Christmas is a group of novellas that have four different stories inside.  They are all very well-written and easy to read.  I didn't want to put the book down but when did, I was easily able to find my spot.  I also really like the size of the book because it fit easily inside my diaper bag, which made it great to travel around to places with me.

A Choice to Forgive was about a man named Daniel that wanted to gain the love of Lydia after he had disappeared.  After she became a widow (which was Daniel's brother that died), he realized how much he loved her and wanted to marry her.

A Miracle for Miriam was about Seth, who had left the Amish community for a few years until he had a wreck and realized the mistake he made in leaving.  He used to make fun of Miriam when he found out that she had a crush on him.  Now that he's returned to the community, he realizes he likes her but has to find a way to make her forgive him for his past.

One Child is about a birth that would forever change the lives of two couples in Lancaster County forever.  Who is this child?  Hmmm....I'm not going to spoil it for you.  You must read it to find out!  Am I mean?!

Christmas Candles is a bonus book that has Anna delivering multiple babies in one night.  However, she gets some help from a handsome man that she ends up loving, Asa Lapp.

Each novella is about 150 pages long, so it is nice and short.  If you like Amish fiction, this is a must-read.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

What's Been Happening

We've had a long week Thanksgiving week.  B got the stomach bug last Sunday night and we ended up in the ER early Monday morning with the diagnosis of mild dehydration and the stomach bug.  He was so pitiful while he was throwing up.  This was our second experience with vomiting, and it made me want to cry.  I was extremely thankful that my mother was here because she was able to show me some ways to make it easier on me.  Since Daddy T was out of town, I had the privelege of staying up a full 24 hours.  I haven't done that since college.  I was exhausted!

B got better after he was given his Zofran to help him stop vomiting.  He went 26 hours without a wet diaper, so I was really nervous about that.  He was going to go to the farm at the beginning of the week, but since he got sick, we had to cancel it.  He ended up staying there after Thanksgiving so Daddy T and I got to spend some quality time with Baby M.

So...in a nutshell, that is why I have been absent from my blog.  I apologize for the lack of reading material.  Hopefully I can make up for that this week, though.

Hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, dear friends!

Book Review: Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski

I found this book to be a very interesting book that was hard to put down.  It was a book that made me a little uncomfortable to read because it was convicting.

Mike and a friend, Sam, felt like the Lord was calling them to live on the streets as homeless people for 6 months.  They took 6 months off of school and prepared for this experience with their professors and mentors.  They left with a 3 dollar sleeping bag, water, and enough money to use a hospital if they got stabbed.  They lived on the streets in six different cities: Denver; Washington, D.C.; Portland; San Francisco; Phoenix; and San Diego.

Mike recounts everything that he experienced while on the streets, including panhandling, staying in a shelter, living under the bridge, making friends with drug dealers but being a witness by not doing drugs or drinking.  They were rejected for the fact that they were Christians, but they also were a great witness to several people who felt like they had lost all hope and that no one cared about them anymore.

So why would they decide to be homeless when, in fact, they weren't?  Simple....or maybe not.  They wanted to see if their faith was real.  They wanted to to see if they were really the Christians that they said that there were when all of the comforts of life were removed.  It was easy to be a Christian when they could walk past the poor and homeless and pretend that they didn't really exist.  They could talk about theology and the importance of faith.  However, when all was stripped away, would they still be able to stand firm in Christ?  The answer?  Yes.  They said that through this experience, they learned that they battled depression and loneliness.  Nothing prepared them for that aspect of this experience.

I was interested to learn of ways to help those that I come across that were panhandling.  I have always heard to not give them money and Mike and Sam confirmed that.  They said that in their travels through those major cities, they came across a majority of homeless that chose to be homeless because of their actions that had led them down the road for that.  There were quite a few that didn't chose it, but he said that the majority of them would use the money on drugs because they needed "food."  He highly recommended that you give them food or carry around gift cards for groceries (that can only be used on food) or to fast food places.  I hadn't thought about that and that's a simple thing to carry around.  However, they stated that it really does mean a lot to them if you take the time out to take them to dinner.  As a girl with kids, I'm not completely comfortable with that, simply because you never know about people these days.  But I can definitely smile at them at show them that they do exist.  Mike talked about how much a simple smile meant to him while on the streets.

The saddest part of his book was when he recounted the Christians in the church and how many of the churches didn't want them around.  There were only a handful of churches that accepted them and helped them.  When they asked a pastor for food, he said "we are here to worship.  We can't forget the purpose of why we're meeting here today."  At one church, they fell asleep on the front doorstep.  Instead of waking them up as the congregation entered the church, they chose to all use the side door so they didn't have to be uncomfortable walking over them.  We are called to help those less fortunate than us, but so many times we reject them because they smell or don't have the up-to-date clothes. 

I would definitely recommend this book, but be aware that you won't look at the homeless the same way again.  You will be challenged to reach out and help even more than you already do.




I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Book Review: Unlocked by Karen Kingsbury

First off, I love Karen Kingsbury, so when I saw on the Zondervan Blog that this book was up for review, I quickly entered to review it.  Secondly, all of you who know me know that I have a passion for children with special needs, especially autism.  Since I am a music therapist, I get to work with a lot of children with autism.  (This is partly why I have always spread apart shots and delayed the MMR so much because almost all of my families that I work with had a "typical" child until they got the shot and then the next day their child was gone.  Not that I think it's only the vaccine, but that post is for another day!) 

Anyway, this book was absolutely wonderful.  It has some parts that were hard to read, because of the fact that a group of football players would bully Holden (the one with autism), as well as many other "misfits" in the school.  This eventually led to one chid (the child, Michael) that stood up for Holden to commit suicide.

Holden goes from being locked inside his autistic world and not being able to express himself to coming out of his autism more through music and theatre.  He was able to hold conversations, to look people in the eyes, etc. because Ella (his best friend when he was little) fought for him to have a place on stage for their next drama performance.  Holden even sang a song and danced, and afterwards gave Ella a hug, which was huge because he never let anyone touch him.

This book meant a lot to me because of the music aspect as well.  In my daily workings with children with autism, I see the power of music and the miracles that God performs through them daily.  Are they different?  Yes.  Can they learn the same things that everyone else does?  Yes.  It just takes them longer and that's okay.  I currently have several kiddos learning the piano and I can't help but smile and tear up when I hear the play a song PERFECTLY and sing.  I love working with them and, despite singing my directions for 30 minutes, I can get them to sit in a chair for 30 ENTIRE minutes when no one else can.  I absolutely love it when parents leave saying "I don't know how you do it!"  Is it a challenge to work with them?  Yes.  But it pushes me to be the best music therapist I can be.  They are the most compassionate, sweetest kids I know.  They are funny and work so hard to do what most of us take for granted. 

Can you tell I'm passionate about this?  I found myself crying in this book because I could see the faces of my clients throughout here.  They do get teased and often pushed to the side.  I've had some kicked out of school because they "couldn't control their behaviors."  I'm constantly amazed at what these parents have to go through on a daily basis and the loneliness they feel.  I'm also reminded about my cousin, Shannon, through this book and our many conversations we used to have about people staring at her just because she was different.  Sometimes, I think that's the hardest part.  People act like it's no big deal, but it's huge.  Each child, each person has a story.  But it's our responsibility to take the time to learn it, even if it takes longer than we'd like and we have to inconvenience ourselves more.

Definitely check this book out.  It's such a wonderful story!

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This book was provided free by Zondervan for review.  I was in no way required to write a positive review of this book.

What's Your Stats?

No, it's not a reference to sports.  Bummer, huh?  It's actually a reference to the 4-month stats of Baby M.  It's so hard to believe she has been a part of our lives for 4 whole months.  It seems like we've always had her. 

She is now 25 inches long, 13 pounds 10 ounces and has a big head...in fact in the 95% for head circumference.  See...I wasn't lying about her taking after her daddy!  I told Daddy T that he will never be allowed to comment on these traits of hers when she's older because he'll just kill her self-esteem.  I'm already trying to teach him the things NOT to say to a girl because girls tend to take so much to heart when it comes to their looks.  And since Daddy T uses very little words, WHAT he says will definitely be noticed by her.  He's learning quickly, I think.

Since my mother was interested how her stats compared with her big brother's at this age, he was 24-1/2 inches long and weighed 14 pounds 6 ounces.  However, you have to take into account that he was a little younger, too.  He now, at the age of 2, is 35 inches long and weighs 27 pounds. 

So, Mom, there you go....that's how they compare.

What's for Breakfast?

These beautiful and tasty things are what's for breakfast here at our house.  I have joined Weight Watcher's simply because I am nursing and I am not as blessed as everyone else who can lose weight right after having a baby.  I have lost all of my weight from baby girl's birth, but not from B's.  I exercise and try to eat right, but when I don't get a lot of sleep or when I'm stressed, I tend to eat not as great and eat more snacks, which leads to more of my other health problems.  So to keep it all in check, I joined.  This was a wonderful recipe that I found on their website.  It's simply 2 frozen waffles, eggs, and cheese.  (Pretend that you are going to scramble the egg, just put it on the waffle instead of the pan.)  You could always use some kind of lean meat, but we ate it without it.  You bake it on 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes, or until the egg is done.  Even B liked it and ate a whole one. 

Happy late Halloween!

I'm pretty sure he was eating cheese balls...

Content with the candy in his bucket

4 months old

This is my 4-month-old baby girl.  She is such a sweet and good baby.  She rarely cries.  The exception would be if she's hungry, if Daddy T holds her at night, or if B gets in her face and yells at her to wake up.  Yeah, he's been known to do that more than a few times.  She is a very easy baby with a laid-back personality.  Her beautiful smile takes up her whole face.

 

In her free time, she likes to sit up, which she always does.....

 

 and laugh....

and chew on her fingers.

This baby girl has moments where she kind of looks like her big brother and others where she looks like her daddy and Nanny Ruth.  Those cheeks make her look like my cousin B and my Nanny.  Here's the comparison of the kids at 4 months old.  A lot of their facial expressions are the same, but their head shape is completely different.  Her's is much bigger.  I say it's so it can hold more information!

Booked my first 5K

I have my first 5k on the horizon...just 3 weeks, to be exact.  I am running my first 5k with my sister-in-law.  I am both excited and nervous about it.  I have this fear of failure which complicates things.  I keep thinking that to be successful in this race, I MUST run it all.  I know that, in theory, my goal is just to finish.  I am trying to remind myself of this goal every time I run, but there's still that perfectionist side of me that gets frustrated when I can only go 2 miles or when I can't make it up the last huge hill in our subdivision.  So, you runners, how did you or do you overcome this mindset?  I am really enjoying running now.  I never thought I would like it, but it is quite relaxing and it is fun to challenge my body in a new way.  I'll be sure to post pictures of me and my sister-in-law (Aunt Mo as B calls her) crossing the finish line.  Daddy T said that he, the kids, and Uncle J would have to find something to entertain themselves for a little while.  Thankfully, Aunt Mo found a race that starts at 9:00, so there will be no getting up extremely early for us.  Oh...and the race is in the big city where there is a lot more flat land than there is here, thank goodness!  I get to run my next 5k with the church on New Years Eve, which is downtown in the hilly city.  Have I mentioned I'm nervous?!

Taking matters into his own hands

One day a few months ago, I was proud of myself for not yelling at my son when I found him in a spot that I would never have predicted.  The story goes like this....

I had told Daddy T earlier that morning that B needed a bath that night since we

didn't give him one that morning.  I'm not for sure if B heard that part or if he decided

that he needed a bath right at that moment all on his own.  Who knows!

Daddy T left for work and I was in the bathroom getting ready to leave for

our weekly Kindermusik class.  I was gone for approximately 5 minutes or less.

I kept hearing a noise, which sounded like water.  I told B, "I hope that's not water

getting on my floor or you're going to be in trouble!"  Silence.  Splash, splash.

 Not an encouraging sound.  When I finished up what I had done, I went into the

bathroom to see what he had gotten in to and here's what I found....

 

That little stinker had climbed into the sink, filled it up, put some soap in it, and got in it

complete with his clothes.  If that wasn't enough, he grabbed the bath crayons 

(which are the coolest thing) and proceeded to leave his artwork on the counter.

I wasn't even mad, despite the fact that we were going to be late for the class AND

I had no clean shorts for him.  I had to go in another room because I just had to

laugh, but I didn't want him to see me laughing because I definitely did NOT

want him to do that again.

It's moments like these that I hope to always treasure and remember.  Those little

moments that I too often get frustrated with and wonder when the day will come

when I can sit down for longer than 2 minutes when he is awake!  I don't want that just

yet.  I'll take these memories for now and just hope that my house can handle all

that he and his darling sister will do to it.

Yes, friends....this is my life and I love it!  As I'm reminded all of the time with my people that I work with in the nursing home...."Life goes by too fast.  Enjoy EVERY moment you can with your child.  It's worth it."  And that's what I'm doing.  I'm so thankful they get to enjoy my kids, too!

Nap Time Adventures

I love how life happens.  As I was working on my blog posts for the week, my son was in his room trying to go to sleep, or so I thought.  I kept hearing him calling my name, then Daddy T's name, then my name.  I kept telling him to lay down and go to sleep.  I occasionally would hear a thump, but I assumed it was Daddy T who was cleaning downstairs.  I was wrong.

Daddy T came up to get some water and he went in B's room to see what B wanted.  I hear "What did you do!"  Uh oh.  Not good.  When Daddy T says this, that means I usually don't want to know what just happened.  Because this implies a mess.  I hate messes.  Messes frustrate me because I feel like I spend my entire day cleaning up one mess after another.  And these messes happen right after I've just spent a long time cleaning.

So I pick myself up from in front of the computer and peek in his room.  So far so good.  I step in to his room.  I see this...

He likes to climb.  He doesn't like going through the little holes that we left as walkways.  He likes to clip up and over, which we think resulted in this.  This explains why B couldn't "lay down and go to sleep" as I had been requesting.

We've since put the bed back together and he's resting peacefully. 

It is non-stop action at our household!

Lead Me

I had a conversation today with an older friend about all of the roles that moms play.  I mean there are so many days my head swirls just thinking about all I have to do.  She brought up the fact that sometimes we, as women, forget all that the men do as well.  She told me about this song and I looked it up and absolutely love it and the story behind it.  Please, please, please check it out and even if you are a girl, there's a lot you can learn from this message and song.  It is very challenging.  This conversation with a friend followed a conversation that Daddy T and I had last night.  We talked about how we were so thankful for our kiddos, but we do kinda miss the days where we could come home and not invest so much of ourselves in every single person in the family.  Don't get me wrong....we wouldn't change a thing.  However, it can be challenging to make sure that each member of the family has spent some time with Daddy T that day, which means that Daddy T doesn't get too much time by himself to do things that he either needs to do or that will relax him and make him feel not as stressed.  I know I have those same problems, but I guess I always thought that since Daddy T got out of the house every day and got to have actual conversations (without his head multi-tasking to try to make sure everyone was where they should be and that things aren't missing and no one is getting hurt) that automatically made my days harder.  Not to say my days are a walk in the park, but this song really showed me the desires of my husband's heart and how perhaps he has some of that "daddy guilt" thrust upon him, as well, even if he's more reluctant to talk about it than I am with my "mommy guilt."



Sanctus Real - “Lead Me”




I look around and see my wonderful life

Almost perfect from the outside

In picture frames I see my beautiful wife

Always smiling

But on the inside, I can hear her saying...



“Lead me with strong hands

Stand up when I can't

Don't leave me hungry for love

Chasing dreams, what about us?



Show me you're willing to fight

That I'm still the love of your life

I know we call this our home

But I still feel alone”



I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes

They're just children from the outside

I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine

They're independent

But on the inside, I can hear them saying...



“Lead me with strong hands

Stand up when I can't

Don't leave me hungry for love

Chasing dreams, but what about us?



Show me you're willing to fight

That I'm still the love of your life

I know we call this our home

But I still feel alone”



So Father, give me the strength

To be everything I'm called to be

Oh, Father, show me the way

To lead them

Won't You lead me?



To lead them with strong hands

To stand up when they can't

Don't want to leave them hungry for love,

Chasing things that I could give up



I'll show them I'm willing to fight

And give them the best of my life

So we can call this our home

Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone



Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone



these lyrics are submitted by MHSDC

Book Review: Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck

I began this book thinking that it wouldn't be that good to read.  I had never heard of this author and to be honest, I'm a bit partial to my favorites.  However, I decided to give it a try.  I loved it!  This writer is very easy to read and is quite fun.  She is humorous and has a wonderful storyline.

This book is about a lady named Joy, who is a cooking host but can't cook.  No one knows this small little fact about her except a select few.  She took over her dad's cooking show when he died and the producer was in a bind.  Since she has been on the show, it has become a hit.  They have covered up the not being able to cook problem by having a show prep do the cooking for her and making it look as if she doesn't have enough time to do it all on the show. 

When the show changes producers, Allison hires Luke as a cohost.  Luke is cute and is totally falling head-over-heels in love with Joy and vice versa.  He has no clue that she can't cook, until one day Joy's secret is revealed on national television by her cooking rival, Wenda Devine.

The book weaves its way through showing how God can clean up a mess and that no matter what, you will always be worthy to God despite the mess you make.




Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: Run to Overcome by Meb Keflezighi

As many of you have read in my previous posts, I am working on training for my first 5K in December.  So when I saw that this book had to do with running, I knew that I should read it.  I'm so glad that I did!  It was such an encouraging book and very motivational, not just in the sense of running but in life in general.

Meb achieved what we think of as the "American Dream."  He came from Eritrea in East Africa, where running was not necessarily considered a sport.  He was born in the middle of the 30-year war between Eritrea and Ethiopia.  Due to the war, they moved around alot trying to get out of harm's way.  They had many encounters where their lives were at stake, but God brought them through.

To this day, they still celebrate their arrival in America every October 21.  Meb is incredibly thankful for the opportunities God has placed in his life.  He talks about how he didn't even know that running was a sport until he came to the U.S.  When they moved to San Diego, he joined the running team for his high school, and then went on to run for UCLA.  He has raced in the 2004 Olympics (and gained the silver medal) and loves to race in the New York City Marathon (2009 winner).  He trained with Ryan Shay, the young man who died while competing in the Olympic trials marathon from cardiac arrest.  He is also friends with Ryan Hall and Khalid Khannouchi, two well-known names in the running world.

Meb is incredibly fascinating and this book is a great read for runners and non-runners.  He does an excellent job pressing in the fact that we aren't guaranteed things in life.  We must work for what we want.  No one is just going to hand us things that we feel we deserve. 

Meb will be running in the New York City marathon on November 7, so check him out and read his story for yourself.  You'll find that you won't want to put his book down.




**For more information, go to http://www.runtoovercome.com/.  There is also a contest on the site where they are giving away one signed book per day from November 1, 2010 until March 31, 2011.  There will be monthly grand prize winners that will receive a signed copy of the book, other free Tyndale titles, as well as Sony and PowerBar products.  More details will be on the website.

This complimentary book was provided free of charge from Tyndale House Publishers.  I was in no way required to submit a positive book review.

Mayfield Farm

Since B loves the farm, we figured it would be fun to take him to the Mayfield Pumpkin Patch at the beginning of this month.  He loved it.  It was perfect weather to be out and it was such a fun family memory for me...and great scrapbooking material!

The guy driving this went so fast!  B got off and his eyes were wide.  I don't know that he really knew what to think!

hayride

feeding the pigs and goats

And just because I have to share this picture for the grandparents and great-grandparents......