Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Some of my favorite READS....



So now that I have no kids left at home in the day and I decided that I would NOT clean every second, and I have further decided to treat myself to the local library as much as I want to.  Right now I have 5 books checked out and I just cant get to them fast enough.  I am a book nerd, always have been.  Still have my collection of Beverly Cleary and Little House on the Prairie books in my cedar chest from when I was little.

For the last 13 years of my married life I have spent nights staying awake readying every child/parent self help book I could get my hands on.  And I loved it.  But if you can believe it, I feel like I am actually getting the hang of it now - being a parent anyway.  I am sure that when all the teenage years come I will be right back to my self help books.  But for now I get to read my pure loves - documentaries.  Weird to some I am sure, but I love to read anything that is uplifting and real - even though I will dive into a fantasy every once in awhile (MATCHED!), but that is always my second choice.

So for this week I just finished two that were so interesting!  A CASE FOR SOLOMON was about an abduction in the 1800's of a little 4 year old boy.  Usually that would be way to sad for me, but the story was about his return and the controversy of who he was - since they didnt have fingerprints or anything close to what we have today.  I learned so much about the old days system of law and it made me appreciate so deeply our governing system today.  Crazy twist at the end - good read.

Secondly I finished LEFT TO TELL.  My friend Tami Price told me about this story years ago and I have always been interested in reading it.  When it finally came in off of the waiting list at the library I was stoked and jumped right in.  This one was a serious heartbreaker, but with powerful lessons on Christlike love and forgiveness.  If any person ever needed to feel like they could handle the trials they have been given, this would be the book to teach that.  Immaculee is one of my newest hero's and an inspiration of mastering one's self.  In a nut shell - she is a collage student during the horrific Rwandan Holocaust where almost 1,000,000 Tutsi villagers were slaughtered in 90 days.  She survived by hiding quietly in a small bathroom with seven woman/children.  She would spend 15 hours a day just sitting and praying while the world around them was in despair.  Surviving the ordeal only to be found alone with all but one of her family members murdered by friends.  Her journey to internal peace is remarkable. 

Well, I am starting my own personal book club - and this was my first meeting.  Quite a success I say to myself as I head upstairs to read some more...CHECK!


Friday, September 14, 2012

My favorite view...


Pinterest Recipes

I try to have a fun homemade treat for the boys ready and on the table after school as often as I can.  Thats the times I get them talking about their day and is one of my favorite moments.  Many days I am off at the school volunteering and not home, but Mike just had surgery and so I was home all day with him so Karly and I hung out in the kitchen!

I decided to start trying some of the Pinterest recipes that I have pinned - and both were so yummy!  First one was homemade peanut butter cups - filled with crunchy peanut butter and crushed graham crackers and rolled in chocolate.  You were supposed to top it with toffee but I was out so used sprinkles.  My boys loved them when they got home from school!
Secondly I tried a Pumpkin Coffee Cake that I found last week.  I had picked tons of pumpkins from our church garden and froze the insides for when I needed pumpkin (super easy - cut in half and save seeds for baking, then steam the halves turned over in 2 inches of water in the over for 40 minutes.  Cut out and puree - then freeze!),  This was my first bundt cake that has turned out and I was super excited!  Kids loved it too and I brought a slice to our construction worker friend up the road (who has to stand there for 8 hours a day holding the "SLOW" sign - and she is always so happy!) and she was delighted for an afternoon treat.

All in all I spent $0 on our afternoon snack and almost no preservatives.  YAHOO!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Heaven Is Here

I just finished reading Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson.  I have followed her blog along her journey but the book was full of depth that I had missed.  I loved her perspective, her real deep down perspective.  Thank you Stephanie for not giving up...Everything is under control.