Recycle!

Project of the day...I recycled an old shirt into this messenger bag.

Pinterest Project

Pinterest project completed. Oatmeal container covered with contact paper holds two rolls of toilet paper perfectly.

The One Year Be-Tween You and God: Devotions for Girls (One Year Book)

This One Year book is describes as a diary-style devotional for tween girls (9 to 14) that emphasizes their growing, special relationship with God. Each devotion begins with a statement, thought, or question to God. Every girl is likely to make these statements and ask such questions . . . many of which they may not want to share with other people.


Mom's Comments (age irrelevant)
As the mother of a 9 year old, I was very excited to get the opportunity to review this book.  When we received the book in the mail, I told my daughter that each night before bed we would read that day's devotion and discuss it.  This gave us the chance to spend a few minutes each day just being girls and winding down.  Each of the devotions starts out with a question to God.  This is followed by the devotion.  There is a scripture and a question for discussion at the bottom of each page as well.

As we have made our way through each of the devos this last month, there were several topics that we enjoyed discussing.  However, I did think that some of the examples used in the devotions were a little hard to tie back to the topic of the original question.  Sometimes it seemed like the examples just didn't fit the question at hand.  Over all, I have enjoyed the devotions, and I plan to continue reading them each night with my daughter.  I would definitely recommend it to my friends as a way to open up the lines of communication about many topics with their tween daughters.

Daughter's Comments (9 years old)
I thought the book was really good and I could really agree with some of the things in it. It is fun reading it every night.  Some of the devotions were sometimes hard to understand.  I would recommend this book to my friends and their moms.  I think that my friends would really like to read this book, and it would help them get closer to God.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Trying to Save a Little Time

Freezer cooking...I had researched (read about on the internet) this concept in the past but like many of my grand ideas, I never followed through with it.  A couple off weeks ago I happened across a website that had done all the hard work (picking the recipes, making the grocery list) and had everything spelled out and ready to go.  So I printed a menu plan, headed to the grocery store and spent about 4 hours of my Saturday preparing five meals to put in the freezer.  This was a "mini" menu unlike the real once a month cookers who cook up as many as 30 meals at a time to use later.  I knew that would overwhelm me so I started small.

The menu included meatloaf (I made 2 - one to eat that day and one for the freezer), ham and cheese pinwheels (which the kids took for their lunches last week), honey teriyaki chicken, ranch Parmesan chicken, and Mexican shepherds pie (the last 3 are still in the freezer waiting for their taste test).  I had a few store bought marinades as well that I mixed up and put on some chicken and froze as well.

I have to admit it was nice to be able to pull something out of the freezer in the evening and have it ready to cook the next night.  And now that Brian gets home before I do, supper is usually waiting when I walk in the door.  I can say it is much easier for me to clean the kitchen as well, if I didn't have to cook too.  So this is working out well so far.

So since that all worked out so well, I decided this week to stockpile some breakfast burritos.  Getting the kids out of bed of a morning, dressed and out the door with a decent breakfast can be time consuming, so I figured we could make up a bunch of breakfast burritos that could be popped in the microwave and heated in just a few minutes.  Skylar and I hit the kitchen early and prepared all of the fixings.  When all was said and done we had 31 breakfast burritos in the freezer.  I hope they are a big hit.

Almost Amish by Kathryn Cushman

Have you ever felt overwhelmed and over committed?  That is exactly what Julie Charlton is feeling. Too many obligations with her two kids' school schedules, her husband's business and keeping up her house have her ready to check out for a while.  When her Martha Stewart sister-in-law Susan offers her and her family a chance to spend the summer on a reality show where they will live as the Amish do, it seems the perfect opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle.

But the summer adventure turns out to be anything but simple.  Julie finds herself enjoying the slower pace while her Susan's drive for perfection leads to friction within the family.  Each new challenge raises new complications and each woman learns unexpected lessons about herself and her family.

This books was not what I first expected.  I have read many books about the Amish and expected this one to follow the usual pattern.  When I found that it was not about Amish at all, I didn't expect to like it much.  However, once I began reading, I truly got into the whole idea of getting back to basics.  I did really enjoy reading.  I don't think that it was very realistic - I don't see 3 teenage kids adapting to the Amish way of life quite so easily and without much complaint, but it made for a very enjoyable read.

I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers.