The Witches ****

I recently had the brilliant idea to start a book club for my kids. We had our first meeting yesterday and it was a lot of fun! Upon a trusted friend's high recommendation we read The Witches by Roald Dahl in honor of Halloween. At the bottom of my review of the book, I've included the discussion questions we used as well as a fun treat that went along with our story.

The Witches is a tale about real witches, not the silly kind we read about in fairy tales. Real witches are cleverly disguised to look just like nice ladies. But when you take off their disguise you can see that they actually have square feet with no toes, bald heads with wig rash, claws instead of finger nails. They also have blue spit and extra large nose holes for smelling out children. Every witch's goal in life to get rid of children! And they do in the most cleverly sneaky way so they never get caught!

The narrator of the story is a boy who goes to live with his Norwegian grandmother after his parents die (they actually end up living in England due to his parent's will). She knows all about witches and warns him about them. When his grandmother gets ill, the doctor recommends they spend the summer holiday on the coast and so they come to live in a hotel for the summer. It is at the hotel that the boy encounters all the witches of England and learns of their dastardly plot to get rid of all the children of England. Its up to him to save them all! In it we learn that small things can make a big difference!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Roald Dahl does write some quirky things, but he is just so good! My 7 year old has read 3 of his books now and has told me countless times how much he loves Roald Dahl books! I appreciated that the story wasn't hindered by unnecessary obstacles. The obstacles that were faced were enough to keep the story engaging and exciting! I liked the relationship between the grandmother and the boy, it was endearing and sweet. The book was funny, exciting, and worthwhile. I give it 4 stars!

I have heard some say that the book is too scary. You know your child better than anyone else, so you'll have to make that call. It is definitely not written to scare kids, but some kids might not be old enough to get through the first part wherein we just learn about how awful the witches really are. Also, the grandmother smokes a cigar throughout. At the beginning it is just stated matter of factly, later in the book it is referred to as "disgusting" and the doctor and boy both wish she'd stop. She won't.

***************************************************************

If you're interested in reading and discussing it with your youngster I'll provide the questions we used for discussion. I found most of them here. Some of them may have spoilers, so read at your own risk...

• Did you like the book? What did you like? Favorite parts? What didn't you like?
• When the boy is turned into a mouse, he says that he knows he should feel bad about it, but he doesn't because being a mouse has its "advantages." ("Boys have to go to school. Mice don't." What are some of the other advantages? Disadvantages?
• If you could be turned into a mouse for just one day, would you want to? What would you do if you were?
• Toward the end of the book the grandmother says, "Let's hope there are always people like you brave enough to foil {the witches} wicked plans." What does "brave" mean? How was the boy brave? When have you been brave?
• What lessons did you learn as you read the book? Lessons = Themes
• One theme, little things can make a big difference. How does the boys size allow him to defeat the witches? What can he do that the witches can't? What are "little things" you can do that make a big difference at school? At home?
• Another theme, feeling different. The boys feels different and sometimes like that means he doesn't belong, there are good things about his differences... for example he had the courage to take the Formula 86 when the frogs didn't. He also came up with the plan to stop the witches altogether, while Bruno just eats. What makes you different? Think about different things that make you different and choose one that is among your favorites. Explain why you like being different in this way.
• Find Norway on a map. England.
• Definitions of words in the book that they may not be familiar with...

1. ravine
2. shrivel
3. squelch
4. horrid
5. colossal
6. demonstration
7. formula
8. desperate
9. corrider
10. larder

We ended the meeting with "sweeties." I made chocolate cupcakes and filled them with green frosting (aka Formula 86 Delayed-Action Mouse Maker) and topped them with chocolate frosting so no one would suspect anything... we'll see if my little boys come home as tiny mice today...

Movie Reviews

So... I've been reading some books that I thought I'd mention here, but not right now. I wanted to tell you about a fabulous movie that the hubs and I watched this week...

Amazing Grace

It was such a great film! Its an historical account of the slave trade being abolished in Great Britain and the incredible efforts of many, especially William Wilberforce, in bringing it to pass. Apparently Wilberforce was inspired by his preacher who was a reformed slave ship captain who upon finding God, wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace."

It was a beautiful, beautiful film. I loved it! Just about everything about it, I loved. The scenery, the acting, the characters, but most importantly the story. It was truly inspiring, reminding me that one can make a difference and to persevere through much trial and apparent failure.

I don't know how accurate the story was to real life events, but it made me want to learn more about the event and people. It also made me yearn for more knowledge about the political system of the time. Besides giving me a thirst for knowledge, it gave me a good feeling. Its not very often that I stop watching a movie and feel like I'm a better person for having watched it, but I did after this one. We actually watched it in two parts (its only 2 hours) because I couldn't stay awake the first night but really didn't want to miss any of it. I should note that I have a hard time staying up late all the time, but especially while watching a movie. Hubby has finished watching countless movies with me asleep next to him, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've ever stopped it so I wouldn't miss the rest.

It was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Loved it. Highly recommend you get your hands on it. Its not action packed excitement, rather its thought provokingly paced so you can soak it all in. I found it at my library, but wouldn't mind owning it to revisit after I do some research. Let me know if you watch it and what you think!

Do you have any movie recommendations? I'd love to hear them...

Gimme, gimme, gimme

If you haven't already, you might want to check out the post below this one to see why I'm doing this giveaway/contest.

I want ideas for new meals and would love for you to share yours. So I'm hosting a recipe contest (monthly?) and the winner will receive a

$10 gift card to Target!

Here's how it will work:

1. Leave a comment including your favorite Chicken Recipe ~ any kind of recipe that includes chicken. Please choose Anonymous when leaving your comment. So we can choose a winner without being swayed by your awesomeness.
2. Deadline to leave recipe will be October 20.
3. I will incorporate your recipes into our family menu for November since my menu is already written for October.
4. My family will choose which recipe we like the best based on:
   • Kids' enjoyment
   • Parents' enjoyment
   • Ease of preparation
   • Cost of ingredients
5. The winning recipe will be posted on this blog and the winner can contact me with their address so I can send them their prize, a $10 gift card to Target!

I hope to have different recipe categories with each contest~hopefully monthly. Some ideas for future contests are:

• Crock Pot
• Mexican
• Chinese
• Italian
• Any Ethnic Dinner
• Beef
• Meatless
• Lunch Box
• Breakfast
• 5 Ingredients or less
• Soups
• Sandwiches
• Main Course Salads

If you have suggestions for categories, let me know!

One great thing about doing it here is that everyone else can view the recipes and try them out too! So please, please, please enter my contest!

Food Glorious Food

I know, I know... it has been a very LONG time since I last posted. Life just happens. However...

I am really excited! You know how as a Stay at Home Mom I have lots of work to do, but none of it is really like a regular type "job"? Do you remember that feeling of doing a great job at work (outside the home), the satisfaction, the pride? No, I didn't get a job outside the home... I did, however, do something for my home that has given me the same satisfaction!

The problem, mealtime. Not just dinner, every meal. Breakfast is cereal every morning: expensive, boring, not as healthy as it could be. Lunch has been getting complaints weekly from a certain 5 year old. Apparently now that he's in Kindergarten sandwiches every day won't cut it, but I don't want to pay for lunch everyday! Dinner decisions are the worst, I love to cook but hate having to figure out what to cook. Not to mention snacks. Anyone else have kids that just want to eat none stop?

I called one of my wonderful sisters-in-law this week to brainstorm ideas for dinner. While we were talking she gave me some great ideas that spurred this "job." Though, she had no idea how far I was going to go... I ran with it and just kept running.

The idea she gave me was to go through my cookbooks and create a master list of recipes that we would like for dinner. That way when I'm choosing my menu for the week I have a list of several options, thereby avoiding the rut we've been in the past few months. She also suggested making a shopping list for each recipe that you can access without digging out all the cookbooks again. Love this idea! Haven't gotten this far yet, but I really, really hope to.

What I did do, was make a list of all the breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas I could think of and I was able to go through one cook book and jot down all the dinners that we would like. From there I started plugging things in and we now have a full menu for the month of October, breakfast, lunch, dinner, two snacks per school day, and one weekly dessert! Best of all, there are no repeat meals in one week and every dinner for the month is something different. I'm hoping that it just makes my life much simpler. We can get things ready for lunches as part of our bedtime routine. And when the kids come home begging for a snack, I can already have something ready/planned. Plus~ I was able to get a lot of shopping done for the entire month, so my weekly shopping trips (with the kids) will be much easier! Hooray!!!

Want a sneak peak of our meal ideas? Here's a sample:

Breakfasts:

Granola

Cream of Wheat

Banana Splits (bananas, yogurt, strawberry jam, and maybe a dollop of whipped cream or hot fudge with a cherry on top)

Pancakes

Muffins

Smoothies

Lunches:

Sandwiches: meat, PB & J

Wraps

Chicken Fingers

Stromboli

Pizza Rolls

Dinners:

Baked Salmon, Broccoli, Potatoes

Manicotti, Green Salad, Pretzel Salad

Sausage Gravy over Biscuits, Green Beans

Pizza, Fruit Salad, Green Salad

Sloppy Joes, Green Salad, Fruit Salad

Snacks:

Goldfish

Carrots & Ranch or Peanut Butter

Apples & Peanut Butter

Ants on a log

Yogurt Parfaits

Crackers and Cheese/Meat

I won't bore you with the rest, but you get the idea, right? Very exciting!

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Aspergers

I can't give this book a fair rating. I didn't finish it. There was too much bad language. I did enjoy what I read (aside from all the cussing) and found the author's storytelling quite compelling.

He did live quite a sad childhood, even if you take the Asperger's out of the equation. Abuse, a mentally unstable mother... taking all that into account, throw in the Asperger's and it made for a really difficult growing up. He did some horrible things, he tells some graphic stories of what he calls "pranks" though prank makes me think of a simple trick with no malintent... his pranks seemed quite in depth and downright scary.

So, if language doesn't bother you and the book sounds as fascinating to you as it did to me, read it... then you can give me the details sans the bad language.

Stargirl ****

Stargirl is a story about a girl who has been homeschooled and then starts public high school her junior year. She shows up and is very different. She wears eccentric clothes, she carries a ukelele and sings "Happy Birthday" to everyone in school who has a birthday. She has a pet rat she carries in her backpack. She anonymously does kind things for people every day. The other students at her high school don't know what to make of her. She goes from confusing the student body, to empowering them to be themselves, to infuriating them and being shunned. Leo is the narrator of the story and he ends up becoming her boyfriend. Some students never like her, some always do, and many continue to have mixed feelings about her.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It was so beautifully written. For example, from the back cover,

She was elusive. She was today. She was tomorrow. She was the faintest scent of a cactus flower, the flitting shadow of an elf owl. We did not know what to make of her. In our minds we tried to pin her to corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.

The standard that Stargirl sets is awesome. That we all possess something so unique and good is a message the world can benefit from at any time.

I really enjoyed reading it.

But it was weird. I hate to use that word because its not quite right, but the whole story is much like Stargirl herself. People don't know what to make of her. There are the Hilarys of the world who will not like this story because of its uniqueness, there are the Dories who will love the story no matter what and there are the Leos that will love it but not be sure what they love more this story or "normal" stories.

I think I fit in the Leo category. I really loved Stargirl (the character), she was so beautiful and good. The story didn't follow normal story patterns of conflict and resolution. There wasn't much excitement in the telling of the tale, but it was just so beautiful and good. And I feel better having read it. So I have to say I really liked it, despite its differences from normal literature. That uniqueness is what makes the story so good.

Silhouettes on the Shades

OK, sorry if giveaway posts bother you... but its my due date and I'm feeling like something has to go my way today, right?!?! Maybe this is it...

There is a new machine out there in crafty blogland called a Silhouette. It looks amazing! It does vinyl (which would be really cool) and paper cutting (which I would definitely use) and glass etching (fun!) and what I think I like best of all is its heat transfer ability (how fun and easy would it be to make embellishments for clothing!). Needless to say, I want one... however, I don't think my hubby is much interested in me spending even more of his hard earned dough on yet another crafting item. SO, I'm entering a giveaway in hopes that I can win one and then everyone will be happy!

The giveaway is on a blog I really enjoy called Tatertots and Jello. It ends today, so if you want to enter, be sure to check it out right away!

Why haven't I been blogging lately?

The short answer is found in the following pictures:

Remember this from February? No? You mean you weren't waiting on pins and needles to see what I did to it? Sheesh!

These are the before pictures... It was a dress that hit me about mid calf, I didn't get a picture of the dress before I took off some of the length. Some of you referred to it as a "top" its still a dress... The picture below is a close-up of the bodice which received major renovations...
So after I cut the length off the bottom, I cut the bodice away from the skirt.
Then I added about 8 inches to the skirt. Allowing me to add some box pleats at the front so there would be plenty of room for my big belly.
Then I added a complimentary fabric, cutting off the collar making it a V-neck with some decorative seams. And finally a nice wide tie around.
Here's a picture of me in it about a month ago... it was the last time I was able to wear it. My belly got too big so the dress got too short! I guess I took too much length off the bottom!
Last month I also took a cake decorating class and learned how to make a lot of new flowers, as well as basket weave and a couple new borders. It was a lot of fun! And the final cake was so pretty (even though mine was quite lopsided)... not to mention delicious!!! Banana cake with cream cheese frosting.... hmmmmm....

For Father's Day I made my first successful lattice pie crust! No, it isn't perfect, but doesn't it look good?! Once again, delicious to boot. I love peach pie!!!

Remember how I made this pillow for my daughter using the log cabin quilt pattern? Well I decided to go crazy and make a crib size quilt for this baby boy that will be joining the family soon. I chose my fabric... I love all the bright happy colors!

Then I pieced my top together in a fun, bright non-traditional log cabin pattern... adding long strips to the ends to get it to the size I wanted. Then finally I quilted it. I attempted doing it by hand, but quickly gave up and did it on my machine. I love how it turned out.

Its interesting though, it looks completely different to me in the pictures than in real life. I see all the little pieces looking at it in person, rather than the big picture/pattern. I'm happy to say that I like it both ways. Do you think baby boy will like it?

Funny side story... I used a sating edge because my daughter loves her satin edging on her blanket so much I hoped it would make baby boy love this one. Well, when I laid the quilt out to take pictures, my daughter just went around the entire edge softly petting the satin. It was so sweet!
And finally, I've been wanting to paint this picture of the Preston LDS Temple for quite some time and found the courage to do so after taking my class. I decided to paint it for my hubby for Father's Day since this Temple has significance to him. Its not quite complete, but I thought I'd share it nonetheless. Architecture is really difficult for me to paint and be happy with... the dimensions/depth seem wrong, but I'm going to keep working on it! If I ever perfect the painting I'll share it with y'all again.
So, there you have it. I've been busy doing a lot of other things... just not blogging much. I've also read a couple books that I need to get reviews up on soon... until then!

Oh, if anyone is interested in the recipes mentioned in this post, let me know and I'll post them.

Creative Therapy (for real)

For those of you who don't know, I am currently seeing a counselor in an effort to cope with some mild depression. My counselor is convinced that my depressions stems from my circumstances more than my biochemistry and has highly advised that I give myself some more "Kim" time. So, I called a bunch of my local crafting stores in search of a class to get me out of the house and doing something I love. There really weren't a lot of options with the places I contacted, but I did find a couple things that appealed to me. I'm enrolled in a second course of cake decorating which will be lots of fun! And last night I was able to attend a painting class!

I love to paint. Every time I pull out my paints (which is not very often with all my wee ones running about) I say to my husband, "Oh! I need to do this more often. It is so therapeutic!" Seriously, every time. Keep in mind that the only medium I have ever worked with is craft paint. I've done some paintings that I've been really pleased with on canvas. I've watered my craft paint down and treated it like water color. But I've never used actual artist quality paint. My painting class was using acrylic paint, the real stuff. I was super (dee-duper) excited! So when I came home from a meeting Wednesday night and my hubs told me the instructor called to cancel because I was the only one enrolled was major disappointed. So much so, that I called the manager and asked about it. Turns out there is a corporate policy that if there aren't at least 3 people signed up the class is supposed to be cancelled, but she was willing to ask the instructor if she'd be willing to teach just one student and she was! YAY!!!

The painting wasn't something I would have chosen on my own, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. There are things I would do to improve it, but the evening was very therapeutic (not to mention the smile I get each time I look at my work). I just love creating beauty! There's nothing quite like it!

Savvy ****

Another book from my 2010 list I can move to my "read" shelf, Savvy by Ingrid Law. I don't think I realized (or at least, didn't remember) that this is a children's book. It wasn't even in the Young Adult section, it was in the Juvenile Fiction area of my library. However, I'm not picky. Some of my favorite books are in that area of the library for goodness sake! AND it made it really quick and easy to get through.

Savvy is the story of a girl, Mibs, who is about to celebrate her 13th birthday. Mibs has a special family, although they're not that different from everyone else. "They're born, sometime later they'll die. They experience love and fear." They just have a "special know-how" that others might not. This "special know-how" is termed their savvy and it presents itself on their 13th birthday. Mibs grandpa can make the earth shake, one of her brothers causes hurricanes (and other less scary weather), and another creates electricity. Her mom's savvy is that she's "perfect." But what will Mibs' savvy be? The family has a quiet celebration away from the rest of the world as a means of protection, of the family's secret and of the people that could get hurt from the potentially dangerous "know-how." You see, a savvy doesn't start as a "know-how" it really starts as an uncontrollable source of power. The kids become home schooled at 13 so they can learn to "scumble" or control their savvy.

Well, Mibs is really excited (and maybe a little nervous) for her birthday and then the unthinkable happens... her beloved father is in a terrible accident. Her mom and oldest brother have to leave to be with him at the hospital and rather than having a quiet birthday at home the preacher's wife decides to throw a huge birthday party for Mibs. Before the party has a chance to start, Mibs' savvy presents itself and she passes out, causing quite an uproar with the preacher's wife. In an effort to escape Mibs hops on a Bible delivery bus that she assumes is heading to Salina where her dad is. Trouble is, her weather brother follows along with the preacher's two kids. They find out along the way that her younger brother who has a knack for hiding was already hiding on the bus and so he's along for the ride too. They all soon figure out that the bus is heading away from Salina not toward it and they are quickly discovered by the bus's insecure driver. The story follows them on their journey with everyone learning a little bit more about one another and, more importantly, about themselves.

I really enjoyed the story. It was very fun to read. I liked the characters and thought they were quite well developed for such a young audience. I could relate to many of them in various ways, which I think is essential to me really enjoying a book. I also didn't find it all that predictable which is another common issue with books in this genre. Now would you love Savvy? I don't know. But your 4th grader might. I certainly did enjoy it! Four stars!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Do you ever wonder what to do with left over diaper boxes that actually still have some life left in them? When we lived in Oregon, I remember making a little book/toy shelf for my oldest out of 3 of them... since then they've just been broken down and taken to the recycle center.

Well, I've been working really hard to get my bedroom decorated as the sanctuary I need it to be. Since I haven't had anywhere safe to put my sheet music its been sitting in our nightstands. No more! I was getting rid of some music that I knew I wasn't going to use to teach my kids or play myself and with it I made this...

... into this!
It isn't spectacular by any means, but it is highly useful and much nicer to look at than the bright green and purple box. It makes me smile each time I look at it AND it has me motivated to actually restart those lessons with the boys. I only have two song titles visible and they make me smile too... The Irish Washerwoman and Songs My Mother Taught Me.

What ideas do you have to reuse your diaper (or any cardboard box for that matter) boxes? Do tell...

OK, I know some of you know and love Our Best Bites already... but for those of you who still haven't ventured over to check it out, I'm telling you, they have fantastic recipes!!!

If you don't know quite what to put on your dinner menu this week (and if its grilling weather where you are) go out and get the ingredients to make this right now! Its that good!

The chicken is definitely good enough to serve on its own for dinner, but this salad is a "taste celebration" as my hubby put it. My kids ate the chicken up, everyone of them. My 3 year old even asked for seconds. But hubby liked it the most, he just went on and on.

I've included links to all the recipes from Our Best Bites to make this so you can go check them out and get some witty blogging, some great pictures and tips with it~ just click on the green titles below). But I also wanted to include the recipes all in one place for easy viewing because we will definitely be making this again.

Picture totally stolen from their site, you should definitely go see more!

Spicy Honey Chicken Salad

1-2 heads Romaine or Red Leaf Lettuce
2 ripe but firm mangoes, chilled
2-3 ripe but firm avocados
optional: thinly sliced red onions

Spicy Honey Chicken

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 2lbs (Yes, Thighs!!)

2 t vegetable oil

Rub:

2 t granulated garlic
2 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t coriander
1 t kosher salt
1 t cumin
1/2 t chipotle chili powder ~I used a dash of cayenne because that's what I had and spicy and my kids don't mix.

Glaze:
1/2 C Honey
1T Cider Vinegar

Combine the rub spices in bowl and mix well.

Use kitchen shears (or a pair of clean scissors) to trim off any excess fat from the chicken pieces. Pat dry. Drizzle oil over chicken and rub in with your hands to lightly coat all the pieces. Then toss chicken with the spice rub to coat all sides well. Use your hands and get in there! Grill chicken for 3-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.

While chicken is cooking, warm honey in the microwave so it's not so thick. Add the vinegar and combine well. Reserve 2T honey glaze for later. Take the rest and brush on chicken (both sides) in the final moments of grilling.

Honey-Citrus Vinaigrette

1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 T grated onion
1/3 C fresh orange juice
3T fresh lime juice
2T honey
3/4 t cumin
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/2 C vegetable oil

Place all ingredients in a tightly sealed jar and shake your bootie (and the jar) vigorously. Store in the fridge, and shake before dressing salad.

Seriously you won't be sorry you trusted me on this one. It was delicious!!!

Dark Water Rising ***-

I finished another one of the books from my list for 2010, Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale. Of course, I enjoy YA lit a lot (that's evident just by looking at my list...) but there are varying level of enjoyment within the genre. There is the "I loved this book so much, I can't wait to tell everyone about it!" level. Then there is the "This was good, I think I'll let my friends know their kids should read it" level. And then there is the "I really liked this, but I wish that it had been written on more of an adult level" level.

Dark Water Rising fits into the last level for me. I really enjoyed the content, but I didn't feel satisfied upon finishing. I want to find more information about the Galveston flood of 1900 and learn more and more about the people. It really was a tragic situation for all those in the area, but I was amazed how far reaching the storm was... I learned from the author's note at the end that the storm ravaged up through the entire midwest and up through Canada, not disappearing until Siberia.

I think this book was well done for its target audience, but it left me wanting more info. So, with that I gave it 3 and a half stars.

Beginner Quilting

My ward Relief Society decided to have a beginner quilting class. We didn't actually do any quilting, but we learned how to piece. Our teacher taught us the log cabin pattern, which looks a lot more intimidating that it is.

I only had tiny scraps of fabric to work with, so I decided to just make a one square pillow with a wider border. My border doesn't actually fit the pattern because I didn't have a large enough piece of one color, but it works for me. I made it for my baby girl with her favorite minky dots on the back. She LOVES it! And it makes me so happy that I made something so cute!

Leave me a comment if you'd like instructions on how to make your own log cabin quilt squares... I don't want to take the time for a tutorial if no one's interested...

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

I remember having this cake from a Dutch oven many years ago... I love the yummy, chewy chocolate cake with the delicious hot fudge sauce/pudding (depending on how long it cools) underneath. Served with ice cream this is sooooo good! I'll be honest and tell you that putting candles in it wasn't a fabulous idea... they melted from both ends!

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

2 tsp vanilla

Mix all that yummy stuff together and put in a 9 x 13 pan.

Mix 2 cups brown sugar and 1/2 cup cocoa. Sprinkle over batter in pan.

Pour 2 1/2 cups boiling water over the top.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Let set for 15 minutes before serving.

Forest Born ****-

Oh my, oh my. I really adore Shannon Hale's writing style. Forest Born is the fourth installment in the Books of Bayern that began with my beloved Goose Girl. Because the books are all part of a series, I have a hard time rating them as I do other books... I compare them to one another and rate them according to which I like the best, next best, and so on down the line. Hence, if you check my goodreads.com page you'll see that Enna Burning has 3 stars, River Secrets has 4, and Goose Girl has 5. That's not to say that I only "liked" Enna's story, but it is my least favorite of the lot... maybe that's not the right way to do it, but its what I've done thus far. Knowing that I love these books and that I'm rating them against themselves (rather than other books) I give Forest Born 4.5 stars (to be perfectly honest, though, I don't remember much of Enna or River). I loved this book! It wasn't quite perfection as I feel Goose Girl is, but it was very, very close for me.

This is the story of Rin, Razo's (with whom we got better acquainted in River Secrets) little sister. She lives in the forest with her huge family and is always trying to follow in her mother's footsteps and thus becomes her "shadow." She has a connection to the trees in the forest, but after some bad choices recognizes the relationship (if you will) is no longer a comfort to her, but a feeling of all the things she dislikes about herself (I'm really struggling to get the right words here, sorry). She decides to go to the city with Razo to be a lady in waiting to none other than the Queen, our beautiful goose girl and her toddler son. Trouble soon arises and the queen, Enna, and Dasha (also of River Secrets) ~the three Rin dubs as the Fire Sisters~ head off to take control of the situation. Rin ends up along with them on the adventure and learns much about the fire sisters' powers, her own powers, and who she is (remember she's been her mother's shadow for so long, she's not sure who she really is).

I really liked Rin. I felt like she was very relatable. Facing our weaknesses and making efforts for them to become strengths is something we all deal with. Recognizing what we can offer the world, in spite of those weaknesses or challenges is something we all hope to do. Rin makes a tremendous journey. She is scared and has to really humble herself, make herself vulnerable, in order to deem herself trustworthy and worthy of returning to her family and her forest.

I really loved that there were so many characters from the other books in this one. Especially Isi. I, like Rin, want to be her. She is so good! And I love every moment I get to spend with her. Enna was a weak point for me in this tale, she is the only character that really feels superficial to me. And of course, I love the way the environment/setting is a character in the Bayern books. I love the interaction between the world and the characters. Shannon Hale's writing is magical and sweeps me away into her world, I love it.

Princess of the Midnight Ball ****

I just finished reading Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George early, early this morning during a bad case of insomnia. I usually can start reading a book and it lulls me to sleep, so I gave it a shot, it didn't work. I read to the end of the book. It was a really fun read. (Though it did fill my head with crazy dreams afterward... maybe I should write my own book.)

It is a retelling of the fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Have you noticed that I really enjoy fairy tale retellings? I just need to try out a Robin McKinley retelling and I'll have been exposed to the top 3 fairy tale retellers. Most of the time I've not been very exposed to the original, but I love the retelling (for example, The Goose Girl (The Goose Girl) by Shannon Hale (and here), Fairest by Gail Carson Levine (Snow White), Ella Enchanted also by Levine (Cinderella), and Enchantment by Orson Scott Card (Sleeping Beauty)). Almost all of the above listed books are young adult fantasy, which is another favorite of mine. So easy to read, so safe to read and just plain enjoyable!

Princess of the Midnight Ball was equally enjoyable, easy and safe. According to my knowledge of the original fairy tale, this was darker. I've only seen the Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre version of The Dancing Princesses, and in it, the princesses appear to be happy with their midnight escapades, but in George's book it is not so. Rather, they are cursed to dance for a wicked King Under Stone (a man turned immortal imprisoned in a world under ground) who has manipulated a plan to get them to wed his sons. The soldier, Galen, has to figure out the mystery and find a way to overcome the curse to free the princess with whom he has fallen in love and, of course, her sisters. There are also forces in the sunlit world that are working against them. Of course, it is a fairy tale and so it has a predictable-ness about it, but it didn't make the read any less enjoyable for me.

I read this book because someone referred to George as "another Shannon Hale" and that was all the recommendation I needed. I adore Hale's writing style. I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as Hale's writing (she is my favorite) but it was great. I loved the story and I loved the characters. I loved the conflict and the resolution. It was a fabulous book and one you (or your daughters) might enjoy. Four stars from me!

February Crafting

I really have been doing lots of projects lately, however, I haven't quite finished most of them. Here's a little sample of one I'm really excited about...

One craft project I did finish and am very pleased with is an alphabet memory game. Seriously, why isn't there a game like this on the market? Or maybe there is and I just haven't noticed... either way we're working on recognizing lower case letters and letter sounds with my 3 year old and reviewing with my 4 year old is always good... so Mom came up with a game. And it was so easy to do.
I just made uniform size boxes on a Word document and added upper and lower case letters to them, I also made 26 empty boxes for pictures (you could definitely use clip art for this but I thought it would be fun to draw). Printed them off and cut them out. I'm toying with placing the card in contact paper to make them last longer, but haven't been motivated enough to do anything about it.

For the pictures I did a light sketch of something and made sure my kids knew what it was before drawing it in darker and coloring. (This is a step they could have done themselves if their mom wasn't so selfish and if they actually liked coloring.) My drawings are far from perfect, but they recognize what they're looking at and that's all that matters!

So now we play with two of the three sets of cards, matching upper and lower case letters or letters and sounds. And learning just got a lot more fun!

The Mysterious Benedict Society ***-

Our local book club recently read The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. When I went to book club I had only read about 1/3 of the book. My friend leading the discussion asked who thought it was just "eh," who liked it, and who really enjoyed it. Majority of people liked it, with several saying that they didn't enjoy it at the beginning, but toward the end really liked it. There were a handful that really enjoyed it and I classified myself in that category. I really liked the beginning of the book. It was exciting and mysterious to me and if it only got better, why then it must be fantastic! It didn't get better to me, I think I even enjoyed the beginning more than the end, I don't know. I did like the book a lot, but for some reason it was missing something for me (and I'm sorry I'm not smart enough to know what that is).

From the back cover:

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?" When this peculirar ad appears int he newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. With their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all? Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society.

It is clearly a children's book, targeting a little older children (10-12 maybe?) as it is 480+ pages. I think my 7 year old will enjoy reading it with his dad for now. I generally love children's lit, but occasionally find it boring (for lack of a better word) as it doesn't push/drive me to keep reading, Cornelia Funke is the main culprit in this category for me. This book was on the verge of this description at times, but never all the way. Like I said earlier, I'm not sure what it was missing, but something.

We follow Reynie, a 12 year old orphan boy, through most of the book and I'm so glad he's the main, main character. I liked him a lot. He was smart but not annoying, clever, caring, self-aware, observant... so many traits that I respect and admire. The other children were less enjoyable to read, though each was entertaining in their own way. I liked Mr. Benedict and his "family" a lot and wish they had been in it more. Their relationships with the children were nice, they felt more real than you often find in children's lit.

I think I just realized what was missing for me, as you probably know, I'm character driven rather than story/plot driven as a reader. The beginning was great at showing us the characters many sides, but the characters kind of got lost in the rest of the story as it moved along. That is except for Reynie, which as I pointed out earlier, I was very appreciative of. We gain insight into his character through the entire book as he figures things out about himself. The rest of the characters don't really grow or blossom during the story, the beginning "getting to know the characters" was just set-up for their roles in the plot. However, I'm glad I read it, even though there was only one character that I really related to.

With all that being said, I did really enjoy the book. I give it 3 1/2 stars for a clever story, some great characters, and some good insight into my personal self-analysis. I highly recommend this to all children 8 and up and anyone else who likes children's lit and isn't totally driven by character development.

Yummy Chicken and Beans

Awhile ago I came up with a combination of flavors that our family eats right up! I love it for so many reasons, its easy, its versatile, and I usually have all the ingredients in my kitchen. I use the base of chicken and beans (and a bunch of other yummy stuff) as filling for burritos, mixed with noodles, or served over rice.

You'll need:

3-4 chicken breasts

1 Tbsp cumin

1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 squirts lime juice

salt and pepper

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 can corn, drained

1 cup salsa (we use medium)

4-8 oz cream cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (you could use monterey jack, cheddar is just what I always have on hand)

Step 1: Cook your chicken breast. I always place mine directly on the stove top, on medium/medium-low heat, from the freezer and let it cook in a large, covered fry pan adding water and turning as needed to prevent scorching. As the chicken cooks I break it into bite size pieces with my spatula and add the seasoning. I'm sure you could use chicken taco seasoning mix (or regular taco seasoning mix- just be sure to add the lime juice) and my measurements are my best guess, I just dump as I go.

Step 2: Add beans, corn, and salsa. Heat through. Add cream cheese. The amount varies based on how much chicken I've used. If I use 4 large breasts I use closer to a full 8 oz, if they are smaller I use less. Really, you can't go wrong adding cream cheese.

Step 3: Once the cream cheese if thoroughly mixed in, stir in cheddar and let fully melt.
Step 4: This one depends on how you want to serve it. My kids eat this up like crazy when we serve it with noodles. We call it Mexican Mac and Cheese. You can use macaroni, penne, rotini, whatever really. Just cook the noodles according to package directions, drain and mix with chicken and beans.

Serving it over rice is basically the same, just cook your rice and serve together (I don't mix them up, generally-the kids eat it better this way).

Burritos are my personal favorite way to eat this. I will usually heat up my pancake griddle to about 300-350 so I can do several at a time. Using burrito size tortillas (if you need to, heat them up in the microwave for a few seconds before filling to prevent tearing), place a deck of cards size portion of chicken and beans on tortilla, keeping the filling in an oblong shape. Fold in the sides of the tortilla with the short side filling, then wrap the long sides around. Spray one side of your burrito with canola cooking spray and place on hot griddle. Spray other side of burrito once its on griddle. Cook until first side is golden then flip over and cook until side two is golden. I love doing burritos this way because I get the crispy goodness of frying without the fat! Love it!