A large family, homeschooling, adoption, special needs, whatever strikes my fancy, sort of blog.

A large family, homeschooling, adoption, special needs, whatever strikes my fancy, sort of blog.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

December


Where did it go?  I must have blinked because here it is the end of January, and I never blogged about Christmas, let alone the rest of December. 


Eli and Miss Adorable went to San Francisco with her parents.  Her mom sent me pictures throughout the day, which I loved. 


They're so cute. 


I made the girls' leggings.  Hannah's were not shown in my recent sewing post. 


Jack made a pinata at school.  I literally sent this picture to Paul with the caption, "What could go wrong here?" 


There was, of course, the obligatory school Christmas program.  The school is big on programs. 


Lots of singing.  Lots of hand motions. 


Lots of halos. 


Hannah and Katie with their teachers.  And the battery tea lights they got to bring home. 


Yikes.  I need to be more careful where I set my phone down. 


Paul had a birthday.  Brianna made his cake. 


Brianna and Boy at Christmastime. 


I gave him a photo ornament with a picture from prom


Eli photobombing his adorable little sisters in their nativity smocked dresses. 


The whole family, waiting for me to pass out new jammies on Christmas Eve, after we drove around looking at light displays. 


And then after they all changed into their new pajamas, we had cocoa. 


Eli and Miss Adorable helping me pick up pizzas and cookie dough for dinner one night. 


One of Brianna's gifts was a camo backpack, which she filled to pack for winter camp. 


Our tree had a little "battle of the branches" going on.  Someone was quick to point out that the Army ornament was bigger than the Air Force and Marine Corps ornaments.  I'm very proud of my kids, regardless of which branch they serve in.  (As well as the ones who choose other paths, of course.)



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Monday, January 29, 2018

Semi Recent Sewing


I wanted to share a few things that I've made recently.  In December, I got out the bucket of Christmas fabrics. 

 

I made some napkins with print on one side and solid flannel on the other. 


We ended up with about a dozen new Christmas napkins (which I'm still weeding out of the everyday napkin basket). 


Our family wraps using fabric gift bags during the holidays, and most years I find myself needing to make a few more bags when I'm almost done with wrapping Christmas presents.  Sometimes it's an odd size gift that I need a bag for, but mostly it's because there's more of us than there used to be.  I also wrapped the gifts Sam bought the rest of the family before he left, so that accounted for some of the extra, too. 


More Christmas fabrics.  I used a slightly too big for Katie leggings pattern here.  Stripes and Pooh are daywear; snowmen and penguins are a super soft poly knit that we use for jammies. 


Finally finished up (and delivered!  Huzzah!) my latest Project Linus quilt. 


I went through a bucket of scraps in the sewing room, cutting squares from anything big enough, and getting rid of the rest.  Feels good to have a little more room to breathe in there.  I hope to roll out a couple more of these scrap quilts from the rest of the pile of squares I have going. 


Also, our Project Linus chapter is collecting for the ladies at a local shelter this month.  Such an easy way to donate:  open cupboard, toss a couple boxes in the bag with the quilt, and drop them off together! 


This isn't sewing, but it is something I made.  Walking around Hobby Lobby in November, I got inspired to paint and decorate our own advent treat calendar.  Well.  Let's just say I made life more difficult than it needed to be.  Next year, instead of blinky bulb bracelets, ornaments, mini games, and craft ideas, I'm totally going to fill this sucker with candy and call it good enough. 


#worldsokayestmom

The girls should still be able to wear their Valentine and St. Patrick's Day shirts from last year, so I don't have any big plans in the sewing room right now.  Maybe Easter will inspire me? 


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Saturday, January 27, 2018

The Rock Maiden #bookreview #readyourworld


Hannah and Katie love getting new books, and I love adding to their knowledge of Chinese culture.  The Rock Maiden, a Chinese Tale of Love and Loyalty, was a win win for us!


We received The Rock Maiden as part of Multicultural Children's Book Day.  It's touching story and beautiful illustrations make this folk tale from Hong Kong a great addition to any child's library.


Author Natasha Yim does "soften" the tale a little for young readers, in that there's a happily ever after ending that the traditional version does not have, which she mentions in the back of the book.  We actually have another book by Natasha Yim, Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas, which I bought the kids for Chinese New Year in 2016. 


Multicultural Children’s Book Day  (1/27/18) is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.

Current Sponsors: MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.

2018 MCBD Medallion Sponsors
HONORARY: Children’s Book Council, Junior Library Guild PLATINUM:Scholastic Book Clubs GOLD:Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Loving Lion Books, Second Story Press, Star Bright Books, Worldwide Buddies SILVER:Capstone Publishing, Author Charlotte Riggle, Child’s Play USA, KidLit TV, Pack-n-Go Girls, Plum Street Press BRONZE: Barefoot Books, Carole P. Roman, Charlesbridge Publishing, Dr. Crystal Bowe, Gokul! World, Green Kids Club, Gwen Jackson, Jacqueline Woodson, Juan J. Guerra, Language Lizard, Lee & Low Books, RhymeTime Storybooks,, Sanya Whittaker Gragg, TimTimTom Books, WaterBrook & Multnomah, Wisdom Tales Press

2018 Author Sponsors
Honorary Author Sponsors: Author/Illustrator Aram Kim and Author/Illustrator Juana Medina Author Janet Balletta, Author Susan Bernardo, Author Carmen Bernier-Grand, Author Tasheba Berry-McLaren and Space2Launch, Bollywood Groove Books, Author Anne Broyles, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Eugenia Chu, Author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Author Medeia Cohan and Shade 7 Publishing, Desi Babies, Author Dani Dixon and Tumble Creek Press, Author Judy Dodge Cummings, Author D.G. Driver, Author Nicole Fenner and Sister Girl Publishing, Debbi Michiko Florence, Author Josh Funk, Author Maria Gianferrari, Author Daphnie Glenn, Globe Smart Kids, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Author Quentin Holmes, Author Esther Iverem, Jennifer Joseph: Alphabet Oddities, Author Kizzie Jones, Author Faith L Justice , Author P.J. LaRue and MysticPrincesses.com, Author Karen Leggett Abouraya, Author Sylvia Liu, Author Sherri Maret, Author Melissa Martin Ph.D., Author Lesli Mitchell, Pinky Mukhi and We Are One, Author Miranda Paul, Author Carlotta Penn, Real Dads Read, Greg Ransom, Author Sandra L. Richards, RealMVPKids Author Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. Swift Author Elsa Takaoka, Author Christine Taylor-Butler, Nicholette Thomas and MFL Publishing Author Andrea Y. Wang, Author Jane Whittingham Author Natasha Yim

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm. Join the conversation and win one of 12-5 book bundles and one Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) that will be given away at the party! http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/twitter-party-great-conversations-fun-prizes-chance-readyourworld-1-27-18/

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta
Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/
Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.



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Yeh-Hsien, a Chinese Cinderella #readyourworld


Did you know it's almost Chinese New Year?  Now is the perfect time to think about adding a Chinese book or two to your children's library.


We received Yeh-Hsien, a Chinese Cinderella, as part of Multicultural Children's Book Day.  This is our third year participating in MCBD.  Books for kids have improved over the years, but they're still disproportionately white.  As the mom of two Chinese daughters, I've made an effort to specifically include a variety of books about adoption, about China, and books featuring Asian characters in our family library.  Multicultural Children's Book Day is a good reminder to all families to celebrate diversity in their reading materials. 


Yeh-Hsien, a Chinese Cinderella, came to us courtesy of Language Lizard, LLC.  Many of their books, including Yeh-Hsien, are dual language, meaning the text appears in both English and another language.  You can shop by age or by language on their website.  Yeh-Hsien is in the 5-8 year old section and comes in an impressive 23 different languages!


Hannah, who is 10, read the book aloud to Katie, who is 7.  Both girls enjoyed the story and the vibrant illustrations.

Language Lizard, LLC offers a wide variety of diverse children's book, in an array of bilingual options.  I hope you'll spend a few moments looking through their selection.  You're sure to find something catches your eye for the kids in your life.

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/18) is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.

Current Sponsors: MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.

2018 MCBD Medallion Sponsors
 HONORARY: Children’s Book Council, Junior Library Guild
 PLATINUM:Scholastic Book Clubs
 GOLD:Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Loving Lion Books, Second Story Press, Star Bright Books, Worldwide Buddies
SILVER:Capstone Publishing, Author Charlotte Riggle, Child’s Play USA, KidLit TV, Pack-n-Go Girls, Plum Street Press
 BRONZE: Barefoot Books, Carole P. Roman, Charlesbridge Publishing, Dr. Crystal Bowe, Gokul! World, Green Kids Club, Gwen Jackson, Jacqueline Woodson, Juan J. Guerra, Language Lizard, Lee & Low Books, RhymeTime Storybooks,, Sanya Whittaker Gragg, TimTimTom Books, WaterBrook & Multnomah, Wisdom Tales Press
2018 Author Sponsors
Honorary Author Sponsors: Author/Illustrator Aram Kim and Author/Illustrator Juana Medina Author Janet Balletta, Author Susan Bernardo, Author Carmen Bernier-Grand, Author Tasheba Berry-McLaren and Space2Launch, Bollywood Groove Books, Author Anne Broyles, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Eugenia Chu, Author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Author Medeia Cohan and Shade 7 Publishing, Desi Babies, Author Dani Dixon and Tumble Creek Press, Author Judy Dodge Cummings, Author D.G. Driver, Author Nicole Fenner and Sister Girl Publishing, Debbi Michiko Florence, Author Josh Funk, Author Maria Gianferrari, Author Daphnie Glenn, Globe Smart Kids, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Author Quentin Holmes, Author Esther Iverem, Jennifer Joseph: Alphabet Oddities, Author Kizzie Jones, Author Faith L Justice , Author P.J. LaRue and MysticPrincesses.com, Author Karen Leggett Abouraya, Author Sylvia Liu, Author Sherri Maret, Author Melissa Martin Ph.D., Author Lesli Mitchell, Pinky Mukhi and We Are One, Author Miranda Paul, Author Carlotta Penn, Real Dads Read, Greg Ransom, Author Sandra L. Richards, RealMVPKids Author Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen, Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. Swift Author Elsa Takaoka, Author Christine Taylor-Butler, Nicholette Thomas and MFL Publishing Author Andrea Y. Wang, Author Jane Whittingham Author Natasha Yim

We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.

TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm. Join the conversation and win one of 12-5 book bundles and one Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) that will be given away at the party! http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/twitter-party-great-conversations-fun-prizes-chance-readyourworld-1-27-18/

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/

Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.




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Monday, January 22, 2018

Ambushed in Paradise #bookreview #giveaway


I've read the whole series of Paradise books, and shared 11 of them here on the blog.  Usually, I really enjoy them.  I had a hard time getting into this one.  I couldn't believe that author Deborah Brown had killed off one of the main characters.  It was hard to watch a grieving Madison struggle to go on with her life.  And I was angry on her behalf when her meddling mother staged an intervention. 

The Paradise books are an action packed series with lively characters and wild plots.  Even though they can be read as stand alone books, I'd recommend starting at the beginning.  Once you get into them, you'll want to devour them all. 


The Keys is a great place to hide a seashell bucket full of secrets.

Creole…shot…dead. Three words Madison Westin never thought she’d hear in the same sentence. Creole promised. He pinky swore on it.

But even through a blur of tears fed by prescription-strength margaritas, Madison can tell when things are shady. Sure, Creole was undercover, but she deserves more than sketchy non-answers, an urn of ashes, and a secret life crawling out of the woodwork.

Nothing’s adding up, nothing that remotely sounds like the Creole she knew and loved. Calling in every one of her IOU’s—only to find some of her most reliable information sources drying up—Madison sets out to dig up what really happened to Creole. She never thought the truth would wrap its arms around her and make her wonder if she’s chasing a ghost… or taking a vacation from sanity.

Ambushed in Paradise is book #12 in the action-packed Paradise series. Come along with Madison and Fab as they dig up the truth and share more than one hair raising adventure. 


Available to buy from.....

"I love the characters, Brown does an amazing job of creating complex and interesting characters!" 

"This was one of the author's strongest books yet"

"I have enjoyed this entire series, but this book is a standout."

Above reviews from Amazon

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Book Excerpt


Also available in the Paradise Series
      
      
    
    


About the Author
I've been writing, in one way or another for as long as I can remember; poetry, sappy short stories (my best friend made me swear that I’d never show anyone until I changed the names), and a romance novel shoved under my bed.

I wanted to create books with a wide-range of unforgettable characters, with heat and romance, and lots of guns. It wouldn’t be complete without a slice of humor and charm.

I live with my family and demon children aka rescue cats in South Florida.

Find the author on the following sites...



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