• Book: “Guess How Much I Love You” by Sam McBratney

    I was thinking about some of my favorite books I enjoy reading to the girls.  The book Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney is one I have read to our girls many times.  It is a great book for parents to read to little ones.  The book is about a small rabbit who is asking how much he is loved and comparing the love to things / objects around him.  It helps put “love” in a perspective that our children can understand.  The book is a good reminder to the kids and parent both.  It is important that we show our love and appreciation for our children not only by reading the book to them but in many other ways throughout the week – a hug, listening, spending time with them, and just appreciating them for who they are as individuals.

  • Book: “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” by Kate Douglas Wiggin

    Our girls LOVE books so we have been trying on as many nights as possible (when it is not too late) to read through a chapter of a larger book each night before bed and devotions.  My husband is currently reading the final chapters of Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin which is in the “Treasury of Illustrated Classics” series.  It is a story of a little girl who was forced to leave her home because her family was poor to go live with her aunts.  Rebecca is a sweet young girl with a lot energy.  You learn about her life and adventures throughout the book.  She wins the friendship of almost everyone she meets along the way.  The girls have really enjoyed reading this story and beg Daddy to read more.  If you are looking for a good book for young girls this is a great option to consider.

  • Life Simplified: Set the Timer!

    It has been a really busy few weeks and I don’t anticipate that it will slow down any time soon (maybe in May).  The girls and I will be traveling over their Spring Break so I have a lot to get done before our fun time begins.  If you are like me I want everything to be caught up before I leave on a trip  – bills paid, house cleaned, emails returned, inbox empty, garden planted and weeded,  etc….  however, the “to do” list is generally much longer than the hours available in the day. When I am working on a project I want to stick to it until it is completely finished.  There are major benefits having this personality, however, the downside is that I may get that one project completed but there are 27 other projects that haven’t even been started.

    One of the ways that has helped me stay on task and be more productive (I have been using this a lot lately) is to set the timer.   I have a small timer that I can take with me from room to room.  My timer has been well used the past few weeks, I even lost it for a couple days while getting ready for the yard sale!  I anticipate it will continue to be used in the upcoming weeks as well as I prepare to travel with the kids.  I set the timer for an increment of time to help motivate me and keep me focused on getting the task done.  When the timer goes off that means I am done with that project for the moment and need to move onto the next task (which can be very hard for me at times especially if I am really close to finishing the task I am currently working on).  Here is an example of some of the activities I do during a day with my timer (every day is different so this just an example of activities I set the timer for throughout the day):

    • 30 minutes – Exercise
    • 45 minutes – Quiet Time
    • 10 minutes – Prep for Dinner
    • 10 minutes – Eat Breakfast
    • 30 minutes – Check & Respond to Emails (sometimes I do this 2 to 3 times a day)
    • 60 minutes – Blog Posts
    • 60 minutes – Work Projects
    • 30 minutes – Pick Up the House
    • 60 minutes – Fold & Put Away All Laundry for the week on Laundry Day
    • 30 minutes – Lunch
    • 45 minutes – Homework with the Girls
    • 45 minutes – Make Dinner
    • 30 minutes – Dinner Clean Up and Wash Dishes
    • 15 minutes – Packs Lunches for the Next Day
    • 30 minutes – Clipping Coupons
    • 30 minutes – Matching Coupons with Weekly Ads
    • 30 minutes – Pay Bills & Balance Accounts
    • 10 minutes – Power Clean My Desk (or on some days find my desk)

    If I get to all the tasks that had on my list that day I will reward myself with 30 minutes of “free” time which usually means spending extra time with the family, reading, writing, or something else rewarding yet beneficial.  A lot of times during breakfast or lunch I will spend time reading or answering emails as well.  I have found that days when I work on the computer I don’t get anything done in the house and days that I spend concentrating on home projects I don’t get any work done so as in my attempt to try and balance life a little bit more the timer has become a fun trick that works well for me.  Although the computer work is important I do have some moments when I get sidetracked by a great article or Facebook or something else and before I know it the time has flown by and an hour has passed (same things happens on home projects).  The timer helps me track the time better and alerts me especially when I have gotten distracted from the task at hand. I do not set the timer for family time or family oriented meals and tasks because those are important for the entire family.

    Now if I could only find a way to set a timer for travel time, shopping and waiting to check out, ha!  Although I must say I am becoming a little more efficient in shopping too by only going directly to the items I need and not “browsing” through the entire store.  Not everything works well with setting a timer but there are some tasks I noticed will consume larger amounts of time if I don’t put a time limit on them.

    How do you balance it all as a Wife, Mom, Business Person, etc…?  Do you have other ways that help you stay on task?

    Photo by ellie

  • Free Audio Book: “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom

    FREE Audio Book Download:


    For the month of April Christian Audio is offering a free download of their audio book The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom with John & Elizabeth Sherrill.  This audio book is about the real life story of Corrie ten Boom.  She is considered a hero who helped the Jews escape from the Nazis.  Corrie has a remarkable testimony, if you haven’t read it then this is a great opportunity to listen to the book for free when you download it from Christian Audio in April.   Make sure to submit your order by April 30, 2011  to get your free audio book.  Thanks Christian Audio!

  • Book: “Never Sniff A Gift Fish” by Patrick McManus

    I was thinking about the books I have read over the past few years and decided to chose one that is a little more “unique” from some of my other recommendations but nevertheless I have really enjoyed reading Patrick McManus books.  Never Sniff A Gift Fish by Patrick McManus is one that we have at our house.  The author has a way of making you laugh sometimes until your sides hurt.  He is funny and his short stories are great to read.  We have had his books in our magazine racks for years and I cannot count the number of times people have borrowed or taken the books for a short period of time to read them.  I am looking forward to reading them to the girls soon too.  A lot of his stories have to do with outdoor adventures, kid mischief, and fun.  Each chapter is another short story.  Some are more hilarious then others but there have been times I have had tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard.  Life is short so why not have fun.  If you haven’t read one of his books you really should, you’ll enjoy some extra chuckles reading the adventures in his books.   As the warmer season comes upon us it makes me think of camping and reading his books around a camp fire, great memories!   Patrick McManus actually has several books if you prefer one of the other ones instead:

  • Book: “Green Eggs & Ham” by Dr Seuss

    In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday this week the girls have been celebrating by reading his books at home and with their class at school.  One of our projects earlier this week was to pull the Dr Seuss books we have in our home library and take them to school so they could read to the class.  After gathering all our books together I was surprised to see how many we had accumulated over the years but after much exploration I realized that we only have just a handful of the ones he wrote.  Since Dr. Seuss has been on my mind this week with all the celebrations and he was a successful children’s writer I want to highlight one of our family favorites by Dr. Seuss –  Green Eggs and Ham.  We have read this book so many times over the last 6 years I think we have it almost memorized. One of the reasons I like this book is because it teaches a valuable lesson, sometimes we have a preconceived notion that something is bad or that we won’t enjoy it but unless we try it we will never known.  Taking the opportunity to try something different (it can be as silly as a strange looking meal as illustrated in the book) can often lead to a pleasant surprise and had we not tried it we would have missed out on fun, excitement, blessings, or even the simple pleasure of eating strange looking food.

    We have several other Dr. Seuss books that we read quite frequently but “Green Eggs & Ham‘ ranks pretty high up there with my girls.  Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss thanks for writing some amazing books that we can read to our children!

     

     

  • Book: “The Multiples Manual” by Lynn Lorenz

    A friend gave me this book “The Multiples Manual: Preparing and Caring for Twins and triplets” by Lynn Lorenz.  I had the first edition of this book.  It was one of the best books I had to read for Twins because it was easy to read, fun, and practical.  It was neat getting some insights from from a Twin  and a Mom of Triplets.  If you are having twins or triplets…..as my friend once said to me “Welcome to the ‘multiples’ club!”

  • Book: “God Gave Us So Much” by Lisa Tawn Bergren

    I recently read the book treasury “God Gave Us So Much” by Lisa Tawn Bergren to my twin daughters.  “God Gave Us So Much” is a limited-edition treasury of three books.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the depth into creation, love, and heaven the author went into for a children’s book.  The author created a pretty steady stream of “Questions” and “Answers” dialogue between Little Cub, her parents, and grandparents.

    I read the books to my girls in three separate settings.  The first book “God Gave us the World” which was a huge hit with the kids.  One of my daughters is fascinated with earth, planets, traveling and science so she had a lot of wonderful questions about the story.  It was neat hearing Little Cubs questions about all the different types of bears that live around the world and how God made each bear unique.

    The second book was “God Gave Us Love” which I read to the girls on Valentine’s Day.  It was a great reminder of all the people who love us in life and especially that God loves each one of us.  It had practical applications on ways to show love to others.  Ultimately I liked how the book encouraged the kids to know that God loved them.

    “God Gave Us Heaven” was the third book in this treasury and it paints an amazing picture of heaven!  Little Cub asked a series of common questions kids ask regarding heaven and the author did well in answering them.  I especially liked the analogy of Jesus being our “bridge” to our forever home.  She painted a pretty clear picture for children regarding heaven and salvation.

    The books mention God and many of the questions little ones ask regarding God, the world, love and heaven.  I really like how Lisa emphasized on how  our world was designed by God, that he loves us and wants us to live in heaven with him.  The only thing that caught me off guard was there is no mention of “Little Cub’s” gender until the end of books and all three of us assumed by the conversation that Little Cub was male so we were surprised to find out Little Cub was actually a female. These books had a good mixture of adventure and giving credit to God.  Each book peaked the curiosity of my girls enough to allow us the opportunity to continue the conversation for several minutes after reading the book and answer their additional questions about life, love, and heaven.

    Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from the publisher through the Waterhouse Multnomah.  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: “You’re Hired” by Bill Rancic

    A few years ago my husband and I watched the “reality” TV show “The Apprentice” with Donald Trump.  After winning on “The Apprentice” he wrote this book “You’re Hired” by Bill Rancic.  I received the book from a library sale and figured it may be something fun to read.  My first thought was that it would be primarily about his time on the show and how he won.  He did mention his time on “The Apprentice” and various factors related to that, however, the majority of the book gave you interesting insights into his life and entrepreneurial ventures (from buying junk cars to washing boats and more) .  The book was a good reminder to always continue learning, being a “sponge”, and that your attitude makes an impact both personally and professionally.

  • Getting My Attention

    Do you ever have those wild stressful days?  Recently I had one of those days when I had a lot going on and the girls were trying to help but they were slowing down the process.  Since we had to get going soon I told them to relax quietly together so I could finish up the last few items then we could leave.  It was one of those rushed days that are more stressful than usual and I had over committed myself.

    After completing the necessary tasks I went to find the girls,  they had been quiet the past fifteen minutes so I was interested in finding out what had captivated their attention.  My heart about burst when I went into the dining room.  They were standing at the table taking turns reading The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm together.  As I stood there listening to them share story after story and point out the pictures on the pages I was so happy that they were  sharing this time together.  It was amazing how much they remembered from going through the book with them even though it was several devotional books ago.

    However, at the same time I was convicted because it was a fast paced day and I hadn’t taken the time that morning to do my devotions.  God used my sweet girls to grab my attention and gently remind me of the importance of having quiet time each day.  How I chose to live my life has a ripple effect on my family and the people around me.  I am thankful for these quiet reminders.  I trust that God will continue to do a work in my life.

    We do devotions with the girls in the evenings before bed (most nights).  They always look forward to reading together.  Typically,  Jake will read them a chapter from a book we are going through together then I will do the devotional book with them.  If time is tight we just do the devotional book.  During the Holidays we were staying up too late so we would just pray with them before tucking them into bed at night.  We are excited to get back into the routine and see all the neat things that they will learn this year.