The Forbidden Book Review

The Forbidden (The Courtship of Nellie Fisher, Book 2) by Beverly Lewis was the next book that I had from the library.  I loved the first book in the series so I was excited to pick up the second and see what interesting developments the characters would have.

Caleb Yoder's father has forbidden him to continue courting Nellie Mae Fisher because of their difference in religion.  The Fisher family has chosen to go with the new order Amish instead of holding true to the Old Order traditions.  However, Nellie is still attending church with the Old Order and hoping to win over Caleb's father.  Caleb and Nellie meet once in secret and they end up falling asleep and getting caught.  Because of this infraction of the rules, Caleb is forced to move out of his families house and give up his birth right to his father's land.  He lives with his grandparents and works their land for them so that they don't have to pay people to do it.  They no longer see each other after Nellie makes the declaration that she is planning on joining the new church.  If you want to read all the details, you better pick up the book and see for yourself.

I love Beverly Lewis and I haven't found a book or series that I haven't liked....until now.  I really didn't enjoy this book.  It made me want to go back to the first book because I felt like most of the things that they were talking about were resolved at the end of the first book.  It took until chapter 15 for me to give up the fact that I thought they missed the whole end of the first book.  I thought that Nellie read Suzy's diary and felt more certain about the New Order Amish and being saved by God.  I also thought that Nellie and Caleb had already broken up.  It wasn't that long since I had read the last book and I just felt like this book was covering the same thing over and over without moving forward.  I would say that I didn't recommend it but I liked the first and the third book and I don't know how they would be without the middle book so just know that it was a little slower then the other books.  Let me know what you think!!

The Longest Ride Book Review

I don't know about you but I am a big fan of Nicholas Sparks.  I love all the books that he has written from his loves stories to his story with his brother.  When I saw that he had a new book coming out, I rushed to the library website to reserve it.  I was really far down the list but it finally came in!!! The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks was on that was high up on my must read list since I own all of his other books and have read some of them more then once.  It is currently only available in hard back but the paper back should be released in April 2014 in case you prefer them.

There were two different stories going on in this book and it switched back and forth between them.  The first (and my favorite) was the story about Sophia and Luke.  The point of view switches back and forth between them so that you can get both points of view.  Luke is a cowboy who works on his mother's farm during the week and spends the weekends as a bull rider.  Sophia is a art history major who is looking to move to a big city and get an internship at a museum.  They meet when Sophia's sorority sisters talk her into going to a bull riding event locally.  Afterwards, there is a big party where she is approached by her ex-boyfriend.  When Sophia's ex-boyfriend tries to put his hand on her, Luke steps in and holds him down until he says he is going to stop.  Sophia and Luke start talking and there relationship blossoms from there.  Pick up the book to read the ups and downs they have in their love story.

The second was about Ira and his late wife Ruth.  Ira is stuck in a car that ran off the road on the way to a special location that he loved to visit with his wife so that he could say good bye.  He was diagnosed with cancer and didn't have much longer to live.  While he is injured and trapped in the car, he sees his dead wife and she is who gives him the strength to stay alive.  He remembers stories from their past like when they met, when they got married and stories of trips that they took together.  Even though he knows that she is not real, he tries to stay awake so that he doesn't miss any time with her.  It is a heart wrenching story of a lifetime of love and I don't want to give away all the stories so you are going to have to pick it up and find out for yourself.

What do these two stories have in common?  Seems like nothing and the farther that I got through the book, I just thought it was comparing the long love with the one just starting out but you have to read it to believe it.  This book was a lot like Mitch Albom's books so if you like his writing, you should check this out.  I thought that it was a lot different then the normal writing for Nicholas Sparks but I still loved it.  I hope that you pick it up at your local library or bookstore and enjoy it for yourselves!  It is a page turner that makes you grab a tissue and laugh out loud at times.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!!

Thrifty Thursday: Loyalty Cards earn free things!!

Do you have a card to your grocery store and others?  I know that I have a bunch of them but it took me a long time to realize how good of a tool they could be beyond scanning them when you are in the store.  Do you know what your loyalty cards can do for you?

I have a K-Mart card (which also works at Sears) and they send me updates all the time with different sales and coupons that work for different specials like $5 off $20 in toys or $10 off $50 in clothes.  It isn't often that I am looking for a deal that they send me but there have been some good ones.  In addition, I am super excited when they send me an e-mail with free money like they just did.

I had $6.42 in my account to go and buy anything that I want at the store which expired Wednesday.  It was easy enough that I sent my husband (because I ran out of time) to go get something (may not seem like the nicest thing to say but he leaves the couponing to me).  I told him that I would like to get a family movie for friend for Christmas or he could look at something for himself.  He decided to do both and told the cashier to apply the points so he only paid $0.07 for the two items in the picture.

 
Do you have your CVS card yet?  Let's hope that most people do because that provides lots of benefits...if not you better get out and get one now.  If you scan it at the red box in the store, you get CVS coupons printed.  Make sure you print until it tells you that there are no more coupons because there is usually more than one set that comes out.  My mom didn't know that so I guess there are a few others out there that might not know either so I like to share that easy tip. The other tip is that these can be used in combination with Manufacturers coupons and ECB (Extra Care Bucks) to get free and money makers on different items in the store.  Many weeks there are deals where you can get things for totally free through the ads or even surprises that come out of the red box machine.  In addition, make sure you set up your account on e-mail because they will send you coupons and free money too.

I got a bunch of freebies at CVS recently with their Black Friday specials and the next few weeks of deals.  I used my ECB to buy the Planters Nuts and Popcorn tin (both on sale) for free which I am getting for my Dad's Christmas present.  I don't count those for free because they were money that I earned but it was no money OOP.  I used a facebook coupon to get the Essence of Beauty Body Spray pictured on the left of the popcorn tin for free.  In addition, if you can't tell what is off to the left of the body spray, it is a package of Rolaids.  After I purchased the items that I went to the store for, my couponing friend told me that the red box was printing out free Rolaids coupons.  Normally I scan my card to get the coupons first but the weather was getting bad and I was there on a mission to grab a few of the sale items and run back out the door in record time.  I love free things!!!

There were free batteries and Milky Way right after Thanksgiving.  The batteries were free after CVS coupon and the Milky Way was free after ECB (meaning you have to pay money OOP but get back the same amount in ECB to spend next time) but I had a BOGO coupon so I bought two bars and used the $0.25 CVS coupon to get the transaction for $0.29 each and I did an extra Milky Way transaction in the process because I messed it up a little so I paid $0.87 for all of this and got back $1.50 to spend another time.  Gotta love it when you get stuff and make a little money in the transactions.

 Today, I brought $2.99 in ECBs and one manufacturers coupon to get these for free (not even tax since they are considered medicine).  I got $3 back in ECBs to spend next time.  Sometimes these are a little more difficult to consider free because you have to pay money out of pocket but it is great that I have the ECBs from the previous deals so that I can roll it into getting something I thought would be neat to try.

Not to mention the great things that you can get from your Harris Teeter card which is by far my favorite grocery store. There are weekly EVIC specials that are available in a limited number to everyone who is signed up for EVIC savings for just your card that is signed up electronically to receive e-mails.  They also have deals that come out every Friday that are customized EVIC savings based on the items that you buy.  There are also evic zvr coupons which you can load to your card and get in addition to manufacturer coupons on different items through the store.  I can't say enough about getting your Harris Teeter card linked to the EVIC program so I hope that if you don't already have it, you get it done.

The Hallmark card is also amazing if you do a lot of shopping at Hallmark.  I don't do that many trips to Hallmark but I did buy my wedding invitations there (way back almost 10 years ago) and I got back points on even those and they sent me out at least $20 in certificates to get free stuff in their store.  I always scan my card when I go to the store but it normally only happens at their after Christmas sale (which is amazing if you haven't checked it out) because we get lots of gifts for next Christmas for 50% off.  If you buy cards and other fun gifts at Hallmark, you could make out really well in money back but even without it, you can sign up and then might get some surprise benefits for the trips you are already making.

If you don't have these and more loyalty cards, get them because it will give you credits for everything you buy and at least a few times a year, send you free money!  Isn't that always a great thing?

What cards do you have and love???

Kids Math: Tyrannosaurus Math

Tyrannosaurus Math by Michelle Markel was in the math section of the library.  I thought it sounded interesting.  My son was into dinosaurs before but hasn't been really interested in a little while so I wasn't sure how it was going to go.  The cover looked bright and fun so what could it hurt.

In this book, Tyrannosaurus Math (nicknamed T-math) is born and shortly after starts counting his fingers and toes and adding them up.  Then, he has two brothers and three sisters born so he adds them up.  He counts by twos when he sees foot prints.  He learned 5's and 10's to count herds of triceratops.  He started to become a show off because he counted his food and then declared who at the greater number and what the difference was.  He also checked his work.  The lizard grew bigger and his math skills became greater and his mind was as sharp as his teeth.  On to multiplication where he taught other dinosaurs how to figure out what they wanted to know.  There was a hurricane, meteorite and a volcano that adds to the excitement and the math but his family was getting irritated with his know it all behavior.  On day the ground cracked and his sister was stuck on the other side of a deep canyon.  After careful thought, T-math estimated that the width was about 20 of his feet so he found a fallen tree that was 20 foot steps long and laid it across the gap so that he sister could walk to safety.  She decided that math was useful and his brother said that he wanted to learn some of his brothers tricks.  After that, there was no problem that this family couldn't solve.

We enjoyed reading the book and it was perfect for learning a lot of different things about math.  It showed the picture that you could count but it also showed the mathematical formula.  I think that it is priceless to introduce kids to what it looks like even before they know what to do with the signs and symbols because it gets them interested.  It also counts by twos which is currently my son's favorite ways to count.  He also counts by 5's and 10's which is a fun one to practice with high fives and high tens (my son's name for two hands at the same time).  The best part is when they do the larger math and they show how you can check your math by adding it the numbers.  There is multiplication with pictures so that you can figure it out.

We did some addition and subtraction after reading the book.  I always try to work in a little bit with everything we do and my son is really catching on.  We picked out three books and just added two more to the pile so how many do we have.  Sometimes I get the quick answer and sometimes he wants to count the books but either way, he is doing math.  Make sure you take the time to do math with your kids because it really is fun and it will help them later in life!!

If you want to do a sit down activity, there are tons of activity books at the dollar store that have addition or subtraction for all ages.  If you want to make your own, you can use the bingo marker to make dots to add and they have to do dots or write the number for the answer.  We have also done it with stickers, I had some neat number stickers and then he just had to write the answer (mostly because I didn't have enough stickers).  If you have a few dinosaurs, pull them out and add and subtract with them.  There are tons of easy math activities out there so that your kid can be a T-math too!!!

 I hope that you try out this book the next time you are at your local library or bookstore because it is bound to entertain.  I know that we enjoyed all of the different kinds of math and I am sure that you kids will love seeing how you do need it to live (not that the dinosaurs did since they are extinct but that is a whole other lesson).

Kids Holidays: Cheap and Helpful Countdown to Christmas

Have you looked at the Advent Calendars or other Christmas Countdown toys?  They are super expensive.  I was looking at some of the Lego ones and they were on sale in the stores for $35-40.  Even if you get just the paper ones with the doors with the chocolate behind them, they look to be at least $8.  We get one every year from friends of ours for our little guy which he loves (although still confused why he can't open a second door if he wants another chocolate).

Luckily, I have an even more frugal and fun way to celebrate the holiday which I would love to share with you!!!  Wrapped books for each day so that the child has something to open and then you have a special book to read for bedtime.  There are a few different ways to do it so hopefully you will find an option that works for you!

My mom went a little overboard with her shopping for books at the used book sale at the library (and just about everywhere else). We decided that it would be really fun if we wrapped them individually so that my son could open up one every day until Christmas.  She got most of the books for $0.25 to $1.00 because I wouldn't let her buy anything until half off day at the sale so it was super cheap to get 24 books necessary to make your countdown.

I have seen these done a number of different ways like taking the same Christmas books and wrapping them up so that the kids have one thing to open every day and read for bedtime.  It helps so that you aren't stuck reading the same Christmas book every night.  I was planning on doing that but I guess it will have to wait until next year.  The great thing is that at the young ages, the books are all new to them every year.  But as they get older, there are books that they look forward to reading at the holidays.  No matter what age group you have, this helps stretch out the Christmas joy and books!!

We labeled each one with a number and my son has looked forward to opening one every night after dinner which we promptly read...sometimes while we are still sitting at the dining room table.  He has read a lot of different books that I didn't think that he would read by making it a special gift.  I hope that you enjoy making your own book tower even if you only want to do it for the 12 days of Christmas or the days that your kids are home for break before the holidays, it is well worth it to save up some inexpensive books for this for next year.

I hope that you try this with some books for your kids!!!  Don't have that many books at your house?  No reason you can't do it with library books.  You could also make it for less days and only do it for two weeks.  Kids like opening presents so anyway to do it makes it a fun adventure.

November Cooking Review

I had a slow start to the month and didn't seem to do a lot of cooking.  I guess I kept myself busy with other things or else I was being really lazy (or shopping too much which might be true).  I am not sure but I know that I made up for at the end of the month with a few new recipes.  I had a few successful recipes that I hope that you try!!  Especially the pies which were really yummy :)

Cinnamon Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

Rosemary Garlic Chicken

White Chocolate Raspberry Pound Cake

Pie Crust

Pumpkin Pie

Mississippi Mud Pie

Blue Cheese Crescent Rolls

Menu Plan Monday 12/9

Monday- Sausage Tortelloni with sausage sauce
Tuesday- Chicken and Rice Casserole
Wednesday- Pizza Grilled Cheese
Thursday- French Dip Sloppy Joes with homemade fries
Friday- ??? Maybe Breakfast for dinner or Tacos
Saturday- Leftovers/Homemade Pizza
Sunday- Leftovers/Whole Chicken

I finally sat down with the calendar and wrote out most of the menu for the month over the weekend.  It was a little easier when I found out who was coming to visit when so that I could get the big meals planned first and then the others were much easier to fit in around with what we had left in the house.  I am planning on dinner for 9 the entire week of Christmas and might have less so we will see how it works out. 

Sadly, no garlic bread for me tonight with my pasta because we are out of bread unless I dig some up in the freezer.  We are out of milk and I didn't get any because we were supposed to have this storm (which we did) and we usually loose power (which we luckily only did for seconds in the middle of the night).  Now the roads are a little gross so I don't know if I am going to get milk today.  I really need to bite the bullet and buy dried milk powder to have on hand.  I have never used it but many say that it is the same in baking and really good for these emergencies.  I also have a biscuit mix recipe that uses it so it wouldn't go to waste.

I was going to plan tacos for Friday which are my husband's favorite but we are currently out of lettuce and cheese so it won't happen unless I find both things at the store this week which I don't know if I will.  So, I guess breakfast is my back up plan (plus, my son's favorite because he gets waffles).  Either way one of them wins and meals are done.

I have a few things that I need to get at the store but I think that I should have a lot less trips this month (fingers crossed).  We mainly need cheddar cheese, butter/margarine, lettuce, green beans, zucchini, and milk.  I am waiting for my $10 credit to be applied at Giant so that I can grab a few things there and I think that most of my stuff is going to be from Aldi's (including my dry milk powder).  I will fill in the remaining few days when I know what we are doing for New Years (we usually get Chinese) and know what I get at the store before family comes to town!!

Hope that you have a great month planned or at least this week if you are having trouble planning ahead like I have been!!!