Forgiven: Sisters of the Heart Book Review

I made what I thought was going to be a quick trip to the library which I had been fighting my son to do for days and we spent two hours there.  We missed all of the other things that we were going to do for the day because we had to get back and get some lunch for my husband who was hard at work with the plumber.  I luckily had reserved all the books in the series in order so that one came off reserve every week (so that I knew which book they were in the series without having to look it up and so that I didn't read it to quickly). Forgiven (Sisters of the Heart, Book 3) by Shelley Shepard Gray, the third book in the series came on my reserve shelf so I was excited after reading a few other books in the middle to get back to this series and find out what has been going on.

Tragedy strikes­—a brother and sister find themselves facing a situation that will shape the rest of their lives.
When a fire destroys the Lundys' barn, Winnie is injured trying to get the animals to safety. Confined to a hospital for weeks, out of touch with her loved ones who live too far away to visit by buggy, she must depend on Englisher Samuel Miller to keep her company. Though his family is part of Winnie's tight-knit Amish community, Samuel left years earlier to pursue a university education. Through conversations, and Samuel's dedication to her recovery, a friendship forms. But despite their growing attraction, Winnie knows it can never develop into something more as long as Samuel chooses to remain in the outside world.
When Winnie returns home, she finds her brother, Jonathan, struggling with his own dilemma. Cigarette butts were discovered in the debris of the barn and Jonathan is determined to find out who is responsible for destroying his property and putting his family at risk. But in a community founded on grace and forgiveness, will his unwillingness to move on eat away at the trust that is the foundation of their lives?

I got this book on Saturday morning and by Sunday morning I was finished.  I was a little sad to be done but it was so hard to put down that I did little else.  I guess I better get back to work and get some things done around the house like packing.  It was a great book with great characters.  I loved learning more about Winnie who seemed a little whiny in the last book so I was glad to see her turn around and get to see other parts of her personality.  There are new people in each book so you want the series to keep going so that you can get to know more about the new people you meet in the coming books.  I hope that you pick this up at your local library or bookstore and see if you like it as much as I did!

Thrifty Thursday: Selling Lots Before Moving

I am doing my best to downsize all of the things in the house before moving to our new house so that we don't have all that clutter.  I started with at least three trips to Goodwill to donate the small things that I didn't think that it was worth to sell. 

I separated out the items that I was going to sell and make a little money.  I took lots of pictures and put some of the big stuff up on Facebook (I am a member of a bunch of different yard sale groups). I also answered a few posts of people interested in things like glass bottles and sold 12 glass baby bottles without having to do much work.

I sold my son's convertible crib.

With Dresser

I also sold my husband's bed

I sold smaller stuff that my son had long ago outgrown.  It is a little harder to make money selling things that are so small but it quickly adds up.  I was working on lots of little kids toys and here are just a few of the many things that I sold in the last few weeks.

Throw in some clothes which don't take up a lot of space but we really don't need anymore.  I started with sleepers because it seems that those are very popular.  Most of the people that came to get sleepers looked through the clothes of the size that they were interested in.  I even sold a few toys with the clothes purchases.

And a few larger kids toys like his wagon, rocket ship ride-on and rocking sheep.

 

I sold a stroller that we got for a vacation when my little man was much smaller and sold it for nearly what I paid for it because it was barely used.

 

I tried to sell a few not kids things but the only success other than the bed was the electric griddle.  We have a new one that has the panini maker on the other side and we haven't used this for a long time.  Super glad to not have to move it and make a little money at the same time.

The finally tally of my first attempt to get rid of a few things and make a little money was $788!!!  I was hoping for a little more success but I am still happy with what I have made so far.  I have to pull out the little clothes and go through them to see if there are some things that I might make a little money on and a few things that I have listed that I need to repost that didn't sell the first time.  Here is hoping that I find a few more things that are packed away to sell and declutter. 

Have you had success selling locally online??  I feel like I get a better price selling online then I do having a yard sale?  Although I usually make around $200-$300 from a yard sale which I only have to work for one day and online takes a few weeks.  I make a little more money selling online because you get to the people who specifically want things and know that the pricing is less then buying new.  Let me know if you have any tips for me going forward!!!

Kids Wednesday: Mosiac Turtle and Trip to the Nature Center

I was trying to plan things to do over Spring Break with my son.  He mentioned how we are moving away from the nature center so I figured that we would make a trip to visit them and the turtle that they have in the front area.  I wanted to come up with something else that we could do in combination with that so I found a fun craft online to make a turtle here. We started by taking turns coloring the small shapes on the paper.  This takes a long time so it helps if you share in the creative process or it could take days.

I used a piece of green paper behind the sheet and cut two at a time so that we had lots of green and double the shapes with half the cutting.  It was a good thing because we needed almost all of the two sheets.  After they were cut out, my son glued the shapes on the bottom of the bowl.

The final bowl/shell took a few days but it was really neat looking.  We still needed to make the head and arms but I thought learning about the shells was still pretty good progress.  We went to the nature center and had a great time.  I forgot to take pictures.  There were tons of turtles and we even got to see the parts of the shell on one of them.  There was also a baby where you could see the egg tooth.  It was a great to see the turtles up close after reading a few books.

I was super excited to make a little craft and take a trip to the nature center but I decided to take it a step farther and find a few books to go with it at the library first.  I found the one that looked most interesting which was Look Out for Turtles! (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Melvin Berger.

Turtles are among the oldest living creatures in the world. They have been on earth for nearly 200 million years!  In Look Out for Turtles! readers will discover why these creatures have survived so long. Hard shells protect many turtles from harm. Colorful markings on their shells help some turtles to blend in with their surroundings. Different kinds of turtles can live almost anywhere on land or sea and can eat many kinds of plants and animals...Today turtles must struggle to. survive. They are hunted, and threatened by pollution. There is less and less open space for turtles to live in. If turtles are going to be around for another 200 million years, they are going to need our help!

We already had one book at home which I knew that my son was interested in because we read it the other day, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss.  It is good to balance the real books with the more fun stories to get a little bit of both worlds. 

We got a few more books out of the turtle section of the library.  There were a few good ones there and I am sure that there will be some at your local library too.  

I went online to Teachers Pay Teachers to see what other free resources I could find and there was a bunch!!  I downloaded a few great resources.  I kept them in my bag and we did a bunch while at the car dealership getting my tire fixed from a nail in the tire.  See anytime can be a learning time if you are prepared.

Turtle Number Game

Sea Turtle Read and Answer

This is a great reading exercise because it gives information that the kids can learn and then there are questions to answer as well.

Ten Frame Turtle

This one looks like it would be fun to do and then the cards can be used to make a little memory match with the two matching cards as well to add a little extra fun!

Life Cycle of the Sea Turtle

If we decide to go a little deeper into the topic, I might pull out this information to get a little more information into the science behind the turtle life cycle.  There is a little bit about it in the reading so I think that this would be a good follow up if he is interested because we love to make posters.

 

The great thing about this lesson is it involves art with making the project, math with the shapes and patterns, reading with the books, and science with the learning and the trip to the nature center.  It is great when you can take one simple idea and turn it into fun for lots of learning. Hope that you enjoy some learning with your kids too!!!

When Grace Sings Book Review

I was so happy to find a new book to read during this busy time that would make me appreciate the calmer life.  I didn't read a lot of details about the new book but it sounded really interesting so I requested a copy through Blogging for Books.  When Grace Sings: A Novel (The Zimmerman Restoration Trilogy)
by Kim Vogel Sawyer was the second book in the series but I figured that if it was really interesting then I would check out other books by the same author.  The even better news came when they sent me the copy of the first book too!! It was a great excitement when I put two and two together (meaning the two books) and figured out that I got two books in the same series.  Now here is hoping the third one comes out soon!!!!

When trouble roars into quiet Arborville, Alexa and Anna-Grace find themselves the target for discord and exposed secrets. Can they continue to seek the God of all grace amidst the fog of confusion?  
Alexa Zimmerman wonders if the Old Order Mennonite community in Arborville, Kansas will ever fully accept her. Her family roots here aren’t what anyone thought when she first arrived, but she is hopeful that her culinary and hospitality skills will win the skeptics over. The bed-and-breakfast she’s operating needs to succeed so Alexa agrees to allow Briley Forrester, the hotshot reporter from Chicago, to stay as a long-term boarder not knowing his real motives for being amongst the Plain folk.

But when Alexa agrees to host her cousin Anna-Grace Braun, the presence of extended family brings out Alexa’s insecurities and sets Briley on the trail to uncovering a web of hidden truths.  Plans for a secure future and the sweetness of young romance hang in the balance when Alexa and Anna-Grace have to face that their secrets are interconnected, binding the two in ways they could not have imagined. Pick up the book to find out what happens because I think that you will be surprise!!

I was a little sad when this book was over and that was mainly because I didn't have the next one in the series yet.  I can't believe that there is only going to be one more because I know that I am going to need a lot more of these characters after reading the first two books in the series.  I enjoyed every minute of it and had trouble putting it down just like the last one.  I love the mix of the real world with the shelter Mennonite world that mix in these books.  It is great to see that this is the life that people have now and that the different choices that you make in the "real" world don't seem nearly as important when you see the choices that the Mennonites make.  Many people know that I choose to be frugal and use our money to make the best choices for our family.  I know that many times I feel some of the decisions that I make are a little extreme but I had a conversation over dinner the other night with family members that I had three cars in all my time driving (my first car only for a week before it was totaled and both others keeping for over 10 years) and my husband four (counting one he paid his parents for when he was really young).  This family member had over 40 cars in their lifetime and he was not much older then we were with 7 cars between us.  The flashy car that the reporter drove in this book made me think about those decisions and how we need to make the decision to pick out the best for our families and not what others expect of us.  I hope that this book helps you stop and take a look at your life and the decisions that you make.  Pick it up at your local library or bookstore soon!!!

** I was given a copy of this book from Blogging for Books for my honest opinion and review.  All opinion here are my own.

Menu Plan Monday 4/6

Normally I am very strict about the menu plan and have something ready to go the previous month but with everything going on with selling the one house and doing construction on the other house, all bets have been off.  I think that I am better off telling you what meals that I plan for the week because they are most likely going to be moved around between contractor here, soccer practice there and other things going crazy.  My main goal is to defrost the freezer this week and I put a bunch of stuff upstairs in the freezer but there are still a few more things that need to fit.  Here is hoping that I can get it done and move the freezer to the new house!!!

Spicy Honey Mustard Chicken Strips with chicken rice
Salsa Sloppy Joes on homemade rolls with Mac and Cheese
Simple Fried Rice with edamame
Spaghetti or other pasta with homemade sauce and garlic bread
Chicken Nugget Wraps with homemade fries

I already took the chicken tenders, ground beef and spaghetti sauce out of the freezer.  The rolls for the sloppy joes are already made and in the freezer which I don't take out until the day of.  The bread for the garlic bread is in the freezer still which I leave frozen until I stick it in the oven. We went to the store to buy potatoes which were on sale at Aldi's so we bought 20 lbs and my son cheered because that meant more fries.  They are his favorite so I better figure out a way to fit them in more often before the move so that we don't have to move potatoes!! I know that I only included 5 meals but we will most likely be grabbing take out at least twice this week with the schedule and open houses so I will throw in another meal or use leftovers for the other meals. 

We haven't gotten much at the grocery store for the last few months because of the move and trying to use what we have on hand.  Yesterday the boys were looking for a snack and they found an almost empty container of cheese-its which they decided to share.  My husband gave my son the whole crackers and he was going to eat the crumbs.  I came into the kitchen and watched this sad transaction and pulled another box of cheese-its out of the cupboard (met by cheers).  They think because I am not shopping that there is no food in the house.  It is so funny because there are 6 boxes left in the cupboard.  I don't think that we are going to starve or miss some of their favorite foods but really, I know that my husband is going to have a fit when we have to clean out the kitchen and move all this food so I am trying my best to make what I can from what we already have in the house.  How is your week going??

When Mercy Rain Book Review

I was excited to get a chance to try a new series (and possibly a new author that I haven't read).  I certainly do like a good Amish fiction book so when I went looking to find a book written by Cindy Woodsmall or Shelley Sheppard Gray in the library, I didn't find a lot.  After finishing Supermarket Healthy, I went back on my Blogging for Books and found a book that seemed really interesting which I quickly signed up to read.  The super awesome thing is that they sent me the first and the second book in the series!!!  WHAT?!  How great is that?  They must know that I like to start at the beginning of the series and enjoy learning about the characters.  Is this something that most people like? I started with When Mercy Rains: A Novel (The Zimmerman Restoration Trilogy) by Kim Vogel Sawyer which was the first on the series.

Suzanne Zimmerman was only seventeen and pregnant when her shamed mother quietly sent her away from their Old Order Mennonite community in Kansas. With her old home, family, and first love firmly behind her, Suzanne moved to Indiana, became a nurse, and raised daughter, Alexa, on her own.  Nearly twenty years later, an unexpected letter arrives from Kansas. Her brother asks her to bring her nursing abilities home and care for their ailing mother. His request requires that Suzanne face a family that may not have forgiven her and a strict faith community. It also means seeing Paul Aldrich, her first love.   

Paul, widowed with an eight-year-old son, is relieved to see Suzanne again, giving him the chance to beg her forgiveness for his past indiscretion. But when he meets Alexa, his guilt flickers in the glare of Suzanne’s prolonged secret—one that changes everything. Suzanne had let go of any expectation for forgiveness long ago. Does she dare hope in mercy–and how will her uncovered past affect the people she loves the most?

While this 329 page book was quite large, it was a super fast read.  I carried it everywhere with me and was even trying to read it while making dinner and at the dinner table.  I was the person who went to pick my son up a few minutes early so that I could read a few extra pages.  It was so good and there were so many secrets that you wanted to learn.  I haven't read anything by this author before so I was interested in her writing.  One of the great things that I appreciated was the great writing which really opened up the characters and let you understand everything about them.  When I was done with the book, I had to pick up the next book immediately which I guess is why they sent me the first book in the series when they sent the second.  I thought the characters were very relate-able and you felt that you were in the middle of this great family.  I hope that you check this out at your local library and bookstore.

** I received a free copy of this book from the publishers for being a member of Blogging for Books

Wanted: Sisters of the Heart Book Review

I was excited to have the second book already in my hands when I finished the first book because it was so good and I wanted to find out what happened next.  I picked up Wanted (Sisters of the Heart) by Shelley Shepard Gray and started reading.  I couldn't stop!!!

Twenty-year-old Katie Brenneman has always quietly fancied Jonathan Lundy. So when the brokenhearted widower asks her to help him take care of his two young girls, Katie knows it will be a trying time—yet she cannot pass up a golden opportunity to get to know this man better.  Just as she's settling into her new life, a message arrives from Katie's past, threatening to expose her darkest secrets. During her Rumspringa, her running-around years, she experimented with activities forbidden in the Amish way of life. Frightened by how far she'd strayed from her values, Katie ran back home, vowing to cut all ties with the outside world. Now her transgressions are coming back to haunt her, just as Jonathan seems willing to welcome her into his heart.
Will the past destroy Katie's chances for love? Or will Katie allow herself to accept God's love, forgive her past, and receive everything she's ever wanted?

It was another great book in the series and I can't wait to get the next one from the library.  I have been trying to make it there to pick it up but since I was reading another book I was distracted.  This was very interesting and hard to put down. I loved all of the follow through from the previous book in the series.  It is always great to revisit some of those characters that we grew to love in the first book and then learn more details about them.  This book was a great insight into Katie which still featuring Anna from the first book.  Getting into their life and seeing how every decision affects them, makes you appreciate the Amish life even more so.  I loved this book as much as the first one and I hope that you do to.  If you missed the first book, please check out the review here and then read this book.  I hope that you check it out at your local library or bookstore soon!!!