When the Heart Cries {Review}

This is another great Amish story by Cindy Woodsmall.  I think she has become my favorite Amish author.  She does such a great job writing her stories that I never want to put them down!  When the Heart Cries is about Hannah Lapp.  She comes from a strict Old Order Amish family, but she has found love outside her family's communtiy with her neighbor's grandson Paul.  Before return to college for his final year, Paul proposes and Hannah agrees to marry him, knowing full well that her family will not be happy.  On her way home, however, tragedy strikes when Hannah is attacked and raped.  Hannah's dad convinces her it is best to keep the attack quiet, and while her siblings know something happened to Hannah, they don't know all the details.  While Hannah recovers, her sister has to bear more of the workload of the household chores and resents Hannah, spreading rumors about her.  Not long after her attack, Hannah's brother and future sister-in-law are in an accident and Hannah's brother places the blame on her.  With her world seeming to fall apart, Hannah's only hope seems to be to hold on long enough for Paul to graduate and then they can marry.  But then even worse things happen and she even faces losing Paul. 

I highly recommend this book.  It is the first in the Sisters of the Quilt series and I can't wait to get my hands on the second one to continue to story!

I received this book for free for review from Waterbrook Multnomah.

The 21 Day Dad's Challenge {Review}

So, clearly, I am not a dad.  But when I was given the opportunity to review The 21 Day Dad's Challenge, I asked my husband if he would be interested in reviewing it and writing a guest post for me.  He thought it looked like a good book and agreed to write this review for it.  So here is his review:

The 21-Day Dad's Challenge is a book written by a group of dads and published by Focus on the Family. It is a book that has simple, easy to understand tips for having a better relationship with your kids.  Each chapter is short so it does not take too much of your time.  At the end of each chapter, it gives you a challenge of something that you can do with or for your kids and space to write out a plan of how you will carry out the challenge. Most dads should enjoy it because it is written by semi well know christian men.  Each chapter is written by a different man.  Former Colts coach Tony Dungy, former Seahawk MVP Shuan Alexander, Josh McDowell, Randy Alcorn, Carey Casey, Jim Daly, Stuart Briscoe, Chip Ingram, Dr. Gary Oliver, Dr. Gary Rosberg, Gracia Burnham, Joe White, Michael Catt, and Dr. Ken Canfield  Their advice is based on the unique experiences that these great men have.  I really enjoyed this book and had fun trying out some of the challenges with my kids.  It is great to intentionally take some time to have a better relationship with them.  The 21-Day Dad's Challenge is a great read for any man who wants great advice from men with a broad range of backgrounds.

I recieved this book for free for review from Tyndale House Publishers.

Doodle Roll Winner!

Thank you to all those who entered the Doodle Roll giveaway!  I used random.org to pick the winner.

Congratulations to Amari! I will be emailing you and you will have 48 hours to respond or I will have to pick a new winner.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 100: 4-5

This year I am so thankful for the many, many blessings God has given us. Most importantly, I am thankful for my heavenly Father who provides for all our needs and so much more. My wonderful husband works hard to provide for our family and still finds time to have fun with the kids and me. My kids are growing daily and have been healthy and happy. They are doing so well in their school studies and love having fun with each other. We are blessed to live near so much of our extended family, so most of our parents, grandparents, and siblings are a big part of our lives and the kids love having them around. We are never wanting for food, warm clothes, or shelter. We truly are blessed with so much more than we need. 

Once again, Conny has been hosting her 30 Days of Thanks for the month of November.  Unfortunately this year I just haven't gotten around to participating until now.  After you finish reading my post, stop by and visit her to see what everyone else has been thankful for.

I pray that each of you has a blessed Thanksgiving!

I Love to Read!

If you haven't figured out yet from all my book reviews, I really love to read.  When I was younger and before I had kids, I read TONS of books.  After having kids, I really slowed down.  The obvious reason being that I didn't have as much time for it.   Another reason though, was that I just didn't get to the library as often for books.  Not the adult section anyway.  We do get to the library about once a week, but have you ever tried taking four young kiddos into the adult section and expected them to stand quietly while you browse for books?  It just doesn't happen.  If they aren't pulling out books or tearing pages out of magazines, they are pushing buttons on the computers or climbing on chairs to look out the windows!  Once in a while I remember to request a book and have it ready for me, but for the most part I gave up my reading time and figured I could start again when they are older.

But, enter the world of technology!  Last spring, my wonderful hubby surprised me with a Kindle when I was laid up with my kidney stones.  I have read more in the past 6 months than I have in the past 6 years!  I really didn't think I would like using an electronic reader, but it has turned out to be better than I expected.  There are tons of books on Amazon that can be sent right to my Kindle.  I think that I have close to 200 on there right now.  You're probably thinking that they are too expensive and then you still have to buy the books to read.  Well, the initial investment of the reader is pricey, but Christmas is coming. :) Amazon recently released newer versions of the Kindle and they are quite a bit cheaper than they used to be.  And once you have that, you can get all kinds of free books.  I haven't paid for a single one of mine.  Amazon has a large free section and also will have special books free for a certain time.  I have found a site at No Ordinary Moments that is regularly updated with some of these free ones, usually Christian ones.  So unless you are looking for a certain book, you can get all kinds of free stuff to read.  I don't know about your library, but ours has recently started lending electronic books too, so that is another place to borrow for free.

If you still don't want an electronic reader, I have also found that purchasing books online is another great way to get books for a great deal.  There are lots of sites that have great books and often offer discouts and specials.  One of my new favorite places is Vision Forum. They have a great selection of Christian books that are so good for building up your home and family (and they also have tons of other fun stuff!).  I love looking up their deal of the day everyday, just to see if it might be something fun the kids would love for their next birthday or Christmas.  Currently they are having some amazing giveaways that you can check out HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, or HERE.

If you don't want to purchase new books or are looking for a place to get rid of your old books, PaperbackSwap is a great site.  The way it works is that you send books you have to people that request them (you pay the shipping which is usually around $2) and then you get a credit.  You can use your credit to request books from others and they will send them to you for free!  I have been using this site to get most of the books we use in homeschool to help bring down the costs of curriculum and it has been working out great so far! Swap Books for Free - PaperBackSwap.com

If you love reading too, hopefully this has helped inspire you to find ways to fit it in even if you have kiddos climbing all over you while you do. :)