Bringing Up Girls {Review}

A while back I had the chance to review Raising Real Men to learn more about raising my boys.  When I received the chance to review Bringin Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson, I thought it was great that I could learn more about raising my girls also! 
Dr. Dobson begins by explaining the differences between boys and girls backed by research and examples.  I thought this was a great place to start since much of today's culture tries to tell us they really aren't that different.  He goes on to tell of the importance of both a mother and father in a little girl's life.  Daughters need different things from each parent to feel secure in her life.  Dr. Dobson also discusses some of the challenges our daughters will face as they grow, such as peer pressure, bullies, adolescence, media/technology, and much more.  He gives great advice on how we can guide our daughters through different phases of their life and how to help them make wise decisions based on Biblical standards.
Bringing Up Girls is another great book that I will keep around so I can refer to it again and I highly recommend it!

I received this book for free for review from Tyndale Publishers.



Blessings,

Wahl Deep Tissue Massager {Review}

Last week I received an early mother's day present!  Only it wasn't from my family, it was from the great people at Wahl.  They sent me a Deep Tissue Massager for review.  I was so excited to get this because I love massages (who doesn't?) and couldn't wait to try it out!  As much as I love to get a massage from my hubby, it's not always as easy for me to give him a good one in return due to carpel tunnel in my hands.  I thought the Wahl massager would be the perfect way to give my hardworking hubby a good massage for once and we weren't disappointed! 

The Deep Tissue Massager comes with four interchangeable attachments: deep muscle, four finger flex, accupoint, and raised bump.  My favorite is the deep muscle one, but they are all useful for different areas of your back or different aches and pains you are working on.  It also has a variable speed feature to adjust the intensity, which was nice because the higher speed was a little too harsh around areas like my shoulder blades and spine, but worked great for getting at areas that usually need a little more work to feel relaxed. It is powered with a cord so you don't need to worry about getting new batteries all the time and the cord is nice and long too, so you won't need to be in an uncomfortable spot just to be next to an outlet. It is very easy to use and my kids have been having a blast giving massages to each other and me.

 If you happened to be short on helpers, the long handle is another great feature that makes it easy to even use on yourself!  I used to be a pet groomer and have used the Wahl brand clippers, so I know that Wahl makes quality products and I have no doubt this massager will last us a long time!

You can purchase this or any of Wahl's other massagers on their website or you can nominate someone to win their giveaway contest.  Wahl is having a contest going on over on their Facebook page right now in honor of Mother's Day. Running through May 13, those who like Wahl Home on Facebook can nominate a mom to win a mom relief package from Wahl, whether it’s your mom, grandmother, wife, daughter, a friend or yourself. To enter the Mom Relief Initiative, simply post a comment on their wall explaining why the mom on your list deserves relief—maybe they’re a single mom who does it all, a working mom who never takes a break, a grandmother who’s always been there…every mom has a story and every story matters. Entries will be judged on their uniqueness and sincerity and the winners will be selected once the contest wraps up on May 13. Stories MUST be submitted before then in order to be considered. So go nominate your favorite mom today!

This is a MamaBuzz Review.  I received this massager from Wahl for free for this review.  All opinions are my own.

Blessings,

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

I used to use a lot of cans of cream soups.  They are so easy to throw into a casserole to make it creamy and yummy!  One time though, I was completely out of cream of mushroom soup but didn't discover that until after I had started making something.  I needed something quick, so I got out my trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook to see what I could use instead.  It recommended making a thick white sauce and adding in mushrooms.  After finding out how easy it was and how much healthier our dinners could be, I have almost completely quit using canned soups.  I've also done a bit of experimenting to make cream of chicken and cream of celery soup with almost the same recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup of milk

Directions:
Saute mushrooms in the butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly.  Gradually stir in the milk and heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir for 1 minute or until thickened.

For cream of celery, substitute 1/2 cup celery for the mushrooms.  For cream of chicken, substitute chopped chicken for the mushrooms and 1/2 cup of chicken broth for 1/2 of the milk.

This will make about 1 can of condensed soup, but often I will triple or quadruple the amount and put the extra in jars in my fridge or freezer to save for later.  It's not as easy as opening up a can of soup and dumping it in, but if I have some ready to go, then I only have to cook it up once in a while and the rest of the time it is just as easy as dumping it in!  It is very tasty in Chicken Tetrazzini or Chicken Pot Pie!

Blessings,

Linked up with:
Raising Homemakers
Far Above Rubies
The Better Mom
Teach Me Tuesdays
Titus 2sday
Women Living Well
A Delightful Home
Raising Arrows
The Modest Mom
A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Wildflowers From Winter {Review}

Bethany Quinn grew up in a small town in Iowa, where her life is less than ideal after her father dies.  The only place she enjoys going is to be with her Grandpa, working with him on his farm. When she grows up though, she escapes her past and small town life to become an architect in Chicago.  Fast forward ten years and Bethany is called back home when tragedy strikes.  Despite her plan to keep her stay as short as possible, Bethany ends up staying indefinitely when she unexpectedly inherits 500 acres of farmland.  Bethany would like nothing more than to sell her land and get back to being an architect, but her Grandpa's handsome farmhand, Evan, stands in her way and it seems God has other plans for her life.  As she sorts through feelings of her past and her faith, she and Evan begin to fall for each other. 
I thoroughly enjoyed Wildflowers From Winter by Katie Ganshert!  It was such a great reminder that God's plan is not always the same as our plan.  Bethany struggled with letting go of her plan, but when she did, she found that God's plan was even better!  I also like that this book was about farming!  Growing up on and now having our own farm, I could very easily picture the farm scenes in the story.  The author did a very nice and accurate telling of many farming details.  I highly recommend Wildflowers From Winter and look forward to finding more books by Katie Ganshert.

I received this book for free for review from Waterbrook Multnomah

Blessings,

Song of My Heart {Review}

Song of My Heart, by Kim Vogel Sawyer, is a sweet, but fairly predictable romance.  It took me a bit to get into this book, and I thought it was a little slow to start, but it had a great ending.  Sadie is a sweet, rather naive, young girl working far from home to help support her family after her stepfather is injured.  She moves to Goldtree, Kansas, where her cousin Sid lives and told her of a store clerk job and an opportunity to use her musical talents at the town's new opera house.  When the opera house owner coerces her into performing bawdy songs for "invite-only" performances, Sadie does so to continue to be able to send money home to her family.
Thad McKane is also a new arrival in Goldtree.  He has been hired as the sheriff to discover who is running an illegal liqueur operation in town.  When Thad begins to discover that the illegal activity seems to be connected to Sadie, he wonders if their new found romance will be able to last.
Despite being predictable in the beginning, I liked how the ending of the story came about.  I also really enjoyed the quirky side characters of Melba and Shelba Baxter, the owners of the mercantile who give Sadie her clerk job and take her into their own home.  Kim Vogel Sawyer does a very nice job of weaving in the lesson of learning to trust God.  Sadie was trying to do what she thought she needed to to, but instead she should have allowed God to provide for her and her family.  Once she realized this, she was able to do what was right and have the courage to face the consequences of her actions.  Song of My Heart is a good romance with a strong faith base and I recommend it to anyone.

I received this book for free for review from Bethany House Publishers.

Blessings,