Books that I read for fun in February 2015

Last year, I spent the last half of the year documenting the books that I read for fun. I have decided that I need to continue that as reading is important part of how I relax.

So here are the books that I have read for fun in February and that helped me keep my mind off of being sick and having kidney stones.... (Disclaimer: if you click on the book picture, it takes you to the page on Amazon.)



Here are the books I read for fun in:

January 2015
Books from 2014

Have you read any good books lately?

Love Centered Parenting by Maria Gavriel

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Our modern culture has lowered the volume on our inner voice. We, as parents, are often left disempowered and unclear about our parenting choices. What exactly has been muffling that inner voice, and where do we go from here? Love Centered Parenting offers friendly guidance to help you find your own inner wisdom, so that you hear it loudly and clearly during your parenting journey. It is an intimate share about fertility challenges, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, sleep issues, diet, natural healing, and healthy choices-encouraging you to tune into your own intuition, while reaching out to community to support you. As you read through this book, you will be reminded to tap into your innate intelligence so that you are left feeling empowered with your conscious parenting choices. 

MY THOUGHTS: 

Maria Gavriel's book is a refreshing read for those who are expecting a child or in the newborn phase of parenting. Love Centered Parenting is broken into 2 parts. The first part talks about Gavriel's own journey to motherhood and what it means to invite a child into your body and into your life at delivery. After each chapter, Gavriel invites her readers to do a simple meditation that is based on the chapter that you just read. I like how she broke part 1 into talking about how hard it was to conceive, how to have a natural healthy pregnancy, the different approaches to delivery and how each woman has the right to decide for themselves and for their families what their roles should be after the baby is born--whether they should go to work or not-- and how women should not feel guilt about their own decisions. 

The second half of Love Centered Parenting, gives a spiritual and holistic approach to raising your infant. The topics include sleep patterns, breastfeeding, having a healthy diet, whether or not vaccination is right for you, etc. While I did not agree with every point Gavriel made, I never felt like I was being lectured as I was reading. In fact, I felt that she would tell me that it would be okay to disagree with some of her points; in fact she writes "So take from this book what you like and what resonates with you. Then feel free to tweak what you learned and customize it according to your own and your family's needs."(p.157)

I loved her main message that ultimately it is up to the parents to believe that they know what is best for their child and for their family.  will admit that I wasn't sure if I would get a lot out of this book. We are done with the trying to conceive stage of our lives and are currently enjoying parenting and raising 3 children--ages 8, 5 and 2. However, it was refreshing to hear someone else solidify what I have felt. My husband and I as parents know what is best for our children and for our family and it is with help from resources such as Gavriel's book that we can gain confidence in our parenting abilities. 

 

DISCLAIMER: 

I received this book for free from Westwind Book Marketing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It's been cold and snowy....

This past week it has been COLD! In fact according to one of our local weathermen, it has been the coldest 10 day stretch since 1886! That is ridiculous. 

Thursday that kids did not have school since the temperature was so cold. Seriously messed up our plans for the day but what are you going to do? Friday, the kids didn't have school again, as the heat in half of the building was not working. Not good when it is -10 degrees outside. 

As for me, Thursday, I had to make 2 cakes for the kids' school Lenten fish dinners. I do this every year. Friday, I had to go out and deliver them to school. I also had to make 48 white chocolate dipped oreos for the school's father/daughter dance on Saturday. 

Saturday morning, we woke up to LOTS of snow on the ground and it was still snowing pretty heavily. I think in all total we got at least 7 inches....so they postponed the father/daughter dance to the future. Rebecca was upset as she had been so looking forward to it, but she understood. The good news was that the temperature finally made it above freezing, so Bill was able to take the kids outside to play while I fixed dinner. It was good for them to get out of the house. And after dinner, the kids had cake that I made since Rebecca was upset about the dance being cancelled.  (I guess I will take the oreos to my work as I DON'T need them in our house!)

Today, it was a matter of trying to dig out....This morning, Benjamin spent much of the morning being a "Ben in a bin" as he decided to sit in one of the toy bins and play. He played like that for over an hour. It was so funny. 

Bill was able to take the kids out again this afternoon while Ben and I stayed in and I gave Benjamin a bath and put laundry away. 

We are looking at much of the same weather next week...COLD! Just saw that we are under a wind chill advisory for tonight. 

Oh well. It is winter in Ohio and we just have to deal. 

I hope that wherever you are, it is warmer than here and that everyone is well! Hope everyone had a great Sunday!

And life marches on....

Sorry I have been MIA on this blog. The last time I wrote was on February 5, when I told you all about having the flu and coming home from having kidney stone surgery. Thank you everyone for your well wishes and good thoughts. I wouldn't wish having the flu and kidney stones simultaneously on anyone! Well life has continued to go on, as it should, and I have just been trying to keep up really.

The Thursday after I came home, Rebecca's school had their annual Knowledge Fair and science fair night, where all the kids got to show off their projects. The second grade did individual reports on dinosaurs and had to complete a diorama about their dinosaurs (that thankfully my mom helped her to finish since I was in the hospital). Rebecca did her report on the pterodactyl. Unfortunately I was still in a lot of pain and therefore missed it, but I heard that she did great and she told me her little presentation when she came home.

I missed work that week. My doctor wanted me to take a month off due to having both influenza B and the kidney stones, but I just can't afford to take that kind of time off. I did end up taking last Monday and Tuesday off. On Monday, I had my stint taken out. I was so glad to have it out, as it was causing me to have spasms and those were really painful and it meant I had to get up and go to the bathroom every hour and a half. During my appointment, my urologist told me that basically I should only be drinking water and real homemade lemonade, or water with lemon as there is something in the lemon acid that helps to break up kidney stones in women. So I have been drinking a lot of water and water with lemon. I have to go back in 6 months for an x-ray and to make sure that no new stones are forming.

Wednesday last week, I went back to work and I was exhausted. I came home and crashed. I took Thursday off and then worked again on Friday. I was very tired. One of the side effects of this stupid influenza B is prolonged tiredness that could last up to a month. I have been extremely tired and cold to my bones as well.

Thursday and Friday the kids had their Valentine's Day parties at school. Jacob actually had 2 parties as he has different teachers on Thursday and Friday.  Rebecca's class had their party on Friday. Both kids said their parties were fun. The kids had to make boxes to take to school for their Valentine's. I covered the boxes in plain brown wrapping paper that I had and gave the kids stickers and markers and they created their own boxes. I didn't have the energy to get really creative with them this year, and the kids didn't seem to mind.

Saturday, Valentine's Day, it was cold (wind chills in -20s) and there were a lot of times with white out snow conditions. We stayed home. Bill went out and got the kids McDonald's for Valentine's Day lunch and then he and I had subs from the pizza place across the street for dinner. Sunday, we decided to brave the cold and took the 2 older kids to see the new Spongebob movie. It was Jacob's first time to see a movie in the theater and he did great. He loved it! As for me, it was okay. Really it was a glorified episode....

Today, it is President's Day, which means no school for the kiddos. I did tutor this morning (I am tutoring our neighbor in English and Spelling), but other than that I have not done much. It is so cold outside and I have been freezing all day long, even though it is 70 in our house. I have also been exhausted all day. I took an hour nap on the couch this afternoon.

This week, I am taking Tuesday and Thursday off from work, with hopefully going back everyday starting next week. I hope that my energy level comes back as we get life back to normal. I just am tired of being sick and tired.

How are things in your neck of the woods? 

Kidney stones + the flu = A 3 day hospital stay

I am friends with a couple of you on facebook, but for those that don't know, I came down with flu like symptoms a week ago Wednesday--sudden onset of fever, chills, achiness, headache, etc. I stayed home from work on Thursday and Friday and spent most of those days on the couch resting. On Sunday night, I still wasn't feeling all that well. Just as the Patriots intercepted the ball at the end of the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl, I doubled over in pain feeling as if someone was taking an on fire knife to my back and side. Bill took me to the ER where I was diagnosed with not only kidney stones but with a confirmed case of influenza B as well (they did the flu swab on me)! Talk about a double whammy!! I spent the next 3 days at our local hospital, where I finally had surgery to break up the kidney stone on Wednesday. I was able to come home last night. I am still in some pain, and am uncomfortable .I have been told that because of the stones and the flu that I won't be back to normal feeling probably for about a month. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has sent a prayer my way. Now it is off to rest.....

Books that I read for fun in January 2015

Last year, I spent the last half of the year documenting the books that I read for fun. I have decided that I need to continue that as reading is important part of how I relax.

So here are the books that I have read for fun in January.... (Disclaimer: if you click on the book picture, it takes you to the page on Amazon.)



Have you read any good books lately?

Rebecca...Jacob...then me and now Benjamin!

Last Thursday night, Rebecca came down with a fever and a headache and missed school on Friday. Thankfully, there was no school Monday as she was still fighting a fever, but was able to go back to school on Tuesday. Tuesday night, I got a text from Bill  that Jacob had a high fever and was sick. He has been home from school since then. He will go about 12 hours without a fever, then it will come back.

Then Wednesday night, I came home and had a bad headache come on all of a sudden. So I decided to take my temperature...and you guessed it....I am now sick. I have been achy all over, going from shivering from being cold to being hot. I am taking cold and flu meds and it is making it a little more bearable today, but this will be the second day I am off work. (Since I work in a school, I can't go into work with a fever, even if I have taken meds to control it). Uggh...I have no energy and I just feel like I have been run over by a semi truck or a salt truck!

Then this afternoon, Benjamin got cranky and we took his temperature and it was 100.7. Looks like he is now down for the count. UGHHH!!!

Weigh In Wednesday # 27 and another kid is sick

In an effort to lose 40 lbs over the course of the next year (by July 28, 2015) I have decided to have a weekly accountability forum here on my blog. Every Wednesday I will be posting a "Weigh In Wednesday" post where I will post my weight taken that morning and things that I did good on the previous week, and things (goals) to work on for the next week. I think that by doing this, I can break it down into smaller goals and hopefully make myself more accountable!

First let's recap:
 My official starting weight (on July 30) was:::  235.6 lbs.

My weight last week was::: 224.8 lbs

My weight this week is::: 224.6 lbs. 
Down 0.2 lbs! 


This past week I think I did okay. I was stressed a lot due to Rebecca being sick and now with Jacob being sick. And when I am stressed I eat. I have cut back somewhat on the sweets, but apparently not enough. Hubby has been bugging me to follow this diet program that he is on, somewhat like weight watchers but something he came up with where he doesn't have to pay weight watchers. Instead he has a a point system using calories and fat.... I don't know. Maybe I should. I don't know. 
 

Any words of wisdom? Thoughts? Advice? 

I would love to have all the support I can get!!
If you are trying to lose weight, feel free to tag along on these posts as well! Would love some company on this weight loss journey! 

Weekly goals for week of January 26, 2015

Last week, I got some things done on my to do list but not a lot. I took on an adult tutoring student so that caused a wrinkle in my plans. Then Rebecca got sick. Add in work and I was just kind of overwhelmed. I did get a few things done that was NOT on my to do list--like deep cleaned Rebecca's bedroom which took a couple hours out of my Sunday. So what did I get done that was on my list.....

• dust upstairs (our room, Rebecca's room, the boys' room, and the bathroom)
• sweep all floors upstairs and mop the bathroom
• shred old bills and statements from 2014 that we don't need
• declutter 1 tote from the basement
• declutter tote upstairs in the hallway that has been there since before Christmas
• clean out downstairs bathroom cabinet

• 

  BEFORE

  
  

  

  AFTER

• 

  The trash I threw out from the cabinet

• continue  get back on ab/squat challenge  I decided to give up on this challenge for this month. 
• Laundry- one load at least a day, taking Sunday off Although I can't take credit, my dear hubby did all the laundry and got it all caught up.
• Post 2 book reviews
• Read to the kids at least 4 nights out of 7
• Figure out time for Benjamin's blood work
• Fill out and mail off HEAP application and Insurance renewal information
• date night with Bill 

This week, I hope to be more productive.....We shall see how things go....

• Dust and sweep upstairs (our room, Rebecca's bedroom, the boys' bedroom and the bathroom)
• declutter 1 tote from the basement
• declutter tote in upstairs hallway that has been there since before Christmas
• post 3 book reviews to get caught up
• Figure out time for Benjamin's blood work
• Fill out and mail HEAP application and insurance renewal information
• Tutor 3 days this week
• Rebecca's Reconciliation 
• Keep on top of everyday housework that comes with living with my husband and our 3 kids! 

So there you have it. My goals for this week. I think they are totally doable if I just actually do them. We will see.   I hope everyone has a great week! 

Gratitude Sunday

One of the things that I have been trying to work on is making sure that I am looking at the good things in life. Even when there are people that are sick, the weather is lousy, and life just seems like a mountain to climb straight up there are always things to be thankful for. So I have decided to *hopefully* come back every Sunday and say things that I am grateful for from the previous week.

This week, I am grateful for (in no particular order):

• A husband who has done most of the laundry for the week.
• Healthy kids. Rebecca has been fighting a fever the last couple days and is coughing today but her fever is gone. It makes me grateful for times that there are no sick kids in my house.
• Date night. Hubby brought home yummy Mexican food for him and I last night since we could not go out to eat due to Rebecca being sick. 
• Tutoring...I started tutoring an adult student this past week. It will be a little extra money.
• Summer vacation. Hubby and I nailed down our main summer vacation plans and now I just need to save up money to be able to pay for it completely.

Now it is your turn. What are you grateful for this week? 

Fever.....

This little girl should be at school right now taking a spelling test and doing all of her 2nd grade work. But she is not. She is laying on the couch, watching cartoons not feeling too well. When I brought her home last night after I got off work, she was running a fever of 103. Ughh. This morning it was at 103.3, after not having any Tylenol or Motrin overnight. When I called her school to tell them that she would not be in, the secretary asked if she had a fever and then told me that there were at least 2 other girls in Rebecca's class that were out today with high fevers, all of whom got them late yesterday afternoon/evening. So I am pretty sure it is something that she got from school. Now just to keep anyone else in the house from getting it.

Evening Prayers: For Every Day of the Year

DESCRIPTION:

We want to turn to God at the close of each day, but often don’t find the words to express our deepest feelings. This collection of prayers is one of the few daily devotionals especially intended for use in the evening.

Blumhardt’s words bespeak a certainty in God’s nearness. The peace that flows from them comes from a firm conviction that God’s kingdom is indeed on the way. In challenging times like our own, this reassurance can bring us serenity each evening of the year.

MY THOUGHTS:

I will admit that I have been thinking that I need to add more prayer into my life. I admire those people who can spend an hour each morning going over their Bibles and devotionals. Unfortunately, I know that that route is NOT for me, as I am not a morning person. That is why I was looking forward to reviewing Evening Prayers: For Every Day of the Year by Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt. 

The book has an evening devotional for each day, starting with January 1. Each day has a short scripture passage, followed by a prayer based on that scripture passage. The prayers are the same prayers that were spoken over 100 years ago and were gathered after Blumhardt's death. 

There is a sense of serenity in knowing that these prayers have stood the test of time. I found that each day I could read them and still understand what he was saying because they were generic of the everyday. That is a blessing and fault with this type of book. If you are looking for a specific devotional for a specific time in your life, I would not recommend this. However, if you are looking for a devotional to help you stay on track with your spiritual life then I would recommend it. 

DISCLAIMER: I received this book free from Handlebar Marketing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (book review)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list). 

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

MY THOUGHTS: 

It seems like I am in a constant battle of decluttering and having too much stuff in our house. I have read a lot of books on decluttering and getting rid of stuff, so I was intrigued enough to read Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. I was intrigued because maybe there was something new in this book that would help me finally.

What I found was a book that really didn't have anything new to say, however said what I already knew in a different way. Kondo begins her book by discussing why we seem to live in a world of clutter and untidiness--it is because we were never taught, or we were taught the wrong way. That leads to Kondo's big belief that we must change our way of thinking about tidying and do a big all at once declutterization versus a little at a time. She argues that we should declutter our homes by categories, not by rooms necessarily. Kondo offers the order that one should declutter: clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items, and sentimental items. Once you have decluttered by only keeping things that bring you joy, then she offers suggestions on how to decorate and place things in your living space that work for your life.

There were several ideas that I liked that Kondo offers. I liked how she would take each thing and ask if it brings joy to your life and if it does you keep, if it does not you get rid of. I like how to she recommends doing one category at a time and I like how she gives tips on how to store the items that you do keep. I do agree that if you surround yourself with things that you love that you will be happier.

There was, however, times that I rolled my eyes and couldn't use some of her advice. First of all, many of her ideas seem to work for a single person or someone who lives with other adults. I did not see much, if any, advice on how to deal with kids' toys and the many things that children may have. I also got the impression that this type of organization would be better suited to someone with a tiny house or apartment, and not a 3 bedroom family home with 3 young children and 2 adults.

I would suggest this book to those with no children or older adult children and who want a simpler, easier lifestyle with not many things. For someone like myself, I like the concept of it, but am finding it hard to put it into practice. 

DISCLOSURE: I received this book free from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.