Book Review: In Front of God and Everybody

From the Publisher: If God wanted April Grace to be kind to her neighbors, He should have made them nicer!


Growing up in the country is never easy, but it sure is funny—especially if you happen to have a sister obsessed with being glamorous, a grandma just discovering make-up, hippie friends who never shower, and brand new neighbors from the city who test everyone’s patience. From disastrous dye jobs to forced apologies and elderly date tagalongs, you’ll laugh ‘til you cry as you read the Confessions of April Grace!

Here are just a couple of April's thoughts: On her sister, Myra Sue: "How anyone can be that dumb and still be able to eat with a fork is beyond me." On senior citizen lovebirds: "What if they started smooching right at the table in front of God and everybody?"

In spite of all the loony characters in her life, April Grace is able to learn from her parents as they share the love of God—to even the craziest of characters!

My two cents:

April Grace learns through the example set by her parents to share the love of God with others, no matter how badly they behave which is a perfect reminder for the teens reading this book. I thought the book to be funny and inspirational at the same time. April Grace is a well-developed, philosophical character and I thoroughly enjoyed her crazy thoughts and fierce loyalty. I love the growth she shows and her determination to do God's will.

Disclosure: This book was provided to me by Thomas Nelson Publishing through BookSneeze.com. All opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

New Posts!

After being busy this summer, I finally got some time - and encouragement/nagging - to catch up on the blog the other night.  Then, I forgot to say that there are FIVE new posts here from the other night!  I'm planning on doing a couple more on Sunday or Monday but, for now, please read the FIVE posts.

* Quilts
* Vacation Bible School
* Swimming, Swimming!!
* Houston Trip
* Birthday Boy

That is, if anyone else besides ______________ is reading the blog!

Blessings to you!

Tena

Quilts

Part of being 'off' for the summer is catching up on things I neglect during the school year.

Some of the things neglected are sewing projects, cleaning the house, organizing closets, etc.  I have spent some time getting caught up in the sewing room and have even purchased a new shelf to help keep that room a bit more organized.

Brenda's quilt.  Special request for my Alaskan outdoorsy friend!  She loves it so much that she won't put it on the wall in her bedroom as it was intended!  It was to 'replace' a quilt I made for her over 10 years ago...

Becky's quilt:  All Minshew or district shirts for a special coach that is moving to a different building.  Boohoo!  Miss her already!

Denim quilt:  Includes my grandfather's overalls, my dad's jeans, my brother's jeans, my mom's jeans and also my husband's jeans.  I predict that I'll have to make another one - and you know there's plenty of jeans left over!  Very heavy without batting...I just put a flannel backing and binding on this one.

Eli's holding one of his blankies that I had to fix...

There are other quilts that I've finished but didn't include due to the fact that they haven't been delivered yet.  So stay tuned to see what's next!!

Is anybody even reading this blog anymore?

Vacation Bible School

In an effort to be 'more involved' in our small hometown, I /volunteered/suggested/agreed to help at one of the church's Vacation Bible School weeks and found myself in charge of one of the projects. 

It was a lot of fun.  I met some fun people.  Eli had a blast!  We got a new CD and t-shirts.  We had fun.  I took a few pics...The project I was 'in charge of' was a quilt, of course.  Actually, seven of them...

Each child was able to decorate a square (or two) related to the lessons we learned about that week.

Now a group of talented quilters will put the backing and batting together with the tops and have them ready for the auction in the fall.  Or one will be given to a sick child or any number of things.  In any case, it turned out great and everyone enjoyed them.  Sherry embroidered the weeks' words on each quilt for us.

I'm using this blurry pic on purpose since it kinda obscures Eli's friend's face...He had so much fun!!

And two weeks later, we found ourselves at our church doing yet another VBS.  Husband asked me to discuss the differences between each church - and there were many - but each was awesome in it's own way.  At our church, I was in charge of a crew of 4-5 year olds and we traveled from activity to activity together.  Eli wasn't with me but had an awesome time.

That's me and my crew.  What a great group of kids!

Swimming, Swimming!!!

This summer, I've been determined that Eli will learn to swim...so, we started the very first week of summer with a week of daily lessons.  He did pretty well with the instructor and he did come away with a better understanding of how he is supposed to move in the water...but, he didn't want to put his face in! 

He did swim with his instructor in the deep end and he did jump off the diving board one day but he just didn't want to hold his breath and put his face in - for very long...

He did look pretty cute in his goggles and gear and he was pretty excited about lessons.  Since then, we've been swimming almost every day and we've been practicing...he can now hold his breath under water while either kicking or moving his arms and he is diving for sticks and other toys under water.  We are definitely on our road to being a swimmer.  And there are three weeks of summer left for me and six weeks of summer left for him...plenty of time to really get it going with more practice!!

Houston Trip

The week after school was out, we headed to Houston for a reunion of the Geiger's.  It was fun to see everyone and do a little 'catching up' but it never seems like we get enough time together...

While in Houston, we were able to attend a Houston Astros game (Houston lost), swim in my brother and Kit's pool for several hours, eat some yummy Italian food, visit the Art Car Museum, shop in The Heights, etc.  Enjoy some pics of our time!  (This is a lot more pics than I usually post but I haven't been posting much lately...)

Cousin John, Eli, Uncle Terry and Crazy Cousin Eddie enjoyed sitting really close together at lunch!

Eli and Cousin Virginia on our way to seats at the Houston Astros game.  He says he loves her!  She was so good with him!

Eli got to hug the ChikfilA cow and then he sat next to Grandma at the game.  The crowd did the wave three times and Eli just kept going.  He was like the Energizer Bunny!  (Until the game went into overtime...)

This is one of the Art Cars at the Museum.  It is made out of spoons!

Cousin John got in the pool for awhile with Eli and taught him how to ride the shark!  THAT was fun!

My parents bought this shark for Terry and Kit sometime after they had their pool put in but they had never used it.  So, when Eli came to town, we had Crazy Cousin Eddie blow it up so Eli could ride!  He spent several hours in the pool that afternoon and was happy as could be - with Cousin John, the shark, Mommy and some water guns and lots of relatives coming outside to visit you, who wouldn't be, right?

Cousin John and Cousin Gayle with me after my long swim!  I was so pruny after being in the pool for so long and I was sure to share some of my pool-wetness with them!  haha

Grandma stopped at the Blue Bell Creamery and we had to have a sample...Yummmmy!

At the Children's Museum in New Braunfels, Eli got to play in a real kayak!  It was just the right size!!

There was also a mock-up of the Guadalupe River that we used to tube in when I was in college.  Excepts instead of coolers and people in the tubes, this one had rubber duckies and plastic tubes...very cute!  Even though this was outside, it was my favorite part!

And on our way back into Dallas, we stopped to visit Daddy's stone and add some flags.  Eli posed behind the stone to show how much he's grown.  No matter how much time passes, I keep missing Daddy and Eli talks about him more.  We try to tell him things that Daddy did with him but he's coming up with some accurate information on his own.  Smart little bugger!

Birthday Boy!

Okay, so Eli turned 4 in May.  He had a superhero birthday party at a local park and had an excellent time.  We had the party on a weekday and invited (mostly) friends from his class.  Besides the weather being SUPER-DUPER windy, it was a beautiful day!

My mom took a ride on the really high, bumpy slide before everyone arrived.

I think everyone took at least one ride down the high, bumpy slide.  You have to be careful or you'll slide ride off the end of the slide on your bum!

Trish and Dresden came with Aunt Sherry!

Hurry and blow out the candle before the wind gets it!

He continues to surprise/amaze us with his extensive vocabulary. He is interested in all kinds of music and frequently sings along!  His favorite group is The Wiggles and we listen to them in the car and watch them on DVD often.  He loves stickers and coloring (but not in the lines, sorry!)  He loves to watch "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" on tv, his favorite movie of all time continues to be "Sound of Music" but he also likes "The Bee Movie" or "Shrek."  His favorite veggies continue to be tomatoes and cucumbers.  (Many thanks to Grandad for that!)  We are taking swimming lessons and trying to be vigilant about getting him to swim by himself before summer is over...wish us luck!  He does question our authority to the point that we ask him 'who's in charge?' but he gets back in line quickly, of course!  He's such a joy to have around - even in the difficult times - and he is the best boy ever!  We are biased, though...

Photographer on the Loose!

Today was an Eli/Daddy Day while I was at school.  They did a few errand type things, Husband worked in the office a bit...a regular day for them without the park, though!  They rode bikes for awhile, too!

When I got home, one of the first things Eli told me was that he had taken some pictures with my camera.  He had me go directly to my desk and then he proceeded to turn on my camera and show me how to look at the pictures on the screen.

Not sure where my Husband was while Eli was busy...he took probably 30 pictures.  But, I thought I would share some of the pics he took. Here is our house (living room, mostly) through the eyes of our 4 year old...

Lots of important things to him...Guess I'll move my camera to a different spot.

Thirty One

I just wanted to remind everyone that Thirty One Gifts has another great sale this month!  With a $31 purchase, you can buy an All-In-One organizing tote for half price!  It's so cute!!

Here's the link for specials:

April Specials

Here's the link for my website:

Tena's website!

This month, I am donating all proceeds to the local Relay for Life for cancer research.  I'd love it if you would order something to support this cause!  You can enter your order directly on my website if you don't live locally or you can contact me via email if you are local and I'll help you save on shipping!  (Plus make a donation to Relay!  Isn't that awesome?)

Another idea would be to tell your Husband/Significant Other that you've seen some things in the catalog that you'd like and have him contact me for your Mother's Day gifts.  If you're local, I'll gift wrap it for him and deliver it before your BIG Day!!  (This is for orders placed before April 23rd.)

Thanks very much and have a blessed day!

Book Review: Unsinkable

As promised, here is my review for Abby Sunderland's book Unsinkable. (Photo post below)

From the publisher: More people have flown into outer space than have sailed solo around the globe. It is a challenge so immense that many have died trying, and all have been pushed beyond every physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual limit. In Unsinkable, readers follow Abby Sunderland into those depths. This biography delivers a gripping and evocative firsthand account that starts prior to her departure, travels through her daring (and sometimes near-death) encounters on the open sea, to her dramatic rescue in the remotest corner of the Indian Ocean, and the media explosion that happened upon her safe return to dry land.


Along the way, readers discover what it means to boldly face any challenge, to strive after something great, and to plumb the depths of faith, fear, and desperation only to emerge changed, renewed, and emboldened. In this day and age, when the most productive thing a teenager may do is play videogames, Abby's ambition and tenacity is a real-life parable of what can happen when we choose to exceed our own limits, embrace faith, and strives after what all the naysayers say is impossible.

My thoughts: Not having any experience in sailing, I was mesmerized by the fact that this teenager would be confident enough in her skills at sea to risk such a trip. Then I thought about her parents and how they supported her dream and had taught her that taking risks was sometimes necessary. How awesome that at her young age, she was able to see something she wanted and goes for it with the full support and encouragement of her family? I can say that many kids now take a lifetime to figure out their dream and still never go after it.

I was impressed with Abby Sunderland’s tenacity and strength in the face of adversity in this book. She took the bad experiences (engine not starting, heavy winds, etc.) in stride and drew on her vast knowledge of sailing and her faith to get her through. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to review a renewal to their own spirit and perhaps build some new capacity to make their own dreams come true.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Spring Break!!

After a slow start to get out of town and then an illness, we were finally able to go away!  It was such fun to just get out of town but we learned that Eli really DOES so much better when he has a NAP!!!  The trip was shorter than originally planned and we didn't make it to all the places we thought we'd make it but we had fun!

We only made it as far as San Marcos.  I went to college there and was excited to see the changes around campus.  There was TONS of construction and some buildings were torn down that I would've loved to have seen.  But, the bar on the square which holds some dear memories was still open.

We took a ride on the glass bottom boats at Aquarena Springs.  It brought back memories of my dear friends, David, who drove the boats while we were in school. My first ride on a glass bottom boat was a 'private' ride with just him!  He did an awesome job teaching me about the wildlife and the aquifer.

Couldn't believe how many turtles were sunning themselves on this log!  And there were some other turtles that I didn't take a picture of...they were otherwise occupied.

We did see some divers below our boat doing some research but I didn't get a good picture of them...

We headed back to Austin the next day to meet up with my brother.  He met us on the north side of town and we played for awhile before having lunch, doing a little shopping and a little family business.  Eli loves to play with his Uncle Terry!!

Those ducks were stalking us!!  I guess they thought we'd feed them....too bad!

On our way out of Austin, we stopped for some ice cream and some more play time.  We saw cousin Phyllis for a little while.  It was great to see her.

So that was our little spring break trip!  Wonder where we will go next!?!?!??

Everything's a Competition!!

This little boy just LOVES to make everything into a competition.  From walking up the stairs at night to eating dinner to getting dressed...it is so funny because neither his father or I are the competitive type.  At least not in this way.

We've had to make a schedule for who walks up the stairs first at night.  We've had to remind him that if you race while eating, you may choke.  We've had to let him know that he's not racing to get dressed with himself.  (As the only child, he can't race with anyone else...)

So my question for today is:  Where does it come from?

Book Review Coming Soon!!

The stirring narrative of Unsinkable tells 16-year-old Abby Sunderland’s remarkable true story of attempting to become the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world.
More people have flown into outer space than have sailed solo around the globe. It is a challenge so immense that many have died trying, and all have been pushed beyond every physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual limit. In Unsinkable, readers follow Abby Sunderland into those depths. This biography delivers a gripping and evocative firsthand account that starts prior to her departure, travels through her daring (and sometimes near-death) encounters on the open sea, to her dramatic rescue in the remotest corner of the Indian Ocean, and the media explosion that happened upon her safe return to dry land.
Along the way, readers discover what it means to boldly face any challenge, to strive after something great, and to plumb the depths of faith, fear, and desperation only to emerge changed, renewed, and emboldened. In this day and age, when the most productive thing a teenager may do is play videogames, Abby’s ambition and tenacity is a real-life parable of what can happen when we choose to exceed our own limits and strive after what all the naysayers say is impossible.

Book Review: Lilly's Wedding Quilt

From the publisher: Handsome, headstrong Jacob offers Lilly his hand in marriage, but his heart belongs to someone ese. While Lilly Lapp has loved Jacob for years, she wouldn't compete with Sarah King, the woman Jacob was determined to marry. But when Sarah marries another, Jacob spontaneously agrees to wed Lilly.


Lilly divides her time between teaching the local Amish children and caring for her widowed mother who suffers from depression. Lilly's faith comforts her, but her heart still longs to be the sole object of Jacob's affection. As the days slip by, Lilly decides that hoping is too risky and vows to protect her heart. But God is subtly as work, and as winter turns to spring, their hearts awaken.
The furthest thing from Lilly's mind is her Amish wedding quilt, a traditional gift for new brides. And the person she'd least suspect is the one making it. Like stray pieces of fabric quilted into a new design, Jacob and Lilly's marriage begins to bind them together in ways neither expected.
My review: Lilly's Wedding Quilt is the second in the author's "A Patch of Heaven" novels (Sarah's Garden being the first). I haven’t read Sarah’s Garden and I don’t think it would be necessary to do so before reading this selection. There are some characters that are the same but the stories are entirely different. I consider myself to be a lover of Amish fiction. I have always enjoyed hearing stories from my Amish family and their lives. (It doesn’t hurt that I’m a teacher like Lilly and a quilter, too!) I loved the story of Lilly's Wedding Quilt. I couldn’t put this book down – the characters are easy to follow, the story is enticing and the obvious love the characters were building toward each other was great. Of course, there is the common ground of God and his guidance in their lives (and ours) throughout the book and the characters’ belief that He is in charge of the way their lives turn. I loved the ending, too, when the readers see just how strong Jacob’s love has gotten for his wife, Lilly!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

ZOO in January?

Mom and I decided to take advantage of some beautiful weather in January to take Eli to the Dallas Zoo.  We chose to ride the DART train to and from the zoo.  A couple of days later, it was snowing!

Eli LOVES giraffes!  That was our first stop and he got to feed them!  So much fun!!

He was also able to get 'up close and personal' to the jaguars!!

having trouble downloading the rest of the pics...ughhh!  back later!

Same Life, New Story - Book Review

Same Life, New Story is a ten week bible study for women, written by Jan Silvious. Each of the ten chapters tells the story of a woman from the bible (Hannah, Abigail, Elizabeth, etc.) who faced difficulty in her life and then overcame that challenge. Then, the reader explores those stories to reflect on their own life.
I didn’t think of this book as a true bible study. Yes, there were group reflection questions at the end of each chapter but there were also personal reflection questions and a starter for a journal entry. I would think it might be intimidating to some people to truly share their feelings about the topics included in this book which is why I think it would be better as an individual self study.

I have recently experienced some difficulty in my life and one chapter really ‘spoke’ to me more than the others. Although I thought the other chapters helped me reflect on other things I have encountered, that one chapter was the key connection for me. I enjoyed this book and the perspectives from which the stories (both the biblical and current day) were told. I would recommend this book to someone who wants to gain a new perspective on issues we encounter in our lives.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”