a new feature

Welcome to a new feature of this blog - Book Reviews! You lucky dogs get to hear what I think about what I'm reading! You're thinking, "hot dang, this is a dream come true!" Aren't you?

We live about a half mile from a little library branch and the boys and I go there about three times a week. It's just far enough away so that I feel like I'm going somewhere and getting out of the house, but not too far away that I get gun-shy about taking out the full bunch on my own. I put Reid in the front of the double stroller, one of the babies in the back, and wrap up the other baby on my chest and off we go! Our little branch is part of a group of branches that spans from San Luis Obispo all the way to Ventura. The coolest part is that I can go online and order books, cds, DVDs, books on cd, etc. to be delivered to our branch...for only 50¢ a piece. So rad. I've become obsessed with it. It's especially great for craft books and cook books that seem interesting but you're not sure if it's worth $20 to buy the thing, but you want more time to peruse it than is polite to do standing by the shelf at Barnes and Noble (if only there was a Barnes and Noble near by).

So, here are my thoughts, in case you were wondering.
I wouldn't necessarily call Reid a "spirited child", a term that I think is meant to describe the kinds of kids that really give their parents a run for their money. Reid is very sweet and amiable, but I liked the concept of the book and figured that it would be interesting regardless of how difficult to manage a child may be. I haven't finished it yet, but it's gotten me thinking. I've been thinking lately about how Heavenly Father is as a parent. He is a parent to all of us, and how does he do it? Wouldn't He be a good pattern (or THE pattern, rather) for all of us as we parent our children? This concept of this book feels familiar, it feels to me how Heavenly Father parents me. Do you know what I'm trying to say? Give it a read and tell me what you think. I'll write more about this one as I finish it.

I haven't started this one yet, but it seems to be an easy read, sort of in workbook form. I like to research and study different methods of child education and I think the Montessori structure has a lot to offer. I'm still debating between home-schooling/public schooling/private schooling and the pros and cons to each. I have a feeling that I'll end up going with public school, mostly because I had such a great time with school growing up, but I want to make an educated and thoughtful decision. Besides what we do with school (which is still a few years away) I get to make my home however I want and I like learning about how I can introduce my children to the world and help them grow and develop into intelligent and caring people. Again, more on this one as I finish it.

This book was great. I've been curious about this one for a while now, quickly flipping through it at book stores, and I think that this book is one that I would want to purchase. I like Joelle's sense of design and I liked the projects she included. Joelle used to be an editor for MS Living and you can tell by her aesthetic. I really liked this book and I think I'm going to make the quilt titled "Cutting Corners" and I'm going to use some Amy Butler fabrics. Did you know that Amy Butler has solids that coordinate with her prints? I love that idea. Oh, another thing about this book is that most of the quilts were machine quilted (It's called "Last Minute..." after all) and I like the idea of quilts that are meant to be fast and easy and just quilt them yourself for heaven's sake. You know what I mean? Good book.

This was Joelle's first book and I've been eyeing for a LONG time. It's just photographed so beautifully that I wanted to check it out despite the fact that I don't knit...at all...ever. Maybe someday, so that I can make some of these projects. Like the baby bonnet, the garter stitch blanket, the gusseted floor cushions (I love these! I think I'm going to felt old sweaters and make some of these floor cushions), and the zipped raglan sweater. I don't think I'll buy it, not unless I someday find the time to learn how to knit, but it was definitely worth 50¢ to look at it for a while.

You've heard of this book, haven't you? I've been curious about it for a while and I'm glad that I finally read it. It was a quick read and gave me something fun to do while sitting in the hospital with Alec two weeks ago. Mireille doesn't offer any big, revelatory secrets to staying healthy...but that's just the point. I think that in the states we're always looking for a big answer and we forget (or at least forgo) all of the easy answers that add up to a healthy lifestyle. Any one of her suggestions alone seems pretty trivial but when you add it all up you can clearly see a difference between how French women live (in regards to food, exercise, etc...we're not delving in to other aspects of French lifestyle, thank goodness.) and how American women live. I really liked this book and have make some new goals to help me enjoy food more and have that enjoyment lead to a healthier lifestyle. When I was pregnant with the babies food became a necessary evil. I got so sick of trying to get enough food in me for the three of us and trying to cram it in my cramped stomach. Things have improved a little bit now that I don't have babies kicking all of my insides all day, but since I'm nursing I'm still pretty much eating for three and it's hard to find the time to get all the calories I need in a healthy way. I need to put more energy into preparing things that I can eat quickly because if I don't do the work ahead of time, when I'm hungry I end up eating anything I can find that I can eat with one hand. With all of these little ones it's nearly impossible to find time to eat real meals throughout the day, so I need to prepare ahead of time good food to snack on. I'm going to try this idea by my amazing and adorable friend Jill. Isn't this genius? I love it and I think it'll be perfect for me to help me eat things that are healthy, but in a quick and easy way. Another thing is that I'm going to try and make meal times more ritualistic. Meaning that I'm going to have tablecloths, cloth napkins, set a real table, have us all sit down and eat without distractions like phones, magazines, etc. I'm going to start now to make dinnertime an evening ritual around here. Long story short, good book. Worth your time.

Not worth your time is this book by Amy Butler and her husband David. I like finding old things and giving them new life and new purpose, but I didn't think that this book was particularly exciting. Amy Butler is such a great designer and I thought that this book would be more innovative, more colorful, more inspiring...but it was just a book of old stuff placed around people's houses. I guess it was worth 50¢, but not much more than that.

This funny little book looked cute so I thought I'd give it a go and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked a lot of the ideas (although the styling was horrendous. I could've recommended at least 20 people to style this book that would have done a better job, but whatever). I will definitely be making some cute fabric flowers and may even purchase this book someday. Plus, the girl on the front has cute hair. Actually, that's not really a plus, that only made my life harder. Nearly every day I struggle with the "bangs or no bangs" conundrum. I think about it...all...the...time. It's unhealthy at this point. But I just can't decide if I like bangs on me or not. And it doesn't help when I see someone who has a cute bangs haircut. Sheesh.

This book was great. Very informative for the entrepreneurial crafter. Now I just need to focus (HA!) on one of my dozens of "someday" business ideas that I have running through my head at any one time.

This book is by a woman who has a great blog, but the book was very lackluster. I didn't really think any of her projects were that interesting or inspiring, and her design sense isn't my taste. The one idea that I liked is the idea of making a puppet theater that can hang from a tension rod from a doorway. We've got lots of doorways and Reid has a great puppet that cracks us all up and he's going to get more for his birthday in May. So, for that, it was worth the 50¢ but if it hadn't of had that idea I would have said it wasn't worth it. FYI.

Lastly, you can also check out magazines at the library. As long as it's not the current issue you can check it out for two weeks or something. I happen to be obsessed with magazines and this is the perfect way for me to get my fill without having to deal with subscriptions, all the old issues that you don't really want to keep but don' want to throw away (recycle) yet either, etc. In case you were wondering, I didn't really like the Rachael Ray magazine as much as I thought I might. I'm not the world's biggest Rachael Ray fan to begin with (I like her, but I'd rather watch Barefoot Contessa or something, and I haven't seen her talk show, just her cooking show) but this magazine didn't really do it for me. I like the dinosaur Better Homes and Gardens better than this one.

What are you reading lately? Any good suggestions for us all? I'd love know.