S Club Mama

"Little House on the Prairie" has been one of my favorite book and tv series for the majority of my life. I grew up watching re-runs of Laura and Mary and Baby Carrie, along with Pa and Ma. I wanted so much to be a pioneer girl as I watched or read - it never occurred to me how I would miss things like air conditioning and refrigerators. One thing that has changed over the years is my faith. I wasn't raised in a religious household but Jesus took hold of me first in junior high, then I was a prodigal in high school, and then finally He called me to Himself in college. It's been over 10 years now of me walking with the Lord. I started to watch "Little House on the Prairie" with my family a few months back. I read "Little House in the Big Woods" to my boys, ages 8 and 10. I actually read it first to my daughter, but she was wee, only a month old at the time. And yet, even she (who is now 2) loves to watch "Prairie." My husband is not a ...

Several years ago I wrote a book review on "How We Love Our Kids" by Milan and Kay Yerkovich. I learned that I had a vacillator love style in my parenting - meaning I vacillated (kind of like an oscillating fan) between wanting to be a really involved mom which lead to me being sort of overwhelmed and then I would back way off, almost isolating myself into myself. I've worked really hard to push past my natural tendency to pull away from my kids when I get overwhelmed. This has taken a lot of prayer and Holy Spirit gumption. Motherhood has been more enjoyable and I can see the difference in my children's attitudes when I pushed through my natural tendencies to do the next right thing! I recently read "How We Love" by Milan and Kay Yerkovich, which is their original book on how to "Discover your love style, enhance your marriage." Who doesn't want to enhance their marriage?! image via Blogging for Books My biggest take away from this ...

Anyone who knows my family, knows we love superheroes (or, in my husband's case, tolerate them). We've been almost every well-known superhero for Halloween (I've been Wonder Woman 3 times in various forms): 2009 2010  2013  2014  2015  2015 Other than a few stints as Star Wars, Mario, and Scooby-Doo characters, this is us. We read a lot of superhero books (as in, I read to the kids, I don't read my own...) and we've learned a LOT about characters, both popular and totally obscure. It can be ridiculous sometimes but it's fun, too. There are a lot of books about teamwork and you can see how Batman has changed over the years (from no low voice to really deep voice, from caring and kind to selfish - I'm talking to you, Lego Batman - boo). image via Google images One thing I really dislike about superheroes is how they dress the women superheroes. Yes, in 2010 I wore Wonder Woman underwear over tights for Halloween (I was on a we...

When I first picked up Mindy Kaling's "Why Not Me?" I thought I'd read it already! Oops. That would make it a forgettable book, right? I'm not sure why I thought that; perhaps I read an excerpt somewhere before but as I got passed the first chapter, I definitely had not read this material. Unlike most who have read this book (in my assumptions), I have never seen an episode of The Office or The Mindy Project. They just have never filtered themselves into my must-see-tv queue. However, I am a fan of funny women and have read Amy Poehler's and Tina Fey's books. That is why I decided to pick up "Why Not Me?" . image via Google search What I liked most about the book is that Kaling does not seem to be fake. She talks about tanning and hair extensions and her issues with her weight. I, like many people it seems from reading her book, like that she's not a stick figure. She writes that she is "completely not at peace with the way I lo...

My middle son always complains that I always get books for myself and never for them. He doesn't know that I am usually on the lookout for books for them, but the opportunity for adult books comes up more frequently than child books. image via Blogging for Books I love this sweet, sensitive boy! I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to get him "Me: A Compendium" by the Wee Society. I had to look up what a compendium was –   a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication . To me it just seemed like a fill-in journal. I knew my son would love it! (but I have not watched it) LOL He started to fill it out immediately. I thought he would color it more and add more color but he insisted on using this new pen that he had gotten his school. He did a wonderful job of filling everything out. He only asked for help a few times on spelling. You probably should've asked a few more times...

If you are unfamiliar with Bat Dad, I think you should take a gander at YouTube. We started watching Blake Wilson's Bat Dad videos. They are funny and light-hearted, but I will warn you that some of the snippets are inappropriate (him telling his son that tables are for glasses not a**es and one I just watched with him saying, "that's what she said."). I try to watch before my kids and we really don't watch many anymore because my sons repeat everything they hear. One has a filter, one does not and I just don't want them to repeat inappropriate things. image via Blogging for Books I was cautious reading the new "Bat Dad: a parody" book by Blake Wilson. And it proved in good faith. I had to go through the book and cross out three curse words with Sharpie. The book itself is made up of images from his videos compiled with captions (some from the videos, others not). My sons really enjoy the book - my eldest actually just took it to read it. They...

I love getting inspiration to decorate my house. It is not a natural inclination of mine but I enjoy HGTV shows and books about decor. I like to look around my friend's houses even. So I thought I'd enjoy " Apartment Therapy: Complete + Happy Home " by Maxwell Ryan and Janel Laban. What I did like: I liked the clear pictures in the book. There are some funky designs and layouts. I did get some interesting ideas. But this is not just a pretty book to look at. There are practical tips, too, on flooring, color, lighting, plants, cleaning, repairs. This is a great book. I plan to follow their cleaning schedule (monthly) this next year. Hopefully. What I didn't like: I did not like that all of the pictures of real homes looked like magazine homes. The layouts of the homes themselves are not anything like my home or my friends' houses. For once I'd like to see...I don't know, something more real. Not the mess of our homes but real decor. Maybe because...

I loved to color as a child. I think most kids do at some point in time (most, not all). Even my oldest son, Moose, colored at one point. Now when he colors, it's all one color (red) and scribbled across the sheet (he's 8). My 6-year-old son will color but usually he likes to draw his own comics (very endearing). I'm reading for my Princess to be old enough to color (not that I want her to grow up faster than she will nor am I assuming she'll love to color...but I'm hoping she will). I got "The Time Garden" by Daria Song, an adult coloring book, after seeing adult coloring books all over the place online. Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook are all aflutter with adults coloring. Right up my alley, people. Although, I would prefer a Christian-based coloring book, I really love the pictures in "The Time Garden." image from Blogging for Books What I disliked about the book: The details in this picture are small, so you must have colored pencils ...

I've been a fan of Awkward Family Photos for a long time now. In fact, Squirt was almost in one of their books with this shot: The Arm Shelf I knew with a new baby I wouldn't be up for reading through a full-text book in time for a review, so I thought "Born to Be Awkward" by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack was the right book for me. Little text, great pictures, and big laughs. They delivered! What I liked: I love that this book is about babies. Being in that stage of life again made this book so relevant. And who doesn't need a good laugh during those middle of the night feedings? Pictures of babies with bad hair, screaming at Santa, hanging while in a life vest (true story). Just hilarious. image via Blogging for Books A few of the pictures even have "behind the awkwardness" paragraphs explaining what happened. This explanation makes them even funnier! The sibling rivalry pictures in the chapter "New Kid on the Block" were prob...

Comparison. It's everywhere! We in America get thrown into Glimpses every day of people's lives: their perfect living rooms, their perfect recipes, their perfect baby showers or birthday parties, their perfect families. What's a Glimpse? Well that's something I learned in "I'm Happy for You (Sort of...Not Really)" by Kay Wills Wyma . A Glimpse is exactly what those things mentioned are: glimpses of the good things in people's lives. We see what people (friends & strangers) want us to see on social media - on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest. Those are their best moments. And what do we compare them with? Our worst moments. I see my friend who is ever patient with her children. I see her in public and compare that with our private moments. I'm sure she has her moments she'd rather not everyone see, too! image via amazon.com  Wyma's book really forced me to look at how comparison runs in my life - and has the potential to ruin it! ...

Reviewing " Food52 Genius Recipes " by Kristen Miglore was really intriguing to me. I'm a new cook. I have taught myself everything I know about cooking in the last 5 years, I'd say. I'm not great but I've learned to bake bread and make pies and I throw together one heck of a pan of ham sammies. So the subtitle of this cookbook was really exciting for me: "100 recipes that will change the way you cook." I don't have one certain "way" so if these can make me a better cook, why not try?  image via Food52 website It took me awhile to work in a recipe from this cookbook due to time obligations and ingredients on hand. I don't have wine vinegar, muscovado sugar, steel-cut oats, hulled raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds, red quinoa (or any other kind), pistachios, scallions, a waffle maker (really need to get one, though), nuts of any variety other than peanuts, tahini (have tried to find it in a few stores with no luck), fava beans, fl...

I have been a diary  keeper and journal writer since 4th grade. I had an electronic Dear Diary and a red journal (I believe it was a coca-cola one) with a lock & key. I kept all of my personal secrets in there - who I had crushes on, how mean my sister or cousin was, how awesome my sister or cousin was. Everything. I've had varying colors, styles, but none since 4th grade with a lock. Even in my early years of motherhood, I've kept a journal. I even keep a journal for each of my children and my husband, although none of them reads the ones I keep for them and I'm not as diligent with theirs. I tried to do a DIY Q&A journal for my kids and I've been terrible at keeping up.  image via amazon.com I have been a diary  keeper and journal writer since 4th grade. I had an electronic Dear Diary and a red journal (I believe it was a coca-cola one) with a lock & key. I kept all of my personal secrets in there - who I had crushes on, how mean my sister or cou...

Please don't let the title of Jim Gaffigan's book, "Dad is Fat," offend you or turn you off. You learn that his son wrote this . I'm lucky my kids have drawn such nice stick-figures of me so far. image via Random House Anyway, I ordered this book because I really, really needed a laugh. This book delivered! I was laughing from the Foreword all the way to the Additional Acknowledgements. Really. Gaffigan was just dead on in his perspective of parenthood (and how single friends react to it) and marriage. For example: "Having five children has really made me appreciate the more important things in life. Particularly the sublime state of being alone. Of course, now I'm never alone. I have five kids who I love with all my heart. Even the one that gave me the title of this book." I am experiencing being alone with my kids in school but when they're home it's exactly like that - I can't even use the bathroom alone! Someone is always c...

My supper club (in which we freeze meals and switch at the end of the month for more variety) has slowly evolved from casseroles to meals in a bag (aka slow cooker meals). It's just so convenient to slop things into a crockpot, turn it on (which is an important part that I've forgotten a few times), and walk away for a few hours. I've made tapioca, pasta, cobbler, roasts, soups, and maybe some other stuff in our crockpot. My newest recipe to try was from " The Great American Slow Cooker Book " by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough: biscuits and sausage gravy. I love me a good biscuit with some sausage gravy! And I love that I could make it during the week when we had a t-ball game so we could come home to a meal. image via website I threw all the stuff into the crockpot before we left. One feature of this cookbook I appreciate is that there are conversions in the ingredient list for different sized slow cookers. For instance, for these biscuits, if you wer...

I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for stories about people overcoming disabilities, sicknesses, etc for God's glory. This is why I wanted to read Nick Vujicic's book "Unstoppable." I think I'd seen him on daytime tv once but hadn't paid much attention; otherwise, I've never seen any of his YouTube videos or heard much about him. I saw what I saw on the cover - a man surfing with no arms and no legs. Yet, through this book, I learned that he is so much more than what he isn't. Vujicic is a man after God's own heart - and he wants you to be too (unless you're a woman, then he wants you to be a woman after God's own heart, of course!). I just love the premise of this book: to not let circumstances stop our mission of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the pages, Vujicic talked a LOT about finding your passion. I've been soul-searching and praying and talking about this very thing! I don't 100% know my passion. It used to...