Real Life Real Miracles by James L. Galrow and Keith Wall

Real Life Real Miracles

Real Life Real Miracles is a quick and easy read.  Each chapter tells the real life stories of miracles that have happened in peoples lives. The reason I chose this book to read was that a couple weeks before my youngest sister had an experience where she should have ended up being dead, but she came out without a scratch. So I believe God was watching out for her and saved her for reasons I won't go into.  I was interested in reading others stories of miracles happening to them. All the stories were very interesting to read, and at times I had goose bumps while reading some of them.  The miracles ranged from very simple things to very complex.  It is a very uplifting book to read when there are so many horrible things happening in our nation right now. 

I received this book free for an honest review from Bethany Publishing House! 

Photo-a-day 17: Handmade

Handmade

A crochet owl I made!

Photo-a-day 16: Cozy

Cozy

My daughter cozy in her blanket!

Photo-a-day 15: Santa

Santa

 

Photo-a-day 14: Sparkly

Sparkly

Angel Ribbon Ornament I made.

Photo-a-day 13: Front Door

Front Door

It was cold and yucky out so I didn't get the whole door!

Photo-a-day 12: weather

Weather

A dreary wet day!

Photo -a-day 11: Snowman

Snowman

One of my cute snowmen!

Photo-a-day 10: Deocr

Decor

Ornaments hanging from kitchen light!  

Photo- a- Day 9: Baking

Baking

Baking sugar cookies with the kids!

Photo of the Day 6 - Ornament

Ornament

 This is one of my favorite ornaments.  I received this ornament from a student when I was the assistant director at a daycare.

Photo of the Day 4 - Candle

Candle

This is one of my favorite candles for the holiday! I love the base the candle sits in with the winter scene of snow, snowman, and trees.

Picture of the Day 7 - Lights

Lights

The lights on my Christmas Tree tonight!



I know I am missing a few days of pictures. I am having trouble with those pictures loading, so as soon as I get them loaded they will be up.

Photo-a-day 2: Red and White

Red and White

One of the red and white candy canes along the front sidewalk!

Custom Order Stockings

I had to share with you all this custom order I did for a customer.  She had ordered monsters from me about a month ago for each of her boys for Christmas.  One day I asked on my Facebook page what would everyone like to see me crochet.  Her response was stockings, because she was having trouble finding stockings that were the same in all her boys favorite colors.  I took on the challenge and made the stockings with a free pattern I found from Red Heart and just tweaked it a bit. Then she asked if I could put their first initial on each of their stockings, and I said sure.  I made the patterns for each of these letters on my own, which I am very proud of.  The M and W took a little work but I figured it out.  The boys have seen a picture all ready of the stockings and they loved them.  Can't wait to see pictures of them with their stockings and monsters this Christmas!

December Photo Challenge - Day 1

Day 1 - Mail

Mail was really boring today unless you want to see the bill for our subdivision dues, so I decided to open yesterday's mail that I had not opened yet.  I received a package from A Simply Enchanted Life that I ordered of some of her soaps and other products she offers.

A Home in Drayton Valley by Kim Vogel Sawyer

A Home in Drayton Valley is not one of my favorite Kim Vogel Sawyer books.  I have read several of her books in the past that I loved, but I can't say the same for this one.  My one major issue was that the story seemed to move so slow.  I loved the actual story but felt that it could have been told a little faster. Tarsie encourages her friends Joss and Mary and their two kids to move to Drayton Valley for a better quality of life. The couple decide to go and they ask Tarsie to come with them. Tragedy strikes on the way to Drayton Valley, and Tarsie and Joss do things that make them question God and wonder about their futures. Another thing I did like was they dealt with a lot of issues from the period that the book was written like prohibition, racial issues, and hard times for families that didn't have much.

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

Handmade Business Deals

I wanted to share with everyone all the special deals going on with some Handmade Business's this weekend.  In my store I will be having free shipping on everything from 11/23 to 11/27 at noon.  Here are links to a couple other places where you can find other business's with special deals.

Daft Crafts Blog -has a great list of business's that I highly recommend with link to their stores and what deals they will be having
June's Pretty Things Blog - has a great post with quite a few handmade business's
Indie Minded - will be posting the list of business's and deals on friday

Go check out one or all of these to find some wonderful handmade gifts for the holidays! I think handmade gifts make the best gifts!

Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund

I loved this book!  It is so nice to see a female character that stands up for her beliefs and fights for those beliefs, even though she should have planned out some things more before acting. This book takes place in the 1880's in the logging camps of Michigan. Lily travels with Oren as his assistant taking photos at lumber camps.  She takes on this job to help in her search for her sister that she believes has turned to the life of prostitution.  Lily puts herself into many dangerous situations in her search for her sister and when standing up for her beliefs. At times I do think Lily needed to put more thought into her plans then she was doing, but luckily there was someone to come to her rescue. Connell, a man in charge of several logging camps, comes into Lily's life and becomes her rescuer. Even though Lily and Connell clash on a lot of issues it is interesting to watch how their relationship evolves over time.  It was a great historical fiction book that I could not put down.  Jody made it easy to read while keeping to the time period and using real life people in the story. I look forward to checking out more of Jody Hedlund's books in the future.

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

I Love Owls!

I love owls! The owl pillows are one of my favorite things to make out of all my products!  Every single one I make I want to keep for myself even though it is for someone else.  The owl pictured is made with a yarn that I found and fell in love with.  The color choices they have in this particular brand of yarn are amazing! This particular owl is made in the color Rodeo, and is looking for a good home!  If you are interested in adopting this owl then you can go here. If you are interested in one of these owls but in a different color you can find them here and order the color you want.

Photo Challenge - Day 10 - Nature

Nature

Here are my kids out in nature.  We went to visit a new park we had not been to before and they had this beautiful trail around the lake that you can see in the background.

Photo Challenge: Day 8 - Favorite Color

Favorite Color

My favorite color is dark blue like this yarn!

Day 7: Something Funny

Something Funny

I couldn't help but laugh when my husband called me in to check on my son.  This is how we found him sleeping.  He has always been able to sleep in the most amazing positions.

Fearless Daughters of the Bible by J. Lee Grady- Book Review

Fearless Daughters of the Bible is not a book I would have picked up if I saw it in a book store, but it called to me because my Mom's Sunday School Class are studying women in the Bible.  I thought this would be a great book for her to use in her studies, plus after several conversations with my mom I was intrigued to learn more about some of the women in the Bible that we don't hear about.  There were several women that were discussed that I was familiar with but also several that I have never heard of before.  I really enjoyed how each chapter focused on one woman and they also related them to women of the present or recent past.  It was very interesting to learn how that some women have been challenging tradition from the very beginning of times. This book would make a great Bible study group for women!

I received a free copy of this book for an honest review from Chosen Books.

Photo Challenge: Day 6 - Books

Books

The books on my nightstand that are up next for reading!

Photo Challenge: Day 5 - Morning Sky

Morning Sky

This is looking out my back door in the morning.  The last several days we have awoken to very dreary looking skies.

Photo Chalenge: Day 4 - Leaves

Leaves

I know these are not real leaves but they will have to do, because all the leaves are off our trees all ready and gone since we were in a severe drought all summer.  

Shirt to Pillow Line

Do your kids have a favorite shirt that they love to wear all the time? Is the shirt getting to small but still in good condition? If you answered yes to both of those questions I have a solution for you. 

Shirt to Pillow

I can take the shirt and cut it down and turn it into a pillow for your child.  After I cut the shirt down I crochet around the edges and then stuff it with poly-fill.  Now your child has their favorite shirt as a pillow to hold onto. The pillows can also be used to just decorate your child's room! Check out my shop at Unique Creations by Tracy if you are interested! This cute monster one is up for sale in my shop right now!

Photo Challenge: Day 3 Happiness

Happiness!

This is happiness for my kids! They loved all these rocks, and were having a blast picking them up and looking at all of them. My son did not want to leave.

November Photo Challenge: Smile

SMILE!

My beautiful daughter wearing her Mrs. Ears hat that I made!

November Photo Challenge

I know I have not been good about keeping up to date on my blog, and am going to try harder this month by participating in a challenge.  My business Unique Creations by Tracy has been keeping me very busy, so I am going to try to take a few minutes each day to post during November.  The challenge this month is to take a photo everyday. I am following the photo challenge I found at Craft Gossip. Today I was to take a picture of my favorite food.  I know some don't consider this food, but I sure do right now.

Candy!

As you can see it is candy! Lots and lots of candy from trick or treating last night! I have had a few pieces from the stash that the kids don't like to eat, but that is all I get as I start a new challenge with Advocare tomorrow to work on losing some weight to help some of my health issues. Come back tomorrow for day 2 of the photo challenge which is SMILE!

A Yummy Snack!

Ingredients:  Vanilla Wafers
                   Peanut Butter
                   Bananas
                   Sprinkles

First you take two vanilla wafers to make one of these sandwiches. In my picture we are making two sandwiches at a time. Spread peanut butter on the back of the vanilla wafers.

Take your banana, and slice it up.  Place a banana on one vanilla wafer.

Then put the other vanilla wafer on top to make a sandwich.

The next steps I couldn't get pictures because I was covered in peanut butter.  After making the sandwich, you are going to spread peanut butter around the side where the banana is between the wafers.  Then you are going to roll the sandwich through a pile of sprinkles.  Then when you are finished it should look like this.

I tried some and have to say they are delicious!

To Love and Cherish by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller

To Love and Cherish is the second book in the series Bridal Veil Island.  I did not know at the time I started reading this book that it was in a series but you don't need to read the first to enjoy this book.  The story is set in the south in the late 1800's. Melinda is a lady's maid to a family on Bridal Veil Island resort, and is in love with Evan who is an assistant gamekeeper at Bridal Veil Island.  When Melinda's family she works for plans to go back home to Cleveland early, she hopes that Evan will propose so she won't have to go.  Evan does not propose and Melinda has to leave to go back to Cleveland.  A hurricane then strikes Bridal Veil Island, and Melinda becomes concerned about her love Evan so decides to quit her job and go back to the island to check on Evan and try to get him to marry her.  When Melinda gets back she finds Evan is safe and gets a job on the island since he still will not propose marriage to her.  They thought the separation and hurricane was a hurdle, there is much more to come that tests their relationship. The hurdles that are continuously thrown at this couple kept me from wanting to put the book down.  I wanted to finish it to see what would happen to their relationship.  After reading this book, I am much more interested in reading more historical romance books. I was all ready a fan of Tracie Peterson but now also a fan of Judith Miller.  I plan on getting book one in this series to read, and then read the other books that will come out in this series.

This book was given to me free from Bethany House Publishers to read and give my honest review.

Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day

Let me start of with that I am not a big fan of any type of nonfiction, but went ahead and requested to read this book! When I was in college I had a World Religions class that I barely passed, and this book would have helped me out a lot. Each chapter discusses the basic information about a religion to help you better understand the differences and similarities between it and other religions. You can read as much as you want at a time, or as the title suggests give yourself 15 minutes each day to read about one religion and take it in fully.  I think it is a great resource to have since in our communities there is a wide variety of  religions that people are a  part of, and you can understand better what there beliefs are. After reading this I feel I understand more about different religions then I did in taking a full semester course on World Religions in College.  There are quite a few religions in this book that I never heard of before.  I also feel that I will be able to better answer any questions by children might have in the future about different religions.

I was given this book for free from Bethany House Publisher to read and give an honest review.

TuTu Bag

Here is the newest product in my store Unique Creations by Tracy, the tutu bag.  It makes a great bag for girls to carry things in especially to dance class. The pattern is by Snappy Tots. If you are interested in getting this for a little girl in your life go here to my store. They are custom made with the colors that you would like.  I am also now shipping products to Canada beside the United States.  More countries are to come over the next several weeks.

When Hope Blossoms by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Another great book by Kim Vogel Sawyer! In this story Amy Knasckstedt moves away from her Mennonite family home to Weaverly, Kansas with her children. She is trying to get away and have a fresh start after losing her husband. She moves next door to Tim Roper who use to be a Mennonite and is dealing with his own issues. Tim is not happy to have Mennonite neighbors because he doesn't want reminders of his past. Amy's kids befriend Tim and end up helping him through his own struggle. While Tim ends up being able to help Amy out with the questions surrounding her husband's death. It was very nice to read a book that had characters with special needs children in the story, because you don't see that very often.  If you are looking for a good Christian book that is an easy read then this book is perfect for you.  I look forward to reading many more of Kim Vogel Sawyer's books in the future!

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers for an honest review!

1st Day of School 2012

August 28th was the first day of school this year.  M started Junior Kindergarten, and A started First Year Preschool. M did great and is just getting use to going 4 days a week, because last year she only went 2 days a week.  Every day she comes home happy and tells us about what she did.  We chose Junior Kindergarten for her because she misses the cut off for Kindergarten by 10 days and is very smart for her age so we needed a program that would keep her interested and not bored.  A is not doing as well. He is a big mama's boy and has never been away from mommy other then with family members and a good friend for a couple hours.  The teacher says once A calms down he is perfectly fine and enjoys class. He always comes home happy and tells us what he did, but does not want to go back. He only goes 2 days a week so it will probably be a bit longer before he goes to class without screaming and crying.

6th Wedding Anniversary

This past Sunday my husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  The kids spent the night at my husbands parents house, and we went out for dinner.Then went home to a quiet house for some time to ourselves. How do you celebrate your anniversaries?

Candyland Party

My little girl turned 5 this month, and we celebrated by having a Candyland Birthday Party for her. We wanted to do something non gender themed because we have a lot of boys in our family and a lot of friends with boys, so we didn't think they would enjoy a princess party. I thought I would share some pictures that I took before the party started so you can see what I made.  If you have any questions about anything feel free to ask.

 This is the outside of our house.  I made suckers that lined the sidewalk. Made wrapped candy and peppermints to hang from the front of the  house.  Then on the door is a balloon wreath I made. The picture below is a little close up so you can see some of it better. That is the birthday girl in the picture.

 This is the dessert table.  I made sucker topiaries for each side of the buffet table.  Then there were heart cookies and cupcakes for the children to choose from. I had them iced and then they got to choose from the candy in the picture below to decorate their cookie or cupcake.

I had several activities planned for the kids.  First we made jolly rancher suckers which I have blogged about before.  Then they got to build using gum drops and toothpicks.  No pictures to share because I did not get permission to share them since other children are in the photos. Then we all went outside to play games. Two games I don't have pictures of are the pixie drop and gumball race.  For the pixie drop each child was given several pixie sticks and they had to drop them while standing straight up into the jar that was at their feet.  The gumball race required a spoon and a gumball.  Each child had to race across the yard while keeping their gumball in the spoon.  Some of them found it very hard to keep on while others figured out tricks to keep the gumball from falling out.  Then we also had the following games.

 Each child was given one of these wrapped candy which was just wrapped balloons in cellophane, and a half of a pool noodle.  They go to bat the wrapped candy around the yard using the pool noodle.

 This was the candy dot punch box.  Each child got to take a turn punching one of the dots out and they got a surprise that was hidden inside each hole.

The last game was Pin the Gumball on the Gumball Machine.  I blindfolded each child and turned them around and they had to try to pin the gumball cut out in their hand as close as they could into the inside of the gumball machine.

The party was a lot of work but well worth it.  The kids all had a blast, and I had a few moms ask if I would plan their kids parties. Unfortunately, I will not be going into event planning for parties. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and maybe something inspired you for your own kids parties.  Again, if you have any questions on anything please feel free to comment and I will answer them for you.

Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer

Short Straw Bride is a Christian Historical Romance.  I enjoy romance but was not sure I would enjoy historical romance, but ended up loving it. I have to say I love the main female character Meredith.  She is very courageous and stands up for what she believes.  When Meredith heard of a plot to burn the Archer land, she felt that she needed to warn them especially since Travis Archer had helped her when she was injured on his land plus she had dreamed about him.  What ends up happening on Archer land changes Meredith and the Archer brothers lives in many ways.  I don't want to share much more of the plot because it would give away what happens. Even though this is a Christian book I did not feel that it was preaching to you like some books. Karen Witemeyer gets you hooked right away and then you don't want to put the book down because you want to know what happens.  This was Karen's first book I had read, and plan are reading more of them now, and will also look for other historical romance books to try out.


I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers for an honest review.