Kind of a Book Review

Love Mercy is new book by Earlene Fowler that I recently read. I like that Mrs. Fowler can write a good mystery as well as a book that centers on characters in a community and the struggles they encounter without the book becoming overly romantic. She has a gift to be able to write from a Christian perspective, but not make it cloyingly sweet or irritating.

Earlene weaves a good story in every book she writes. I wish that I could go on a vacation to San Celina, visit the diner and the feed store. While there I could visit the Art Museum; where Benni Harper works. I don’t know if Ms. Harper still works there in the present day because that is where Love Mercy and the Benni Harper Mysteries part company. The Benni Harper series takes place in the 1990’s while Love Mercy takes place in the present day (2008). Mrs. Fowler is a master at keeping it all straight as the stories cross over and under. Benni does show up briefly, but you will be disappointed if you get this book thinking it centers on Benni.

This book has several main characters, the chiefest being Love Mercy. Love is in her 50’s and has gone through her share of hardships. She is a strong woman who gets up every day and puts one foot in front of the other. This book is so much more than that, but I don’t want to spoil it by giving it away. If you’d like to read a book written for adults that’s interesting, but clean enough your kids can pick it up and read it aloud without anyone turning red: this book is for you. While I would snatch up and read another Love Mercy series book; I am still seriously hankering to find out what’s been happening with Benni Harper.

On Ms. Fowler’s press page she has a great book review that goes into much more detail than I have.

I will leave you with one of my favorite Bible verses:

Micah 6:8

⁸ He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

BMP

My Take on the Simple Women's Day Book

Outside My Window… the boys are running around the house playing and laughing.

I am thinking… that after a longish weekend away I am content to be at home.

I am thankful for… a loving husband and cooperative children and a Savior who loves me.

From the kitchen… I made potato vegetable soup for dinner.

I am wearing… blue slacks and a comfy long sleeve shirt.

I am creating… a craft for the homeschool co-op craft class I'm teaching.

I am going… to clean off my dining room table soon since my knee is feeling better.

I am reading… "Love Mercy" by Earlene Fowler

I am hoping… my leg heals soon

I am hearing… the chattering of children

Around the house… the laundry is humming, the floors are clean, bellies are full and people are content.

One of my favorite things… LOL - my new quiet self closing toilet seat/lid.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: educating the boys, preparing for the craft class, grocery shopping, menu planning, exercising and taking the boys to the last swim class of the term.

Update

This week we've had three people down with a virus or the flu. It hasn't been fun. It never is when it involves projectile *****. I won't even type the words since my stomach is still tender. We have one guy who sounds like he's about ready to cough up a lung and another one who claims it's only his voice changing and then we ask why is he coughing and he says "am I coughing?"!!!

I myself am weak and achy - can't wait for that to pass.

I've also had a hard drive crash ... well, it was more like a OS crash. The info on the hard drive is okay but, I'm a bit afraid that when I try to reinstall the OS it will blast everything else off. Haven't been able to do that yet since the disk I have does n0t have SP2 and you have to have that to complete the install I can't get it on line and onto a disk -- it is an extracting nightmare. It's enough to make my head spin. Luckily I had another HD to use but, since I purchased a new one (the old one was going bad - it has some bad sectors but it still works).

Till next time,

Beautiful Mommy Princess

Creative Movie Makers

This week our house has been turned into a movie studio. My three sons (I love saying that!) are making their second movie. The boys are very much into "Star Wars". For Halloween they were all characters from that movie epic; so, we have some homemade costumes that are being reused for the movie. My oldest son has taught himself how to use Photoshop Premier and Movie Maker. They are filming with our old digital camera which only gives them 15 seconds to get a contiguous scene. It really is quite amazing that they are thinking out camera shots and locations considering that they range in age from 8 to 13. This is not something they are doing for homeschool but, this makes me think that unschooling is the way to go.

We do not currently unschool but, if I went somewhere to learn something I was mildly interested in, I think if they made me sit down and fill out reams of paper before I was able to do any hands on work I would lose interest. Ummm, looks like I have some more thinking to do.

Trouble Blogging

I'm trying to figure out why all the pictures that I post float to the top of the post. Ok, well they don't really float but, they certainly don't stay where I want them too either! So, I am taking a small break to learn HTML and to become proficient with the HTML language (?) or is it a tool? Hopefully I will be able to better communicate with the one or two people who might happen by my humble blog after I learn a thing or two.

Thanks for your patience,

Beautiful Mommy Princess
or BMP for short

I Need Sunshine!

I need some S-u-m-m-e-r! How about you?

Potato Pancakes

1/2 C. Milk

4 eggs

1 Large Onion quartered if using a food processor

6 T. flour

1 t. Salt

1 t. Pepper

1 t. Baking Powder

Splop of Worcestershire sauce

4 grates of nutmeg

5 large Potatoes

1. Peel Potatoes
2. Decide if you are going to use a food processor or a good old fashion grater. Either will work but, the food processor works best for me. I'm a wimp.
3. If using a food processor: using the blade put all the ingredients except the potatoes and give it a wiz. Oh, push it a couple more times so its well blended.
4. Pour that mixture into a bowl large enough to add the grated potatoes in the next step.
5. Put the grater attachment on the food processor and grate all the potatoes.
6. Mix the grated potatoes into the egg, milk and flour mixture.
7. Heat the griddle and pour a nice bit of oil to coat the surface. Drop the batter by large tablespoon onto the griddle. Cook until nicely brown and crisp.

I heat the oven and put parchment paper on a cookie sheet so once the pancakes are done I can keep them warm and crisp in the oven till I have most of them made. This is a large recipe, it can be cut in half easily. My husband and three sons can make short work of this amount. We don't have it very often but, it is a great recipe to have on hand when I've forgotten to plan ahead as I did tonight.

Wishing you peace and contentment from my home to yours,

Beautiful Mommy Princess

Finding Joy in the Moment

I get side tracked quite a bit. I start scrubbing a bowl in the sink, one of the boys calls me away to see something or ask for help, and then I get distracted by something else that needs my attention like; the laundry. I start on that then I realize the fire needs to be tended to. So, I run upstairs and walk over to put another log in the fireplace. Finally, right before lunch I see the bowl I started to wash out a hour and a half ago. I think it's getting worse. I don't know if it's because I'm juggling more or, if it's because I've worked at going with the flow. Let me explain.

Before I started homeschooling I was the kind of person who would tell the kids "I need to do this, before I can talk or listen to you". Now, I've tried to refocus and live in the moment. Being with the boys even in the mist of trying to get something accomplished. My house doesn't look as neat as I would like it. Wow, it doesn't look as decorated as I would like it to look either.

When my children's education became my primary responsibility; art on the walls took a back seat to maps on the wall. Taking joy in the moment works for me because it has enriched my relationships. This poem say it all but, for those of us who homeschool it encompasses more than just babies.

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

~~~~~

Building a Gingerbread House in January

At an after Christmas sale we picked up a gingerbread house to construct. I was ready now that the Christmas pressure was off. It helped that I was reminded this morning that it would be a good day to do it!

The guys always love the "off the beaten track days". What special after Christmas stuff do you do? I may still get around to writing the Christmas letter. Perhaps, I'll rename it the Valentine Voice and send it out the first of February instead!

Wishing you peace and contentment from my home to yours,

Beautiful Mommy Princess

A Little Pouch for a Little ipod

I wanted to make my husband a little pouch to put his ipod Shuffle in. He had given me a new ipod Nano for Christmas and we no longer needed to try to share the Shuffle. He requested demin for the fabric. So, I went down into my sewing room and started "shopping" for fabric and notions.

I found a pair of boys, size six shorts and thought I could make use of the back side pocket.

Next, I needed to see how big it needed to be to fit the Shuffle and ear buds? 4.5" x 5" will do the trick!

Downstairs I picked out two possible lining choices and let my husband make the final choice.

He choose the flannel plaid. It was left over from some pajama pants I made our oldest son.

Even the zipper was recycled!

I realize that not everyone would like the pocket off center but, since this was made using recycled jeans and the pocket is quite tiny, I think it adds to the charm of the pouch.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think. What do you use to hold your mp3 player?

Inside my Cupboard Door

This poem hangs inside one of my kitchen cupboards. I think of it as a recipe, a recipe to do the right thing. It has blessed me many times. I hope it blesses you too.

Poem for the New Year

People are often
Unreasonable and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind,
People may accuse you of ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are honest,
People may cheat you,
Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness,
People may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today
May be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
And it may never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end,
It is between you and God,
It never was between you and them anyway.

by Mother Teresa

Alafair Tucker Mysteries by Donis Casey

If you enjoy reading about family life, rural America and mysteries you might enjoy a relatively new series by Donis Casey. The first book in the series "The Old Buzzard Had it Coming" was great. A review by the Chicago Tribune said:

As the mother of nine, Alafair Tucker's hard but basically peaceful life on a farm on the Oklahoma frontier in 1912 is changed forever when one of her daughters--17-year-old Phoebe--is involved in the murder of an obnoxious neighbor. Phoebe is the girlfriend of the chief suspect, the dead man's son, and might even have been his accomplice in the crime.

Under Donis Casey's gifted hand and shrewd historic eye, Tucker adds solving a mystery to her busy schedule. It all could easily have gone soft and cute, especially the many long visits to the Tuckers' fellow farmers. But by avoiding all the built-in traps, Casey has produced a sharp and suspenseful first novel. -- Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune (10 July 2005)

The books in the series in order include:

1. The Old Buzzard Had it Coming
2. Hornswoggled
3. The Drop Edge of Yonder
4. The Sky Took Him
   

I especially love the country language in these books; what fun ways she fines for the characters to express themselves!

Blondie

Do you remember the Blondie movies? Well, when I was a kid we would watch them on Bill Kennedy at the Movies which ran at 1 PM every afternoon except Saturdays. Bill was on for years in the Detroit area. Anyway, when I was shopping for gifts this past Christmas I nabbed these off of Amazon.com. They are very funny DVDs and the best part is they are completely kid friendly. Also, on the frugal side they cost a buck a movie (10 episodes on 2 DVD's) and I know the boys will watch these more than once.

Repurposing

I wanted an SD card wallet for Christmas. I should say I wanted a $2.99 SD wallet but, when we made it to the store they only had the $10.99 SD wallets left. They didn't look like much and I thought that I might try to make one. I like to ruminate about projects and work out the best materials and what will work before I dig in to a project so, I put this one on a back burner. Today, I decide to declutter a drawer and I found this small used leather wallet.

It has lots of pockets.

Look, it can fit 4 AA batteries too!

While I only own 5 SD cards at the moment I have space for 12 altogether or a flash drive or two.

Another view...

I would love to hear about something you've repurposed.

Sparklers

When I was a kid I was all about parties. Well okay, I was all about parties until about 10 years ago then I became all about being tired. More will be explained as my blog progresses. Anyway, I feel a bit for my kids they are still excited about “The New Year” and celebrating. So, trying to pull some fun out of the hat I found some sparklers and they loved them. I also found some poppers but, I’m not sure how to add video yet. Enjoy the sparklers!

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One of my favorite vacation photo’s from 2008

As I sit here looking out on another snow fall, on this first day of 2009, I’m thinking back to last summer and the days we spent at the lake. Those were carefree days that didn’t involve the dreaded “S” word. When I was little it seemed that winter only lasted 4 months or so; we really had to pack in playing in the snow in those days. Now that I live in Canada (and I’m quite a bit older) it seems winter lasts for 6 to 8 months. Way. Too. Long.

You May Well be Wondering about the Name: Beautiful Mommy Princess…..

Well it all started on my birthday, 2005. I was awaken by the sweet voice of my four year old son who said “Happy Birthday, Beautiful Mommy Princess” while standing at the side of my bed. As the days past he kept right on calling me Beautiful Mommy Princess till his older brothers joined him in this name game. Here’s what I thought was interesting — he thought of it all by himself and it is a gift that keeps giving. Sweet words of affirmation and affection what could be better!

When you start a blog it really is hard to come up with a distinct name that expresses and encompasses all that you are or even a little bit of yourself. While I do not think of myself in the terms of Beautiful Mommy Princess; I do like that my son sees me through the rose colored glasses of love that he wears daily.