Do you still have plastic Easter Eggs hanging around?

Look at this cute craft my Bubs came up with.

It's as easy as it looks. Just string up your egg-halves, keeping them all the same direction until the last one. (You may have to make some of the holes bigger with a pen.) We used a nylon cord that doesn't stretch. It allows some movement but it doesn't allow for separation of the segments.

Make a little knot on each end and trim the excess.

Don't forget the happy face.  :)

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The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker

I picked this one up on our last trip to the library, and I'm so glad I did. What a fun story! I'm going to add it right away to my list of clean fantasy romances for growing girls.

I don't know how I missed it until now, but the timing is right, because I just saw that a sequel is forthcoming this Fall.

Here's my Book Review: Princess Annabelle, known as Annie, is the younger sister of Gwendolyn (aka Sleeping Beauty). When the beautiful Gwendolyn pricks her finger on a spinning wheel, everyone in the castle falls asleep. Everyone except Annie, that is.

Annie isn't affected by magic. In fact, any magic near her grows increasingly weaker. The other royals despise her because their magical gifts of beauty and grace fade in her presence. Even her parents keep their distance.

Annie sets out on a quest to find Gwendolyn's true love, so she can wake her family. One adventure proceeds another as she travels through fairy tales.

Along the way, the meet a Hansel-and-Gretel-esk witch, an enchanted prince who is in the form of a bear, a swamp prince who used to be a frog, and a prince holding contests to find a bride.

Baker flips many fairy tales on their heads in this creative adventure.

I thought the witch mentioned above was kind of creepy. She was fattening up a couple children to eat them. Of course, Annie outwitted her, saving the children, and creating a pretty funny and entertaining scene.

As you can imagine, there is also quite a bit of talk about kissing. After all, it IS the only way to wake a sleeping princess.

I read this to my 8 and 6 year olds. They both loved it. We finished it a few days ago, and today my 6 year old girl, Welly, said, "I just keep thinking about The Wide-Awake Princess. I can't believe that..." Sorry. I can't tell you the rest. It would spoil the ending.  :)

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Great article about Mormon temples from an Episcopal Priest in the Huffington Post.

And there's an article about Mormon underwear here. But aren't undergarments kind of a personal matter, even if you are vying for President?

Do you have questions about some of the strange things you've heard about us? I'd be happy to answer them as best as I can.

I grew up in Southern California where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka Mormons) weren't terribly scarce or plentiful.

I certainly heard my share of strange questions, though.

No. I'm not hiding horns under my hair. And yes. Mormons are allowed to dance.

The worst thing was always when someone from another faith told me that they had "an ex-mormon" come speak to their congregation. You can bet that those probably aren't people who want to share a positive (or even completely truthful) view of us.

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Some days, everything goes as planned, albeit rarely. Today wasn't one of those days. 

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I am quite biased, but I LOVE these four faces. And I LOVE being their mama.

And yes, being a stay-at-home mom is work...the most rewarding kind.

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The first time I heard someone compare The False Prince: (Book 1 of the Ascendance Trilogy) by Jennifer A. Nielson to Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, I admittedly balked a little. I mean really, Harry Potter AND The Hunger Games? But I put the hardcover in my Amazon cart anyway.

The second time I heard the comparison made, I decided to check my library system to see if I could get it sooner. All the copies in the county were checked out. And there were quite a few.

The THIRD time I heard that it was AS. GOOD. AS. HARRY POTTER. AND THE HUNGER GAMES (!), I said, I need this book now...and downloaded it to my Kindle.

So, how did it measure up?

Considering my HIGH expectations, it did well.

I can't say that it was quite the page-turner that The Hunger Games was, but I certainly didn't want to stop reading at any point either.

I enjoyed this book as well as the first few Harry Potters (BLASPHEMY! you say), but whether the series becomes a true classic remains to be seen. I mean, that 7th Harry Potter book was genius. Pure storytelling genius.

Here's a summary:

The royal family is dead but few members of the Kingdom know. One of the princes, however, was lost at sea years ago. A power-hungry regent chooses four orphans who look similar to the missing prince and begins training them. One will become Prince Jaron. The other three, knowing too much of the treacherous plan, will be killed.

Sage, an unruly boy full of spunk, is our narrator. He doesn't want to be a prince, but what choice does he h

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Witch Song
by Amber Argyle

Brusenna has always lived in hiding, deep in the forest with her mother. The townspeople know they're witches and shun them.

If only the people understood that the witches exist for the good of all...to keep the seasons, oceans, plants and climates under control.

Brusenna knows very little about being a witch. Her mother has kept her in the dark in order to keep her safe.

But long before she is ready, Brusenna finds herself alone, the only witch who has not been captured by Espen, the betrayer.

Brusenna, along with her handsome guardian who she meets along the way, set out to save the world.

Can an untrained witch fight the strongest witch on Earth? If she fails, the world will be destroyed.

I recommend this fun, clean read for teen/adult lovers of fantasy romances.

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In fact, they made a most beautiful centerpiece for my table. Only one adornment could make the center of the table more gorgeous...

A chubby baby.  :)

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For years, I waited for my kids to be old enough to appreciate The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. I would pull it off the shelf now and then and consider it for our next read-aloud, but the right time hadn't arrived.

Until recently. We just finished reading this wonderful book last week.



My patience paid off. Both Bubs (8) and Welly-Bells (6) thoroughly enjoyed it, but Welly was absolutely triumphant as the sweet little romance wrapped up. Giddy even.  :) She pranced around a lot and giggled a little...and I thought, Oh Boy! My little girl is growing up.

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Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Let me just say this: Louis Zamperini has had one incredible life! From a childhood where he was always stealing things and running away to training for and competing in the olympics to fighting in WWII to taking up skateboarding in his eighties, this man has done many things in his life that others (like us) only read about.

Louis was gearing up to run in the olympics for the second time when WWII hit the world with full force. He became a bombardier.

The war took Louis on a wild adventure (that most people would rather die than live through). Stranded on a small raft for a month and a half, he came to believe that if he ever stepped back onto land, his troubles would be over. In reality, they were just beginning.

The raft, after drifting some 2000 (!) miles, landed in enemy territory, where Louis found himself in one prison camp after the next. A sadistic Japanese POW camp leader zeroed in on Louis and literally made his life a living hell.

This book was fascinating to me. Depressing at times. Even disturbing at times. But fascinating. If you make it to the end, you'll find sweet redemption and even forgiveness.

If he could forgive the atrocities he lived through, how can we ever hold grudges?

This book is heavy. I recommend it for adults, although there is some talk of sexuality and pornography. It isn't a fluffy book. It's full of facts, not a lot of dialog...and the topic itself is heavy.

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Have you heard of the Fabulous Mrs. Stephanie Nielson of Nie Nie Dialogues fame? Of course you have...or if you haven't, it's time to find out about this amazing and lovely woman.

Did you know that she recently released a book? Well, it's every bit as wonderful as you expect it to be.

Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson

Stephanie Aurora Nielson had a fairy-tale life befitting her fairy-tale name and good looks. You know, like "lips to shame the red-red rose" and all that. It was the life she had always dreamed of...the life she imagined through her paper dolls until well past the age when most girls stopped playing paper dolls anymore.

And she was happy. She blogged up her happy life, reveling in the beauty of day-to-day life as a wife and mother.

Mr. Christian Nielson was also following his dreams. He was learning to fly.

But disaster struck. Along with their friend/flight instructor, Doug, they were in a terrible crash. Stephanie came out with burns on 80% of her body, Christian came out a little better off but still badly injured, and Doug didn't come out at all.

Stephanie was in a drug-induced coma for three months. When she awoke, she didn't want to see anyone. At times, she lost all hope and believed she could never be happy again.

But gradually, as she learned to sit up again, and then stand and walk, her personality shone through, and she realized that she still had everything she ever wanted...her family and her faith.

She talks about her life as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka Mormons, which I also belong to. This book is a very non-threatening way to find out a little bit about that. It's not written in a preachy way. It's just part of her life (as it is mine).

I enjoy Stephanie Nielson's blog and have read it off and on for several years. I LOVED this book, though. It is about hope, love, joy, faith, and the importance of family. Stephanie shows us how, even in the midst of sore trials, we can find joy in the simple things that matter most (even laundry!)

I highly recommend Heaven is Here to adults and young adults. So inspiring.

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Want to know a secret? I'm human. Ok. It's no secret...but recently I've been feeling the depth of my human-ness. Trying to be the best wife and mother to FOUR kids, taking care of a large and beautiful home, and striving to be a devout follower of Jesus the Christ is a lot of work. It's work I wouldn't trade for anything, but it's still work.

My parents, who live out-of-state, stayed with us for three months (!). Many of you may think that sounds like a trial but it was truly Heaven-on-Earth for me. My dad finished our basement (Goodness, it's beautiful! Pictures to come!), and my mom hung out with me.

By "hanging out", I mean that she did every speck of my laundry, almost all the cooking, half of all the mothering, most of the sweeping...you get the picture. Better yet, she was such a wonderful companion. She never sits, that woman. She had four kids, too. I think four is the number when things get a bit busier, and you don't have time to just sit anymore.

Having her here took my need to blog away for a while. In the words of Little Women, we had each other for "the bearing of our souls and the telling of our most appalling secrets."


The truth is, women need each other. 


Of course, I need my husband, too. For many, many reasons and in many, many ways...but they are different from the reasons I need great women in my life. And that's a blog for another day.


Today, I'm missing my Mama. 




And all of you. 


My companions, to whom I bear my soul and tell my most appalling secrets.

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