Easter 2015 Portraits

Liam got the most adorable Easter portraits done this month and I just got them back the other day.  I wanted to share their cuteness with the world!  Enjoy!

Jackie: The Adventures of a Little Boy Trying to Grow Up

Jackie: The Adventures of a Little Boy Trying to Grow Up is written by John Tammela and is an autobiography of his childhood as told from the point of view of the boy and an omnipotent narrator.

I have to agree with the sentiment that this is not a fitting cover for the book. Although “Jackie” looks sad on the cover, this book is anything but a sad story. This is instead a look inside the atmosphere of growing up in Niagara Falls, Canada in the 30s and 40s.

Jackie’s family immigrated to Canada from Finland prior to the start of World War II. Jackie’s childhood is reminiscent of the freedom that children used to know growing up. I had many moments that took me back to “A Christmas Story” and I could definitely see Jackie’s adventures with his friends and family being turned into a similar style movie.

Jackie’s live within the book ranges from toddler to fifth grade. During this time his adventures span from school stories, to shenanigans with his siblings, and even overcoming the fears of a small boy.

There are a few “experiences” within the story that will remind you of the growing up in Now & Then, or even Stand By Me which is completely realistic for a real little boy who is growing up into a young man. These are tastefully done and innocently real.

Although the font and the chapter length in the book is reminiscent of a middle grade novel, I found this book to be suitable for all age groups. If you have ever grown up or if you are just now growing up, I am sure that you can find something to relate to within John Tammela’s story of adolescence.

I give this book 4/5 stars. The beginning starts off a little slow and the ending wraps up in a detached way that is not seen in the rest of the book. Otherwise I thought it was well done and I loved the hand drawn maps and associated drawings that brought life to the stories told within the book. Quite the exciting childhood, makes me wish I could allow my son some of the same freedoms that can’t be found in current urban living. If you are interested in child biography, Canada, childhood, growing up, humor, imagination, etc, then this is a great book for you.  Also I have been told by the author that there is a second book in the works, so watch for that to come out in the near future!

*I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Alpha Woman Meets Her Match

The Alpha Woman Meets Her Match is written by Dr. Sonya Rhodes and is somewhat of a new approach to relationship help.

I was immediately interested in reading this book when I saw that the cover also stated: “How today’s strong women can find love and happiness without settling.” As a woman who has crossed the threshold of 30, I often wonder if I will ever find a partner in life, and as much as it would be nice to have someone, I am not keen on settling.

I loved this book. The way that Dr. Rhodes wrote made for an entertaining read. There were definitely times (the majority of the book), where I felt as though she was talking directly about me. She offers a quick 100 question test in the beginning to take a look at where you fall on the Alpha/Beta scale to help recognize these traits in yourself and others.

It was nice to have a book that didn’t spend too much time overkilling any of the topics. The stories and quotes were quick and applicable to the topics where they were placed. The layout of the book was useful for both a complete read through mode (which is what I did) as well as a cursory reference use.

I learned a lot about myself and about Alphas and Betas in general. According to the test I was 70 Alpha and 74 Beta, making me a High Alpha/ High Beta. This book did an amazing job of describing all of the ways that these attributes can affect life and how you deal with relationships. It was a very eye opening experience to get to know more about being an Alpha and to even learn things about myself that I hadn’t previously seen in myself.

My only complaint is that overall I didn’t really feel as though it was useful for helping me find someone in the future. It was more about assessing who you are, and to recognize how that can affect how you interact with people. Overall it was a message of learning to be the best you and a motivating push towards not losing hope and knowing that with a few key qualities, that you can make a relationship work.

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars. It was a great read, and I highly recommend it. I wish it would have talked a bit more about how to find someone the most compatible with you. I did enjoy this book immensely and would suggest that others do not shy away from its “self-help” persona. I feel as though better recognizing myself and my own interactions and drive that it will also help me to find someone in the future. If you are into learning about yourself as a person (man or woman), getting motivation in hope for the future, and taking an honest look at your life, this book is for you. I left this book feeling like Dr. Rhodes new me on a fundamental level and wanting to see her for a few sessions for the best advice.

*I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Liam is now an ORANGE BELT!

Life has been quite crazy since I decided to return to school and towards the end of August I decided to do a crazy thing and add putting my son in Tae Kwon Do on the list.  I am far behind on my talks of all of the benefits that I have seen come from these months of having him in class as opposed to before class.  I know part of it has to do with him turning 4, and coming into his own. 

Nothing could have prepared me for how amazing his Tae Kwon Do instructors have been.  The patience that they have each shown for all of the children and Liam in particular (because let's face it, I'm a little biased).  During this time, Liam has had to undergo 3 testing period, from going from his white belt to his yellow stripe, onto his yellow belt and now be awarded an orange belt and moved from a beginner to an intermediate class. 

Liam has come so incredibly far, and I have seen him blossom as a person.  He shows more confidence, he is more outgoing, and he has learned further references and uses in core discipline and courtesy lessons taught within Tae Kwon Do.

Liam was blessed to become part of the Team Chip of San Angelo group of Little Dragons.  Little Dragons is an amazing (and I'm sure patience trying for the instructors) experience for the younger children age 3-6 to be able to learn the basics of martial arts, as well as the values that come hand in hand in any martial arts training. 

Liam's instructors are amazing in a large part to the fact that you can see them with the children and know that they LOVE what they are doing.  All of this credit must go to the instructors that have helped to shape a large part of Liam's social life skills outside of daycare.  Each of them, Seraiah, Lexi, Kyle and the owner Chip, has had a direct impact on my son.  Liam has learned how to respect them and others and also how to find confidence and accomplishment by working hard at his martial arts skills.

I am so happy that I was able to walk through the door for information about Tae Kwon Do classes, at the exact time that a Little Dragon class was starting and to be whirl winded in (in that special way that Seraiah has) to have Liam try out his first class for free. 

On this journey we have gone through struggles where Liam on his 2nd belt was no longer wanting to go to class.  Even that early on, I had seen what a useful skill and how important this was in his life and I forced him to talk to his instructor to tell them himself and to take responsibility for quitting, although he was convinced to stay awhile longer, he wasn't as involved.  Constant fighting to put on his uniform and come to class on top of all of the other stresses in life had me question whether or not it was worth the trouble.  I wondered if Liam was really this miserable if it was the best thing for him.  I remember the day that I walked in and told Miss Deja that Liam would no longer be coming and we actually drove away as I explained to Liam the finality and the implications of his decision.  I explained that if he couldn't work hard and make an effort and push through even when it was hard than he could quit, but that he would lose the privileges that he had gained from his hard work, to include usage of his computer.  As a four year old mind, I'm sure he didn't hear much other than "No Take Kwon Do = No Computer" but as we were driving home he suddenly yelled "Stop Mom, Go Back, I want to Go" and I told Liam that if we went back, that we would not fight about it again and he would have to continue going the next day and the next week without any arguments. 

Needless to say, I did turn the car around, he ended up going to class that day.  I can't say that he was really into it for at least a week after that, but he found the excitement again and now we have reached a point where sometimes I have had a really long day at work and it is raining outside and I just want to go home and relax and Liam will beg for me to go to Tae Kwon Do because he can't miss class.  It always makes me laugh when I think about how I used to be the one begging him to go.  With his orange belt, he is determined to obtain a black belt like the instructors that he looks up to.  I never cease to be amazed at all of the things that he has accomplished at such a young age.  I know that he is establishing life skills and values that will never leave him no matter what age he is.  We look forward to working for as long as it takes to get closer to the accomplishments that will result in him being awarded a black belt.  My only complaint is the inability to join myself due to scheduling conflicts with adult class time. 

I never been so proud in my life as I am each time he stands there and is awarded his certificate and receives his next belt on his journey to being the best version of himself that he can be.



All Four Stars

All Four Stars was written by Tara Dairman and revolves around the life and love for cooking found within an adorable sixth grader named Gladys. 

This book was unexpectedly spectacular.  I had no idea how much I was going to love this book.  The writing was brilliant and entertaining.  I read that it took Tara many years to actually get this published, with it almost not happening, and I am so happy that she took the leap into being a published author because the world would have been missing too much cuteness in Gladys, and a wonderful light-hearted story with All Four Stars. 

Gladys lives with parents who walk a line of constant crap food and microwaveable “healthy alternatives”.  They are not big on utilizing anything past the microwave by way of cooking.  It isn’t until a visit from her aunt at the age of eight that Gladys even realizes that there is a whole world of food that she has been missing out on.  Thus begins her double life of secret cooking. 

I felt pain at thinking how many households may live off of fast food and cheap restaurants instead of exploring their palette.  As a mother I cringed to think of the lack of anything actually good going into Gladys’ diet at the hands of her parents.  I rejoiced in Gladys’ rebellion against constant manufactured food in her quest to reproduce recipes from scratch.

Overall I give this book 5/5 stars.  This was an easy love in a book for me.  I do not often read books such as middle grade, but this book was so much more than a specific age book.  As someone who also loves to cook, it would be awesome to see some of Gladys’ recipes into a possible future recipe book.  Gladys could inspire anyone to find their own “flavor” and if you already have a love of food or cooking, than I am sure you can easily relate to this book.  This book is great for pretty much anyone.  I am happy to see that The Stars of Summer will be coming out this summer as the sequel to this delightful read!

*I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Things Fall Apart

 Things Fall Apart is written by Chinua Achebe and is the first book in The African Trilogy.  It is told from the perspective of a Nigerian Tribe as Christianity is thrust upon their world in the late 19th Century.  

I knew that this book was one that was critically acclaimed and perhaps that made me go into it with certain expectations.  With that being said, I definitely wouldn’t want to read this book again for many reasons.  

Let’s start with talking about the good aspects of the book.  At the time that it was written, Chinua Achebe led the charge with showing a Nigerian perspective of the Imperialist takeover of West Africa of the late 9^th century.  As far as the book itself, I have to praise Chinua for taking an overall view in the description of life.  He manages to portray both the good and bad of the tribes that the reader follows throughout the story, and still shows a predominantly unbiased approach to the missionaries and their dealings.  

My biggest complaint about this book is the telling of it.  It told from an omnipotent narrative, that predominantly follows the life of Okonkwo, a revered Nigerian warrior.  The book can most be related to thinking within one’s mind.  When you are thinking about something such as ice cream, and then you describe it in detail and then it makes you think about food in general such as pizza, and then you think about Italy and then you try to remember what you were originally thinking about and you go back to the flavor of the ice cream.  Part one of the book was the worst about this.  The book was jumping around so much.  It would topic jump and then back track and retell part of the story and then jump again, and then go back to the same story later.  It was quite annoying to read, and disrupted the flow of the book quite extensively.  

I also wished for more descriptions.  I don’t know why I have encountered so many book recently that completely left off the physical descriptors of the people.  It is hard to become immersed within a story if the author fails to paint the full picture for you.  I had to look up pictures of 1890s era Nigerian tribal members to try to get a feel for what was going on at the time, and to try to bring the characters to life for me.  

My other problem in connecting with this book was that Part One took up almost 60% of the book being about the indigenous people, daily life, and beliefs, and then Part Two is in his mother’s village and the Christian missionaries are coming into their life, and the Part Three is very abrupt with Christianity thrust upon them. 

After all that, the end was very dissatisfying and left me saying…  “Wait, what?”  I don’t want to spoil it, but I feel that the end of the book went against Okonkwo’s nature as a warrior and in his belief that he would do such a thing.  

Overall I give the book 2 out of 5 stars.  I love the attempt that was made.  I wish this book had better flow.  It was a painful read for me to get through it.  I did love Okonkwo’s daughter, and it would be interesting to hear a book told from her point of view.  I get that it was nice to see something from this perspective and I can appreciate the subject material.  The bottom line for me is that if you strip that away and just look at this as a story, it is severely lacking in star quality.  It is a good read if you are interested in classics, historical fiction, Nigeria, British imperialism of west Africa, Christianity, Indigenous beliefs in Africa, the Igbos, etc.