Monday, April 04, 2011

Get Low...


Felix Bush is a man who has done something so horrible, so unthinkable, and so unforgivable that he builds himself a prison and stays there for 40 years. ... "The first 38 are the hardest."

In an effort to find some kind of peace, he comes out of his recluse to host his own "funeral party".

Even though the script is spare and quiet, there is humor and great heart delivered with care by some of the finest actors of our time.


The Tea Rose...


Jennifer Donnelly knows how to write a page turner. That's for sure. You'll keep turning the pages just to find out what happened. But, in the end I was disappointed. It was a little gimmicky... too many teasers and too romance novelly. Even though I think Donnelly has a lot of talent, she's a little dark for me and while her books are entertaining, they lack light and truth... without which there cannot be greatness. In addition, the sex and language is gratuitous and she can't pull her ending together in this one. Despite the recommendations from Simon Winchester and Frank McCourt, Donnelly's books are more entertainment than literature, think John Grisham/Stephenie Meyer. This is a trilogy, but I'm going to leave it here.


I would recommend Donnelly's Revolution, but while it's written for young adults... I think 16 and up.

Holly Christmas Bear...



Merry Christmas!

Christmas House...

Safe & warm surrounded by love...

Friday, April 01, 2011

Easter Basket in Tiffany Blue...


The Hand That Rocks the Cradle...

This picture is dear to my heart. It's not just that it's a photo of two of my very dear friends. (They happened to be related by marriage.) The photo shows them with their calendars. They are planning and coordinating to see that each of their children (there are 10 between them) gets to music lessons, doctor appointments, school, plays, and all of their other activities. They make sure there is time for the most important things. They ensure that family needs are met. They take care of extended family and friends and neighbors and church responsibilites. These two do about as much good as people can do and not collapse. They make it work some pens and calendars and organization and big, big hearts. And, what they accomplish is amazing. When I think of the legacy they are creating at the kitchen counter.. It moves me to tears. I have many friends who do this every week. Here's to you my friends. You rule!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Little Sarah...









Love BoxES SHoP...


peg dolls, doll, little peg people. peggies, wedding cake toppers, cake toppers, cupcake toppers, birthday, decorations, painted, anniversary, available in love boxes shop...

Easter Basket...

Something new.. is coming to

Friday, March 25, 2011

The Flip Side of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know and Men Can't Say

A liberated woman is one who has sex before marriage and a job after. ~Gloria Steinem
No woman should be authorized to stay home to raise her children. Women should not have that choice, because if there is such a choice, too many women would make that one. ~Simone de Beauvoir
I have a university degree and worked for a number of years after I was married. We waited until my husband had graduated and started in his career to begin our family so that I could be at home. I knew that I would never be able to leave my child in daycare. I realize that some women don't have a choice (This book is not a diatribe against working mothers).
It's true that my brain isn't stimulated by laundry (although books on tape help :) I don't love to change diapers and do dishes. But personally, I do love to be with my children. I love to watch them learn and grow. Teaching them their colors and numbers and then to watch them read, ride bikes, have friends of their own is amazing.
Even though I loved my work-life outside the home, mothering is the most creative, complicated, rewarding work I've ever done. I'm grateful that I have a husband who has prepared himself professionally and is willing to support our family. He has my great respect.
I hope that my daughters will find a man like him when they grow up. Will they? I see our feminist culture as the kryptonite to the supermen our boys want to become. By treating their rough and tumble elementary school games as bullying or expelling them for throwing snowballs (ridiculous). Banning recess?
There is a teacher in our school who has recognized this problem. She runs her class around the track before math. The class moves between every subject. She incorporates music and jumping jacks. Her classes are always filled with the "behavior problem boys" who turn out not to be problems in her class at all. The boys love her and they love school.
But, elementary school problems are just the beginning, the world has become hostile to men.
Feminism doesn't recognize the inherent differences of boys and girls, men and women and both suffer because of it. Feminism has been shoved down our throats until what was once considered shocking is a normal part of society to great cost. Broken families abound creating poverty, crime and other social problems at an alarming rate. Women put off having children for careers and advanced schooling to the point that infertility is rampant. 1.2 million abortions are performed in the United States every year. And, yet feminism has been considered a great step forward in society.
It's just the beginning of the lies that any fan of old movies, like myself, knows for what it is. Watch Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, Bogart and Bacall, Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur in films made before 1950 and you will know that American Women had equal rights long before Gloria Steinem came along.
I could go on forever, but I'll say this. I heard a stranger say the other day, "I don't want a woman who walks in front of me. I don't want a woman who walks behind me. I want a woman who will walk beside me." READ THIS BOOK!

One Brave Girl... Custom Peg Doll

peg dolls, doll, little peg people. peggies, wedding cake toppers, cake toppers, cupcake toppers, birthday, decorations, painted, anniversary, available in love boxes shop...

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Why Do We Let Girls Dress Like That?

Interesting article... WSJ
Women of a liberated generation wrestle with their eager-to-grow-up daughters—and their own pasts...
HERE...

Monday, March 21, 2011

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly


I was a little surprised to learn that this book is considered YA fiction. I would probably read it with my teen if she were interested in reading this book. Because, the book covers some heavy topics: teen suicide, abandonment, death of a child, teen sex, drug abuse and depression. However, it is never overly graphic and it tries to help the reader have empathy for someone who is literally falling apart.
I sat down and read it in a single shot. It's a clear-your-schedule-and-make-some-couch-time-because-you-aren't-going-anywhere book.
Side-by-side, the book tells the stories of two troubled teens, one modern and one living during the French Revolution. The plot is complex and exciting, but it's also well researched historical fiction. I learned some things about the French Revolution that I didn't know before and Donnelly paints a fascinating picture of the time.
If you liked the book, The Thirteenth Tale... This book feels like that one... Surprises, great characters, tight writing. It's good stuff.

The Life of King Henry the Fifth



















O Kate, nice customs curtsy to great kings. DearKate, you and I cannot be confined within the weaklist of a country's fashion: we are the makers ofmanners, Kate; and the liberty that follows ourplaces stops the mouth of all find-faults...

I love to watch Kenneth Branagh's 1989 version of Henry the Fifth. Brilliant. I need to spend more time with Shakespeare. Good for the brain and good for the heart. If you haven't seen THIS... put it on your list. Gorgeous!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Yearning For The Living God


I am grateful that I took the opportunity to read this book. It helped me puzzle some things together that I have been studying in other areas.
Enzio Busche was born just three years before Hitler came to power in Germany. He talks about the thought processes and learning at the time and about his experience in the Hitler Youth.
There is a part in the book where he says, "There was a great deal of talk about a world of conspiracy with secret combinations. Certain names of rich families were mentioned as well as members of the royal families in Europe. Supposedly, they wanted to establish a world government that would use democracy and communism as tools to fulfill their own purposes. We were told that Germany was the last enemy standing in their way, so they wanted to destroy it permanently."
Sound familiar?
Elder Busche goes on to say, "This idea always seemed very far-fetched to me. And, surprisingly, similar rumors tend to surface year after year, even in America. I do no believe them any more today than I did then. But I have observed with interest what long lived rumors and lies can have and how they destabilize the comfort and peace of societies."
I believe something is lost in the translation here. It was the only part of the book that had me really confused because in the very next paragraph, Elder Busche goes on the describe the very conspiracy that fooled so many and became what is known as the Holocaust. Truly, secret combinations are part of this world. I talked this out with C. He made the comment that he's been asked about who are behind the secret combinations of this world. Who are the conspirators? Who is the great and abominable church? His answer was that it wasn't one thing.
The drug cartels. The mafia. Those who seek to destroy the church and the faithful can all be part of secret combinations. Surely there are many. The idea of pointing to just one, even in the time of Hitler, Stalin was also an evil dictator responsible for the killing millions and for secret combinations that allowed him to keep the power of which he was so jealous. C's thoughts made a lot of sense to me. There is no one family, no one race, no royal family, no one sect that is out to cause chaos, war, bloodshed and the destruction of society.
The book goes on to tell of Elder Busche's conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and of the many tender mercies gifted to him by our Father in Heaven. He also tells many instances of people whose devotion to God gave them the ability to serve him in miraculous ways and often that helped them to be in the right place at the right time with the right help, with the right information... Elder Busche told many stories about how after giving all they had and coming short, the Lord made up the difference. The book is full of stories of the widow's mite... those that have so very little, but whose sacrifice, made in love is great.
There is a thread of liberty that runs through the book. An understanding of how freedom and liberty are essential to the gospel. The end of the book includes a treatise on the bloody history of Christianity. It's very sad, but interesting and made me think how much we still live today with our ancient history. Elder Busche tells how we need to judge faith by it's fruits and that the best is that message delivered by the angel at time of the birth of Christ, "Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward men."
I give this book the highest recommendation I have and hope that you will read it and tell me what you think.

The people of Japan...

I'm really impressed with the people of Japan. Looting? No. Whining that people aren't doing enough for them? No. They are handling this most difficult tragedy with grace and patience. Had they not, had there been riots and disorder... markets already fairly shaky would have had further problems. The Japanese have given the world a gift with their grace.
I'm sure that we will all find some way to be helpful to them.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Children Make Terrible Pets...


What if when you were a small child, you brought home a frog and asked your mom if you could, "please, please, please.." keep him forever? And then your mom said, "How would you like it if some forest creature picked you up and took you home and asked to keep you?" And you thought. "GREAT!" ... or something like that. This book is delightful!