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Summer Reading for Kids

I’ve purchased so many books for my kids this summer! It’s a good thing. But, that means I’m on the lookout for new books because, for the girls especially, I can’t seem to buy books fast enough!

I received these 2 adorable books for free to review. One for my girls and one for my little guy. They’re both so cute!

Where Are You Puffling? by Erika McGann and Gerry Daly

This is about a cute little puffling who has headed out on an adventure – and her parents search for her. Seriously, the puffling is adorable! I enjoy reading this book to my little guy just because I like the pictures.

The parents talk to the seal and the gannet and the rabbit; they walk to the huts and the cliffs and the cove. They hear lots of stories of the puffling helping others, but they just cannot find their fluffy, black chick. My little guy loves spotting the puffling in each picture, as the parents are always one step behind their puffling’s adventure. – also, kind of reminds me of me trying to keep up with a certain little 2yr old!

Finally, the parents spot her – on a boat out at sea! The puffling is too small to fly home, so the animals of Skellig work together and come up with something very clever…

This is such a fun and adorable book of friendship, helping, and adventure. A terrific addition to my child’s home library!

The Friendship Fairies – by Lucy Kennedy illustrated by Phillip Cullen

This book is written for Elementary students. The reading level is perfect for my 3rd grade daughter! However, because it’s about fairies, her older sister had to read it as well. I never object to the girls reading a fun book about being kind and having good manners!

Emme, Holly and Jess are just like regular girls, always messing and having fun. But they’re also fairies, and instead of regular schooling they go to friendship classes, where they learn all about being kind and having good manners. Then they’re sent out into the human world to teach children what they’ve learned. Of course, it’s not always easy being good! Will they ever be able to graduate from fairy school?

This book is quite funny and entertaining – I enjoyed reading it! And it’s a lighthearted way to remind my kids about the importance of being kind to others and the importance of being considerate towards others in the things that they do.

This book is a fun and charming addition to the girl’s book list.

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Friendships

Friendships, now that’s a topic my husband and I have spent lots of time discussing.

Here’s my thing with friendships. I tend to make them easily, and I have lots of friends. I love friends! But I have no really close friends. And when friends move to a different state or when I move, the friendships pretty much end and I start all over. I’m still in touch with some old friends through Facebook, but without Facebook we honestly would probably never hear from each other again.

I have friends I can call for help, friends I can set up playdates with, even friends who would watch my kids if I asked, but no friend that I would just call to vent to if I was having a bad day. No really close friend who knows all about me.

Before you start thinking that I have no one to talk to, I have 5 sisters. So, I can always call one of them. And I have several sister-in-laws that I can call. And even my own mom or my mother-in-law are great people to talk to. Do, I call and just vent, or cry? To be honest, I think I was a teenager last time I did. Not that my life is perfect. But who really wants to know about my horrible, awful day?

So, maybe it’s because I’m surrounded by so much family, I don’t actually need a separate close friend. Or maybe I’m just afraid of anyone getting too close. Honestly, it’s hard to say. Maybe it’s because I’m not good at sharing my feelings? Or maybe I’m just looking for something that doesn’t exist. Or, maybe I just don’t need a close friend right now?

Who knows? At this point, I’ve given up on trying for a really close friend and I’ve decided to just enjoy the friendships that I have.

I have friends in my homeschool group. We chat about life and all sorts of homeschool questions and topics. I have friends at church. Friends because my husband is friends with their spouse. And now that my husband is a small business owner I’m even starting to make some great friendships with some of the other small business owner’s spouses. Basically, I’m surrounded by plenty of friends. And I think that I should enjoy those friendships to the fullest and not worry about this elusive “best friend” that I’ll never be able to find or keep. That’s been my goal the past few years, and I’m quite happy with the friendships that I have.

I would say that my biggest challenge with friendships is I tend to keep my personal feelings hidden which makes it hard for others to get to really know me. So friendships take a long time to develop.

I want to know, what is your biggest challenge with friendships? Or, what is your best piece of friendship advice? Tell me in the comments below 🙂

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This #BloggersTalkingAbout series features amazing bloggers writing from the heart. Continue reading more by following these links. #BloggersTalkingAbout Friendship by Joanne, Friendships by Jenny, The Importance Of A Chosen Family by Nicole and Why You Need an Accountability Buddy by Alicia. If you’re a mom/female blogger, join us in our group, Bodacious Bloggers.

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Randomness

My goal is one blog post a week, on Tuesdays. And this Tuesday morning I’m squeezing in a post before we head out the door for preschool, sewing class, and errands.

After making breakfast for the kids, I have about two minutes to write a blog post before it’s time to get them dressed and head out the door. I am really looking forward to summer when the only think on our schedule is a trip to the pool!

The other day a friend gave me a couple bags of Amish Friendship Bread Starter, so, yesterday we were baking – also yesterday my husband was home sick, and we had ballet lessons and grocery shopping. Anyways, back to the baking. So, Amish Friendship Bread makes great bread and muffins, but it does not make great pizza crust. I tried a pizza last night for dinner, and while the crust turned out great, it was too sweet. It would have been perfect for a dessert pizza, but with cheese and pepperoni on it, it was pretty bad. Well, I thought it was pretty bad. The kids loved it – I don’t know what wrong with them!

I did save myself another starter and in 10 days I have a recipe for cinnamon rolls that I’m going to try. Since the dough is sweet, they should be pretty tasty!

Yeast is such an interesting thing. One person starts a bag, lets it sit for a while then shares part of it with someone else, who can then just add sugar, flour, and milk, and the yeast keeps producing. No need to add more yeast. It’s amazing how it keeps going and going and going.