Our Adoption Journey

Great books for Tweeners

The other day, I updated you about my weekend at the CHAP convention and promised that, over the next couple of weeks, I would share about some of the wonderful people I had opportunity to meet there.  I saw a booth set up and recognized one of the books as one that Ashley had recently reviewed on her blog, so I stopped to chat.  I was amazed to find out that I've actually been working with this publisher for a promotion with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. 

I had a great discussion with the gentlemen from Baker-Trittin Press and I was just amazed with the ministry that they have started.  Over the years, as a homeschooling mom, I have heard many people ask about reading books for their young sons (8-12 years).  There is a TON available for girls in this age range, but their is seemingly little available for boys of this age.  Reading is one of my passions, one I hope to pass on to all my children; with a toddler boy in my home, I was thrilled to see what Mr. Baker and Mr. Trittin are working to accomplish.

They are in search of authors to write books for this age group of boys.  The fun thing is, though, that girls also enjoy these books.  BUT, what I really love about them is that they are sponsoring a FANTASTIC WRITING CONTEST for high school students~ high school kids (grades 9-12) are asked to write books for younger kids (ages 8-12).  The winning authors have their books published!  So, not only are the young kids benefitting from having new, fun books to read; but high school kids are benefitting by having their writing taken seriously~ enough to have their books published! 

I had opportunity to review the book written by the 1st Place Winner in 2007.  I'd like to share a bit about it here:

ABOUT THE BOOK:

"Journey to the Homeland" takes place in the mythical land of Diggeret where a young orphan boy, Keegan, wonders from place to place seeking a perminant home. Whenever his "gift" -- the ability to communicate with animals, is discovered -- he is forced to leave. Finally, at the age of eleven, he finds a caring family in the village of Crempton who offers him a home. But even here he must keep his secret from them, especially the existance of his best friend, Adrian -- a jaguar. Through mistaken identities, the king's men come looking for an arrogant young girl, Nora, whom everyone believes is the one who communicates with animals. After she is kidnapped by the king's men, Keegan feels he must redeem himself for his silence and stop the kidnappers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Hannah Stahlhut was a 16 year old homeschooler in Danville, Indiana when she submitted "Journey to the Homeland" to the Tweener Time International Chapter Book Competition in July of 2007. She has worked for years with her family in the world of children's entertainment using clowns and animals, thus giving her not only an understanding of her audience but her characters, both human and non-human alike.

HEIDI SAYS:  Fun book!  I think I finally figured out why I love children's books and books targetted to young people so much.  When you are young, you are always striving to grow up.  Then, when you're actually grown up, you look back and wonder why you rushed your youth so much!  I believe that's why I enjoy books for young people~ because they make me feel young again.
Hannah has written a great story here.  I'm impressed with her writing, and especially with the fact that she's a homeschooled student~  that's exciting to me. 
I will be looking forward to future books in the 2007 Winning Series~ I believe Book #2 will be released sometime very soon.

If you have a young author in your home, I encourage you to check out the link above and find out more about the writing competition.  (If your child happens to be an artist/illustrator, you too need to check out the contest, as the cover illustrations are also done by high school students!)

If you have a young boy and are at a loss to find books for him to read, please check out Baker-Trittin Press.  And watch my blog for future reviews on more of their  books.

The Moon in the Mango Tree

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Until recently retiring to write full time, Pamela Binnings Ewen was a partner in the Houston office of the international law firm of BakerBotts, L.L.P., specializing in corporate finance. She now lives just outside New Orleans in Mandeville, Louisiana with her husband, James Lott. She has served on the Board of Directors of Inprint, Inc., a non-profit organization supporting the literary arts in Houston, and is on the Board of Directors of The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society in New Orleans.

Pamela's first novel, Walk Back The Cat (Broadman & Holman. May, 2006) is the story of an embittered and powerful clergyman who learns an ancient secret, confronting him with truth and a choice that may destroy him. She is also the best-selling author of the acclaimed non-fiction book Faith On Trial, published by Broadman & Holman in 1999, currently in its third printing. Although it was written for non-lawyers, Faith On Trial was also chosen as a text for a course on law and religion at Yale Law School in the Spring of 2000, along with The Case For Christ by Lee Stroble. Continuing the apologetics begun in Faith On Trial, Pamela also appears with Gary Habermas, Josh McDowell, Darrell Bock, Lee Stroble, and others in the film Jesus: Fact or Fiction, a Campus Crusade for Christ production. Her new novel, The Moon In The Mango Tree (B&H Publishing Group, May 2008) will be available next spring. Set in the 1920's and based on a true story, it is about a woman faced with making a choice between career and love, and her search for faith over the glittering decade.

Pamela is the latest writer to emerge from a Louisiana family recognized for its statistically improbable number of successful authors. A cousin, James Lee Burke, who won the Edgar Award, wrote about the common ancestral grandfathers in his Civil War novel White Dove At Morning. Among other writers in the family are Andre Dubus (Best Picture Oscar nomination for The Bedroom; his son, Andre Dubus III, author of The House of Sand and Fog, Best Picture Oscar nomination and an Oprah pick; Elizabeth Nell Dubus (the Cajun trilogy); and Alafair Burke, just starting out with the well received Samantha Kincaid mystery series. Pamela is currently working on a new book titled Dancing on Glass, which was recently short-listed as a finalist for the 2007 Faulkner/Wisdom creative writing novel award.

HEIDI SAYS:  This book was really worth reading.  First of all, not only do I love historical novels, but I really enjoyed the fact that this one was based on a true story.  Secondly, it was set in Asia (Thailand, specifically), and I have a heart for Asia.  Hearing her speak of places like Bangkok (where I have been briefly) was exciting to me.  The novel is set in the early 1900's and I so enjoyed reading about the culture of that time;  actually, I would say that, in many ways, not much has changed.  I also enjoyed the references to other places in the book, such as Philadelphia and Italy.  Pamela has a way of describing things so that you feel as though you are really there.  The Moon in the Mango Tree is based on the life of Pamela's grandmother~ I'm sure she would  be  very proud of Pamela's portrayal of her life story.  I would recommend this book.

And Now She's Eleven

It's amazing to me that my little girl turned eleven today! 

Last Saturday we took her with 2 of her friends and Daniella to Wacky Bear.
Trying to choose the perfect bear

There were so many "oooohs" and "ohhhhhhs" over all of the little clothes.

Coming to life

This is a good friend of Marissa's.  They play together a good bit.  She's only a year and a half younger than Marissa.  She's just very petite.  Marissa is actually very small compared to most kids her age.  Another friend below in the blue soccer shirt, is also smaller than Marissa, and she is 9 months older than Marissa. 

They love their bears~meet Bubbles and Morgan.

A successful shopping excursion~4 bears and a dinosaur, not to mention several outfits that the girls bought themselves. 

The extra little girl on the right end is a sibling that came along.  No, Daniella is not that tall (on the left).  She's sitting on the window ledge~hence no feet below the bag.  Can you see all of the photographers reflected in the window? 

We left Wacky Bear and went to a small park close by.  It was a beautiful sunny day, great temp with a breeze, and the park is right on the river. 

Playing tag.  The two facing this way are on base. 

Yes, the bears went to the playground, too!

Taking a rest

What we're resting from

A great time was had by all, and it was a happy day for the birthday girl.

Today the family is going to play putt-putt (mom has 4 free passes!) I have a strawberry freezer cake made (her favorite that she has every year), and I'm making one of her favorite meals for dinner. 

I'm Invisible

I meant to post this for Mother's Day.  It is an excerpt from Nichole Johnson's book "The Invisible Woman: When Only God Sees."

"I'M INVISIBLE "

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?"

Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Pick me up right around 5:30, please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going ... she's going ... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.

It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this."

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

§ No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names.

§ These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

§ They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

§ The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it."

And the workman replied, "Because God sees."

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand-bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table."

That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. If we're doing it right, we cannot be seen. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women."

Happy Mother's Day TO ME!

Mother's Days around our house aren't usually very exciting.  Mother's Day falls right on the heels of our state's annual homeschool convention.  Sometimes I'll pick something out that I just have to have and Brian will buy it for me.  This year, I didn't see anything I just had to have, so I didn't get any gift(s).....yet.  However, I'm going shopping with a friend tonight~ so maybe I'll buy myself something! 

So many of you have been standing with my family in prayer over the whole Certificate of Citizenship issue, so I just had to update you......

Friday evening, when we got home from convention, Brian went for the mail and WE RECEIVED GRACIE'S NOTIFICATION LETTER!!!!  That is definitely Mother's Day gift enough for this mama who was becoming somewhat worried!  God is always in control, and each day I learn more and more that His timing is always perfect! 

This morning, Gracie's green card was put in the mail, and now we just wait for the actual CoC to arrive.  I must say that I hated giving that thing up because, well, the picture on it was just too cute.  But, I'm just so thrilled that this matter is all taken care of and we don't have to worry about it anymore.

Praise the Lord!

Need a new purse?

My friend Jennifer at Little Piddles is having a contest in honor of Mother's Day.  Head on over to her blog and check out the details.  There are lots of purse styles and colors to choose from~ surely you'll find one you just have to have!  (I'm only telling you this because I'm a nice person~ really, I hope nobody else enters because I want to win!)

Oh,also.....From now till May 31st enter code MOM08 during checkout to receive 15% OFF all orders at Little Piddles online store. 

The Simple Woman's Daybook...

The Simple Woman holds a real fun meme and I thought I would join in this week.  If you want to read more daybook entries go the above link.
FOR TODAY

Outside my Window~ We have a high winds warning out today and everything is blustery.  The windows are shaking but we feel safe tucked into our 77 year old home nestled here in the mountains.

I am thinking~ Our last week of school...The big teen must finish up The Time Machine, Rich Dad/Poor Dad, and his currrent affairs book.  The little ones are transitioning into more child lead activities.

I am thankful for~ my sturdy home and reliable internet connection.

From the kitchen~ Not much cooking today...

I am creating~  Scrapbooking all of my kiddos best art work from this school year.  IT is nice to get it all in one place instead of scattered to the four winds.

I am going~ To our attachment therapy and RAD support group for our Goldilocks tonight.

I am wearing~ Jeans, long sleeve flower shirt and socks.

I am reading~ Transforming the Difficult child's Mind

I am hoping~ That none of our trees blow down or loose to many tender leaves.

I am hearing~ My children watching the movie, Water Horse Legend of The Deep.

Around the house~ I need to finish putting the laundry away and get out art supplies for art lessons in a little while.

One of my favorite things~ Watching Thunderstorms and windy days like today with a warm cup of tea in my hand.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week~ Nature center, end of year testing on Friday, doctor appointment on Wed. and pulling together and finishing up school projects.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing for you~

Who is studying who?

Blessings,

Dawn

a short update

Monday Meanderings

To all my bloggin' buddies.....