Plain Pursuit by Beth Wiseman

Time for another book review friends...... Plain Pursuit, A Daughters of the Promise Novel is the first by Beth Wiseman that I have read - it is unlikely that it will be the last. I love a good Amish story and this one certainly met the standard of a "good Amish story". Although somewhat predictable in places, which I guess happens after reading too many Amish works of fiction, it brought pleasant mix of modern day life and old time Amish ways and wove them seamlessly into an enjoyable read. There were a few unexpected twists and turns which always earn extra points on my scorecard ;-) The characters are real and believable. I found myself cheering them on and celebrating their victories as well. This book is the second in the series but stood alone well enough that I did not feel I was missing anything critical not having read the first in the series.

An easy, enjoyable read, I would recommended this book for when you just want to read something to enjoy that does not require a whole lot of effort on the part of the reader. And of course if you like a "good Amish story" all the better!!

And by the way - there are a few recipes at the end of the book just in case your feeling Amish ;-)

Learning as I go,

Leisha

These are a few of my favorite things.......

Merry Christmas Eve !! I am up alone this morning - a rare treat ;-) I have a freshly ground cup of Jamaica's finest here beside the tree and just wanted to take a minute to wish you the best of the season.

We are having our family meal today around one-ish so I have plenty to do this morning other than coffee drinking and tree gazing, but there was one thing I promised I would do and I strive to keep my word as much as possible.

A few weeks ago I had dinner with the two original "Mama Leisha Girls" to celebrate Jenny's birthday and to exchange our Christmas gifts. We took a road trip to Nashville in November to start our Christmas shopping and had a little too much fun - who knew trying on hats could be so much fun!! I share this picture only because of the fun factor - it certainly isn't to show off how good I look in a hat !!

Forgive me, I digress, it was during this fun filled adventure that I got the idea of what I wanted to do for my girls for Christmas. We looked at several cute aprons and I thought that would be a great thing to build a gift around - so I came home armed with my plan. I found some cute festive aprons and made some homemade goodies to go with, found some monogrammed recipe cards and I was ready. The night we met we opened our gifts from Hannah first - a cookbook, a monogrammed Christmas ornament, Christmas kitchen towels and....an apron!! How fun - I LOVE aprons !! ;-) Next we opened the gifts from Jenny - decorated with a beautiful rhinestoned monogrammed ornament (hmm...) we opened our boxes at the same time and went into fits of laughter - monogrammed aprons !! Well needless to say when they opened the packages from me we were just plain silly- everyone went home with two new aprons !! The best part of course is knowing that we are like minded and obviously know each other pretty well!! Jenny really went above and beyond in her apron giving by having them embroidered - she told me she wanted me to post a picture on my blog of me in my apron so.......notice the "H" over my shoulder.....hmm. Can I tell you how much I love this apron?? I mean it has polka dots for goodness sake - big ones!! And I have to be honest with you y'all - in the midst of all the girlie giggling - I was choked up - I love my girls so much and this apron really blessed me because I felt the love that was put into giving it. Jenny Pooh I will never put this on with out being reminded of how blessed I am to have your friendship!! It is truly an honor to be your "Mama Leisha" - one I pray that I will enjoy for many years to come!!

So a few of my favorite things......my girls - those mentioned here and those who are not - you know who you are and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH - can't imagine where I would be without each and everyone of you!! Thank you for allowing me to be Mama Leisha in your lives (boots and all). The good looking cake I am holding is our dessert today - Italian Creme Cake - another one of my favorite things. And last but not least aprons - did I mention I love aprons!?! This one has one more feature that you MUST see......

a ruffle.....it has a ruffle - I am pretty sure it doesn't get any better than that !!

On that ruffly note, I bid you adieu and wish you all the very Merriest of Christmases - hug your loved ones and treasure the moments of memory making - count your blessings and you will feel rich regardless of the recession - The King is still on the thrown!!

Thank You Jesus for all you do in our lives and Happy Birthday Eve - I love You like crazy!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

ADD/ADHD - I have something to say to you.......

OK......I am wound up. It has been a long time brewing but I think I have hit that magic 212 degree number and I am ready to let off some steam - join me won't you ?

I have not spent much time on here discussing the struggles in our home with Wonder Boy and those letters that I have always preferred not to use in connection to my son. First let me say we have no "official" diagnosis - it is unlikely that will ever happen to be honest, I just don't see the need. However, for the sake of quick/concise explanation those letters will help you to better understand where we are.

Now here is my confession - I have been an ostrich. My head has been firmly planted in the sand and I have been unwilling to pull it out and look this problem square in the eye (if the eye would stay still a minute that would be easier, but I'll manage). Well NO MORE - my head is out, I have shaken the sand off my curly locks and I am rolling up my sleeves to deal with the adversary that has intimidated me for way too long !! Can I get an Amen Sister from someone out there - a gal in battle needs a little encouragement I dare say!! By the way have you ever seen an ostrich fight?? I'm just saying......

The purpose of this post is to make myself accountable and transparent even - a scary thing to do - but it is time. I have a loving Father who guides and protects me and I shall not walk in fear of things over which I have no control, in fact, I have gladly turned this over to my Lord in prayer and the answer I have received is that I am to fight - Ephesians 6 equips us with a battle plan. The other thing I am intent on doing by opening myself up here is to shed some light on the darkness - living with the challenges and struggles that we have over the past few years has caused us to stay in the shadows - darkness cannot exist in the light, it is time to expose this to the light and send the darkness packing!!

I have read a little here and there and we have tried various "techniques" over the years to manage the challenges that we have faced. Sadly, I cannot report any great success for the long term. Many things worked well for short periods of time but overall nothing has "stuck". With each failed attempt, I have accused myself of being at fault and failing my son, oh the enemy has been having a hay day with us!! SO......I wanted to take a minute to invite you to join us for the journey that lays ahead. I have no idea what the points of interest will be along the way, but one thing I am pretty certain of is that it will be filled with adventure and intrigue!

In my quest for understanding, I have been continually disheartened by the lack of support out there for families walking through this valley. I want to offer to be that kind of place - if you know someone who is going through these kind of struggles in their family - send them a link and ask them to stop by. If we link arms perhaps we can make the road a more direct route for those coming behind us - wouldn't that be awesome? I really don't have a clear plan or direction right now and that is why I wanted to start this now, there are so many families that this issue touches, I would go so far as to say we probably all know someone. The figuring it all out is part of the challenge and journey we take as parents - I will share some of where we have already been and be open and honest about where we are. It is my prayer that this be a blessing to just one ;-)

For today I want to share this.....I stayed up late last night after church to start a book that I have been reluctant to read Ritalin is Not the Answer by David B. Stein. I read only the foreword and first chapter, but have to tell you that my gut instincts about not medicating were so validated that I continually thanked God for his leading on this hot button issue as I read some things I had never really been aware of previously. We have chosen to not medicate, we did considered it very briefly at one point in time, but never had a peace about taking that route. I am so thankful that we listened to the still small voice that was guiding us! I am excited at the prospects of what this book may offer......for now - it's out there and I will keep you posted. Prayers as always are welcomed and please please please - get involved - lets be that example of iron sharpening iron!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Fresh Start by Doug Fields

Doug Fields, teaching pastor at Saddleback Church invites us to accept "God's invitation to a great life" in his most recent book Fresh Start, a straightforward honest look at how we struggle in our walk as Christians. Fields hits the hot buttons head on as he honestly examines the places that we find our greatest challenges and through it all offers real life practical ideas to get ourselves "unstuck" and lead us to the fresh start God has for us.

I struggled to get through this book. Fields humor which is a little on the "smart" side was a turn off to me. I wanted to get what he was offering but had a hard time overlooking comments that I felt were not at all appropriate or even border line off color. There was plenty of meat to chew on and for me that was the saving grace. He offers good insight into how we get stuck in destructive cycles and how to work our way out to the freedom God wants us to have. There is a transparency in his writing that made the book very readable despite my struggles.

The practical, step-by-step examinations and solutions that Fields puts on the table are do-able and user friendly to the masses.

He concludes this project with a journal and small group guide to work through the book one chapter at a time - I love this. Many books offer "ideas" with little follow up, Fields delivers the information and gives us legs to walk it out with.

This is a worthwhile read for anyone - we are all stuck and in need of a fresh start in at least one area of our lives!!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Meet Annabelle.........

This is Annabelle - a sheep who lives in West Virginia. I have loved Annabelle from afar since I met her online at Chicken in the Road . This is my very favorite blog - I visit it everyday - some of the best things that are made in my kitchen come from Suzanne's blog.

I made her Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing yesterday and The Principal asked me to make it for a potluck at work in a few weeks - it was that good. SO.....why all the talk about chickens and sheep and cooking ?? Suzanne needs our help......yes......yours and mine. Suzanne is a single mother of 3 who is doing the best she can to live out a simple life in the country (oh....sigh) anyway - she is a writer and her blog is just one way she supports her family - she has entered a contest with SAM-e for a 6 month writing position that will pay well and help her out significantly.

She needs votes - it takes less than 5 seconds...click once to the site and once when you are there and that's it - done !! You can only vote once a day until December 7th -bookmark her till then -(that's 5 seconds a day for the next 10 days - 50 seconds of your time - less than 1 minute!!)Suzanne is currently about 2000 votes away from 1st place. Suzanne's blog is a joy each day - beautiful pictures, great recipes, hilarious stories - you never know what you are going to get, but it's always good - make her a morning stop like I do when you fire up your computer for the day. The Principal and Wonder Boy are on board with me - won't you join us? Help her out would you please......for me??

There are animals that need her and teenage mouths to feed!! There is nothing in this for me (or you) outside of doing something good - that and being grateful for the wonderful amazing recipes she posts!!! The recipes alone are worth the time!!

Visit her and vote for her just because it feels good to do good!!!

You guys are wonderful and I love you ;-)

Let the Traveling Begin.....

It is time to unveil one of our new favorite homeschool discoveries/activities........Flat Travelers. Birthed out of the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown about a young boy who gets squished flat in the night when his big cork bulletin board falls on him, the adventures that follow are what started the Flat Stanley Project. The adventures of these traveling 'flats' have become a wonderful way for the homeschool community to exchange information as kids around the world learn about other places by exchanging 'flats' with other homeschoolers. I found a Yahoo Group for Homeschoolers that was our starting point in this adventure and we have been enjoying it ever since. The idea is to exchange or swap 'flats' with other families who will host your 'flat' while theirs visits you. During the visit which usually lasts 1-2 weeks you take your visiting 'flat' with you as you go through your activities and capture in pictures the things you do with your guest, ideally visiting things unique to your area's geography and history. We have 'Flat Fred' visiting this week from the Yukon and I wish the rain would stop long enough for me to get some pictures of Flat Fred in some Alabama Red Clay - right now it's all mud!! If anyone knows where I can get a shot in some kudzu without a long drive by all means let me know ;-) Yesterday we make a quick trip over to Scottsboro, AL to get a letterbox hidden in the cemetery behind the almost world famous Unclaimed Baggage store (which incidentally is closed on Sunday) and took Flat Fred along for the ride - don't you just love his mohawk ? ;-)

Welcome to the Alabama Fred - where local Christian families spend beautiful Sunday afternoons searching for hidden stuff in grave yards....poor Fred will never be the same - then again he comes from a homeschool household too so it is likely he will understand ;-) When the time comes to send the your visitor back home, the flat is packed up with photos (which can also be emailed if you prefer), goodies from the area - brochures, post cards, magazine, anything of interest and any other kind of fun you wish to include - this part is not necessary - but what kid will not enjoy a little treat from a new friend far away. I am trying to come up with some kind of candy/sweet that says Alabama - no thoughts on that so far - again if you have one please let me know!! Yesterday afternoon we spent about an hour making some new flats to prepare to send out - take a look and see if you can guess who made each one. Now all we have to do is get a logbook ready to send with each one and someone to volunteer to exchange with us and we'll be ready for a new flat traveling adventure!!

One final word on this - you obviously do not have to be homeschoolers to participate in this - you don't even have to have kids - it's just plain fun regardless of age or educational preference - we highly recommend it and by the way - it's a great accompaniment to letterboxing too!! Does it really get any better than that I ask you??

In this house it seems more and more that it is all about the adventures.....stay tuned - there will be more !!

Learning as I go,

Leisha

Sweet Memory

The date stamp on the camera is wrong because Wonder Boy wasn't born until 2001 - but when I came across this picture today - I was instantly back on the porch where it was taken and I could smell the sweet rain on the flower with my little man......no wonder he stole my heart, sweet butterball cheeks and all.........

Learning as I go,

Leisha