The Beggar King

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15776904-the-beggar-king" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Beggar King (The Hangman's Daughter, #3)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1346669999m/15776904.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15776904-the-beggar-king">The Beggar King</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2783820.Oliver_P_tzsch">Oliver Pötzsch</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/768327506">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I love the Hangman's Daughter series.  I loved this book and I really enjoyed the entire story line.  I liked having Jakob in "danger" the whole time and the daughter having to come to the rescue.  It was a great change of pace using the same characters as the last two books.  <br>I liked the villain in this story a LOT!  I didn't see it coming, although I probably should have.  <br>The climax of the story was magnificent, maybe a little long, but still wonderful.<br>The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was because it didn't captivate me as much as I would have liked.  Even though the story was wonderful it was easy for me to stop in the middle of a chapter.  I didn't feel a real urgency to keep reading to the next page and to the next chapter.  <br>No sex and no swearing.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2251204-kelly">View all my reviews</a>

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has turned out to be quite interesting this year.  We always spend the holiday with extended family.  Since we have moved away we have either gone to family or family has come to us.  This year however, we are alone.  

We contemplated boycotting the traditional dinner and going out to eat for Thanksgiving dinner.  We really did consider it, but for the kids' sake we are going to keep it traditional.  

I tried to find a widow or elderly couple who would appreciate a Thanksgiving meal, but I didn't have much success.  

I have so much to be grateful for that I can't possibly put it all down into a single post.  I have attempted to put a list of gratitude together over the course of the entire month of November, yet I still don't feel like I can cover it all.  

However, this year I feel like everything in my life boils down to one simple truth and that is:

 I believe in Christ.

It is through Christ that I find hope, courage, joy, peace, and faith.  Characteristics I need to be a mom, a wife, a friend, and a daughter of God.

I believe that all of my blessings including my family, my children, my shelter, my life, my health, and everything else are all a result of Christ loving me and blessing me.

I am thankful for this simple and profound knowledge.

Hand Towel Bibs

Celeste started eating cereal and baby food about two months ago.  I pulled out my old bibs and they were nasty.  I needed new ones.  I decided to make some awesome hand towel bibs.

When Grant was a baby my Aunt Carol made some bibs out of hand towels.  They were some of my favorite bibs.  My mom and I have since perfected the art of hand towel bibs.  We made three major changes.  One, we added sleeves; two, we made the bibs longer; and third, we added ribbons instead of velcro.

It is really to make a hand towel bib.  You need a hand towel, some ribbon, and ribbed knitted fabric.

1. On one side of the bib you are going to cut a 6 inches into the towel.  Then make a "t" by cutting 1.5 inches on either side of the cut.  This will make the sleeves and neck.  If you have a chubby necked baby you may want to go a little bit bigger than 1.5 inches.  

2.  Fold over the rough edges and sew together.  Leave the neck open. We will sew that next.  I recommend using a zig zag stitch, a surger, or sew over twice.  The terry cloth of the towel has the tendency to fray. 

3.  You are going to take a 10 inch strip of ribbed knit.  The strip will be 2 inches wide and the ribbing run parallel to the 2 inch sides so that the neck will look like a t-shirt neck.  I used an iron on stabilizer because the knit is stretchy and I don't want it to move when I sew it.

4.  Fold the knit in half and pin on to the towel.  Rough edges together.  Use a lot of pins especially around the corners.

5.  Once you have the neck and back edges sewn together fold so the neck is at top.  You are now going to make a small one inch seem on the outside edges to make arm holes.  

6.  You are going to pin 8-10 inches of ribbon on each side of the neck.  I like my ribbons a little longer because I think it is easier to tie.  I also like thiner ribbon verses thick ribbon.

The first bib took me about 40 minutes to make.  Then I decided to make a whole bunch more and I made about 5 bibs in an hour.

Cupcake bib

Owl bib

Pink stripe

Frog bib

Monkey bib

I watch for Target or Wal Mart to have hand towels on clearance.   They often change their coordinated bathroom sets and will have towels for cheap. I didn't spend more than 4 dollars on any of the bibs.  I like the thicker terry cloth because it is more absorbent and washes up better.  

The Art Wall

School produces a truck load of papers and art work.  Our art wall is full again!  All of these papers have been created between September and the end of October.  We didn't have room for all the awesome Halloween projects Grant made.  

I am very impressed with Grant's writing.  His penmanship is really coming along.  He can write on the lines.  His letters are even and controlled.

Top row: A counting caterpillar; numbers 7 and 8; a picture of a flying gecko; a math sheet

Middle row:  tissue paper art; numbers and counting; a yarn threaded apple; a crayon he colored and wrote "to mom from Grant" on 

Bottom row: Name practice, Grant as a paper doll; math dot sheet; hands making a sun

Saving CeeCee Honeycut

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617928-saving-ceecee-honeycutt" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348364490m/6617928.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617928-saving-ceecee-honeycutt">Saving CeeCee Honeycutt</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/63630.Beth_Hoffman">Beth Hoffman</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/756790960">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I debated for a good five minutes whether to give this book three stars or four stars.  I am feeling generous today so the book gets four. It was a very great story and I really enjoyed it a ton, but there were parts when I thought, "will this book ever end?"  <br>I felt so sorry for CeeCee throughout most of the book.  She had been through so much with her crazy mother and neglectful father.  I loved hearing her inner dialogue. Her thoughts reminded me more of an adult than a 14 year old girl.  CeeCee has some skewed perspectives and does some childish things that are more typical of a child her age. <br>Overall, CeeCee is a wonderful character and it is hard not to fall in love with her.  I also loved the Southern hospitality that welcomed her.  <br>No sex scenes.  A few mentions of nudity and one affair scene.  Mild swearing.
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Working

I have been a stay at home mom now for just over 8 months.  It isn't always easy, but I love it.  I love being able to read the Book of Mormon every morning with the kids.  I love being able to talk and play with my sweet children.  I love taking Grant to school every day.  We often talk about creatures and all the features we like about different animals.

I also love being able to cook healthy meals for my family.  We have saved a lot of money by not going out to eat.  We are eating a lot healthier too.

Today I start covering for a SLP at a long term care hospital.  I will be there until December 13th.  I have had so much anxiety about going back to work.  I love being a SLP and I have loved working in the past.  I am just so nervous about trying to balance it all.

I feel like being a mom is a full time job and I am not sure how I am going to manage working full time too.  I have stocked the freezer with freezer meals to try and prepare for the next few weeks.

I have a very nice woman watching the kids and I know she will take good care of the kids.  I will just really miss them.  I hope the next few weeks go smoothly, I earn enough money to make it worth it, and my children have a good time with Brandi.  I am also hoping it will renew my decision to be a stay at home mom.

6 Month Comparison

Celeste at birth.

1 month

2 months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

I can't believe this girl is 6 months old!  We sure do love her!