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Well, That Was Awkward -- Book Review

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Do you remember your awkward middle school years? You know perhaps you all of a sudden liked someone you had known since kindergarten or perhaps it was your first date and everyone was involved in planning it. Or maybe you had an encounter with that popular kid that puts everyone down or just said something stupid. I can only imagine how much worse it is now with social media and texting. Rachel Vail's Well That Was Awkward has all of those moments and more. It really hit a chord with me and brought me back to eighth grade with the characters. I wish I had read this book back then.

Lent Ideas for Kids


Today is Ash Wednesday. Yesterday and today Hazel and I put together a Lenten table to help us think about the meaning of Lent and prepare for Easter. We pulled out many of our projects from past years. Some of these projects Hazel does not remember, so we are working on redoing some of them. We missed going to our church's pancake supper for Shrove Tuesday. I knew one of the activities they were doing with the kids was to decorate an "Alleluia" to put away in the box. Since "alleluia" is not used during Lent. I had Hazel do one at home.

Life on Mars and a Look at Bethany Ehlmann

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Can you believe it is already March 1st? Time is flying!! Today starts Women's History Month. Having been the only female in classes I always try to focus on some strong women for Hazel to learn more about. Today's picture book is the perfect time to look at Dr. Bethany Ehlmann. More about her later. Let's start with this cute picture book. It is Life on Mars by Jon Agee. It was released yesterday!

Honey Girl the Hawaiian Monk Seal Review & Giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent a digital version of this book free of charge for this review in return for an honest review by The Children's Book Review & Jeanne Walker Harvey. All opinions in my review are my own and I will receive a small compensation for writing it.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation for your purchase.



A couple of winters ago New England had a record breaking amount of snow mostly in February. A couple of weeks ago I was afraid we were having another year like that, however this past week has had us all feeling spring. But during the record breaking winter I did a series called Dreaming of Hawaii, just to think of some place sunny and warm. Hawaii is one of the top place I want to visit. Today's book shares a true story Hawaii and enables my Hawaii dreaming again. It is Honey Girl: The Hawaiian Monk Seal by Jeanne Walker Harvey and illustrated by Shennen Bersani.

Heritage Doll Clothes -- Making 1930s Doll Clothes -- Crafty Weekends Link Party


Hazel has discovered the American Girl books. She is loving the mysteries for older children. She also has fallen in love with Kit Kittredge. She really wants to get an American Girl doll. She has begun saving her own money for one. She is struggling deciding between getting Kit, Samantha or Rebecca. She really LOVES the Kit stories but likes the looks of the other two more. She has begun reading the other stories and is really just enjoying them all. Since it will take her awhile to save enough money to buy an American Girl doll I thought I would make some clothes from the various eras for the dolls she has. Since Kit is her current favorite I thought I would start with something from the 1930s. I pulled out Heritage Doll Clothes by Joan Hinds. I bought it awhile ago to get the pattern for a prairie dress and bonnet when Hazel was really into Little House on the Prairie. I still need to make it for her doll and the matching one for her.