I have been burning through book after book since summer time. I have not had a reading frenzy like this in a very long time! It is awesome! I have a huge passion for reading. This is something I have been able to pass onto the children, making me swell with pride. In fact it is totally one of my best parenting, that they love stories and books.

Over at Being Savvy, November is a month to explore books and children. I am in seventh heaven. Reading about what to read to your children is a close second to reading to your kids, for me. Wow does that sentence make sense? I am so excited I am not even making sense! The point I am so eagerly trying to make is that I am always on a quest to find stories and books to share with the kids. Now that Becca is advancing into preschool and beyond the challenge is even greater.

Luckily I have fabulous friends that send me amazing chapter books. Thanks Holly, the books look amazing and we are devouring our library book so we can turn our attention the the cat books Jamie sent!

I am also fortunate to receive books from Harper Collins. They totally sent me the coolest books this past month. I know a lot of you have your minds wandering to Christmas presents already, well these two books are total potentials for the geeks and DIY’ers in your life. These books are totally the type of books that get people talking and thinking.

First we have The Hungry Scientist. Who can pass up a book that promises to instruct you on how to create edible undies, LED Lollipops and making pinhole cameras out of  (almost) anything! Now that we own a house my husband totally is concocting plans to Ferment Pomegranate Wine in our basement, while I am going to be upstairs creating edible origami. I am not sure how I survived to this day, without a full understanding of the science of ice cream and my husband, always eager to whip out the dry ice will be serving our first house guest Dry-Ice Martinis! Totally a fun book to explore!

Show Me How. A simple request. Well this book includes 500 step by step instructions for everyone to know. Some of the instructions are basic and I would hope that people would go beyond the book for further clarification before attempting some of these things, however totally a cool book to have. The book is amazingly well organized into categories, such as make, eat, drink, style, etc. I now know where to look if I need to sew a spooky voodoo doll, tell time with a potato clock, identify men’s facial hair styles, tie a Texas rope handcuff, mount a camel, or how to breath fire. All these and more of life’s questions are included with full, funky illustrations. Some of it is just fun, silly goodness and others practical.

Both books have provided us endless giggles and totally got us talking about the endless possibilities.

And if you have had enough of my words and wit, you can head over to Being Savvy Halifax and see Becca’s Top Ten Books (at least this week). What is your child’s favourite book at the moment? Yours? I just finished Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. Cult classic. Had to do it eventually

Well last week was full of highs and lows. Trips to the hospital, injuries, improvements and a whole lot of sugar! During all the chaos, I received some beautiful packages in the mail!!!

The yarn is so gorgeous! Many thanks to Awesome Mom!!!

The bracelet by Dee-Zigns I won during Wish List Worthy’s Pink October Giveaways!

The Katherine bracelet is made from pink freshwater pearls hand knotted on pink silk, and includes a sterling silver breast cancer awareness ribbon toggle clasp.

Halloween was fun. I joined a friend for the morning at a local play group. Ethan stuck to me like glue, but Becca had a blast running free in the gym. In the evening we headed out to our new neighborhood and introduced ourselves as we went along. People were so friendly. Oddly, quite a few of them invited the children in their homes, something I always considered taboo. Egads the candy by the fistfuls! Overly generous, excited neighbors! We were told over and over that not many kids made their rounds anymore.

Thanks for all the compliments on Becca’s costume. It was a fun project! Maybe she will still fit in it next year?!?!?!? hehehe!

I was so miserable, cranky and yucky all over all weekend. A sure delight for my family. We did however, place an order for glasses for both Becca and J AND packed a dozen or so boxes of all that nonessential stuff that lingers about.

I am hoping for a much much more peaceful week, although it is destined to be a busy one. Ethan and Becca are still struggling with colds, as my misery is fading away. Both have been very demanding, needy and draining. It sounds so negative and I hate that, but they have sucked the life out of me this past week. We must feel better soon!

The Opinionated Parent provided an awesome opportunity for me to review a fabulous book, FOREVER ago. As consilation I have written the review over at Being Savvy Halifax, so please go check it out if you are looking for inspiration with the children. I did learn that I am not capable of reading an e-book on my computer. I need to curl up with the book and consume it freely.

When making food choices for our families it is like trying to navigate through a jungle. There is so much information, so many choices, so many consequences it is hard to know which is the right choice. For our family I have to factor in not only what would be best nutritionally, but also best for our overall budget.

I have come to certain conclusions, based on my own beliefs and a lot of reading. I try to buy local. I firmly believe that it is better for my family to eat an apple grown here than in South America (although I am sure it is lovely down there, I live up here). Now since bananas are not locally grown and we adore them in this household, there are times I break my “rules”. Sadly price can override local, but rarely since local is often not much more if ever more expensive.

I have started to go to the Farmer’s Market regularly with a friend, and J & I both really watch what we are buying. We are meatless during the week, returning to our carnivore selves on weekends. That is a lot to do with budget, food prices in Nova Scotia are intense and much more than we have been accustom to.

I seriously have a crush on Harper Collins, always sending me the coolest books to read and share with you. I received the Jungle Effect eons ago, and I have been gobbling it up all summer. The Jungle Effect is a cool read, Daphne Miller is a doctor that has traveled the world exploring indigenous diets to unlock the secrets to a healthier lifestyle. She mixes in cool travel stories with hard facts on nutrition. Her style of writing reminds me of Oliver Sacks, a neurologist that narrates the funniest, wittiest stories based on his practice and experiences. I loved reading his works when I was studying psychology in university.

The Jungle Effect, really focuses on what foods, combination and approaches we can work towards to ensure a healthier life. It is not a diet book, which was refreshing. Miller however does include some recipes in the latter part of the book, that I was determined to try a few before my review. Sadly I have yet to do so, but when I do I will share it with you. The book is definitely a great read if you are seeking answers to what to feed your family or if you have specific health/family history that you would like to avoid through your diet. Her focuses in this book include diabetes, heart disease, depression, bowel troubles, breast and prostate cancers. It was amazing to read that there are areas of the world referred to as “cold spots” that those diseases are rare, mostly due to the diet the people consume there.

It has forced me to further reduce the amount of processed foods in the house (although we are far from perfection!) and ensure the foods we are consuming are the best that they can be. For example, I am going to share with you a list of ingredients, can you tell me what it is?

water, gluclose-fructose, sel, caramel, hydrolyzed soy protein, corn syrup, citric acid, sodium benzoate.

Have you changed your approach to buying foods? Have any tips?

phew. What a week. Really really glad it is over. Honestly it wasn’t bad, just exhausting.

This morning J took the kids so I could have some time to myself. It is a windy, windy day, so I worked on clearing out the 1300 emails (really I am so terrible at clearing it out) that had accumulated and attempted to finish up a few projects. I am happy to see around 88 emails now and some designing done! w00t!

I have been trying to pamper myself a little. So much of this past year has been dedicated to the other people in my life, very little time has been left over for me. I am a tad bit of a diva and got a little cranky about this fact. I am all about being pampered on occasion and feeling extremely special. J is usually pretty good of filling this need, but he too has been overwhelmed this last year. (Thanks Nic for the awesome polish!)

I find that if I do not take the time to feel good and look good, I get moody and depressed eventually. I am not really into the make up scene and really know very little about the whole process. It has never really been my thing. I envied those girls in high school that always appeared polished and put together.

When Harper Collins sent me, Sephora:The Ultimate Guide To Make-up, Skin, and Hair From the Beauty Authority, I wasn’t sure if it was something I could utilize or if it would just be pretty. I was pleasantly surprised and captivated. The book is down to earth and has practical tips, even for the make-up naive like me. I have been attempting to put a little make-up on every time we go out in honour of the book. The tips on sleep and skin intrigued me. Rather than pushing expensive chemicals, the author encourages more sleep, eating well, and goes on to explain why good foods are good for you inside and out. the spoon in the freezer, to treat pimples … yup totally works! Brings down the swelling, and redness! w00t!

A little knitting always helps the emotional state. These socks were cast on last JULY … so hey at least I finished them in less than a year. Sweet, wool socks all ready for SUMMER. I am a tad late for the Earth element for Project Spectrum too. Shhh our secret k? I also finished my first sewing project with my serger!!! However you will have to head over to The Opinionated Parent, to check it out (and you could be the next big WINNER!)

All this talk about me, when the weekend is really dedicated to J and his awesomeness. Happy Father’s Day (quick go buy him something for the BBQ!) Hope everyone has a fab weekend!

There has always been a part of me that does believe. I have always been attracted to literature that captivates my imagination, challenges me and inspires me. “What If” has always sparked my passion for reading and stories in general. When Source Books asked me if I would read and review The Fairy Chronicles, by J.H. Sweet I was over the moon with excitement.

These are so the kind of books I would have loved to have got my hands on when I was a child. The girls in the stories discover they are …. Fairies!!!! Can you imagine (hehe I can!), the adventure, the endless exploration, the oneness with nature. Every little girl’s dream, brought forth in this magical series.

Me being a sucker for all this magic, I thought I would put the books to the real test. So I loaned my copies to a nine-year-old girl. The next week, the girl came racing up to me with glee, rapidly talking about the stories and how much she enjoyed them! I was flabbergasted! The books were a big hit with this little girl. In fact her mom was totally impressed too. Nothing brings more happiness to a parent, than a child enjoying books!

The Fairy Chronicles, being all modern have a great, interactive and child safe website that the kids can explore (with their parents of course!). However, my most favourite part of these books was the information included in the back. At the end of every adventure there are facts related to the story about trees, how to recognize flowers, and interesting tid bits about insects and animals! That was also my daughter’s favourite part of the books too (she is a tad young for these). The illustrations are whimsical and fun (just as fairies should be!)

I am so excited that there are so many options out there for young readers. My daughter is positive that she will grow up to be a fairy (and a digger, hunter, scientist …). We are nature enthusiasts so all of this magical Fairy lore is fun to explore.

What is your favourite Fairy tale?

Has magic touched your children’s lives?

Have a fabulous weekend