Book Review: Snow Flower and The Secret Fan

Our book club book for the month was Snow Flower and The Secret Fan by Lisa See. I LOVED this book! The story is set in China and is the story of two friends who are sworn to be friends for life. They are sworn to each other at the age of 6 or 7. And the story tells about the events of their lives....foot binding (VERY interesting!), getting married, having families, etc. What I loved most about the book was the depictions of the customs and traditions of the Chinese people. It was so interesting to read just for that alone, but the story is wonderful to. The story is about deep friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness. It is a wonderful read....I would highly recommend it to anyone.

What Works For You: Facial Cleansers

I love learning about other people and how they do things. I always assume that what I do is "normal" until I found out how others do things. "Oh, you do that! I never thought to do it that way!" So I am going to start doing a few posts to learn more about you. What do you do? What do you like? I am curious to know.

This week I am curious about facial cleansers. This is a big issue for me right now. I am having horrible acne problems. As you can see I have used a few (and a few more not pictured here) products to try to clear up my skin. So far nothing is working.
  
I think most of my problems come from those pesky hormones...maybe that is why I am having worse acne then I did when I was going through puberty. So I am curious to find out what works for you. What makes your skin nice and clear? I would love to find out so hopefully I will find something that works for me.

A Baby Mom....

I have decided that I am a baby mom. I love babies! This last weekend we went to my sister-in-law's house for a family party. She has a 3 month old baby. He is adorable. He has those adorable little baby rolls and tons of dark hair. He is happy and smiley, and just plain cute. I called baby dibs and hogged him to myself the whole party...I was so selfish, but he was just adorable! I rocked him to sleep and quieted him when he was fussy. It made me realize how much I love babies. I guess Heavenly Father knew babies would go over much better than teenagers, and that is why he sent them when they were so tiny and helpless. I know moms who are wonderful toddler moms and elementary school age kid moms, I know a few who are miraculously wonderful teenager moms (I should start taking notes for that one!), but I prefer babies. Once my kids get to be 2 they just aren't as much fun...sure they are adorable and I love them, but they don't want to be held and cuddled like a baby does. They start having a little too much opinion and attitude. I had some neighbors a few years ago that had 10 children. They always said that they couldn't get enough babies. I don't know if I love babies enough to have 10, but I certainly adore them. I love their smells...nothing like a baby straight from the tub wearing fuzzy feet pajamas! I love baby noises...those adorable little gurgles and grunts always make me smile. I love the way babies feel...so soft and cuddly. I love to hold a baby's fuzzy head next to my temples. Nothing is sweeter than a baby. Can you tell I am a little baby hungry? What kind of mom are you?

Fully Rely On God

I love frogs. I collected frogs when I was younger, and my babies room is decorated in frogs now. I have a good friend that told me once that FROG stands for Fully Rely On God. I thought it was such a cute idea that I am trying to come up with an activity for my activity days girls based on this subject. I have cute wooden frogs that we are going to paint and write Fully Rely On God on the bottom of them as a reminder for them to put in their rooms. I have several articles and scriptures to talk about that bring this point to light, but I am at a loss for a good object lesson or activity of sorts to do along with this activity. So I am seeking advice from all of you brilliant women. Can you think of any ideas?

Fun and Games

With the temperatures dropping we have been trying to come up with new fun activities to do with our kids indoors. Here are a few of our favorites.
Riding our family horsie. :)

Since we don't have boys we don't have one of those "official" rugs that has streets and buildings all over it, so we kind of make our own. I take painter's tape and lay out roads and buildings on our kitchen floor, then the girls take the cars and drive around on the roads. They usually pretend that the buildings are restrooms...you can tell we stop at quite a few while we are traveling in the car can't you !?!

This is a funny game that some how started at our home. It is called Beans N' Rice. One of my girls will tell their dad to catch their Beans N' Rice and then take off running. When my hubby catches them he wraps them up in a "tortilla" which is actually a blanket (Aren't these blankets adorable? My mom made one for each of her grandkids to play with...ours get lots of use.) After the Beans N' Rice are wrapped in a tortilla my hubby puts them in the "fridge" which is actually the couch. Somehow the Beans N' Rice always wiggle free and take off running to start the whole game over again. This sounds quite odd, but my girls love it.

We also play lots of board and card games, hide and seek, tag, play dough, read stories, watch movies, and do all kinds of art projects to keep us busy when it is cold outside. What about you? What fun things do you to with your kids to keep them entertained when the weather is cold?

Dry Skin Season....

It is definately dry skin season. My family seems to be prone to dryness. My hubby has problems all year long, but the rest of us start having dry itchy skin about this time each year. I noticed a dry patch on my daughters face today. Here is my favorite remedy for dry skin:
 
This stuff does the trick every time (especially on those sandal scaley feet during the summer!). It is pretty greasy, so I recommend only putting it on at night before going to bed or you won't be able to open doors with those greasy hands. If I put it on my feet at night I cover them up with socks. In the morning they are wonderfully soft. I have also put socks over my hands too, but that tends to drive me a little batty, so I usually don't. Wishing you all soft skin this winter.