Excellent Reads: The Rose Garden

Susanna Kearsley stole my heart with A Winter Sea and ever since I have been eagerly reading every work of hers I can get my hands on. Her writing is magical, I simply adore the way she has with words. This one did not disappoint! What a fantastic story. I am fascinated by the way she seamlessly melds past and present in her stories and The Rose Garden is no exception.

One thing I love about the romantic aspect of Ms. Kearsley's novels is that the romance is simultaneously subtle and yet stunning. I really appreciate how she can make the hair on my neck stand on end and my heart swoon, while at the same time never revealing "intimate" details or turning it into a trashy smut-fest. The romance is in the dialogue, not in the ripping of bodices, and that makes it all the more headily romantic, to me.

I highly recommend this book, as I do every other one of hers. She does not disappoint!

From Amazon:

"Whatever time we have," he said, "it will be time enough."

Eva Ward returns to the only place she truly belongs, the old house on the Cornish coast, seeking happiness in memories of childhood summers. There she finds mysterious voices and hidden pathways that sweep her not only into the past, but also into the arms of a man who is not of her time.

But Eva must confront her own ghosts, as well as those of long ago. As she begins to question her place in the present, she comes to realize that she too must decide where she really belongs.

So-So Reads: Through the Door

Recently I stumbled across Through the Door by Jodi McIsaac. It was only a couple of dollars on Amazon and the sample was pretty good so I bought it. Here is a synopsis from Amazon:

Celtic mythology and the modern world collide in the first book in THE THIN VEIL series. Cedar McLeod lives an ordinary but lonely life, raising her six-year-old daughter Eden on her own, while trying to balance the demands of her career and the expectations of her mother. Everything seems normal until the day Eden opens her bedroom door and finds herself half a world away – and then goes missing. Suddenly, Cedar realizes her daughter is anything but normal. In a desperate search for answers, Cedar tries to track down Eden’s father, who mysteriously disappeared from her life before Eden was born. What she discovers is far beyond anything she could have imagined. As she joins unlikely allies in the hunt for her daughter, Cedar becomes torn between two worlds: the one she thought she knew, and one where ancient myths are real, the stakes are impossibly high, and only the deepest love will survive.

This book was okay, but not wonderful. At times I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish it. I think there was one scene in particular that kind of spoiled it for me: just a few hours after her 6 year old daughter disappears from the face of the earth, presumably kidnapped by an evil fairy, the main character Cedar lays down and snuggles with a cat and GOES TO SLEEP. Really?? I'm sorry but if my child were missing there's no way I would be able to SLEEP. I would be tearing down walls and raging and doing everything I could possibly think of to Find My Child. It just kind of made this story unbelievable--yes, I realize that's kind of a stupid thing to say about a fairy story, but still. I can suspend disbelief about the paranormal, but the achingly normal? Not so much. And it is NOT normal to fall asleep snuggling with a cat when your child is missing.

If you're interested in Celtic lore, fairies, that sort of thing, you will likely enjoy this story. I'm glad I didn't spend more than a few dollars on it, but I don't really regret it. I doubt I will be reading the follow-up novels, though.

A Hunger Games Rant

I told you before that I wouldn't bother reviewing The Hunger Games here, but I would like to take a moment to get some things off my chest. First, I'd like to say that even I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this series--I avoided it forever and wasn't sure I would be able to finish it due to the violence, in particular violence against children. I know many people who aren't reading it (or finishing the series) because of how barbaric just the premise sounds. And it is indeed quite barbaric and violent, and yet it is one of those stories that just Sticks With You. I read it months ago and still find myself thinking about the characters and the story line.

By the way, if you haven't read it yet, please be advised: Here Be SPOILERS. 

And I want to say it really, really ticked me off that the author killed off Finnick. I felt like that was just totally a gratuitous and unnecessary yank on the heartstrings. I would have been happier if she had killed off Gale instead. And that leads me to Prim: her death was tragic but I didn't feel it was as gratuitous as Finnick's. In fact, Prim's death was completely relevant in that it prompted Katniss to do what she did in the end. But Finnick did not have to die.

Speaking of Prim, I know there is a lot of controversy over whether or not Gale had anything to do with her death. I think it very likely that he did indeed put into motion the events that caused it--it was totally within his character development to do exactly that. I don't think he meant for Prim to die in the bombing, but I do believe he made it happen.

Lastly I'm really, really tired of the love triangle trope. Can we be done with that already? Veronica Roth has showed us it is possible to write an excellent YA dystopian trilogy without a heroine who is constantly dithering between two love interests. I feel like Suzanne Collins and other authors of her genre have so much to say and such interesting stories to tell, it is a huge shame they go and dumb it down with stupid love triangles.

One more thing: I can't stand who they picked to play Finnick in the second movie:

I'm sure Sam Claflin is a very good actor and all, but he is not even CLOSE to how I pictured Finnick. To me, Finnick is IRISH. And he was supposed to be this drop-dead gorgeous playboy. Sam is cute and all but he's no Finnick.

Harrumph. Anyone with me?

Birdy Nativity

So I've mentioned my mom's birthday before....this year's gift was soooo easy, not only to come up with, but also to make, because she loves birds (cardinals in particular) and she collects nativity scenes. I put my creativity hat on and came up with this:

My favorite part is one you can't even really see in the picture--I filled tiny glass jars with beads for the gifts from the wise men: one gold, one green, and one multi-colored. In fact that was the hardest part of this project, picking through the beads to find the green and gold ones.

You may notice the one big problem with this scene....both the cardinals are boys. I couldn't find any girl cardinals, I guess they're just not pretty enough :) This is probably totally sacrilegious, but we've been joking that these birds are Joseph and Gary :) Teehee.

I don't know how in the world I'm going to top this next year.

Grandchildren Christmas Tree

My mom's birthday always falls around Thanksgiving, which is nice not only because we are so thankful for her but also because it makes birthday gift-giving very easy! She often gets Christmas-themed birthday presents, which seems to be fine by her. Last year I made her (and also my mother in law) a cute little Christmas tree with an ornament to represent each grandchild in our family. I used small clear ornaments with faces painted on, wiggly eyes in the right color for each person, and yarn for hair. I also painted each person's name on the back. Check out the Grandchildren Christmas Tree!

 If you look closely you can even see Nellie and Millie!

Giving Thanks

It is an absolute understatement to say that I have so very much to be thankful for, every year, but especially this one. I have a lot of wonderful things in my life and have always enjoyed Thanksgiving, but this year it has special meaning, for the presence of my son.

Last year I was thankful for a healthy pregnancy that was nearing its end, and this year I am grateful beyond words for the miracle that is my little boy. I really can't even articulate it, my feelings are so powerful. I thought instead of even trying I would post something I should have posted last year. I was hugely pregnant and starting to be really uncomfortable, more than anything just ready to meet my son and see his sweet face. I was so happily surprised when my stepkids made the following posters for him--completely unprompted by anyone, this was ALL their idea, and it gave me an even deeper level of gratefulness, that they already loved their brother so much and he wasn't even born yet.

We are SO fortunate that we haven't had an ounce of jealousy or negativity about the addition of another child to our family. They genuinely love him. I can't even articulate how lucky I feel and how thankful I am for the blessing of all three of these children in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Holiday Cake Pops, Part 2

I've been practicing my cake pop skills, and I think I'm slowly but surely getting better! Check out these cuties:

Thanksgiving Placemats, Part 2

It's been a couple of years since we first made Thanksgiving placemats for the members of our family. I like for the kids to take some time to think about each person and write a little something down about why they are thankful for that person. This project is so easy: all you need is foam mats, pinking shears, stickers, and markers. This year I decided it's time to re-do them. Here are just some of my stepkids' contributions:

Holiday Cake Pops

So I have this wonderful book about cake pops and I've been dying to try some myself. I had done a test batch a few months ago and let's just say it didn't go so well. But this book has such easy-to-follow instructions that I thought I'd give it another try for my school's holiday dessert sampling. Check out my pops! I think they turned out pretty decent after all, although I definitely need more practice!

Re: the jingle bells--would you believe they make such a thing as edible spray paint, and edible markers?! That's silver spray paint and black edible marker you see there. Pretty cool, huh! I will definitely be making more.

Pink Blanket and Raffy

I recently read a really interesting article about security blankets/loveys in both childhood and adulthood. I'd never heard of the idea of "essentialism" (the concept that items are more than just their physical properties) before, but it makes perfect sense. Anyone who has cried a river (like me) while reading the Velveteen Rabbit will know exactly what essentialism is.

As it happens I've had direct experience with essentialism. Meet Pink Blanket:

Pink Blanket (aka Pinkie) was my beloved childhood security blanket/lovey. He is a small sleeping bag-type blanket that my Nana gave to me right after I was born. I have no idea why I named him Pink Blanket, because as you can see, he is not entirely pink. And also, Pink Blanket is most definitely a he. 

For years I dragged this thing EVERYWHERE. I also sucked my middle two fingers for far longer than was appropriate, and my comfort ritual was to squeeze together a tiny patch of fabric on Pinkie to make a small ridge, and tap that ridge with the tip of one index finger. I was kind of an anxious child, what can I say? But I remember so very vividly how much I adored Pink Blanket, couldn't really function without him (as I'm sure my older siblings and cousins will attest). You can even see evidence of his lifetime with me in the picture--numerous tears and worn spots, amateur attempts to repair them, and even some stains. See that small brown dot at the top of the picture? That's paint, from when I got in the way when my parents were painting our old pink Ford truck brown (yes, we really did have a pink Ford truck that we painted brown).

I still remember exactly how Pink Blanket smelled when I would hold him to my nose and take a big whiff. Kind of like my mom, but more like pure solace. I still have Pink Blanket, put carefully away in a box high on a shelf, of course. I'm sad to report that as an adult he does not smell the same to me as he did when I needed him as a child. The smell of Pink Blanket comfort is left only in my mind. But I'm glad I still have him and can take as good care of him now as he did of me as a child.

Now it's time to pass the comfort of essentialism on to my own child. I didn't realize the significance of any of this at the time, but the very first thing I bought for my son after I found out I was pregnant was this---meet Raffy:

I've already explained the giraffe theme of the nursery, and I knew the minute I saw this that I must have it for my son. Honestly, I didn't even really know what it was when I bought it--I was at a consignment sale and it was folded up tightly inside a sealed Ziploc bag. I thought it might be a washcloth or just a small soft toy. It was only $3 and of course was a giraffe so I bought it on the spot. When I opened it up and realized it was a lovey I knew that this was going to be my son's own Pink Blanket. I christened it Raffy.

We received several other adorable loveys as shower gifts: 2 other types of giraffes, a monkey, a zebra, and an elephant. They are all very cute and Kirk has enjoyed playing with them, but the one I've pictured above is by far his favorite. He sleeps with it at night and naps with it during the day. I love watching him rub and caress it, it's just the sweetest thing:

Kirk loves his Raffy just as much as I loved Pink Blanket! I'm so glad he has a comfort item.

Turkey Treats

I blogged about these adorable turkey cookies several years ago, and since then I've had time and practice to hone my baking and crafting skills, so I think these turned out much better than they did back then! My stepson has a Thanksgiving feast tomorrow and I foolishly signed up to bring desserts for the entire class. Being the perfectionist that I am it had to be something adorable and cute, so I decided to go with these. What do you think? Could they be any cuter??

They look complicated but they are actually fairly easy to make! Just use canned frosting as the "glue" to hold everything together. And, you can buy the eyes pre-made at Wal-Mart! (In the cake decorating aisle near the crafts--NOT the baking aisle in groceries). Easy and oh-so-cute!

Thanking a Hero, the Deppe Way

A few days ago a friend-of-a-friend on Facebook posted a message about a soldier who was recently severely wounded in a suicide bombing while serving in the Middle East. Hard to believe 10+ years later the heroes who serve so valiantly in our military are still facing such vicious attacks. This young lady was asking for cards and letters for her friend, Sgt. James Pierce, to cheer him up on his long road to recovery. We decided to put together a package for him with a bunch of leftover Halloween candy, a thank-you/get-well note, and some customized patriotic buttons that we made.

So we made a card, and as we had been working on our Thanksgiving place mats, all the Thanksgiving stickers were still out. I decided to go with the theme of "we're so thankful for you, your sacrifice, your bravery, etc etc", and wrote several sappy paragraphs about our appreciation for Sgt. Pierce and and our well-wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery from his wounds.

My stepson L, on the other hand, decided to write a Thanksgiving joke on the card to Sgt. Pierce. Check it out:

Yes, that is indeed a pilgrim with a large knife, saying "I'm going to kill you" to the turkey, and the turkey says in response "You are not going to kill me".  Heh. I sure hope Sgt. Pierce has a sense of humor!

Meanwhile, if you're interested in sending cards/letters/posters, etc, to Sgt. Pierce, message me and I'll send you his address. He sounds like a really great guy who could use some encouragement.

Humblers

Yesterday morning I was perched in our church lobby, as were several other people. Some were talking quietly in small groups and others were watching the sermon on the televisions scattered throughout the space. I often sit in the lobby rather than go into the giant sanctuary because I feel weirdly claustrophobic in such an enormous space filled with so many people. Occasionally there are people in the lobby who talk much louder than they should, and distract those around them from the service, which I find highly irritating.

Yesterday I noticed in one of the small groups of talkers there was a teenage boy who kept making this strange SSSSSSSSS sound as he talked, hissing like a snake. He kept getting louder and louder and it was definitely distracting. At first I thought it was part of a story he was telling, but he kept doing it. As I glanced over in aggravation it finally dawned on me that he is a stutterer, and he was valiantly trying to simply converse with a couple of adults.

Man, did I feel like a jerkwad. I can't believe I was irritated with this person who couldn't help how he sounded. It really humbled me when I started thinking about all the times another person has unwittingly irritated me and I had no idea what their story is or how hard their life may be.

It reminded me of a Facebook post my friend Greta shared the other day. I LOVE the message behind this, and I think the world would be a better place if we all practiced this philosophy:

The Giraffe Obsession: aka Kirk's Nursery

I posted pictures of my baby's nursery on Facebook eons ago, so this is a repeat for some of you, but I wanted to take a moment here to brag about my awesome crafting skills :) Teehee. In all seriousness I love to do crafts projects of all kinds. For several years I authored a monthly crafts-for-kids column for StepMom Magazine. Recently with pregnancy and a baby I haven't had as much time for crafts, much to my sadness, and I had to quit participating in the magazine. I miss it so much!

But to remind myself of the cool things I used to have time to do, here are some pictures of the things I made for Kirk. To begin I should explain why we chose the giraffe theme. Our infertility specialist had this poster hanging in his waiting room, and I instantly fell in love:

I love this so much! I knew immediately that if we were to be so lucky to get pregnant I wanted this as the centerpiece of the nursery. My mom, the quilting expert, made this gorgeous baby quilt:

Beautiful, isn't it? The picture really doesn't do it justice. You need to see it up close to really appreciate all the wonderful details. She's so talented!

And finally, I made all the rest of what you see here. I'm particularly proud of the slipcovers for the glider, because they were Not Easy. But I think they look so cute and I love the end result!

Of course there are tons of other giraffe decorations, and Kirk has no shortage of giraffe toys, clothes, blankets, and loveys. Bill often says that he is going to grow up to be either completely obsessed with giraffes (like I suddenly am!) or totally terrified of them. :)

Funny story about the wall letters: our name choices were either Kirk Michael (after our dads) or Ruby Geneva (after our grandmothers). I made the letters the day I found out for sure he was a boy. We waited another week to tell anyone else the gender and I tortured my mom by sending her a picture of the R. Heehee!