Protecting Your Child Even from the Relatives – Part 2

Once, when I was about six years old, my family went to stay with my great-grandmother. I don’t know if that was my first time meeting her, but I do know that it was my last time. While we were there, my older brother constantly pointed out my faults, real ones and made up ones. I tried to defend myself verbally and loudly. This was not a good mix for an elderly woman. My great-grandmother didn’t know how to handle the sibling rivalry, so she sided with my brother. I was told that I would not be permitted to take meals at the table...

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Comment Box is Now Working!

Girly Comments & Graphics Earlier I mentioned that the comment box on this template was not working. My husband, Rob, has spent hours learning how to change codes to not only get the comment box working, but also to permanently enlarge the font size. He also changed the headings on the posts, but the headings still need some more work. We could have used another template altogether, but he and I both agreed that this one suited a blog about Amanda (at least while she’s still small). I hope you like what he’s done. I’d love to...

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Protecting Your Child Even from the Relatives – Part 1

Recently I received a phone call from a desperate mom. She told me that her daughter’s grades had dropped drastically and she was no longer communicating with them. The mother decided to make an appointment with the school and she wanted to know from me what the procedure would be. I always believe in instilling hope in a person when their walls seem to be caving in, so, after answering questions about the school, I said that I believed the daughter was avoiding communicating with them because she didn’t want to hurt their feelings....

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Missing My Girl

I’m missing my girl today. Amanda is staying with her grandma at the beach until next week Tues. It’s a wonderful experience for her. Before she left, she said, “I can do anything I like with Nanna.” Her Nanna knows that she needs a few boundaries, but she’ll also get special attention just like Amanda said. Of course, I’m happy for her. Grandparents are very important in a child’s life. Her grandpa won’t be with them as he is overseeing the remodeling of a small country inn and restaurant that they once owned. I took these pictures...

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Letter by Jessica

My eldest daughter had to write a funny letter for her 8th grade English class. She chose to write about an incident that happened between her and Amanda. This took place a while back, before Amanda was four. The picture of the two girls was taken around the same time. Dear Jenny, The most amusing thing happened yesterday! I was playing with my baby sister, Amanda. You haven’t met her yet, but believe me when I tell you she is the most adorable thing in the world. We were having a ton of fun when I told her that Sebastian is...

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Happy Mother's Day!

Girly Comments & Graphics Wishing all the dear moms who are reading this a blessed and Happy Mother's Day. You all deserve to be celebrated! Don't forget to pop over to my poetry blog Consider the Lilies where I have posted several of my Mother's Day poems for this occasio...

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Comment Box

Update: The Comment Box is now working. Dear Friends, This is a quick message just to say that I've heard from three people that they have not been able to post comments on this site. I'm very sorry about this. Since I don't build web pages, I might have to choose a new template for Amanda's Books and More. At the moment, I just don't have the time. Please be patient with me. I'd love to hear feedback, so you're welcome to find me on Twitter, Facebook (Amanda's Books and More Page) or Pinterest. God bless! Ti...

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Mother’s Day Project

My husband and I have the opportunity to give a Bible lesson at our daughters’ school (the school that Amanda and Samantha attend) on Tuesday mornings. We partner with a few other volunteers from Youth With A Mission (YWAM) who give an hour of their morning to take a class each. While the “Christian” children (this is a loose definition as it includes all the children who are not Muslim) stay for Bible, the Muslim children go to another classroom for Muslim instructions. I took Samantha’s class and I brought along a Mother’s Day...

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Precious Baby

As a baby, Amanda loved teething on corn cobs. I took this picture of her in 2009. Isn’t she just adorable? Many people are born out of unplanned pregnancies and Amanda is one of them. Does that make them less precious? Do they have less purpose? As you can see, we have been immensely blessed to have this child in our lives. Below I have added previous stories related to the challenges and blessings of having another child. They are listed in order from top to bottom: Thinking About Having Another Child Surprise, I'm Pregnant! Celebrating...

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Having Fun with Pinterest – 3

A few weeks ago I re-pinned a pin via Stephanie Welsh on Pinterest. Her recipe is called Busy Mom Puffins (Pancake Muffins). I’ve added the photo along with the recipe below. Whenever I’m baking, Amanda loves to get involved. She likes to throw in the ingredients and helps me mix. This time we also did some counting together. I gave Amanda slices of bananas and blueberries to add to our puffins and she had to count how many she put in each one. We had a lot of fun and the recipe is so easy. I’m sure I’ll be making it again in the...

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He Satisfies

This picture was taken on Amanda's 2nd Birthday. Here she is eating a healthy snack of grapes and giving me quite a laugh. "For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things" (Psalm 107:9 ESV...

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Dora the Explorer

The other day, Amanda received a cute jean dress with Dora the Explorer printed on it. The dress was a hand-me-down from a friend who is a couple years older than her. A lot of the clothes she owns have been handed down; some are even from her sisters. When I first found out that I was pregnant with my fourth child, one of my concerns was how we’d be able to buy all the clothes she would need. I had given all the baby things of her sisters away by that stage, except for one or two sentimental items. Not only did God not let me down,...

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Hansel and Gretel

Linking with the Kid Lit Blog Hop This blog is about Amanda’s books and more, so it’s time I shared another post about her world of books. Since Amanda is my fourth child, she’s been blessed with books and toys from her brother and sisters and even books from my childhood. A couple of weeks ago, she asked me to read one of mine to her called Hansel and Gretel. It’s from a series of classic storybooks by Derrydale Publishers, retold by Kay Brown and Illustrated by Gerry Embleton. As you can see by the photograph that I took of this...

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