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Friday, August 31, 2012

I'm Emotionally Drained

Jessica and Jeremiah - summer holiday, 2010
My nerves were completely shot after a judgment error on my part. It all started when I took my teenagers to the doctor. At first, it was just Jessica and me sitting in the waiting room. They were fully booked, but they still let us squeeze in and sit it out. While I was waiting, I got a call to say that my son was really sick and wanted to leave school. So, I picked him up while Jessica remained behind waiting and with their permission, brought Jeremiah also to the doctor’s. He’s our family doctor, so I was willing to wait instead of going somewhere else.

But my day didn’t go so smoothly. I bumped another car while parking my Micro Bus. It was in a pressure moment that I made a hasty decision and a bad one at that. I tried to forward park and forgetting about my long back end, swiped the front corner bumper of the parked car behind. Oops!

Our not-so-sexy family car, but it does the job
I need to stop and count my blessings. For one, my dear hubby handled the phone calls while I and the two kids continued waiting at the doctor’s. Our insurance is now handling it. The damage to our car was so minimal that we can hardly see the couple of scratches. The other car has some scratches and a slightly bent bumper.

Now it’s evening and I’m still emotionally drained. The kids both have a bad case of sinusitis, by the way. I hope your day has is going better.

Today I'm linking up with the Aloha Friday Hop. Don't forget to pop in tomorrow for the Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop hosted by me.

Aloha Friday Blog Hop

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Picture Perfect Party Linky #5


My hubby took this photo of Amanda and me sharing a picnic together in the winter sun. Last week I posted photos that I had taken. The collage bellow is of my action shots from that day. I held the camera in one hand and tossed the ball back and forth with her a few times while taking these pictures.

This is a blog hop.

Amanda’s Books and More

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday or any picture post at the all new Picture Perfect Party Linky (P.P.P.L.)! Come and join me (Tina), your host, every Wednesday and make new friends and find new followers at this fun blog hop!

Here are my easy rules:

  • Follow me, your host, on link 4 (oops, I forgot to add my link at first... hahaha!) and if you leave me a comment with your blog URL, I will follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
  • Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like. Make sure you let them know that you’re following through this P.P.P.L. hop, tell them how you are following them and add your URL to the message so that, if they want to, they can follow back.
  • Grab the button below and add it on your post or on your side-bar, so that we can spread the word and get more people to the party.

The Button Code:

Amanda’s Books and More


This is a blog hop.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

10 Things I Do Every Day for Amanda


I have 3 girls. My eldest, Jessica, is 14. My second daughter, Samantha, is almost 12. My youngest, Amanda, is 4. Jessica has hair like mine, brown, thick and wavy. Samantha is blond and has straight hair. Amanda is also blond and has lovely curly hair. I have a lot of fun taking pictures of Amanda’s hair.

I’ve already done a few posts about hair with cute photos of Amanda. They are listed here:
So, I thought to do something a little different. What do I do as a mom of a 4-year-old?

10 Things I do every day for Amanda:

1. I dress her every morning. (She is able to put on some of her clothes without help.)

2. I brush her hair every morning and tie it up to keep it out of her face.

3. I have her wash her hands before meals and right after coming home from preschool.

4. I bath her every day, usually after preschool and just before her nap time. (Sometimes her sister, Samantha, does this for me when I can’t.)

5. Every afternoon I put her down for a nap. (Again, her sister sometimes does this for me.)

6. I make sure she drinks water even when she doesn’t feel like it (or juice mixed with water).

7. I make sure she eats balanced meals and treats are allowed, but in moderation.

8. I tell her how special she is and that I love her.

9. I brush her teeth every night before bed. (She can’t do it properly yet, so I do it for her to protect her baby teeth from cavities.)

10. Every night, before I go to bed, I pick my sleeping girl up and take her for one last pee. (If, on the rare occasion, I go to bed early, then her dad will do it.)



5 Things I do often for Amanda:

1. I wash her hair.

2. I cut her nails.

3. I read to her.

4. I do Pinterest with her. (This is a new hobby of hers and she even has her own board.)

5. I go shopping with her. (She loves going to the mall and the grocery store.)

    Yesterday, Amanda wrote some of the letters of the alphabet on paper. She did such a neat job that I thought to scan her work and share it with you. The “A” is her favorite letter, because it’s the first letter in her name.

    Saturday, August 25, 2012

    Make My Saturday Sweet - Blog Hop #3

    Amanda’s Books and More

    Today I want to once again welcome all of you wonderful bloggers to this "sweet" Saturday blog hop! I have a really bad sweet tooth and that is what helped inspire me for this blog hop name and button. The recipes that I save from Pinterest tend to be sweet things. What can I say? Sweet things bring me joy and happiness! I hope that here you will make new friends and find new followers and have fun doing it!

    By the way, I was sick for a couple of weeks and today I was catching up on all of my blogs. I see that this blog is also due for new photos along with a story of our family life. I'll be posting something on Monday, hopefully.


    Here are my easy rules:

    • Follow me (Tina), your host, on link 1. If you leave a comment and your URL, I'll definitely follow back as long as you have a family friendly blog. (Just to let you know, I have five blogs and so I will be linking all five of them. I do not expect you to follow all of my blogs, only the first one, please.)
    • Grab the button below and add it to your most recent post or on your side-bar. The more people that find out about the hop and join, the better!
    • Follow at least three new blogs and tell them you found them through this hop. Hopefully, they will follow back!

      Blog Button Code:

      Amanda’s Books and More


      This is a blog hop!


      Wednesday, August 22, 2012

      Picture Perfect Party Linky #4

      Amanda enjoying a sunny winter picnic in our front yard

      Amanda loves having a picnic. One day the sun came out and chased away the winter chill. I decided to make a special picnic just for her and me before her brother and sisters got home from school. It was her idea to decorate with the vase of flowers that were picked from our garden. In case you didn't know, it's winter here in South Africa where we live. Even in winter, Amanda insists on wearing dresses, so often I just layer her with enough clothes and then add a dress that she has chosen.

      This is a blog hop.


      Amanda’s Books and More

      Welcome to an all new Picture Perfect Party Linky (P.P.P.L.) where you can join the fun and link up any picture of yours to this easy blog hop. Come and join me (Tina), your host, and Tricia, your co-host, every Wednesday and make new friends and find new followers!

      Here are our easy rules:
      • Follow your host and co-host (links 1 and 2) and if you leave a message with your blog URL, we will follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
      • Link-up your post with a picture.
      • Grab the button below and add it on your post or on your side-bar, so that we can spread the word and get more people to the party.
      • Follow as many new blogs as you like. Make sure you let them know that you’re following through this P.P.P.L. hop, tell them how you are following them and add your URL to the message so that, if they want to, they can follow back.

      The Button Code:

      Amanda’s Books and More

      Last week two very creative blog posts were linked. Why not have a look and say hello?
      Bella Vida with her post: Old Cemetery
      Allmost all the Truth with her post: Mammoth Hot Springs

      This is a blog hop.

      Sunday, August 19, 2012

      I am too Sick to Blog

      Hi Friends!

      I have been too sick to blog and so posts have been on hold on all my blogs. I really can't wait to get back into the swing of things. One thing I have learned, though, is that I need to stop being so busy and take more time to have fun. Since I haven't got the strength to write a full post, I thought to share some photos of Amanda with her sisters and brother instead. If you don't know my children yet, they are Jeremiah (age 15), Jessica (age 14), Samantha (age 11) and Amanda (age 4).

      Amanda and Jessica

      Amanda and Jessica

      Amanda and Samantha

      Amanda and Samantha

      Amanda and Jeremiah at Tug-of-War

      Amanda and Jeremiah -
      He shaved his hair for cancer awareness month

      Wednesday, August 15, 2012

      Picture Perfect Party Linky #3

      This is a blog hop.

      Amanda’s Books and More

      Are you looking for new friends and followers? Do you post a Wordless Wednesday or something like that on a weekly basis? Do you sometimes wonder what picture to post?

      If you said yes to any of these questions, then come and join me (Tina), your host, and Tricia, your co-host, every Wednesday for our Picture Perfect Party Linky (P.P.P.L.)! Here you can make new friends and find new followers by linking up your Wordless Wednesday or any day of the week that you use for posting a picture. This is a picture party link-up, because here we will follow a theme for the picture that we post. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

      Today’s theme is “textures.”


      This is a photo of my beach bag.

      Here are our easy rules:


      • Please link-up a photo that has something to do with today’s theme.
      • Grab the button below and add it on your post or on your side-bar, so that we can spread the word and get more people to the party.
      • Follow your host and co-host (links 1 and 2) and if you leave a message with your blog URL, we will follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
      • Follow as many new blogs as you like. Make sure you let them know that you’re following through this P.P.P.L. hop, tell them how you are following them and add your URL to the message so that, if they want to, they can follow back.
      • Come back on Monday and see if your picture made it into my top 3 list. That means that I, your host, will visit everyone who has linked up by Sunday and I will pick my 3 favorites, which I will then mention on my Monday post.

      Next week’s theme is “motion.”

      The Button Code:


      Amanda’s Books and More

      This is a blog hop.

      Monday, August 13, 2012

      Monday's Top 3 Picture Perfect Party Linky #2

       Amanda’s Books and More

      There was only one link-up this past Wednesday by Typative Mama Cat. Check out her photo “Bouncy House Day” and while you’re at it, consider following her blog. Let her know that you found her through the Picture Perfect Party Linky hop.

      Since I don’t have a top 3, I thought to share about my picture. The theme was “friends.” I was at Amanda’s preschool to take pictures of their Olympics and the kids started sharing a lot of love with each other. I just happened to be standing right there when they made this big group hug. Thankfully, I was prepared with a camera in hand.

      This coming Wednesday’s theme is “textures.” I chose this theme, because a blogger of often needs a nice background for text. In the past, I’ve used other people’s photos, but then I thought, why not take my own? I encourage you to join me in this week’s challenge.

      I’ve added 2 examples of how I used other people’s images below:

      Sunday, August 12, 2012

      What Do You Do When Your Kids are Sick?

      You might notice that something is different here at Amanda’s Books and More. Well, the template was giving me trouble. I decided that it would be best to change it with something more reliable. It could be that the code for my new blog hop buttons was the problem. I’m going to look into that, but I’m a novice at these things. Something went wrong with my template for 1camera1mom also. Now, two of my blogs have new templates. I let Amanda choose the background for this one. This blog is about her, after all. I hope you like it. I’d love for you to leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

      The girls in our family, including me, have come down with a cold. My daughters have had flu symptoms as well. Here are some photos of Amanda with me during a previous illness that she had.

      Here I was soaking her feet in warm garlic water. I don’t know if it helped, but I was willing to give it a try. I kept her entertained by reading to her. The book that she’s holding in the photo to the right is called, Little One, God Made You, written by Amy Warren Hilliker, illustrated by Carol Thompson and published by Zonderkidz.

      The book that she’s holding in the photo to the left is called, Who’s Dinner?, illustrated by Kaz Lammie and published by Bright Sparks. At the end of the book, it refers to us as being animals. I believe we were created in the image of God and that we are not animals. So, I asked Amanda what we are called. I didn't expect her to know, so I was surprised when she answered, "Human." She certainly is a bright spark.

      I also took her outside to sit in the sun for a few minutes. You can’t tell by the smile of her face, but she was really sick those days.


      Saturday, August 11, 2012

      Make My Saturday Sweet - Blog Hop #2

      I've been practicing with a new blog button code. I wasn't sure if my previous code was faulty. I think this one will do the job.

      Amanda’s Books and More

      Hello blogging Moms! Welcome to my second Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop! The more people that join and the more people that grab my button, the more fun we'll have at finding new friends and blogs to follow.

      It's storming over here in the Western Cape, South Africa. Yesterday I began a new series over at 1camera1mom where I posted 3 beautiful photos of the Hex River Valley, which is close to where we live. Right now all the vineyards are bare, but these photos show them when the leaves are changing colors, which creates a quilt pattern from one grape variety to the next. Now, on to the hop...

      Amanda’s Books and More

      This is a blog hop!


      Wednesday, August 8, 2012

      Wordless Wednesday - 8 with Linky


       Amanda’s Books and More

      Are you looking for new friends and followers? Do you post a Wordless Wednesday or something like that on a weekly basis? Do you sometimes wonder what picture to post?

      If you said yes to any of these questions, then come and join me, your host, in this Picture Perfect Party Linky with a theme! Here you can make new friends and find new followers by linking up your Wordless Wednesday or any day of the week that you use for posting a picture. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

      Today's theme is "friends."


      Here are my easy rules:

      1. Please link-up a photo that has something to do with today’s theme.
      2. Grab my button below and add it on your post or on your side-bar, so that we can spread the word and get more people to the party.
      3. Follow your host, that’s me, and if you leave a message with your blog URL, I will follow back (so long as your blog is family friendly).
      4. Follow as many new blogs as you like. Make sure you let them know that you’re following through this hop, tell them how you are following them and add your URL to the message so that, if they want to, they can follow back.
      5. Come back on Monday and see if your picture made it into my top 3 list. That means that I will visit everyone who has linked up by Sunday and I will pick my 3 favorites, which I will then mention on my Monday post.

      Next week’s theme is "textures."


      My Blog Hop Button


      Amanda’s Books and More

      This is a blog hop.



      Monday, August 6, 2012

      My Husband is a Martian – Part 2


      In honor of our recent 17th anniversary, I’m doing a series on personality types, learning styles and culture and how this has been a challenge for us in our communication. I hope by sharing from our experiences and from what we've learned (and are still learning) that your relationships will grow and flourish.

      We used to have a really hard time understanding each other. Of course, he thought I was the problem and I thought he was the problem. On my previous post, I introduced the DISC Model of Human Behavior. Today I’m going to continue on personality types using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and how our results match our DISC Model results.

      When I was a teenager, I took my first Myers-Briggs Test. Later in married life, I think I took it three more times. Every time I got a slight variation on the results. My husband knows that variations can occur, but the “inspector” that he is, he questions why mine do! Funny thing is, though, my husband also has a slight variation on his results. It just goes to show that you can’t put people in neat little boxes.

      Here’s a quick look at the 16 types developed by Myers-Briggs, typically referred to by an abbreviation of four letters. These stand for:

      • Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)
      • Sensing (S) vs. iNtuition (N)
      • Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)
      • Judgment (J) vs. Perception (P)

      A MBTI type will be a combination of four of these letters, one from each group.


      For example, my test results have shown me to be either ENTP, ESTP or ENFP. Some key words for my first two types are: hearty, frank, decisive, blunt, results-oriented and confident. On the DISC Model, these characteristics fall under D for Dominance. Some key words for my third one are: outgoing, friendly, fun, enthusiastic, talkative and persuasive. If you’ve read my previous post, then you can easily see how these characteristics fall under I for Influence. Since I am a blend of D and I, it makes sense that I scored the way I did. Looking at one of my types, the ENFP type, I want a lot of affirmation from others and I readily give appreciation and support, which is very true of me.

      My husband’s results have shown him to be either INTJ or ISTJ. Some key words for these two types are: serious, orderly, logical, thorough, analyzing, principled, critical, theoretical and hair-splitting (that’s probably why he has no hair on the top of his head… he split them all!). On the DISC Model, these characteristics fall under C for Cautious. He is a blend of C and S, but his S wasn’t strong enough to feature in his MBTI test results. Looking at one of my husband’s types, the INTJ type, he has a high standard of competence and performance for himself and others, which is very true of him.

      I recommend you try taking this free online Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test. Even if you’ve taken it before, you might want to try again and see if your results are the same or not.

      On my next post, I’m going to share about our learning style preferences and how it relates to these personality types. These styles explain how you learn best. If you are using a learning style, which has been imposed on you and doesn’t fit you, then you can be hindered from becoming all you are meant to be. You should be able to identify your own preferences and possibly those of your loved ones.

      Here is part 1 in case you missed it at My Husband is a Martian - Part 1.

      Monday’s Top 3 Picture Perfect Party Linky #1

       Amanda’s Books and More

      Thank you to everyone who joined my very first Picture Perfect Party Linky blog hop! It’s a Wordless Wednesday with a theme. Last week’s theme was “books.” My favorite three from the hop are listed in order:

      Typative Mama Cat linked up a cute picture of her kitten inside the bookshelf.

      Faith Filled Food for Moms and Grandmothers linked up an adorable picture of her grandson sitting with a kid's Bible devotional book in his hands.

      Drink Your Greens and Minerals linked up a picture and information about the dynamic book Live Beyond Organic.

      Join us this Wednesday and link up a picture on the theme “friends.”

      Saturday, August 4, 2012

      Make My Saturday Sweet - Blog Hop #1

      Amanda’s Books and More

      Welcome to my first ever Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop! I have a really bad sweet tooth and that is what helped inspire me for this blog hop name and button. The recipes that I save from Pinterest tend to be sweet things. What can I say? Sweet things bring me joy and happiness! I hope that here you will make new friends and find new followers and have fun doing it!

      Here are my easy rules:

      1. Follow me. Yes, I need followers too! If you leave a comment and your URL, I'll be sure to follow back as long as you have a family friendly site!
      2. Grab my button below and add it to your most recent post or on your side-bar.
      3. Follow at least three new blogs and tell them you found them through this hop. Hopefully, they will follow back!


      Amanda’s Books and More


      Friday, August 3, 2012

      Preschool Olympics

      I've had a very busy day. When I got to my blog, I discovered that it was in a mess! Something was wrong with the template! I don't design templates and I don't know much about codes. It was a panic moment.

      My hubby prayed for me and soon after that I discovered that my new blog hop button had made it to my top 10 popular posts. I decided to see if that was the problem, so I went to Layout, changed my top 10 to top 8, bumping it off the list, and voila!... the template went back to normal. What a relief! Now if it makes it to the top 8, I'll have to shorten my list again, so no more page views on that post! Hahaha! Don't worry; I do want the page views. I'll find a way around it if I have to.

      So, you might be aware that I had said I would be doing a series on my marriage. I began with My Husband is a Martian - Part 1. I do want to continue with it, but to write it well, I need more time. Keep a look out for Part 2 in the near future!

      Today my daughter participated in her first Olympics… at preschool! The teacher had invited the parents to come and watch. I was the first parent to arrive, bringing my camera with. (I was the 1 camera 1 mom at the event. Hahaha!) Later, one other mother also came to watch. The teacher put in a lot of effort, so it’s too bad there weren’t more spectators.

      It was one hour of fun in the winter sun. Yes, we have winter here in South Africa and the kids are all in the middle of their school year!

      The kids walked onto the field each carrying an Olympic torch. All the little Olympians took part in all three events. They had a stick-horse race, a bounce race and a foot race. Amanda was the winner in her group bounce race. At the end, all the kids received a coconut and chocolate flavored “gold” medal, a fantastic ending to a fantastic event. Amanda is fortunate to have such a pro-active teacher.

      Amanda carrying her Olympic torch.

      The stick-horse race.

      The bounce race.

      There's the teacher in the background.
      Here Amanda is winning!

      The foot race. On your marks, get set... go!

      And their off!

      Everyone was a winner!