I know, I know....I am shameless at plugging books and movies. But I couldn't help myself. Just read the above book and LOOOOOVED it. It's more of a juvenile book (juvenile meaning for young readers, not immature readers). However, as you all know, "juvenile fiction" is some of the best kind of reading there is (Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, The Grimm Detectives). So thumbs up from me, especially seeing as this is his first novel. You will not be disappointed!!

adventures in homeschooling...

Michael and I had originally planned on sending Blaine to an "actual" preschool. But we weren't really sure where we would be living at the beginning of school term....so we decided to pursue homeschooling. My mother-in-law and nephew are also homeschooling and we have our own little curriculum (including letter/number of the week, field trip's and combined Friday crafts and lunch). I was really nervous...I didn't see myself as a homeschooling mom (not near enough patience on my part,lol) but it is a decision that I am so grateful we made! So please be patient with me when I detail what's going on in the school part of our lives...we are just enjoying ourselves immensely!

I'm a pretty picky person when it comes to books that have been made into a movie. They almost always get it wrong. And it is always different. I watched "Howl's Moving Castle" before I even knew it was a book.
Hayao Miyazaki is A-mazing, by the way. Sorry, back on track here.....the book was very different from the movie. I liked both though! I wasn't disappointed at all (and that's rare for me...I won't even buy books that have movie-adaptation covers lol). So I say - thumbs up to both. Great read and watch for sure and I highly recommend them:).

P.S. on a side note.....both the Lord of the Rings books and movies are also fantastic. Obviously...very different but still really good.