The Tallest of Smalls--a book review

The Tallest of Smalls by Max Lucado and illustrated by Maria Monescillo is a children’s story about wanting to fit in with the crowd. We’ve all felt the disappointment of not being chosen by the “in” crowd or wanting something very strongly only to find that when we have this thing, it is not all we thought it was going to be. In this book Ollie, a young boy learns these lessons the hard way, but in the end realizes that he is special and loved all the time when he meets Jesus. I don’t recommend this book for toddlers, I think the message and the vocabulary are too difficult for them to understand, but any school age child could feel empathy for Ollie.

The illustrations are bold, bright and appealing. If you want to gift this book there is a page in front to personalize. After reading this book aloud I felt like some of the rhyming patterns are tongue twisters and did not flow well. This story’s message of how we are all special and how we don’t need others approval is one that children cannot hear too often, but I wouldn’t pay the full retail price for this book.

I reviewed this book as a member of the Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger Program. http://brb.thomasnelson.com/

More Bus Duty Thoughts

I know you've heard the news. President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Some people believe he didn't really deserve to win. I don't know about that, but I know the people who give the prize overlooked me, you see I had bus duty again last Friday morning. The person on bus duty does a lot for world peace and harmony. We see that the hungry eat breakfast, we resolve all sorts of conflict--especially those brought to our attention by the wronged party(aka tattlers). We control chaos while paroling the gym and then get the school citizens to class in a safe and orderly manner. We do this all alone with just our teacher voices and maybe some eye contract that says you better straighten up!
I'm just Saying!

My (almost finished) Fall Display...

Well...I have a fall display in my yard......FINALLY!!!!

The boys are very excited!

Click here to see how it all finally came together!

How did we do?

Do you have any great fall decorations to share?

I would love to see them!

Fall is my favorite time of year!

What Difference Do it Make?--a book review

An unlikely friendship and the stories about people that have been influenced by this friendship make an inspiring read in What Difference Do it Make by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This is a follow up book written as a result of their first best selling title Same Kind of Different as Me. The chapters of the book give background about both authors and relate stories of people who have been influenced by their first book. It is an easy short read with only two hundred pages, but it will inspire you to try and become less judgmental of a person’s appearance.

I didn’t read the first book, but it would have been helpful to know a little more of the story. I found Denver’s straight forward to the point approach refreshing and consider him a person I would like to meet. Even though this whole story is based on a friendship formed by author Ron Hall and his wife Deborah while helping the homeless, there are many lessons to be taken away from this book. It reminds us that one person can make a difference and that we are all responsible for each other no matter what our life circumstances are. The first section of the book is the most powerful and it slows just a bit in the middle, but it is worth reading just to remind us in Denver’s words, “Jesus don’t need no help from no perfect saints. If He did, He wouldn’t a’ gone up yonder and left us down here in charge.”

I reviewed this book as a part of Thomas Nelson Publishers Book Review bloggers program.

Win a Banner from Queen of My House

Misty's at it again. Over at The Queen of My House she is giving away a vinyl banner. It is 24x36". Just think of all the ways you could use that! How about some one's upcoming birthday. You could hang it at the party, or decorate the yard! The banner comes from UPrinting.
She has several ways to enter, so what are you waiting for, get over there and enter.
There is also a give away for some custom greeting cards! Enter it too!

Two Wolves

My forwarding friend sends me all sorts of e-mails that I usually delete, but occasionally she sends one worth sharing!

Two wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, " My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all."

One is Evil. - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good... - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. '

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins? "

The old Cherokee simply replied, " The one you feed. "

Bus Duty Thoughts

At 7:45 this morning I was standing in the gym, alone with a couple hundred children, some coming in for the day and some going out for breakfast and some moving up and down on the bleachers and I couldn't help but think:
"This must be what it feels like to live in an ant hill!"

First Day of Autumn

Happy Fall, Ya'll
I will miss my flip flops the most!

Is it just me?

If you watch the news you are aware that last weekend there were several cases of extreme misbehavior and rudeness on the part of two celebrities. Maybe the South Carolina congressman, Mr. Wilson, began this trend with his disrespect of the President and his refusal to apologize to his colleagues in the House.

One incident involved the famous tennis pro Serena Williams having a "hissy fit" in front of everyone and involved the use of words that no one's mother wants to hear. Now, I don't play tennis, it must be frustrating, but talk about bad sportsmanship. Then, during an awards show, Kanye West, a rap singer (I think) took the microphone out of Taylor Swift's hand to proclaim to the audience how he did not believe she should win. He was booed, by the audience and not allowed to perform himself, but what made him feel he had the right to do that?

I had these things on my mind, plus it was playing on the TV as I sat in a doctor's office waiting room yesterday for most of the afternoon. (We won't even discuss how our time is abused waiting for medical care--that's another post). This waiting room had about 25 people scattered around and as I watched their behavior, I decided there are some EVERYDAY misbehaviors going on--most of them involving cell phones. At one point there was a lady to my left, we were separated by three chairs and a table, that was having a very loud conversation with her friend. Everyone in the room was being subjected to this. Before she finished this ten minute talk the lady across the aisle began her own conversation. Now, there was a big empty hallway just a few feet from both of these ladies and they could have talked out there without bothering anyone-- but no! When the second lady finished her conservation she began going through the magazines in the doctor's office and ripping out some of the pages and putting them in her purse. I don't guess she thought that anyone else might like to read that article or that maybe that was not her property. Isn't that theft or vandalism?

As parents and teachers we try to teach our children to be respectful and have some civility, but there are some celebrities and everyday fellow citizens that are being very bad examples and making our job even harder. Is it just me? Where are Miss Manners and Emily Post when you need them?

Vote for Misty

Misty's Queen of My House Blog has been nominated for an award. Click the badge in the right hand column and go vote for her. She has worked hard all summer to improve her blog and she has been having some great give aways. Give her some support and go vote!
You will have to register to vote, but it's free and the site Divine Caroline is a great place to look around.