Graveminder by Melissa Marr -- Book Review

 Melissa Mar is known to young adult readers as the author of the popular faery series Wicked Lovely. Her debut leap into adult fiction lands her in the small community of Claysville, a town where the dead walk free unless their graves are not properly tended. Into this eerie maelstrom, Rebekkah Barrow descends as she returns to a place that she once believed she knew. Kelley Armstrong justly described Graveminder as "a deliciously creepy tale that is as skillfully wrought as it is spellbindingly imagined." A new genre author to watch.

Definetly an interesting take on zombies!

I think it was a bit slow getting started and there were a LOT of characters tied into the story, making it a little difficult to wrap your head around.
Personally, i thought that it focuses a little too much on the love story than the actual events, thus leaving a lot of my questions unanswered.
It wasn't nearly as creepy or scary as i thought it would be.
Not going to be at the top of my recommendation list, but if blood drinking, flesh snacking, talking zombies with feelings is your thing -- then by all means, indulge youself. I don't regret reading it. Just not a favorite :) 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

So, this is what all the fuss is about! 
Every where i turned to ask for a book suggestion, The Hunger Games kept popping up, first on the list actually. Now i know why, and im finding myself telling everyone to read it. Because really, you need to stop reading this review and just go read it. And if you already have, read it again. Go go go!
Its hard to NOT fall in-love with the Katniss and Peeta. I mean, seriously, whats not to like about them. I only wish i had the ability and knowledge to snare a rabbit, and be completely badass about it.
No doubt about it, this book will have you tearing up one minute, laughing the next, and falling in love more and more with the story after each compelling page.
Its taking every bit of will power i can muster up not to go out and buy the next two. But christmas is coming and they are #1 on my list, believe me!
Oh, and March 23, 2011 So stinking excited for the MOVIE!!

Having A Toddler vs A Newborn

Sometimes i think having a newborn was easier than it is having a toddler.

Wait, wait, wait! Before you jump down my throat and call me crazy, let me clarify lol ;)

Being a new mother and being completely unaware and uneducated first hand as well as getting adjusted to our new lifestyle, and not to mention the healing, THAT was hard! But, everything was schedualed after a week or so. Every 3 hours she awoke to eat & be changed. When she wasn't sleeping or eating she was in my arms cuddling or on the floor playing with one of us. But being a small baby, she slept a LOT -- giving me a break in 2-3 hour intervals. Hm, when i put it that way -- that sounds AWESOME! lol (i was blessed with a pretty laid back baby)

Being a mother to a toddler who will be two on the 31st of December is hard. Its exhausting mentally, physically, and emotionally. She's beyond whiney at times, throwing tantrums in public and making you look like a fool (shes good at that), shes clingy (which i dont mind most of the time), i never know when shes truley hungry (because she barely eats EVER!), we're potty training, she's in a toddler bed (which we still struggle with keeping her in), shes opinionated (which isnt always a bad thing), She refuses to sleep some nights, she doesn't take naps anymore, and shes insistant and persistant.
Now, these aren't all bad. There are way more things that i absolutely LOVE about this age! Im just saying, i feel more drained these days then i ever have.

All that being said, I absolutely, 100% love being a mother! Shes has brought a tremendous amount of joy into my life. There's not a day that goes by that im not thankful for every second i get with her. We are blessed beyond belief to have such a healthy, smart, and beautiful little girl.
She's my angel, and lights up my life.

My Thoughts On Homeschooling

I have my own disagreements and dislikes about our school system. Like, for example, how they are trying to cut out having students stand for OUR Canadian national anthem. Or how we don't celebrate christmas in the schools anymore. Also, suspension rates for children in kindergaten (JK/SK) when kids are just 3-5 years old!
I dont agree with how many teachers these days favor certain kids or use excuses like ADHD, ADD, or other behavioural disabilities to make handling them easier. --i recently had a heated discussion over facebook about our teachers.
Im not racist in anyway at all but about 8 years ago my cousin was in grade 1, so 6 years old. He got suspended freom school for pushing a little East Indian girl, when she actually started it and punched him (i know this because she admitted it to the principal). The reason for his suspension was because he fought back.

As a child i went to about 12 different schools. I know people who have only gone to 2 different schools and lived in the same how since they were born! I wish.
I want stability in Leah's life. Even if we homeschool her until highschool. Who knows where life is going to take us. Matt wants to go for RCMP, which the school is in Alberta. And one day we would love to live in Eastern Canada, where the rest of my family is. I'm not even ready for a house yet because i want it to be a forever home. I want to live there until im an old lady, and my kids are long gone and visit us with their children. I want us to make roots for our kids.

Everytime i bring up homeschooling to friends or co-workers they laugh or say "have fun with that!" or "so, you want a social retard?!" (yes, im aware i work with rude dumbasses) or "you don't want to do that! She's going to need to socialize and your going to want a break, trust me!".
Yes, i couldnt agree more. i will need a break. But this is a lifestyle preference, not a sanctuary of isolation. I completely understand its not for everyone, and i don't look down upon people who put their kids in public schools.
I just feel uncomfortable not knowing weather or not my child is being trated fairly, or having a label stuck on her head for being a little too hyper once and a while because she had Corn Pops or a pop tart for breakfast instead of a yogurt and buttered toast. Kids are going to be kids. I refuse to put my daughter on any medication to zombiefy her into an emotionless, zoned out robot. If she happens to be diagnosed with a hyperactive or behavioural disability i will make alternative decisions. My sister was diagnosed at 3 with all sorts of behavioural and hyper active disabilities. Shes been on every medication, phramacutical and homeopathic. She is an extremely hard child (well, now almost teenager) to cope with on an hourly basis.
And i know sometimes for your own health and sanity you really have no other option, and i understand. I'm just trying not to offend anyone, ive seen a lot and dealt with a lot. If Leah was in a situation like my sister then it would take some serious thinking.

With homeschool i love that you have the capability to work one on one to your childs needs and learning level.
As for socialization. Leah is almost 2, and shes joining dance in January, and i also want to get her into swimming. She goes to play groups and also plays with some of my friends kids. I know kids who have gone to public school and have problems socializing. I understand there's a lot to think about and consider but its been plaguing my mind for almost 10 months now. My mom thinks its a cool idea and wishes she could have homeschooled my sister. Other then that all of Matts family is more or less, against it.
So, if you or someone you know has been homeschooled, or you are homeschooling your kids or are thinking about it, PLEASE leave me some love! :)

Plz save yourself the time of writing a negative comment. Because weather you like it or not there ARE kids who are homeschooled.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly -- My Life in a Nut Shell

I don't pretend to have the best life. I don't.

I am so fortunate for my hardworking, loving boyfriend as well as my beautiful, one of a kind daughter. Life without either of them is unimaginable.

Life before either of them however, was no where near pretty. I know people experience worse. But I can't say its something easily forgotten. Also, i HATE using it as an excuse as to why i'm the way i am but really, i can find any other understandable reasoning. 

Here is my brief life story.

By age 5 we had moved 3 times. I went to 2 different schools. My parents seperated. My mom and i moved from one end of the country to the very opposite. 

By age 8 I had gone to 6 more different schools. My mom had a new boyfriend. We moved from One end of the country back to the other end. I had a dog for 3 months (whom i loved so very much). My mom and her boyfriend broke up. We moved from one end of the country to the central region. My mom and dad got back together.
By age 10 my bestfriend got hit by a car. I had a 8 month old baby sister (who i practically raised) - who at the age of 3 was diagnosed with ADHD severe anxiety and ODD (opposition difiant disorder)... again, i practically raised her.

Age 13 My grandmother died and shortly after i started having hallucinations -- that drove me bat shit crazy. And scared.

By age 15 we had moved 2 more times. I still suffered from hallucinations. I went to 2 different highschools, just to end back up at my origianl high school. I had my first boyfriend. By the end of this year, the hallucinations slowed down.

By age 17 my parents divorced. My dad moved 3 hours away. My mom got another boyfriend and moved in with him. I moved in with my boyfriend at the time.

By age 18 My boyfriend, at the time, and i got our own place. 2 months later i broke up with him. [cruel i know, but it was never planned and it just didnt woork between us (after 3.5 yrs)] A few months later i started dating my, now, boyfriend of 4 years, and moved in with him after 2 weeks. (lol, judge away--living arrangements with an ex didnt work well)

By age 19, i was pregnant.

By Age 20, i was a mother, and he was a father. We were a family.

By age 22 we now have our own place, a healthy beautiful almost-2-year-old. We're more in love than ever. And i couldnt be happier.

I'll add this, yanno, to make my story EVEN better: My dad was an emotional abusive professional. That man could seriously twist and manipulate shit so well. He had a drug problem. My mom, she has the biggest heart, shes emotional, & i'll admit there were times when she got physically mean (but that wasnt AS frowned upon back then), had extremely little patience and yells a lot. (I say "HAD" because as the years went on and my sister got older my mom sort of gave up trying to control her and being patient. She couldnt -- and can't-- control her. No one really can)
And me? I'm an emotional mess. A softy. Huge heart. Bubbly and a little too goofy, maybe even a bit immature. I easily feel guilty. I have little patience. I have anger issues. I can't help but think that im JUST like my mother --lo and behold, i feel guilty. Shouldn't i want to be like my mother? i love her so dearly. Shes the strongest woman ive ever seen! Her parenting however, i would rather not repeat.
But i have.

I am stuck. In a dark, desolate, lonely and shameful place. The last thing i want is for MY daughter to feel this way about herself or me. Sometimes i debate getting professional help, and there have been a number of times ive gotten so close. I just, don't.
Other than my family, there are only a handful of people who know everything. But there it is, World. You have it. My life in a nut shell.

THANKFUL FOR...The Giver

If i had to pick one book that changed it all for me, it would The Giver by Lois Lowry. 

When I first started reading this book I thought it was going to be really boring. But to my surprise after the first couple of chapters I wasn't able to put it down. Admittedly, i devoured it in a day! When I finished reading it, I was totally speechless. This is one of those books that i will never forget.

 One of the things that I liked the most about The Giver was that it lets us know how fortunate we are to live in the kind of world that we do. After reading that the elderly are sent to The House of The Old, I couldn't imagine ever not having my grandparents in my life. Learning that they didn't have love in their community saddened me. I can't even begin to wonder what life would really be like without it, weather its love for a child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or friend. It was depressing to think of myself in this "utopia" of a world. When I read that releasing people meant killing them it broke my heart knowing it involved killing innocent babies and children as well as other innocent people.

 At the end Jonas got to see the world for how it really is: colourful, filled with beautiful sights and sounds, families together. I thank you Lois Lowry for writing this book. Its easy to appreciate your own life so much more after reading this, and i am grateful for that.

This book came to me at a perfect time in my life; just after my grandmother had died. We never had a close realtionship when she was alive. She was pretty much an emotionless woman who seemed to not like to show love. After having read this book it became important to me, and a must, to appreciate all of my family and tell them how important they are, and how much they are loved as often as i can -- until you can't anymore.

This is an excellent book with a touching story, and will give you plenty to think about. Highly reccomended!

The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer By: Michelle Hodkin

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital

with no memeory of how she got there.
It Can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed

her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through,

 she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is one heck of a psychological thrill ride. Hodkin truly shines in her outstanding debut. She keeps the circumstances of the stranger events mysterious enough to keep readers on the edges of their seats but doesn’t make them so vague that readers are annoyed by the constant uncertainty. Hodkin paces her delivery of information so well throughout the book to keep readers hooked.  This is the type of book that will make readers guess, doubt, reach conclusions, doubt again, and be really anxious for a sequel. With an addicting plot, numerous paranormal mysteries, and a very steamy romance, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a psychological thriller that you won't want to pass up.

Time to Potty Train!

Just like the toddler bed, this too we have attempted before. I think we just gave up around the time when we tried getting her sleep in her toddler bed the first time. I have to say, the first time we started training she did amazingly well. We thought we were getting off too lucky. Here's the catch: After about 2-2 1/2 weeks of being pretty much fully potty trained at home, she decided she doesn't want to use the potty anymore. Accidents every day with fewer and fewer successful potty breaks. It was so discouraging. She was only around 18-19 months at the time and i just figured she was still a little too young and not fully ready. Maybe she wasn't.

For a few weeks now she has been showing signs of readiness but i continued to put it off as i was unmotivated to go through all the clean ups, reminders, and just plain old STRESS of potty training, AGAIN! We have a movie from Pull-Ups all about potty training and its great for parents as well as children. Every time after watching this dvd she would run into the washroom wanting to use the potty. She doesnt like diaper changes. And, one day out of no where, she stands in the bathroom doorway and calls out "mommy!! Pee! Potty!". I went to her quickly, asked her if she wanted to go. She nodded and i sat her on the potty. It was cute watching her "push" to get it out. After a minute she pooped! I couldn't beleive it!
Still, after this i didnt push the idea of potty training. I bought her a giant Sesame Street book thats all about Elmo and potty training. At bath time i take her diaper off and ask her to go pee, and she usually does go. So, instead of see-sawing back and forth any longer, i decided to just do it and get it done with. The weather is getting colder and the "stay-at-home" weather is coming, so what bettter of a time?
Yesterday was her first day diaper-free. She had accident after accident. Closer to the end of the day she peed in the potty a few time, then had an accident. Improvment.
The techniques we're using are simple and a little silly but they're fun! When accidents happen, we don't get mad or upset. I ask her to "stop peeing, lets go to your potty" in a nice voice. I can tell she does try to stop herself, and that muscle training is just as important as peeing in the potty itself. Sometimes she can stop and continue when we get to the potty, and sometimes she will have finished already. At one point she grabbed my hand and said "pee!", we went to the potty and she peed! This was indeed a reason to celebrate. We clapped, cheered, and mommy did a "Leah peed in the POTTY!" march, as well as some enthusiastic jumps for joy which she thought were hilarious. Afterwards, she got a sticker and half of a Halloween treat. (she gets stickers often so they are relatively boring to her) I told her that her rewards were for using the potty. At night time however, she still wears a diaper. One step at a time.

My little girl is embarking on a whole new adveture. She's already grown so fast from a baby to a toddler. Now that shes wearing "big girl" underwear and sleeping in a "big girl" bed, i can't help but think that one day soon im going to wake up and she'll actually be my "big girl".

Toddler Bed Transition

One can dream cant they? I've thought maybe this was going to be stressful on her at first being as we also just started potty training again, but since her bedtime routine isnt changing all that much, im confident she can do this! Also, her bed hasn't changed all that much since its still actually her crib, just without the railing, and toddler rails instead.

We've attempted this once before. About 3 months or so ago. The reason then was because she continued to push her knee through the bars and get it stuck. It was hard and painful for us to get it out. This transition didn't last long because we couldnt get her to stay in her bed (we found her in numerous locations throughout her room passed out) and she was waking up during the night.
This time around, the reason is she has leanred how to successfully climb out of her crib and it was becoming a safety concern. We have no choice but teach her to stay in her bed now.
Every night, just as i did before, we brush teeth, read stories and cuddle until she is completely ready and settled down enough to comfortably relax and fall asleep on her own in her bed. She is so excited every night to get into her bed that she would rather skip the cuddling and jump right in bed. I go along with it, kiss her, say goodnight and walk out. I wait outside of her door until i hear the sound of her pitter-pattering out of bed and heading for the door. Before she gets a chance to grab the door handle i open it, pick her up, kiss her and say "It's bedtime, you need to stay in your bed." while putting her back into bed. This will repeat about 8 times before she reconsiders the cuddling. lol. After 10 minutes of cuddling and rocking in the chair, she finally goes down without a hitch. If only it could be this easy when we started!
Shes on her second night in her toddler bed. For a couple weeks now, periodically, she won't take a nap. Sometimes it will be a late one on the couch, or a regular one at 11:30/noon, or like i said, not at all. But today, surprisingly, she climbed into her bed with her drink and her teddy and fell asleep for just over an hour. Without a diaper on, might i add.

Patience is key, and its important i keep telling myself that. So far, we have made a little improvment each night. Thats all i ask. We have no other choice but to make this work this time, no matter how hard it is.I do enjoy waking up to the sound of her little feet smacking against the floor, and opening my eyes to have a beautiful little face so close to me i can feel her breathing. Its bitter sweet.

Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

"Stars, too, were time travelers. How many of those ancient points were the last echos of suns now dead? How many had been born but their light not come this far? If all the suns but ours colapsed tonight, how many lifetimes would it take for us to realize that we were alone? I had always known the sky was full of mysteries--but not until now had i realized how full of them the earth was."

--(This is going to be a short book review just because its the first i've ever done lol)--
Debut novelist Ransom Riggs liberally sprinkles his book with a strange collection of authenitcally vintage and peculiar photos around which he has constructed his plot. You will find the photos either completely cool or kind of creepy, but either way they feed the book’s atmosphere and make it what it is. It was a thrilling book that i couldn't put down. I'm pretty sure this book is YA, but nontheless it is a fantastic book for anyone who craves a strange, and brilliantly advneture. 

I loved Ransom Riggs' take on time travel. The dark, and mysterious world in which the peculiars, ymbrynes, wights, and hollows, lived is amazing and is described in such realistic detail that it makes you feel as though you're apart of the story. It wasn't one of those books that only had a few interesting or "haul-you-in" moments. Every chapter draws you in and has you on the edge of your seat wanting more.

The ending is sort of a cliff hanger because it leaves you with many unanswered questions, and just wanting to know what happens next.

This is a book i can, and will read over  and over again. I strongly recommened it, if you are contemplating it, dont, just go get it!