Adoption Bookshelf Part 2: Kids

Here is part two of my favorites...this time kids books.  Which, are also fantastic for adults by the way. :)

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born

by Jamie Lee Curtis

A friend gave me this one earlier this year.  It is so fantastic!  It is told from the perspective of the child, asking questions of the parent...about their adoption story.  It is beautifully illustrated, and wonderfully written.  I've read it a bunch of times already, and I can't wait to have someone (besides Winston) to read it to.   It would be a great gift for any couple hoping to adopt, and you can find it HERE ON AMAZON. 

The Best for You

by Kelsey Stewart

My friend Christy introduced this book to me.  It is wonderful!  It is written from the perspective of the birthmother...she is telling her story to the child.  There are some parts that WILL induce tears...just warning you.  The author is also fantastic!  She blogs HERE.  You can find this book HERE ON AMAZON. 

Do you have any favorites you want to share?  I'm always looking for new books.

Adoption Bookshelf Part 1: Adults

There is a lot of literature out there on adoption - a lot of it is good and some of it is horribly negative.  I've come across a few of both and here are some of my favorites...in the "adult" category.  

Dear Birthmother 

by Kathleen Silber & Phylis Speedlin

I borrowed this one from the library when we first started seriously looking at adoption as an option.  It opened my eyes...a LOT.  It taught me that a lot of the things I thought about adoption were wrong.  It made me cry happy positive tears.  It isn't that long either...I read the whole thing in a couple days...and that was only because I was working two jobs at the time.  It's maybe 120 pages?  I would recommend EVERYONE read this...especially anyone who has a close friend/family member who is/has/hopes to adopt.  If you want to pick up a copy, you can find it HERE ON AMAZON.

The Complete Adoption Book

by Laura Beauvais-Godwin & Raymond Godwin

If you want to go a little (ok, a lot) heavier...this one's for you.  It has everything you could ever want to know about ANY aspect of adoption...well ok, maybe not EVERYTHING but it has enough info to fill a college course called Adoption 101.  It is great for anyone starting an adoption journey or for anyone with a healthy curiosity.  You can find it HERE ON AMAZON.

Potter Disappointment

Let me just preface all this by saying that if you haven't seen the new HP movie and want to see it ''unspoiled" you should probably come back another day and read this post...

With that said, lets get to it.

I am kind of a HP freak...not so much that I would make a cloak and wand to bring with me to the movie or that I would name our children Harry, Ron & Hermione...but I do like the books, and some of the movies...in fact, in preparation for the Deathly Hallows next week I re-read ALL 6 previous books so it would all be fresh on my mind...and it only took a little under 2 weeks (nerd)...I was pretty excited for the book and movie to get released so close, it feels like double Christmas...except this would be like opening up a present of dog turd...

We went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (OotP) last night (opening day - nerd) and we waited in line for over an hour (nerd) so we could get good seats. I was excited but a little hesitant...after all, Goblet of Fire was massacred and I worried about OotP. Now let me say this: If you have not read any of the books you will like the movie, mostly. There is a feeling of choppiness and jumping too quick between scenes but overall it is ok on it's own merits...BUT if you have read the books (recently to remember details) the move will anger you...important things are left out...things that explain character's behavior, feelings, etc. AND it seems to only star Harry and Umbridge... all others could really be replaced by card-board cutouts...Ron, Hermione, the Weasley's, Dumbledore, Snape, Malfoy, Sirius, Lupin, Tonks (who was one of my favorite characters in the book), Percy...eeekkkk it made me angry.

I understand that films that are adaptations of books cannot possibly reflect EVERYTHING in the novel, and they won't please everyone because we all have pictures in our minds of how things should look and play out, but I hate it when directors and screen writers feel the need to "Put their stamp on it" (as Nathan says) and change it to 'feel like one of their movies'...

So I am curious, if you have seen the movie, what did you think? (Also mention if you have read all the books and if you liked any of the other movies...Prizoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Chamber of Secrets, Sorcerer's Stone...)

Catch-up...yet again

So I have been a slacker...we have been busy and then I have been just lazy too

We have been working in the yard - planting the garden and flowers, etc. We bought one of those metal gazebo thingy's and we put that up on Memorial Day...I really like it - I'll try to take a pic tomorrow and post it. The inside of the house has suffered a bit though...since we've been outside so much, but that's ok, we'll get to it this weekend hopefully.

I am pretty excited for the garden, we planted 5 types of tomatoes, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, peas, lima beans, watermelon, 2 types of peppers and 2 types of string beans. We'll see if we can get to harvest without killing most of the plants.

We have the nicest backyard neighbor - She is from Germany and we have gotten to know her a little bit more over the last week or so because of spending more time outdoors and she is great...she did tease us a bit about the MASSIVE (and I am not exaggerating) weeds we had growing in the back yard last year...but she is glad to see we are putting all this effort in too.

We are still adjusting...it is hard to believe that we have been here for one year...it seems just like yesterday I was planning the Annual Dinner at the Chamber... We have not adjusted completely...we really only know 2 neighbors...and we don't really know anyone from church (I guess it would help if we went regularly)...but I have gotten all the back ways to work down and figured out which grocery stores are the best for which types of food...and so I guess things aren't as bad as they could be...(heaven forbid I don't know where to find Hoisin Sauce!)

I am going to try to form a book group - the first month or so might be kinda small, but hopefully it will grow and I can make some good friends out of it. The first book we are reading is My Sister's Keeper (which is really good by the way).

oooo...I can hardly wait!

I can HARDLY wait!! :)

I love me some Captain Jack...and Orlando's not too shabby himself ;)