"Growing Up Colt" by Colt and Brad McCoy

I am a Cleveland Browns fan so when I heard our Quarterback is a Christian and wrote a book about his life, I wanted to read it. I was surprised to find that his dad wrote some of it as well. This was an interesting read because Colt and his dad share very personal experiences from Colt's childhood and also how his training growing up helped him to become the leader and the role model that he is today. Brad, his dad, shared four main principles of parenting while balancing discipline and love:


 1. Prepare the kid for the path, not the path for the kid.
2. Prepare your children to do their best.
3. Prepare your children to be leaders.
4. Prepare your children for open and closed doors.

I also thought the lessons Colt said he learned were very good, such as always finish what you start, treat everyone with respect, listen to advice from those more experienced than you and relax because "the hay is in the barn."  He used this phrase in his first NFL start as a Cleveland Brown and the guys asked him what it meant.  It means they practiced and put in the work, so now they can relax and go out and play.  (He grew up on a farm in Texas.)

It was nice to read about someone who walks with God and didn't make a lot of bad choices that messed up their life. I think the book balances his childhood training, football games, and his walk with the Lord well. I enjoyed learning so much about Colt through this book. He's definitely a leader with character and I am happy he is our Quarterback! I recommend it to parents, all Browns fans and anyone who is interested in football.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

"Home Again" by Kristin Hannah

Home Again by Kristin Hannah is about second chances. It's about Madeline, a single mom who is a cardiologist for her first love, Angel, who needs a heart transplant and how his brother the priest took care of Madeline and her daughter in his brother's absence. The daughter yearns to know her dad, the mother is afraid he will break her heart, the priest falls in love with Madeline but wants to do the right thing and Angel is a famous, rich actor living life in the fast lane until he has a third heart attack and winds up in the hospital back in his home town.

The heart transplant angle was very interesting in this book and it was fun seeing how the characters grew. I recommend this to those who like fairy tale romances or stories about single moms.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help our charity of the month just by leaving a comment on any of our blogs! We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month. The charity for this month is at the top of our blog.

Could You Please Do Us A Favor:   Canine Lifeline, the dog rescue that saved our Abby, is in the running for $1,000 donation from Pedigree. Please go vote for Canine Lifeline over at dogtipper.com. Today is the last day for voting! They are currently leading, but it's very close!

"Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua

I read Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother by Amy Chua just to find out what all the hype and controversy was about and I liked it. It is a true story about a Chinese mom, two daughters and two adorable dogs with superb writing and a great ending. I didn't want to put this one down and highly recommend it! Read and enjoy!
(Gerard's review)

Karen read it too:
The Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother by Amy Chua is a non-fiction book points out the differences between parenting styles of Western culture and Chinese culture through the eyes of a Chinese mother living in the United States with a Jewish husband and two daughters. Amy, the determined, mother is a law professor at Yale who raised her two daughters the Chinese way to give her children skills that will open doors for a bright future. She wrote this book to show the Chinese way to be the best way to raise kids but discovered that the best way is a combination of the two.

Amy Chua raised two amazingly talented daughters: Sophia the obedient, well-behaved one who was good enough on the piano to get to play at Carnegie Hall at 14, and Lulu, the one proficient on the violin but more rebellious and willful. I liked both daughters and thought the mother was obsessed with success and too driven. At times, I thought her methods were crazy! I found myself cheering for Lulu, the younger daughter who finally was able to choose tennis while not being so focused on the violin. Thanks to her mother, she developed a great work ethic that she applies to tennis without her mother’s help.

I think Tiger Mother is interesting and enjoyed the pictures and touches of humor throughout. Their dogs are really beautiful and I liked how the mother’s attitude about dogs changed for the better once they got one. I thought it was interesting to see how children in the same family, raised the same can be so different. It proves that children are individuals and should be treated as such. What works for one, doesn’t always work for the other.

Here are a few of my Favorite funny quotes:

Thank God we live in America, I thought to myself, where no doubt because of the American Revolution rebelliousness is valued. In China, they’d have sent Lulu to a labor camp. (p. 38)

. . . there’s nothing I hate more than all these festivals and projects that private schools specialize in. Instead of making kids study from books, private schools are constantly trying to make learning fun by having parents do all the work. (p. 64)

Lulu: “I wish I had a pet.”
mom: “You already have a pet,” I snapped. “Your violin is your pet.” (p. 65)

Once, when I came back from a “walk” with my elbows scraped and my knees grass-stained, Jed said, “It’s her Samoyed nature. She thinks you’re a sled, and she wants to pull you. Let’s forget about teaching her to walk. Why don’t we just get a cart that you can sit in and have Coco pull you around?

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? You can help Canine Lifeline (a dog rescue organization that saved our dog, Abby) by leaving a comment on any of our blogs in March. We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month.

Tuesday Teasers: "Heartwood" and "Tiger Mother"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser. 

Karen's:

"Robby, we're a couple.  There's no competition between us."  But that was a lie, and they both knew it.

From page 141 of Heartwood by Belva Plain.  (I finished this book Friday but wanted to share a teaser from it.  It was really hard to pick just one, there were so many good lines.  I posted my review of this yesterday.)

Gerard's:

Western parents worry a lot about their children's self-esteem.  But as a parent, one of the worst things you can do for your child's self-esteem is to let them give up.  On the flip side, there's nothing better for building confidence than learning you can do something you thought you couldn't.

From page 62 of Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother by Amy Chua.  (The true story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs.)

You can help Canine Lifeline (a dog rescue organization that saved our dog, Abby) by leaving a comment on any of our blogs in March. We will donate 50 cents per comment at the end of the month.

"The Power Of Half" by Kevin and Hannah Salwen

This video was made by the brother in the book explaining about their family project which the book is all about.

The Power of Half by Kevin and Hannah Salwen is an inspirational true story about how their family lived with less to make a sizable contribution to really make a difference for a lot of people.  Hannah the teen daughter, co-author of this book, had a deep desire to help people less fortunate than her and was instrumental in getting her family to take a trip to Africa to actually see the people they were going to help with their donation to The Hunger Project.  The parents wanted to get their children to be more involved in their charitable decision making so agreed to go along with Hannah’s suggestion to down-size, sell their $1.95 million home and give half to charity. 

This book was written to encourage families to be more involved in helping others and share their story on how they did it.  It in no way recommends that everyone sell their home and move into a smaller one like they did.  Kevin, the father, summarizes the benefits their family experienced by going through the process of deciding how much to give, what charity to give it to and down-sizing by getting rid of a lot of things they didn’t need.  Through this process his family drew closer, communicated on a deeper level, enjoyed having a common goal to work towards, and an increased respect for each other.  His teens became more self-confident and developed leadership skills. 

One of the key points in the process that really gave the teens ownership of the project was to give every family member an equal vote in the decision making.  It was interesting to see the inner workings of this family and how they worked together.  I thought they should have actually sold their house first and then decided what to do with the money instead of promising the money to a charity before the house even sold.  You can visit their website at www.thepowerofhalf.com.  Some other suggested websites mentioned in the book are:  www.rebuiildingtogether.org, www.sharesavespend.com, www.handsonnetwork.org.

I liked Hannah’s heart but found myself plowing through the book to finish it.  I recommend it to parents who are looking for a way to unite their family and draw them closer or to anyone looking for help on how to get their children to be less selfish. 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"I'm Outnumbered! One Mom’s Lessons in the Lively Art of Raising Boys by Laura Lee Groves

I’m Out numbered!:  One Mom’s Lessons in the Lively Art of Raising Boys by Laura Lee Groves is a good little handbook for moms (and dads) of boys.  I got this because I teach 5^th grade boys in Sunday School and thought it may be helpful.  She kept the chapters short because she knows moms are very busy so it is a quick read.  She addresses many issues including expectations, laying a foundation for reading, sibling rivalry, teaching respect, organizing, media, teaching responsibility, and communication.  Also included is a special chapter for dads, for single moms, and one from the boys themselves!  Laura Groves also includes an extensive list of recommended books that deal with related topics that she wrote about in this book. 

I think this book would be helpful to any parent of boys especially.  It is sprinkled with some humor and scripture which makes it a very enjoyable and interesting read.  I liked it and am not even a parent but this book makes parenting sound like lots of fun!  As I was reading, I kept thinking of different mothers I know who may benefit from reading this.  Some general advice from I’m outnumbered! is to let boys be creative, don’t let them hurt each other, don’t play favorites, give them all a chance to be leaders and promote teamwork, treat them as individuals, love them no matter what they do or don’t do, teach them manners by challenging them to be honorable like knights. 

I’m Outnumbered! would make a great gift for parents of boys.   I highly recommend this book and can’t say enough good about it.  Thanks to The 160 Acre Woods:  A Mom's Manual For Boys for posting about it.  If this book appeals to you, please check out these great blog posts that give advice on raising boys by Italian Mama Gone Crazy:  What Would Mama Do? (Part Uno) and What Would Mama Do? (Part Due for mothers of little boys).  Many of the things Laura Groves wrote about in this book reminded me of the advice I read in these blog posts. 

Check out my teaser.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?