Book Review: The Prince Who Was Just Himself

I was invited by Handlebar Marketing to review this book.  I received the book for free in exchange for my honest review.

The Royal Family are excited to be expecting a third child.  Upon the new little prince's birth, they notice that he is a little different from other children, but they love him just the same.  His older brothers are kind to him and he is a happy little fellow.  

Amazon writes, "When the youngest prince disarms the cruel knight Scarface, the nation’s most dreaded enemy, with an act of compassion, everyone finally realizes how good it is that each person is unique."

My daughter and I enjoyed reading this book.  The illustrations are cute and have enough details for my daughter to be interested in viewing the pictures.  The story prompted some great dialogue about how people who are different from us have good qualities and how we should be kind to others no matter if they are different.

My daughter enjoyed the book, but in some ways, it may have been a little young for her (she's 5-1/2).  I really don't think she will be asking me to read it to her again.  I will suggest it to her in a couple of weeks to see what her response is.

15 Goals in 2015 - Update

Click here to read the 15 Goals in 2015 introductory post.

We just got back from going out of town to visit with my husband's family.  We had a nice time, and Gracie loved playing with her cousins.  Since we were out of town for several days, I did not get very much accomplished.  That's ok, because I know that I need to be somewhat flexible and it is, after all, only the beginning of the year.

Here are some things that I have accomplished during this short week:

3.  To declutter and organize the house, garage, and shed.

     a.  Declutter 365 (Facebook Group, Webpage for January)

I have completed the first three days of this challenge.  Granted, I already had them set up, but I'm still going to count it.  I've also read the Facebook Group posts and have gleaned ideas from the many comments.

5.  To improve my photography taking and editing skills.

      a.  Project 365 (My facebook group)

   

So far, I'm doing well with taking and posting a photo a day.  I posted iPhone photos, but did take photos with my "big camera" but am not able to post them while out of town.

7.  To read 15 mentally-stimulating books (i.e. not fiction) (and blog about them).

     

I reviewed my Goodreads "want to read" bookshelf and also stalked my friend Valerie's bookshelves on Goodreads to get ideas for more books to add to my list.

In addition to the above, I want to read:

     a.  Free to Choose by Milton Friedman

     b.  John Adams by Dave McCullough (I may change to a different book by him.)

     c.  41: A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush

     d.  Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

     e.  Pioneer Girl:  The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder

     f.  A Little House Traveler:  Writings from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Journeys Across America by Laura Ingalls Wilder

    g.  Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson

    h.  Laughs, Luck...and Lucy:  How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time by Jess Oppenheimer

     i.  Life Skills for Kids:  Equipping Your Child for the Real World by Christine M. Field

     j.   The Lost Colony of Roanoke by Jean Fritz

One of my goals is to lose 15 pounds, but I really need to lose more than that.  I just wanted to name it 15 because of the year.  I weighed myself on the morning of January 1st and recorded it in my app called Happy Scale.  I have not weighed myself since I was out of town, but I will weigh tomorrow morning when I get up.

I definitely did not adhere to my "No sugar, starch or soda" rule, because I knew it would be nigh impossible.  In face, I rather enjoyed eating whatever I wanted.  Thursday night, we had shredded BBQ beef, black-eyed peas, Amish macaroni and cheese, potato salad, and 7-layer salad.  Friday morning, we had carb overload for breakfast (cinnamon rolls, donuts) and snacked in the middle of the day (including a delicious pineapple-cream cheese cheeseball with Ritz crackers).  For supper, we ate at a restaurant called D'arcy's Pint which is supposed to be like an Irish pub.  I had an Irish boxty for the first time which was absolutely delicious.  I also had a ponyshoe which is Texas Toast covered with meat and french fries and cheese sauce.  The boxty was the best, hands-down.  This morning, we didn't have breakfast.  I thought we were supposed to have a breakfast casserole either yesterday or today, but that did not materialize.  We did have delicious lasagna, 7-layer-salad, black-eyed peas, and garlic bread for lunch.  We were on the road after that and stopped at Lambert's for supper.  I had catfish, green beans, peaches, fried okra, fried potatoes and onions, black-eyed peas, and, of course, a roll.  The main reason why I love that place is for the fried potatoes and onions, but all of their food is good country cooking.

I hope to talk about more accomplishments next week!  Thanks for reading!