Cascade Actionpacs with Clorox: Review

Grace-Filled Writer
Tonight I’m deviating from my usual homeschool-only reviews for a fun around-the-home review from Cascade. I had the opportunity to review one of their new products this past week and have been very pleased! 


Cascade ActionPacs with the power of Clorox is a new product from Cascade. It currently comes in Lemon Scent and has Clorox as well as their Pure Rinse Formula included in addition to the traditional Cascade detergent. It comes in a little packet which dissolves when wet to release the cleaning agents inside. 

We typically use a liquid dish washing detergent, most often what is on sale. We have tried many brands, but currently have regular Cascade under our cabinet. I have also tried a few DIY recipes, powder and liquid, to use in our dishwasher. The first thing I like about this product is how easy it is to use. I can even have one of my girls run the dishwasher after I load it. The only word of caution I have for any packet is to make sure your hands are dry while handling them so they don’t begin to dissolve too soon!

I also love how this detergent left my dish washer smelling. It always, always smells clean and never stale. Lemon is one of my favorite scents anyway and I was pleased that even though it has Clorox included, there was not a lingering smell of bleach as I anticipated. 


I do not have many dishes with stains, but I did have one mug which was stained with coffee/tea which I had not been able to get off prior to this. Here are the before and after shots of my mug…


Now, straight out of the dishwasher, it didn’t look that different, however, I simply wiped away the remaining stains with a dishcloth and my mug is like new! So while the packets didn’t wipe them all clean in a single cycle, it took minimal effort to finish getting them out. I believe this is probably because they had been on the mug for a really long time. These ingredients definitely loosened the stains in ways I never had been able to before. I firmly believe these packets would prevent staining if used regularly. I am very pleased with this aspect. I have tried many times to remove these stains and had not been able to successfully before now. 

My final observation while using this detergent actually comes from my husband. Our lives are really busy and he is wonderful to help me with the dishes when I can’t get to them. Since he used the packets as well I was interested in his observations. What he noticed and liked was that the dishes were spot-free coming out of the dish washer. These not only smelled clean, but they look clean and feel clean to the touch without any residual film like some detergents can leave. 

If you are looking for a detergent to get rid of difficult stains, definitely give this a try. It also does an excellent job of cleaning and leaving dishes without spots or film.  
Disclaimer: I received this product from Clorox in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and these observations are my own. 

Week in Review: April 27-May 1

Grace-Filled Writer

Two weekly reviews in a row feels great! This week went very well. We didn’t get through quite everything I wanted to and got a little sidetracked by some some health issues, but I feel good about the week. We had some really neat experiences in addition to our regular lessons I’ll share at the end.

Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 13

Grace thoroughly enjoys all of her history, Bible and poetry in her guide. She really likes having her own readings and focused attention at her own level. We will continue through the summer and probably start Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory in the fall even if we haven’t finished Little Hearts.

For handwriting we are using Fundanoodle. This is a program I reviewed with The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew a couple of years ago and we absolutely loved it. It has the same type of feel as handwriting without tears, but is more affordable. I love that Grace builds the letters on a magnet board before writing them. She has worked through all of the upper case letters and is now doing lower case. My younger two daughters both used A Reason for Handwriting, which was good and did the job, but I really like the tactile nature of this program. She uses this one day and then practices the same letter in the Handwriting Without Tears book the next day.

For reading Grace is using the 1st grade readers from Abeka and a Dick and Jane book her great grandmother gave her. She loves the stories about Dick, Jane, and their little sister Sally. She actually likes it better than the Abeka books. If I could find more Dick and Jane reasonably priced I would probably just stick with that. After we get done with the 1st grade readers we’ll move onto the Emerging Readers set from Heart of Dakota. She could probably handle them okay now, but I like the idea of building her retention and comprehension before moving onto those too quickly.

Since she is reading really well, I let her call out sentences to Beth this week for her dictation in All About Spelling. She really enjoyed this and felt quite grown up. Her older sisters quite often help her with various subjects so this was a nice change for her.

Bigger Hearts for His Glory: Unit 24

We only have 10 more units left in Bigger! I may just do the history activities when summer comes because I want to start Preparing as she is entering 3rd grade. She may only go half-paced as her older sister did, but I feel she is definitely ready to move ahead in the guides.

As Beth has progressed I am encouraging her to read some history on her own as well as do some of the activities with little guidance from me. I now give Beth the guide and she works on her timeline alone. She is free to ask questions or ask for help, but this is one way I am helping her become more independent.

This week we had to catch up with four units on the timeline. Sometimes this box gets left out, but it’s something I always make sure to go back and catch up all the way. She has very much liked reading Stories of Great Americans and she can easily read and comprehend this book. I like giving her the freedom to read on her own although I do still read it to her sometimes.

Isn’t this the best picture???? We are working on math. Ha! The thing is that both girls are doing well with math, even Rose who has struggled some in the past. They weren’t upset or anything, just a bit tired and ready to be done. But hey, I felt the same way they did at this point that day!

Creation to Christ: Unit 7


Although it is a little strange to have started this guide mid-year, it’s working out well. The level of work has increased, but not too significantly. Rose really likes the notebooking pages and has done well to transition to using cursive all the time. She forgets sometimes, bu these erasable pens recommended in the forum and facebook group have been excellent. She loves having a special pen just for her to use.

Here she is listening to the “What in the World?” CD by Diane Warren. She absolutely loves this and I’m excited that she’ll get to use the next 2 CD sets in the upcoming guides.

I love learning about grammar, but I never expected my kids to! I’m so thrilled they love it. Yes, Rod and Staff can be a bit tedious, but the more you can do aloud, the better. I usually leave the written work for diagramming. I know diagramming can seem old fashioned and unnecessary, but I do see a benefit in being able to identify and classify the part of a sentence not only for school studies but for language study in the future. I don’t know what language she will study, but when she does having a solid grammar base will help her tremendously.

Other exciting opportunities…

I know other families have the same opportunity to do fun stuff that we do, but I think it is sometimes a little easier to fit into our lives because we homeschool. Here are some fun things we did this week.

This week was the Deerstream Learning Center Art Show and Exhibition. Each students has several pieces of art showcased. These are just a couple of pieces my girls had in the show. Grace is very excited to be a part of this next year. 
You can listen to the radio drama my English students recorded and produced for the art show by clicking here!
Another really cool thing is that these…
Hatched into these! 
This has been an amazing observational experience for them! They check on the little babies daily and have named them. They are at ground level inside an old plastic filing cabinet and easy for the girls to see without disturbing the chicks or their mama. 
Our final really cool experience was skyping with my aunt while she was in Haiti. My aunt takes a yearly trip to Haiti and works with a school there. We arranged for the girls to Skype with students in the second grade class there. They sang Jesus Loves Me and the girls sang Amazing Grace. We showed them around our schoolroom. It was really cool! 
I also enjoyed International Scrapbook Day and purchased some digital scrapbooking supplies on sale and completed a few layouts. This is one of my favorite leisure activities. I love preserving our family memories and I like the creativity of scrapbooking. I’m working on our 2008 album so Rose and Beth are quite little! Grace was a little confused that she wasn’t in any of the pictures, but very much enjoyed seein gher big sisters at play. 

So there was our week. Pretty smooth and lots of fun!

The Long Overdue…Week in Review!

Grace-Filled Writer

Okay, so this is really more like 3 or 4 months in review. I got blog-discouraged back in the winter when 2 years worth of pictures just disappeared. Yup. They’re gone. Hundreds upon hundreds of pictures vanished leaving my blog looking rather bare. I researched and tried to recover them, but to no avail. I became quite disheartened and so I paused blogging. What was intended to be just a couple of weeks break turned into a few months break.

In the meantime, school has been absolutely delightful! We are 12 units into Little Hearts for His Glory, 6 Units into Creation to Christ, and 24 units into Bigger Hearts for His Glory. The girls are loving school, we are in our groove, and for all the bumps over the last couple of years, it couldn’t be going better. Praising God for that!

So what have we been up to? 

During my blogging pause we enjoyed some snow… 

I know this isn’t a big deal to many of you, but it is to us! We got 2 really good snowfalls this year which is rare. I love that when we do get snow it is gone in about 2-3 days though! 

Took a fun vacation to Florida…

We spent some time at Disney World with my parents and then got to visit my husband’s parents afterwards. So much fun and a much needed break from the cold. My girls enjoyed meeting several characters and our favorite without a doubt was Cinderella’s step-mother and step-sisters.

Celebrated Passover and Easter…

Our family Passover Seder is my favorite Spring tradition! 

And Continued on with school!

So as far as school, things are going really, really well. You can see we’ve purchased some school desks and the girls absolutely love them. They still do school around the house in various places, but they really like having a desk that is all their own. We also bought them wiggle seats. One of my girls tends to need a lot of motion while she learns which was distracting to another daughter who needs a distraction-free learning area. This was an excellent compromise and although we only really felt like it would benefit one, they all have better focus after using them. 
Here are some more specifics about each level…
Grace: Little Hearts for His Glory

The transition into using three guides was not nearly as overwhelming as I thought it would be. Yes, it has changed some thing about our day, but Grace is so happy to have her own history reading and be challenged a little more. 
Grace finished multiple Kindergarten math workbooks and I was honestly at a loss as to what to do with her because she isn’t even officially in K5 according to our state’s laws until this coming September. A very dear friend of mine at church listened to my dilemma one day. She herself was homeschooled and has been a great person to talk to throughout our schooling. So what did she that helped me out? “Why don’t you let her try out your 1st grade curriculum?” My genius response? “Umm…because she isn’t in 1st grade?” Yeah, we both laughed and she reminded me of one of the main reasons we love homeschooling: My girls get to move at their own pace! So we have moved on. 
We started with Arithmetic Village which I highly recommend if you are looking for a “living curriculum” start to mathematics. Grace loved it! After we finished the book and several days of activities from the corresponding booklet, we have moved into Math Mammoth, 1st grade. She’s doing great and loves it.
Like I said before, Grace loves history…loves history. She is reading really well and quite often asks to read a portion of her history for the day. She does really well and is always able to tell me about what she read. Since I want my girls to become independent anyway, I’m happy to let her read when she wants. 
The other major leap for Grace is that she finished the Abeka Handbook for Reading and we have therefore moved on to All About Spelling level 1. Yay! All three girls are using All About Spelling now. It’s more to balance now, but I’m very happy with this move. We’re still finishing up the 1st grade Abeka readers, but she’ll be done with those soon too. She’s moving right a long and loves all she is learning!
I’ve had a traditional school calendar in our room for years, but I’m horrible at keeping up with it. Grace has decided to take this task on as her own. It’s perfect! She is learning her days of the week and months of the year. She loves being in charge of this and I don’t have to remember anymore! 
Beth: Bigger Hearts for His Glory

Beth is really enjoying history. I know a lot of people don’t like the history spines in Bigger Hearts for His Glory. Some because of the perspective, some because of the terminology. I’ve used it as a teaching tool and usually replace the out-of-date terms (whites with colonists, Indians/Savages with Native Americans, etc.) as I read aloud. We talk about why different names are better to use and why it may make people uncomfortable to hear the older terminology. I’m also okay with the perspective because we talk about different perspectives. I love Stories of Great Americans and can’t wait to The Wright Brothers and Their Sister! 
Beth has finished our cursive curriculum book and has moved onto copywork with cursive. We take a portion of the poem and copy a bit each day. Since Beth is still getting used to cursive I use the font Learning Curve and write out what she is to copy each day. Right now we are using traditional lined handwriting paper as well. 
Math is going well as usual with Beth. She loves it and I love it and I can finally…finally…say we have hit our stride for this subject with all three of the girls! You are seeing this picture correctly…I let my daughters use white board markers on our floor! Yikes! Don’t worry, I tested this the first time I tried it. It is a great way to practice measurements and it’s so out of the ordinary that my girls just love it. 
It just so happened that the girls ended up on their measurement and weight unit at the same time. It isn’t often that they are studying the same things at the same time, so this was fun for them both and they really enjoyed helping each other out with the various activities. They measured each other, us, toys, so many things! 
You’re going to see a lot more technology in our pictures. While I am not interested in doing our studies as an online curriculum, I feel very strongly that I need to help my girls learn how to navigate technology responsibly. They each have their own e-mail addresses but are only allowed to e-mail family. Their readings are sometimes e-books. And finally we are using a homework app called Homework Helper. This is giving them more responsibility. The only glitch is getting my own checklist finished in time to get it put into the app using the Teacher version called Teacherio.
Rose: Creation to Christ

We are over half-way through level 4 of All About Spelling. I intend to finish this curriculum with each of my girls, and they are going very quickly through it. Rose started a little later than her sisters because we weren’t homeschooling as young as with them.  This scripted spelling curriculum is so thorough and my girls are retaining which is great, but that’s not even the best part! Rose is now automatically applying what she’s learning in AAS to her written narrations and other writing. So for anyone who isn’t sure if this is working, just hang in there. It will translate to their everyday stuff. We also use dictation as written in HOD for three days out of the week as well. 
Yes, that is a calculator in my daughter’s hand. I know, I know…first writing with Expos on the floor, then a calculator…what is math coming to in this house!?!?! After talking with my husband (who is very mathematically minded) we decided to allow Rose to check her own math after she had completed it. This has been amazing for her! I still require her to do all of the math by hand, but in checking her own work she is somehow feeling more confident. I also attribute her confidence to Math Rider because she now knows her math facts with confidence. 
One of the cool part of CTC which is new to us is the daily quiet time built into the studies. All of the Scripture memory up to this point has been preparing Rose for her own quiet time. I love that our curriculum is solid academically, but the fact that she is growing spiritually is just spectacular. It took her some time to be okay with highlighting her Bible until I let her do it with erasable colored pencils. She feels better about this just in case she makes a mistake. My little first-born has all the classic tendencies that follow with her birth-order. Knowing and understanding this helps me know how to help her succeed and feel successful. Giving her a way to be okay with mistakes is just a small way to help our entire day go smoother. 
#LearningTogether
I’m not a super-fan of the hash tag, but this is one I’ve been using on Instagram. My girls are all in separate guides, different grade-levels and studying different histories…yet we still learn together. We’re usually in the same room. Everyone is allowed to ask questions about what the others are learning as long as they are able to get focused again. Each is allowed to teach their sisters if they learn something new. Most importantly, they encourage one another to love learning. I don’t allow complaining about school work, but I usually don’t have to enforce that rule. Most often they are engaged and excited about what they are learning. Our little one-room-schoolhouse is a beautiful place to learn thanks to Heart of Dakota!


Fairy Tale Romance Collection by Melanie Dickerson: A BookLook Blogger Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Like most girls, I love a good princess story. Some of my favorite stories growing up were fairy tale stories. Good versus evil, conflict, good wins…it doesn’t get much better than that! At least I thought it didn’t.

Melanie Dickerson is an author I only recently discovered. I had the chance to review The Princess Spy. At the time I had no idea this was part of a series of princess novels written by her! I was delighted to have the chance to review the entire collection. This collection includes all of the previously published titles in the Fairy Tale Romance Collection: The Healer’s Apprentice, The Merchant’s Daughter, The Fairest Beauty, The Captive Maiden, and The Princess Spy.

Only after I began reading more from this series did I realize that these are actually loosely based on well-known fairy tales. This made them that much more fun for me! I’ve always loved the classic fairy tales and reading these updated versions have been simply delightful. I’m so glad I had a few days without a lot to do so I could read to my hearts content. Whether you fancy Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella, the Princess and the Frog or Sleeping Beauty or perhaps even Snow White, you will find a heroine in one of these brilliantly crafted novels.

The best part of this series is that woven throughout these classics are stories of faith. I’ve never before read fairy tale stories which made me feel closer to God. The journey the characters take with their faith is never forced or tossed in as an after thought. I love how even in the fairy tale setting I can relate to the struggles the heroines and heroes face. These stories were excellent reminders that God sees us all as individuals, no matter our status, and pursues us relentlessly.

While these are classified as young adult novels, which I definitely no longer am, I thoroughly enjoyed each story. My daughters are still too young for young adult literature, but in the not to distant future I’m going to very much enjoy sharing this collection with them.

Disclosure:  I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook.com® <http://BookLook.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Deception on Sable Hill: A Booklook Blogger Review

Grace-Filled Writer
Last year I read one of the best fiction books I’ve come across in a very long time. Secrets of Sloane House by Shelley Gray was one of those novels you lose sleep over as you convince yourself that just one more chapter won’t hurt your sleep any. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and my delight was doubled when I discovered the second book in the Chicago World’s Fair Mystery series!


As much as I loved the first book in this series, I think this second one may be even better! I love a good historical novel, especially when the history is intertwined seamlessly as it is in Shelley Gray’s novels. I never feel like I’m reading a textbook as I do with some author’s and I’m always drawn to learn more about the time period presented. 

The story opens where Secrets of Sloane House left off. The main characters were introduced towards the end of the previous novel and I was excited to see them more fully developed. Eloisa is a socialite, the woman every man desires to have on his arm, and the victim of rape. This secret which she guards very closely threatens to tear her apart as news begins to increase of the Society Slasher who is attacking women of her social standing all over the city. 

In the midst of the turmoil Eloisa is drawn to an unlikely man for comfort and refuge. Sean Ryan, an Irish policeman from a very poor background, becomes the one person with whom she feels safe. Their social differences are enough, however, to give pause to even a friendship. As their relationship grows, so does the fear and danger gripping Chicago’s elite. 

Intrigue, romance, and faith are woven together into a beautiful novel. I had to force myself to set this aside and not simply read it in one setting. Although I love to read, there have been few books in recent memory which have captivated me as Shelly Gray’s have. I hope there are more novels to come in this excellent series!

Disclosure:  I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook.com® <http://BookLook.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

A Plague of Unicorns: A BookLook Blogger Review

Grace-Filled Writer

I remember getting the list of books I would read for my adolescent literature class in college and anxiously perusing the list of authors. I recognized most of the names, but Jane Yolen was one I had never read. After the one required book by Yolen I was soon checking out one after the other from the library knowing each would be an excellent read. I was over-the-moon excited when I saw her name appear with an opportunity to read another of her novels!

My oldest daughter, Rose who is 9, read this as part of her school work, but I can honestly say I know it didn’t feel like school when she read it! More than once I caught her taking the book away from the schoolroom to read just one more chapter as she couldn’t wait to get to the end!

The reading level was probably at 3rd-4th grade and while Rose’s ability is a few grades above that, she thoroughly enjoyed the story and quality of writing. I had planned for her to read this over the course of two weeks but I was pushing it to make her stretch it throughout the week!

When I asked her what her favorite part was she told me she liked how they made up a plan to get rid of the unicorns. She really liked the adventure aspects of of this story. She really enjoys fantasy and I liked how the unicorns were given a different role than most stories. Instead of being a good thing in this land, the unicorns are actually like a plague which must be overcome. This coming-of-age story will delight all ages is a great introduction to the genre of fantasy.

I highly recommend this book and Rose has already loaned it out to her cousin to read with a glowing review!

Disclosure:  I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook.com® <http://BookLook.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

I Can Learn the Bible: A BookLook Blogger Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Ever since my oldest daughter was just an infant we have made an effort to teach our children biblical truth. Rose was barely old enough to sit on her own when we started having family devotions with her. I remember clearly the sweet little board book devotional I picked out from a Christian Bookstore which was going out of business. It had just a few sentences on each page and a song to go with each of the devotions. It was great for tiny tots and we enjoyed starting out with this. We also have multiple children’s Bibles with pictures and stories and questions that we have used as they grew.

I have loved these previous resources, but I am ready for something more. Each of my girls has professed their faith in Christ and I have wanted something for our devotional time as a family which addressed more areas of discipleship.

I was so very excited to have the opportunity to review I Can Learn the Bible by Holly Hawkins Shivers. This children’s version of the Joshua Code has been exactly what my husband and I have been looking for to use with our girls. The cover of the book struck me as being adorable, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to really challenge my girls or grow them further in their relationship with Christ. They already know most of the Bible history by heart and I really wanted them to begin to engage more personally with Scripture. This sweet cover does not even begin to express the depth of truth my girls are gaining from it!

Subjects ranging from world view to your purpose as Christian are covered in a very real, yet understandable way for elementary children. Many of the topics were not ones I had really thought about addressing with my daughters who are 9, 7, and 5. I love answering their questions, but with this devotional we have been able to have a more direct, proactive approach to discussing certain topics. A key Scripture verse is included for each week as well as discussion questions and challenges for you as a family. It also ends with a suggested prayer to help you guide your children to know how to pray about what they are learning.

We are at war with our culture for the hearts of our children. I need as many weapons, both defensive and offensive as possible. Through resources like this we are more prepared for the battle and are preparing these sweet little hearts to know how to live godly lives.

Disclosure:  I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook.com® <http://BookLook.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Explore Dinosaur National Monument from Awesome Science: Moms of Master Books Review

Grace-Filled Writer

My girls love learning about dinosaurs! They are ages 9, 7, and 5 and we have often enjoyed a trip to our local children’s museum to see life-size sculptures and have a chance to dig for fossils. I love giving them more opportunities to learn about these incredible creatures from the past and they just devour all the information I can give them.

Awesome Science’s newest DVD, Explore Dinosaur National Monument from Master Books (an imprint of New Leaf Publishing) is a great addition to our collection of dinosaur information. It’s fun and engaging style really interests my oldest daughter especially. My younger two are not quite old enough to appreciate the great amount of scientific information provided, but they did enjoy seeing much of Dinosaur National Monument. 
Noah Justice is a dynamic communicator. My girls enjoy having a younger person explaining and teaching about history and science from a biblical perspective. I was recently asked how I expected my girls to handle learning about evolution in college when all they ever knew was Creation. I was excited to explain that my girls do know about evolution and understand both viewpoints to an extent. I’m not afraid of my girls hearing or learning about those who choose to remove God from the equation of Creation. I want them to be equipped and I want them to come to their own conclusions and beliefs because of their study of the evidence rather than try to force them to accept what I believe just because I believe it. Awesome Science just one of the items in my tool kit for teaching my girls how to incorporate the Bible into their understanding of science as well as what and why secular scientists believe and teach what they do. 
One of the best things about this DVD and others in the series is how my daughters get to experience some of the great wonders of America which they may not see anytime soon. Living on the East Coast makes traveling to some of these locations very difficult. We might one day get to travel to Utah and some of the other areas west of the Mississippi River, but until then we will enjoy learning with resources such as these. 
This incredible DVD series isn’t just for children either. I’m often saddened by just how angry and vehement those who hold an opposing view of creation react and find myself unable to have a real conversation about science because of it. I’m not afraid to share my beliefs, but I do not care to converse with someone who fires hateful responses in my direction because I believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God. I’m very grateful to have the resources from Master Books which I do to help me learn for myself how I can balance my trust in the Word of God with evidence from science. I hope to one day have meaningful conversations with some of my friends on the matter and I want to be as equipped as possible. 

Beneath the Forsaken City: A Tyndale Blog Network Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Beneath the Forsaken City by C. E. Laureno is a young adult fiction novel, set in an ancient time with magic and intrigue. This Celtic fantasy is like no other book I’ve read and it has been an interesting trip away from my usual choice in fiction.

C. E. Laureno is an award winning author with an unending imagination. The world she has created in her series The Song of Seare is beautiful and inspiring. I struggled to really get into the book from the beginning, and so I did a little research. What I discovered is this is the second book in a trilogy. My main reason for having a hard time fully understanding what was going on was I have not yet read the first book in the series.

Beneath the Forsaken City begins with a newlywed couple escaping danger created by the evil Druids who rule Seare. The groom, Conor,  leaves knowing that he will have to return in order to free Seare from the reign of the Druids. Just when the couple feel a small breath of safety the tragedy of a storm at sea separates them, neither knowing if the other is alive. Aine, the bride, is washed ashore in one place and Conor in another, resulting in the fight to survive and find one another.

Throughout the novel both Conor and Aine must learn to follow the leading of Comdiu, the One we would call the God of heaven. Each takes a different path and must struggle to lean on Comdiu alone, a journey they struggle through.

As I said before, this is a great departure from the genre of literature I usually gravitate towards. While the story-line itself was engaging, I found myself bogged down by the unfamiliar names of people and places, having a hard time keeping it all straight. I think this may have been a bit easier had I read the first novel in this the trilogy. The other struggle I had as I read was the amount of description for the violence. I know I am personally more affected by both reading and watching violent things, even when they aren’t very graphic. I have to say as far as that is concerned, the author did a good job keeping the amount of blood minimal compared to most popular novels, but it was still too much for me to comfortably read.

If you have an interest in reading Celtic fantasy, this is an excellent read for you. While it isn’t one which particularly delighted me, the story is well written and in my opinion would be incredibly engaging for anyone who loves this genre. I have a strong feeling my oldest daughter will particularly enjoy this book when she is a bit older.

Disclaimer: I received a paperback copy of Beneath the Forsaken City from Tyndale Publishers as part of  the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and did not receive any other compensation. 

Lila Rose Hair Stick Tutorial!

Grace-Filled Writer
Ever wonder how to use those beautiful hair sticks to style your own hair? If you can put your hair into a small bun or twist you can use them! 
First you need to get a set here…
Then you can follow these 6 simple steps to beautiful hair! 
How to use hair sticks…
Wrap your hair in a barely loose bun in the middle or nape of your neck.
(use a pony tail holder if you need to!)
1. Push one stick up through the center with the point of the stick facing up towards the ceiling.
2. After the stick is in the bun, flip the stick around so it is point more towards the floor.
3. Push he stick down.
4. Push the second stick up through the bun just as you did the first. It can be in the same area or on the opposite side so you make an “x”. I’ve done it both ways and the “x” seems to keep my hair more secure.
5. Push it up so the stick is point towards the ceiling, then flip the stick downwards towards the floor.
6. Push the stick through to secure.
Enjoy your creative and beautiful new hair style!
*This post contains consultant links*