Children's Book Review--Sneaky Sheep

I'm always on the lookout for colorful and cheery children's books to give as gifts to Phil's grandchildren and to supply my library when they come to visit. The title of this book really caught my eye. I loved the cover and the title--very catching. The illustrations were fun and colorful and the humor is appealing to both kids and adults but I have to admit I didn't like the message.

It seems to me that we should encourage our children to seek out new things and the Sneaky Sheep wanted to do that but Murphy told them to never leave the meadow. Now I understand you want to explain life's dangers to children so they don't do anything stupid but more importantly I think it's our role to encourage children to look outside their comfort zone and try new things (food, friends, games) and visit new places.
This book is perfect for the child who keeps wandering off but it is not a good message for the nervous and shy child.

Love the pictures, didn't care for the message. I give this two stars our of four.

When the Howells get together...

Cheesy cousins! This is what makes family so much fun.

I post this because I know Daysa never looks at my blog.

SUMMER is finally here

With the long cool June, rainy and cold Orem Summerfest, and getting ready for Girls Camp, I feel like I haven't really gotten into summer yet but we have been busy. But now, it's here. And I can relax and enjoy it.

We've already enjoyed a great family get together last Sunday to celebrate Steve and Hailey Leavitt's PhD and getting a real job in Chicago, Jason and Shannon's acceptance to Med School in Denver, and Leisy and Kent's visit to Utah.

We had a big crowd: Nick, Donna, Tanner, Shannon, Jason, Janna, K'Annie, and Penny Mills; Elaine, Mark, Ellen, Evan, Aaron, and Justin Jaynes (and Justin's homing pigeon which he released in honor of Independence Day); Rosemary McKee; Kent, Leisy, Zeb, and Ike Miller; Steve, Hailey, Jack, and Griff Leavitt; and of course, Phil, Daysa, and me. I love that back patio! And we so missed Laney and fam! Hopefully we can get to see them soon.


On June 26th we enjoyed Lehi Roundup Days parade and rodeo.

Here's Daysa with her varsity cheer partners (she's in the center).
 

Girls Camp in Heber Valley was June 28-July 1 and I am SO glad that's over. We camped in tents, had no electricity, cooked over a propane grill, and had to hike to the bathrooms. Let's NOT do that again.

We had such a great visit with Leisy, Kent, and boys. We went to the rodeo, Leisy spent a day at Girls Camp with me, we went to see How To Train Your Dragon.

And then we just did regular family stuff. The time went by WAY too fast.

We are sorry that our German friend, Lisa, was not able to join us this summer. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her and her mother. Lisa, our home is always open to you whenever you can come.

Phil has another grandbaby!

These are the details thus far. We'll post more as Laney tells us more. From Laney:

Here I am. I started that post earlier this afternoon, and now it's 9 in the evening. I am sitting here in the hospital with a new baby- actually she is not with me, she is in the nursery. We haven't seen her since 5:30 (it's 9) they have to do some blood work and tests and such because she was born with a knot in her cord. They say it probably happened quite a while ago when she was small enough to swim circles in my belly. I think their concern is that she may have missed out on some nutrients or something. Anyway- she is completely healthy and had an apgar score of 9. Here are some pictures: (she doesn't have a name yet. It's narrowed down to Milly or Scout) We'll see what we feel when we get to spend some time with her. We will post again soon with more details and stories! I want to go to sleep.

Here is the knot in the cord. The doctors and nurses thought it was pretty cool. I guess it isn't all that common.