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Lifestyle & Family

All the books I read in January and MY reviews.

February 8, 2021

All the books I read in January and MY reviews.

I used to love reading novels so much. I even studied English literature in University. Over the last few years though, I let my passion for books dissipate as motherhood and life in general became so much busier. I finally decided late last year that I needed to get back into reading and so I decided my goal for 2021 would be to read 21 books. I mentioned this goal on instagram and asked if anyone would be interested in book reviews and the majority of the responses said they’d love to read a review. I’ve taken to reading again much easier than I thought I would and I read a total of 10 books in January!

So here we are with the very first book reviews of the year! I don’t want to spoil books for anyone so I’m going to try to review them without giving too much of the plot away. Keep in mine these are just my thoughts and I’m a pretty easy going reader.

The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Wood

5/10

I have to say I did not love this book. I also didn’t hate it though. Hence the middle 5/10 rating. I had high hopes for it since it is a Reese Book Club pick but ultimately I just could not like it no matter how hard I tried. A disconnected family takes a cruise together – is basically how this book sums up. I found the characters to be pretty cliche at the beginning and it took about 200 pages before I even found the book interesting. I found the writing very placid and never once was I excited about what was going to happen next or interested to see what any of the character did. In the end I found it left me with unanswered questions and characters who I really didn’t sympathize with or like at all.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

10/10

I have had this book on my nightstand for probably 6 months or more. I started it and instantly thought… why have I waited so long to read this! It’s the kind of book I found myself underlining sentences and highlighting paragraphs from to refer to later. I have not read her other books but that doesn’t seem necessary as she sums up anything you’d need to know. A brilliant memoir about finding your true self and owning who you are, especially as a woman and a mother.

The Selection Series by Kiera Cass. (books 1-5)

The Selection – 7/10 | The Elite – 7/10 | The One – 8/10 | The Heir – 6/10 | The Crown – 6/10

This series is sort of broken up into 2 part (books 1-3 follow the story of America and the 4th and 5th books follow the story of her daughter). These books are teen fiction with a love story and set in a kind of dystopian world. It’s sort of the bachelor meets hunger games haha. The world is divided into districts and America (the main character) is convinced to enter a contest to marry the royal prince and is selected as a contestant. She is moved into the palace with other young women to compete for his heart and the crown but she’s also involved with a boy back home. They are a light read and I enjoyed the first and third books quite a bit. The second was a bit of a filler for me and I think the series really could have ended after the 3rd but if you want to keep following the story you can read 4th and 5th though I found that storyline significantly less enjoyable. There is a final book in this series as well called Happily Ever After but I have not read it yet.

Make Life Beautiful – Syd and Shea Mcgee

9.5/10

It’s no secret that I love home decor and Syd and Shea Mcgee are definitely a powerhouse in the interior design world right now. I bought this book originally thinking it was a coffee table book (as so many others did too haha) but I soon found out it is actually a biography of sorts detailing how they started their business Studio Mcgee and shop Mcgee & Co. I found it very well written and comedic with a lot of inspiration in there for anyone who wants to follow their dreams. I knocked off half a star purely because I wish it had a few photos. They mentiuon a few of their projects in the book and I found myself googling them to visualize what they were referring to. It would have been nice if some of those projects were included as photos.

A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman

10/10 – One of the best books I’ve ever read!

My mother in law loaned me this book suggesting I read it. I kept it on my bookshelf for probably 6 months or more. After seeing more and more praise for the book I decided to give it a read. I went in actually not wanting to like it. I was told it was such a good book so many times that I didn’t want to like it just because everyone else did. But honestly I loved it despite trying not to. It’s a love story at its core (my weakness) though its subtle in its development throughout the story… actually there are a few love stories within this book (both romantic and familial). I don’t actually want to tell you much else about this book other than you should read it. It is soooo well written and though it does have moments of sadness it was also filled with joy and comedy. I will definitely be looking into the other books by this author.

This Time Next Year – Sophie Cousens

7/10

After reading A Man Called One I wanted a really light read next. I read this one as it was recommended to me by a friend. I liked it but I always go into these types of chick lit light romances without high expectations. I think this allows me to enjoy them more but I found this one enjoyable without too much of the typical cheesiness these types of books can often have. Basically, a girl and boy are born on the same day at the same hospital and meet randomly 30 years later… as they get to know each other and the story unfolds you realize how many times they were in the background (and sometimes foreground) of each others lives since they were born).

So have you read any of these books yet? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments.

You can follow me on instagram (@anoblehome) to see what Im reading next.

xo,

Rachel

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by Rachel Noble - A Noble Home 
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Lifestyle & Family

Wrap it up pretty with our free holiday gift tags

November 29, 2020

Wrap it up pretty with our free holiday gift tags

I love wrapping presents. Usually I start hoarding adorable wrapping paper starting in the summer but this year we’ve chosen to wrap all our gifts in brown kraft paper. I love the simple look of it and the fact that its 100% recyclable as most wrapping paper isn’t :(. To make the presents even prettier I’ve collected various ribbons and wrapped each gift in one (bonus – the ribbon can be reused next year too!). The finishing touch though… are the custom designed gift tags we made! And don’t worry – I’ve included our gift tags as a free printable at the bottom of this post so you can download, print and use them on your own gifts too!

PRINTABLE GIFT TAGS – CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

These tags are for personal use only. They were designed by @aimyillustrates.

Please tag me on Instagram if you use these tags – Id love to see!

xo,

Rachel

by Rachel Noble - A Noble Home 
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Lifestyle & Family

Having Fun at Home this Christmas – Holiday themed Games Your Family Needs

November 20, 2020

Having Fun at Home this Christmas – Holiday themed Games Your Family Needs

Christmas is going to look very different this year. Usually we spend all day on Christmas Eve at my inlaws with all my husbands siblings and their kids. Its a big, fun, exciting day. This year sadly our Christmas Eve with them will be virtual, like so many other families Christmases this year. So I’ve been trying to think of ways to make our Christmas at home even more fun for my kids. I was browsing online and found the funniest game and had to order it. It’s an inflatable reindeer hat ring toss game. My kids absolutely love this game and its inflatable so no ones getting hurt (or breaking any vases or lamps haha) when they’re tossing the rings.

As I was browsing I found quite a collection of Christmas themed games so I compiled a list of games I think would also be so fun to play at home this Christmas or virtually with your family online.

More fun games:

Nutcracker ring toss – This one looks so fun. Similar the the reindeer ring toss but you blow up the nutcrackers and place them on the floor to toss rings on them.

Christmas Photo Props – You can have your very own photo shoot at home or use them when you video call with your family this Christmas.

Trivia Games – The first one has you guessing Christmas songs based on emoji descriptions and the second is a general Christmas trivia game. These would be fun to send to all your family and compete together virtually.

Christmas Bingo – Who doesn’t love a classic game of bingo with a Christmas spin?!

Fun Christmas glasses – Another fun photo prop or perfect for making your virtual get togethers more fun.

Pin the Hat on Rudolph. I know my kids would love this one. Spinning around and trying to get Rudolph’s hat on and laughing together when the hat ends up so far away from his head.

Felt Christmas tree – We also have had one of these for years and my kids love decorating their little felt tree over and over again.

So even though Christmas will look different this year, we can still have fun and make new memories together.

xo,

Rachel

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Lifestyle & Family

A family advent calendar DIY and a free printable

November 17, 2020

A family advent calendar DIY and a free printable

For years we did a traditional advent calendar, in fact my kids each got one for themselves. They were either filled with chocolate or small tiny plastic toys. This year we are trying to be more eco friendly around our house and honestly the thought of 75 more tiny little toys around my house stresses me out haha. So this year I decided to change things up and do one family advent calendar.

Each days bag has a piece of paper inside with a fun activity we can all do together and I’ve included a free printable of the 24 activities we are doing below which you can print, cut out and insert into your own advent calendars too. There are even a few blank spots for you to write in your own ideas too.

Everything You Need to Make your own

All you need for this advent calendar is:

-small paper bags

-clothespins

-numbers 1-24. I had some gold glitter paper cut into stars on a circuit machine but you could write the numbers on the bags too

-tape or command strips to attach the bags to the wall

-embellishments for the bags (ribbon, evergreen sprays, twinkle lights, ornaments – get creative!)

-our printable ideas list (see below)!

Below is the printable you can download, print and cut out to easily add to your own calendar too.

This printable was designed by @aimyillustrates. Please head to her site (www.aimyillustrates.ca) for all your custom design needs and show her some love on Instagram too!

Advent Calendar Activities Printable – Click here to download

My kids are already excited to see what fun activities we will be doing each day and I’m excited to make some fun memories with them this season.

Please tag me (@anoblehome) on Instagram if you use the printable. I’d love too see!

xo,

Rachel

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Children’s holiday books to read this Christmas

November 13, 2020

Children’s holiday books to read this Christmas

Every year I look forward to bringing out our collection of Christmas books for us to read. I already have fond memories of cuddling up with my kiddies on the sofa with a blanket and reading our favourites. Hearing them say “Just one more book Mama, please, can we read one more book?” is such a great memory.

We just picked up two new books this month. The first is 5 More Sleeps Till Christmas which is the cutest book about the excitement of counting down to Christmas. The second is The Day Santa Stopped Believing in Harold which is about the time Santa started to question if children (Harold in particular) are real which is a fun twist on when children begin to question Santa. They are already instant favourites. I went through the rest of our collection of holiday books and gathered up all our other favourites to share with all of you. I’ll highlight a few more special ones below.

Pick a Pine Tree – If you are a family who gets a real Christmas tree every year then this is the perfect book for you. It’s all about heading out together, choosing the perfect tree, decorating it and watching it become more than just a pine tree.

The Smallest Gift of Christmas – This book is really great at teaching children the real meaning of Christmas in a fun kid friendly way.

Teeny Tiny Santa – I just love this quick short little book about a teeny tiny fox looking for Santa. The illustrations are just so cute too.

When Santa was a Baby – This is the sweetest story of Santa as a child and how he came to be the Santa we all know and love.

I Wish to be a Christmas Tree – This might be my favourite Christmas book. It’s about a tree on a tree farm that never gets chosen. All he wants is to be a Christmas tree to some lucky family and with the help of his wildlife friends, he realizes he’s always been a Christmas tree and so much more to them.

Wheres Santa – This one is always a hit. It’s like those classic Where’s Waldo books but with Santa instead

Laugh Out Loud Christmas Jokes for Kids – I picked this one up this year too because my kids loving telling jokes and this one is a hit already!

Here are more of our favourites below:

Do you have some favourites Christmas books we should check out? Share them in the comments.

xo,

Rachel

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Owen’s 2nd Birthday – A Puppy Party!

November 19, 2019

Owen’s 2nd Birthday – A Puppy Party!

It’s taken me over a month to get this post up!  Life with kids is just so busy isn’t it?!  In early October my littlest man turned 2!  Everyone always says it but thats because its true – the time just passes so quickly.  I keep thinking about how I’ve only got him home with me for another 2 years and then all my babes will be in school. Wow, okay can’t think about that anymore! Back to the party!

Our little man is obsessed with puppies right now.  Everywhere we go, he points them out and screams ‘a puppy’.  He only lets us watch paw patrol on the tv haha and he has to carry at least 3 puppy stuffies everywhere he goes.  So naturally his party theme this year just had to be puppies!

I started with these meri meri puppy plates, cups and napkins (meri meri is one of my favourite brands for party supplies) and the party planning took off from there. I found the paw print scrapbook paper at Michaels and thought it would make a cute placemat.   I had the bone shaped place cards made for a cute personalized touch for the guests and then I scattered some cute paw prints around the table.

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20191004144916_IMG_8183-01I took the mint and white colours from the puppy cups for the balloon colours and purchased some paw print balloons on etsy for a balloon garland (I just love a balloon garland).

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20191004144940_IMG_8187-01.jpegWe ordered the puppy cake to match the plates and it turned out so well!  A friend of mine made the cookies to match the theme as well.

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20191006101935_IMG_8198-01.jpegAnd of course every puppy dog themed party calls for hot ‘dogs’ on the menu.  Hot dogs also happen to be one of his favourite foods haha so we set up a little hot dog station for the guests too.

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20191006122100_IMG_8230-0120191006122127_IMG_8234-01For the party favours we gave each babe a little puppy of their own to adopt.

20191006102107_IMG_8202-01.jpegThe finishing touch was the adorable puppy shaped balloons I found on amazon.  They have little legs and can be pulled around like you’re walking them.  They were so fun for the kids.  The party turned out so well and most importantly – our little guy had a blast!

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xo, Rachel

by Rachel Noble - A Noble Home 
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