Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs and a Contest

Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs

I've got a review coming soon for Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs, the much awaited sequel to Here Burns My Candle.

I'm really enjoying this book and can't wait to tell you about it. But in the meantime, Waterbrook/Multnomah is hosting a contest.

You can check it out here Mine is the Night Contest

Also, Liz Curtis Higgs is hosting a live video event on April 5th at 2pm (eastern) Liz Curtis Higgs live event

Also, below is a book trailer for the latest book. Enjoy!

I've been a fan of Liz Curtis Higgs for quite some time. I love reading about Scotland and she is able to bring it to life for poor people like me who must read about it until the day they can afford to travel there.

Book Review: The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari by Donita K. Paul and Evangeline Denmark

The Dragon and The Turtle Go on Safari

I decided to go with a childrens book this time around. The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari was a cute little story. My children each took a turn reading. The oldest 12 said,"It was pretty good." The next who is 10 said, "It was funny." And then my husband read it to the 7 year old just before bedtime. On her way to bed she said, "Oh and the book was good."

My husband on the other hand did not enjoy it. He said he felt that there were long stretches of dialogue and the story didn't seem to go anywhere. But he liked that it ended with scripture.

I read it by myself and I thought it was cute. I stopped reading little kids books a long time ago. But decided to give this one a try because I've seen it everywhere. The illustrations are very pretty. The turtle reminds me a lot of Franklin the Turtle. I love that Donita K. Paul fit a dragon in to the story.

I'd say this book would be great for people with really little kids. Probably 2-6 years old. It's not exciting enough to hold the attention for a long spell. It includes a second short story at the end. And also discussion starters.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Easy Cookies and Cream Bar

My hubby is a sucker for those brand name Cookies and Cream candy bars. So for Valentine's Day I made him a whole batch of homemade Cookies and Cream Bar candy. It's super simple but it's really yummy. I think I actually like it better than the brand name. The whole batch cost me around $3. The almond bark is on clearance at our Target right now. It's not in high demand after the holidays. So I got it for like $1.75. And then the cookies were like $2 for the pack but we are using only half.

So here's what you need:
1/2 package of oreos or store brand sandwich cookies
1 pack of white almond bark

Get out your jelly roll pan/cookie sheet or whatever flat pan you want to use. Spray it with non-stick cooking spray. This may not be necessary but I did it just to be safe. Now put your 1/2 package of cookies in to a ziploc bag, seal it and let out your aggression. Break the cookies into small pieces. How small is up to you. Set that aside.

You'll need to melt the almost bark according to the package. I did it in the microwave but you can do it in a double boiler or over really low heat. You microwave it for 1 minute and then continue until it's melted. Check it every 15 seconds to stir it. Once it's melted you can pour it on to your cookie sheet. Spread it out with a rubber spatula if you need to. Get your bag of crushed up cookies and sprinkle them over the melted almond bark. At this point, I put the cookie sheet in to the freezer and left it there for about 10 minutes. After you pull it out of the freezer, break it into pieces and voila! Cookies and cream candy. This makes a lot of candy. It easily filled 1/2 a gallon size zipper bag. So it would be really good for a class treat or even for teachers gifts.

Book Review: Lady in Waiting

My first impressions of this book when I picked it up were:

1. The cover art is beautiful.
2. I want that ring!
3. I've never read anything by Susan Meissner. I'm excited to get to know a new author.
4. It's got that new book smell!!!
5. There's a family tree chart in the front. I love books with charts!

My impressions after reading are that you still can't judge a book by it's cover. That said I must confess, I'm an avid reader. I eat books. But this book turned out to be a really slow read for me. It took probably 3-4 days to complete.

Lady in Waiting is the story of 2 women, living hundreds of years apart. Their destinies become connected by a ring found by Jane, an antique shop owner and our main character. Jane is in a bad place, emotionally. When her husband walks out, she is blindsided. She begins to see her life clearly for the first time. That she has the life that she decided for herself. She's allowed others to shift her focus and make her life decisions. Jane doesn't know herself. She begins to question the life that she's been living for the past 20 plus years.

The other character, Lucy Day is a dressmaker for Lady Jane Grey in 1500s England. Lucy's story begins when she is brought in to attend to Lady Jane Grey, a young royal who is the chief mourner at a funeral for the Queen Dowager, Katherine. Jane and Lucy form a friendship that impacts them both for life.

This story is about decisions. We make them daily and they impact our lives. We decide who to love. We decide where our focus lies and in the end we have to live with those decisions. I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. It felt very disjoint. The two stories didn't seem to have an obvious common thread. The theme was decisions. The ring didn't really play that big a part in the story, in my opinion.

I would have like to read just Jane's story. Her story would have been enough. I think the historical secondary story actually took away from the story of Jane and her husband. So in the end there were 2 semi-complete stories that felt forced in to the same book. Jane's story doesn't have the ending you want to read. It's more of a beginning. Overall, the characters could have used a little more development. I didn't feel like they had a lot of depth.

I will rate this book at 3 stars. 

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Lady in Waiting

I just received a review copy of Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner!

My first 5 impressions of the book are:

1. The cover art is beautiful.
2. I want that ring!
3. I've never read anything by Susan Meissner. I'm excited to get to know a new author.
4. It's got that new book smell!!!
5. There's a family tree chart in the front. I love books with charts!

If you wanna get a preview of this book to see if it's for you, here are the first four chapters!

http://www.multnomahemails.com/wbmlt/pdf/SneakPeek_LadyinWaiting.pdf

So go check it out and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book.

Book Review: Tandem by Tracey Bateman

I haven't read anything by Tracey Bateman before so I have no idea what her style is usually. This book was a slow starter. It took about 1/3 of the book to get going. It's also a sequel. The cover says "A Novel" but it's the sequel to Thirsty, which I haven't read.

All that aside, it was an interesting read. I didn't know it was going to be about vampires. But the cover art and title font is reminiscent of a certain series.

The writing style took a while to get use to. The story was engaging. It did keep me wanting to know how it would all end. I don't know if there's to be a third book in the series but I'm probably gonna check out the first one.

If you are on a vampire binge, I would recommend it. It's a pretty good mystery.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Book Review: Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul

I'll be honest. This is the first book I've read by Donita K. Paul. But it won't be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of *Two Tickets to the Christmas* Ball. My only complaint is that is was short. It left me wanting more of Cora and Simon. I want to know what happens next. But that's not really a bad thing. Is it?

The story is very reminiscent of The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail. I love a "diamond in the rough" story. You know, that person that's always been there but when they finally get their "shining moment" they become the love of your life.

I foresee this book becoming a Hallmark holiday special. It's got all the elements of a fun movie. The lead characters who aren't really looking for love but find it anyways. Mysterious matchmakers who get them ready for the ball. People who know each other but come to really see each other for the first time.

This book comes highly recommended! It's one of those books you keep around to read at least once a year. That is if your friends don't swipe it.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

New stuff to be excited about!

I started blogging for books! I'm really excited. The first book I received was "Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball" by Donita K. Paul. I'm really loving the book so far. Kind of a "You've Got Mail" type story. The review is coming as soon as I finish reading. But in the meantime, here's a book trailer for it. It's not really descriptive but here it is anyways.

Enjoy!

It's that Time again! Countdown to Thanksgiving printable.

I love Thanksgiving! It's right in the middle of the holidays and also in fall which is my favorite season. So I thought I'd share a printable I created for my kids a few years ago.

This is Tom Turkey. He's not very happy. Do you know why? He knows that Thanksgiving is coming soon. lol. So feel free to print Tom and share him. Just link back if you post him on your blog. I'd love to see your pics! We've been doing this since I created it in 2005 and my kids look forward to it every year.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Super Mario Birthday Party

Just wanted to share some pics from my sons Super Mario Birthday Party we hosted this week! Last year we did a Legend of Zelda Birthday Party.

Here's what we did. First for some decor we got some gold star balloons from the dollar tree and made little construction paper eyes. There was one balloon for each boy at the party.

We also set up a Bowser Game station. Just a presentation board we had around the house. The boys took turns setting up games with the cups and ping pong balls.

My oldest son and I worked together to make this block poster from the original Mario game. And the boys took turns getting their pictures taken as Mario.

I didn't get pictures of this but the boys also played Boo Light Tag (hide and seek outside with a flashlight). It was a sleepover. The birthday cake was a 10-up mushroom. I'm still learning fondant but I think it turned out well.

The boys each went home with goody bags filled with Mario gummies and hard candies that we found at the dollar tree. I think the most we spent on the party was for the pizzas. The boys spent the rest of the time playing video games. Boy parties are so much easier. lol