This post will remain at the top of my page as a reminder until the contest is over.
Please scroll down to see new up-dated posts.
I have done an author interview and have a book give away for her book on my
4 the LOVE of BOOKSblog.
Head over there read the interview and sign up for the book give away.
Here is a short synopsis of the book:
Living with others in Mind: Beyond Me is an invitation to pursue true discipleship. Using sometimes humorous but always vulnerable and meaningful examples, Beyond Me ties together current, historical, and biblically documented insights and teachings to encourage you to aspire to the higher calling of true discipleship. Beyond Me is appropriate for individual or small-group settings.
This looks like a really neat cookbook. MY Wooden Spoon is giving away 2 copies. Not one but two. head over to her site and check it out. Oh, I love cookbooks and this one looks like a fun one.
Julie Lessman is a debut author who has already garnered writing acclaim, including ten Romance Writers of America awards. She is a commercial writer for Maritz Travel, a published poet and a Golden Heart Finalist. Julie has a heart to write “Mainstream Inspirational,” reaching the 21st-century woman with compelling love stories laced with God’s precepts. She resides in Missouri with her husband and their golden retriever, and has two grown children and a daughter-in-law. A Passion Most Pure was her first novel.
ABOUT THE BOOK
No man can resist her charms. Or so she thought. Charity O'Connor is a woman who gets what she wants. Her stunning beauty and flirtatious ways have always succeeded with men. Until Mitch Dennehy, that is.
Brilliant and dangerously handsome, Mitch is a no-nonsense newspaperman who wants nothing to do with her. Charity burned him once, destroying his engagement to the only woman he ever truly loved. He won't play with matches again. But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat, hoping to ignite the heart of the man she loves. And she always gets what she wants--one way or another.
Or does she? Will her best-laid schemes win his love? Or will her seductive ways drive him away forever? Book 2 in the Daughters of Boston series, A Passion Redeemed will captivate your heart and stir your soul with a story of faith and redemption rising from the ashes of temptation, desire, and shame.
Praise for the first book in the series:
"Full of romance, humor, rivalry, and betrayal, A Passion Most Pure will captivate readers from the first page." --Historical Novels Review "Superb! Incredible!
"I loved Julie Lessman's A Passion Most Pure from the second I picked it up until the very last moment I stopped reading." --Armchair Interviews
"I devoured this book and loved every single page. . . . This is a thick, juicy read, and one I would pick up again in a heartbeat." --christianreviewofbooks.com
What to win a copy of this book? Leave me a comment as to what intrigues you most about this book. Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you. I will choose someone to win a copy of this book from those that leave a way for me to contact them. This contest will run through Sept. 14th. I will draw a winner on Sept. 15th.
ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN
All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.
These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.
Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.
[Source: "ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN" by Robert Fulghum.]
Lori lives in the beautiful Ozarks with her husband Lance. Lance and Lori have three sons, two daughter-in-laws, and five wonderful grandchildren. They are very involved in their church, and active in supporting mission work in Mali, West Africa.
Lori began her writing career in 1982, writing for the secular book market. In 1995 after many years of writing, Lori sensed that God was calling her to use her gift of writing to honor Him. It was at that time that Lori began writing for the Christian book market. To date, she has more than 95 books published including Now And Always
and Bluebonnet Belle.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Texas, 1865 Willow Madison and her friends, Copper and Audrey taught school in neighboring Texas communities until the Yankees rode into the area and burned them out. In the midst of fear and chaos, survivors banded together to fight for what remained of their homes. Then word reached the people that the terrible war was over.
Now penniless but still hopeful, Willow vows she will take care of her friends, Copper and Audrey, and her ailing uncle, in Thunder Ridge, Texas, even if it means having to marry wealthy Silas Sterling, a man thirty years her senior. But standing in her way is handsome sawmill owner Tucker Gray, with his enticing eyes and infuriating headstrong manner—the man Willow cannot get out of her head . . . or her heart. Even though her friends beg her not to give up her dream of happiness, Willow is determined to do the right thing for those who are dearest to her. But which path does God want Willow to take: a life of duty and commitment . . . or a life of everlasting love?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Twice Loved, go HERE
I'm finally getting around to the long awaited pictures. I know you all are just dieing to see the final results. I've had many personal messages asking about our project. Here you go. Before, After and During. Enjoy!
Front View:
Before...
During...
After...
Not real good because it is shaded but best I have. Sorry.
West angle/Before...
During...
After...
West side Before...
During...
After...
Back Deck Before...
During...
After...
Back View of house. Before...
During...
After...
East side. Before...
During...
After...
Past issues of our construction all in one post. However, the first post is the last one listed. I should have turned them around. You win some and you lose some. Guess I lost on this one. Enjoy!
OPPS!!! Maybe if we cut it again it'll come out alright.
Today I thought I'd share with you some pictures of the front steps going back in and side deck. I thought I had more pictures of construction but I can't locate them right now so these that I share will have to do for the time and probably for eternity.
For the month of June if you exited or entered our house by way of the front door you took a giant leap of faith. Actually, you were taking your life in your own hands to put it mildly.
Then we graduated to walking the plank for about 2 weeks. No, the first picture wasn't an opps in cutting, but I just had to post it that way. The board was put across there so we could get out a little easier (I think). You just had to learn how to keep your balance and jump from plank to plank to get in and out the front door for a time.
However, hubby did cut a board too small but not this one. Opps I wasn't suppose to tell you.
deck going in. Thank God for friends that came when they could to give a hand.
Finished product. Like I said, I thought I had more of the construction part but they aren't on my computer so we'll just use what we can.
You may click on this link Past consturction posts and follow the progress with past links. I just don't have time to post all links here right now. Sorry.
I'm still going to post before and after pictures but have to get them downloaded to photo bucket. I'm getting closer they are downloaded on my computer at least.
I was just looking at the calendar and it hit me that today was a marked day in our family. It was 35 years ago today that my brother went home to be with the Lord at age 13. Oh, the fond memories. He'll always hold a place in our hearts, but we have that hope that one day we'll see him again. I can't wait! Just had to share because I was thinking about him. Heaven is sounding sweeter all the time.
Now I need to get some much needed work done because in about 2 hours we have a picnic to go to. Oh, what fun!! I love picnics.
I will have to say yesterday I (or maybe I should say the other driver) tried my guardian angel little more than I was comfortable with. Boy was I glad I had God watching over me. I know that car went through my car. Only thing that kept that lady from hitting us had to have been the hand of God. I heard the car crunch and so did my oldest daughter. After we got to Wal-Mart she said, "Mom, I never knew what it was like to be in a wreck til I was in the wreck with dad last December." "Mom, I heard the metal crunch and I don't like that sound." I replied to her, "So did I honey, so did I." Only the Good Shepard was watching over us is all I can say. In all my 25+ years of driving that ws the first I'd ever been so close-me driving- to being in a wreck and I didn't relish the thought. Today, I was very jumpy while driving, but I knew I had to overcome it. I'll try not to test my angels so in the future and Lord willing the other drivers will do the same.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A full-time author, Lawana Blackwell's books include her beloved Gresham Chronicles and Tales of London series.
"I had told myself long ago that three books in a series are enough for my attention span, and so after The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark, I devoted myself to the trio of books in the Tales of London series, then wrote A Table By the Window, my contemporary novel. All along, I received letters from readers asking me to continue the Gresham series. Many, many wrote that the dairying village of Gresham and its people sent them back to a more peaceful time in the midst of their busy days.
"Prayerfully, I decided to return to Gresham, setting the story fifteen years after Julia Hollis and her children first left London for abandoned coaching inn which became Larkspur Inn. I believe readers would like to see how the children—Philip, Aleda and Grace, Elizabeth and Laurel—turn out as adults. But I like to inject fresh faces into every book, hence Jewel Libby and her daughter Becky find Gresham a haven from a bad man. Writing the book was like coming home, visiting old friends."
Blackwell lives in Louisiana with her husband, Buddy, a supervisor at an oil refinery. They are empty nesters who love to visit their three grown sons, Joseph, Matthew, and Andrew, and three lovely daughters-in-law, Kristine, Penny and Heather, granddaughter Madelyn, and grandson Chandler.
Her other interests include visiting her parents and siblings in Mississippi, vegetarian cooking, and naturally, reading.
ABOUT THE BOOK To protect her precious daughter from the danger nipping at their heels, Jewel Libby must flee the only home she's ever known. Caring friends direct her to the vicarage in the peaceful dairy village of Gresham, but she arrives there to find Vicar Andrew Phelps and his wife immersed in troubles of their own.
The children of Vicar Andrew Phelps and Julia Hollis from the popular Gresham Chronicles series have grown up and are dealing with their own challenges. Philip Hollis, now a successful London surgeon, has a controlling wife who resents his close family ties.
Aleda Hollis lives in a cottage on the outskirts of Gresham, where she enjoys her privacy and a writing career. When Andrew becomes ill and in need of Philip's skills, and Aleda's quest for privacy unwittingly advances an evil man's schemes, it's Jewel Libby, a newcomer to Gresham, who becomes an unexpected support and source of strength to the family. An unlikely romance adds to the intrigue of this jewel in their midst.
Just thought I'd share pictures here of material I got to make my oldest daughter a quilt for her graduation come May. So I have to quit dreamin' and get hummmping. I trust it turns out well. This is first one for me. I'm trying to picture it and hope it turns out. This is the pattern that spurred me; however, I won't be using snowman and mitten material. I'm using musical material I found at Wal-Mart and Jo-Ann's
So use your imagination here is the final pic of snowman but it with my material to follow. The mitt / snowman appliqué in center of squares will be a musical 8th note appliqué using this material
Here is picture of all my material that I've chosen for the quilt..
my favorite is this one.....
It has the words to Amazing Grace on it I made the picture bigger so you could see it real good. I'm going to use for the backing and make the main body of pillow case with....
Some of you my faithful fans (friends and readers) have asked about how our construction is going. Well, it has been done with contractors for some time. I just haven't had much time to download pictures since I have to go to library and download them and mail them to myself. Lots of work. Anyway, just thought I'd share some with you and I will be getting before and after pictures up as soon as I have time.
Here are some peeping tom pictures:
OR maybe it's Romeo & Juilet pictures:
Bathroom window: after I scraped before I painted. It took me about three days to scrape the thing. I think it had 20 different layers of paint on it. Well.... maybe 10.
After I painted.
Looks ssssoooo much nicer don't ya think. What we can't hid with some paint.
If you missed past posts on our construction you may follow different links connecitng here at this one and follow backwards. Sorry I don't have time to post them all right here.
Well, I must be off to clean my over. Yuck!!! I'd rather not. But it needs it. Till later. Thanks for visiting.
Now this is way too much! If you teach small children in Sunday School, JR church, scouts, whatever... Jamin gave us a goldmine here and all for free. Character building... we all could use it. Take a look and see.
A seasoned homeschool mom told me something years ago that I still remember. "I don't worry about socialization. God managed to put 6 people in our house with completely different personalities. If they can learn to get along with each other 24/7, they can get along with anyone."
If you have more than one child in the house, you probably know this is true. It is also true that some days they just get along better than others and some personalities just seem to clash. Some days it can be enough to drive mom crazy!
When I saw the topic for this week, I thought of a freebie I already have lined up to do with my kids in the coming school year. Homeschoolshare.com is offering free printables for 10 character lapbooks covering attentiveness, cheerfulness, compassion, dependability, diligence, forgiveness, helpfulness, kindness, stewardship and thankfulness! This could be made into 10 separate lapbooks or one big lapbook that covers all of the character qualities.
There are general templates at the top of the page that would apply to any of the character traits. Then there are free mini booklets below that you can print for each of the character traits. There are over 130 free printables in all!
I am looking forward to working on these lapbooks with my own children. I know they are going to learn a lot about character development and each other. If you are looking for a great free character study to do with your children, this is it!
It's a......
I don't exactly know what it is?? I just know it was flying over our house. It was like a hot air balloon, but it had a motor you could hear not the hot air burst. It was something. I didn't have my camera or could have gotten a much closer picture cause he went right over our front yard.
We all must have a lighter side to us and I'm hoping that in my blogs to share crafts, game ideas, recipes, funny happenings etc. I have another blog with my quiet spiritaul thoughts as well.
You give your love and friendship unconditionally. You enjoy long, thoughtful conversations rich in philosophy and spirituality. You are very loyal and intuitive.
I should have turned them around. You win some and you lose some. Guess I lost on this one. Enjoy! 
