Temps + weather

We're all sick AGAIN!!!
I think part of the reason no one can seem to stay well in the Emery/Sirevaag household is related to the odd temps. It's been very warm, and fluctuated greatly.
It was 5 degrees today! I can definitely tell the whole 'ozone layer/earth warming' thing is for real, 'cuz we've had a crazy heat wave this winter. It was up to 40 degrees last week. Normally at this time of year it's running -10 to -30... Instead, we've got Crazy warm. Which makes it VERY icy. Scary driving. I much prefer -10 to +26... Way more accidents at +26...
At least neither of my girls have had fevers with this one... Just lots & lots of drippiness.
Anyway, I'm sick & tired of being sick & tired...

Week Wrap Up

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Grateful Note: Well, the 'blogging-every-other-day' thing didn't work last week. Deborah had a week-long Thanksgiving vacation, so I had a 2 year old and a 4 year old to entertain every day. However, I did have stuff planned for most days, and most of those plans worked out. A visit from our Early Head Start home worker, a trip out, a visit to our church's Cabin Fever Reliever. The only thing we missed was a trip to the library. Deborah's been in school for the last 2 days, and I am thankful for that!!

Thursday's Grateful Note: Thanksgiving was sweet. Jake stayed home, watched the kids until around 11 am, and washed some dishes. Yay, Jake! Which meant the kitchen was all fresh and clean to work on a special Thanksgiving meal. And I got to sleep in a little. My mom, my sister and I did some baking before Thursday, and worked on a good family meal that day. The girls are so funny! Many of the more traditional Thanksgiving foods are on their 'won't eat it' list. But we had a breakthrough with Abigail. She'll eat pretty much anything, unless she gets it in her head that it's nasty before she tastes it- then you can forget it- she just won't touch it. But today she tried some new things!

Friday's Grateful Note: Beth & I got up early and went in to a couple of the sales- JoAnn's & Fred Meyer. Mostly for Christmas presents. In fact, I have a surprising amount of Christmas completely ready! Yay, me.

Saturday's Grateful Note: Beth & I were at Pioneer Park for their Winter bazaar on Saturday, and finally, we did very well. Thank you, God! Plus we saw several friends from our old church.

Sunday's Grateful Note: Sunday, the 25th was our wedding anniversary. Jake & I have been married 7 years. This one's supposed to be the bad one, but I have to say it just hasn't been bad. We've had stuff going on- church yuck, finances yuck, limited time alone... Our limited time alone is the worst one... Since we live with my mom and sister, we're rarely the only adults around. Plus the girls NEVER go to sleep. (God, I wish I had not passed on my insomniac tendencies to my children!!!) It seems like we rarely have enough money or time to just go be a couple. I can say that we still really enjoy our time alone. We enjoy just hanging out with each other. Doesn't really matter too much what we are doing, just so long as we're doing it together.

I will remember this anniversary as the one Jake took me to the shooting range. Rather an odd anniversary activity... He's been trying to drag me for the last 6 months or so, and I DID NOT want to go. I've never shot a gun before and didn't really want to. But he's been insistent and persistent. So, I went and it wasn't terrible. Just not thrilling- although he was shocked that I did as well as I did. I don't know anything about it, but he was quite surprised! ;) I wanted everything to be in the black part of the target, but I only got about half my shots in the black circle. He was impressed that not only did I get every shot on the paper, but half were in the small target area. Too bad it wasn't something I'd be willing to work much on... I guess it's cool that I did so well for the first time.

We also went out to a Gambardella's, a wonderful italian restaurant downtown... Took our time and enjoyed the good food. We came away feeling good, and not too full.

Monday's Grateful Note: Deborah went back to school!!! Thank you, God for a good school. I love my daughter, but she's exhausting. She's this type A bundle of words, energy and demands. She wants to be entertained most of the time, and is highly talkative. Sometimes it feels like she's just sucking all my energy away. I wish she could entertain herself at least part of the time! I'd really like to know where on earth she got her need to be talking 90% of the time. She wakes herself up talking, and talks herself to sleep at night. Pretty much doesn't stop talking during the entire day. Anyway, much as I love her, school is a good break for me.

Tuesday's Grateful Note: My mom had a surgical type procedure today- the same one I did- where they inject hydrocortizone into your spinal fluid in the hopes that it will help with your pain level. We were all concerned about her doing this, but it went very well. They had to keep checking her blood sugar- it got down to in the 50's which is low, but they took good care of her. God, Thank you that it went well! Please, please, let it help her daily pain level.

Small Groups

Sunday's Grateful Note: We finally got to visit a small group from our church. We've been attending Friends Community for about 8 months, and I started trying to find a Bible study for us about 5 months ago. One group was too full, another was all young military couples... you get the idea. So, I found one we thought sounded okay, but they weren't meeting for the summer. Then in September they were too busy to start meeting. They finally started meeting last week and we couldn't go. But last night we got to go! And we liked it very much. And we'll be going back next week. Maybe we'll finally start getting to know some people at our church...

Monday's Grateful Note: Today the church did a 'cabin fever reliever' for pre-schoolers. They pulled all the chairs out of the sanctuary, pulled big toys in and rented one of those big bouncy air-trampoline rooms. The girls and I went and they ran and ran and ran for an hour. Wonderful. I let Deborah just go, but Abigail wanted me to follow her around- She's still pretty clingy. There were about 6 other moms, but they mostly sat and let their kids go. Which made me sad. I didn't really get to meet other moms, which was half my reason for going. But the girls are worn out and that's good, since this next week is Thanksgiving break and Deborah's home ALL week.

Every Other Day?

Well, I seem to be getting in here every other day... I guess that's not too bad for a pre-schooler's mommy... I don't know. I wanted to do better!
***

Friday's Grateful Note: My Mom and I got to go Thanksgiving shopping today! Our combined money went further and we've pretty much got everything we want for Thanksgiving dinner. Yay! We won't be returning to the stores during the next few "crazy" days.

Saturday's Grateful Note: My husband came and rescued me today! I thought Deborah would enjoy singing in the children's choir at church so I took her with me to the musical rehearsal today. Major meltdown. For some reason she'd thought we were going to church even though we'd talked about singing at a rehearsal and that she'd be with the big kids. Didn't seem to have stuck though. We got there early and as soon as she realized we'd be in a different room with lots of chairs and kids she didn't know she COMPLETELY fell apart- Crying, pulling on me, begging me to let her go to her room. Except we went there and she discovered that her class wasn't meeting. So, I went and called Jake and he came and got her... More crying when she realized I wasn't going with her, but he just took her away and left me to do what I had to do. Thank you God for my husband!

Rise up

This is copied directly from Matt Tullos' blog: www.worship.squarespace.com/matts-journal/
*****
He Stinketh John 11:39

some nights I try to bury my deadness
I wander aimlessly shrouded in malaise
a death colored haze
like a dead man walking
dreadfully, desperately yearning for breath
but the stench of my spirit
secretly stalking my tomorrow
like a thief, like a dirge
a stone covered hole
the blackest night.
absent of light
and You speak to the bones
rise up!
buried dreams
rise up!
broken hopes
rise up!
lost, rogue child of God.
rise up!
joint to joint
marrow of life’s scattered feast.
O, rattle on life!
the Master Artisan of grace
owns every heartbeat
tendon and sinew of joy
every first born epiphany
every ion of truth
sweet and ever new

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

Okay, I knew the 'blogging-every-day' thing would be almost impossible for me, but I thought I'd do better!
Anyway, here are my thoughts for the last two days:

Tuesday's Grateful Note: I got to spend a little bit of time with Jake. He stays busy and comes home so tired from work. With the girls, making dinner and putting them to bed, I often don't get to spend much time alone with him. I like my husband. It's good to spend time with him and remember that- I wish we could do that more often.

Wednesday's Grateful Note: I was able to take a nap today! A nap is a RARE thing for me, but it was a weird day. Deborah woke up from a bad dream at 5 a.m. (she normally wakes up between 8:30 & 9) and she wanted to get up... So, I got up. Which meant a VERY short amount of sleep for me. At least Abigail didn't wake up that early!! Thank you God that it worked out for me to take a good rest!

Thursday's (today's) Grateful Note: My mom has been helping me with some household chore during the last two days. I hate housework, nobody else can or will help, and stuff tends to pile up. I often end up feeling like an ant trying to battle a giant, or the little dutch boy with his finger stuck in the dam... With her help we've almost gotten ahead of the giant! Thank you God that she's been able to stand up long enough to do some of the things she wants to do! Please help her back cooperate with her mind.

School and Church

Deborah went back to school today!
Yahoo! I had about 3 hours without a little one underfoot. I put Abigail down for a rest and was able to do some quick house-cleaning... and sit down for a couple minutes and check me e-mail.

Monday's Grateful Note: Thank you God for Deborah's pre-school! She loves going and has several good friends. Plus she's already teaching herself to read! She loves the activities she gets to do- dancing, singing, digging in the snow, painting and dressing up (of course).

Sunday's Grateful Note: Thank you God for a church where the girls are happy! Everyone was rather sick still yesterday, Jake in particular, so we ended up missing church. Sad for the girls since they both get so disappointed about missing their kids church. Deborah cried and whined about missing it for a while, enough for me to know she was serious about her disappointment. We had such a hard time finding a church that it's a blessing to know that the girls really are happy there.

Good Day

Today's been one of the best days I've had in a while...

-I'm on antibiotics and not so tired. Maybe getting better!

-The girls weren't quite so whiney, although Deborah is DEFINITELY ready to go back to school.

-I got to go to a Christmas children's musical rehearsal today! I MISS working with the kids at Shannon Park, probably more than anything else. I enjoy them, seeing them getting it, and teaching them little bits about music and drama... They've already got a musical director, and he pretty much knows exactly what he wants. (not to be too negative, but he wants the 'grampa tells the kids about the baby Jesus', version 1337-cA2 musical) However, I'll be writing portions of it, so maybe I can spruce it up a bit... I know it's hard to be creative with the 2007th retelling of the Christmas story, but I wish we could do something a little more fun than 'same old, same old'. However, it's not my choir. It's not my deal this time through.. Thank you God that I'm getting to work with kids, and do drama and music. Please calm my restive, seeking, creative nature and help me just enjoy the relationships I'm going to build with these kids...

-I just finished a wonderful book! (After a string of fairly lousy stuff...) I thoroughly enjoy Sharon Shinn's take on 'swords & sorcery' fantasy, and I just got the third in her Twelfth House series. Yay! I almost couldn't put it down to go to bed last night and then I had time to read it today! I love revisiting characters that I care about... Shinn is so good at creating people you want to know, and that you can root for- She's also quite good at creating a horrible evil for them to fight against... And, YAY! Best of all! The story's not really over. There will still be more of these characters!

-All weekend a tiny little collection of our jewelry is being displayed at the Holiday Marketplace bazaar, and we were specifically asked NOT to be there. Is that crazy or what? Thank you God for Joanne! I also heard from several reliable sources that it's been crazy this weekend, so maybe we'll have sold something.
Saturday's Graceful Note: God, this week has been so hard. Me sick. Jake sick. Both girls sick and waking up every night. Thank you for a good day. Nothing absolutely fantastic about today- it just wasn't stressful. I am grateful for a calm good day. Thank you!

GRATEFUL

I've not kept up with my commitment to blog everyday...
My best reason is that everybody's been home sick this week, and I've been too sick to do much myself. Deborah's been home from school and Jake's been home from work. Deborah was whining around the house all day yesterday- still too sick to go back to school, but too well to be laying about and just watching tv or reading books.

Wednesday's Grateful Note: Thank you God for a sweet kitty who just wants to cuddle & purr while I nap.

Thursday's Grateful Note: I'm thankful for our Willowcreek Clothing friend, Joanne, who is letting us place stuff in her Holidays Marketplace booth. This is the HUGE Christmas bazaar at the Carlson Center (think "hockey rink covered with carpet and divided into 10'x10' booths"). The booths cost over $500! There was no way we could afford one on our own, and she was kind enough to allow us to stick our tall stand in her booth. God, please don't let her kindness to us diminish her sales!

Friday's Grateful Note: The girls are well today! Yay! They're driving me crazy, but they are healthy! I'm still not healthy, but I have a doctor's appointment today. They'll at least figure out if it's just a cold or something more insidious.

My Sister's Silly Survey

My sister sent me a silly survey. So, I suppose I should share...


1. First thing you do in the shower?
just stand there and get warm

2. What color is your favorite hoodie?
red

3. Do you like coffee?
yuck!!!!

4. How are you feeling RIGHT now?
rather silly

5. Crush's name?
had two- Eric in elementary school and the guy who played the boy in "Escape to Witch Mountain". I found his website a couple of years ago and he's a FRUIT. Like into aliens, and really weird stuff.

6. Do you say aim or a-i-m?
HUH?

7. What are you?
a mommy, a wife, a writer, a teacher, a singer, an actress...

8. Could you eat your favorite food everyday for a month and not get sick of it?
Yes. I think ice cream probably qualifies, and I could eat some every day for a month and still want more!

9. What are you craving?
tortilla chips

10. What comes to mind when I say cabbage?
this wonderful broccoli cole slaw recipe I found

11. Have you ever counted to 1,000?
no

12. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?
in a cone- lick
in a bowl, (which I prefer)- bite

13. Do you use smileys?
yes
14. Where's 14??? It wasn't on my survey copy.

15. Have you ever met a celebrity?
yes, a bunch of Christian ones through traveling with Company
I've been on stage with Chris Tomlin, he's shy & a sincerely nice guy.
I met Rebecca St. James, Wayne Watson, and some others, too..

16. Do you like cottage cheese?
not really

17. What's the last song you had stuck in your head?
DON'T ASK ME!!! It's too late!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!!
'Thomas O'Malley, the Alley Cat' from The Aristocats
Abigail likes to watch the same movie over and over and over and she was really into The Aristocats last week.

18. Favorite place to be?
right now, bed sleeping

19. Are your parents strict?
used to be

20. Would you go sky diving?
oh yeah!!!

21. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush?
yes, but I'd probably be nervous

22. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in?
Deborah is sitting on my lap right now and she has sparkly nail polish on her fingers

23. Do you rent movies?
OH YES!

24. Who sits in front of you in your spanish class?
I took French

25. Where are you going to be Saturday night?
I never really know. Probably at a rehearsal for a church sketch

26. Brown or white eggs?
white, not that I wouldn't go for brown, though

27. Like rap music?
Don't know if this counts, but the only rap I've ever really liked is DC Talk. Other than that I've been offended by most of the lyrics I've heard. Rather misogynistic

29. Experienced the twin towers falling in New York?
I heard something weird on the radio driving to work, and when I got to school all my students were watching the tv in the rec room. I spent most of the day comforting and talking with my k-7th graders...

30. Is anyone in your family famous?
well, we're distantly related to Betsy Ross on my dad's side. Does that count?

31. What day of the week is it?
Thursday

32. What was your Lunch?
chicken nuggets, banana

33. What is your best friend doing tomorrow?
this is a difficult question- I've got two. My sister will be sleeping and reading and hanging out. I'm hoping my husband is well enough to go back to work. We've all been horribly sick this week and he's missed the whole week.

34 Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect?
NO WAY

35. So, how about them Yankees?
aren't they baseball??

36. What was your bus number for school?
I hope I never remember

37. Is your hair curly?
STRAIGHT

38. Last time you cried?
almost cried two nights ago when I took Abigail to the ER. She couldn't stop throwing up and she wouldn't drink anything

39. Ever walked into a wall?
this week? No. Last week, yes.

40. Have you ever bought anything from PacSun?
who are they?

41. Favorite season?
spring

42. The next person you'll hold hands with?
Jake

43. Do you sleep with the TV on?
no

44. Have you ever drank alcohol straight from the bottle?
nope

45. Do you think you're old?
nope

46. Are you afraid of the dark?
I used to be terrified. Most recently after watching 'The Sixth Sense'

47. Do you like your life right now?
Parts of it

48. When is the last time you chose a bath over a shower?
a couple years, I've never been a bath person

49. Do you knock on wood?
nope

50. Do you have good vision?
I'm absolutely BLIND without my glasses

51. Can you hula hoop?
NO

52. This is weird. There's no 52 either...

53. Worst thing that happened today?
I had to make a doctor appointment 'cuz I think I've got bronchitis

54. When is your next road trip?
i don't know

55. Have you ever crawled through a window?
to unlock the front door

56. Can you handle the truth?
i prefer it

57. What was the most recent thing you bought?
chicken soup and saltines

58. How often do you talk on the phone?
rarely

59. Are you in a complicated relationship?
probably

60. Do you hate more than 3 people?
I can't think of anyone right now

61. Have you ever tripped someone?
no!

62. Have you ever slapped someone?
I think so. I know I've done it on stage! :)

63. Do looks matter?
yes

64. Do you use chapstick?
No

65. Are you forgiving?
yes, but it takes me a while

66. Do you own something from Hot Topic?
who are they?

67. Do you own a gun?
my husband does

68. Have you made a prank phone call?
nope

69. Have you ever been in a castle?
yes, in Germany

70. Do you like your hair?
most of the time

71. Do you like yourself?
most of the time

72. Are you closer to your mother or father?
mama

73. Do you chat on AIM often?
what is AIM?

74. Whats the closest thing to you that's red?
I'm wearing a red shirt and a red sweatshirt

Icky

Well, Abigail was sick yesterday. Very sick. 102.3 temp plus lethargy, not eating and wanting to go to bed. So, I cooled her off in a bath, gave her Tylenol and put her to bed.

Then she woke up at 11 pm screaming. I went in to her to find that she'd thrown up. I cleaned her and her bed up, and then she threw up again. After calling her doctor we wound up at the ER. Her pediatrician was concerned that she'd refused to drink anything, but by the time we actually saw the doctor at the ER she'd drunk half a glass of juice and was dancing around like a little wild thing.

Tuesday's grateful note: So, while I didn't get a chance to post about what I'm thankful for yesterday, today I find myself very grateful & thankful for a healthy and happy 2 year old. We've done the "hospital-for-a-week, plus IV thing" with Deborah and I'd rather never do that again. Thank you God that Abigail is feeling better and asking for apples today!

Monday's grateful note: And my bonus thankful item for yesterday would be our doctor. Thank you for a doctor who is on call 24 hours a day and willing to be woken up by a freaked out mommy.

Thankful

Another blogger (Susan Stevenson- photographer) is currently posting about one thing they are grateful for every day for the entire month of November. I like the idea and I'm going to steal it. ;) I may not be able to keep up with the daily thing, but I'm going to try.
Today's the fourth, so I'm already 3 days behind! So I'd better be extra thankful today. :)

Today, I'm so thankful for the relationship I have with my Mom. We just had a 40 minute conversation about some really big serious issues, and I'm reminded about how wonderful it is to have a mom who is also a friend...

Yesterday, the 3rd, I got to sleep in extra because my wonderful, sweet, kind man let me sleep in until 11 a.m. Bless the boy. So, on Saturday I was thankful for both sleep and for my husband.

Friday, the 2nd, Beth & I got to do a first Friday at Willowcreek clothing and display our jewelry. What stands out for that day is the community & relationships we've slowly established through our 3 or 4 year journey into making and selling jewelry. We love Joanne at Willowcreek! She is a special lady.

Thursday, the 1st, I got to do some grocery shopping and make a particularly good dinner. So I'm grateful that I live in a country where I don't have to fight for every aspect of a meal- where food is plentiful and we have as many options as we do.

Alaskan Photos

I met a photographer at our First Friday show and I just want to share her stuff. She takes photos like I wish I could... Her work shows how beautiful Fairbanks actually is.
I get so caught up in how cold and dark it is up here that I sometimes forget to be thankful for how beautiful my city is. I loved all the photos I got to see, but in particular I liked her skyscapes. So, if you're wanting to see professional, quality photos of the Fairbanks area she's definitely the site to go to: http://www.susanstevenson.com/Journal/openingjournal.htm

Halloween photos

We haven't gone trick or treating with our girls- We might next year, I don't know. We live in a GREAT neighborhood for it.

So far, Deborah's been very excited about giving out candy to the kids that knock on our door. She doesn't like the scarey costumes (What's up with the 'dead' everything? Dead cheerleader, dead monk, dead pirate...), but she really enjoys dressing up and looking at the other kids dressed up.

Here they are watching for the trick or treater's to come...

They got to be fairy princesses this year- Abigail got the pink wings for her birthday, and Deborah got hers on Halloween...

All the Fred Meyer employees were encouraged to come in costume on Halloween, and Jake went all out this year. He even asked me to do his make-up... Which got all the compliments. Which is sad, 'cuz he fussed and fussed with the pirate gun he found... He wanted it to look 'authentic' since he works the gun counter.

Beading

Beth & I have SADLY neglected taking photos of most of our jewelry for the last 6 months... We've got so much that sold at Farmer's Market without a record of what we made. The only reason that's a big deal is that we both build on what we've made before- We can look at old stuff and go, 'wow. I really don't like that any more!' or 'What if I did this instead?' So, I'm sad we haven't been keeping any sort of pictoral record of our stuff. I've got a complete set of necklaces with a specific kind of pendant that are all gone without a single picture of them...

Plus, we've really made some very different stuff the last couple of months. We've been looking at magazines and getting ideas and have a lot of new stuff... So, here's one picture of some of the things I've made lately:

October Books

Thunderbird Falls by C.E. Murphy A
Loved this! 2nd in the Urban shaman series- Although, I got annoyed with our heroine. How on earth did she miss what was going on??? I knew before we’d gotten anywhere…

The Wild Wood by Charles de Lint B
Beth recommended I read this, and I did. Didn’t like it as much as she did… Much as I love de Lint’s ideas he’s way more interested in his fancy language & wit than being understood by the reader.

Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer A
Still excellent! These are so fun, and since I’m not a fan of faerie books it’s great to find some that are so silly, but still good adventures.

A Dream of Stone & Shadow by Marjorie M. Liu C
A major disappointment. Beth recommended this one, too, and I actually liked the idea… It should have been a good story! There’s a detective agency, Dirk & Steele, that only hires paranormally gifted agents, and our main character is a young female precognitive named Agatha (Aggie). But man, this just wasn’t as good as it should have been. Gargoyles, precgonitives, a mystery,

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien A
Such a good story… This won the Newberry in ’71, and definitely is worth the read.
If you saw the cartoon made in the late 80’s, I sympathize. It pains me to say that they did a HORRIBLE job turning this light-hearted adventure into a mystical/ridiculous story. All the bad things in the movie (weird mystical magic, the red jewel, the infighting between the rats) weren’t in the original story and all the wonderful things (the intelligent rats & the lab, the mother and her children, the silly crow) were in this delightful YA adventure.

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer A
Good YA… A dark tech look at the future.

Artemis Fowl: the Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer A
Artemis has had all his memories of fairies wiped out, and there’s a desperate need for him to remember… Opal is back and more evil than ever! Plus, all his contact with the fairies had made him have a change of heart, but the mindwipe returned him back to his nefarious ways.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini A
I enjoyed this dragon/magic adventure a lot. Reminiscent of Tolkien & C.S. Lewis.
A fun, fast-paced adventure. I’ve looked at it several times and never found the whole series when I was actually looking for it. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them. I went ahead and checked out the first one even though they didn’t have the rest in. I guess I’ll have to go back to the library. Poor me. Sigh.

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol A
Very quick read. Most of the solutions are easy for an adult, but it’s still fun to see if you can figure them out… There’s about 20 Encyclopedia Brown books. Each book contains about 10 chapters made up of about 4 or 5 pages containing a mystery. Each mystery has one or more clues that help you, the reader, figure out the solution to the mystery- then you can compare your solution with the author’s at the back of the book.

No Rest for the Witches (a book of 4 short stories)
‘The Majicka’ by MaryJanice Davidson A
I loved the first story… I thought it was hysterical. A witch, a poltergeist, a 6 ft tall fairy, a vampire, and a werewolf- What do they all have in common? They live together. And in the process of the story they add a zombie/dryad and a ‘Buffy the Vampire slayer’ type trainer to their company.
There were three other stories in this anthology, and the tragic truth is I don’t remember any of the others… I’ve got vague memories- one involved voodoo- I know they were all about witches, but frankly, they weren’t that good. One of the stories was downright lousy, in fact. It was so bad I didn’t even finish it- I skipped to the last chapter to find out what happened…

The Circle Trilogy (Morrigan’s Cross, Dance of the Gods, Valley of Silence) by Nora Roberts B
Enjoyed ‘em. I’m glad I read them all, mostly for the last one. (I always feel a need to defend myself when I say I’ve read a romance. Definitely got to get over that one… But, boy, do they have a bad rep.) What I like about Roberts is her characters. I know, you’re all saying, ‘yeah, yeah, and what I like about Playboy is the articles, right.’ But I’m serious. Roberts creates characters you like, care about and root for… In this story we’ve got evil vampires vs. gods, with 6 (the circle) people called upon to be the heros of the fight against evil. Of course, with Roberts as author we already know it’s really a romance, but having the supernatural/magical stuff thrown in makes it more fun.

Little Red Riding Hood

I was just freezing cold a couple of days ago and wandering around looking for my sweatshirt.

Suddenly, my daughter said, 'look at me!' And yup, she was wearing my favorite red sweatshirt...

Raising 'em Right

My girls really don't share well. They're young to share, plus Deborah has a strong 'MINE!' streak in her.

Except for reading. The two of them can sit for a shockingly long time together with a book. It's a delight to me that they both enjoy being read to and looking at books by themselves. They both make up their own stories based on the pictures, or try to remember the story they've been told.

Yup, they're doing good as far as books go.