Smelly Towel - review

"Smelly Towel" sounds like a product that would... well... stink, doesn't it? Actually, it's the opposite. It's meant to make your towels smell fresh and clean. I hadn't noticed that my towels were particularly smelly. I mean I do wash them regularly! But when I was offered a free bottle for review as a member of MamaBzz, my daughter thought we ought to try it. The bottle we received sells for $16.99 and it didn't seem very big to me for that price at first. I opened the bottle to see what it was like. It is a fine powder with a pleasant citrusy scent, and the label said to use one tablespoon for a load of towels instead of detergent. I realized then that the one bottle would go a lot further than I thought! So I tried it in the laundry. One tablespoon full (measured in the cap per the directions) with NO detergent. The towels didn't come out smelling citrusy like the product. Instead they just smelled good and clean! Like they had been dried in the sunshine on a clothesline. I was impressed!

Camping on the St. Joe

Turns out, as I've recently discovered, if you keep a man in town over the weekend, he's gonna go in to work, at least a little while. So if the weather forecast is promising and the man says, "Wanna go camping?" I say, "Let's go!"

This past weekend we stayed at a Forest Service campground along the beautiful St. Joe River. This late in the season, the campgrounds are pretty quiet... perfect for relaxing.

Lyle's definition of relaxing always involves a drive, and he especially loves twisty mountain roads. If I can manage to avoid getting carsick (and I've learned some tricks about that over the years), I enjoy the scenery!

The St. Joe is so clear we could see the rocks on the bottom from even this far above it!

Our sweet Cookie loves to participate in all our adventures.

We think that if the air currents were just right, it's possible that our truck could fly!

A Memory Between Us - review

I have thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in Sarah Sundin's Wings of Glory series. Set during World War II, this series follows three brothers who are bomber pilots. A Memory Between Us, the second book, is about Jack Novak who is a strong Christian with just a little bit too much pride. He meets his match in Ruth Dorherty, a no-nonsense army nurse. It was a completely different story than A Distant Melody (the first book in the series) but with the perfect element of romance and spiritual growth that I enjoyed so much in the first book. If you enjoy Christian fiction, I highly recommend this series. I am looking forward to the next one.

Schleich - review

Last year at Christmas-time my parents hit upon the perfect gift for my animal-loving daughter. They carefully selected several animal figurines from their local farm store and wrapped them up individually for her, then put them all in a larger gift box. Becky had so much fun unwrapping and discovering each animal-- which have provided many hours of imaginative play since. My parents were so impressed with the quality of the animals that they bought one for several of the other grandchildren as stocking stuffers. The other grandchildren, who aren't quite as into animals as Becky is, absolutely loved them as well! So "Grammy" got a catalog which each of the grandchildren has pored over and marked with their favorites. Now Grammy has an on-going wishlist for several special occasions to come!

Needless to say, we were very excited to be selected to review the Schleich brand for the TOS Crew. I hadn't told Becky ahead of time that we would be getting a package, but when it came she immediately recognized the brand-name on the packing tape. Mean mom that I am, I drew out the suspense awhile longer, telling her that package was for me, and she couldn't open it! After a few minutes, I cut the tape and drew out the animals one-by-one and gave them to her. I had wondered if we would get any duplicates to what she already had, but we didn't.

We received an okapi (the funny-looking dude in the back with the long ears), a gnu and gnu calf (looks a little like a skinny buffalo), a donkey, an Asian elephant calf, a Swabian-Hall piglet, a Dartmoor pony, and a Przewalski's horse.

Becky was especially thrilled to re-unite the new donkey with it's baby, which she already had in her collection.

Included in the box was a catalog of all the animals available. Becky had an older catalog that I picked up several years ago, but she had literally worn it out from paging it through it so many times-- as in, it was falling apart! She's put in plenty of time with the new catalog already, and can tell you exactly which animals she owns and which ones she would like next.

I didn't take the time to look them all up, but this is a picture of her complete collection, as of now. Of course, her birthday is coming up... so she's hoping to add to it. We'll just have to see!

I have been impressed with how realistic and durable the animals are. Great as toys or collectible figurines, either one. The only thing I don't like is that the scale is not the same for all them. (See how the German Shepherd in the middle of the picture is bigger than the baby elephant?) However, that does not bother my daughter at all.

Schleich animals are available at local retail stores. Around here I've seen them at Target, Fred Meyer, and D and B Farm Supply. Prices range from $2-3 for the smallest animals to $15 or so for the larger ones. I have also seen various sets available as well. There is a store locator on the Schleich website.

Salem Ridge Press - review

As a book hound I often see stacks or boxes of dusty ol' books at thrift stores or auctions or garage sales. By experience I have learned that occasionally a real treasure of a story might be jumbled in among the junk. Most times, though, an old book is just an old book-- outdated, irrelevant to today's culture and interest, and just plain boring. I think it would be very interesting to take the time to sift through all the old books and select the very best ones to be reprinted. And that's exactly what Daniel Mills has chosen to do as a business. He and his family review many old books, but choose only the very best to republish.

As a member of the TOS Crew I was sent one paperback book and two e-books from Salem Ridge Press. The paperback book was printed on high-quality paper and has a lovely "keeper" feel. (You know how some books are "keepers," right?) Some titles are also available in hardcover, and I expect they would be even prettier!

From Bondage to Freedom by Emma Leslie is part of the Church History Series. It is set in the 600s and follows two Christian women as they are sold as slaves who end up in Arabia and Rome. The story addresses the rise of Islam, and the beginnings of the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. It was originally published in 1877. One of the e-books I received is Gytha's Message, another book in the same series. It is "a tale of Saxon England" set in the days of William the Conqueror and is also about a slave girl. This would also fit in well with a study of Medieval times. It was originally published in 1885. For the Emma Leslie Church History Series the publishers have "also added content not found in the original books, including historical notes, timelines, word defnitions, and as needed, maps, to aid the reader’s understanding."

The other e-book I received is a story of the French Revolution, Marie's Home by Caroline Austin. "Eleven-year-old Marie Hamilton and her family travel to France at the invitation of Louis XVI, just before the start of the French Revolution. There they encounter the tremendous disparity between the proud French Nobility and the oppressed and starving French people. When an enraged mob storms the palace of Versailles, Marie and her family are rescued from grave danger by a strange twist of events, but Marie’s story of courage, self-sacrifice and true nobility is not yet over! Honor, duty, compassion and forgiveness are all portrayed in this uplifting story." It was also originally published in 1885.

I am impressed by the quality of these reproductions, and appreciate the high standards of wholesomeness, but I would expect only avid young readers would enjoy these as the writing style is quite archaic and a little hard to follow by today's standards. Reluctant readers would more than likely not be engaged, although they may very enjoy them as read-alouds. Prices range from $10.95 for e-books to $14.95 for paperbacks to $24.95 for hardbacks.

Mr. Moose Goes to Town

We only live about 2 miles from the print shop where Lyle works, so he usually comes home for lunch. Today as we were finishing lunch, his cell phone rang. That's not unusual either, as his co-workers often have questions that need immediate answers. But he wasn't on the phone long this time. He hung up and told us, "Loren says there's a bull moose over by city hall, down the street from the print shop."

We immediately sprang up and tore out to the truck, barefoot girls, dog, and all. Even though it was only 2 miles we were afraid the moose would be long gone by the time we got there.

 

He wasn't. He was just strolling around the neighborhood... inspecting objects in people's back yards... grazing on whatever looked appealing... wrestling with small trees... and blithely ignoring the paparazzi!

He was happy to find a pear tree just loaded with juicy ripe pears. He helped himself to several within easy reach on his side of the fence...

 

...before wandering off to visit other neighbors in the vicinity. 

We thought it would be fun to just follow him around town the rest of the afternoon, but as we had "promises to keep, and miles to go before we sleep..." we reluctantly bid him farewell and went about our business. 

We wonder how long it will be before he finds his way back across the bridge over the river to the forest where he lives? 

We love living in the Northwest!

Her Daughter's Dream

Francine Rivers' latest book, Her Daughter's Dream, is a sequel to Her Mother's Hope. It's a mother-daughter saga that spans four generations across the twentieth century. I thoroughly enjoyed both books. You can read the first two chapters of Her Daughter's Dream here. You may also check the Virtual Book Tour page on Facebook for your chance to win a copy.

Mother-daughter relationships are often complicated and fraught with emotional land mines. What was your approach to exploring the complexity of those relationships in a fictional setting?

Questions, lots of questions! Every time I told someone I was working on a book about mother-daughter relationships, people wanted to share their family stories. As I wrote Her Mother’s Hope, I wanted readers to see through each woman’s eyes, and understand how the past shaped each in the way she responded to her mother. Hildemara doesn’t believe her mother loves her, but it is out of Marta’s pain and loss that tough-love techniques were forged. Marta wants to strengthen her daughter for whatever lies ahead. Sometimes what we view as rejection can actually be an act of sacrificial love. We seldom know the experiences that shaped our mothers, the deep hurts, traumatic events, broken relationships. I hope women who read this book will want to share those things with one another.

Writing a novel is not for the faint of heart. What was the most difficult part of writing this family saga? What came the most naturally to you?

The most difficult part of writing any novel is getting out of my own way. I have to get rid of preconceived notions about themes and characters and plot. The first draft of this novel came in at over 1000 pages and was too biographical. I wanted the story to shift back and forth from present to past, trying to show what happened to create the rifts and valleys between Hildemara, Carolyn and May Flower Dawn. I was too cautious, too afraid to harm to my grandmother and mother’s memory.

A wonderful editor wrote me an insightful letter in which she listed what she wanted to know about each the characters. Her letter got my creative juices flowing. She helped me look at the story in a new way. I set the first manuscript aside and started over. I found it better to move from one generation to the next in a linear story. This time the characters followed my grandmother and mother’s timeline, but took on a life of their own. They became unique individuals rather than the shadow of real people.

Who do you see as the audience for this story, and does that differ from your previous readership?

I am fortunate to work with Tyndale House. If a writer does well in one genre, publishers encourage the writer to continue in the same genre. Tyndale has given me the freedom to go wherever the story leads. I have done historical as well as contemporary. This two-part saga was intended to be one LONG book. Splitting the story into two parts made it more affordable for readers, and eliminated the need to delete entire sections. Hopefully, both women and men will enjoy Her Mother’s Hope and Her Daughter’s Dream. Men play a strong role in the lives of all four primary characters: Marta, Hildemara Rose, Carolyn and May Flower Dawn. And both books have much to do with faith, how it presents itself, how it grows, often under difficult circumstances and in unexpected ways.

Where may we connect with you further or to purchase a copy of HER DAUGHTER'S DREAM?

I would love for you to visit my web site at www.FrancinceRivers.com, browse through the various events and other resources available, as well as sign up for my mailing list. You may also join me on my Facebook page, please click here. 

A complimentary copy of this book was provided to me as a blog tour host by the Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for posting this interview on my blog. Please visit Christian Speaker Services at www.ChristianSpeakerServices.com for more information about blog tour management services.

Happy Birthday, Mother!

Recently I came across this sweet picture of my mother and her older sister celebrating their first and second birthdays respectively. Aunt Donnie's birthday is earlier in September and Mother's is today, so they were just over a year apart in age. Mother says they always celebrated their birthdays together growing up. They went out to lunch to celebrate this year. I wonder if anyone made them tiny cakes?

What's interesting is that 10 years ago, one of my sisters had a baby boy on Mother's birthday. (Happy Birthday, Jamie!) The next year, my other sister had twins on Aunt Donnie's birthday. (A belated Happy Birthday to Aunt Donnie, and Elizabeth and Garrett, too!) September is the most populated month for birthdays in our family.

A Hope Undaunted - review

A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman is the first book in her new Winds of Change series. However, it immediately follows her Daughters of Boston series, so if you have had a chance to read A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Passion Denied already, you will especially enjoy A Hope Undaunted. However, it does stand alone quite nicely, being the story of the youngest sister in the O'Connor family. It is set in 1929 at a time when women were first being offered opportunities they hadn't had before. I found the historical aspect very interesting, and I also appreciated the spiritual depth of the plot.Available September 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.


Starting tomorrow, September 20, you can also 
Enter The Technology and Romance KINDLE Giveaway!

One Grand Prize winner will receive a KINDLE preloaded with Julie Lessman's latest title. The Prize Pack (valued at over $150.00) includes:

* A brand new KINDLE, with Wi-Fi

* A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman

To enter, simply click on the icons (between September 20 and October 7) below to fill out the entry form and be sure to tell your friends about the contest.

The Black Madonna - review

The Black Madonna by Davis Bunn features the same characters from his previous novel, Gold of Kings. However, it's not really a sequel, in that you would need to read the first book to enjoy the second. Each is a stand-alone adventure story. I am fascinated by the antiquarian profession, learning more about artifacts that have been left behind by previous generations. It is an intriguing, exciting story. I look forward to more books in the series.

Vocabulary Cartoons - review

Learning anything by rote can be a somewhat dry process, and when you have a long list of vocabulary words that don't exactly see daily usage it is hard to remember what they all mean. I remember trying to make up mnemonics to help me remember facts for tests when I was in school. If I could just picture some silly little story to associate with the word, it was much easier to remember. That's exactly what New Monic Books has come up with in their Vocabulary Cartoons series. The book I received as a reviewer for the TOS Crew was SAT Word Power to help prepare students for the vocabulary portion of the SAT test. My non-academically inclined daughter even thought it was fun. The day it came in the mail she thumbed through it and asked if she could have it. She carried it off but before too long she was back quizzing me to see if I knew some of the words she had learned (I didn't always) and chuckling over the silliness of the word pictures. New Monic Books also offers a SAT Word Power II as well as an elementary level edition of Vocabulary Cartoons. Each book is $12.95.

Golden Days

Late summer in north Idaho can feel like early fall-- and after a cool and damp weekend we enjoyed sunny, warm temps on Monday. That evening my daughter's senior class gathered at the lake for a back-to-school-for-the-last-time cookout.

Homeschooled kids don't see their "classmates" every day at school, so we are planning several social events throughout the year to celebrate this achievement in our lives, and to create special memories of "Senior Year."

As we enjoyed the amazing sunset over the lake, and the fellowship around the campfire, I was reminded again why Laura Ingalls Wilder called these the "Happy Golden Years." The young people are just on the brink of adulthood and are so excited about all the possibilities available to them.

On the flipside it's a bittersweet time for the parents. We've done our job as well as we knew how, and now it's time to begin to let go.

Making Waves - review

A vacation at the lake in 1895 was quite different from what we think of as a vacation nowadays. I enjoyed learning about (and had a hard time imagining) the lifestyle of the more well-to-do families who escaped the hot cities for the cooler weather on Lake Manawa in Making Waves by Lorna Seilstad. It was a fun summer inspirational romance novel.

When spunky Marguerite Westing discovers that her family will summer at Lake Manawa in 1895, she couldn't be more thrilled. It is the perfect way to escape her agonizingly boring suitor, Roger Gordon. It's also where she stumbles upon two new loves: sailing, and sailing instructor Trip Andrews. But this summer of fun turns to turmoil as her father's gambling problems threaten to ruin the family forever. Will free-spirited Marguerite marry Roger to save her father's name and fortune? Or will she follow her heart--even if it means abandoning the family she loves? Author Lorna Seilstad's fresh and entertaining voice will whisk readers away to a breezy lakeside summer holiday. Full of sharp wit and blossoming romance, Making Waves is the first book in the LAKE MANAWA SUMMERS series. Available September 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

A Cryptic Message @BrightEmpires

Mystery. Intrigue. Espionage even.

I've donned my titian Nancy Drew wig and put on my gum shoes... but even with my best magnifying glass in hand, the case has me stumped! Can you help?

Last week I received a somewhat cryptic email: "Are you interested in participating in an immersive game as part of the launch of Stephen Lawhead's newest book, The Skin Map? (Available everywhere on September 7th.) The game includes geocaching and online play and it starts - with you.  If you'd like to play, please let us know via email and include an address to which we can mail you an item that will get you into the game. Visit the website to watch the trailer for The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead and then respond to this message and begin the ultimate treasure hunt."

Well, the book trailer looked so interesting that I couldn't resist joining in the fun, so I signed up to be one of the 12 people to receive a starter game piece. I had no idea what it would be. There were no further details.

Yesterday I received a package containing a black t-shirt (pictured above) with mysterious symbols... and still no further clues! So I inquired on Twitter. The response I received was, "It's not what it seams. Keep looking and reach out for help at [Stephen Lawhead's Facebook page]."

A-ha! A clue! "Seams" should be spelled "seems" in that context! So I turned the shirt inside-out and carefully inspected all the seams. The only thing I found was an after-market tag stitched to the size tag in the neckline that says, "Inspected by Xian-Li." That didn't seem to be right, but I tried typing it onto the code page. Nope. Didn't work. So... I guess I'll "reach out for help..." 

Help? Anybody?

Pink

One of my recent projects was crocheting this soft pink throw for my sister-in-law who was diagnosed with breast cancer this summer.

It took me awhile to find just the right yarn. I wanted something soft and lightweight, and I wanted pink, but not "baby" pink. (There are lots of choices for baby pink, but not so many for rose.) This was actually called "salmon" but I think of salmon as more peachy than this. Once I could think past the label, I decided it was just the color I wanted after all.

The pattern was fun to work up, with the pineapple edging. I thought it turned out very lacy and feminine.

I had some yarn left over, so I whipped up a little pair of slippers to match.

I loved being able to stitch and pray at the same time... and if you happen to think of my sister-in-law, please join me in praying for her recovery.

Visit the Trendy Treehouse for more Creative Share Wednesday posts.

Math Tutor - review

Have you noticed lately the trend toward video products for teaching? And I don't mean just video recordings of classes-- but as demonstrations for learning just about anything, from tatting to setting up your teacher's material for homeschooling-- and those are just for Mom! What I really appreciate, though, are math videos. You see, math has always been the hardest subject for me to teach. I can understand the concepts, but I struggle to communicate them to my daughters. Words, I love. Numbers, not so much.

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was given the opportunity to review two DVDs from MathTutorDVD.com: The Pre-Algebra Tutor, Volume 1 and The Texas Instruments TI-83/TI-84 Calculator Tutor. The main drawback is, neither of my children are at either of these levels this year.

My older daughter is doing Algebra 1, and it had been a year since she did Pre-Algebra, (she did Consumer Math last year), so I thought the Pre-Algebra Tutor would be a good review for her before starting Algebra 1. She watched part of it but found it "boring," she said, because she "already knew all this stuff." I expect it would be more helpful if you had a child who was going through Pre-Algebra and needed extra instruction. It is a 2-disk set (5 hours total) and sells for $26.99.

The Texas Instruments DVD would be most helpful if you had a student in a higher math course who needed to learn to use the TI-83 or TI-84 calculator. I considered getting one just for this review until I saw the price of them! Still, if I needed to spend that much money on a calculator for my child for school I would want to make sure she thoroughly understood how to use it, and I'm sure this DVD would be great for that. It is a 3-disk set (8 hours total) and sells for $26.99.