Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Montana Sunset


Summer in Montana is beautiful, but I'm still not used to it staying light so long. Right now it's not getting dark until 10pm. At the end of July, it won't be dark until almost 11pm. I wonder if I'll ever get used to that. Last night I took my laptop on the deck to work on some files when I noticed a beautiful sunset coming on. It's amazing how fast it appeared and how quickly it went away. I got a few good pictures though, including this one above. This was taken on my deck, overlooking my neighbor's house. I love getting a really good picture without having to put my shoes on or even leave the house.

In other news, I keep forgetting to post the winner of the squirting bath toys from Beth's contest for her In My Bath book blog. The winner for that is ...


Congratulations, Lydia! I'll just need an address from you that I can pass it onto Beth and she'll get your prize out to you right away. Beth's book is really cute and I'm looking forward to adding it to my collection of books.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

YEE-HAW!


The past few days I've been working on my digital picture frame. Okay, obsessing over my frame is probably a better word. I have about 1015 pictures on that thing so far. The horizontal pictures work fine, but sometimes you have to tweak the vertical ones so they don't cut things off. In order to do that, you have to see them on the frame itself and not in your file. That takes time with 1015 pictures, which explains my obsession.

Anyway, I found this picture of Nathan in one of our files. It was taken just before we moved away from California in 2006. We took the boys to a friend's birthday party and they had a western theme, so they dressed up for that. I think Rick took this picture and I never looked at it much because it was taken in the shade and really dark. I lightened it up a bit and -- wow! What a CUTE picture! If the background wasn't a parking lot it would be so much better. Even so, Nathan can be such a cutie sometimes.

Do you have a digital picture frame? I'm on my second one, but I totally love them. It's amazing how many pictures you can fit onto a disk. Mine even plays videos, music, recipes, and more. We got it at Costco. I've given them as gifts to my mom, Rick's parents, and Nicole. They are so much fun, especially if you make a huge file of pictures or even a themed set. Mine is getting so big that it's like having my whole life flash before me. Funny though, 1015 pictures don't flash by too quickly. It takes several hours to watch mine go through a complete cycle. They're really fun and I hope they come out with huge ones someday -- big as TV screens!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Sassy says hello!


Things are slow in blogland, including my own. I guess a lot of people must be busy enjoying the summer months. We've had our share of beautiful weather here and I've found myself on the deck the past few days. I just finished reading A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. I had never read it before and once I started, I couldn't put it down. I really need to get busy getting my house picked up for next weekend. My in-laws are coming up from Southern California to stay for 5 days. The boys are excited about their grandparents coming. Nicole just let me her copy of To Kill A Mockingbird, so I'm going to try to hold off on starting it or else I'll never get anything done.

We've also had a lot of bears wandering by lately. This morning we had the black cub walk around the house. Nathan named him Flint and he limps when he walks, favoring his front right paw. Just a few minutes ago his sister was on the hill behind our house. We've named her Sassy. I'm pretty sure these are the 2 cubs that used to come by with their mom awhile back. They should be 2-3 years old now, so they've probably left their mom and she could have a new set of cubs by now. I just took this picture a few minutes ago when she was wandering around the boy's fort. We had a pretty good idea she was coming, so she didn't take us for surprise. Whenever there's a bear in the neighborhood, there is a succession of barking dogs. You can almost tell where the bear is and which way they're moving. I've learned the dog's bear bark over the other barks. It's funny how we drive around all day in national parks hoping to spot a bear, and yet, here we've had 2 in one day. She's a cutie -- she looks like a Sassy!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Contest Winners!


First off, I want to say thanks to everyone who took the time to enter my Lemur Troops & Critter Groups Coloring Contest! That goes to both the children and the parents, as I know it's a group effort. I received lots of wonderful colored pages, both by email and regular mail. Since the age group was "10 years and under", I decided to draw names for the winner. I let Neil pull a name from the cup and he pulled out ...

.................... HANNAH HUELHORST (age 9) ....................

Hannah's picture is posted above next to the book and her prize. I picked up the furry, red fox while we were in Grand Teton National Park. I don't think the lady at the register wanted to give it up because she kept rambling how it was her favorite stuffed animal in the store. Congratulations to Hannah! I'll need an address and then I can get your little fox out to you right away. Below is a slide show of the entries, and as far as I'm concerned, they're all winners. Thank you all for taking the time to enter.




Also, I said there would be a second drawing from all the entries to win a copy of the second book in the Critter Series -- Stork Musters & Critter Clusters. It's due out later this year. Neil picked that name from the cup as well and the winner is ...

.................... RYAN (age 6) ....................

Ryan is a member of our local homeschool group. I will need a mailing address for him as well and then as soon as the book is published later this year, I will send his copy to him. Again, thanks to everyone who took the time to enter. All of the pictures were colored beautifully!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

In My Bath


Today I am pleased to share with you a new picture book called In My Bath. It's written by Beth Bence Reinke, illustrated by Ginger Nielson, and published by 4RV Publishing. It's a wonderful bedtime story for children ages 4-8 years. Younger children would definitely enjoy it as well.

In My Bath shares the adventures of a young boy as he takes his evening bath. His imagination runs wild as he does ordinary bathing tasks I'm sure most of us don't even think about. He imagines himself joined with 15 water-loving animals who make bathing more enjoyable. He scrubs, splatters, swishes, and splashes until he's sparkling clean and ready to get out.

This is a delightful story that children will want to hear over and over. Beth made the connection perfectly between the water-loving animals' behavior with the tasks of bathing -- from diving down to snatch a bar of soap to hiding under a shell to scrub his nails. Ginger's illustrations bring the story to life with bright colors and action that literally jump off the page. I know children will love this story with all of the water-loving animals. Some of those include dolphins, whales, fish, manatees, pelicans, seals, beavers, alligators, ducks, frogs, raccoons, turtles, penguins, elephants, and otters.

You can get the book directly through 4RV Publishing, LLC as well as on Amazon and Barnes & Noble Online. Don't forget to check out Beth Bence Reinke's Website and Ginger Nielson's Website. There is also a fun In My Bath Book Trailer to watch.

We're also offering a GIVE-AWAY of a set of squirting animal bath toys! All you have to do is leave a comment and let us know which of the 15 animals listed above is your favorite. Everyone who does will be put into a drawing and one winner will be chosen. As a mom with four kids, I know how you can never have enough bath toys. If you have little ones, you don't want to miss out on the chance to get some cute ones!

Thank you, Beth (pictured below) for the opportunity to share your wonderful, new picture book here on my blog. I'm delighted to add it to my collection and I know it will be enjoyed by children of all ages.


Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Just some news ...


I'm sorry I didn't get around to blogging yesterday. I went with Rick to his dentist appointment and while he was inside, I started reading a book I bought awhile back. I read four chapters during his appointment and then couldn't put the book down when I got home. I just finished it this morning. It was Michelle Morgan's Nefertiti. It's one of Target's featured book club books at the moment. It was really, really good. It's not often I get to read "grown-up" books, more or less historical fiction, and I almost forgot how much I enjoyed it. Usually, when I read adult books, they're political, which is a far cry from what I write myself. I'm already planning on getting Michelle's other books! Once I get into a good book, I have a hard time getting anything else done.

Today is the last day of the coloring contest for Lemur Troops & Critter Groups. I was going to announce the winner today, but I think I'm going to hold off until later on. If anyone else wants to send in their children's coloring page, there is still time. I'll make the cut-off time midnight tonight. I will be posting a blog tour tomorrow for Beth Reinke's picture book, In My Bath, so I hope you will join me for that. It's a cute book! There will even be a contest for a set of bath toys, so if you have little ones, you won't want to miss it. Anyway, since I said the last day of the coloring contest was June 22nd, I decided to give the whole day to get drawings sent in. I've gotten a bunch so far and they're all awesome! If your child has done one or would like to do one today, there's still a little more time! Thanks so much!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Got Fortunes?


I dusted the inside of my china cabinet today. I know, I know -- thrillsville. If you saw how much stuff I had in it, you'd understand why I don't dust very often. Maybe I'll take a picture of it for another post. But anyway ...

One thing I keep in there are fortunes from fortune cookies. I'm not sure when I started saving them or even why, but it had to be in the early 80s when I first started dating Rick. I've been sticking them in a brandy glass for years. I decided to dust off the glass, so I dumped all the fortunes out and counted them. There are 212 fortunes! That includes the ones Rick has gotten, by the way. My collection has slowed down since moving to Montana. There aren't any good Chinese food restaurants here. There's supposed to be a decent one in Polson, about 30 minutes away, so maybe I can try it sometime. It's just one of those weird collections that I don't think about much. I'm going to randomly pull out a few of them ...

  • You will travel far and wide for both business and pleasure.
  • Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.
  • You will be surrounded by things of luxury.
  • You will be called upon to help a friend in trouble.
  • Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.
  • You will be fortunate in everything you put your hands to.
  • Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life.
I really like that last one and feel it's so true. Maybe that was Rick's fortune. A long, long time ago he told a friend, "You're only as happy as you let yourself be." A few years back, that same friend contacted Rick out of the blue. He had worked his tail off and became a doctor. He called Rick to tell him that his words stuck with him the whole time he struggled with medical school. You never know how your words are going to affect someone.

How about you -- do you collect anything weird like this?

Friday, June 18, 2010

Contest ends soon!


Don't forget about my coloring contest for Lemur Troops & Critter Groups. Click here to see the original post from earlier this month. The last day is June 22nd and then I'll pick one winner for a prize I got in Grand Teton National Park. It's cute as can be, so don't let your child miss out. Everyone who enters gets put into a drawing for a chance to win a copy of the second book in the Critter Series -- Stork Musters & Critter Clusters. So, you have two ways to win! It's for children 10 years and younger. If you can't scan your child's coloring page, let me know and I'll send you an address. There are only FOUR more days to enter! Thanks, and good luck!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

My Zazzle Store

I've been working on a Zazzle store with some of my photographs. Not sure if people will buy anything, but it's been fun to make the stuff. And it's not like I don't have anything better to do with my time, as I have about 3 million loads of laundry to do. But still, it's been fun! I have ordered from Zazzle before and they're super fast getting their products out. I've gotten some coffee mugs with my book covers on them and they turned out great. My store is listed under the name RenaJean on the Zazzle website.

C'mon -- buy a magnet or something, so I can make 29 cents! ;)


View more personalized gifts from Zazzle.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Got Bear Spray?


We had two visitors yesterday. Remember the mama bear and her two cubs that came by a lot a few years back? We didn't see the mama, but her two cubs wandered through our yard yesterday. They're not so little anymore, but it was cool to see them both again. If you're on my Facebook page, you probably saw all the pictures already. I also have a short (only 16 seconds) video clip of the female if you want to check that out. Anyway, Rick got this picture of the female. She's the same bear I got some really good pictures of a few years ago. It's cool to see how much she's grown.

I mentioned bear spray yesterday and a lot of people don't know what that it. I guess it sounds funny, but basically it's a non-lethal form of pepper spray like law enforcement uses, but much stronger. It's found all over here in stores. In fact, one of the leading manufactures, Counter Assault, is made right here in Kalispell. Rick used to work next door to their factory. If you visit their website, you'll see a pretty impressive list of customers who use this product. I don't remember how much it costs exactly, but I think it's around $15-$20 for a canister, depending on what size you get. We have two of them right now. We take them on hikes and when we're kayaking. A lot of times we'll kayak out to a remote section of land, so it's pretty important to have the spray. We don't go way into the backcountry, obviously, not with two little boys. But we still see enough bears that we feel the importance of carrying it and keeping it in the house. The Counter Assault website has a really interesting and informative video here.

A lot of times in bear country you'll see bells in stores. People think the bells make enough noise to startle bears when you're coming close. The fact is, bears can't hear that high of a pitch or sound, so the bells are basically worthless. The stores still sell them and people joke and call them bear dinner bells. Making noise by talking is much more effective in alerting a bear of your presence than a tiny "ding, ding, ding" sound. When we were in Grand Teton recently, we stopped at a new visitor center and watched a 20-minute video on the park. There was one part of the film where the rangers were talking about finding a dead animal and how bears will defend it if you come across it. There must have been 4 rangers around this dead elk, along with the camera crew. I didn't notice it at first, but Rick pointed out that they all had bear spray in their hands. It wasn't hanging on their hip, or in a pack -- they each had a canister, open and ready to go, right in their hands as they inspected the carcass. That's with at least 5 people, if not more, standing around. If that many professionals do that, then you know approaching a carcass in bear country is dangerous as hell! This is it ...


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Some MT flowers ...


A few days ago Rick and I took a hike up the hill behind our house. We live on a small mountain and we're at the end of a dead-end road. Our backyard basically goes straight up into the forest. It's not very "usable" when it comes to landscaping or doing much with, but it's fun to hike up. They're are developing to the left aways, but if we go straight or right, it's still undeveloped. That's not to say it won't be eventually. It's fun to hike up there, but it's kind of freaky too because there's literally no one around. It's not like hiking on a trail where you're bound to run into someone sooner or later. I'm sure it's where all the bears live, so we're always on guard when we go up there, and we carry bear spray. Anyway, I went up hoping to find some flowers to photograph. I guess it's still early because the flowers down our road are starting to bloom more, whereas they haven't at our house yet. I did get a few flower pictures though ...

The picture on the top is called Harsh Paintbrush. I thought it was Indian Paintbrush at first, but those are pinkish in color. Harsh Paintbrush was used as a dye for American Indians. My wildflowers book says they were also used for decoration, as a component for a game, as well as drinking the nectar. The yellow flowers below are called Nine-Leaf Bisquit-Root. This flower was collected by Meriweather Clark in 1806, who stated that the American Indians used to bake or roast the root.



This other yellow flower pictured below is a Mountain Arnica. Or at least I think it is, according to my book. It says some American Indians cherished this flower for it's love charm (whatever that means) and also for it's medicinal value of healing bruises and swelling. I think I've seen Arnica in stores where vitamins and herbal supplements are sold. It's used for healing sprains, sore muscles, and strained joints. I took a few other pictures of the area and flowers, but I'll save those for another time.



Don't forget about my coloring contest for Lemur Troops & Critter Groups. I'm running it until June 22nd, so there's still time to enter. I have a few drawings coming in by mail, so if you can't scan yours, let me know and I can give you an address. Click on the book title above to go to the contest and I hope to see yours soon!

Monday, June 14, 2010

The Marshmallow Man!


Run, run, run, as fast as you can.
You can't catch me, I'm the Marshmallow Man!

I'm happy to announce that my third picture book, The Marshmallow Man is now available! What a pleasant surprise to come home to after being on vacation. The Marshmallow Man is a retelling of the classic story, The Gingerbread Man, but with all new characters and a new, twisted ending. I came up with the idea after doing a week-long study of The Gingerbread Man with my boys in school. We had read several different versions of the story and did all sorts of projects relating to it. With my boy's help, The Marshmallow Man was born! You can get the book at ...


You can also order the book from any bookstore with the ISBN numbers. Just look on my website for those. I hope to have a link to some activities on my site shortly. I still haven't seen the book in person yet, but I hope to soon. I can't wait to see it. Stephen Macquignon did an incredible job illustrating the story. The last page just cracks me up! If you would like to watch the book trailer, you can see it here ...

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Grand Teton National Park


We made it back from Grand Teton yesterday. We left at 6:30am and got home around 4:30pm, so now we know it's a 10-hour drive to the park. We weren't sure about that before, since the last time we went to GTNP was in 2003 and we came up from CA. Now that we know we can drive it in a day, we'll probably go more often. Our first night was spent in West Yellowstone, Montana, which is just on the outskirts of the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park. I had Internet there, but it sucked. I think I made one update on Facebook and then finally gave up. The next morning we drove through YNP and stopped at the Old Faithful area. It was raining, so we just looked around in the inn and had lunch in our trailer. We had hoped to take a bike ride there, but that didn't happen because of the rain.

We got into our campsite in Grand Teton later that afternoon. People told us it had been raining for 6 days straight. Some hadn't even seen the Tetons yet because of the clouds. I was expecting it to rain the entire time we were there, but we lucked out. That afternoon there was a break and the sun came out for a bit, so we jumped at the chance of getting the kayaks in Jackson Lake. It's the biggest lake in the park and not necessarily the one we wanted to kayak in, but we took advantage of the break and went in. The next day the weather was even nicer, so we took the boats down into String Lake. Then we wanted to go into Leigh Lake, which is only open to hand-powered boats. You can't get to Leigh Lake by car. There's a portage between String and Leigh, so we had to get our boats out and walk. We have big tandum kayaks and they weigh about 80 pounds each. It was tough, but worth it. Leigh Lake is pretty big and it was incredible kayaking at the base of Mount Moran. The weather really agreed with us that day. We got in the boats around 10am, got out for lunch, and then got back in. I think we finally pulled them out around 4pm. I thought my arms were going to fall off -- dang.

There was a chance of rain the following day, but it didn't begin until the evening. So that day we took advantage of the weather and went on a 4-mile hike around Heron Pond. It was so pretty in there. We were hoping to spot a black Gray Wolf, who has been seen a lot in the area. He's injured so the rangers think he might have been kicked from his pack. However, we didn't see him while we were in there. It sure was a pretty hike through the woods though, with views of ponds and lakes all around us. Thursday we heard it was going to rain the most, so we had planned on going to a new Visitor Center that wasn't there the last time we went. On our way down, there was a break in the clouds and we got some great views of the Tetons. We also stopped at Cunningham's Cabin, which ironically, we'd never been to before in all our previous trips. That was fun. I got some cool shots of the cabin along with some of a mountain blue bird that was fluttering around. Then we went to the new Visitor Center down in Moose, which was really cool because it's all interactive. After that, we had lunch in our car. We had hoped the weather would hold out for a bike ride, but there was a good thunderstorm going on. There's a brand new bike path between Moose and Jenny Lake, so we really hoped to go on that. But with all the lightning, we decided against it. We'll go on it next time for sure.

We didn't see any bears this trip, but we came across a bear jam that was just breaking up. I knew it was a bear because there were 4 rangers on scene. They usually don't show up like that for other animals. We did see a lot of wildlife though. Rick & I were walking on a trail by Jackson Lake when a huge moose walked right out in front of me. We followed her through the trail and then watched her munch on grass by a picnic area. After we had left, that was when the break came and we took the boats out on the lake. When we pulled our boats out, she was back by our van munching away, so we had to wait for awhile before we could get the kayaks back up on the van. We waited and waited. Finally, we just took our chances and got them up. She didn't seem to care. We also saw bison, deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, a yellow-bellied marmot, a coyote, bald eagles, osprey, Peregrine falcons, squirrels, chipmunks, and about a million different kinds of birds. On our way home I saw a little red fox running through some grass. So cute!

I put some of my pictures onto a slide show, so I hope you enjoy seeing them. You might want to click refresh so it starts from the beginning. I think my favorite, of all of them, is of the mountain blue bird on the fence post. That was taken near Cunningham's Cabin. Like I said, we really lucked out with the weather. Some people we had spoken to had been there a week and hadn't even been able to see the Teton range because it had been raining so much. We had lots of breaks in the weather and it was never really cold. Then I heard it was supposed to snow there today, so we lucked out. I can't believe it had been so long since we were there last. Oh, and the boys also became Junior Rangers while we were there, so that was fun. Now that we know it's only a 10-hour drive, I'm sure we'll go back more often. Grand Teton is my favorite of all the parks I've seen -- I already want to go back!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

GTNP here we come!


By this time tomorrow, we should be settling in near the west entrance of Yellowstone. Then on Monday we'll drive through Yellowstone down to Grand Teton, where we'll stay 4 nights. Out of all the parks I've been to, GTNP is my favorite. It looks like we might have some rain, and possibly snow, but that's fine with me. I love the place so much and we haven't been there since 2003. We spent the day getting our travel trailer packed up. It's all hooked up to the van and we have the bikes and kayaks, if weather permits. I think we're leaving pretty early. The boys are really excited. It's too bad the girls won't be joining us, but they're both busy with work.

We'll be taking along two friends with us -- Mr. Sole Monkey and Dilly. Check out Mr. Sole Monkey's blog for more information on him. We're currently hosting him and are really excited that he's going to join us on our trip. I'm hoping to get lots of photos for his blog. As for Dilly, he's coming along too, so if you're a member of his fan page on Facebook, check there for updates. If you'd like to join his page, it's listed under A New Job for Dilly on Facebook. Anyway, I know we have Internet access in West Yellowstone, but not sure about GTNP. I'll keep you posted.

Friday, June 4, 2010

A little bit of orange ...


I just edited yesterday's post. It wasn't a Baltimore Oriole, like Nathan had said it was. I'd like to say my bird boy is losing his bird touch, but he was so close. I looked them up and we don't have those birds here. What we do have are Black-Headed Grosbeaks and that's what he saw yesterday. They look almost identical, but if you look at the Oriole, it has a much thinner beak. I guess that's why they call these grosbeaks because their bills are so thick. The picture is a little blurry, but that's because I took it from inside the house and my windows need cleaning.

Speaking of windows, this silly bird just flew up to the French doors in my bedroom. He hovered at the glass for a few seconds, bopped into it a few times, and then flew off. He's done it twice so far. I'm not sure what he's thinking. Either he sees his reflection and thinks he's fighting with another bird, or he wants to come in for a cup of coffee. One or the other. I was hoping he'd do it again so I could get a picture.

I have good news about my third picture book, The Marshmallow Man. The proof is done at the printers, so it's just a matter of however long it takes them to print the copies up. My publisher said it looks adorable, so I can't wait to see it. I'm not sure when 4RV Publishing, LLC will have it up on their site for pre-orders. I will be getting a few copies myself, so if you're interested in getting a signed one for me, let me know. I won't have many, but the book will also be available through 4RV, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and of course, available to order at any bookstore. All you need is the ISBN number to order it, which I will put up on my website as soon as I get it. In the meantime, if you'd like to watch the book trailer, here it is ...

Thursday, June 3, 2010

More Grosbeaks ...


Here's another picture of an Evening Grosbeak. I think there are four of them hanging around now and what appears to be some juveniles. The colors on the males are stunning. They also have a cool sound. You can click here if you want to listen to it. The Evening Grosbeaks are members of the finch family and don't seem to mind the tiny House Finches eating from the feeder with them. Between those two birds and the Dark-Eyed Juncos and Red-Breasted Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers -- my feeder is hopping right now. I should build a tiny air traffic control tower, since they keep whacking into my windows. We also had some Black-Headed Grosbeaks today, but I didn't get any pictures of them. Pretty birds with black and orange feathers.

Don't forget about my Lemur Troops & Critter Groups Coloring Contest. It's posted just a few entries below this one. I know Nikki got her first entry on her contest today, which was done by a four-year-old and was absolutely adorable. The contest runs until June 22nd, so please let your kids know about it. It's open to kids 10 & under. Thanks!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Long, lost photo projects ...


Well, it's about time! I'm usually good at keeping up with photo projects. For some reason, these 3 had slipped on the back burner for a long time. I'm not talking a month or two. I'm talking years. The first one (above) was something I bought when we moved into this house. I had decorated my master bathroom with big cat things and I saw this little picture holder at TJMaxx. We moved into this house in 2006 and now it's 2010. Let's not do the math, okay? Anyway, I've been wanting to put some pictures of CJ and Belle on it, but I wanted to laminate them first because I had the holder next to my tub. I can't even blame it on not having laminating sheets because I bought those years ago. So, all this time, the little leopard has been sitting there pictureless and collecting dust. Not any longer -- yay me.


This next project goes back to Christmas 2006. I believe Rick gave me these little coasters for Christmas that year. I love anything I can put pictures in, but for whatever reason, the box got put into a cabinet and was on my neglectied to-do list. It wasn't until something like 6 months ago that I found them and took them downstairs, where the box sat under the desk collection dust. As I looked at the coasters, I saw they were square and that my book covers would look cool in them. I finally got them done -- yay me.


This last picture is of a picture frame jewelry box that you hang on the wall. Rick and the kids gave it to me Christmas 2008. I know, I know -- what kind of slug am I! It sat behind a table forever and then I moved into in my room where it sat until Monday. I decided to fill it with pictures of CJ and Belle as well. Now it's hanging on my bedroom wall, waiting for me to put some jewelry in it. I wonder how long that will take! However, it has pictures in it finally and it's up on my wall -- yay me.

So, I think I'm set for now. The only other thing I can think of that I've been meaning to do is my photo keychain. Right now it has Christmas pictures on it, so I want to change those. Well, that and my digital photo frame in my room, because I need to update the disk in there again. But all the same, I got three projects finished, so -- yay me.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Coloring Contest!


Starting today and ending June 22nd, I am having a coloring contest for my picture book, Lemur Troops & Critter Groups. The contest is open to children 10 and under. All you have to do is download and print the PDF below. The first page has the directions and the second page is the one for your child to color. Nikki Shoemaker, the illustrator, was so kind to give me a black & white copy of one of the illustrations from the book. I believe she'll be having a contest too, so hopefully between us, we can get lots of kids to participate. Kids can use crayons, markers, paint -- whatever they like!

For my contest, I will choose one winner for a special prize. I would also like to include some of the artwork on my blog, either as stills or a slideshow. As an incentive, every child who enters will be put into another drawing for a chance to win a copy of the second book in the Critter Series -- Stork Musters & Critter Clusters. All you have to do is scan your child's picture and email it back to me. If for some reason you can't scan it, please contact me for a way to mail it in. Complete contest details are on the file below. Thanks in advance and I hope your children enter and have fun!