Rena Jones

My new book ...

2012-01-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed this picture on the right side of my blog. This is my newest picture book and it's now available through Lulu Enterprises. MOUNTAIN GOATS are KIDS like YOU! is a nonfiction picture book for kids ages 4-8 years. There are many ways mountain goats are like little children, including the fact that they're both called KIDS. In this book, kids will discover just how similar they are to baby mountain goats. The book features over 20 full-color photographs of mountain goats that I have taken inside Glacier National Park.

I decided to put this book out myself, as I already have several other books on a waiting list with my publisher. I designed and formatted this book myself and was really pleased when received a copy of it. It's very well put together, beautifully bound, and the color and images turned out extremely well. If you have a little one in your life, this would be a fun book to share with them. From what I've witnessed when visiting Glacier, children love seeing the mountain goats, especially the babies.

To watch the trailer for the book, please click on the link below ...

MOUNTAIN GOATS are KIDS like YOU!

Flax Cookies

2012-01-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

FLAX COOKIES

1-1/2 cups flaxmeal (I used golden flaxmeal)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons margarine
1/2 cup sweetener (I used Splenda with Fiber)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flaxmeal, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat margarine and sweetener until blended. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well. Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and blend well. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheet. (I use parchment paper). Press down with tines of a fork. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Makes 24 one-inch cookies.

These cookies are really good. They're about 80 calories for two cookies and pretty much 0 carbs. If you like yours a little sweeter, you might add 3/4 cup sweetener instead. To me, flax is already pretty sweet. These remind me a lot of oatmeal cookies without the high carbohydrates. Raisins would make them really good, but those are way too high carb for me right now.

A Long Wiggly Drama

2012-01-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

Unless you're from Australia or have little kids, you probably don't know about the uproar regarding The Wiggles. Several days ago they announced that Sam Moran, the yellow Wiggle, would be leaving. They were replacing him with the original yellow Wiggle, Greg Page. Greg became ill five years ago and had to give up the position. Sam's contract was coming to an end, and when they found out Greg was doing better and managing his condition, they asked him to come back. We were thrilled to hear this, to say the least.

Well, this has caused a major uproar in their fan base. For one, the guys gave an interview explaining the situation and many people felt the blue Wiggle, Anthony Field came off as sounding uncaring and insensitive about Sam leaving. The fans are upset that Sam didn't get a better farewell. Actually, they seem to be upset over just about everything you can imagine -- from Sam not being given a better farewell, to how much money they're giving him, to who is better -- Sam or Greg. The fans are ticked off, to say the least, and it's gotten to a point where they're insulting the entire cast. I've seen insults about their ages, them being creepy, their talents, their appearances (hair, teeth, you name it), even attacks on their little children.

It's been absolutely mind-boggling how these people are so upset over this. Many are saying The Wiggles are banned in their homes, how they won't spend anymore money on concerts, DVDs, or merchandise. Others have said they've destroyed all their kid's Wiggles stuff and threw it in the trash. One comment today said they were burning theirs. Other parents have been callous to their children saying things like, "The Wiggles sacked Sam!" or "Anthony doesn't like Sam, so he kicked Sam out." Then they have the gall to say their kid cried for an hour. It's crazy! They keep saying how "un-Australian" it was the way they've treated Sam, and yet, it appears to me that they're doing it themselves. Just the fact that they're punishing their children is appalling. I mean, seriously -- who are these people?

I've gotten into a few heated discussions on The Wiggles' Facebook page recently. I'm trying to understand where they're coming from. One lady last night told me, "We're upset because it should have been handled differently." I replied, "Maybe it should have been, but it wasn't. Isn't it water under the bridge?" I swear, there is no compassion, no forgiveness, or any understanding with these irate people. Perhaps it wasn't handled correctly. People make mistakes. People should be forgiven. And, I'm not even saying they made a mistake. I'm just blown away by this. If these irate people's children make a mistake, do they get this upset? Do they burn all their kid's toys because they're ticked off? Again -- who are these people?

Some of you might know my boys and I are Wiggles fans. We went to our first concert around 2003. Neil wasn't even a year old yet. My girls are a lot older and went through the Barney phase. By the time the boys came around, The Wiggles were just hitting it big in America. Nathan and Neil loved their clips in between shows on the Disney Channel. This was way before they even had a television show. Well, we got involved by going to concerts. I started hanging out on The Wiggles Message Board, which we refer to as WMB. So, over the past 9+ years, a lot of friendships have been made. I've met many of these people in person. Our kids have seen concerts together and played together. Some of them I chat online with nearly every day. It's all because of a kid's group. I have over 100 friends online because of The Wiggles. And yes, I've spent a lot of money on The Wiggles, but there is absolutely NO PRICE I can put on those friendships -- none.

So, when I see these so-called fans acting all lunatic-like, I'm blown away. The Wiggles have given up so much to entertain people's children. They tour 8 months of the year and are away from their families. They leave their homes every Christmas morning to visit sick kids in the hospital. They do meet & greets before every show and meet with terminally ill children. They're ambassadors and spokespeople for more organizations I can even list. Anthony just became a spokesperson for an organization that deals with childhood food allergies. These people do so much and give up a lot. And now, they make what some people think is a terrible mistake, and everyone dumps on them. Burn all the toys! Cut up all the DVDs! The Wiggles are banned in this house! Shame on you, Wiggles! And trust me -- I'm not even saying all the bad stuff they've said, including some pretty nasty names.

Real fans don't do this. A few years back they were switching to a new website and planned on charging a fee because it would feature high-tech games, videos, etc. Well, they said the message board would be part of that. Some of us, myself included, got pretty upset over this. How dare they? All they think about is money! Blah, blah, blah ... and yeah, I was a part of that. I never, however, bashed them as individuals. I simply couldn't afford to pay for a message board, so I moved on. Sure, I was upset because it was the WMB that kept me in contact with other adults. It was an outlet for me, and it just happened to be related to something that my boys loved. So, to have that taken away was disappointing. I finally joined Facebook. I remember one of the first comments I got on my wall. It was my good friend Julie who said, "Yay! Rena's here!" So, all of us loony Wiggles fans moved to Facebook and all was good again. I don't think it was but a few weeks later The Wiggles followed suit. If you can't beat them, join them! About time guys!

Thinking back and remembering the frustration, I do understand how some of these newer fans feel. But, it's NO excuse to be so hateful and vindictive. I can't help but view them as some angry mob running around with pitchforks and torches. It's one thing to be upset. It's another to take it to such a disgusting extreme to where you're insulting them on a personal level. And to take it out on their kids is just cruel. Now they've resorted to attacking the boardies, which is what we refer to those of us who were on the WMB. They've ran out of insults for The Wiggles, so now they're attacking us. I saw one comment last night from some man saying The Wiggles didn't care about their fans. Then this morning another left a snarky comment about The Wiggles taking credit for all the nursery rhyme songs they've recorded.

Little do they know -- Anthony came to us on the WMB and asked what we thought our kids would like. This was about the time Greg left and Sam was taking over. Anthony asked us for suggestions on what to do next. Not because they ran out of ideas, but because he cared about what the kids liked. I think I suggested camping and the circus -- go figure. Wiggles fans will understand that one {snort}. However, it was a boardie in the UK named Louise, who went by the user name of Henrysmum, who suggested nursery rhymes. Anthony came back to the board and asked us what we thought, and we all agreed it was a great idea. So, the nursery rhymes DVD came out, right about the time Sam was just getting involved. And they say The Wiggles don't care about their fans? These are the same people who rave how Sam saved The Wiggles and how great it is to see their kids dancing and singing to the nursery rhymes. Ummm ... yeah ... you're welcome.

So, to sum this horribly long rant up, I guess that's why I'm upset about how these people are treating this band. They've done so much, not only for me, but for thousands of people around the world. After following someone for almost 10 years, you start to think of them as friends, or even family. To see them attacked like this is heartbreaking. It makes you want to defend or protect them, just as you would your children. As for Sam, we've always loved him. We've been around long enough to see he's an extremely talented young man who is capable of wearing many hats. We've seen him as a Wiggly Red Coat Dancer, as Captain Feathersword, as Greg's understudy, as a singer of the Manzillas, and as the Yellow Wiggle. And now, he can move forward and concentrate on his solo CD, his musical talents (he's trained in opera), as well as spend more time with his lovely family. And at the same time, we're excited to see Greg is back and wiggling. Even though my boys are past the wiggling age, they're thrilled Greg is coming back.

And finally, what is going on The Wiggles' Facebook page right now is appalling. That's not what The Wiggles are about. It's about the picture below. It's about children having fun. As you can see, Neil and his little girl friends are dancing. They could care less Murray is on stage right behind them playing his guitar. They don't care if Sam is wearing the yellow skivvy, or if Greg is. They're kids. They're having fun. That's what it's about. That's what it has ALWAYS been about.

Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day!

2012-01-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Hey, I know what you're thinking ... "Good grief, Rena, you are so weird!" If anyone knows how true that is, it would be me. Some people hate squirrels and see them as pests who destroy their homes or gardens. I happen to adore them. I see them as adorable, little furry creatures who are a constant source of entertainment -- not to mention my cat. All I have to do is say, "Squirrey!" and Denny gets all buggy-eyed and starts looking out the window. And no, that's not a typo. I do say it more like, "SQUIRR-REEE!" So yeah, the whole Rena, you are so weird thing fits -- like a glove.

Squirrel Appreciation Day is always January 21st. Check out the link if you don't believe me. I posted a picture on Facebook yesterday of my poor birdfeeder. I'd forgotten to take it inside and we got nearly a foot of snow in a 24-hour period. I just asked Rick to dump it off and add new seed to it. He was already outside in the snow, whereas I'm sitting here in my Las Vegas jammies. So, Squirrey has fresh seeds out there today, providing he can tromp over all the snow to get to the feeder.

So, how about you -- love squirrels, or hate them?

Fat To Skinny ... Fast and Easy!

2012-01-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

I finally got this book earlier in the week. I've been wanting to get it since it came out last month, but with it being Christmastime, it got put on the backburner. For those who don't know, this is the book that introduced me to low-carb eating. One day Rick came home with the first edition of the book (same cover, but yellow background) and asked if I would read it. Of course, I stomped my foot and whined because I was trying to lose weight by eating less. That obviously wasn't working for me, so I reluctantly read the book. Rick and I both agreed to try low-carb eating for one month -- just ONE month. If it didn't work, we'd go back to what we were doing before, which basically, was being unsuccessful.

I kind of had a feeling it would work. After all, most diets I've ever tried in the past worked for me. The problem was that they were diets and I never stuck with them to keep up the results. Little did I know how quickly Fat To Skinny would work. In that one month, Rick lost over 30 pounds. I think I lost 20 that first month. By six months, I had lost 52 pounds. There was no question about it -- Fat To Skinny worked -- and it was Fast and Easy. I've continued to lose 68 pounds. I still have a few more to lose to be at my goal, but even if I don't, I'm very comfortable at where I am. I deliberately set my goal weight 5 pounds less than where I wanted to be, just to give me some leeway.

I've been able to maintain my weight this past year. Fat To Skinny is a lifestyle change. When people think of eat low-carb, they usually think of giving up bread, cereal, fruit, chocolate, and everything else that makes life worth living for. You don't have to. There's a replacement for just about everything. I eat bread nearly everyday. The only difference is that I make it out of flaxmeal or almond flour. I eat just as much chocolate as I did before, except now I eat sugar-free. Yesterday I had French toast for breakfast. This afternoon I had a chocolate brownie, drenched in chocolate syrup, and topped with a big pile of freshly whipped cream. Doesn't sound like a diet to me. It might not be your thing, but it works for me, and I plan to stick with it.

The book is available at most bookstores and online. If you're interested in losing weight and willing to make a change in your eating lifestyle, then I'm sure this will work for you. And even if you don't want to make those changes, check out the book anyway because I'm featured in the front section. Well, me and a whole bunch of other great people who have had success with the Fat To Skinny program.

Thanks, Doug!

My short-lived gymnast days ...

2012-01-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

I was going through some old albums and scanning pictures today when I came across these. Back in my early teens, I used to take gymnastics. I was pretty serious about it. My mom would drive me a half hour away from home two times a week for a two hour lesson, and then again on weekends for a longer lesson. As much as I loved the sport, I wasn't all that good at it. Some things I loved, like floor and balance beam. As you can see, I was long and skinny, so those suited me well. When it came to vault and bars, I sucked because I never had much upper body strength. I also suffered from extremely painful bunions on both feet, which really messed me up with the sport. It was fun while it lasted. I only wish I could have stuck with it longer.

What sport, if any, did you enjoy when you were younger?

It's Penguin Week!

2012-01-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

Well, it is at our house, anyway. Friday is National Penguin Awareness Day, so I thought it would be fun for the boys to do penguin crafts this week. They made these simple construction paper ones yesterday. You might notice that their bellies are made of notebook paper. That's because every Thursday I have the boys write a simple poem relating to the theme of the week. Tomorrow they'll do their poems and then add them onto the bellies of the penguins. Today they're making penguins from paper plates. The paint is still drying, so they're not finished yet.

Nathan said he wanted to read some Tacky the Penguin books, so he'll do that tomorrow. Those are hilarious. We only have a few of them (maybe four), but I'd love to get the others someday. We might also watch Surf's Up and Happy Feet in honor of the little black and white birds. We have that other documentary film about penguins -- March of the Penguins -- so maybe we can fit that in as well, although it is a little slow. It's been snowing here all day, so the penguin theme fits in well. I think my favorite penguin is that little one from Looney Tunes. Do you remember him? He's the one that follows Bugs Bunny around, always crying ice cubes. He's so adorable.

How about you -- do you have a favorite penguin character?

Dilly and his Friends ...

2012-01-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

Photographs like this really make my day. A friend of mine posted this picture on my Facebook page the other day. It just made me grin from ear to ear. Little Kaitlyn recently went through oral surgery and had something like six teeth extracted. As she was recovering, she decided to read A New Job for Dilly to some of her baby dolls. How totally cute is that!

If you have any of my books, I would love to see a photograph of your child reading them. Please let me know if it would be okay to post it on my blog, website, or Facebook page. I love seeing these pictures so much.

Also, there is a sequel to this book. A New Friend for Dilly came out last year and is just as cute as the first. In this one, Dilly searches from A to Z looking for a friend that's perfect for him. There are twenty-six different animals features in the book, so he's bound to find someone. Who will it be?

Silly kitty ...

2012-01-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

The other morning Rick picked Denny up and sat him on the bed. I was barely awake at the time. He meowed twice and it sounded just like he said, "MaMa!" Of course, Rick can't let that go. He just had to go downstairs for something and told Denny, "Stay here with MaMa!" Seriously, it brings a tear to my eye. My little boy is growing up and learning to talk. SNIFF!

A brownie kind of day ...

2012-01-15T22:38:00.001-07:00

Some days you just need something chocolate. I guess for me, that's most days, if not everyday. I made these brownies this afternoon. The hard part was waiting until after dinner to have one. I survived -- barely. These are low-sugar, low-carb brownies, so they're okay for me to eat. If you'd like the recipe, you can find them on the Fat To Skinny message board, listed as Tyler's Low-Sugar Brownies. Tomorrow I might have one with whipped cream and sugar-free chocolate sauce drizzled on top. And to think -- I'm back on a losing streak as far as my weight-loss goes. Imagine that. Mmm ...

How do you see yourself?

2012-01-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

I recently read an article about the modeling industry saying a size 6 is now considered plus-size. I was blown away by that. I've always considered a size 18 and up more in the range of plus-size. Boy, was I way off or what! I posted about this on my Facebook page and some of my friends had pretty good responses. I even put up a picture of myself when I was a size 7/8 and quite thin. By the modeling industry standards, I guess I'd be considered obese.

It was pretty depressing to read that some people think a size 6 is plus-size. I've worked my tail off to lose 68 pounds this past year. I'm no where near a size 6 either. In fact, I can't even remember when I was a size 6. Perhaps when I was in 6th or 7th grade. I'm 5'8" tall, by the way. My goal isn't to be a super model or a size 6, but I am working on getting closer to a 9/10. I guess my chances of becoming a super model are shot to hell ... HA! Part of me -- the sick, demented part of me -- would love to get down to a size 6 just so I could take a picture of how sickly I'd look, and then send it to someone in the industry. I think if I got down to that size I'd look like I was dead.

Then yesterday I went to register on the Atkins website because they're offering 3 free snack bars if you sign up for their starter's kit. I follow Fat To Skinny, not so much Atkins, but free bars are free bars! In order to do that, I had to fill in some information, including weight and height. I was pleasantly surprised to see my BMI listed in the NORMAL range. The modeling industry might think I'm fat and plus-sized, but the Atkins site made me remember there are a few sane people left on this planet.

I've always loved this image with the cat looking in the mirror and seeing himself as a lion. It's been a favorite of mine for years. What we see in the mirror isn't always what other people see. How I see myself in the mirror is not how I see myself in photos. I had Neil take a full body shot of me yesterday, just to see where I was at, and I was mortified. I looked much heavier in the picture than what I see in the mirror. That's just doesn't seem right, but I guess if anything, it makes this cat/lion image even more true.

Millions of Cats

2012-01-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Twice a week I have the boys pick out a book from our home library to read aloud. Sometimes they pick easy books, like picture books, and other times they pick something longer and more complex. Today Nathan read us Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag. The story was written in 1928 and won a Newbery Honor award the following year.

It's a cute story about an elderly couple who are very lonely. The wife sends her husband out to get her a cat. He travels to a hillside that is covered in "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats". He has a hard time choosing just one because they're all so pretty, so he eventually comes home with "hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats". Things get ugly, as you can imagine, because they can't afford to keep them all. After asking the cats which is the prettiest, a fight breaks out until there is only one cat left.

Did you know Millions of Cats is the oldest picture book still in print? According to Wikipedia, it is, which I think is pretty darn cool. How I would LOVE for one of my picture books to still be in print some 84+ years from now. What an awesome accomplishment for Wanda Gag. We enjoyed listening to Nathan read this story today. After all, I can kind of relate ...

My book -- ENCROACHED

2012-01-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

I received a copy of my book, ENCROACHED today. Before anyone freaks out and asks, "What? When? How? Where?" -- this is just one copy I had printed up using Lulu Enterprises. It's a print-on-demand company. I was really pleased with the quality of how the book was printed. I did all the layout and design myself, as well as the cover design.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this story yet. I've submitted it to some agents, but not extensively. The publisher of my other books, 4RV Publishing, LLC already has two of my middle grade novels coming out, as well as two more picture books. I haven't decided if I'm going to offer this one on my own, or wait and see if someone will publish it. For now, I simply wanted a print copy to read myself and to have my family read.

ENCROACHED

When two girls decide to camp alone in the Montana wilderness --

they risk becoming breakfast for a family of hungry grizzlies.

Middle grade novel for kids ages 9-12 years

Easy, low-carb cookies ...

2012-01-09T11:30:00.004-07:00

I make these cookies a lot because they are low-carb. Normally, they're called Beanit Butter Cookies because they use Dixie Diner's Beanit Butter instead of peanut butter. It's made with soybeans instead of peanuts, so not only is it zero carb, but it's also allergy safe. The only way to get Beanit Butter is to order it online though, and that's a pain for me sometimes. There's another brand called I.M. Healthy 1-Carb Soynut Butter, which is what I used for this batch. I altered the original recipe and added unsweetened cocoa powder. These cookies are super easy to make, and a great low-carb snack or dessert.

CHOCOLATE SOYNUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 egg
1/2 cup Splenda with fiber (or Xylitol or your favorite sweetener)
1 cup I.M. Healthy 1-Carb Soynut Butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, beat egg. Add Splenda (or your favorite sweetener) and mix well. Add soynut butter, baking powder, and unsweetened cocoa. Mix well. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet. Press down with tines of a fork. Bake for 8 minutes. Makes 24 cookies. Refrigerate for best results.

NOTE: This is a recipe from the Fat To Skinny program I follow. I've cut this recipe in half here, so if you want a larger batch of cookies, just double what I've posted. Also, the original doesn't call for unsweetened cocoa powder, so you can make plain ones if you prefer. I also bake mine on parchment paper and they slide perfectly on the rack to cool. You can also make them with regular peanut butter, but the idea here is for a low-carb cookie. I make mine pretty small, about an inch in size, and they're less than a half carb each.

The King's Tea

2012-01-08T11:03:00.001-07:00

I came across this old book at a thrift store yesterday. It's a hardcover and it reminded me of the books I got in a summer book club as a kid. This one however, was first published in 1979, so it couldn't have been part of the club I was in, which had to been a few years earlier. I looked this book up on Amazon and found mostly later publications available. One 1979 edition is going for $44, but it's also signed by the author. Mine is from the same year, but it's not signed. The Salvation Army would have had this book for a quarter, but I paid 50-cents for it at the other thrift store.

The King's Tea was originally published the The Dial Press for the Weekly Reader Children's Book Club in 1979. It was written and illustrated by Trinka Hakes Noble. Basically, it's a story about a king who sits down to find his tea isn't perfect, so he blames his steward for the sour milk, before storming away. The steward blames the cook, who then blames the kitchen girl. The blame game goes on and on and on -- all the way down to the cow who gave the milk. Then surprisingly, even the cow gets in the game, blaming the flowers, who then blame the weather. It's obviously a blame game story where no one wants to take the responsibility for ruining the King's tea.

It's a cute picture book. The illustrations remind me a lot of The Sheep of the Lal Bagh, which I've blogged about before. As soon as I saw the cover of The King's Tea, I immediately thought of that other book. Anyway, for some reason, I'm drawn to these older picture books.

Got cookies?

2012-01-07T19:00:00.001-07:00

For the past few years, I've really wanted to get one of those three tiered stands that put cookies and candies on. The ones I'm talking about are sort of like this. I often see them in movies around Christmas. I've seen them in stores too, but it's just not something I've ever bought for myself. So, I thought I'd keep my eye out for one at the local thrift stores. I figured I probably wouldn't find one right now with Christmas having just passed, but I still decided to look for one anyway.

Today I came across this three tiered plate stand. I could use this one all year long. The picture up top shows it with my everyday dishes. Yes, they are Winnie-The-Pooh, in case you're wondering. The picture below shows it with my Christmas plates. So, I thought this would be more versatile than getting the other style with the plates already attached.

It did cost me $6 at the Salvation Army, which I thought was on the high side. Considering it still had its original price tag, I figured it had never been used. Target sells them for around $10, so I guess I still saved some money. Now all I need are three plates filled with cookies and candies. HA!

Happy Three Kings Day!

2012-01-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

Or, if you prefer ... Happy Epiphany. January 6th is the day when Western Christians celebrate the Magi, or three kings, visited Jesus. Eastern Christians use the day to celebrate Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River. I'm neither Catholic nor Greek Orthodox, so I don't want to butcher the day saying anything more because I really don't know much else about it.

I do know the boys and I made this cool Three Kings banner last year during school. As I hung it up again this Christmas, I still kicked myself for gluing that middle king up higher. Looking at it now, I should have done it the opposite way and had him lower so I could have included a star above him. Duh. I think next year I'll get a big felt or foam yellow star and glue it at the top of the rope. That should do the trick.

I know a lot of people leave up their Christmas decorations until today. We took ours down last weekend. I do, however, keep two of my Nativities out year round. One is a banner and the other is a plate I found at a thrift store. I like the Nativity plate because it's in the living room. Right across the way in the dining area is a similar plaque of The Last Supper. So, I keep both up to represent Jesus' first day on earth and His last day on earth.

Happy National Bird Day!

2012-01-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

Today is National Bird Day. I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this before. Click on the link if you want to go to their website. You'll find a lot of interesting things, including how the day got started, what you can do to help birds, events, and other fun activities. There's even a photo contest where you can win a pair of binoculars, a new bird feeder, or copies of the film, The Big Year. I've been wanting to see that. It stars Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, so you know it has to be funny. The deadline for the photo contest is January 31st, so I better dig through my pictures and see if I took anything worth entering. You can enter up to three pictures.

For school this week, the boys are doing crafts that relate to New Years. Yesterday it was a project we found online called New Year's Peace Doves. Well, as you can see, our doves look anything but peaceful. We started off with good intentions of making pretty, white doves, but then we got a little crazy with the feathers. They were super easy to make though, which is always a plus for my boys. They love crafting, but seem to enjoy it even more when it's simple. So anyway, if you have a little one who wants to celebrate National Bird Day, you might want to make a dove. Of course, you don't have to make a Funky Dove like we did with wild and crazy feathers. I'll probably add string to ours today and hang them in the classroom.

Speaking of birds ... our weather certainly has been for the birds lately. I mean, literally! We've gotten snow here and there, but for the most part, it's been a really unusual winter. I looked at the forecast and it looks like we're due for another week and a half of partially sunny weather with temps in the high 30s and low 40s. I've never seen a winter like this since moving to Montana. It's so strange not to have a least a foot and a half of snow by now. Normally, it starts snowing around November and we don't see the ground until around April. That hasn't been the case this year. Right now it's windy, which explains my headache. It's still dark outside, but as soon as it's light, I'll put out some fresh birdseed for the birds. We still have a lot of birds that don't migrate south like black-capped chickadees, red-breasted nuthatches, and dark-eyed juncos. I've been seeing a lot of downy woodpeckers and northern flickers hanging around the house, too. They're regulars even when we have the nastiest of winters.

So anyway, I hope everyone enjoys National Bird Day. If you can, leave a little snack out for your local birds, or try to snap a photograph or two of some that you see. I'm so blessed to live in an area with so many amazing birds. I've lived here over five years and it still blows me away to see bald eagles flying over me when I'm just on a trip to the grocery store. I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing them ... I certainly hope not.

The One Day Way

2012-01-02T19:13:00.002-07:00

I came across this book the other day at the Salvation Army. As soon as I saw it, I snatched it up like a kid in the candy store. I've been wanting to read it for almost two years. It's a hard cover and I paid 50 cents for the book. You can't beat a bargain like that, although I was totally willing to dish out the $20 for a new copy once I had some extra money. This one just happened to come along first, so I couldn't resist not getting it.

There are several cool things about this. One, Chantel Hobbs is an amazing woman. I don't know her well other than from her books and posts on Facebook. She seems like a fun person. Two, since this book is used, the previous owner highlighted some major factors. She also filled the borders with notes. Now normally, I wouldn't want a book that was written in. I have to admit, I didn't look at it enough to see the notes before I bought it. I was just tickled to find it after wanting it for so long. Once I got it home and looked through the notes, it became even more interesting. Not only did I get Chantel's story, but I also got a little insight of what was important to the previous owner. So, in a weird sort of way, that was kind of interesting.

The book is called The One Day Way and it was first published in 2009. Chantel Hobbs lost over 200 pounds and has kept the weight off for over ten or eleven years now. She looks amazing. Her first book was Never Say Diet, which is basically where she tells her own personal story. I read that book a couple of years ago and it was one of those life changing moments for me. I knew I had to do something to get serious about losing weight and getting myself back in shape. Her book did that for me. It totally motivated me to get serious about doing something. Although I lost my weight going low-carb, which is not something Hobbs pushes, her first book still had a huge impact. This one did also. While many others were out celebrating the dawn of 2012, I sat in bed reading this book. I couldn't put it down.

Basically, in a nutshell, the focus of the book is dealing with today. It's not about setting long-term goals, which are often too hard to reach. It's about focusing on today. It's not about stressing over what you did yesterday. Yesterday is over and done with. It's not about worrying what tomorrow might bring. Chantel encourages people to break big goals into bite-sized pieces. She wants you to celebrate little successes everyday, whether it's not eating those cookies, or just taking the time to go for a walk. Instead of giving up your favorite treat -- let's say ice cream -- Chantel encourages you change gradually. Instead of eating it every night like you usually do, just give it up one night a week. Little changes ... bite-sized changes = success.

If you get a chance to read any of Chantel's books, I'd highly recommend you do. I'd also recommend you read Never Say Diet first, simply because her story is in there. She goes into it a little in The One Day Way, but not as much. I think the first chapter of Never Say Diet is online, probably on Amazon. That's what got me to order the book in the first place. There are so many fantastic lines in The One Day Way that I can't possibly include them all, but I do want to leave you with this ...

"Most people refuse to live in the present. They're either stuck in regrets about their past or consumed with worry about the future -- or both! As a result they don't live for the moment. Their emotions are tied up elsewhere. They have nothing left to give to living their life today! Tomorrow is a new day, but worrying about it can steal today's potential for celebration. Likewise, you need to let go of yesterday. Worrying about what happened a week ago (and continuing to beat yourself up over it) does nothing to help you build the life you desire. You don't have to live that way. You can change your life!"

Chantel Hobbs (The One Day Way)

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a happy and safe New Year's holiday weekend. I spent the night just like any other night. It's never been a big holiday for me to celebrate. Rick worked in law enforcement so many years, and it was usually one of the nights he would always end up working. I'm not much of a party animal anyway. I rang 2012 in bed reading a book on health and weight-loss. Actually, I read the whole book in just about two hours. I couldn't put it down -- New Year's Eve or not. I'll post about the book tomorrow.

Rick and I spent today taking down our Christmas decorations. That took over six hours. I guess that's not too bad, considering it usually takes us two days to set everything up. The boys spent the day playing. They've been in serious-play-mode ever since Christmas. Isn't it funny how kids are all over you when it's time to get the Christmas decorations set up, but then they're no where to be found when it's time to take them down? All the same, Rick and I managed and everything is packed up and put away.

Denny seemed a little sad to see his Christmas tree go. He loved it when we first set it up, but then couldn't spend much time under it once the presents started appearing. This past week he's enjoyed napping under it again. Now it's all gone. Poor baby. I guess he'll survive. He's been sleeping on Nicole's bed all day. I know a lot of people love getting their Christmas stuff put away after the holidays -- not me. I think the house looks so bare right now. It feels like the month of December goes by so quickly and that I barely have time to really enjoy having everything out. I have like a million Nativities, and if I had my way, I'd leave them out all year. Oh well, there's always next year.

I decided my resolution for 2012 would be to finally reach my goal weight. I'm at a comfortable weight now and I feel pretty good where I am, but I would like to hit that goal. When I started the low-carb program, I deliberately set my goal weight at five pounds less than where I thought I should be. I've been hovering a little over that, so I would like to get to the goal and see how well I can maintain it there. So, that's my biggest resolution for the New Year. I would also like to really get myself fit. I haven't been super fit since my early teens when I was in gymnastics. Early parenthood kind of drains a lot from a person, so I really let myself go for a long time. So, this year I'd like to get myself in really good shape -- like turn myself into one of those exercise freaks I used to roll my eyes at. Now all I have to do is make it happen ...

New toy ...

2011-12-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

This is the newest addition to our family room, which by the looks of it, is soon to become a home gym. I'm seriously thinking of charging admission or membership fees. Between this, the recumbent bike, the TreadClimber, and all the hand weights, it's starting to look like the YMCA. Or, at the very least, someone else's house! God knows I've never been into exercising much, except for when I was a kid and in gymnastics.

The Total Gym is kind of Rick and my Christmas present. We're just hoping we can keep up with the monthly payments. Maybe we can stop eating for awhile. It got here on Wednesday, but when Rick went to try it out, something wasn't working right. He pretty much flipped out and spent the night tossing and turning -- keeping me awake in the process. By morning, he had contacted them and they said they'd ship a new one, but it wouldn't be for 2-3 more weeks because they were swamped with orders. The lady suggested we try to use it in the meantime, if possible.

Well, you know how Rick is, and he couldn't let it rest until he figured out what was wrong. Turns out they installed something wrong and he was able to fix it himself. He came upstairs last night, all proud of himself, begging me to look at what the problem was. It bummed him out when I didn't want to actually see all the details in what was wrong and how he fixed it. As long as it was fixed -- that was good enough for me.

We both went through the basic work-out last night. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I only had a hard time with pull-up type things where I had to lie on my back and pull my arms down. Those were tough because I don't have good upper body strength. I never have, which was one thing that made gymnastics hard for me. I managed through them all okay, but those were the toughest. I'm not too sore either. I mostly only feel it in my triceps, which is one area all my other exercising hasn't reached. So hopefully, this will be a nice addition to what I've already been doing.

What's on your reading list?

2011-12-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

My stack of books to-read is getting bigger and bigger. I got a few new ones for Christmas. Neil gave me The Story of Brutus by Casey Anderson. I've seen Brutus the bear at his sanctuary near Bozeman, but have yet to meet Casey in person, other than talking to him via Facebook. Rick gave me The Snow Angel by Glenn Beck. I know a lot of people despise him, but I enjoy listening to what he has to say. His other book, The Christmas Sweater was really, really good, so I'm hoping this one is also. Neither of those books are political, by the way, but fiction. Montana Women Homesteaders was given to me by Denny. He's such a cool cat and knows exactly what I like.

The other books I'm either reading or want to start reading soon. I found Thyroid Power at a Borders store when they were closing down. I have hypothyroidism, so I hope this book helps me learn a little more about that. A History of Pirates I got at a used bookstore the other day. I had exchanged some books for store credit, so that was one of the free ones I got back. I started it last night and I think it's going to be pretty interesting. Pirates were so brutal, and it's fascinating to see all of the politics involved regarding the different countries. I bought Do Not Feed The Bears when we went to Yellowstone awhile back, but sadly, I haven't made time to start it yet. Speaking Ill of the Dead is Nicole's book, but I'm slowly reading it.

It's a crazy pile of books for me. I just need to pick ONE and concentrate on finishing it. It seems I'm doing more writing than reading these days, which really isn't a bad thing when I stop to think about it.

So, how about you -- what's in your to-read pile?

Christmas Faint Cake?

2011-12-27T13:12:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. Ours was quiet, but nice. I still have all the decorations up, and I'm not sure when I'll feel up to taking everything down. It seems a lot of people have already done that, but I guess I'm in no rush. It feels like we just got everything set up. Where did December go?

This is a picture of our cake we had for Christmas dinner. Neil asked if I could bake a cake instead of doing the usual pie for dessert. Neil never asks for anything specific to eat, so I really wanted to make it for him. He asked for chocolate cake with white frosting, tinted green. He loves M&Ms, so I figured those would be perfect for ornaments. Neil is my pickiest eater, by the way, so I wanted to make something special for him.

As I was decorating it, I became really light-headed, so I stopped and pulled up a chair. A few minutes later, I knew I was going down. I got up and went to my room and barely made it to my bed before collapsing. Everything went dark for a second. A few minutes later, I felt fine. Nichelle came in and asked if I was okay and said I looked kind of pale. I have no idea what happened. Maybe not enough sleep? It was really weird. Anyway, Nichelle saved the day and finished Neil's Christmas cake -- yay for Nichelle!

The Christmas Cheapies

2011-12-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

My girls and I went shopping yesterday and stopped at the Salvation Army on our way home. I found a couple of Little Golden Books and the second book in the Indian in the Cupboard series. On our way to the register, I saw this Nativity. It's about 7-8 inches tall, so it's pretty good sized. The tag said $2.50 and I figured that was decent, so I grabbed it for my collection. What I didn't realize was that all Christmas items were 75% off. So, this Nativity cost me a whopping 62 cents! It's kind of tacky, but that's what I like about it.

The girls and I also went to a used bookstore. I had a bag of old curriculum books and a few books that I had duplicates of, so I turned those in for store credit. The owner gave me $15 credit, so between the girls and I, we managed to walk out with another bag filled with books without having to pay anything. That was pretty cool. I found more Little Golden Books, one of the Eat This, Not That books, and a book on the history of pirates. Nichelle and Nicole both got books also, and it didn't cost us a cent.

Now that's Christmas shopping at its finest!

To market, to market ...

2011-12-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Rick, the boys, and I took a drive down to Safeway to pick up a few things before Christmas. I had my little Olympus camera with me and had fun snapping some pictures while we were driving. Normally, we do most of our shopping in Kalispell, which is about 20 miles north of where we live. This particular time we went south to the town of Polson. We drove along Flathead Lake, which is a little over 30 miles in length.

The sunset was gorgeous over the lake last night, so we stopped at Yellow Bay State Park to take a few pictures. The picture of the crawdad was taken there, but sadly, the poor thing was dead. I had to laugh when I looked at my pictures. It's just not something most people see on their everyday, average trip to the grocery store, especially not where I originally came from.

SF Chocolate Peppermints

2011-12-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year -- time for cookies, cakes, pies, candies, and all that good stuff that makes us want to start a diet on New Year's Day. I decided to try something new and came up with these sugar-free chocolate candies. They are only about 55 calories each and have 0.7 net carbs per serving. That's not too bad, considering I eat low-carb.

SUGAR-FREE CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINTS

4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
3/4 cup Xylitol
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
sugar-free candy cane, crushed

Place sugar-free candy cane (or sugar-free Starlight mints) into a plastic baggie, and crush with a rolling pin or wooden spoon. In a double boiler, melt chocolate over medium heat until smooth. Stir in Xylitol and mix well. Add heavy whipping cream, and stir until chocolate is smooth. Remove from heat. Add peppermint extract to the mixture. Drop by teaspoon into mini baking cups. Top with crushed candy cane. Refrigerate two hours or until set. Keep refrigerated for best results. Makes about 22-24 candies.

Edit, edit, edit ... grrr, grrr, grrr!

2011-12-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

If I don't dream about this bear tonight, I will be very surprised. I've been working on editing one of my middle grade novels pretty much non-stop since Friday evening. It's taken up nearly all of my time. I think my eyeballs are going to fall out. Line edits are tough. It's amazing how you can read something over and over and over, and yet, still not see an obvious error. It doesn't even have to be a spelling error. Sometimes it's something as simple as a space, a comma, or have a quotation mark go the wrong way. It makes me want to pull my hair out. I think I'm almost done ... I think, I think!

The reason I posted this picture is because this is my bear story. It's titled ENCROACHED and it is about a bear encounter. I've been playing around with the idea of self-publishing a copy of the book on Lulu. Has anyone used them before? I haven't decided if I'm going to actually self-publish the book yet. Right now I just want to get it to a certain stage and then have one copy printed up. I think seeing it will help me decide. My other two middle grade stories are both under contract, but I'm not sure when they'll be released. ENCROACHED is my newest one. I haven't submitted it much. I've been playing around with the idea of getting a copy for myself to see how it looks. Maybe by seeing it, I can get a better feel if it's a route I want to take. The picture is what I have planned for the cover. Creepy, huh?

While I've been at it, I've also looked at other books that are for sale on Lulu. Some are decent looking, but others are absolutely horrible. I couldn't believe a few of the samples of some picture books I saw. It really made me realize how much I've learned since I started writing. I wrote my first picture book eight years ago, but I've only really been involved in it seriously for about six years. Even so, some of the samples of self-published books I've looked at are horrible. I couldn't believe people had them up for sale. It also made me realize just how hard of a job editors, publishers, and agents have. I can't imagine doing what they do and having to deal with extremely poor work. I'm not saying all the books I saw were bad. There's lots of good stuff up there, too. If anything, it makes me appreciate what they do a whole lot more!

ARRRR you nuts?

2011-12-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

In addition to Nativity scenes, I also collect nutcrackers. However, like my Nativities, I don't collect super fancy or expensive ones. Stuff like that wouldn't fit in at my house anyway, so it's just as well. I've been collecting nutcrackers for ten years now, but I only add one new one each year.

The one pictured above is the newest. Rick and the boys gave it to me the other day. They know how much I love pirates. Well, I don't really love pirates in that sense of the word, although Johnny Depp doesn't make it easy. It's more of a fascination, especially the Golden Age of Piracy.

Below is a picture of the nutcrackers we have so far. Every Christmas we put them on top of a shelf that holds CDs and DVDs. It's getting crowded now, so I might have to find a new place next year. As you can see, we now have two pirate nutcrackers. The fourth one from the right is more of a Captain Jack Sparrow one. The one on the right of him is a Hawaiian one. That was the year Nichelle did her missionary work and spent some time in Maui.

Nutcrackers have been around since the 15th century. Originally, they were made strong enough to crack open nuts, unlike the ones we find today that are for decorative purposes only. Of course, the ones I have are the cheap type you find at Target for $10 or so. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to collect a Steinbach nutcracker ... or two ... or three.

Christmas Vacation Begins!

2011-12-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

Well, our last day of school was Friday, so we're officially on our Christmas vacation now. I think it really sunk in this morning for the boys, rather than over the weekend. Neil came into my bedroom this morning all smiles and said, "No school today!" Anyway, this picture is of a figure I keep with my Nativities. Santa and the Christ Child is a pretty famous story and figure, but mine is pretty small, not to mention inexpensive. I was mostly playing around with the lights on the tree and trying to see if they'd show up. That was hard because they were blinking.

In other news ... it feels like winter has skipped northwestern Montana for now. We've had some snow here and there, but not nearly as much as we usually have this time of year. I see snow in our yard, but it's all melted off the deck, which is weird. There is snow on the forecast, but it doesn't look like much. And, it looks like a lot of it will come after Christmas. I'm curious if we'll have our first Non-White Christmas this year. That will be really odd.

The past few days I've been editing one of my middle grade novels, so that's taken up most of my time since we let out of school. The story is called ENCROACHED. It's about two young girls who venture out alone to camp in the Montana wilderness. I've read the story so many times that my eyes are acting all funky. It's amazing how you can read something over and over, and still find a typo or error somewhere down the line.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Nutty Little Elves

2011-12-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

All this week the boys have been doing Santa & Elf crafts for school. They've made some pretty cute things like a Santa magnet made from a wooden spoon and some elves made from wooden beads. Yesterday their project was called Nutty Little Elves. I saw it on Family Fun and thought they looked cute and pretty easy to make. The directions are on the link.

The idea was to make them like the one up top -- just a simple, little elf made from a peanut with pipecleaner limbs. The elf pictured above is one I made. I sometimes make crafts along with them just to make sure they're going to work or to help them if we come across any problems. Anyway, the project was to make one little elf. As you can see from the bottom picture, things got a little crazy. Nathan made these three elves and then designed a snow scene for them to stand on. The little dude on the left is slipping in the snow.

Neil went nuts -- literally -- and made about four or five different characters, including one dog. I can't post a picture of his because I think he put them in his room. He really enjoyed it and wants me to buy more peanuts so he can make even more characters. He said when he grows up that he's going to make a whole world of peanut people. Well ... at least he has a goal.

Candy Cane Cookies

2011-12-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

I finally got some Candy Cane Cookies baked. These are always fun to do. I couldn't believe it though because when I went to get the peppermint extract, I had half of what I needed for the recipe. I added a few drops of water and shook that around in the bottle to make up for the difference. It worked though and they are way pepperminty enough. Seriously -- who runs out of peppermint extract? Sheesh. So, I guess MY batch of sugar-flour-free ones will have to wait until I get more extract. Oh well ... sigh.

The recipe is from Family Fun Magazine, which you can find here.

The Little Christmas Elf

2011-12-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

If you're interested in adding a new picture book to your collection this year, check out The Little Christmas Elf. Written by Nikki Shannon Smith and illustrated by Susan Mitchell, this Little Golden Book is a delightful story. Nina, the smallest elf in Santa's workshop, doesn't finish the teddy bear she's been making in time to be loaded onto Santa's sleigh. He encourages her to not give up, so she works late into the night to finish it, even after Santa has left to deliver presents. Finally, her teddy bear is complete, just in time for Santa to return in need of one more present. It's an adorable story and a must have for any LGB fan or collector.

Nikki is a friend of mine via Facebook and she's just as sweet as her book. I was surprised to learn that The Little Christmas Elf was her first published work. Getting in with Little Golden Books isn't easy and she explained that she had been at a writer's convention over a year ago where she had her manuscript critiqued. She had almost given up on it when she received an email from an editor at LGB asking if it was still available.

Success stories like Nikki's are encouraging to me as a writer of picture books. In addition, I'm also a huge fan of Little Golden Books. When I found out Nikki's book was going to be published by LGBs, I knew I'd have to add it to my collection. For me, having a book published by them would be a dream come true, just as it is for Nikki. Dreaming wildly for a moment -- I could totally see my first story, Manny the Mountain Goat as a Little Golden Book. Who knows -- maybe that dream might come true sometime. You can find The Little Christmas Elf at any bookstore. I found mine at Walmart.

Holiday Baking

2011-12-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

What are some of your favorite holiday goodies that you like to bake? We recently made gingerbread men as a school project. It's always fun for the kids, but the cookies usually come out pretty non-traditional looking, as you can see. We had skeleton gingerbread men, several Harry Potter ones, even one with cat ears. Not your run of the mill gingerbread men, in other words. Everyone eats them though, so they never stick around too long.

We also make sugar cookies this time of year, but we'll probably be doing that later next week as it gets closer to Christmas. After the gingerbread man fiasco, I need to stock back up on ingredients. I'm thinking of making some Candy Cane Cookies today. The kids like those. And if I'm feeling really adventurous, I might try to make some sugar-free ones for myself using soy flour instead of regular flour to help cut down on some of the carbs. Last night Rick made a batch of peanut brittle, which turned out really good. My all-time favorite Christmas treat is Divinity, but I haven't figured out how to make a low-carb, sugar-free version of that yet.

How about you -- do you do much baking this time of year?

Critters of Montana Calendar

2011-12-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

Critters of Montana 2012 Calendar by RenaJean

Yesterday I received an order I placed from Zazzle. I designed two different calendars for family members for Christmas. I was really surprised how well they turned out. I don't know why because everything I've gotten from Zazzle has been very high quality. I hope my family members enjoy the calendars. I ordered the largest size with the photo and month on the same page. They turned out really nice.

The calendar pictured here is one I have for sale in my Zazzle store, although it's different than the ones I made for my family. This one features photographs of animals I've taken since moving to Montana. The animals included are bears, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, owls, moose, squirrels, deer, chipmunks, pronghorn antelope, and elk. It's designed for 2012, but I have the customize option left open if anyone wants to make changes.

Calendars make great gifts for Christmas. I hope I can make others for more of my family members next year. The quick service and quality of Zazzle has impressed me every single time.

Christmas Bokeh

2011-12-09T22:18:00.001-07:00

I'm on a homeschool message board and one of the forums there is for photography lovers. Each week there's a fun assignment -- like photograph a favorite Christmas ornament, show an example of unusual lighting, seasonal pictures, and so forth. Well, right now the assignment is Christmas Bokeh. I've never really played around with bokeh shots much. In all honesty, I'm a point-n-shoot type photographer. Heck, most of the time I take my wildlife pictures from INSIDE my house!

However, I thought it would be fun to see if I could get any bokeh shots with my simple, little camera. If you don't know what bokeh is, click here. Bokeh is Japanese for blur or haze. Basically, from what I can tell, it's when you photograph something and there's a blurred effect in the out of focus area of the picture. At least that's what I think it is. The link is from Wiki, but it gives you a better idea than how I could explain it.

I've been playing around with my camera and came up with a few images. It's not too hard with Christmas lights strung all over the place, so I imagine it would be more challenging without them. If anything, it will give me something to work on. I'd like to give it a try with Rick's camera and lenses. So, as you can see, I've been playing around with some pictures. Nothing says Christmas than a Captain Jack Sparrow nutcracker, huh? Or how about Obi Wan with presents stuck on his light sabre? At least it's festive, and hey, I even managed to get some blurred effects in there, too.

Freebies are nice!

2011-12-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

I got this in the mail yesterday. I used to eat LUNA bars a lot before I went low-carb. I still get their emails and newsletters. Every now and then they offer free samples if you're willing to take the time to fill out a simple form. I've gotten quite a few from them so far -- one even included a free tote bag. This time it was just for a Chocolate Peppermint Stick bar. I don't eat them anymore, but my girls might, so I went ahead and filled out the form. Imagine my surprise to get the lip balm in the same flavor -- now that I can use!

How about you -- do you get any interesting freebies?

Frustrating ...

2011-12-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

For the past few hours, I've been wondering if I should even write this post. Sometimes it's better to just let things be, but sometimes it's hard. No one likes having salt rubbed into their wounds. But, having said that ...

I lost a friend on Facebook today over a sarcastic status I wrote. It was tongue-in-cheek and I didn't mean for it to be taken the wrong way. I simply said, "Is it bad that I snicker at the thought of the USPS having lay-offs?" The first person who responded laughed and said yes, so I quickly added more to explain that I have family who works for the postal service. In other words -- it was a JOKE -- not that I was wishing it on any person.

My snide remark was about the ladies who work for the post office where I live. Now, they've always been nice to me, so I've never had a problem. However, every single time my husband or daughters go in, those ladies are mean to them. If you knew my girls, you'd know how quiet and polite they are, so they don't do anything to instigate this. We have never figured out why they treat them so poorly. By that, I mean they are rude, short-tempered, condescending and often try to belittle them for doing something wrong. It's gotten so bad that they despise having to mail a package. Rick would rather I cut off his arm than make him go in. It's not just my family either. I've witnessed them acting this way with other customers as well.

So, I made a sarcastic comment. Some laughed, some said they have the same experience, and others said their post office is great. One person, however, said I was being mean, especially in this economy. Just as I was getting ready to reply to her directly, I noticed she had unfriended me. Seriously? Over something like that? I guess I'm too sensitive, so I sent her an email apologizing that I offended her. She never replied back.

Mind you, she wasn't a close friend. Actually, I didn't know her all that well. However, she is a writer and like many others, I like supporting their writing efforts just as they support mine. Obviously, she was upset and wanted nothing more to do with me. Now, I've unfriended people too, and probably more just recently. When I do, it's usually because they're posting something very hateful -- like hatred over the police. I know not everyone likes the cops, but I come from a law enforcement family.

I consider myself pretty tolerant when it comes to most things. Many of my online friends use Facebook as a political soapbox, which is fine. Nine times out of ten I probably don't agree with what's posted, but again, that's fine. If something is especially offensive, I have the option of not reading it, or even hiding it if I want. But if something is truly upsetting me -- like a lot of these anti-police videos and stories going around -- I might go to the extreme of unfriending someone. But that's a big might. Friends can still disagree.

I know I'm way too sensitive. I deleted the thread because I didn't want to upset anyone else. I wasn't saying I wished the lay-offs would happen. It was just a snarky comment in light of the mean ladies my family has to deal with. I don't think it was worth losing a friend over, but she obviously felt so. If I unfriended everyone who posted something I didn't like -- I'd be in the negative! People post pictures of abused animals, domestic violence victims, profanity, crude humor, erotic materials. I try to let most of those slide, and if I don't like them, I hide them. When it comes to hate -- like a video pleading with wives and children of law enforcement officers to take their weapons away so they can't beat up on the OWS people -- that's not my cup of tea. I don't hate anyone, but maybe I'm just not as tolerate of people like that. Unless you're in law enforcement, it's really hard to understand.

You know, I don't know why I let this bother me. This particular person has posted a lot of anti-police articles and I didn't flip out over them. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I guess what it boils down to is that my friendship to her wasn't worth that one catty remark. And if you think about it, that's really kind of sad.

We have a winner!

2011-12-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

Actually, we have TWO winners! I decided to choose two since I made everyone wait an extra day. I apologize for not announcing the winner yesterday like I said I would. I ended up spending most of the day out of the house and couldn't get to doing my blog. So, I decided to pick TWO names instead of just one. The boys drew names from a bowl and the winners are ...

C.R. Evers and Angie Townsend

Congratulations! Please email me a mailing address so I can get your books to you. Also, if you would like it signed, please let me know and to whom you want the book addressed to. Thanks so much to everyone who entered. I really enjoyed reading about your favorite books as a child.

My favorite childhood book was The Sheep of the Lal Bagh. It was written by David Mark in 1967. It was one of the first books I got from a summer book club my mom signed me up for one year. I loved it and years later, I wanted to find it again, but couldn't remember the name. I finally did and bought an old copy online. Ironically, a few months back I was at the Salvation Army and found another copy for a quarter. Can't beat that, huh? Anyway, thanks again to everyone who took the time to enter and congratulations to Christy and Angela.

Clogs

2011-11-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture online today and it reminded me of a pair of clogs I got in the 1970s. Mine were a lot like these, but were more of a wine or burgundy color. I begged my mom to buy them because clogs were all the rage at the time. I bought them from a shop in the city of Solvang, California. That's a little danish town, just north of Santa Barbara. The store sold mostly imported clogs. I always loved seeing the gigantic, red clog they had sitting outside the shop. It's probably still there, too.

Of course, back in the 1970s, I had real issues with my feet and the clogs hurt them so bad. I could hardly ever wear them. I eventually had surgery on my feet, but by that point, I longer had the clogs. They can still be found today and in my different types of styles. The only clog-like shoes I have right now are Crocs. I know a lot of people hate those shoes, but when you have trouble with your feet, you wear what you can. However, I miss my old wooden clogs. I'd like to get another pair sometime. Clogs have a fascinating history behind them. Even Wiki has a lot on them -- click here.

So, how about you -- did you ever wear clogs or do you still?

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells ...

2011-11-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

Just for fun, the boys are doing Bell Week for school right now. It's nothing fancy and I just have five simple bell crafts lined up for them to make. Today they made these with mini-pony beads, a pipe cleaner, and a little jingle bell. The picture shows Nathan's, which is long and straight. Neil made his curvy and it looks like something Dr. Seuss would have created.

My boys love simple crafts -- the more simple, the better. That's especially true for Neil. He loves doing crafts, but doesn't do as well if there are a lot of steps or if it involves a lot of cutting, gluing, painting, and waiting for things to dry. He likes instant crafts. Hot glue is his friend. Sticking a jingle bell and a few pony beads onto a pipe cleaner is his idea of Craft Heaven.

We just got our Christmas tree set up last night, so now the house is in that horrible state of disarray with boxes scattered from one end to the other. So far, only the tree is up, so my next project will be the Nativities. I collect them and it usually takes me hours to set them all up. I've lost count how many I have. Maybe I'll count them this year.

I also collect Carol of the Bells songs, which I know is kind of a weird thing to collect, but I do. I have over 30 versions of the song and they're all very different from each other. Because there are thousands of versions of this song, I try to make sure the ones I add to my playlist are unique. If there is a new way to perform the song, I'm all over it. I have flutes, pianos, harps, bells, guitars, cellos, fiddles, orchestras, even dogs barking and babies babbling out the tune. It's always been my favorite Christmas song and considering it's Bell Week, it seems appropriate to start up my playlist.

Look at me ... I'm a Pilgrim!

2011-11-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

You might remember this little guy from one of my picture books. Yes, this is The Marshmallow Man. He was originally made on May 25, 2010 and currently lives in my wine rack. Considering he's a year and a half old, he's still looking pretty good. Oh sure, he has a few wrinkles, but don't we all. His skin might not be as soft as it used to be, but hey, no one's perfect. Despite his old age, he's still pretty much intact, except for a small crack in his bowtie. I guess they just don't make fruit rolls like they used to.

On Thanksgiving, the boys and I made Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats. I saw them in Family Fun and they looked super easy, so I thought they'd be fun to make for the holiday. All you do is melt some chocolate chips, dip a marshmallow into it, and then stick it on top of a chocolate shortbread cookie. After they've hardened up in the fridge, you simply add a buckle with yellow icing. The hats were a big hit at my house and they're going fast. We only have a handful left, which is why The Marshmallow Man wanted to get in on the fun. He's currently in the kitchen pretending to be a Pilgrim. The last I saw of him, he was digging through the container of leftover turkey. I don't have the heart to tell him Thanksgiving is over and I'm about to dig out the Christmas decorations. You never know -- maybe I'll come across some Christmasy-marshmallow project for him to enjoy next month.

If you don't have The Marshmallow Man and would like to get it, just click on his name. That takes you to my website, which then takes you to my publisher where you can order the book directly. It's also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million. Or, you can order it through any local bookstore. Just bring in the ISBN number and any bookseller will be able to order it. Also, check out my website because there are lots of activities for kids to do once they've read the book -- including making their very own Marshmallow Man!

Also, don't forget I'm having a drawing for a free copy of A New Job for Dilly. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment (two blog posts down from this one) and tell me what your favorite book was as a child and why you liked it. I'll pick a name randomly from a hat (or jar or whatever) and announce the winner on December 1st. Please feel free to enter even if you already have the book. You can give it as a gift or donate it to someone who might enjoy it. Thanks to all who've entered. If you haven't, there's still time!

Wrote a book ... knitted a scarf ... busy day.

2011-11-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

Earlier today on Facebook I said I wanted to accomplish three things -- write a picture book, knit a scarf, and exercise. Here it is, almost 8pm, and I've finally finished two of those things. I spent most of the day working on the story, which was a rhyming picture book about farm animals. It follows along two other stories I've written, so it was just a matter of coming up with the rhymes, not the concept. The scarf, which a few on Facebook said I wouldn't be able to do in a day, took me about half an hour. Yep -- if that even. To be totally honest, I CANNOT knit to save my life. Here's my secret ...

When I was a little girl in 1974, my mom got me a Mattel Knit Magic Machine for Christmas. I loved it, but never really made much with it. A few years back I saw one on eBay that was exactly the same as what I had as a kid and I just had to buy it. Even the copyright date is the same on the box. So, the little toy isn't the original one I owned as a kid, but it came from the same time period. I've knitted a bunch of skinny scarves on this silly little thing.

So -- there you have it. I'm not as talented as I want everyone to think I am. ;)

Want a FREE book?

2011-11-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

I have an extra copy of A NEW JOB FOR DILLY that I would like to give away. For those who don't know, Dilly is a little rat who loves sour pickles. He enjoys going through the alphabet when he's looking for something, which in this case, is a job so he can get pickles without stealing. However, Dilly is a little absent minded and tends to forget a letter every now and then.

I thought it would be fun to have a contest for a free copy. To be entered in the drawing, all you have to do is leave me a comment here on my blog between now and November 30th. Simply list one of your favorite books as a child and why you liked it. That's all you have to do. I'll pick a winner and post it on December 1st in order to get the book to you in time.

Please feel free to enter if you have the book already. It would make a perfect present for a child on your list this Christmas. You can't beat the price -- free. Don't forget that A NEW FRIEND FOR DILLY is also available now. 4RV Publishing, LLC is having a Christmas sale through December 5th and all of the books are available for a reduced price. Please check them out!

Another Turkey Craft

2011-11-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Many years ago the girls made these little turkey cups for each member of our family. They are from Family Fun magazine and you can find the directions here. They have them listed as Turkey Nut Holders, but we usually fill them with small candies, like Hershey's Kisses or candy corn.

As you can see, the originals had real feathers, but we used colored leaves. These are the same leaves the boys and I recently used for our Pinecone Turkeys. It's amazing how long a bag of fabric leaves can last. In our case, we've had this bag of leaves for close to ten years now.

Come to think of it, these would make great favors for a birthday party, especially if you were to paint the birds blue and glue on something to look like peacock feathers. Hmmm, something to keep in mind!

Thanksgiving Traditions

2011-11-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I've posted this picture before. If I didn't put it on my blog, I probably put it on Facebook. This was our Thanksgiving table last year. I've been going through photos and was surprised that the only ones I took last Thanksgiving were of the crafts the boys made. I hope to get more taken this year, especially because Nicole is coming home from college.

Do you decorate much for Thanksgiving, or do you get right into Christmas? I'm going to get my Thanksgiving decorations out today and get our table set up. As you can see, almost everything we have are crafts the kids have made over the years. I love it. I do have nice china and stemware, but I never use it for Thanksgiving. Instead, I splurge a few bucks on paper plates with turkeys on them because, quite frankly, those go perfect with all the fun crafts the kids have made. We usually start decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, so this stuff doesn't stay out too long.

Do you have any unique Thanksgiving traditions? On our table you can see a runner in the middle. Every year we take a permanent marker and write what we're thankful for and date it. It's getting pretty filled up and eventually we might have to start writing on the other side. I can't remember where I got the idea, but knowing me, it was probably from Family Fun magazine. They always have fantastic ideas for stuff like this. If you don't have any fun family traditions, you might want to check them out online. So, the table runner is one of our Thanksgiving traditions. It's fun to read it and see what everyone was thankful for over the years.

Pinecone Turkeys

2011-11-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some little pinecone turkeys the boys and I made today. Mind you, they look nothing like the ones we saw online, which were cute also. We had to improvise with what we had, but I think they turned out pretty good. Fortunately, I found some little pieces of wood to attach them to and then we used fabric leaves rather than feathers. Neil decided to make his standing upright, so that's his in the middle. Nathan's is on the right. I liked how they turned out and they'll be a fun addition to our Thanksgiving table, which is mostly kid's crafts.

I did, however, get a nasty burn from the hot glue gun today. I got a tiny bit of glue stuck to my left index finger and couldn't get it off very well. When I did, it blistered right up and now it's killing me. It's right where I type, so that's a pain. I'm usually really careful about the glue gun, so I don't know what happened today. And to make things worse, I have a story to edit, so I need to be typing. I'll live, but hopefully it will stop hurting soon.

The Girls & Half Dome

2011-11-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

I've been going through some photos and found this one of my girls taken in Yosemite National Park many years ago. I'm not sure of the actual year, but both girls are in their twenties now, if that gives you an idea. Have you ever been to Yosemite? It's absolutely beautiful there. When you go up high and look down over the valley, it just takes your breath away. Not many places do that for me -- the Grand Canyon is one and Yosemite is another. Grand Teton has the opposite effect on me. When I look up and see that mountain range for the first time -- gosh, it's simply breathtaking.

The only thing I didn't like about YNP were the crowds of people. Because it's so central in California, it gets a lot of visitors in the summer. The few times we were there it was jammed packed. I remember trying to get some pictures of the Upper & Lower Falls, but there were hundreds of people in the shot. I mean, they were literally everywhere, including scattered all over the rocks and such. Anyway, it's a great park and definitely in my top ten favorites of the NPs.

I love this picture of the girls. Even more so, I wish we still had those soft, plush Shamu hip packs. We got them at Sea World. I am pretty sure I had one as well, but for some stupid reason, I got rid of it. I don't think the girls still have theirs either. Sadly, I looked for them online recently, but came up empty. They were really cute, so I have no idea why we got rid of them.

Missy and her Kittens

2011-11-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

For the past three days I've been going through my photographs. You know how much I love taking pictures, so you can imagine what a chore this is. I have photos all over, including on two different computers, under different user names, as well as in albums and loose. I've had a box of loose pictures under my desk for the longest time, so I've been trying to sort those out.

I came across this picture above, but I'm not sure if I've posted it before. This was my cat, Missy. She was the first pet of my very own. I got her for my 5th birthday, if I'm remembering correctly. She was a great cat. This picture is of her first litter -- first of many, I might add. However, this particular litter was the most unique. I remember sitting with her when she was giving birth. Everytime I tried to go somewhere, she'd jump out of her box and follow me, so I ended up staying with her while she had her kittens.

The first was a male and was born with a tiny stub of a tail. He had a chubby face, so we named him Fat Face. He was my brother's favorite. The second kitten was born with a tail just slightly longer than the first, kind of half the length of a regular tail. She was my sister's favorite kitten and she named her Quail. The third was born with a full length tail and was obviously my favorite because the other two were taken. I named her Princess. Although they were all tabbies, they all had different length tails. It was the strangest litter and the only one like it that Missy had. I suppose because Missy was my very first pet of my own, she's the reason for my fascination and love of tabby cats. Many more followed, including CJ, Belle, and Denny.

How about you -- do you remember your first pet?

Got my glasses ...

2011-11-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

You can laugh -- I sure am because I think I look like an absolute dork. I've never worn glasses before. At least not on a regular basis. I've had some old reading glasses that I didn't wear as much as I should, but have found myself pulling them out more lately. This is going to be a huge change. I didn't realize just how bad my long distance vision is. It is really bad. It's just such a funny look for me. I'm not sure if I picked out the right frames. Originally, I had some little black ones picked out, but then the doctor talked me into these. They're more of a maroon color and he said they looked less harsh with my skin tone. Ugh. I don't know. I feel weird. Both boys go, "You look like a teacher now!" And what did I look like before?

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

2011-11-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe my little pirate is twelve today. He doesn't know it yet, but we have a Pirates of the Caribbean theme for his party tonight. His cake is supposed to be a pirate ship and according to the baker, she's been looking forward to making it for awhile. I'll post a picture tomorrow if it turns out. Nathan is excited that it's his birthday, but I think Neil is even more excited. Birthdays mean presents to Neil, so it's especially fun when it's his brother's and he can share all his new toys.

A few pictures ...

2011-11-05T19:52:00.000-06:00

We had to do some shopping in town today -- by that I mean Kalispell, which is about 20 miles away from where I live. I had my camera and on the way home I was in one of my take-pictures-while-we're-moving moods. Here are a couple that I got through my dirty window going about 70mph. If you look hard at the top picture of the field, there's a flock of geese flying by. The picture below was taken from a bridge and is of the Flathead River, which empties into Flathead Lake. I live about two miles from the lake. The sun looked pretty coming through the clouds, but these don't do it justice.

Check these out ...

2011-11-04T18:34:00.000-06:00

The other day my husband told me his mom had mailed us a package. He said she sent a bunch of old Highlights for Children magazines from the 1980s. He was in high school then, but his mom is a teacher and has received the magazine for years. At first I was a little irked because we already get the magazine and now I'd have to find a place to keep all these old issues. Rick goes, "Just let the boys read them and then toss them out when they're done." I didn't think much of it and walked by the stack of magazines for several days without even looking at them. But then ...

The other night I was flipping through the stack and saw one from 1969. Hello! There were three others from 1970, 1972, and 1973. Wow! Talk about getting my attention! So, I pulled those aside and took this picture of them. It's amazing how much is the same in these old issues, like the Timbertoes. These old issues have some great stuff in them, including sheet music.

I loved seeing all the little drawings kids sent in and was scanning to see if Rick or I had anything in there. I couldn't remember for sure sending anything in when I was a kid, but I did stuff like that a lot. I thought it would be fun to check out some of the names of the kids and see if I could locate them through Facebook or something. I mean, if I had a drawing published in a 1969 issue of Highlights, I would love for someone to show it to me if they came across it. Not sure if I'll go to the trouble yet, but it's a thought. Anyway, finding these super old issues in the stack was really a treat.

Nathan's Digital Drawings

2011-11-01T15:32:00.000-06:00

Here are a few of Nathan's drawings for the month of October. He did these on the program called Paint, so they're digital drawings. Click on them to see them in better detail. He loves drawing by hand, but seems to enjoy doing it on the computer just as much. Every since he first learned to draw, he's always had really great facial expressions on his characters. He's really good and I'd love to see him continue with this interest.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T18:50:00.000-06:00

Here are my boys as they were dressed up tonight. Neil is the werewolf and Nathan is the skeleton. Last year they were both skeletons, but Neil wanted to try something new. Also last year was the first time the boys ever dressed up as something scary. They have a bittersweet love/hate relationship with Halloween. They like dressing up and getting candy, but that's about it. They're not into scary stuff at all. Nathan is probably more interested in the skeletal system than he cares about scary skeletons. The same goes for his fascination with mummies. He's really into the whole ancient Egypt thing, but not so much the scary mummy stuff that is related to Halloween. Give him a book on bones or body parts and he's a happy kid!

I'm not sure about Neil's fascination with werewolves right now, but he loves wolves. Last year he really wanted to be a werewolf for Halloween, but the mask we found was a little too freakish for him. He didn't like that the mouth was open. This year we were looking at werewolf images online when a website came up for a paper mask. That's what Neil used for his costume. We printed it up on cardstock and then my daughter Nichelle assembled it. I was really surprised it lasted through trick-or-treating, but it did. He got a lot of comments on it. And for the cost of 5 pieces of cardstock -- it was a bargain. He decided to wear a pair of my gloves and I got the idea of using some press-on nails for claws. I remembered I had a box of them in my drawer, so I cut them into a point and stuck them on. No one could tell he was a werewolf with a French manicure. Werewolf Fancy Fingers -- hee!

I hope everyone has a Happy and safe Halloween!

Garnet -- A Ghost Town

2011-10-28T23:46:00.000-06:00

Rick had the day off work today, so we decided to take a field trip to an old ghost town in Garnet, Montana. Nichelle came with us, so that made it even more fun. Normally, you can go into the visitor center and into more of the buildings, but they just shut those down for the season. We were still able to see quite a lot. I was surprised there were so many people there today. By "so many" I mean we saw about 7 or 8 other people. Considering how far out this little town is, I was surprised to see anyone there on a Friday afternoon.

Above photo: Kelly's Saloon. The boom town of Garnet had one school, but sported thirteen saloons that offered "male-orientated" entertainment. Miners sure had their priorities. Perhaps the school was an "after thought" or a "necessity" from all that entertainment.

Above photo: JK Wells Hotel, which was built in the winter of 1897. In its heyday, the entry featured beautifully carved doors with stained glass windows and was the most impressive building in Garnet.

Above photo: Neil sitting in the outhouse of the JK Wells Hotel. I don't know anything about outhouses, so I thought it was odd how this one was actually a double with two separate rooms next to each other. Each room had two "seats" as well. I wonder why that was? Did people get lonely out there and needed company? One of my biggest pet peeves are people who use public restrooms and talk on their cell phones in stalls next to me. I guess back in the 1800s all they needed to do was turn their head to chat!

Above photo: Neil standing in the blacksmith's shop. He loved the huge bellows and thought it was cool how the ceiling was all charred.

Above photo: Neil and Nathan in one of the miner's cabins. Looks drafty!

Above photo: The stove in the "Honeymoon Cabin". This cabin was originally built by a miner living in Garnet, who later moved. The cabin was then used for honeymooners to live in rent-free. They could live there until another couple got married and needed a place to stay.

Above photo: The bed frame in the "Honeymoon Cabin". I found it very interesting how most of the miner's cabins not only had the stoves left inside, but the bed frames as well. Some just had the head and foot boards, but others had the springs as well. I guess when everyone left, things like stoves and bed frames were too heavy to take with them.

Above photo: Nathan, Neil, and Nichelle inside what was originally a nice cabin built between 1896 and 1900. It was later turned into a livery shed and was home to a stage coach.

Above photo: Just some weeds that were blowing all over the place. I thought they looked pretty. I'm not sure what they are, but you know me and know I'll be trying to find out their name soon.

Above photo: Neil and Nathan looking at one of the gold mines that was barred off for safety. I like this picture. I need bars like this at home.

Above photo: More of the unidentified weeds. I loved how fluffy they were. Fortunately, I didn't get any in my eyes this time.

Above photo: Neil and I looking goofy. We were on the one-mile walk through the mine area when we stopped to take this. Neil and I take a lot of pictures, so we get left behind a lot. While I was taking a picture of a dead squirrel, Neil was video taping it lying in the road. We make a good team!

Above photo: The road back down the mountain. The Tamarack trees have turned yellow finally, which is always an amazing thing to see. Before moving to Montana, I never knew there was a pine tree that actually changed color in the fall. These do and they look really pretty.

It was a fun trip and pretty educational for a field trip. Not only did the boys learn a little about Montana history, but also about what a "boom town" was, a little about gold mining, seeing all the old buildings, looking down the mines, and more. There's a lot of history in this little town, but I'm too tired to go into all of the details tonight. If you'd like to learn more, check out Garnet Ghost Town. I hear there are a lot of these places in Montana, so hopefully we can visit more of them sometime.

Who's Your Mummy?

2011-10-25T12:27:00.000-06:00

Nathan and Neil love reading about mummies, so this time of year is perfect to do some mummy crafts in school. We actually started Mummy Week last week, but things got a little off schedule when Nathan got sick on Monday and Neil came down with something Thursday and Friday. So, I decided to roll Mummy Week over onto this week to catch up with our crafts.

One project was to make a life-sized mummy. As you can see from the picture, we only got it to be about the size of a second grader, but that's okay. He still turned out pretty cool. If you're on my Facebook page, you've probably already seen Mr. Mummy looking out our classroom window. He's made from newpaper and then wrapped in toilet paper -- very high class crafting here. Our cat, Denny was scared of the mummy at first. As you can see from this picture, he doesn't seem to mind him now. In fact, a few minutes ago Denny walked up to Mr. Mummy and curled his tail around him, probably hoping for a back rub.

Today we're making Mummy Lollipops, so that should be fun. Maybe I'll post a picture of those if they turn out. Last week we made Mummy Magnets. We wrapped craft sticks with off-white colored yarn and added google eyes and a little bit of self-adhesive magnet to them. They were super simple, which is one things my boys really love, and turned out really cute. Here's a picture of them ...

They're here!

2011-10-21T09:31:00.002-06:00

I was so happy to receive my copies of A New Friend for Dilly yesterday. Due to money issues, I wasn't able to get a lot of copies, but I at least wanted some for all of my kids and my in-laws. I am so happy with how this book turned out. As some of you know, we had to change illustrators for this second book in the series. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. I am thrilled to say it works for A New Friend for Dilly!

Ginger Nielson has done an incredible job with the book. Not only did she keep Dilly looking like his original illustrator designed (Lisa Oakman), but she gave him the most incredible facial expressions, not to mention a cool, little hat! I'm so fortunate Ginger was able and willing to take this project on, especially because she had also agreed to illustrate the third book in my Critter series, Pony Strings & Critter Things, the next one to come out.

A New Job for Dilly, the first book in the series, featured Dilly searching through the alphabet to find the perfect job for himself. A New Friend for Dilly does the same thing with him searching A to Z to find the perfect friend. Just as the first book introduced 26 different jobs, the second one features 26 different animals. Can Dilly find the perfect friend for himself? You'll have to read the book to find out.

It is now available directly through my publisher at 4RV Publishing, LLC. Or, you can order it through any bookstore. Books make a great gift and with Christmas coming, now is a good time to start thinking about that. I will be adding more Dilly crafts and activities to my website soon, as well as to Dilly's own personal website -- DILLYLAND.

Tish ...

2011-10-15T22:18:00.001-06:00

Rick and I were watching a couple episodes of The Addams Family tonight. We have series one on DVD and haven't watched them in awhile. I always loved that show as a kid, along with The Munsters. I remember watching them back-to-back after school when I was younger. I always thought Morticia was such a classy lady, not to mention stunningly beautiful. She has the most amazing eyes. It's funny too because she has a name close to my mother-in-law -- Carolyn Jones. My MIL is Caroline Jones, which is close enough. I was reading about Carolyn Jones on Wiki tonight, just out of curiosity because I really didn't know much about her. I was surprised to see pictures of her with Elvis. I didn't realize she was in King Creole with him. Here's a picture of her with Elvis ... lucky lady.

Other films she starred in were Road to Bali, House of Wax, The Big Heat, East of Eden, The Seven Year Itch, The Tender Trap, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Man Who Knew Too Much, How The West Was Won, several Batman episodes, Roots, and a lot more. I had no idea she had done so many films. If you were to ask me, I would have only been able to name her work with The Addams Family, but she really only did that from 1964 to 1966. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Bachelor Party in 1957. She also received a Golden Globe nomination for one of the most promising actresses of 1959. Apparently, her career started to slow down after her work on The Addams Family, although she still continued to act. She was married four times. Sadly, she was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1981 and died in 1983 at the age of fifty-three.

But still ... she had amazing eyes ... like Betty Davis' eyes. Since I wasn't familiar with her work outside of The Addams Family, I went searching for a color picture of her. Her eyes were a pretty shade of blue.

Holy Flypaper, Batman!

2011-10-11T20:20:00.000-06:00

Yep ... it's Bat Week at our house! As you can see, the gang's all here. We have vampire bats, goofy bats, kissy lip bats, you name it. These are actually a special species of the unique flying mammals -- the elusive Construction Paper Clothespin Bats. They're very rare. These bats are not insectivores or frugivores like most other bats you might have heard about. These are Elmersgluvores -- a very sticky bat. It's a tacky job, but someone's gotta do it. Regardless, bats are interesting creatures. For example ...

There are two kinds of bats -- megabats & microbats.
Megabats eat mostly fruit.
Microbats eat mostly insects.
Although bats don't have good eyesight, they aren't totally blind.
Bats use echolocation to navigate and forage.
A bat's wing is much thinner than a bird's wing.
Bat poop is also known as guano.
Most bats drink water.
There are three types of vampire bats that drink blood.
A group of bats is called a colony.
Some colonies can have over a million bats in it.
Bats rarely fly in the rain because it messes their echolocation.
Three states have a state bat -- Texas, Oklahoma, and Virginia.

So, there you have it. Today it was Clothespin Bats and yesterday it was Thumbprint Bats, which were a lot of fun. I can't remember what tomorrow will bring, but I'm sure it will be batty. And if you think I made up the "Holy Flypaper, Batman!" saying, click here.

More cool book finds ...

2011-10-09T12:11:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Rick and I had some errands to do in town which included dropping some blankets off at the Salvation Army. As most of you know, I love digging through the children's books there, so I couldn't resist checking them out even though I had just been there a week ago. I ended up buying 28 children's books for about $6 -- not too shabby, huh? Eighteen of those were Little Golden Books and I even managed to come across a 1968 edition of Winnie-The-Pooh and Tigger. I also found a couple of early readers, two Franklin books, a book on Johnny Appleseed, and a book about how apples grow. Pretty cool for six bucks!

One book I found that I didn't have was Blueberries for Sal. I've seen it for as long as I can remember, but can you believe I've never read it? I stared at it in amazement wondering why I didn't have it in my collection or even had read it before. If I had read it, I don't remember. The book was written in 1948 by Robert McCloskey. It's a Caldecott Honor book and pretty much a classic when it comes to picture books. The edition I found was printed in 1976, so it's pretty old as well. I still can't believe I had never read it. Imagine that. A child picking blueberries with his mother who meet up with a bear eating blueberries with her cub. Geez, that's what my nightmares are made of.

Another book I found was this one picture above called The Fat Cat, A Danish Folktale. To be honest, I didn't even skim through the book before paying for it. I just tossed it in my pile thinking that Neil would like it because he loves cat books. OMG! Has anyone read this story? It's morbid, but hilarious! The cat goes around eating everyone he comes in contact with until he's as huge as pictured on the cover. He finally comes to a woodsman, who refuses to be eaten and hacks the cat open to free all the townsfolk. The last page shows the cat back to his original size, but with a big bandage on his belly. Funny! I'd never read this story before either, so I was surprised when I went to Amazon to look it up. New copies start at $69.95 and used start at $14.41. I paid a DIME for this 1971 edition -- I think I got a good deal.

Deaf, Dumb, Blind ...

2011-10-07T13:11:00.001-06:00

It seems Roger Daltrey had it right in Tommy. I need a pair of solid glasses to block out things I shouldn't see, earplugs to block out things I don't want to hear, and a big cork to keep my mouth from saying things I shouldn't say. No matter where you go these days, whether it be in person or on a social networking site, people are so opinionated. I'm no saint and I say things people don't agree with or believe it. However, I try not to throw political or religious things at people because I know it only makes them upset.

When I first joined Facebook, it was because a lot of my friends from another message board had moved there. I wanted to stay in touch with them, so I finally joined. Soon after, I started adding writer friends, family, classmates, and so forth. Lately though, it seems the entire site is just a platform for political and religious hatred. I'm not into that. I've unfriended a few people recently because they seem so hateful. I don't mind people having an opinion or even expressing it, but when it just comes down to hate and not facts, then I have a problem. I don't want to be that way and I'd hope my friends would put me in my place if I did.

I recently had a total stranger send me a request. He was mutual friends with someone I admired and respected, so I didn't think much of it and accepted him. The ONLY time he said anything to me was to spew his hatred of Elvis when I posted a picture or something. I didn't even know this guy. I mean, if you don't like Elvis, that's fine. I could care less. It just struck me odd that his only comments were to tell me Elvis was a bum, a womanizer, a drug user, and so forth. What was his point? Why did he send me a request if the only thing he was ever going to say was how much he hated Elvis? Is it just because it's the Internet and he felt like he could say whatever he wanted? If I walked by him in a store with my Elvis purse, would he stop me and tell me how horrible he thought Elvis was? It just makes me wonder. What bothered me more was that the mutual friend we had in common was the leader of a very prestigious Christian organization. I suppose that's why I didn't think twice about accepting his friend request. Some friend, huh?

I don't know why I'm even posting this. I'm just ranting really, although I probably sound like the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. I'm no better than anyone else. I know that. I just hope if I start spewing out things like some people do so freely that one of you will tell me to shut up.

Hey, Frankie ...

2011-10-04T19:31:00.000-06:00

The boys are doing Frankenstein Week for school right now. About a week ago I found a Great Illustrated Classics version of Frankenstein at a thrift store. I thought that might be a good version to read to the boys, since the original is a lot more complex. I never knew Mary Shelley was only nineteen when she wrote the original story in 1818. That's pretty impressive, especially for the monster to become such a universal figure. So, for the past two days, we've started that book and are really enjoying it. I love the original movie with Boris Karloff and watch it every October. I'm not sure if the boys will want to watch it with me or not after reading the book. We'll see. It always makes me sad at the end to see the monster destroyed.

Yesterday the boys made Frankenstein monsters out of paper plates. I made one too, but edited the picture so you can't see mine. He looks silly -- more like Dracula with green skin. Anyway, after the boys painted their paper plates, I let them design their monster however they wanted. I thought it was interesting to see them come up with different ideas for the neck bolts. Neil used clothespins and Nathan used paper clips. I used foam, so the boys definitely have a lot more imagination than I do.

Today we made Frankenstein heads out of empty water bottles. We came up with our own design and when they were finished, Nathan suggested we send the idea to Highlights for Children magazine. So, I'm going to do that before posting a picture because they're kind of strict when it comes to that sort of thing. If they reject it, then I'll go ahead and post it eventually. They were super easy to make because we painted them on the inside of the bottles, so there was hardly any mess. They turned out great and hopefully I can share them sometime. Tomorrow we're making Frankenstein monsters out of cans. I can't remember what we're doing for Thursday, but Friday we're making Frankenstein monsters out of marshmallows - Franken-Mallows!

Available for pre-order!

2011-10-02T16:59:00.000-06:00

A New Friend for Dilly is going to print and is available for pre-order now. This is the second book in the Dilly series and I'm really excited to see the final copy. We've changed illustrators from the first book to the second, and Ginger Nielson has done a remarkable job with Dilly and all his friends. In this book, Dilly searches from A to Z to find the perfect friend. A New Job for Dilly was all about different types of jobs, whereas this book is about different types of animals. Can Dilly find a perfect friend for himself? A New Friend for Dilly can be pre-ordered from 4RV Publishing, LLC and the copies should be available very soon. I hope you will want to check it out!

Great book finds!

2011-09-25T16:12:00.000-06:00

Can you believe this entire lot of books cost me $2.32 at the Salvation Army? I originally posted on Facebook that it cost $2.57, but I had forgotten I'd spent a quarter on a little dinosaur toy for Neil, so it was even cheaper. Normally, I pay a dime for kid's books at the Salvation Army and hard covers are sometimes a quarter. They're having a sale right now, so they were even cheaper than usual. How great is that! I buy a lot of Little Golden Books because I collect them. Sometimes they're not in the best shape, but every now and then I get a first edition one that's a real find.

We already have a lot of the Great Illustrated Classics, so I was thrilled to find Frankenstein. I think I paid a quarter for that one, maybe less with the sale. My boys are interested in the Frankenstein story, but still way too young to read the original, so this will be an easier way to introduce it to them. They always peek around the corner when I watch the original film around Halloween every year. They're interested, but they don't like anything too scary. Maybe one of these days they'll watch it with me and realize how sad of a story it really is.

The other great find was Stanley's Christmas Adventure. We just read the original Flat Stanley in school last week for the second time. We're going to be taking part in a Flat Stanley exchange with another homeschool family, so the boys are excited about that. We've only read the original story, so I was thrilled to find one of the sequels. I also found one of Roald Dahl's books, George's Marvelous Medicine, which we didn't have, so that was cool.

How about you -- gotten any great book deals lately?

Eye Update

2011-09-24T10:37:00.001-06:00

Ewww -- an eyeball. Halloween is coming, so I thought I'd post a picture of my eye. Eyes are creepy and mine is no exception, especially right now. Thanks to everyone who has asked how my eye is. For those who missed what happened -- a little over a week ago I was helping Neil with an outside science experiment. I was documenting it with pictures and when I bent down to take a photo, a piece of grass poked me in the eye. When I came up, I had something like a hard foxtail stuck in my eye. I couldn't get it out, so I had to cover my eye and go inside. By the time I got to a mirror, the foxtail had wedged itself completely under the lid. After a few panic-stricken moments, I was able to get it out. It felt better, of course, so I didn't think I needed to have it looked at. Fast forward a week later and it was really starting to hurt, so I knew I had to do something.

I finally stopped being a baby and made an appointment with an eye doctor. It had been about seven years since my last eye exam, so I knew I was way over due. This was a medical visit though, so I'll have to go back for the exam later. Anyway, the doctor said my eye was pretty scratched up and he could see where the sticker-thing had poked through. He also saw two specks of seed material floating around. He got one out, which wasn't a pleasant experience. When he went back for the second one, he couldn't find it. I still feel something that seems to move from place to place, so I think it's still in there. He sent me home with two prescriptions -- some drops and an antibiotic ointment to use for a week. He also suggested I start taking fish oil supplements. That's something I wanted to do anyway, so this was just a good reason to start. What's one more tablet to the handful I already take?

I've been using the drops and ointment for about four days. Yesterday my eye was feeling pretty good, so I thought it was on the mend. People were asking about it, so I was telling them how much better it felt. Then of course, Murphy's Law struck and it started acting up again last night. Typical, huh? So, it goes from feeling okay to feeling irritated and scratchy again. I'll give it a week and then call to make another appointment to have it checked. I'm such a baby when it comes to my eyes. I'd honestly rather have a root canal than an eye exam. I've never liked anyone messing with my eyes. I felt like passing out when the doctor told me he was going to use the wooden part of a Q-tip to roll my eyelid back. Ack! That wasn't fun. The drops aren't fun either. I've never been able to put those dumb things in. I'm getting a little better, but not much. The ointment sucks and everything is cloudy when I get up in the morning.

So, I'll give it a week and see how it does. Hopefully, that second piece of seed will work its way out, if it is still in there. Then I'll have to go back for that dreaded eye exam. When I went in, he had me read from the chart and I totally flubbed that up. He said to read the smallest letters I could see, so I started with the third line. Bad choice. I went back up to the first line, but even messed that up. My eyesight is shot. The doctor said I have Dry Eye Syndrome, so that's why he suggested the fish oil supplements. He also said I don't tear up the right way and when I do, it's not normal -- whatever the heck that means. To make a long story longer, I have a lot of issues going on in addition to the eye injury, so I think this is just the start of many eye exams and treatments. Oh joy ... lucky me.

Where's my island?

2011-09-15T20:56:00.000-06:00

Do you ever feel like like you're living on the Island of Misfit Toys? So, let's see here ... there was the Spotted Elephant, A Dolly for Sue, Bird Fish, a cowboy who rides an ostrich, a Charlie-in-the-Box, Trainer with his square wheels, a toy boat that sinks, a squirt gun that squirts grape jelly, an airplane that can't fly, and more. I guess we can't forget Rudolph, Hermey the Elf, and Yukon Cornelius -- they're all misfits, too.

As a kid, I watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer every year at Christmas. Even when I was little, I could relate to the toys on this show. I never felt like I fit in anywhere -- not at school, not with kids at school, and not even in my gymnastics class -- which I loved. Call me a killjoy, but I used to get irritated when the coach would stop to talk about make-up, rather than let us take our turn on the balance beam. My mom spent hundreds of dollars for me to take gymnastics -- not learn about lip gloss.

I recently joined an online message board and I completely feel like a misfit there. It's for a subject I know a lot about. You'd think I'd fit right in, but I don't. Maybe it's because there are so many members and I haven't gotten to know anyone. Or maybe it's because everyone has their own way of doing things and think their way is the only way. Or maybe it's because they're all super opinionated and can't find it in their hearts to be supportive and accepting of people who do things different than they do. I don't know. I'm no angel. I'm not perfect. But good grief ... I hope I'm not that bad. I've spent a lot of time there hoping to make some new friends and get encouragement, but it doesn't seem to be happening for me. Either I'm just like one of the Misfit Toys ... or they're inhabiting the whole damn island.

Okay, that's enough of my pity party for the day ... sorry.

Creepy Crawlies!

2011-09-14T20:26:00.000-06:00

This picture of Neil was taken on Tuesday afternoon. Try to overlook his ripped sweatpants. I swear, my boy's pants all look like that. They flip out when I threaten to throw them away. They have nice clothes -- really, they do! Anyway, Tuesday was his first day doing science and there was an activity he wanted to do. The project was for him to take a jar and bury it in the ground, just at the level of the dirt, and leave it overnight. Then he was to check it a day later and see if any critters managed to get caught in the jar. Awhile back, my mother-in-law had given me some preschool paint jars that had plastic lids and an opening for a paint brush, so these worked perfect. It was like the Tunnel-O-Doom because nothing had a chance when it came to sliding down and trying to get out. So, we found an animal hole that looked like it had been abandoned and stuck the jar in that along with a little dirt, some grass, and leaves. I honestly didn't think much would be in the jar when we looked at it today. Boy, was I wrong!

It's hard to tell here, but the jar was FILLED with creepy, crawly critters! If you look on the right, there's a cricket. Click on the picture to make it larger -- he'll be looking right at you! The jar was bursting with life and everything was totally anxious for freedom. There were quite a few earwigs, some spiders, red ants, black ants, a millipede, the cricket, and quite a few bugs we couldn't identify. Neil poured the jar out onto a piece of construction paper and I tried to take as many pictures as I could before they all scattered away. The cricket was playing dead, but as soon as we backed away, he perked right up. Needless to say, it was a fun experiment for Neil. We can't do stuff like this just any old time because of snow, so I'm glad we've had such nice weather to do it. I couldn't believe all the critters that fell into the jar!

See this picture of the pencil? That sharp pointy thing got stuck in my eye yesterday. It happened right after I took some pictures of the jar buried in the ground. I wanted to document it for Neil through pictures, and as I bent down to take the last one, I didn't see a very long, tall piece of grass sticking straight up. It was like a foxtail and it went right into my eye. I struggled to get it out, but I couldn't, so I had to rush in the house. At first it seemed to be stuck IN my eye, but by the time I made it to the bathroom mirror, it had moved and was floating over my eyeball. It was hard and very sharp. I started to panic, but finally got it out. Talk about drama! A simple science experiment turned into a lesson in first aid. Eeek. Anyway, my eye felt better after I got it out and I didn't think there was any damage. Then it started bugging me more and when I looked I could see a little black circle in the white of my eye. I think the foxtail might have actually punctured it. Of course, I'm being a pain and haven't been to a doctor yet. If it's still bothering me tomorrow, I'll probably go in and have it checked out.

Then after school today, the boys and I (and Denny!) spent several hours out in the yard collecting more bugs. They had one jar literally filled with grasshoppers and another bursting with ants. They also managed to catch some damselflies, dragonflies, a butterfly, a housefly, and some other critters. I got lots of pictures for them along with some short video clips. It was definitely a creepy-crawly kind of day!

First Day of School ...

2011-09-12T14:45:00.001-06:00

Today was our official first day of school for the 2011-2012 year. We had planned on starting the day after Labor Day, but something came up and we decided to hold off until today. I hate starting mid-week anyway, so it worked out better for me. The boys have been really excited about starting again and are looking forward to all the stuff I have planned this year. In addition to our regular academics, we're doing a little Spanish, some newsletter design, typing, poetry, and more. I've got a lot planned, so hopefully they can keep up with me. Or vice versa -- which ever comes first!

Below is a picture of our reading chart for the year. This year we're doing "Nuts for Squirrely". Every time the boys read a book, they write the title and their name on a paper acorn and glue it on the chart. By the end of the school year, I hope to see the tree filled with nuts as well as scattered on the ground. We do this every year. Last year we did "Mousies for Denny". The year before that we glued worms on a giant apple. We've done other things like leaves on trees, ants at a picnic, bones for our dogs, gumballs, pickles for Dilly, etc. It's a fun way to keep track of all the books the kids read each year. So anyway, we survived our first day, so all is well.

Trash to Treasures ...

2011-09-10T21:49:00.000-06:00

Or maybe a better title would be -- Junk I Find At The Dump! I'm getting pretty bad about picking stuff up at the dump these days. I wouldn't say I'm a dumpster diver, by any means. I never go in the bins, but I see lots of people do that here. Some probably do it to find stuff to sell and make money. I'm sure others do it out of necessity. I'll never forget the story Rick told me about the family with two young girls who were digging around in the trash bins. One of them, a teen, was in the bin and held up a dirty top to see if it would fit her. How heartbreaking is that?

By dump, I mean a trash bin site, and not the county dump. We don't pay anyone to come pick up our trash. Instead, we take it to a trash site and it's then picked up and taken to the bigger dump. I just wanted to clarify that in case someone thought I was hanging around the county dump. I haven't gotten to that point yet -- ha ha! Now don't go giving me any ideas. After all, Christmas is coming!

A couple of weeks ago we were pulling out of the dump site when I spotted a coffee mug sitting on one of the bins. I told Rick to stop the car and of course, he grumbled and complained. I said, "I can use that to hold pens and pencils in." So, I got out of the car and walked over to it. Right underneath the mug was this black desk organizer. How weird was that? So, I picked that up along with the Santa mug and brought them back to the car. Rick grumbled again and said something about us not needing to go shopping anymore when we could just come to the dump. We were at Staples today and I saw the same black desk organizer for $10. Considering mine cost me nothing and looks brand new, I guess I got a bargain. It even spins!

We were there again today and there was this huge ceramic bunny. I told Rick, "Go get me the bunny!" but he would have nothing to do with it. How rude is that? So, I had to get out of the car and check the bunny out myself. It was a cookie jar, but the top had a broken part that was kind of sharp. It smelled funny too, so I decided to leave the bunny where it was. I came walking back with three porcelain Indian figurines and Rick goes, "What are you going to do with those?" I said I didn't know and stuck them in the back of the van. I just couldn't let those little Indians sit there in the dirt like that. That would have been terrible.

Almost ready ...

2011-09-08T21:28:00.000-06:00

I finally got our classroom picked up and organized. Well, at least for this picture anyway. What you don't see is the big pile of junk sitting on the floor that I shoved out the door so I could take this picture. For the most part, it's picked up and ready to go. It's a big room and this picture only shows a portion of it. The boys and I sit at that round table mostly.

We were planning on starting school the day after Labor Day, but we had a little set back over the weekend and were called out of town. Since the rest of my book order didn't arrive until Tuesday, we decided to hold off and officially start next Monday. So, Monday it is -- better late than never.

I was bummed that some of our old computer programs won't work in our new system. I had wanted the boys to do these programs we had for Spanish and Bible. Sadly, they won't run on the computer we have now, so I'll have to come up with something else.

We're also going to be doing a monthly newsletter this year. I'll have the boys work on that each Friday. Then at the end of the month, we'll print up copies to mail to family and maybe a few friends that might be interested in what we're doing. That should be fun and will give the boys a chance to learn how to design a newsletter on the computer.

So, just a few more days and we'll be back in the swing of things!

Brutus the Bear

2011-09-06T10:51:00.000-06:00

We stopped by the Montana Grizzly Encounter yesterday. This is a small bear exhibit just outside of Bozeman, Montana. These bears have been born in captivity, usually in very poor conditions, and can never be released in the wild. When we arrived yesterday, Sheena (below) was wandering around. Brutus (above) had just dug himself a hole in the dirt and was relaxing in the shade. It was in the high 80s and grizzlies don't like the heat, so Brutus wasn't about to budge from his nice, cool spot. At least we got to see Sheena walking around for a bit before she settled behind a rock herself.

The last time we were at this place was in 2005 when we were first looking at homes near Helena. I guess it was a fairly new exhibit back then because it only opened in 2004. I have a bunch of pictures of Sheena from that first visit as well. She's 25 years old and I think Brutus is only about 9 or so. If you've ever seen the show Expedition Wild, you might have seen Brutus before. He's on there a lot with the founder of the Montana Grizzly Encounter, Casey Anderson. I was hoping Casey might be hanging around yesterday, but he wasn't. The girl in charge said Casey and Brutus are about to start filming new episodes soon. She said Brutus gets really excited when he hears Casey's truck because he loves going for rides. I don't want much television, but I might have to start watching this show.

My Boys ...

2011-09-02T18:06:00.000-06:00

I took some pictures of Neil & Nathan yesterday. They turned out okay considering they're just snapshots. The sun was bright and the boys had a hard time keeping their eyes open for the short time we were out there. I'm debating whether to take some more using a fill flash or if these will be good enough for the year. I gave up a long time ago paying for professional portraits. I'm such a cheapskate. At least they had just gotten their hair cut, so they don't look as scruffy as they usually do.

With sadness ...

2011-09-01T14:11:00.001-06:00

I just found out that a long-time friend of my family has passed away. This picture shows me with Betsi right after Rick and I got married. Betsi did the flowers for our wedding in 1988. Apparently, ours was the first wedding she ever did. She said she had been so nervous at the time. I remember taking this picture because the photographer said something and Besti replied, "Now I'm gonna cry!" Someone caught this snapshot just as she said that. Betsi did a beautiful job with our flowers. I still have a box of pearl-topped floral pins in my sewing box that she stuck in the centers of the little white flowers of my bridal bouquet. They'll be bittersweet to see now.

I wasn't super close to Betsi, but my sister was. I've known their family since I was about five. Her mother lived right behind us and her father lived in another house fairly close by. Betsi and her sister, Francie kind of went back and forth between houses. My sister was good friends with them and I was the "tag-long" mostly. I'm sure they hated me being there, but some of my fondest memories of being a kid was hanging out with them. They used to skip school and go to Carrows for coffee. Sometimes I'd go with them. I can still taste the coffee with all the cream & sugar I'd add to it. It was because of them that I started drinking coffee at such an early age. I also remember going to the bowling alley with them and eating these great, big cinnamon rolls. We'd slather them with butter before eating them. Odd, but good.

Over the years I lost touch with Betsi until last summer when we reconnected on Facebook. She'd see the old pictures I'd post of myself as a little kid and say, "Now THAT's the Rena I remember!" It's funny how your mind sticks with a certain image of a person no matter how many years go by. After hooking up with Betsi on Facebook, I was pleased to see she was so set in her faith. I never knew her to be religious growing up, so I was happy to see how comfortable she was talking about what was important to her now as an adult. Like I said, we weren't super close, so I didn't know she was sick until just a few months ago. I had no idea how poor her health really was. Betsi will be missed by many, many people, myself included.

Our Yearbooks ...

2011-08-31T09:16:00.000-06:00

I posted this picture on Facebook yesterday, but thought I'd do it here too. These are our yearbooks. We've been homeschooling since 1998 and are coming up on our 14th year next month. Each year I've made my kids a book documenting what they did over the year. You might notice that gap in the middle. That was 2002 and the year Neil was born. Nathan was a toddler, Neil was a newborn, and I was teaching both the girls. It was a crazy time and I never got that book done. I will though and it's next on my list. Fortunately, I keep all my kid's school work in big 3-inch binders, so it won't be too hard to create that missing book. I'm determined to get it done this year.

As you can see, the one on the bottom isn't bound yet. That's just a piece of paper showing the cover. That's last year's yearbook, which is the one I'm currently working on. I am about halfway finished, so I should have it done in another day or so. I still have a bunch of books to print up though, which is the most expensive part. I've thought about having them printed someplace else, like Staples, but I think it might cost me just as much (if not more) than doing it myself. We already have the binding machine to put them together. I make Rick do that part and he hates it. It's the ONE thing I ask him to do each year and he complains, but always does a good job.

It's funny because every year when my girls were in school they'd request that I make the yearbooks even longer than the year before. The kids have always enjoyed going back and looking at what they did over the years. I'm often asked what's in the books. It's basically like a digital scrapbook. I take pictures of everything, including big art projects that we don't have room to keep. I also take pictures of food projects, so those are fun to include before they get gobbled up. Here is a list of some of the stuff I put in the books ...

Portraits of the Kids
Family Snapshots
Self-Portraits (they draw one on the 1st day of school each year)
All About Me Forms (listing all their favorites of the year)
Birthdays
Holidays
Any Extracurricular Stuff (like swimming lessons)
Book Reports
School Field Trips
Special Events (weddings, parties)
Family Outings
Lists of Books Read (and photos of our Reading Charts)
Samples of School Work
Art Samples
Pet Pages
Autograph Page (the kids sign each other's books)

Like I said, they have fun going back and looking at them over the years. It's a fun way to include all those odd pictures of things that I don't put in frames or anything -- you know, like Lego designs the boys make, or Play-Doh creations and stuff like that. It's a lot of work on my end, but it's one thing I really LOVE doing. I am usually not this far behind, but I have faith I'll be all caught up soon.

Oh, you Charley Horse!

2011-08-30T12:35:00.000-06:00

The past few nights I've been woken up with leg cramps, or Charley horses as they're often called. Does anyone else have these? I don't get them regularly, but the past 4 nights I have, so I was a little concerned as to why. I've always thought they were caused by a lack of potassium. Since I take a multivitamin everyday, I didn't think that was the case for me. Last night I read that having hypothyroidism can cause these types of night leg cramps. I've been on thyroid meds for years and since I don't have the cramps regularly, that couldn't be it either. So, what could be the cause?

The only thing I can think of is exercise. I exercise everyday. I use some hand weights and resistant bands for about 10 minutes, followed by 30 minutes on a Bowflex TreadClimber. After that I ride a recumbent bike for another 30 minutes, usually with some ankle weights on my feet. The only thing I could think of was that the past 3 nights I hadn't done my exercises because I'd been up late working on our school yearbooks. I figured the cramps might have been from the change in exercising, or lack of it in my case. The last time I had them was about a week ago when we were camping in Yellowstone. Again, I had missed my exercise the night before.

However, last night I did exercise and this morning I still woke up with a cramp. Now I'm back to being baffled. Maybe I need more potassium. Maybe I should take magnesium supplements. Maybe I need to drink more water. Who knows. All I know is that these stupid things hurt like hell. Once my calf starts to tighten up, it's really hard to relax to stop the cramp from coming on full blown. I've read not to stretch it out during the cramp because that can cause a tear in the muscle. Ouch. That doesn't sound like fun.

I was curious why they called them "Charley horses" so I looked it up. Mind you, this is from Wikipedia, so I'm not sure how accurate it is. It says it's an American slang term that dates from the 1880s and it might be referring to an old pitcher named Charley Radbourne who suffered from leg cramps. There's another reference to a horse named Charley that used to work at Comiskey Park, the Chicago White Sox's baseball stadium. It said in those days an old, retired horse was often called Charlie. Like I said, I don't know if that's true, but it's interesting.

Does anyone else get these Charley horses at night?

Happy Adoption Day, Denny!

2011-08-25T20:26:00.000-06:00

It was exactly one year ago today we adopted a skittish little cat named Denny. He was the only cat at the LARS animal rescue that wouldn't let us anywhere near him. Denny was born in the wild and still very much a feral cat when we went to take a look at him. I saw him online through Petfinders and fell in love with his little ear tufts. Those reminded me so much of my other cat, CJ. We had a 45 minute ride home and he hissed most of the way back. By that evening, he was rubbing up to me and purring, so I knew he was going to adjust just fine. However, I had no idea just how well he'd adjust. He's gone from being a wild cat to one of the most amazing cats anyone could wish for. He's so much like CJ that it's uncanny. It's like CJ sent him to us himself.

No longer is Denny a scrawny, skittish wild thing. He's grown into a massive blob of blubber and fur. He's so good with the boys and lets them carry him all over the house, including up and down the stairs. Right now he's in the playroom with them -- doing who knows what. When the boys go outside to play, Denny sits by the door and cries. He just wants to be with them. Before Nicole left for college, he'd wait for her to come home from work so he could take his afternoon power-nap with her. He also hangs out with Nichelle and her cat, Kitty. I've never seen a cat who wants to be with everyone. Usually, cats have a family favorite, but Denny loves his time with everyone. My time is about 5am when he wants to cuddle up to my face and nip me under my chin. He even sits on the couch with Rick and watches TV. I've never seen a cat watch TV the way Denny does.

His favorite thing to do is watch the birds and squirrels in our feeder. Every morning after I eat breakfast, Denny rips down the hall in front of me, knowing it's time to feed the critters. He goes to where I keep the feeder and rubs his face all over it. Then I open the door and he follows me out on the deck to hang up the feeder. When I'm doing that, he plops down on the deck and rolls around. The only time he won't go outside is when it's raining. He doesn't like rain. Snow doesn't seem to bother him and he darts right out. He's truly a Montana cat! Happy Adoption Day, Denny!

Quick Trip ... Long Post!

2011-08-21T23:46:00.002-06:00

Thursday we drove our daughter, Nicole to Billings where she's starting Rocky Mountain College. Originally, we were going to do a turn-around trip, which would have been 16 hours of driving. Since we were towing Nicole's car on a trailer behind our van, we couldn't bring our travel trailer with us. Hotels were too expensive, so I got this crazy idea of staying in our tent. We've had a tent for years, but haven't used it since the 90s when the girls were little. One thing I've always said was that I would never tent camp in Montana because of bears and yet ... I came up with the idea of taking the tent. The boys had never tent camped, so we figured it would be fun.

We got Nicole to college and waited for her to check in so we could see her room. Her roommate was already getting settled in. One nice thing is that her roommate is from where we live so they already know each other. After we saw her room, we said goodbye and started on our journey back. We stopped at ToysRUs because we don't have that where we live. Then we headed from Billings toward the town of Red Lodge, which is where the famous Beartooth Highway is. I'd never been on the road before, but I'd heard it's one of the most scenic in the country.

We had reservations in a small forest service campground just off the highway and along a creek. I have to be honest when I say I was nervous about sleeping in a tent in bear country. We took all necessary precautions of course, but it was still unnerving. We're RV campers now, so we don't have all the equipment that we used to have when we tent camped. We made do and in fact, I don't think we forgot anything, which was surprising. Our campsite was great and probably the nicest one in the campground.

We cooked our dinner over the campfire, which was a little tricky because it started to rain. That wasn't that big of a deal and it was clear for the rest of the night. I had forgotten what it was like to sleep on the hard ground. I'll never complain about the bed in my trailer again! It was one of those "nights that never end" though. Even Rick turned and said that to me in the middle of the night. I think we'd fall asleep for about an hour and then wake up. When I opened my eyes and saw that it was finally morning, I almost wanted to squeal, "Woohoo! We survived!" That's how I felt, but of course I didn't say that because I didn't want to freak the boys out. The creek was so loud that if something had crept up on us, there's no way we would have even heard it. I guess in hindsight, that was a blessing in disguise.

We got up early -- not having a bathroom will do that to you -- and headed along the Beartooth Highway. I knew it was going to be scenic and high up, but I had no idea. The eastern side was just wild with switchbacks winding up to 10,947 feet. We stopped for pictures a few times and let the boys wander around in the tundra a bit. They'd never been up that high. Rick was bummed that it didn't go to 11,000 feet, so he climbed this big pile of rocks on top of the summit. According to his iPhone, he hit 11,005 feet. I got a picture of him as he threw his arms up in victory. Then we worked our way down and that's when the scenery really took off. It was surreal. I kept saying it didn't look real and that it looked man-made, almost like Walt Disney created it for Frontierland. What an absolutely beautiful place!

We worked our way into the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park, where we were planning on spending one night. We drove through the Lamar Valley, which was great because we rarely get up that far when we come into the park from the other entrances. We saw lots of herds of bison, some Pronghorn, and birds, but that was about it. We stopped at a picnic area for lunch and heard a bald eagle flying nearby. Eventually, we got into Canyon, which is sort of in the middle of YNP and where we were camping for the night. It was a much bigger campground than the previous night and for some reason I wasn't as nervous there.

The next day we spent time in the Canyon area. The first thing we did was head to the showers. I think the shower lady was my favorite person in the park this trip. It was the best $3 I've ever spent! I'll never complain about my little bathtub in my trailer again! Then we saw the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We did some quick hikes and had lunch at a really nice picnic area. After that we worked our way up to the Mammoth Hot Springs area and saw some of the thermal features. There was a large herd of elk lounging around by one of the buildings, so I got some pictures of them. They're not that great because they were taken in front of cars and buildings, but it was still fun to see them. One male had a really large rack. I also got some good pictures of magpies, so I was happy. From there we headed out the North Entrance where the famous Yellowstone Arch is with the sign that says: For The Benefit And Enjoyment Of The People. Right before we got to it, we were turning a corner and there were two young bighorn sheep in the middle of the road. I got a few good pictures of their butts -- nice angle, guys.

It was a quick trip and not really a true vacation so to say because our main goal was getting Nicole to college. Even so, it was a lot of fun and we got to see things we had never seen before, not to mention experience things we'd never experienced before. We'd never been to YNP in August and I loved all the wildflowers, not to mention we had perfect weather. I still like tent camping, but it's way different in bear country. It's hard to go back once you get used to traveling in an RV. All the same, we had fun. It was especially interesting for me because of my middle grade novel, Encroached. That's about two young girls who sneak out of their house to tent camp in the Montana wilderness. I thought about that story a lot on this trip -- from watching the shadows on the tent at night, to listening to noises, to driving by the Soda Butte campground where a fatal grizzly mauling took place last year, which basically inspired a lot of my story. Here is a slideshow of some of my photos -- from Nicole at college all the way to leaving YNP.

Last Hurrah of Summer ...

2011-08-17T15:28:00.000-06:00

We're doing something tomorrow that I said I'd never do in Montana -- camp in a tent. We'll be taking Nicole to college tomorrow and on our way back home we're going to spend two nights camping. We're not taking our travel trailer because we're towing Nicole's car with our van. So instead, we've decided to be brave and tent camp. Yeah, in grizzly territory. One night will be at a campground along the Beartooth Highway. The second night will be in Canyon inside Yellowstone National Park. I'm trying to remember what to pack, since it's so easy to rely on things already being in the trailer -- like towels, silverware, and the bathtub!

Right after Nicole was born, I gave Rick a 2-room Coleman tent for his birthday. We used it quite a bit when the girls were little before venturing into the world of RVs. We got a pop-up trailer first, then a 24 foot travel trailer, and now we have a 28 foot one. Ironically, we were just thinking of getting rid of the tent the other day, but then this opportunity came up. The boys have never slept in a tent, so I think they'll have fun with it. Of course, we're staying in places that have both had bear incidents recently, so that will be a concern. We have bear spray and I'm sure we'll be just fine. It should be interesting. My latest middle grade novel is about two girls who sneak out to tent camp in the Montana wilderness and they have a bear incident. I guess I'll just call it research for my book. Works for me.

Nicole is really excited about starting Rocky Mountain College. This will be her second year of college. It will be nice that she's in the same state, unlike last time when she was all the way over in Florida. RMC is about 8 hours southeast of here in Billings, so she'll be a little closer. As it turns out, her roommate is going to be one of her friends from where we live, so that will be nice for her. She's frantically trying to pack now and hopefully we'll be ready to leave early in the morning. I've got the coffee maker all ready to go!

Non-Credited Classes

2011-08-13T08:48:00.003-06:00

I couldn't sleep last night, so I got up for awhile and was reading a pamphlet for the fall 2011 schedule of non-credited classes at our local college. Do you ever read those things? Some of the courses sound like they'd be a lot of fun. There's a wildlife photography one where they take you to a location with an exotic animal. You take pictures of it and then go back to class and they critique your work. That sounds like it would be a blast because they list Siberian tigers, mountain lions, snow leopards, Canadian Lynx, and predators like that. I would love to do something like that, but don't have the $139 for a one-time class.

However, some of the courses are pretty silly. We always used to joke about Underwater Basket Weaving courses, but in my pamphlet there's one called Pine Needle Basket Weaving. Seriously! For just under $60, you can spend two days learning how to weave Ponderosa pine needles together. I laughed when I saw there was a two day class called Blogging Bootcamp -- for $99! There's a $50 one day class called Facebook Basics. I suppose there are people who need these classes, but man, they're getting hosed on the fees. I'm no rocket scientist and I didn't go to college, but I certainly didn't need to spend $50-100 to learn how to blog or use Facebook. People must be willing to pay those prices, which is the amazing part.

Some courses make total sense for northwestern Montana, such as Animal Tracking & Sign Interpretation or Astronomy for Montana Skies or Wilderness First Aid. Other classes I understand like Modern Home Canning, Cake Decorating, and the Western Two-Step. But Intermediate Bridge? Why isn't there a Beginner's Bridge class? Or spending $69 for a class that basically runs you through National Novel Writer's Month? Really? One of the best ones was called Online Fitness Class. Yes, for a mear $94, you too can lose weight and keep it off forever! Just pay us money and read our information online. It's just amazing. I know people like being in the class setting and maybe they get more out of this than if they learned something on their own or read a book. However, a book would be cheaper. Do you really need to spend $59 to learn how to run? Heck, a good pair of running shoes will set you back that much.

I know it sounds like I'm slamming these classes, but I'm not. There are some I'd love to take, such as the photography and writing ones. I'd also love to learn how to knit, but I think I'm better off trying to do that one my own rather than pay someone $94 to teach me. When it comes to all these crazy classes, I get what they're doing. I just think they're asking way too much money. Okay, I've complained enough this morning. I'm off to check out the online classes and see what they have to offer -- ha ha. While I'm at it, I might as well look and see how one goes about teaching these classes. Seems like the instructors are the one gaining the most from them!

Camping @ Glacier NP

2011-08-11T19:19:00.000-06:00

08-08-08

2011-08-08T10:45:00.002-06:00

It was exactly 3 years ago today I received my first contract for A New Job for Dilly. I still remember the excitement I felt when I got the email from Vivian Zabel telling me 4RV Publishing, LLC was going to publish my first picture book. Although Dilly wasn't the first book I wrote, it will always hold a special place for me because it was my first to be published.

I want to thank all of you who have read A New Job for Dilly, taken the book to your child's school, given it as a gift, blogged about it, or even simply commented on it. I appreciate it all. Thanks to those who've sent pictures of their kids with the book as well. If you haven't done that and would like to, I would love to see your photos. Please let me know if it's okay to post them on my website, blog, or Dilly's Facebook page. There's a link to his page on the lower right of this blog.

Dilly also has his own website @ Dillyland. Keep your eyes on that because it will change as new information comes in regarding the upcoming book, A New Friend for Dilly. Although it's not technically Dilly's birthday because the book wasn't released until June 2009, today is a special day because it was when I received his very first contract. Thank you, Vivian, and thanks to everyone who has made Dilly what he is today.

Introducing ... The Learnalots!

2011-08-07T15:49:00.002-06:00

I was really happy to see these workbooks in our local Costco recently. I only bought the Preschool one, but there was also ones for Kindergarten, First Grade, and Ready for Reading. Even though my boys are too old for them, I'm hoping to get the others as well. The books are huge and were only $8.99 each at Costco.

If you have my book, Lemur Troops & Critter Groups, you might be thinking that little green turtle looks awfully familiar. That's because The Learnalots were illustrated by Nikki Boetger, who also illustrated the first two Critter books. When my boys saw the Preschool book, they both said, "Hey, that's one of the turtles who leaped over hurdles!" Nikki is a wonderful illustrator and I know this has been a very big project for her.

If you have young children, particularly ages 3-5 years, you definitely need to check these books out. They're published by Bright Start Learning and are available online and through Costco. Nikki has come up with a whole slew of adorable characters who all teach different things. Your kids are going to love them!

RAWR!

2011-08-06T16:04:00.002-06:00

I went to the Salvation Army today to get an exercise mat that I saw there yesterday. I've been wanting one to do sit-ups on to relieve some of the pain on my tailbone. So, I'm wandering around the store when one of the employees walks by with this tiger. She sets it on a counter and I do an immediate U-turn to check it out. I collect tigers and my bedroom is decorated in a tiger theme. Now normally, a stuffed animal is the last thing I'd buy at a thriftstore, aside from underwear or something icky like that. We have enough stuffed animals to open our own store. However, this guy caught my eye because of how big he was. Not only is he huge, but he's in perfect condition, too. I couldn't pass him up when I saw he was only $4.50. So, now he's sitting on my bed with my other 2 tigers. It's a king-sized bed and there's not much room for me and Rick now, so he'll have to sleep on the floor at night with his friends. Regardless, he's just too cool!

It's that time again ...

2011-08-04T20:24:00.006-06:00

Time to start thinking about school. I don't know about you, but I've been in major-summer-mode since early June. I blame Disney World for that. Then July snuck in. It came and went like a thief in the night. Now it's already August. What happened? Every morning I get up thinking, "Today I'm going to start working on school stuff!" Yeahrightsure. Then the sun comes out and I find myself zoning on the deck in the lounge chair. We had a long winter and pretty much missed spring this year, so I guess that makes it okay. I think this is the first time I've had a good tan in years. But, as with all good things, the fun can't last forever ...

So, I will find myself buried in my classroom soon. This picture was taken right before the 2009 school year started. It's pretty much set up the same way now, but way messier. I haven't done anything in there since we finished school in June, so it's a disaster. I've tried to avoid that room all summer. By the looks of it -- I've succeeded, so I guess you can say I've accomplished at least one thing this summer. My next big project will be organizing all of last year's school work into binders, rearranging all the furniture, digging through curriculum books, and all that fun stuff. I have about a month's worth of work in there, but realistically I can get it done in a few days -- that is, once I set my mind to it.

I was hoping to attend the Montana Homeschool Convention this year, but it was postponed because they didn't have enough people. I think that was their fault because their website was all messed up. I tried to get information to register, but none of the links worked. It's no wonder no one was signing up. I wanted to go to the convention because it's been a few years since I went to one. I think the last one was in 2008 in Great Falls. Even though I've been homeschooling 15 years, it's still nice to go to these things. I get new ideas and meet other families doing the same thing. I always leave feeling rejuvenated and ready to get back to school. Although, sometimes the workshops are a little too basic for me, which isn't surprising since I've been homeschooling so long. I could probably do a workshop of my own, but that's just not my thing. I heard they might reschedule the convention in the spring, so I hope that's the case. I really think I need to go to another one.

Getting there ...

2011-07-28T19:59:00.003-06:00

Ten months ago I wouldn't be caught dead posting a picture like this. I absolutely hated having my picture taken. In fact, there's a huge gap in photos of me over the past 10 years -- just call me Phantom Mom. It was much easier being the one behind the camera instead of in front of it. This picture on the left was probably taken around 2009 or maybe early 2010. When I was photographed, I'd cringe. On a positive note, being overweight and avoiding being photographed did spur my interest in photography. I suppose there's a silver lining to just about everything. Sometimes you just have to squint to see it.

I started a low-carb eating plan on October 1, 2010 and have lost 68 pounds since then. I'm also exercising regularly and enjoying it, which is kind of freaky. I never enjoyed exercising as an adult. I loved being outside and doing things like hiking, kayaking, and bike riding, but I didn't like exercising for fitness. I do now. Yesterday I was in Target looking at ankle weights and exercise mats. Yeah, me -- bizarre. A few people have said I've inspired them to lose weight, exercise, or get healthier. That's really cool. I never see myself as an inspiration to anyone, so it's wild to hear someone say that.

I have 6 more pounds to be at my goal weight. Several people have said it doesn't look like I have 6 more pounds to lose, but I still want to reach it to give myself a little leeway. The numbers on the scale haven't been moving as fast lately, but that's common with the last 5-10 pounds. Hopefully, I will get there sometime in the near future. For the first time in over 12 years, I'm starting to feel more like myself. Unlike a year ago, I don't have the urge to snatch cameras out of anyone's hands or threaten to kill them if they post my picture on Facebook. That's a good feeling. Even more, it's awesome to have someone tell me I've inspired them to either lose weight, start exercising, or just take their health more seriously. That's the best of all.

Little Golden Book of Hymns

2011-07-24T09:19:00.003-06:00

About a week ago I blogged about not liking cover changes in books that are re-released by the publisher. Click here to read the post. Last night I decided to type a list of all the Little Golden Books in my collection. It turns out I have 106 of them, but that doesn't include some I know we have packed away in Christmas boxes. As I was writing the titles down, I discovered I had two copies of The Little Golden Book of Hymns, although both are very different.

The original 1947 version, shown on the left, was the one I found at the Salvation Army yesterday. The version on the right is from 1985 and I'm pretty sure I found it at the same place awhile back. As you can see, the covers are extremely different and I was curious how much the inside had been changed. Obviously, the illustrations give each book their own feel because they were done by different people. Corinne Malvern illustrated the 1947 edition and her name is shown on the front cover on the lower right. Frances Score Mitchell did the 1985 version, but there is no reference to her on the cover. The illustrations in the original are brilliant. There's no comparison to the newer version. On the title page of the 1947 version it says, "Collected by Elsa Jane Werner" and on the 1985 version it says, "Compiled by Elsa Jane Werner and E.D. Ebsun."

So, not only did they get a new illustrator, but they added a new person to compile a new list of hymns. I was very surprised to see how much the inside changed as well. There are 25 hymns in the 1947 version. In the 1985 version, only 7 of those original hymns made the re-release. They added 6 new ones that weren't in the original, making a total of 13 hymns in the newer book. What a shame. Perhaps they were trying to cut down on pages. The original version has 42 pages and the newer one has 24. Sadly, they cut out some really great, old hymns for the newer version. I'm sure there's a lot more to this than I know about -- perhaps since technology has changed so much that they weren't able to reproduce the first edition of the book because of some issue with the original artwork. Or perhaps they felt some hymns were more modern and went better with the updated illustrations. It's so hard to tell. I haven't been able to find any updated versions that are more recent. However, it makes me wonder what they would leave out or add if they ever did one. It's kind of sad, if you ask me.

Catch of the Day ...

2011-07-23T20:24:00.004-06:00

This is my newest catch from our local Salvation Army. The Hymns book is a first edition from 1947. I looked it up on Amazon and found first editions running anywhere from $5 to $99. I paid a dime for this copy -- amazing! Prior to visiting the Salvation Army, we decided to check out a new Goodwill that opened up. I was surprised to find them asking $1.99 and up for books. There was no way I'd pay that when I can find them for a dime from the Salvation Army, not unless it's something I really, really want. Hardcovers and adult books are a quarter, but the smaller picture books are only a dime. And when I find treasures like first editions from the 1940s -- well -- you just can't beat that.

I did find a microwavable omelet pan at the Goodwill for 29-cents. I'm planning on using it for a low-carb bread recipe I make quite often. I saw the same exact pan at the Salvation Army for a whopping 75-cents, so I lucked out on that. Neil found a book on Halloween magic tricks and has been practicing them non-stop since we got home. Best 10-cents I spent all day! I also found a softcover copy of Runaway Bunny for a dime. We didn't have that one, so I couldn't resist. So, while everyone else was scrounging for deals over at our closing Borders store, I bought FIFTEEN books at the Salvation Army for $1.50! Not too shabby, if you ask me.

Orange Creamsicle

2011-07-20T12:17:00.004-06:00

It's been hot here lately, which always makes me crave ice cream and other cold treats. There are low-carb ice creams, but lately I've been making this shake and it tastes just like a Creamsicle. The one pictured here is about 33 calories, believe it or not. And that's only because I added the whipped cream so it would look pretty for the picture. On average, the ones I make are only 18 calories. Yeah ... eighteen calories! How can that be?

ORANGE CREAMSICLE

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (18 calories)

1/2 cup water

1 packet orange-mango Lipton On-The-Go

1 packet sweetener (I use Truvia)

crushed ice (I use a tumbler full)

Put it all in a blender and blend until smooth. That's it! If you prefer, you can use regular milk instead of almond milk. I only drink almond milk now because it has no carbs. And to make it creamier, you can use a full cup of milk. I use a half just to cut down on the calories. The orange-mango is awesome, but you could use any of the other flavor mixes. These are great on hot days and even better because they're low-carb and low-calorie. I suppose you could even make it zero calories if you used only water. I've done that and it's a simple orange slush-like drink.

I don't like cover changes ...

2011-07-18T08:53:00.005-06:00

I found this book at the Salvation Army the other day. Whenever I go there, the first thing I do is scour the kid's books for Little Golden Books. Every now and then I find a classic or a really old one to add to my collection. The image here isn't of the actual book I bought. I got this picture online, but mine is basically the same. My copy has more of a yellowish-brown background, rather than the blue shade on this one. And mine doesn't have those numbers on the upper-right corner -- mine lists 39-cents as the price. Considering I paid a dime for my copy, I think I could a pretty good deal.

The Friendly Book was written in 1954 by Margaret Wise Brown and originally published by the Western Publishing Company. My copy is a fourth edition by Little Golden Books, published in 1974. It was illustrated by Garth Williams, who also illustrated such classics as Charlotte's Web, Stewart Little, and the Little House books.

What is interesting is that it's due to be re-released in January 2012 as a LGB Classic. If you look at the listing on Amazon here, you'll notice some changes on the cover. These were brought to my attention by someone who gave this book a 1-star review because of the changes. The person mentioned the toy car was missing on the new cover and that the lines were spikier and the characters looked more cartoonish. It's true. Not only did they remove the toy car, but they added the two mice on the bottom left. There's also some sort of bug on the bottom right that's not on the cover of the copy I have. Garth Williams died in 1996. I don't know if this was another rendition of his original work, or if another illustrator has changed it for Little Golden Books Classics.

The person that gave it 1-star also said it makes you wonder how much of the inside illustrations have been changed. I guess I'll have to look for it in January when it comes out because now I'm really curious. To be honest, I don't like it when they change covers like this. I know they do it for most books to make them look more appealing and modern, but it just doesn't seem right. A good example is Ramona the Pest. They've changed that cover so many times, but none of them fit the book like the original because the story was set so long ago. Click here to see the version I read as a kid. To ME, this is what this book should look like, which is funny because this was the 6th edition and printed in 1975. I think the original came out in 1968 and I have no idea what the original looked like. But you know me -- I'm going to search until I find out.

Very weird day ...

2011-07-17T22:11:00.007-06:00

Today was a weird day for me. I had been looking forward to spending the day in Glacier National Park on our favorite little beach along the shore of Lake McDonald, just like we did last Sunday. I mean, seriously ... look at this picture above. Who could possibly be miserable here? ***Rena raises hand*** I could go on and on and on and on about all the things that made me miserable -- from the flies, to the heat, to the cold water, to the noisy boats, to my ill-fitting bathing suit, to being hungry -- oh, did I mention the flies? ARGH! I thought Moses & Pharaoh were in town. Seriously -- Flies of Biblical Proportions! However, I've decided to share some pictures instead. I'm sure you don't want to hear me whine. The bumble bee was huge. That sucker was over an INCH long! I had hoped he'd take on a few million flies, but he was more content sucking up goop on the rocks. I'm not sure what the pink flowers are. I tried looking them up online, but couldn't find them. I'll check in my Montana wildflower book in the morning. I feel bad for Rick and the boys. They had to spend the day with Lucy from the Peanuts gang. Even though I'm home now, I'm still feeling crabby. And it's really weird because I can still feel the flies landing on me, although there are none here. Ugh -- I need to go to bed.

Little Schoolhouse

2011-07-16T18:18:00.003-06:00

I found this book at the Salvation Army today. It was written by Crosby Newell, illustrated by Kathellen Elgin, and published in 1958 by Wonder Books, a division of Grosset & Dunlap. What caught my eye first was that it was so old. It also has the illustrating style of the old Dick & Jane books, so that got my attention as well. The fact that it cost me ten cents was simply too good to pass up.

I didn't even read it until I got home. I like old books like this, so the story wasn't as important to me as the book itself. Apparently, it's taken from an old television show of the same name that was on in the 1950s. The story is is mostly about the children in the school, what they do each day, having good manners, being polite, storytime in the classroom, even special visitors that come to school to talk about their jobs -- policemen, postlmen, the milkman, etc.

In other words, the book is extremely outdated, which is the reason it's so awesome. It is in really good shape, although it has a musky scent to it. Even so, the little space for children to write their name on the front cover is still blank. There's only a little wear on the cover, as you can see, but the rest of the book is in perfect condition. You certainly can't beat that for a DIME, especially when the book cost 39-cents brand new in 1958!

A New Friend for Dilly

2011-07-12T12:55:00.004-06:00

Some of you might be wondering what's up with my little, pickle-loving rat, Dilly. The second book, A New Friend for Dilly was due to be released on July 1st, but we had some set-backs and had to change illustrators. Ginger Nielson is now illustrating Dilly and is in the process of working on the second book. I've heard she's really enjoying it and from what I've seen so far, her illustrations are going to be awesome. I was sorry to see Dilly's original illustrator Lisa Oakman go, but I'm sure Ginger will do a fantastic job with our lovable, little rat. Above is a picture of the new cover by Ginger. I'll be making a new book trailer as well. So, even though we've had some delays, Dilly will be making his come back eventually -- and with a friend!

Ginger Nielson has also taken over illustrating my Critter Series and has finished the third book, Pony Strings & Critter Things. I'm not sure on a release date yet, but I believe it will be out before Dilly. I'll let you know when I have more information. Ginger has been a real lifesaver for me. I appreciate her hard work, her willingness to take on these projects at the last moment, and her wonderful creativity in bringing my books and characters to life. Thank you so very much, Ginger!

My Butt Pillow

2011-07-11T15:23:00.004-06:00

I guess you might not be as excited about a pillow for your butt as I am, but I'm happy this arrived today. Ever since I've lost weight, I've been having a lot of pain in my tailbone, or coccyx. Everyone joked that I had lost all my padding back there. It was funny at first, but the pain has been getting pretty nasty. It's really bad if I lean back on something hard, like the bathtub or sit on a bench. When I try to do sit-ups on the floor, sometimes it feels like the bone is going to snap in half. Not fun -- nope, not fun at

I did some research online for coccyx cushions. Talk about making things even more confusing. No matter which pillow I looked at, there were people posting how it was the best one they'd ever tried and others saying it was the worst one. Since these pillows range anywhere from $20 to $60, I didn't know which one to get. So, I decided to go with the good, ol' stand-by -- AS SEEN ON TV! It was only $20 and one of the cheapest I could find. I figured I'd start there. I didn't want to spend $50 on a pillow for my butt and have it not make a difference. So, here I am, sitting on my AS SEEN ON TV butt pillow. So far ... so good. Let's hope it helps.

Sunday in the Park

2011-07-10T20:16:00.009-06:00

We spent the day in Glacier National Park today. We went to the picnic area of Fish Creek and paddled out to our favorite little beach area. The water is really high right now, so there wasn't as much beach as usual, but it was still really nice. Talk about a perfect day -- not too hot, not too cold, and not too windy. There was hardly anyone around, other than the hum of a boat going by every now and then. Rick and the boys did some fishing. Rick actually caught one, but it slipped out of his hands right as he was going to hold it up for a picture. Boy, was he mad! The boys had a blast skipping rocks, floating on logs, playing with their water shooters, and so forth. Didn't see much wildlife other than some birds, a weird looking green bug (on the flower below), a chipmunk, and of course, Rick's fleeting fish. Beautiful, beautiful day! Here are a few pictures I took, although we never left our little beach and stayed just in this one area.

Carla's Cloud Catastrophe

2011-07-08T10:49:00.004-06:00

It was just two hours before her birthday party. Carla was on her way home with her delicious coconut cake when suddenly disaster struck. The clouds fell from the sky! White, puffy clouds were everywhere -- on people's heads, scattered on the ground, plugging up chimneys, clogging the bookdrop at the library, in the playground, even on the animals at the pond! Fortunately, Carla's father works for the Department of Transportation and is called to a meeting to see what can be done about the cumulus crisis. The adults seem to have some pretty good ideas, but will they work or will they just create more problems? Perhaps Carla's imagination can save the town -- and her party, too!

Carla's Cloud Catastrophe is a delightful picture book written by Beth Bence Reinke. What I loved was how it allows kids (and big kids like me!) to think of other solutions to get rid of the clouds. With beautiful illustrations by Ginger Nielson, the story comes to life with vibrant colors and images. It's nearly impossible not to think of yummy things like ice cream, popcorn, marshmallows, mashed potatoes, and whipped cream. No wonder I was hungry after reading this book! Carla's Cloud Catastrophe can be purchased directly at 4RV Publishing, LLC or through any local bookseller. It would make a lovely addition to any classroom, library, or children's book collection. Check out the adorable book trailer ...

Peacock Mug

2011-07-06T14:11:00.000-06:00

Peacock Mug 1 by RenaJean
See other Coffee Mugs

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-03T21:44:00.002-06:00

I hope you all have a happy and safe 4th of July! This is Neil, taken last year on the 4th at the Bigfork parade. We're going there again tomorrow, so maybe I'll find something interesting to take pictures of. Then we're coming back home and relaxing -- cooking tri-tip on the grill and just enjoying the awesome weather. Be safe, everyone!

Precious ...

2011-07-02T20:56:00.005-06:00

Isn't this baby fawn just the cutest thing? I took this picture yesterday while standing on my deck. I had been watching a couple of white-tailed deer in the yard. The fawn was curious and walked closer to the house. It was interesting to hear the mother communicating for it to come back. She made sort of a grunting noise. The fawn wasn't paying attention and finally the doe came down and stood between me and her baby. Then she corralled the baby back up the hill. They're just so adorable at this age. Here are some cool facts about fawns ...

A baby deer is called a fawn.

They're born with spots, but lose them by their first summer.

By winter, a fawn weighs 44 to 77 pounds.

Fawns make a high-pitched squeal sound called bleating.

Male fawns tend to be bigger and heavier than females.

For the first month, fawns lie still and hide while the mother eats.

Fawns are weaned after 8 to 10 weeks.

Males leave their mother after one year.

Females leave their mother after two years.

Good Evening Grosbeak!

2011-07-01T07:30:00.003-06:00

I took this photograph yesterday with Rick's camera. It's old, but has an awesome zoom lens, which was great because this bird was way up on a tree in the backyard. This is a male Evening Grosbeak. These birds have been hanging around our property and are pretty much regulars every spring and summer. The females and chicks aren't nearly as colorful as the males, but that's usually the case with birds.

Evening Grosbeaks make a sharp, piercing sound. If you'd like to hear what they sound like, click here. It's funny because they seem like really social birds. When one lands in the feeder, he or she chirps to call the others. And if there's a whole bunch of them in the feeder, they talk to each other as they eat. A few weeks ago I saw a big, fat, fluffy one that was being fed by a male that looked just like the one in this picture. It always cracks me up how big and doofy the chicks look. I've been seeing more chicks, but they seem to be eating on their own now.

Speaking of the feeder, it's outside on the lawn turned upside down. I got distracted writing last night and hadn't brought it in when a black bear jumped on the deck and knocked it off. She ripped the screws out of the holder and everything, so now I can't hang it up. I need to go get it. We didn't want to do it in the dark last night with bearzilla creeping around.

Shades of Green

2011-06-30T08:32:00.004-06:00

Every once and awhile I will take a picture of some strange or obscure object and it will turn out to be one of my favorites. I took this one in my yard the other day when I was out cavorting with the wildlife. I don't even know what it is. Is it grass? Is it a weed? All I know is that I like it. It's such a simple picture and kind of weird, but I like the different shades of green and texture.

Blue is my favorite color, but green is pretty close. Right now our yard is really green. It reminds me of the summers my mom used to take me to Vermont. I couldn't believe how green it was there. But even so, it's like that at my house right now and there's such a variety of shades of green, especially in the back where our yard goes up a hill into the forest. There are so many different colors of green. Click here to see what I mean.