Beyond All Measure

Ada Wentworth is left with nothing after the death of her father and aunt. She leaves her home in Boston and finds work as a companion to Lillian Willis, a widow that lives in Hickory Ridge, Tennessee. Being a Yankee in the South after the Civil War proves to be a challenge for Ada. She struggles to make a place for herself and hopes of building a future doing what she loves, making beautiful hats for the woman of Hickory Ridge. Not all the towns people are welcoming to Ada. There is deep resentment toward the North after the war.

I really enjoyed Beyond All Measure by Dorothy Love. There are several twists and turns to the story that, for me, made it hard to put down. It’s a story of faith. A reminder that we need to rely not just on ourselves, but those around us.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Lightkeeper’s Ball by Colleen Coble

After learning about the death of her sister Eleanor, Olivia Stewart is determined to find the real cause of her death.  Knowing her sister as she does, Olivia is convinced that Eleanor didn’t kill herself. She leaves the comforts of New York and the life she knows, traveling to Mercy Falls, California to find out what happened. She suspects Eleanor’s betrothed, Harrison Bennett had something to do with Eleanor’s death, but the more she gets to know him, the more she is convinced he had no part in it. After several attempts made on Olivia’s life, Harrison helps her solve the mystery.

This book was a quick read that I really enjoyed. The mystery revolving around Eleanor’s death leads Olivia down a path she never expected. She discovers things about herself that she never would have, had she not gone to Mercy Falls. She comes to recognize who her true friends are and learns to rely on a faith she didn’t know she had. I love historical fiction, the mystery and romance were a bonus. I really didn’t want the book to end.

I had never read anything from this author before and plan on looking into her other books.

*** I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html>

Easter Outfits…

My sister in-law (thanks Mel!) was kind enough to take pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes. Here they… are for your viewing pleasure!

Easter 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The Egg Eggperiment…

This year we used only things we had in the house to color our eggs. I had seen several blog posts about this and thought we should give it a try. I gave the kids some ideas of things that might work and then they (Evelyn) looked in the drawers, fridge and pantry to find other things. Here is our list of tried items:

purple cabbage

beet juice

spinach

turmeric

berries

paprika

I used 1/2 c. roughly of frozen berries, a couple of handfuls of spinach, some chopped purple cabbage, the juice from 2 cans of sliced beets and 2 teaspoons of both turmeric and paprika. We mixed the item with a cup of water and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, then added 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. I didn’t add any water to the beet juice, just let it simmer down a bit. Once the mixture was cooled we got started.

The berries, beet juice and turmeric were quick to color our eggs. The other 3 didn’t fair so well. Once we had 6 eggs left, we put one egg in each cup and put then in the fridge for about 5 hours. The beet juice and berries got much darker after that long, the turmeric was really about the same. The purple cabbage turned the egg a really pretty blue. The paprika and spinach didn’t do much at all. I think we will try this again next year with different things and see what else works.

 

Eggperiment VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Budding Musician…

Turn off the music @ the bottom of the page before watching the videos.

This morning I was in the kitchen and heard a lovely sound coming from the living room. Max @ the piano. I was afraid that if I didn’t try and sneak up on him, he would stop. He was more then happy to preform for me though.

Max @ the piano, take 1

Max @ the piano, take 2

Listen carefully to the words in the second video. He gets his Prophets mixed up a little. I asked him afterward who was who and he knew.

Me and My Wild Ideas…

Last night I decided that I needed to make Evelyn a dress for Easter. Easter is a week away… Why do I do this to myself? I also thought I need to make bow ties for the boys that match her dress. Again… Why do I do this to myself? I did some searching on-line last night and found a couple of patterns… the one I finally decided on they didn’t have in stock, so I had to find something else. I actually think this one will be easier… no zipper! We went to Joann Fabric today and got everything (I hope) I need. I’ll keep you (there is someone out there reading this, right?) posted on my progress.

***Update: The dress is coming together nicely. I'll probably have it finished today. The only snag I ran into was turning the ties. How do you turn something that is sewn closed at one end and is really narrow?

2 Days in a Row…

Now I don’t want anyone to fall off their chairs or anything because I am blogging 2 days in a row… I’ve been doing some scrapping this weekend and thought I would share the fruits of my labors.

Happy Birthday Sam!!

This post is so late… Sorry Buddy! Our Sammy Boy is 6! How did that happen?

It was a week long celebration for our boy. On Monday (3/21) we gave him one of his presents… a new bike! The boys got to spend the day together and then we went to the Children’s Museum that afternoon. On his birthday he wanted pancakes for breakfast and pizza for dinner. The Saturday after his birthday he had his first friend party. We made binoculars, they each got a funny visor and we had a treasure hunt. I think they all had a fun time. He wanted peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting. On Sunday (3/27) Grammy, Grandpa, Auntie M, Sergio and Nico came over for dinner. His request was twisty noodles with white sauce. I added grilled chicken and shrimp, broccoli and salad. We made homemade ice cream to go with the cupcakes… Peanut butter ice cream with peanuts and mini Reese’s peanut butter cups. It was really good and RICH!

Sam the Man turns 6! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL