Kingdom Keepers

Well, it is no surprise to those that know me, that my family and I are big Walt Disney World fans! We have had a family tradition for the last 6 years where our family along with my mom and stepdad, my sister, her husband and her two kids, my brother, his wife and his two kids all stay at the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds in Disney World every December. Each family rents a "made to feel real" log cabin and we spend 7 days enjoying the theme parks and the Florida winter weather, as well as each others company! This has to be my daughters' favorite vacation! They love everything about Disney World! They were even fortunate enough to be picked as Grand Marshalls of the MGM Motor Vehicles parade a couple of years ago! Our home is decorated with many of our Disney memories!
One day, my daughter sees this book at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and most have it! So, me being the book lover that I am, never say "no" if the girls ask me for a book, purchased it for her. She devoured it!! She quickly had her sister reading it, friends at school and ofcourse, me!
I loved it as much as she did! I love the author, Ridley Pearson's imagination! What a great suspense novel, made just right for kids and grown ups of all ages. If you are as much of a Disney fan as we are, you must read this book. He doesn't leave anything out. He had my daughter so interested in the "hidden room and upside down staircase, Eshcer" in the castle that she went on a "google" mission to find out if it was true! :-)
She is now reading the second book in this series and ofcourse, I will read it when she is finished!
Aye...all these great books, makes it very hard to stick to the challenges I have signed up for!

Kingdom Keepers

Well, it is no surprise to those that know me, that my family and I are big Walt Disney World fans! We have had a family tradition for the last 6 years where our family along with my mom and stepdad, my sister, her husband and her two kids, my brother, his wife and his two kids all stay at the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds in Disney World every December. Each family rents a "made to feel real" log cabin and we spend 7 days enjoying the theme parks and the Florida winter weather, as well as each others company! This has to be my daughters' favorite vacation! They love everything about Disney World! They were even fortunate enough to be picked as Grand Marshalls of the MGM Motor Vehicles parade a couple of years ago! Our home is decorated with many of our Disney memories!
One day, my daughter sees this book at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and most have it! So, me being the book lover that I am, never say "no" if the girls ask me for a book, purchased it for her. She devoured it!! She quickly had her sister reading it, friends at school and ofcourse, me!
I loved it as much as she did! I love the author, Ridley Pearson's imagination! What a great suspense novel, made just right for kids and grown ups of all ages. If you are as much of a Disney fan as we are, you must read this book. He doesn't leave anything out. He had my daughter so interested in the "hidden room and upside down staircase, Eshcer" in the castle that she went on a "google" mission to find out if it was true! :-)
She is now reading the second book in this series and ofcourse, I will read it when she is finished!
Aye...all these great books, makes it very hard to stick to the challenges I have signed up for!

Kingdom Keepers

Well, it is no surprise to those that know me, that my family and I are big Walt Disney World fans! We have had a family tradition for the last 6 years where our family along with my mom and stepdad, my sister, her husband and her two kids, my brother, his wife and his two kids all stay at the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds in Disney World every December. Each family rents a "made to feel real" log cabin and we spend 7 days enjoying the theme parks and the Florida winter weather, as well as each others company! This has to be my daughters' favorite vacation! They love everything about Disney World! They were even fortunate enough to be picked as Grand Marshalls of the MGM Motor Vehicles parade a couple of years ago! Our home is decorated with many of our Disney memories!
One day, my daughter sees this book at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and most have it! So, me being the book lover that I am, never say "no" if the girls ask me for a book, purchased it for her. She devoured it!! She quickly had her sister reading it, friends at school and ofcourse, me!
I loved it as much as she did! I love the author, Ridley Pearson's imagination! What a great suspense novel, made just right for kids and grown ups of all ages. If you are as much of a Disney fan as we are, you must read this book. He doesn't leave anything out. He had my daughter so interested in the "hidden room and upside down staircase, Eshcer" in the castle that she went on a "google" mission to find out if it was true! :-)
She is now reading the second book in this series and ofcourse, I will read it when she is finished!
Aye...all these great books, makes it very hard to stick to the challenges I have signed up for!

Season of Change

WOW!! What a great book! I highly recommend this book to anyone parenting a middle schooler! I read this book while I patiently waited to find out if I was going to be selected to serve as a Juror. Which, by the way, if you notice from my previous post, my summons to Jury Duty came just as we were beginning to prepare for our Election Unity Study. Ya think God had his hand in this one?!!
Anyhow, back to this awesome book! I felt as if I knew Rebecca Powell personally. Every time she referenced her life as a middle schooler, it was as if I was right there with her! Right from the desire to own your own telephone line in your own bedroom! We must be the same age!
She has a wonderful way of inviting parents to get deeply involved with our kids during this crucial time!
I can't wait to begin her book, "Wise Up! Experience the Power of Proverbs" with my daughter!
Oh, if you have a chance follow her link to her daughter's my space page where she wrote a beautiful song called "Hey Miley". I immediately had my daughter listen to it!

Season of Change

WOW!! What a great book! I highly recommend this book to anyone parenting a middle schooler! I read this book while I patiently waited to find out if I was going to be selected to serve as a Juror. Which, by the way, if you notice from my previous post, my summons to Jury Duty came just as we were beginning to prepare for our Election Unity Study. Ya think God had his hand in this one?!!
Anyhow, back to this awesome book! I felt as if I knew Rebecca Powell personally. Every time she referenced her life as a middle schooler, it was as if I was right there with her! Right from the desire to own your own telephone line in your own bedroom! We must be the same age!
She has a wonderful way of inviting parents to get deeply involved with our kids during this crucial time!
I can't wait to begin her book, "Wise Up! Experience the Power of Proverbs" with my daughter!
Oh, if you have a chance follow her link to her daughter's my space page where she wrote a beautiful song called "Hey Miley". I immediately had my daughter listen to it!

Season of Change

WOW!! What a great book! I highly recommend this book to anyone parenting a middle schooler! I read this book while I patiently waited to find out if I was going to be selected to serve as a Juror. Which, by the way, if you notice from my previous post, my summons to Jury Duty came just as we were beginning to prepare for our Election Unity Study. Ya think God had his hand in this one?!!
Anyhow, back to this awesome book! I felt as if I knew Rebecca Powell personally. Every time she referenced her life as a middle schooler, it was as if I was right there with her! Right from the desire to own your own telephone line in your own bedroom! We must be the same age!
She has a wonderful way of inviting parents to get deeply involved with our kids during this crucial time!
I can't wait to begin her book, "Wise Up! Experience the Power of Proverbs" with my daughter!
Oh, if you have a chance follow her link to her daughter's my space page where she wrote a beautiful song called "Hey Miley". I immediately had my daughter listen to it!

Elections

It is no secret that this year's presidential election will be history in the making. This is the perfect opportunity to teach our children about the importance of voting. So, we decided to order a unit study on the elections, in order to give our daughters a better understanding of our government and the voting process. We chose a four week course by Amanda Bennett at http://www.unitstudy.com .
I love Ms. Bennett's thorough research of the unit studies she puts together for home schoolers. She divides her studies into doable lessons making it not only very informative but fun for kids. She includes weekly activities and books that tie into the subject matter. She also gives several sites for the kids to go to for more information.
I am looking forward to really getting the girls involved in this election. I randomly asked them, "if you had to vote right now, not knowing much about the candidates that are running for president, who would you vote for?" It was interesting to hear their choices. My youngest, without hesitation, answers, "Obama!" My oldest, replies, "can I vote, neither!" (after asking for more time to think about it) I can't wait to see if their choices will change after the unit study, especially since they will be required to study each candidate more closely!

Elections

It is no secret that this year's presidential election will be history in the making. This is the perfect opportunity to teach our children about the importance of voting. So, we decided to order a unit study on the elections, in order to give our daughters a better understanding of our government and the voting process. We chose a four week course by Amanda Bennett at http://www.unitstudy.com .
I love Ms. Bennett's thorough research of the unit studies she puts together for home schoolers. She divides her studies into doable lessons making it not only very informative but fun for kids. She includes weekly activities and books that tie into the subject matter. She also gives several sites for the kids to go to for more information.
I am looking forward to really getting the girls involved in this election. I randomly asked them, "if you had to vote right now, not knowing much about the candidates that are running for president, who would you vote for?" It was interesting to hear their choices. My youngest, without hesitation, answers, "Obama!" My oldest, replies, "can I vote, neither!" (after asking for more time to think about it) I can't wait to see if their choices will change after the unit study, especially since they will be required to study each candidate more closely!

Elections

It is no secret that this year's presidential election will be history in the making. This is the perfect opportunity to teach our children about the importance of voting. So, we decided to order a unit study on the elections, in order to give our daughters a better understanding of our government and the voting process. We chose a four week course by Amanda Bennett at http://www.unitstudy.com .
I love Ms. Bennett's thorough research of the unit studies she puts together for home schoolers. She divides her studies into doable lessons making it not only very informative but fun for kids. She includes weekly activities and books that tie into the subject matter. She also gives several sites for the kids to go to for more information.
I am looking forward to really getting the girls involved in this election. I randomly asked them, "if you had to vote right now, not knowing much about the candidates that are running for president, who would you vote for?" It was interesting to hear their choices. My youngest, without hesitation, answers, "Obama!" My oldest, replies, "can I vote, neither!" (after asking for more time to think about it) I can't wait to see if their choices will change after the unit study, especially since they will be required to study each candidate more closely!

Beautiful romance novel

I was looking for an inspirational book to read on my plain trip to Iowa, when I came across this recommendation from my nephew's teacher. I was a little leery about reading it, because it was based on a woman that was sold into prostitution at a young age. I almost put it down twice due to some of the graphics of her life as a harlot. I am so glad I continued to read it! What an amazing story about one man and God's unconditional love and the power of forgiveness. Francine River's is a wonderful writer!

Beautiful romance novel

I was looking for an inspirational book to read on my plain trip to Iowa, when I came across this recommendation from my nephew's teacher. I was a little leery about reading it, because it was based on a woman that was sold into prostitution at a young age. I almost put it down twice due to some of the graphics of her life as a harlot. I am so glad I continued to read it! What an amazing story about one man and God's unconditional love and the power of forgiveness. Francine River's is a wonderful writer!

Beautiful romance novel

I was looking for an inspirational book to read on my plain trip to Iowa, when I came across this recommendation from my nephew's teacher. I was a little leery about reading it, because it was based on a woman that was sold into prostitution at a young age. I almost put it down twice due to some of the graphics of her life as a harlot. I am so glad I continued to read it! What an amazing story about one man and God's unconditional love and the power of forgiveness. Francine River's is a wonderful writer!

R.I.P.III

Okay, I couldn't resist this challenge! I love this time of the year! So, I have decided to join this challenge being hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. Since, I tend to stay away from scary movies and books, I have chosen to do Peril The Third. Below are the rules. If you would like to join this challenge with me head over to http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/ and drop me a comment with the book(s) you have chosen. I have chosen, American Gods by: Neil Gaiman.

Book Awards Reading Challenge II

I am so excited, I will be attempting my first book reading challenge: Book Awards Reading Challenge II.

This challenge began on August 1st and will run through June 1st, 2009. The goal is to read ten award-winning books over ten months, with the condition that the books represent at least five different awards. Here is my list (in no particular order):

• 1. What The Dead Know by: Laura Lippman (Quill)
• 2. American Gods by: Neil Gaiman (Bram Stoker)
• 3. A Wrinkle in Time by: Madeleine L'Engle (Newberry)
• 4. The Thirteenth Tale by: Diane Setterfield (Quill)
• 5. The Invention of Hugo Cabert by: Brian Selznick (Caldecott)
• 6. Dead Until Dark by: Charlaine Harris (Agatha)
• 7. Water For Elephants by: Sara Guen (Alex)
• 8. The Time Traveler's Wife by: Audrey Neffenigger (Alex)
• 9. The Westing Game by: Ellen Raskin (Newberry)
• 10. Flush by: Carl Haisaan (Newberry)