AFTERWARDS

Well, the presents are open, the food is cooked and eaten. Thought I'd share some of our Christmas with you. This was the twins first Christmas. So they didn't really know what was going on. But they had fun with their presents. We put them on the floor and they were having fun chasing them around. They are both ready to crawl. They just haven't figured out the process yet. Bub is getting on his knees and rocking, but he hasn't made it any further. Bella is rolling over both ways. They are growing so fast. Anyway here are some snapshots of our Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.

REVIEW - CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC

"Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horwitz

Product Description(Amazon.com)
When prize-winning war correspondent Tony Horwitz leaves the battlefields of Bosnia and the Middle East for a peaceful corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he thinks he's put war zones behind him. But awakened one morning by the crackle of musket fire, Horwitz starts filing front-line dispatches again this time from a war close to home, and to his own heart.
Propelled by his boyhood passion for the Civil War, Horwitz embarks on a search for places and people still held in thrall by America's greatest conflict. The result is an adventure into the soul of the unvanquished South, where the ghosts of the Lost Cause are resurrected through ritual and remembrance.
In Virginia, Horwitz joins a band of 'hardcore' reenactors who crash-diet to achieve the hollow-eyed look of starved Confederates; in Kentucky, he witnesses Klan rallies and calls for race war sparked by the killing of a white man who brandishes a rebel flag; at Andersonville, he finds that the prison's commander, executed as a war criminal, is now exalted as a martyr and hero; and in the book's climax, Horwitz takes a marathon trek from Antietam to Gettysburg to Appomattox in the company of Robert Lee Hodge, an eccentric pilgrim who dubs their odyssey the 'Civil Wargasm.'
Written with Horwitz's signature blend of humor, history, and hard-nosed journalism, Confederates in the Attic brings alive old battlefields and new ones 'classrooms, courts, country bars' where the past and the present collide, often in explosive ways. Poignant and picaresque, haunting and hilarious, it speaks to anyone who has ever felt drawn to the mythic South and to the dark romance of the Civil War.
# Paperback: 432 pages
# Publisher: Vintage; Later Printing edition (February 22, 1999)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 067975833X
# ISBN-13: 978-0679758334

MY THOUGHTS: This book has been on my list of TBR books for ages. I love reading about history, especially the Civil War. I don't really know what the fascination is with the period, but I've always loved reading about it since I was a young girl. Mr. Horwitz did a remarkable job with this book. I found out lots of things I didn't know and lots of things I did know, but needed a refresher on it. Many people think the Civil War was about Slavery. It wasn't. It was about states rights. As Horwitz takes you through the south you hear what everyone there thinks about the Civil War and some keep it alive and some don't care one way or the other. But some take it to extreme. If you like to read about the Civil War you should really read this book. I highly recommend it.

MY RATING: 5

REVIEW - CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC

"Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horwitz

Product Description(Amazon.com)
When prize-winning war correspondent Tony Horwitz leaves the battlefields of Bosnia and the Middle East for a peaceful corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he thinks he's put war zones behind him. But awakened one morning by the crackle of musket fire, Horwitz starts filing front-line dispatches again this time from a war close to home, and to his own heart.
Propelled by his boyhood passion for the Civil War, Horwitz embarks on a search for places and people still held in thrall by America's greatest conflict. The result is an adventure into the soul of the unvanquished South, where the ghosts of the Lost Cause are resurrected through ritual and remembrance.
In Virginia, Horwitz joins a band of 'hardcore' reenactors who crash-diet to achieve the hollow-eyed look of starved Confederates; in Kentucky, he witnesses Klan rallies and calls for race war sparked by the killing of a white man who brandishes a rebel flag; at Andersonville, he finds that the prison's commander, executed as a war criminal, is now exalted as a martyr and hero; and in the book's climax, Horwitz takes a marathon trek from Antietam to Gettysburg to Appomattox in the company of Robert Lee Hodge, an eccentric pilgrim who dubs their odyssey the 'Civil Wargasm.'
Written with Horwitz's signature blend of humor, history, and hard-nosed journalism, Confederates in the Attic brings alive old battlefields and new ones 'classrooms, courts, country bars' where the past and the present collide, often in explosive ways. Poignant and picaresque, haunting and hilarious, it speaks to anyone who has ever felt drawn to the mythic South and to the dark romance of the Civil War.
# Paperback: 432 pages
# Publisher: Vintage; Later Printing edition (February 22, 1999)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 067975833X
# ISBN-13: 978-0679758334

MY THOUGHTS: This book has been on my list of TBR books for ages. I love reading about history, especially the Civil War. I don't really know what the fascination is with the period, but I've always loved reading about it since I was a young girl. Mr. Horwitz did a remarkable job with this book. I found out lots of things I didn't know and lots of things I did know, but needed a refresher on it. Many people think the Civil War was about Slavery. It wasn't. It was about states rights. As Horwitz takes you through the south you hear what everyone there thinks about the Civil War and some keep it alive and some don't care one way or the other. But some take it to extreme. If you like to read about the Civil War you should really read this book. I highly recommend it.

MY RATING: 5

Hunter and Hayden

1 month old and growing.

MEGAN AND ...................TWINS

Megan, my niece. She gave birth to twins on November 11. Hunter and Hayden.







This is the whole family about a month ago. I saw Megan and family at Wal Mart yesterday. They are all doing fine. Hunter and Hayden are growing like weeds. They are picking up weight and filling out nicely. But since my computer crashed I can't get to my new pictures. So I'm using my archived pictures from a month ago.

RAIN OR SNOW

So far it's rain, no snow, which suits me fine. But I'm sure it will be snow before the nights over as the temps are dropping.

COMPUTER CRASHED...........AGAIN

My computer crashed and am using the lap top for now. I'm not happy about this. I want my computer back.

IT'S A BOY......AND A GIRL

I got a scrapbook page of the twins. I'm working on an album for them. This is when they came home. They were 1 week old and so tiny. I was almost afraid to pick them up. Hard to believe now that they are 5 months that they were that tiny.

WINTER.................YUK!!!!!

This is why I hate winter. Snow and cold. It's now 14 degrees outside with the wind blowing which makes the wind chill even colder.

TEASER TUESDAYS

My Current Read

The Red Queen - Margaret Drabble


My teaser sentence

"When we were little, the Crown Prince and I played games together. We played, like the children that we were."

I've just started this book so am not very far into it. But I like what I've read so far.

REVEIW - MARLEY & ME

"Marley & Me" by John Grogan

"Marley & Me" by John Grogan
Product Description(Amazon.com)
The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family in the making and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life.
# Paperback: 307 pages
# Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Mti edition (October 28, 2008)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0061718653
# ISBN-13: 978-0061718656

MY THOUGHTS: I went into this book knowing full well what was going to happen. But I really enjoyed reading about the Grogan family and all their misadventures with Marley. How could you not love him. He enjoyed life to the fullest, a bit energetic, true, but happy most of the time. I think my favorite "Marley" story is him getting kicked out of Obedience school. And then going back and trying it again and getting is degree and eating it! Whatever you say about Marley he truly loved his family and they loved him very deeply even with all his so called "problems". Now on to the movie. Which I'm sure I'll need some tissues to see this one.

MY RATING: 5

[Note: I saw the movie and was not disappointed. Although some of the parts of the book were missing. I'm sure they had to cut some to make this movie. Other than that it was a pretty good movie and loved the people that stared in the movie.]

STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CAMERA

I think I've mentioned my niece having twins. She had two boys, Hayden and Hunter. They are 3 weeks old now and growing.

Hayden


Hunter


These pictures are straight out of my camera no cropping or resizing.

NEW AFGHAN

I started a new afghan last week. I'm using shades of green in this one. I'm trying to use up my odds and ends yarn. I've just got a few skeins of each color so this may be a lap afghan.

FRIDAY'S FAVE FIVE

Susanne is the host of Friday's Fave Five. Go check it out.

1. Vegetable Soup - my son made a really big pot this week and have been eating it all week. It's so much better once it sits a day or so. Plus it warms the body up on these cold days.

2. Scrapbooks - I'm a scrapbooker and I'm always looking for new things and ideas to scrapbook with. I've even got a blog where I put all my scrapbook stuff. It's called My Journal. It's a Journal of my scrapbooking. This is a new page I done this week. It was last fall and we were having the last cook out of the year. It was kind of chilly. My hubby is watching the fire till it burns down. Our son is the griller here. He uses wood instead of gas or charcoal.


3. Libraries - I love my library. When I need or want a book, they are all so helpful in getting it if they don't have it. I've got a couple books waiting there now that they got.

4. Babies - We have lots of those right now. We have twins, Bella and Luke, and my niece just had a set of twin boys. Got to visit them. They are so tiny. This is Hunter and Hayden at 3 weeks old.


5. My Camera - I love my camera. It catches some of the most important events in my life. This is one I caught yesterday. My son napping with his daughter Bella. They look so peaceful laying there.



Have a great Friday!!

THEMED THURSDAY

My STONE is from last spring. The spring flowers blooming here are called Anonmies (I'm not sure about this name). They are so tiny and delicate looking, but they come up through the snow in the spring. They are in my rock garden outside the back door. There's lots of rocks(STONES) in my garden.

FIRST SNOW

We had our first snow of the season during the night. Not much just a dusting.

DREARY

It's rather dreary today. Cloudy and rainy. Maybe it'll clear off soon.

REVIEW - A VIRTUOUS WOMAN

"A Virtuous Woman" by Kaye Gibbons
Product Description(Amazon.com)
When Blinking Jack Stokes met Ruby Pitt Woodrow, she was 20 and he was 40. She was the daughter of Carolina gentry. He was a skinny tenant farmer who had never owned anything in his life. They didn't fall in love so much as they simply found each other and held on for dear life.
# Paperback: 176 pages
# Publisher: Vintage (November 5, 1997)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0375703063
# ISBN-13: 978-0375703065

MY THOUGHTS: I like the way this book is written. Each person, Jack and Ruby, are telling the story. You get different views of each of their lives. How they meet, their life together, and Ruby's illness. You see Ruby has Cancer. So they are telling the story of her life. I would really recommend this book, it's really easy to read. I got hooked as soon as I started reading it. Couldn't put it down.

MY RATING: 5

REVIEW - THE SUMMONING

"The Summoning" by Kelley Armstrong

Product Description(Amazon.com)
My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.
All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.
Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House . . . before its skeletons come back to haunt me.
# Reading level: Young Adult
# Paperback: 416 pages
# Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (March 31, 2009)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0061450545
# ISBN-13: 978-0061450549

MY THOUGHTS: This is a new author for me. I read about this book at someone's blog and it sounded really good, so I put it on my TBR list. It is really a good book. It's also a series of books. The Awakening, The Reckoning, The Gathering are the ones in the series. The Gathering is due out in 2011. Chloe starts seeing strange things and freaks out in school. They sent her to a house for disturbed teens. But something isn't right. Chloe finds out about all the different kids there and their "special" powers. Then all hell breaks loose. Chloe, Rae, Derek, and Simmon are on the run. And do they get caught? Does Chloe find her "special" power and how to use it? You'll have to read the book to find out the answers to these questions.

MY RATING: 5

GREAT NEPHEWS

Went to see my new Great Nephews yesterday. They are twins and were born November 11. Their names are Hunter and Hayden. This is the whole family.







I could only tell them apart because of the different color of blanket. They so much alike.

THANKSGIVING

Is everyone ready for Thanksgiving? Got your menu made out? Have all your supplies bought? Ready to cook?

I have all my supplies. I'm going to start cooking this evening. I'll be doing my pies and turkey tonight. As well as Potato Salad and Deviled Eggs. My sister and her family will be coming in tonight or early tomorrow. And I want to visit not be cooking all day. So will get the majority of the cooking done tonight.

I thought I would share my recipe for Pumpkin Pie. It's really yummy! I usually make 4 of them and believe me they don't last long.

PUMPKIN PIE




4 Eggs
1 – 29 oz. can Pumpkin
1 ½ C. Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ginger
½ teaspoon Cloves
2 – 13 oz. cans Evaporated Milk
4 – 9 inch Pie Shells

In a large bowl, mix all the above ingredients. Pour into unbaked pie shells. Sprinkle tops with Cinnamon. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake another 45 minutes.

When knife is inserted in center and comes out clean, remove pies and cool.

THUNDERSTORM IN NOVEMBER???????

Late last night we had a rip roaring thunderstorm pass through. Lighting, thunder, wind and rain. In late November!!!

THE MOMENTS IN BETWEEN PHOTO CHALLENGE

The two most important people in my life right now are my new and first grandbabies. I've waited years for them. I never really thought I'd have any grandchildren. Then these two came along, it's like a miracle. If your wondering why I keep saying they, it's because they are twins. They are now 4 months old and growing like weeds.

Bella


Luke

STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CAMERA

GRANDPA PLAYING WITH LUKE
This is my hubby, Thomas. He's holding Luke while I fix him a bottle. These have only been re-sized.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson
Product Description(Amazon.com)
An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.
# Paperback: 600 pages
# Publisher: Vintage Crime / Black Lizard (June 23, 2009)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0307454541
# ISBN-13: 978-0307454546

MY THOUGHTS: This is my book clubs pick for November. It has also been on my TBR list for ages. So when the chit chat at book club came around to this book, I jumped on it. I must say I was a little disappointed when I started reading the book. It's really slow and filled with so much info I got lost at first. Then finally it got going. What was confusing was all the info about Wennerstrom. But I really enjoyed the book. It is written with every detail that could possibly have to do with the story line plus more. Now I've got to read the other 2 books in this series. They will go on my TBR list. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson

MY RATING: 5