THANKSGIVING......

Hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving!!

SNOW......

We had our first accumulating snow last week.  Bundled up the twins and they went out to play in the snow. 

Bella scooping up snow for a snowball to throw at mommy.

BABY......

I was cleaning out some of the pictures on my computer.  I've got 3 or 4 of the same pictures, so have been cleaning them out.  I came across these three and thought I'd re-share. 

This is Bella....

This is Luke....

This is both of the twins.....

Looking at these pictures it's so hard to remember them being this little.  It's so good to have the pictures to remind me. 

BEACH.....

since we don't really have a beach close by, this is our beach.  Thought some warm weather would be nice after all this cold and snow.  These pictures were taken in August.  We had an exceptional hot summer and the twins had lots of fun with their Slip N' Slide.  They didn't actually slide, but just liked playing in the water.

Mom even got in on water play with the twins.

BOOK REVIEW......

Odd Thomas - Dean Koontz

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Odd Thomas, who narrates, is odd indeed: only 20, he works contentedly as a fry cook in a small fictional California town, despite a talent for writing. The reason for his lack of ambition? A much rarer talent: Odd sees and converses with ghosts, the lingering dead who have yet to pass on, a secret he has kept from nearly everyone but his girlfriend, an eccentric author friend and the local police chief, whom he occasionally helps solve terrible crimes. Odd also has the ability to see bodachs, malevolent spirits that feast on pain and whose presence signifies a likelihood of imminent violence. The proximity of bodachs to a weird-looking stranger in town, whom Odd dubs "Fungus Man," alerts Odd that trouble is brewing; breaking into Fungus Man's house, Odd discovers not only hundreds of bodachs but a shrine to serial killers that helps him deduce that somehow Fungus Man will wreak widespread havoc very soon-so Odd is caught in a classic race against time to deter catastrophe. Series: Odd Thomas 
Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages 
Publisher: Bantam; Reprint edition (April 24, 2012) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0345533429 
ISBN-13: 978-0345533425

My Thoughts:  I love reading Dean Koontz books......but they scare the heck out of me.  I can't read them when it's dark out, it has to be broad daylight out.  I know it's just a book but they are really scary sometimes.  This one wasn't too scary.  More like a mystery to me.  I wanted to find out what the heck was happening and where the havoc was going to be.  So now I've got to read the next book in the series.  To see how Odd Thomas is getting along.  If you like mystery, scary books and a little romance this book will be just for you.   Head over to Amazon to check it out.  I've linked the book to it's page so you won't have to search for it.

BLUE......

Luke is sitting on a picnic table looking into their playhouse... but Bella calls this the "Castle".  Not sure why she calls it that. 

BRIGHT......

It started like this.....

and ended like this....

a bright beautiful sunset.

READING CHALLENGE.......

I was over at Bev's place, My Reader's Block and found this reading challenge.  The reading challenge is What An Animal and I thought I would join in as I like reading about animals.  The reading challenge is hosted over at Socrates' Book Reviews and here are the details.

The challenge will begin on January 1st. Read on for more details...
1. Read at least 6 books that have any of the following requirements:

a. there is an animal in the title of the book

b. there is an animal on the cover of the book

c. an animal plays a major role in the book

d. a main character is (or turns into) an animal (define that however you'd like).

Level 1 - Read at least 6 books

Level 2 - Read 7-12

Level 3 - Read 13 or more 

BOOK REPORT

Lethal Bayou Beauty - Jana Deleon

Product Description(Amazon.com)
No one in Sinful liked Pansy Arceneaux, but who hated her enough to kill her?
When aspiring actress Pansy Arceneaux returns to Sinful, Louisiana to head up the beauty pageant portion of the Summer Festival, CIA assassin Fortune Redding knows she’s in for trouble. Her undercover identity as a former beauty queen makes Fortune the perfect choice to chair the event with Pansy, but Pansy’s abrasive personality makes it impossible to get through a single rehearsal without a fight.
When Pansy turns up dead, Fortune is the prime suspect. 
File Size: 2932 KB 
Print Length: 274 pages

My Thoughts:  This is an Ebook, second in a series.  Fortune is in trouble and the ladies from Sinful come to the rescue.  They have to find the killer before the deputy and the towns people pub Fortune in jail.  Really great series, I'm really enjoying this.

Mable Riley - Marthe Jocelyn

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Set in Canada in 1901, this gentle tale relates the adventures of a 14-year-old who accompanies her older sister to the small town where she has been hired as a teacher. Mable discovers that very little happens in Sellerton, other than her frequent spats with her sister. Most of her days are spent assisting Viola at school and doing chores on the farm where they are boarding. Her only release is found in her journal entries or in spinning her fantasies into stories that she includes in letters to a friend back home. Wanting to have someone with whom to share her feelings and desires, Mable turns to a town outcast, an eccentric woman who leads a secret group of suffragettes. As she learns more about the injustices carried out in this small rural town, she ignores her sister's warnings and puts herself in the midst of a strike at the local cheese factory. 
File Size: 454 KB 
Print Length: 289 pages 
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0763632872

My Thoughts:  This book is one of my Victory Garden books.  I've had this book for some time now, but haven't read it.  I got it a library book sale a few years ago.  The book is in diary form and is very well written.  I really enjoyed reading this book and following the life of Mable for the summer.  Really loved her stories that she sent home to a friend.  Mabel finds herself in a bit of trouble when the suffragettes draw her into their cause.  The lady she admires gets hurt during the rally and Mabel steps in.  They all get taken to jail, but her friend tells the police that Mabel was just a bystander.  But in the end Mabel is the one who solves the problem at the Cheese Factory.  Loved this book.

VICTORY GARDEN......

this isn't the kind of victory garden most people think of.  This is a victory garden of books.  I was over at Bev's place, My Reader's Block and saw this.  So I followed the link.  Which sent me to The Beauty of Eclecticism.  This is what she said about this.

"My Victory Garden is a place where I finally lay to rest the books that have defeated me so often in the past.  Surely, most readers have these.  The book you have picked up time and again, determined to actually make it through it this time, either because you feel you should in order to be a well-read person (like War and Peace), or because life has interrupted it every time you start it, or maybe because you liked it but it was too mentally or emotionally challenging for your mood last time you attempted it."

My books are going to be the ones on my shelves.  I have lots and lots of them.  Haven't picked any of them up in ages, so I will be reading them now and planting them in my victory garden.  I've put a tab at the top of my page for this purpose.  Each book will be linked to my review.   If you want to try this out head over to The Beauty of Eclecticism and check it out.

TUESDAY.....

When the twins are not outside or playing in the house, they are on the computer.  They sometimes have disagreements on who gets to control the mousse.  That's where I come into the picture as my computer is in the same place as theirs.

AUTUMN......

We have lots of trees around here.  So when Autumn come the leaves come too.  Hubby usually just mows them, but I don't think that's going to happen this year.  But Heather and the twins try to keep the leaves off the play area.  Luke is getting really good at sweeping the leaves.

BELLA AND LUKE.....

Luke is in disguise with his "Mustache". 

NEEDLEWORK TUESDAY....

Heather over at Books and Quilts is the host for Needlework Tuesday.  Got a project you want to share?  Hop over to Heather's to check it out.

I've been crocheting since the weather has turned a little chilly here.  Been working on the Ugly Afghan.  It's a little bigger now.

I've also started making hexagons for an afghan.  Using some of the yarn from the big tub my hubby got at a rummage this past summer.  I got this pattern over at Attic 24.  She has a tutorial on how to make these.  The tutorial is on the left hand side of her blog.   I made one a couple years ago.  They are really easy and work up fast.

As for quilts, I finished the quilt top of my Calendar Quilt.  Billy decided he wanted to model the quilt.  He is usually laying on the quilt, but I nudged him off so I could get a picture of it.

I've also started a Christmas Quilt.  Haven't gotten very far on this one, just started it yesterday.

Don't forget to go visit Heather.  She has some really cute Scrubbies  to show off over at her place.

2015 READING CHALLENGE.....

I was over at Bev's place, My Reader's Block and she had a reading challenge posted.  So went to check it out over at Lois's place, You, Me, and a Cup of Tea.

Birthday Month Reading Challenge

Rules
How this challenge works is that each month you read a book by an author who has his or her birthday in that month. So for example in December you could read a book by Jane Austen because her birthday is December 16th and in July you could read a book by J.K. Rowling because her birthday is July 31st. So you will end up reading twelve books all together for this challenge.  Just click on the link above the picture to check out this reading challenge.

BOOK REPORT....

Louisiana Longshot - Jana Deleon

Product Description(Amazon.com)
It was a hell of a long shot.... 
CIA assassin Fortune Redding is about to undertake her most difficult mission ever--in Sinful, Louisiana. With a leak at the CIA and a price placed on her head by one of the world's largest arms dealers, Fortune has to go off-grid, but she never expected to be this far out of her element. Posing as a former beauty queen turned librarian in a small bayou town seems worse than death to Fortune, but she's determined to fly below the radar until her boss finds the leak and puts the arms dealer out of play. Unfortunately, she hasn't even unpacked a suitcase before her newly inherited dog digs up a human bone in her backyard. 
File Size: 2784 KB 
Print Length: 250 pages 
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 147813223X

My Thoughts:  This is my first E Book.  I read this book on my Note Pad.  I didn't really think I could do this.  I've tried reading books on my computer but can't do it.  I think it's something to do with the fact that I like holding a book.  My Note Pad is shaped like a book and I have to "turn" pages.  Anyway this book was really good.  A good cast of characters along with a great story line.  Fortune Redding is hiding out in Sinful Louisiana.  What she doesn't know is she's fallen into a murder investigation.  She helps the ladies, Ida Belle and Gertie to prove Marie didn't kill her husband.  I didn't know who the actual killer was until the last chapter.  Awesome book.   

BOOK REVIEW....

The End of the World (and other stories) - Alexander Lurikov

Product Description(Amazon.com)
 Alexander Lurikov's stories are filled with eccentric characters - loners, idlers, impostors, voyeurs, and other misfits who are obsessed with the past and often unable to separate their dreams and fantasies from reality. They lead contemplative, melancholy lives, and though they are determined to remain at a distance from the rest of the world, they constantly find themselves stumbling into bizarre situations with strangers. In addition to The End of the World, this collection includes eight other stories: Doctor Highlane, Diary of a Discontent, Demise, Man Seeking Women, The Key, A Continual Farewell, Oliver the Abominable, and Grains of the Golden Sand. 
Paperback: 188 pages 
Publisher: Gray Cadence (January 31, 2012) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0983360650 
ISBN-13: 978-0983360650

My Thoughts:
I've had this book on my shelf for a few years.  Just haven't gotten around to reading it.  It is a collection of stories and as the description says, it is filled with some very eccentric characters. 
All of the stores are very good and I enjoyed reading about these people, but it was kind of depressing at times.  The story I enjoyed the most was Grains of the Golden Sand.  It's about a man that meets an old man and he starts having dreams of his childhood.  And some of the objects he had as a child somehow turn up in his pockets.  There is one sentence that sticks out for me from this story.  "I've come to understand the past, present, and future not as times, but as places: rooms to be explored, spaces through which I can move."  To me that's what memories are.  The difference being that you only know them as memories and can tell the difference between here and now, real or fantasy.