Reading Challenge: All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey

For this Review, I picked All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey.  It is in a series called Kowalski Family.  This is Book #6.  I have read all of them, but Book #5.  This was a Library e-book.  This book was about Josh Kowalski, who ran Northern Star Lodge with Rosie, who is Katie's Mom.  Katie is a childhood friend & he started to see her differently without the book.

The Northern Star Lodge is a Bed and Breakfast where people go to stay to go snowmobiling and sledding.  I love series because we learn more about the characters from the previous books.  What they have been up to?  Did they have babies?  If they did, what are their names?  

I love this book because it is about choices.  Josh never made the choice for his life.  He wanted change.  He wanted to make his own choice for his life.  What will this choice be?  Read the book to find out.  Will Katie be in his life?  

I highly recommend this book.  It is a very good book.  

Keep on Reading!!
Melissa

Not the sad son

I want my happy son back.  Not the sad son.  He has told me why he is not happy.  When someone walks out of someone's life, an adult can handle it, but for a child, they do not understand why.  No matter how many times we explain it.  We told him it is for the best. Shortly after this happened, I saw the signs in my son.  I talked with his pediatrician, who told me to get him into a therapist so he could talk about what happened and to see if he has depression.  I did that and we have an appointment with a psychologist in 2 days.  His grades have dropped.  He is not the same kid.  I have called a friend, who has a daughter, who knows how to cheer my son up & it works, but it does not last long.  

I am not sure what else we can do, but I will not give up. I will not allow this person back into our lives no matter what.  It is for the best this person is not in our lives.  With time, our son will be happy once again.

Melissa

Halfway There Review

Have you read Halfway There yet?  

I love going back to Fool's Gold!! It is like going home again! Seeing old friends, meeting new ones. I was laughing, crying as always with Susan Mallery's books.  I am looking forward to the next 3 Fool's Gold books coming out this summer, which are Just One Kiss, Two of a Kind, and Three Little Words.

If you have not read this novella, I highly recommend it.  You can purchase Halfway There at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

itunes

I do not want to go too deep into the book since it has not came out yet.  The reason I have a copy of the book is due to ----- I am a Cheerleader for Susan Mallery again.  Yea!!  I can not wait to get out there to cheer again for her this summer.  We start May 27th.  Once again, I will be sharing photos of my adventures along with my cheerleader helpers.   

Keep Reading!
Melissa

Reading Challenge: Aggie's Inheritance

These 3 books I read last year, but I never got around to the review.  I know I am late, but I loved  these books.  It is a great series by Chautonia Havig.  I had it almost done, but the last book in the series.

 When I found Ready or Not by Chautonia Havig, I have never read any other books by this author & I was not sure, but I saw it on Facebook's Pixel of Ink for free.   I am not sure which one in this series I got first.  I received all 3 of these this way from this Facebook page.  Thank you so much.  This series is so good.  I could not put it down.  I really hope that there is a fourth book in this series.  I love this series.  You never know when it is your time.  Now onto the series:

	Ready or Not  by Chautona Havig (Goodreads Author)  book 1 Aggie is out of college, wondering what is next, & thinks she is prepared for everything.  Aggie gets the call that no one wants.  That call that tells her that her sister & brother in law was in an accident.  Aggie's sister has 8 kids & she is appointed their guardian.  Aggie has 8 kids at one time to handle.  Normally we get 9 months to prepare for each baby coming, then a year or so between each new baby coming.  Aggie's sister, Allie, & her husband, Doug, had that time between each baby, but Aggie does not have that.   Would you be able to handle 8 kids at the same time?  Would you take your sister & brother in law's children?  Aggie has to deal with her brother in law's mother, Mrs Stuart, who gives a new meaning to the term mother in law from Hell.  Would you do everything you could to keep them away from Mrs Stuart?  I will answer these questions at the end of my review.  I do not like Mrs Stuart.  She uses emotional abuse with everyone around her.  What makes me so mad about Mrs Stuart the most is that she said "Children, your Aunt Agathena is here to sit with you for awhile.  Now you must be very strong for her.  If you give way to tears & emotion, you will bring disgrace on your parents, and I know you don't want to do that." (Page 61 Kindle).  What a nice Grandmother she is!  How can one grieve without tears & emotions?  I do not like how Mrs Stuart refers to all of the kids as "motherless" and "fatherless" because to me they will always have a mom & dad no matter if they are living or not.  Right?  I also think it is an insult to Mrs Stuart's son & daughter in law.     One last thing, why would Mrs Stuart leave the children alone?  This can be used again her & her husband in court!! When Aggie was talking to Vannie, she says "we need to just live a normal life until the pain is more like emptiness when we think of them.  Like a  piece of us that isn't there anymore, and we wish still was."  I think this is really good advice Aggie told her niece during this difficult time.  When we lose someone like Aggie & her nieces & nephews have, we have to find a "new" normal. Aggie told Vannie more by saying "I think that we need to remember is, they were finished with this world.  They had accomplished all that God wanted them to.  And I must say; you were quite an accomplishment!" (Page 51 Kindle) This was very beautifully written.  It reminds me that we are very lucky to have our love ones with us for how long we have them.   We should not take that for granted.  I am very thankful for my husband, children, family, & friends. Iris gave Aggie some advice "If you don't want a child to do something, you have to make the behavior counterproductive.  They must want to avoid the consequences and never do it again."  (Page 113 Kindle).  I really love when Iris told Aggie that "If they complain about working, give them more work, for practice in doing it pleasantly.  Every time they complain, give them another small job.  Don't get sarcastic or unpleasant yourself.  You'll just reinforce what you don't want them to learn.  If they speak unkindly to a sibling, make them say five nice things about their sibling.  Make whatever they did, not worth doing again."  (Page 114 Kindle).  I am going to tell Ashleigh's therapist this & see what they say.  Love this a lot.  We are going to use this.  I will print it out so we can remember it.  I think it will help us. "Aggie realized that people who said mothers at home didn't get enough exercise were more than ignorant; there were foolish!" (Page 125 Kindle).  This is so true.  We are always looking for something like ds, ds bags, library books for school even though we have a rule to keep them in their school bags, which are to be hang on the white cabinet, shoes, which also should be on the bottom of the white cabinet!!  I am always running up & down our steps.  We also lose shoes a lot or coats because the kids do not put them where they belong every day.
	For Keeps  by Chautona Havig (Goodreads Author)  book 2 How would you do back to school shopping for 8 kids?  Think of how much that costs, but think about how many shirts, jeans, skirts, shoes, socks, etc you would need.  Ouch!  Could you sew clothes for your nieces?  I could not.  I can only sew curtains, pillows, etc.  I can not do clothes.  I would learn for my nieces & my daughter(s). Mrs Sullivan gave Aggie some good advice.  They were talking about Vannie's sewing.  She said "So what?  She learns and moves on.  You must quit expecting everything to go right the first time."  (Page 33 Kindle)  I learned this early on with my kids.  Not everything has to be perfect.  What the kids needs is time with us- dishes, cleaning can wait or we have a cleaning together day then we have something fun together.  The kids love when we all do the cleaning together. Mrs Stuart does not give up.  I can not believe what she keeps pulling.  It makes me appreciate my mother in law.  I am so grateful she is not like Mrs Stuart.   I love all the things that Luke does for Aggie & the children.  I am not going to get into details for those who have not read the book.  There is one that I especially love that is on the outside of the house (Page 68 Kindle) so you will need to go to that page to find out!  hehe!!  I love when I do that.   A favorite quote from the book is when Vannie said to Aggie, "Mommy always said that if we don't grow and embrace the new things the Lord brings into our lives, we become pathetic.... no, apathetic."  I love how Vannie & the other children are sharing good memories of their mother especially of what she taught them. I need to keep reminding myself of this: Luke told Aggie this "If you let yourself convince yourself it's too hard, pretty soon every little bump be overwhelming." (Page 89 Kindle).  This is so true.  Breathe! As a friend as told me, Breathe!  Thanks Melissa.
	Here We Come  by Chautona Havig (Goodreads Author)  book 3 Aggie is getting married to the man of her dreams.  She misses her sister.  She always thought her sister would be here on her wedding day.  Aggie has her family surrounded on her wedding day! Would you take your sister & brother in law's children? Would you be able to handle 8 kids at the same time?  Yes & yes, I could & would handle 8 kids with organization.  A chalkboard with the weekly schedule (yes, I do this myself now)!!  Organization for shoes, backpacks, coats!!  Aggie has to deal with her brother in law's mother, Mrs Stuart, who gives the meaning to mother in law from Hell.  Would you do everything you could to keep them away from Mrs Stuart? Hell yes, I would keep them away.  As a friend says all the time she would call her "bat shit crazy"!! I highly recommend these 3 books.  I was glued to these books.  Very great book! Keep on Reading Melissa   P.S. Discussion Questions for You: Ready or Not: 1. What does Aggie has to deal with during Ready or Not?  2. Do you think at the age of 22, you could raise 8 kids?  Why or why not? 3. Where does Aggie move her & the kids? 4.  How many times does she have to deal with Mrs Stuart? 5.  Who helps Aggie? With what? Why? 6. Name all 8 children. 7.  Who said " These children haven't grieved right.  They are wound up tighter than an over-tuned fiddle.  Any time now, one of them is gonna snap, and then there's gonna be trouble"

Reading Challenge: Adopt-a-Dad

Another library e-book!!  This time I chose Adopt-a-Dad by Bonnie K Winn.  This was the first book I read by Bonnie K Winn & I looked on Amazon for more books by her.  I saw a few that I want to read.  OK, there was more than a few.  

What would you do if you went to the store & had your grocery cart stolen by 3 kids?  Luke followed the kids & his grocery cart.  He found 3 orphaned kids that are very hungry.  The kids' mother died, the kids (Brad, Hannah, & Troy) were going into foster care so they ran away.  Luke took the kids home with him & fed them.  He called his sister, Rachel, who is a social worker.  His sister & other siblings brought the kids clothes & beds along with toys.  Another social worker, Kealey, showed up.  Luke was not happy about her being the social worker that he will be assigned.  He decided that the kids have been through enough & to keep them with him until the kids could have foster homes or a permanent home all together.

Jane, Luke's mother, said "Kealey, being a mother isn't a definition from Webster's.  It's about bringing out the best in kids, encouraging them in a way that teaches. Like today, I'm not saying they growing to be veterinarians or philanthropists.  But just maybe, they'll grow into adults who care about others, especially those who can't help themselves." (Kindle page 150)
I really love this quote.  I really pray our children grow up to be adults that help others.  Like yesterday, we could have stayed home watching tv or playing, but instead we decided to help a friend, who was working a double & is diabetic.  He did not know he would be working that much & did not have enough food to make it through his shifts.  We did not want him to skip a meal & have his insulin level get messed up.  I showed my children that helping others matter.  

Another quote I love that Jane said is "but life has a way of grabbing you and making you adjust to change whether you want it or not." (Kindle page 152)
This is so true.  We have had so many changes in our life.  I know we will have more changes, too.  That is what life is all about. 

I really enjoyed this book.  I learned about Luke's childhood vs Kealey's childhood.  Very different.  Learned about Luke's big family & how they welcomed everyone!! I forgot to mention that Luke is a vet.  We learned a lot of about the 3 kids, where they ended up living, & a lot more, but as always, you have to read the book to find out.  I highly recommend this book. 

Keep on Reading!
Melissa

Reading Challenge: The Best Man

Once again I got an e-book from one of my libraries, this time I chose The Best Man by Kristan Higgans. I love reading the Dear Reader section.  There was a paragraph about the Finger Lakes.  Shawn's family lived there at one time & we are going to be taking the kids there.  Not sure when.  Not anytime soon.  From what Shawn told me, it is a beautiful area.  I love how Kristan described the area.  It was like I was already there.  Another thing I loved about this book is for the main character to have epilepsy.  It is a great way to raise awareness on any disease!  I already know which book of hers I will be reading next.  Read this book to find out!  There is an excerpt on the end of The Best Man!

On to the book, I love this book.  I do not know what I would do.  What would you do if your soon to be husband to be told you he is gay, but he did not tell you, but the best man did?  I think I would do what Faith did-leave your hometown & go somewhere new.  Start over.  I think it is best that Faith found out before they were married & especially before they had children.  Think how that would had affected the children involved.  I know Faith is upset when she heard it all coming out of the best man's mouth, but in the long run, I think it is for the best for Faith & Jeremy.  In the town she lived in, everyone knew what happened, too. 

Faith went home to do some work on her family's winery, but even after many years she still heard  someone was telling her how sorry they were.  I think she made the right decision by leaving when she did.  I am not going to tell you when, how, etc.  Yes, you are going to have to read the book!  When Faith returned to town, do you think Jeremy is there?  If he is, how do you think they were together?  Old friends?  Did not talk to one another? 

I think my favorite "funny" part in the book was in Chapter 5 when Faith hide in the bathroom. 
Levi says to Faith "That happens to me all the time." This earned another glare. "So you decided to climb out the window?" 
Faith says "Mmm-hmm." 
Levi says "Where you are now stuck."
Faith says "Wow. Those analytical powers of yours are just stunning, Levi.  No wonder you're a cop."
(Kindle page 101-102)
Love this part so much.  I am not going to say anything more for those of you that have not read the book. 

This book review is going to be short.  I loved this book, but there is so much more I could put into.  I do not want to give too much of the book away.  I love the ending.  The Best Man is a must read!!

Keep on Reading!
Melissa

Happy Penguin Day!!

April 25 is World Penguin Day!!

Did you know? Penguins are found in Antarctica, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, the Falkland Islands, and the Galapagos Islands. Elsewhere, they are only found in zoos.

I love how this day is close to Noah's birthday!!  World Penguin Day is a day that you can take the time to learn more about penguins!  

Here is a photo I shared above that was taken at our Aviary.  We we went twice between March & close to Easter.  The boys love to see the penguins & Ashleigh does, too, but she loves the flamingo & the eagles.  We have a family pass.  

There are many kinds of penguins.  Noah has a favorite type of penguin.  He loves Emperor Penguins.  He also has a kind of penguins he does not care for, but I am not going to tell you.  Do you have a favorite kind?
  Take the time today to learn about Penguins!  These are the same as last year.

Some Coloring Pages:
Use the links (under) to get the coloring pages.  Thanks.

Click Here

(go to the link that is next to the penguin) 
(We love the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Good luck guys on your way to the Stanley Cup!!  We hope you win!!)

Click Here

How to Draw a Penguin

How to Draw a Penguin!

I hope you have fun drawing some penguins!  
Happy World Penguin Day!!