Family Dinner for Lynne’s Birthday

I keep thinking back to the evening of The Birthday Dinner with so much contentment and happiness.  I dearly love that our family enjoys being in each other’s company so much.  We laugh and tease and my cheeks hurt by the time the evening ends!

A few pictures to share…..

 

We got to the restaurant first and opted to wait in the truck.  Next came the Birthday Girl and she climbed into the back seat to chat.  The Boy (how she often refers to her boyfriend when talking to us) was next to arrive and joined us.  We decided since it was a Kodak moment we’d test out the timer feature on the camera.

 

Lynne’, aka Birthday Girl, and little Miss B while we waited for our order to arrive.  I’m not sure what Brooklyn was telling Lynne’ in this picture, but from the look on Lynne’s face she’s not buying it!

 

After dinner she opened her gifts and Miss B was quite interested in this, though she wasn’t really all that impressed with anything that Lynne’ got.

 

Keith and I being silly with the “hold your camera out at arm’s length in front of you” self-portrait.

 

Everything I read about photography says not to do staged photos.  Phooey on them - I will enjoy looking back at the group that met this night!  Standing between Lynne’ and Keith is Alicia, one of Lynne’s roommates.  This photo took several tries with the camera self-timer….. and with people entering the restaurant through the door behind us!

 

I had told Keith on the way to the restaurant that I was going to start a new tradition and get a photo of me and The Birthday Person every year.  He did tell me it can’t be a tradition on the first night you think it up, but I didn’t worry much about that.  Note to self for future pictures – set the purses aside.  ;)   Other than that I love this picture of my daughter and I.

This was truly one of those moments in time that warms a mother’s heart.

{Review} Baby, It’s Cold Outside by Susan May Warren

Baby, It’s Cold Outside
by Susan May Warren
309 pages
Summerside Press

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:  Hope finds the hopeless when a storm hits.

It's Christmas weekend 1949, and despite the threat of a storm, the townspeople of Frost are determined to continue their holiday traditions, if only as a means to forget the war that they had all just suffered through. But the suffering hasn't ended for Dottie Morgan who lost her only son in the war. She's preparing to wallow in her isolation for the weekend, when Violet, nearly a spinster at age 29, dares to make a request that will force Dottie to publicly revive the memory of her dead son.

When a storm traps the two women at home with a strange young man who has an unbelievable confession and a neighbor with more to do with Violet's past than she would like, no one can predict how this Christmas will give them all a second chance.

Read an excerpt here and find out the story behind the novel

 

MY REVIEW:  “Oh the weather outside is frightful…”  But it manages to bring five people together for some unintentional, intense time together.  That time seems to be exactly what each of them needs, even if they might not have known it before.

Each character is instrumental in bringing about changes in thoughts in somebody else within the house.  Preconceived notions are put to the test and they question some of the things they believe – both in themselves and in those with them during the blizzard.

Such a very good book!  The characters are so easy to love, the time period of right after the war and watching love bloom make this a new favorite book of mine.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan returned home to a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where she, her four children, and her husband are active in their local church.

Susan's larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder ofwww.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!)

A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at:www.susanmaywarren.com.

Warm up to Christmas early this year with Susan May Warren's Baby, It's Cold Outside</ a>! To celebrate the release of her new Christmas book with Summerside Press, she and the publisher are giving away a Kindle Fire and hosting an early Christmas Party on Facebook

Read what the reviewers are saying here.


One festive winner will receive:

• A brand new Kindle Fire
• Baby, It's Cold Outside by Susan May Warren

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. Giveaway ends on 10/26

But, wait there’s more! Join Susan May Warren on 10/27 for merriment and a few early Christmas presents at her Baby, It's Cold Outside Christmas party! Grab your Christmas sweaters, socks and pj’s and join Susan and a few friends for a fireside chat about her recent books (Heiress & Baby, It’s Cold Outside), holiday traditions, favorite Christmas recipes, a trivia contest and more! Invite your friends and don’t miss the fun!

RSVP here and we'll see you on October 27th at 5 PM PST / 8 PM EST!

 

** Thank you to Litfuse for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.

Card #10-Mojo Monday #211–Happy Birthday

Today is my daughter’s 26th birthday!  We’ll be celebrating later, but for today I want to show the card I made for her.

 

I used the Mojo Monday sketch and it came together quite easily. 

 

The flower in the corner?  I *MADE* that!  It was so simple and as soon as I read about it on Stampin’ Pretty’s blog I knew I had to try it.  The only problem with finding something that cool and that simple is that I fear I’ll be using the same flower on everything I make for awhile.

Supplies used for card: stamp from Stampin’ Up’s Well Scripted set

** Linking to Mojo Monday, Make It Monday

{Saturday Stumbles} 10/15/11

This week I’m going to share some of the bedroom ideas I’ve found on Pinterest.  Really some great inspiration out there and it continually amazes me the level of creativity of people!  Just click on the photo to go to the blog of the person that did this and read their entry in its entirety. 

 

I *love* the quilt on this bed!  I know she’s showing the picture for the whole room, which is sooo pretty, but I’m mostly enthralled with the quilt.  It just goes to show that even a simple pattern can look stunning.

 

I’m in love with this lampshade and the most fun thing about it – for me – is that I had bought a lamp at a garage sale and was unhappy with the shade.  Now I know exactly what I plan to do.

 

This says so much to me and I definitely am going to do this in our room.  Isn’t it amazing how something “simple” can be so awesome?

 

Right now we play Words With Friends a LOT, so I really think I love this idea.  Not sure what word I would use, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.

 

Enjoy!  And if you’re on Pinterest let me know so I can follow you!

Brooklyn Loves Weddings

We recently were so thrilled to attend the wedding of a young couple that just mean the world to us.  Danny has been a friend of my son’s since they were in the 8th grade.  I always felt close to him because during the 8th grade I picked them up from school and took them home every day.  You don’t spend that kind of quality time with kids and not learn a thing or two about them!

And through the years we’ve gotten close to his bride, Rachel, as well.  They’ve spend several weekends at the lake with us and again, you don’t spend that much time with people without getting to know them!

This wedding was made extra special because my son was the Best Man, daughter-in-law was a Bridesmaid, and granddaughter was the Flower Girl!

 

This is little Brooklyn after the wedding was over.  She did a spectacular job of dropping the rose petals down the aisle.  In fact, she was very, very meticulous about the whole thing!  {love her little shoe peeking out from beneath her dress}

 

Our son and daughter-in-law….aren’t they beautiful?  The fun part of this picture is that Brooklyn took the picture of her parents!  Of course, grandma did assist a little in the post-processing, but nobody really needs to know that.  Love, love this picture of the two of them.

 

This picture makes me giggle!  We discovered that little Miss B LOVES to dance!  She was on the dance floor for practically every dance and her dance card was never empty.  Here she’s dancing with Grandpa and the camera caught her in a bit of a mid-twirl.

 

This picture dad was trying to get her to look at the camera, but she was very intent on “Gotta Dance!”

It really was a night to remember.  These are the times that a person feels truly blessed.

{Review} Zombie Church by Tyler Edwards

Zombie Church
by Tyler Edwards
211 pages
Kregel Publications

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:  There is something missing in the church today. Stuck in a rut of routines and rituals, the church is caught up in doing what it is “supposed to do” but is lacking the true essence of what it is supposed to provide: life. Real faith--and a real relationship with Jesus--is not about playing by the rules, attending services, and praying before meals. Real faith is more than religion.

Believing there is a way to breathe life back into the church, Tyler Edwards adopts a contemporary and entertaining metaphor--zombies--to highlight and challenge the problematic attitude of today’s believers.

Written for the discouraged, disenfranchised, and anyone unsatisfied with their same-old church routine, Zombie Church challenges readers to turn away from hollow religious practices, which characterize “zombie Christianity,” and turn toward a radical relationship with Jesus.

While other books have addressed legalism in the church, this is the only book that effectively capitalizes on a popular entertainment genre in order to diagnose and correct the problem. Realizing that even his own church is part of that problem, Edwards has written an accessible and often humorous book that will help believers change the Spirit-draining (or life-draining) habits that stop them from achieving a full, fulfilling life in Christ.

 

MY REVIEW:  I’ll be the first to admit that the title is what made me look into this book.  As the mother of two 20-somethings and a family of zombie fans, this caught my eye.  When I read the back of the book and saw what it really was about I was thrilled.

Instead of being a book content to throw stones at churches that “do it wrong”, Tyler Edwards gives us both the diagnosis and the cure.  I found myself actually taking notes while reading this book and pondering his thoughts late into the night or while driving to work.  The church is definitely ailing and maybe if we’d all take a hard look at ourselves and begin within it would be our first step.

I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, but I can say wholeheartedly that this book should be read by all.  The smaller thickness of the book might fool you into thinking it will be a fast read, but the reality is that there is so much content in those pages that you will want to ponder and reread quite often.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Tyler Edwards is the lead pastor at Cornerstone Christian Church in Joplin, Missouri, where he works to help people learn how to live like Jesus, love like Jesus, and look like Jesus—so they carry out the mission of Jesus to the world. He graduated from Ozark Christian College with bachelor’s degrees in both Biblical Literature and Christian Ministry. He has written articles for Lookout Magazine, spoken at various campus ministry events in Missouri, and served overseas in Mbale, Uganda.

Tyler loves cheesy horror films. He is particularly fond of movies like Dawn of the Dead, The Signal, and 28 Days Later, where zombies run wild and threaten to infect an entire town. Connect with Tyler on Facebook.

 

The publisher is sponsoring a $50 Amazon.com giveaway!

About the Giveaway! To enter all you have to do is send a tweet (using @litfuse) about Zombie Church or share about it on Facebook!

If you tweet we'll capture your entry when you use @litfuse. If you share it on Facebook or your blog, just email us and let us know (info@litfusegroup.com).

Not sure what to tweet/post? Here's an idea:

TWEET THIS: Zombie Church by Tyler Edwards - a fair-minded & tenderhearted critique of the church http://ow.ly/6Nv05 @litfuse RT for $50 to @amazon

FACEBOOK THIS: Don’t miss Edwards - a fair-minded and tenderhearted critique of the church. http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13424384 Written for the discouraged, disenfranchised, and anyone unsatisfied with their same-old church routine, Zombie Church challenges readers to turn away from hollow religious practices, which characterize “zombie Christianity,” and turn toward a radical relationship with Jesus. Share this for a chance at $50 to Amazon.com

 

** Thank you to Litfuse for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.  Click here to see what other reviewers have to say about the book.