William's School Christmas Program

The elementary Christmas program is for Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd graders, but since ½ of Emily's class is 3rd graders, they will be participating in the Spring Program instead.  William did VERY well and you wouldn't realize he had ever had a problem with going up in front of people!  He is in the middle row, 3rd from the right in the red and blue striped sweater.

Finale with all the classes

Ice, Ice, Baby!

The kids ended up not having school on Friday because we got freezing rain and everything was sheets of ice.  They decided to go out and play.

We got more freezing rain and some snow Friday and Saturday so we postponed the church choir program and all services today.  We now have ½" of ice covering the yard and causing the bushes to droop and some branches to fall.  

LEGO MiniFigure family card

Make your own

Book Review: "The One Year Devotions for Women"

I was eager to review "The One Year devotions for Women:  Becoming a Woman at Peace" by Ann Spangler as my oldest daughter uses a "One Year Devotion" book for her nightly quiet time.  I really liked the idea of having a short devotion geared for women every day of the year.  They are short so they don't take long to read and are easy to fit into your schedule.  The readings include a Bible verse and a prayer.  It was interesting to read about events that took place in my area used as examples for the daily readings as I am from the same area as the author!  

For the most part, I thought that the devotions were helpful and useful to me.  I was sort of perplexed, though, when there was a whole day devoted to Seasonal Affective Disorder!  The only Biblical part about it was the verse and the prayer!  It kind of threw me as to why it was included.  I have only used this devotional for about 2 months, so I'm not familiar with all the topics covered.

The list price for  "The One Year devotions for Women" is $15.99.  I found it online ranging in price from $4.48   to $10.66 to $13.15 .

ISBN:

978-1-4143-3602-2 

Trim Size:

6 x 9 

Binding:

Softcover 

Release:

September 2012 

I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for my honest review.  I did not get any other form of compensation.

Book Review: "The Captive Maiden" by Melanie Dickerson

When I got the email from Booksneeze saying what books were going to be available in December, I made sure to come back and request "The Captive Maiden" by Melanie Dickerson the first day it was available.   This is the book description:

Happily Ever After …Or Happily Nevermore?

Gisela’s childhood was filled with laughter and visits from nobles such as the duke and his young son. But since her father’s death, each day has been filled with nothing but servitude to her stepmother. So when Gisela learns the duke’s son, Valten---the boy she has daydreamed about for years---is throwing a ball in hopes of finding a wife, she vows to find a way to attend, even if it’s only for a taste of a life she’ll never have. To her surprise, she catches Valten’s eye. Though he is rough around the edges, Gisela finds Valten has completely captured her heart. But other forces are bent on keeping the two from falling further in love, putting Gisela in more danger than she ever imagined.

I was intrigued by it being a retelling of "Cinderella" and really wanted to read it.  When it came, I sat it on the table since I was working on sewing Christmas presents.  I kept looking over at it and was tempted to pick it up and read!  Then it came to the evening and the kids were home so I couldn't work on the sewing projects, so I picked it up.  Big mistake, I couldn't put it down!  I did force myself to sew the next morning, but as soon as I couldn't work on my sewing, I finished the book!  It was done in a day! 

I had a basic idea of how the story would go since we all know the "Cinderella" story.  It was fun and intriguing to see how Melanie Dickerson made the story her own.  This story is set in the year 1412.  I hadn't read any of her other books and a "cameo" appearance by characters from "The Fairest Beauty" comes near the end of the book.  This book works well as a stand alone story.  Although I did have to check out her other books as soon as I finished "The Captive Maiden"!  

This is listed as a Young Adult/Teen book, which I didn't realize until I saw it on the back of the book.  I am far from a teen and still really enjoyed this book.  

I enjoyed the fact that this is a Christian book and the characters pray and seek God's will for their lives.  The extent of their physical relationship is kissing.

I highly recommend this book to teens up through 100+ ☺  

You can purchase this book through Zondervan for $9.99. 

Format: Softcover

Language: English

ISBN 13: 9780310724414

UPC: 025986724412

Weight: 0.72 lb

Size: 8.5 × 5.5 × 0 in

Length: 304 Pages

I received a free copy of this book through the Booksneeze blogger program in exchange for my honest review.  I did not receive any other form of compensation.

Review: Hello Fresh

I had the opportunity to review a food delivery service from Hello Fresh through the Mosaic Review Team.   There are two types of boxes to choose from Classic (with meats) and Vegetarian.  You can pick either a 2 person or 4 person box.  They send the ingredients for 3 meals each week and with the Classic Box, there are 3 that are the "default" meals with 2 optional ones that you can trade for if you'd rather have them (you do this after you check out in the "my account" section).  

swapping meals 

You can also pause deliveries if you want (be sure to press the "save" button after you do this!)  You have to cancel your account if you don't want to continue or it will automatically continue. 

This is our experience:

The Fed Ex guys handed me this box at the end of the driveway while I waited for Andy's bus.  (They were driving a Budget Rental truck!)

The box is thickly insulated

All the meals are individually bagged and labeled

The freezer packs!

We unpacked the box at 4:00 pm. I put the freezer packs in a dishpan on the counter and they still had frozen spots until 9:00 am the next day!  That's 17 hours!!!  They are reusable, so I put them in the freezer to use later.  I wanted to see how long they would stay frozen if left in the shipping box.  I put them in the box at 4:00 pm on Wednesday (like a delivery) and put the box on the kitchen floor.  They were still slushy and cold at 5:00 pm on Friday!  I took the temperature in the box and it was 48°!  


Individually bagged and labeled for each meal:

Chile Dusted Shrimp with Corn Relish:

Steak and Brussels Sprouts Stir-Fry:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin (with Lemony Skillet Potatoes and Zucchini):

Our favorite meal was the Pork Tenderloin with potatoes and zucchini.  I found the recipes easy to follow and liked the step by step instructions.  It was convenient to get all the ingredients you need to prepare the meal (other than staples like Olive Oil and sugar).  It made it easy to know what to have for lunch and I didn't have to figure something out.  The 2 person Classic Box that we tried out costs $69 (which includes shipping).  I wouldn't be able to pay that much for 3 meals, but it may be okay for someone who doesn't want to get out to do shopping. 

I had to contact the customer service and they were very friendly and solved my issue quickly. 

If you enter the code TICKTOCK50 you can get 50% off all e-Giftcard purchases and new customer sign-ups until Monday 12/23. Discounted e-Giftcards can only be redeemed by new customers.

I checked at Meijer to see the prices of things that came in our box and this is what I found:

Chile dusted shrimp                $9.45

Steak and brussels sprouts     $4.07

Pork Tenderloin                      $4.87

                                          --------

                                          $18.69

I figured the price for just the amount of each thing that was actually used in the recipe.  It would be more to buy the whole container (since you can't buy just 2 Tablespoons of something!)

I received a 2 person, 3 meal box to try for free in exchange for my honest review.  No other form of compensation was received.

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