Grand Rogue Encampment 2014

This year, the weather for the weekend was about 55° during the day and it got down to 48° inside the tent during the night.  It wasn't as bad as I expected, though, and didn't really need to wear gloves that much.  I thought my hands would be frozen!  William did a lot better about the cannon this year. Last year, he wouldn't even walk past the cannon even when there were no people around it.  This year, he walked down the road past it many times.  We took the kids over to watch the night firing of the cannon before bed and he was not very happy about that until it went off.  Then he thought it was really cool (It is cool to see the explosion in the dark).  The next day, he watched them firing the cannon from our tent (but didn't go and hide like before).

Sarah's best friend came and hung out with us for Saturday

S'mores

Sunday:

Garth (aka. The Indian Guy) where our kids were most of the weekend!

Book Review: "Evergreen: A Christiansen Winter Novella" by Susan May Warren

"Evergreen" by Susan May Warren is a novella about the parents of the Christiansen Clan, John and Ingrid.  Now that the kids have all left home, Ingrid is feeling the loneliness and John wants to fix it, so he plans a getaway to Europe for Christmas.  Different responsibilities keep coming up that make the trip impossible.  John and Ingrid are missing the spark that they had when they were first married.  Will they be able to mend past hurts in order to keep their marriage evergreen?

After previously reading two of the Christiansen clan books, I was sort of surprised to find that John and Ingrid were facing a chilling in their marriage relationship.  I found myself discouraged and down while they struggled and felt renewed hope when things were getting worked out.  I can feel for both Ingrid and John's point of views and didn't think either of them was "more wrong" than the other.  The book mentions things that happen in the other books in the series, so it would probably be best to read them in order to get the "full picture".

I received a free hardcover book from Tyndaleblognetwork in exchange for my honest review.  I didn't realize it was going to be a hardcover.  It also was a slightly unusual size at 5.25 x 7.25".  It was a plain gray cover under a full color dust jacket.

Evergreen is available in hardcover:

• Series: Christiansen Family
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (September 1, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414394012
• ISBN-13: 978-1414394015

and Kindle edition:

• File Size: 2207 KB
• Print Length: 209 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1414394012
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (September 1, 2014)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00J37IGL6

Book Review: "My Learn to Read Bible" by Tracy Harrast

When "My Learn to Read Bible" by Tracy Harrast arrived in the mail, I was surprised how big it was!  It is approximately 9 x 11 inches and almost a full inch thick!   The pages are heavy duty, glossy, and colorful.  "My Learn to Read Bible" uses pictures to stand for certain words in the book so that younger kids can get involved in reading the Bible stories.   In the beginning of the book is a list of the pictures they use and what they stand for.   The book is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament like a regular Bible would be.  There are 53 stories from the Old Testament and 60 from the New Testament.  Each story has a life lesson at the end of it as the "take away" of what the story is trying to teach.  My oldest child read this book with her youngest brother.  She would read the words and he would read the pictures.  They had a lot of fun reading the book together.

I would recommend this book to families of young children.  The listed age range is 4-8 but I think that younger children would enjoy reading this with their older siblings or parents.

"My Learn to Read Bible" is available in hardcover

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Zonderkidz (March 30, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310727405
• ISBN-13: 978-0310727408
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.9 

I received a free hardcover copy of "My Learn to Read Bible"  from Zondervans in exchange for my review through their ZBlogSquad.

First Day of School 2014

This year, all four kids are in the same school, so we only had to make one trip on the first day of school.

1st Day of 3rd grade

1st Day of 2nd grade

1st Day of Kindergarten

1st Day of 5th grade
 (and last "first day" as an elementary student!)

 My camera batteries decided to die just as the kids were getting off the bus, so I didn't get pictures of them actually getting off the bus.

1st time getting on the bus for the year:

Andy's 1st time getting on the bus for the year.
He didn't go yesterday due to the staggered start.

Book Review: "Prelude for a Lord" by Camille Elliot

"Prelude for a Lord" by Camille Elliot is an Inspirational Historic Romance set in 1810 England.

Alethea Sutherton is the daughter of an Earl, but has never fit in.  She speaks her mind, is friends with her half sister, and plays the violin - all things that are looked down upon in Regency England.  So at 28, she has a mistrust of men and is considered beyond marriage age.

Bayard Terralton, Lord Dommick has come back from fighting Napoleon with horrible nightmares (what we now know as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and is trying to repair the reputations of his mother and sister after the gossip of him being the Mad Baron.

Alethea and Dommick are thrown together to try and decipher what has made Alethea's bequeathed violin so valuable that someone is trying to steal it.  While they work on discovering it's provenance, they and their family face threats and danger.  As they get closer to the truth about the violin, they also grow closer to each other.  Will they let go of their pasts to face a future together?

I really enjoyed reading "Prelude for a Lord" by Camille Elliot.  I found myself transported to Regency England, and didn't feel any of the language/phrases or settings made me feel disrupted in reading the story.  I liked Alethea and Dommick as people and how they interacted with each other. I liked watching the feelings grow throughout the book and it felt natural and not too sudden. The secondary characters were also well developed and realistic.  There is a lot going on in the story as it follows the main story of the violin and it's provenance, but also there are stories about sisters and friends, too.  I could relate to the musical aspect of the story as a violin player myself.  I don't know if the talk about the violin's f holes and scrolls, etc would loose other people who were not familiar with the instrument (or if it's even necessary for them to totally understand, just that they were talking about the violin? )

The book has a "cast of primary characters" at the beginning and discussion questions at the end.

I would recommend this to those who enjoy Inspirational Romance, Historical Romance, Mystery Romance... It was a great book!

"Prelude for a Lord" is available in paperback:

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (August 5, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310320356
• ISBN-13: 978-0310320357
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces

or Kindle edition:

• File Size: 927 KB
• Print Length: 349 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0310320356
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
• Publisher: Zondervan (August 5, 2014)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00GRZDC5C

I received an eBook version of "Prelude for a Lord" from booklookbloggers in exchange for my honest review.