A Deliciously Busy Week

This past week was busy but productive and delicious. Our Thanksgiving celebration started on Wednesday when I made cheesy ham and potato soup to take to my  mother-in-law's house. Ever since my father-in-law passed away she no longer likes to host or attend big family dinners, so I thought it would be nice to stop by and visit her and bring lunch. I also took along some of my famous blueberry banana bread, a recipe that appears in my latest book, Cooking In Fern Valley.

On Thursday, we invited my mother and sister over and we dined on left over soup. We finished up with a new recipe for raspberry bread that I have been dying to try for quite some time. It must have been delicious because my mother asked if I had a spare mini loaf for her to take home. 

Later that evening we stood in line at Wal-Mart to get my mother-in-law a new television since hers died. Normally I wouldn't shop on Thanksgiving, but she needed a television and you can't beat $150.00 for a 40 inch screen. 

Friday I headed back out for my yearly Black Friday shopping and was pleasantly surprised to find virtually no one our and about. I easily found everything I wanted and was home before 9:00am. This certainly had to be a record for me. It worked out well because a fellow author and friend emailed and said she was going to be in the area, so I invited them over for coffee and zucchini bread. Can you tell quick breads are my go to recipe? I did make pie as well, but that was for Saturday.

On Saturday we celebrated our Thanksgiving at my brother's new house. This is the first time in many, many years that I did not host Thanksgiving, and I have to say it was kind of nice not to have to worry about dishes or clean up. We also managed to get a family picture taken.

On Sunday, I caught up on my laundry, dishes, bathroom cleaning, some writing, and we even got the Christmas tree up and lighted but no ornaments yet. And of course, I read a bit because this is my Monday Kidlit Book Review after all.

I read two fun books. The first was called Froggy Is The Best and told the tale of a small forg trying to figure out what he was the best at. It took him a while, but he did not give up until he figured out what it was at which he excelled. This book is great for readers who are just beyond the beginning reading level but not quite in the chapter book range yet. And it is totally encouraging to know that if we just keep trying things we will eventually find what we are good at and what we love.

The second book was called The Cuddle Book. It starts with__Everybody likes a good cuddle. I find this to be true and so it was a joy to read this book. When reading you see how all kinds of animals cuddle but in the end who cuddles best of all?

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, the sequels, Return To Fern Valley,  and Cooking In Fern Valley, along with my very first picture book, Quack and Daisy! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.