Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

Hey everyone. It's good to be back after a couple weeks off. December was wonderful, but tiring. Emily made a three -d star for art class and finished a short story for entry in the Association of Christian Schools International.

I made way more cookies than any one person should make.

We invited Bobby's family over for a Christmas celebration at our home, and I managed to get a stunning picture of the only grand niece amidst a passel of six grand nephews, the three youngest shown below.

We celebrated at my brother's house with my side of the family where Emily only has three first cousins.

We celebrated, just the three of us, at our house where Emily sported the french braids her cousin styled for her. She also performed a concert for us for Christmas, and I'm not sure, but I think the cat tried to knock her out! Guess he was jealous that she received all the gifts.

We visited Bobby's mother, who missed our celebration because she'd been in the hospital.

And, we had lots and lots of fires which kept us warm while we admired our backyard visitors.

The month of December also brought me an invitation from an author previously unknown to me. He asked if I would read and review his book and took care to learn a little bit about me before asking. This consideration is probably what made the difference between a yes and a no from me, and I'm really glad because his story was fantastic. His name is Edward Dron and his book, The Pillow Parade,is a story of a rabbit who wishes to help children go to sleep. The sheep don't think a rabbit is worthy or capable of helping children slumber, but he doesn't let the nay saying of others keep him from trying. Don's story is quite original and well told. The adorable illustrations also add a layer of depth to the story and the combination is sure to keep children's attention from wandering. The pillow parade is definitely a book worth checking out!

As you can see, we wrapped the year up quite nicely and are now ready to tackle whatever 2018 has to offer. We started off by ringing in the New Year quietly. Well, Bobby and I were quite, but I can't say that Emily and her New Year friend were as there was a lot of giggling going on. Emily spent some time doodling in her sketch books, and we celebrated Bobby's birthday on Sunday. Not a bad way to say hello to a brand new year. I can't wait to see what else 2018 has in store, whatever it is, I'm sure it won't be boring. Wishing you all a very not boring New Year too!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter  @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Birthday's, Bunnies, and Bargains

May is a beautiful month, and I'm not just saying that because I was born in May. May is when Bobby starts searching for and planting wonderful things in our vegetable garden. May means school is almost over. And May means lots of wildlife activity in our yard.

Sunday morning I woke up early before anyone else in the house; and when I opened the living room blind, I saw two baby bunnies snuggled together near my flower bed.

 

Sunday afternoon, Bobby and Emily took me out to lunch for an early birthday treat. We went to Applebee's, and I used my Christmas gift cards. I usually style my hair in braids when I go out and was pleasantly surprised when Emily came down sporting braids as well.

And Sunday evening when I sat down to write this post, I remembered the great book bargain Emily and I found at the thrift store recently. We found the first five hardback Nancy Drew books. Emily is a great lover of mysteries and has loved Nancy Drew ever since her aunt gave her two Nancy Drew paper backs last year. Nancy Drew books are the kind that never go out of style. She has read the first one already, so I'm going to keep my eyes pealed for books 6 through 12.

 

And while I normally don't read anything but children's books for time reasons, I did start reading A Good Creek Christmas (Kindle Version) written by my friend Virginia Smith. I've only had the chance to read three chapters, but the story is definitely pulling me in. With a myriad of interesting characters and descriptions that really create mental pictures, Virginia has created a top notch cozy mystery that I can't wait to finish. And like me, Virginia has a love of baking and has included a great recipe.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Birthdays and Bunnies

This past week was a mixed lot as far as life's emotional roller coaster ride. I found out through FB that my publisher closed their doors, and I have no idea as of yet what that means. Time will tell, and while I wait, I will continue to work at improving my craft and gaining the notice of an agent.

On a cheerier note, this past weekend was also Emily's Birthday, and she got a double dose of birthday fun. On Friday evening, Bobby, My sister, and I took Emily and two friends to a birthday dinner at The Golden Corral. Before we left they played some kind of a jelly bean where they had identical looking jelly beans and some were tasty while some were plain down right gross. Flavors like barf and booger. I have no idea why one would want to eat gross flavored jelly beans, but the girls seemed to have a giggly good time.

 

On Saturday we hosted a party that was attended by her cousin and her school mates. We wore funny glasses. We played birthday bingo. We played hot potato. We played remember what's in the box. And we played a game called Spoons. Every girl received a spoon and they had to pass a mini Reese cup without using hands. It was much more difficult then one would think and made for some truly laughable moments.

And when the partying was over, I found time to do my weekly reading. Bunnies on Ice found its way into my hands and became this week's choice for review. Sparse on words but not on story, this story is a tale of childhood, ice skating, and self confidence. One patient and determined bunny waits all year to be a champion ice skater and when the time comes, she gives it her all and enjoys each moment. This book would be perfect for children ages four to eight.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

 

Sweets For The Brain: A Valentine Book Review

As the class mother, I work closely with the teacher to set up all the holiday parties, and Emily's teacher just contacted me about the upcoming Valentine party. I can hardly believe that Christmas is just  memory and we are already well started on the new year, but there you have it. Of course this reminded me that I had better get over to my local library and  switch out the children's display case.

I decided on a cute monkey theme and got busy. That done, I set about to find books for the top of the display and that inevitably caused me to find several books to bring home. Since most children bring home scads of candy after their big Valentine's Day parties, I thought it would be wonderful to review a few books that that would make wonderful alternative gifts. Sweets for the brain so to speak.

The first book I read was Valentine Surprise by Corrine Demas. Lily wants to make her mom a special valentine. She starts at the beginning of the week and tries to make a valentine every day, but not a single one turns out how she wants. When Valentine's Day finally arrives, Lily doesn't have a perfect heart to give her mom, or does she?

Next came Ruby Valentine Saves The Day by Laurie Friedman. Ruby Valentine loves Valentine's Day and wants to throw a party. Ruby plans for everything, everything except the unexpected snow storm. Does the storm ruin her party plans, or does Ruby come up with new plans?

And last but not least there was Dear Bunny - A Bunny Love Story by Michaela Morgan. This story is so sweet it almost made my teeth hurt. Two bunnies, Tino and Teeny, had admired each other for quite some time, but each was too shy to tell the other. They each decide to leave the other a note in the hollow log, but unforeseen circumstances kept them from receiving the letters. The tiny mouse family, who weathered the storm in that same log and used the letters to keep warm, felt really badly for the bunnies. What they did to get the bunnies together is divine as are the illustrations in this very, very, very sweet book. Be sure to check out the audio version as well as the bound version.

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, and my soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming summer of 2014! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.