Archive | December 2012

Christmas Continues…

December 26-27

The day AFTER Christmas is very different here in the USA. In Canada it was Boxing Day and for the most part a day off… here in Minnesota we got mail and a lot of people went back to work. It was time for our family to play with their gifts and the adults to take a break. One last day before we ease back into the every day and the “get things done” mentality.

Boxing Day in their South Carolina pj’s

Ken and I ducked out that night to do a little post Christmas shopping. Target wasn’t busy and a lot of the shelves were bare but we had a few awesome finds… first off, Trinity’s Christmas list was completed in the shape of a lovely Holiday Cabbage Patch Doll… Jaelyn Bella (I had to laugh, that is my friend’s Bree’s handle as Echo’s first name was BREE).

A girl and her dolly

And then, while perusing the baby section we came across a miss shelved and reduced Nano bug set… talk about a GREAT find, for Mr. Emanuel!

A very happy boy

I got a second to photograph the package I got in my exchange with my Christian Cross Stitch egroup. I am so in love with the little beaded ornament kit… and well… everything!

So much fun stuff!

The day after the day AFTER Christmas had us facing the idea of school on a minor level again… but we also had our big outing to spend the Christmas money. Well… the kids did. For 2 days running I was thwarted with the hunt for the Kindle Fire case. BUT on the other hand the kids managed to purchase a variety of things, Skylanders, Legos… a potty… a little stressful with 5 kids still buzzing from Christmas but they did well.

It is hard to bring the kids down a bit excitement wise when there is still Christmas trickling in. We have plans for a dinner, packages on their way and of course the very visible reminders of Christmas here in the house. Oh and of course, New Years. Though we do not do anything with the kids really that night. I plan on printing off some simple worksheets for them to do.

Hard at work on her Hello Kitty DS game, in Hello Kitty pj’s of course

Christmas in High Heels… a Book Review

This short story by Gemma Halliday is a part of the High Heels Mystery series. I have yet to read the series itself and came across this as a freebie in the Amazon Kindle bookstore. Basically you are hanging out with the main character – Maddie and her yummy homicide detective boyfriend Jack Ramirez on Christmas Eve. Their first together, well their first where Jack has not been called off to some murder or other. 

With a phone ringing off the hook and a doorbell that is continuously in use you get a bit of a parade of what I assume are regular characters. And really they ARE characters. You get a glimpse of the romance, a giggle at the various visitors and callers and and ending that is just plain sweet. Personally, I am thinking I will have to hunt down the other books in the High Heel Mysteries and see if they are as entertaining in a full story as they have been in this short. 

Christmas in High Heels

Haunted House for Sale… a Book Review

As of Christmas Day I am the proud owner of a Kindle Fire. So now reading ebooks is so much easier! In fact, I just finished a book in record time! And it was a fun one! Haunted House For Sale by Jane Monson. A Haunted Paranormal Mystery Novella. You right off meet real estate agent Catherine who was in the middle of helping her friend Lori buy a new home.

After numerous houses the find a hidden gem with a low asking price. What a shock for Catherine when she walks in and sees a body in the middle of the floor… even more of a shock when Lori walks right through her completely oblivious to it all. Now she has to deal with a rather grotesque looking ghost who is determined to have Catherine solve her murder AND deal with selling the “murder house” to her determined friend.

Add in a dishy detective and you have the basis for a wee bit of romance as well. I enjoyed this novella though the description of the ghost is a little more gruesome than I am used to. The characters are engaging, the mystery interesting… all in all a rather enjoyable afternoon read.

Haunted House For Sale