WOO pictures and everything on this flash from the past! Enjoy my leap back in time to look at dinosaurs while I prep the next deep and involved post… or get my bum in gear and finish December!

Now we chose our dinosaurs slightly differently… by looking at Dinosaur Train episodes this time round. Lambeosaurus was featured in the episode New Neighbours/Don’s Collection (Season 4, Episode 3) available for free watching (with Prime) on Amazon HERE. Our duck-billed, crested herbivore runs on two legs through the Cretaceous period. Found in the Woodlands of North America it is potentially the largest of the hadrosaurs to date.

We honestly didn’t look for other videos as the kids were very pleased with the Dinosaur Train one. I am sure there are more if you google it!

Links!

• EnchantedLearning HERE
• Dinosaurs.about.com HERE
• KidsDinos.com HERE
• Animal Planet HERE
• San Diego Natural History Museum HERE
• Dinosaur King HERE
• Encylopaedia Britannica HERE
• Wiki HERE
• Our colouring page comes from Arthur’s Clip Art HERE
  

  All 4 involved in this one

Sometimes all you have time for is a quick novella. And that was what I had this past afternoon… an hour of free time between kids and the YMCA trip. So I picked up a freebie and started reading. Spotless Murder is the third book in the Sophia O’Malley Cozy Mysteru series by Natalie Woodley and Angela Arganoff. I have not read the previous two books but the beginning of the story cleared up enough that I really felt like I was not missing out on a huge plot twist or something. (This was a one day freebie on Amazon)

This book is definitely a shorter read. Your prospective is not limited to a main character as the story scoots along showing all of them equally. You do learn a bit about the three main ones – Sophia who runs a business called the Travelling Organizer where she does just that, her new employee Mattie (though you don’t learn too much about her) and a character new to the series – Paul who works for the chain that employed the ladies and sent them to Hawaii for their newest murder mystery. 

The end of the book includes some Hawaiian recipes and some travel and organization tips. The murder itself is interesting, the solution rather intriguing and the pace a nice quick trot on through. I don’t try to solve these myself so cannot speak to that, but I really enjoyed following along as the characters work with law officials to solve the case. 

Add to the mystery, the organization, the exotic setting just a touch of romance, a little nostalgia and a sweet goodbye to a love now gone and you have a novella to pick up and enjoy in a single sitting. I would totally rec commend this contemporary cozy for a quiet hour. And once my book budget goes up from, well, zero… I may just read and review the previous books! 

Sometimes you just log in on Amazon.com at the right time and get a limited time freebie worth reading. Confection Connection by Lizz Lund (with free recipes) is one of these. I snapped this one up for my Kindle in February. This is the third in her Mina Kitchen (yes that is the main character’s last name) Mysteries. I have not read the first or the second but found I was able to get to know the main character and the crazy and unusual friends and family members she surrounds herself with. 

I have to straight out that this book was more of a quirky light romance with a mild mystery attached. I figured out rather quickly WHO did the crime, though the why was interesting and a wee bit unexpected and the HOW not hard to figure out but entertaining all the same. 

Mina Kitchen WANTS to be a caterer but is in the middle of transitioning to that position and through out the book takes on a variety of hilarious and unusual jobs. In the mean time she is also doing little catering events for friends and family (and alwayss making too much of everything). She has unfinished business with a chef she helps out from time to time and a family who is there to support her. 

I don’t want to give away too much as it is a relatively simple mystery, but I did get some giggles out of this one. I found a lot of the characters around Mina Kitchen to be absolutely hilarious. Her ex Jewish mob neighbour, her friend who is wealthy and completely disconnected from the reality of having to DO anything… honestly I would say read it just for the characters, the story is an additional entertaining bonus! 

So if you want a light read do try Confection Connection. If I come across the early ones in my travels I will definitely read and review!!