Now you would think I would learn my lesson about NOT judging a book by its cover… In fact, one of our Australian facts found recently was that there is a bookstore that has special books wrapped in brown paper with just the genres listed for just that very reason. (Elizabeth’s Bookshops) Yet when I go to the library and have to manage the kids at “library voices” levels… well a quick title read and a brief glance at the cover and then move on. That was what Carbon Copy Cowboy was (add in the series title – Texas Twins). 

Now I realize that I cannot expect too much… first off, I am never sure that if they ARE in a series they are first book (NOPE… book 3!), that I am going to love all the characters (well so so) or that I will even be completely drawn into the book… Carbon Copy Cowboy by Arlene James was a relatively quick and light read. The overlying issue of the story – about the history of the main family, was never answered… annoyingly enough. I WAS able to understand somewhat what had occurred in the previous two books, enough so that blanks are filled in relatively nicely over all. 

The main issue of the book that WAS answered was the identity of the woman found in her car with a bridal veil on of all things post accident with amnesia. This did wrap up a lot of questions through out the story. (very tidy in some respects). The romance is an interesting one, what with one person (“Kendra”) not even knowing if she had a family etc. that were waiting for her. The other half (Jack Colby) has his own unknowns… though his are all centered around his mother in a coma. She has all the answers and he has all the questions… including why he and his sister are actually each half of a set of identical twins who knew nothing about the other.

There are quite a few characters in this book. Of course, starting with the first in the series would have simplified that more than a little! But I think you CAN pick this one up without the others and still get by nicely. All in all an enjoyable read, I am unsure if I will make the effort to hunt down the rest (before and after) of the series. These Love Inspired paperbacks can be as hard to find in the system as a pure Harlequin. (not that I look often!) So if you need something set in Texas with twins and mystery and romance… all in a contemporary setting ON A RANCH… AND with a faith aspect to it.. go for it! Though I have to warn you, this book is FULL of prayer moments. So if that is not your cup of tea….

Well not much to discuss for a Monday in July… But I have managed to get a nice amount done on the stocking I am stitching for one of the Novak boys (our godson’s youngest brother). I am planning on working on this particular project for another day or two exclusively before moving onto the 3 simpler projects I am planning for my brother and his family for Christmas. These 3 have to be self designed though I am thinking my brother’s will be more the saying and maybe a VERY simple top and bottom border. Thankfully Ken has come up with a simple way to take the block lettering I prefer for these projects and do it on the computer. Sadly I won’t be able to post them on here until AFTER Christmas but at least they will be done and sorted to be framed as gifts well in time!

I am hoping to make a nice and complete list in the next week or so of the people we plan on sending/giving gifts to for Christmas this year. It is my plan to once again make most of our gifts… only this time I want to head over to Michaels with the kids when we have the spare funds to pick out some projects for them to make for friends and family. Maybe this year we will make ornaments and bake cookies! I know Zander in particular has asked me a couple of times if I am going to MAKE him a gift this year. I hope that sentiment never changes, there is nothing more heart warming than a thankful recipient of a gift I have made by hand! There are other options like special mini albums or scrapbooks for godparents and grandparents… and kitted up projects for the kids in our lives so they can make their OWN little item. I definitely will be sharing my ideas here in the future!

So the stocking pattern I have chosen is called Christmas Surprise Stocking and is part of the Stoney Creek collection.

Christmas Stocking

I have been working on this pattern since soon after we returned from Minnesota.. granted with breaks while I worked on some other small projects… this has been my focus and I am aiming for an October finish date!

Work To Date!

Our plan for tomorrow is to make a sun out of footprints! I will post the link later with the pictures from the site I found the pattern on. We also plan on heading out to a produce store and maybe even FINALLY getting a start on the zoo scrapbook I have all the supplies for from our trip to the local zoo way back in December! The weather projected for the week is warm to hot so it is not looking too favourable. It really does take a rainy day to get the kids interested in any craft project that takes more than a few minutes!

So Ken and the twins made it to the library to see the police dog and the two wee ones and myself headed out for our own little walk. My raspberries are starting to turn red but the apples are not yet ready. The ones  that fell off from the storm are bitter as can be and tiny so a bit of a wait yet to go. So while the larger world is not exactly happy happy joy joy for our little family there are plenty of lovely moments to savour when I head off to bed tonight… and in the end isn’t that what is important?

Bedtime Prayer With Trinity, Zander and Emanuel