After by Anna Todd: A Warning.

In this post I'm going to give you the run down on Anna Todd's Wattpad experience, that ended up in her online writing hobby becoming a printed novel series.  But at the end I feel it necessary to give you a warning about her series and the uses of Wattpad.  I don't feel like I can be comfortable promoting this platform without telling you what I have come to realize about it.  I'm not saying that it shouldn't be used, but I feel there's an issue here that parents simply need to be aware of.  I'm not against Wattpad in any way, in fact I have half a mind to start toying with my own story, but I feel a bit of education needs to happen for those of us with teenagers who may be reading these things, for free, on this site, and have known nothing of the site ourselves.  

  

Twenty-five year-old Anna Todd wrote the majority of After from her mobile phone while in and out of appointments and running errands.  Her story had over 1 billion reads and more than 6 million comments (and counting).   

The After series tells the story of Tessa Young, an optimistic freshman at Washington State University, and the dark, troubled British bad boy who stole her heart. 

Since becoming one of the most talked about stories on the internet, the After series garnered attention from Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, who published the first installment of the novel, which went on sale on October 21, 2014.   

On Wattpad, After has over 1 billion reads, more than 6 million comments and the print edition is available in 26 countries.   

Wattpad is the world’s largest community of readers and writers. It has connected over 40 million people around the world who share a love of reading and writing.   

Wattpad is a new storytelling experience that’s mobile and social.   Wattpad stories are free.   

Mobile: With Wattpad you can read and share stories from your phone, tablet or computer. Whether you’re online or off, use the devices you already own to carry an entire library of stories wherever you go.   

Social: Wattpad creates direct connections between readers and writers. Everyone participates in storytelling on Wattpad. Some people may not identify with being a writer, but they can share plot suggestions via comments and messages or create original art/music to go along with the stories they’ve read.   

Anyone can share a story on Wattpad. Whether you’ve never written before, or published multiple books, Wattpad offers benefits for writers of all levels.   

One of the greatest benefits of Wattpad is a direct connection between readers and writers. Readers receive notifications whenever a new chapter of a story is posted. Many writers share their work serially: posting stories one chapter at a time, so readers keep coming back. As soon as a story is uploaded it can be accessed by millions of readers around the world. 

Wattpad by the numbers:

More than 40 million people have joined Wattpad

More than 80 million free stories are available on Wattpad

People spend 9 billion minutes a month on Wattpad

Stories available in over 50 languages - all for free

A new user joins Wattpad every second  

More than 24 hours of reading material is posted to Wattpad every minute

85% of all activity is on mobile

If you have never looked into Wattpad I would recommend it.  You can find some fun stuff being written on there.

That being said, I have something in particular that I want to say about the After series, and the realization it's brought to me about Wattpad.  After is a graphic harlequin romance book with strong language.  If you like harlequins, then this may be up your alley.  Though please be warned that it is also full of grammar mistakes and I wanted to take my red pen to it numerous times in the bit that I read.  It's poorly edited, which surprised me. What really concerns me, though, is the number of 11, 12, and 13 year olds who told me via social media that they had read the After series in its entirety and loved it.  It was their favorite series because, of course, it's based on One Direction.  And we all know how fangirls are about their bands (if you don't, I invite you to spend a day with my daughter, Casidee).

I'm concerned that this book is being marketed as One Direction fanfiction and is drawing the attention of tween and teen girls.  I'm concerned that they can read these graphic details, for free, through Wattpad.  They don't even have to buy the book.  And I'm concerned that parents don't know that their girls are reading these types of things.

While I can see that Wattpad can be a fun thing, it comes with a warning that anything can be written there and parents need to be aware of what their teens are reading. 

I put this out there simply as information and let you each make your own decision on the matter.  But I for one will not be allowing my girls to read this book.  I can not and do not recommend this book.

I participated in the After by Anna Todd blog program as a member of One2One Network. I received compensation but all opinions are my own.  Obviously.

The Watchers Book 1: Knight of Light.

The search for a good book that's actually worth reading continues.  And as promised, when I find one I'm passing it on.  I like to sink my teeth into all sorts of books, and am even enjoy reading a book that doesn't end happy, but makes you think and reflect on life.  One of my favorite genres, though, is a solid fantasy/fairy tale.

I just love escaping into a new world.

If you're the same way then you should check out this book.

The Watchers Book 1: Knight of Light

In England, 1270 A.D., Auriella (pronounced yurr-ee-ella) flees her village after being accused of witchcraft. Pursued by nightmarish creatures, she struggles to accept the truth about her humanity. Filled with fairies, dwarves, pixies, dragons, and monsters, Knight of Light is an enthralling tale that will capture the imaginations of readers young and old.
The Watchers Series has been described as Braveheart meets Supernatural. The mythology for the series is based on many theological texts from dozens of sects with correlating themes. Ancient writings include The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Traditional Apocrypha, The Pearl of Great Price, and The Kabbalah.

“The Watchers” are supernatural beings in human form whose duty it is to protect and guard mankind from the armies of darkness. Unfortunately, as the Book of Enoch mentions, some of these Watchers go bad. Although the mythology is based on these texts, Deirdra Eden’s The Watchers Series is written in a traditional fairytale style with a young girl’s discovery of incredible, but dangerous powers within herself, a cast of humorous side-kicks, a quest for greater self-discovery and purpose, and villains of epic proportions.

Amazon  Barnes and Noble  Facebook  Twitter  Goodreads  Wattpad  Pinterest

About the Author

"My goal in writing is to saturate my books with intrigue, mystery, romance, and plot twists that will keep my readers in suspense. I want to see fingerprints on the front and back covers where readers have gripped the novel with white knuckles! Aside from writing, I enjoy jousting in arenas, planning invasions, horseback riding through open meadows, swimming in the ocean, hiking up mountains, camping in cool shady woods, climbing trees barefoot, and going on adventures."
-Deirdra Eden

Find Deirdra Eden and The Watchers Series online on Amazon, Deirdra's website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Wattpad, and Pinterest.

Want a chance to win this book?  Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I did receive a copy of the ebook in exchange for this post, but my opinion is all my own.

Dark Hope: Book One of the Archangel Series. Giveaway.

It's a constant struggle as a bookworm mother, who is also an English major, who has bookworm teenage daughters, to find a book that lives up to the high expectations I have when it comes to filling my time with reading.

Because, let's face it, I love to read.

I will ignore every dirty dish, I will tell The Circus to eat ramen for dinner, I will miss night after night of decent sleep just to finish the book I've gotten myself engulfed in.

Apparently I've taught my daughters to be the same way.

The only problem is that it is really difficult to find a book that  has a grabbing story line, is written really well, and is a clean book with no swearing or inappropriate scenes for my teenage and pre-teen daughters to be reading.

That is strangely difficult to find, and it's a real shame.

So I've decided that when we find a book that meets our high expectations, because if I'm going to be spending so much of my precious, limited free time on it, it's going to have to be worth it, I'm going to share it with you.

And I hope that you'll do the same for me.

We've recently just finished a book called Dark Hope: Book One of the Archangel Series, by Monica McGurk.

This book obviously falls into the scope of the fantasy genre, which happens to be our favorite type of genre.

It doesn't swear.

It doesn't have scenes that make me cringe when I think of my daughters reading it.

Though it does touch on some sensitive subjects, such as human trafficking, but  I feel it handles them well and appropriately, while building the climax of the story.

For a split second the heroine, Hope, and her relationship with Michael reminded me of a certain vampire series that I don't want to admit I read (*cough cough* Twilight Series *cough cough*) but it only lasted for a few seconds as it built into a solid lead into the relationship of Hope and Michael.  I didn't want to read about a helpless, incompetent female character that needs to be saved and seems to be a burden on every other character of the book.

I'm happy to say that this book, is not that book.

I'm happy to say that Hope is a solid heroine.

Monica McGurk loves nothing better than to craft thought-provoking stories where strong women overcome big challenges.

This book is 400 pages and I read it in 3 days, around school and work and church obligations and kids' birthdays.

Hook, line, and sinker, I got sucked in. And I relished every minute of it.

But then again, I am a sucker for young adult fantasy.

Dark Hope is the first book of a trilogy, so I'm looking forward to the rest of  the series to come out.

Curse you cliff hangers.

Curse you.

Good news, guys, I get to give a copy of Dark Hope away!  Just enter below on the rafflecopter.  It opens now and runs until 11:59 pm on Monday September 8th.  Winner will be notified by email so please make sure that the email you use for the rafflecopter is a current one that you check.  For US residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I like that the whole "archangel" scene is a different pace from that YA books that have been floating around recently.  I'm excited to share it with you.

You can find Monica McGurk on:
Twitter here
Facebook here
Pinterest here

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Summer the Way I See It. And a Communications Teacher Who Sucks at Communicating.

I'm finishing up summer semester and I couldn't be more happy about it.  My chemistry class was easy enough, simply do the work out of the book and take the chapter tests.  All online.  No group projects.  No midterm or final.

My communications class has been a different story all together.

The assignment instructions where out of date (save on a floppy disc...) and when you would email for clarification on certain points of assignments the teacher would answer back with, "oh, you don't have to worry about that part."  Assignment after assignment.

Did I mention it's a communications class?  Because honestly, the man needs to be better at it with his online class.

But it's done.  Aside from the two part final that opens up on Monday, you know, the day I need to head to Girl's Camp at 6:00 in the morning... I'm done.

So come Monday... since the two part final is online, but locked, I can't decide if I want to just stay up Sunday night until it unlocks at midnight and get it done before I go to bed... or wake up 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning to do it before I head of with a trailer full of sleeping bags and three bus loads of teenage girls for a week.

Because apparently if you're not sleep deprived on the first day of Girl's Camp, you're not doing it right.  And you can forget about catching up on your sleep while you're there because holler if you stay up past curfew with crazy girls playing vroom (who can't get enough of spelling your name with your butt?  We can't) after baking in the heat of the day and then getting up before the sun to hike to see the sunrise or other such tom foolery, like breakfast preparation.  Can I interest anyone with a pop tart?

The weekend after Camp is just two days of sleep.

If The Circus will allow it.

Three of them will be there with me this year though, so I imagine I might get away with it.

Don't get me wrong.  I adore Girl's Camp.  It's the best part of being a Young Women's leader.  Well, one of the best parts anyway.  I can't wait to get my sleep deprive on  because honestly, it's so worth it.

And The Man might come up for Wednesday night and Thursday with our neighbor so heck yes to that.

And then a week and a half break of sweet blissful nothingness until fall semester starts and I have to tackle math.

Summer has been heaven sent.

I still need to move to a state with a more steady climate.  And an ocean view.  If only I could bring myself to start over, but frankly, I'm sick of moving and starting over.

We'll see.

For now, here's the last week the way I've seen it, in between the bouts with work and school, you know, the stuff this past week that has actually mattered:

Extra points if you can tell me what delicious book I've just started.  Chapter one always holds such exciting promise...

Giving Away a Book From Life Well Blogged AND Info To Win a Kindle Fire

**Update: Nichol Tone is the winner of this give away (picked randomly by rafflecopter).  Woot woot!  Nichol I'll get in touch with you via email and pass your info onto the fine ladies at Life Well Blogged.  Thanks to everyone who entered!**

With icy rain falling from the sky this morning, and with my winter blues already draining my enthusiasm for Utah winters, I've been looking at job opportunities in the Cayman Islands.

I'm in luck, apparently legal secretaries are in high demand.

Sign me up.

Since that probably isn't the most realistic route to take, I do have something that may help with the winter blues if you, like me, have lost all motivation and optimism in the cold that surrounds you.

And I get to give it away.

I love saying that.

Check this out:

Columbus, OH – Life Well Blogged is a humorous anthology released by co-collaborators Monica Merrill Mylet and Abbey Fatica.  The first trilogy of books: No Laughing Allowed, To Bliss and Back and Holly Daze: Underachiever Extraordinaire can be purchased on Amazon.com in paperback or eBook versions for the Kindle and Nook.  Mylet and Fatica sought out the titans of the blogging industry to submit their hilarious posts in hopes of helping out the victims of Superstorm Sandy with an uproarious collection of family stories. A portion of the proceeds will be donated directly to the Sandy relief efforts.  Due to the enthusiasm and outpouring of support from the partnering bloggers, they were able to publish the entire trilogy in less than two months.

“On top of the idea that we help bloggers get exposure for their writing and lighten people’s days, it was imperative we donate a portion of the proceeds to families in the Northeast who are still dealing with the effects of Superstorm Sandy. If we could make them laugh at the same time then we have done our job,” says Fatica, co-author and creator of Life Well Blogged.  Building this idea on a charitable platform was a key factor to Mylet and Fatica.  This collaboration with the extremely talented list of bloggers has been embraced as a personal, creative way of “giving back” from all corners of the globe.

No Laughing Allowed delivers humorous posts by moms about everything from PMS and stress, to shopping with kids and body changes.  While To Bliss And Back takes a much deeper dive into relationships, dating, marriage, sex and communication breakdowns with a telling, hilarious foreword by Molly Dedham, Broadminded co- host on Sirius/XM morning radio. The third book, Holly Daze: Underachiever Extraordinaire takes the reader through a year in the life of side-splitting holiday posts by season, from New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day to Halloween and Christmas.  If it can go wrong for Holly Daze, it will.  At least her entertaining and often laugh out loud woes are coupled with stories that women every where can find similar solace in.

You all know I'm a sucker for a cause.

I've started reading their book, No Laughing Allowed, before bed for my "unwind" time and I was giggling to myself as I got sucked into the stories.

It's like reading a bunch of funny blogs.

Except I'm not in it.

What?

I know.

But it's still pretty funny.  One lady tells a story about how she touched up her makeup at work with a sharpie.

Who does that?

So here it goes.  I get to give away one of these books (your choice) in Kindle or Nook form.  So hopefully you have one of those.  I'm going to keep this give away short and sweet, just through the weekend.  A winner will be announced here on Monday.  I'll get your email and your book choice and let Abby Fatica with Life Well Blogged know about it and she'll get your book sent to you.

It's a good way to brighten up a dreary winter day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One more thing before you go.  How about a second give away?

Life Well Blogged is giving away a Kindle Fire when they reach 1,000 books sold.  If you sign up for their newsletter that gives you an entry into both give aways.

And to make it easier, I'll put links to buy their books here.  Because who doesn't want to win a Kindle Fire?

Take that winter blues.

I did receive a Kindle copy of one of these books in exchange for my opinion and doing the give away.  But my post is my own and my words are my own.

A Double Book Give Away from LDS Music

*Update: The Winner of this giveaway is Nancy D.*
*Nancy, I'll contact you via email to get your address for yourLDSmusicstore*

We're going to have a little bit of fun here today thanks to Your LDS Music Store (go check them out here).

{visit them here}

When it comes to guilty pleasures there's nothing I like more than good music on my iPod and a good book in my hands.

And mint hot chocolate.

And a McDonald's Coke.

I probably can't help you with the hot chocolate or the Coke today, but I can help you with the music and the book.

Actually, books.

Plural.

I've spent a good hour on Your LDS Music Store.  I'm hooked.  When it comes to good music I just can't get enough of it.

Especially if it helps me drive a point home in a Sunday lesson or during girl's camp.

Like this last summer how I was able to use I Am His Daughter during a sunrise devotional (here).

It's now Casidee's favorite.

Speaking of favorites:

Every Word
Arise and Shine Forth
Lead Kindly Light

And don't forget about Christmas:

O Holy Night

When I hear O Holy Night, I always pretend I'm doing an amazing solo.

I have a good imagination.

Your LDS Music Store wants to give some holiday cheer and spread some love so today, all thanks to them, I get to host a give away for two novels.

First is Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure by B.K. Bostick.

"When his grandfather dies, Huber Hill is devastated-until he opens grandpa Nick's mysterious box.  An old gold coin and directions to a hidden Spanish treasure send him and his friends off on a mind blowing adventure.  But he's not the only one on the hunt..."


Also, enter to win a copy of The Guardians of the Hidden Scepter by Frank Cole.

"Amber never dreamed her archaeology class would turn into a top secret mission that would take her across the globe, but when her teacher goes missing, Amber realizes it's up to her to protect the Hidden Scepter or risk unleashing an ancient power too terrifying to imagine."

How do you enter, you ask?

Here's a few ways to enter, make sure as you do these to click on the +1 on the rafflecopter saying that you did it to place your entry:

a Rafflecopter giveaway One person will win both books. A winner will be chosen randomly through the rafflecopter and announced here on my blog on Thursday December 13th.

The books will be mailed to you from Your LDS Music Store.

I was offered the opportunity to keep one of these books for myself in exchange for doing this post and give away, but instead I've decided to send them both out to one of you.

The Haunting Hour

Have I mentioned how much we love Halloween around this house?

Well, most of us anyway.

This week we had the fun opportunity to host a party for R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour. 

You know, R.L. Stine who's the author of Goosebumps... and The Haunting Hour.

The Haunting Hour is now a TV series (check out The Hub and The Haunting Hour HERE), and we got to preview two episodes at our party. 

So we decorated the basement,

 invited best friends and neighbors,

bought a bunch of party food,

and got dressed up like vampires (since the episodes that we got to watch were about a Grampire).



To start the night off we made sure everyone had a pair of vampire fangs.



And with those fangs we decided to have a little contest, since The Hub sent us a whole box of goodies to give out, and we figured a contest to win one of the t-shirts would be a great way to start things out.

We weren't wrong.

All the kids sat in a circle, put their fangs in their mouth, and I dished out a scoop of jell-o on a plate in front of them.

Okay everyone, plates on the floor.

Hands behind your back.

Get ready,

get set,

go!

And with fangs in their mouths they raced to be the first to eat their jell-o.



Can I just say that if you happen to have a bowl of jell-o and some plastic fangs lying around... I would highly suggest doing this activity. 

I love having parties because it means making the kids do crazy things like this.

Our proud winner starting the night off right.





The Hub sent us a box full of t-shirts, stickers, glow in the dark fangs, and glow in the dark slap bracelets.

We had the kids put their names in a bowl and drew names out, giving away all of the stuff.

And then we got to watch two episodes of "The Haunting Hour."

I have to admit, the kids were spell bound by the show. 

And I might have been too.

We loved it!  But with R.L. Stine and Halloween, what's not to love?

And guess what?  If you want to check out The Haunting Hour, it's on The Hub now, Saturdays 6 p.m. ET.

I was selected to be a MommyParties host as part of a promotional program with MomSelect. All words and opinions are my own.
We loved doing this party and we loved watching the show.

Summer Book Trek

I'm going to jump in on the Summer Book Trek.

Those 1001 books you must read before you die (here)?

They're going down.

My question is who put this list together?

I don't know.

I just found it on pinterest.

I'm thinking two books a week?

Factoring in that it's already into the second week.

Lofty goal indeed.

I just pulled the first six books off the list starting with the 1800s category.
Because I love classics.
And they're usually free to download on Kindle.

So there's that.

786. Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. – Somerville and Ross
787. The Stechlin – Theodore Fontane
788. The Awakening – Kate Chopin
789. The Turn of the Screw – Henry James
790. The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells
791. The Invisible Man – H.G. Wells

Happy reading to me.
And you.
Join up.
They give you chances to win books by reading... books.
Score.

5 a.m.

Is it just me or is this week going s... l.... o.... w...
as in I feel like I've had Wednesday twice already, but here we are, only on Wednesday.  Is it seriously only Wednesday?

I've been working a 4-10 schedule this week and it's killing me slowly.  Getting up at 5, being at work by 7, working through my lunch...

I find myself nodding off at my desk.

I used to work similar hours when I worked at Burt Bros, putting in more than 40 hours every week.  #64 on why I like my job.  I don't work hours like that anymore.

Except this week (of my own choosing so I can have Friday off without using any vacation time), and it's draining me.  Man alive, I'm sure going to appreciate the weekend... if it ever gets here...

As I turned off my alarm at the awful hour of 5 a.m., I noticed there were emails waiting for me, so as I stumbled through the dark to the bathroom for my shower, I opened them up.  If you have to get up at 5 a.m. you might as well do it with some exciting news, right?

Macy Robison had emailed me to let me know that I'd won her give away for this John Bytheway book:

and it's signed by John Bytheway himself. 
Since I love John Bytheway about as much as I love John Grisham, I did a little dance. 

Apparently if your name is John, and you're an author, I'm going to to love what you write.

Thank you Macy Robison for making my morning.

calico joe a novel

I fell in love with Grisham's writings with the first paperback novel that I purchased at a yard sale.  So I picked up a second one and found I was just as hooked.

I don't know what it is about Grisham's writings that get to me.  Perhaps it's his easy flow.  I never hit a dry spot in his novels.  With some author's all of their books "feel" the same.  If you've read one, you've read them all.  Not so with Grisham.  Each novel takes on it's own journey.  It's own twists, it's own story.  And they never end in the same way. 

I began to follow Grisham on facebook simply so I could be in the know easier about his upcoming book release dates.  Needless to say when I saw a post claiming "free books for 25 bloggers, just send an email" I was on it with baited breath.  I linked up this post I'd already written about John Grisham in an email (with all it's typo's and errors, cringe) and hoped against hope.  When I got the email saying I'd be getting a book I literally jumped up and down and did a little dance.  And then I sent a text off to The Man with at least ten exclamation points.

I'm in love with Calico Joe.

There, I said it.

I expected a light hearted book about the American past time, baseball.  And though it was centered around the game, it most certainly wasn't just a baseball book.  There was a depth to this book that I didn't expect at all.  It gave me chills, twice. 

When I read inspirational books I read with a pencil in hand.  Underlining things that touch me, that have an outside meaning to me, that catch me in the moment for my life.  I've never done this with a fictional novel.  Why would I?

My copy of Calico Joe has pencil in it.

How do I tell you about what's in this book with out telling you what's in this book?  I don't want to give any of it away and ruin the experience.  Because reading this book was an experience.

The characters grab you.  Paul and Joe.  Even Warren. 
It's about a boy, Paul, and not just the boy Paul, but the grown man Paul.

"When you get backhanded by your father, the pain lasts far longer than the bruises."
"He tipped his cap to me, and at that moment I realized how much I wanted to adore him."

By the end of Chapter 11 I had my first chills, the writing and story were so dead on.

This is a story about baseball.  But it's also a story about raw feelings.  Being enough, not being enough, and dealing with hard blows in life.

It's a story about second chances and "the restorative powers of forgiveness."  It's about the fact that being enough, might just be inside you after all.

Grisham has 29 books, including Calico Joe.  For years The Chamber has held out as my favorite... until now.  Calico Joe took me by surprise and when my daughter, who has decided along with me that Grisham is a "must read", asks me which book of his to read now, I'll be handing her this one. 


Read it.  Read it now. 
Or actually, read it on April 10th, that's when it goes on sale.


I did receive a free book in exchange for writing this blog post, but the opinion is 100% mine and true to how I feel.  Just ask anyone I know, I talk about Grisham all the time, and would have written this post even had I paid for the book on my own.

blogging for fishes

I still have some events in life that I need to get thrown up on here, but I'm going to take a break from that today.

I'm feeling so emotional and I'm going to tell you why.

The Man and I have often mentioned how very grateful we are that out of 6 kids, they are all healthy.  Sure we have small issues, bed wetting, ear aches far past that of the normal infant and toddler range, missing permanent teeth (they were never formed in the gums.  We have now become the orthodontists favorite family)...

But really, we are all healthy.  I've been thinking about it a lot the past year or two actually.  It all started with this cute little girl, Izzy.  I sort of knew her parents in high school and thanks to the wonderful world that is facebook, am in cyber contact with her mom, Jennie.  What an amazing, stong woman she is.

I watched on facebook and on her blog about Izzy's cancer (here) as they made their way through that time. 

It broke my heart.

I donated to her charity's and even made cake coupons for auctions.  (I doubt they helped very much, but I tried).

Jennie is still an amazing advocate for children's cancer.  Recently on facebook she posted about a family who needed to find a bone marrow match for their young daughter's second bought with cancer.  Can you even imagine how it would feel to find that you're not a match for your child and can't help them? You can read about Millie's ongoing battle on their blog (here).

When Jennie spread the word for Millie's family about a bone marrow drive at Primary Children's hospital to search for a match for Millie, she said, "if this were your child, would you want people to show up?"  To which I answered yes.  Yes.  If it were my child I would be hoping and praying with every ounce of my being that people would show up.

So West and I did, and we're now in the bone marrow registry.  I really wanted to be a match for Millie, but I guess I wasn't.

It catches me in the gut how much I need to help these causes that are fighting for children who are fighting for their lives.  How wonderful would it be to find a way to relieve their pain?

I'm writing this post because today, as I was checking out my recipe blogs (oh thank heavens for recipe blogs.  My husband thinks I'm a good cook because of them)  I found two blogs posting on the exact same topic.

And if you haven't yet guessed, it's about two children from the same family, dealing with pain and fighting for their lives.  They have a rare gene dysfunction called Leaky SCID (Severe Combined Immune Deficiency).  Here is their story in their own words:



Let's help this family be able to afford the medical treatments for their girls.  Help me help them.  I'm asking you to go to The Sister's Cafe here and read the story.  Or Mel's Kitchen Cafe here. A cookbook compiled of recipes from 40+ bloggers is being sold to raise money for the Fish family. 

Both The Sister's Cafe and Mel's Kitchen Cafe are giving it away, but let's all buy a copy.  The host of lemonpoppy cake did this project for this family and you can buy the book here from her site. You can buy the actual printed book, or buy it as an e-book.  And spread the word.  Because I don't feel like I do enough for these kids who need help.  These families who need relief.

You can follow the Fish family's fight on their blog about it here.

That's a lot of linking, I know, but I don't know what else to do.  Except buy a book.  Which I did.  And spread the word.  How blessed are we to have healthy families? 

In the words of Jennie, how would we be feeling if we were doing this for our own child?

new beginnings and other things

I've been stalking a "new" blog lately.  She's wonderful and I love to read the things that she writes.  If you haven't heard of her blog, 71 Toes, you've heard of it now.  What an amazing woman (I want to be like her when I grow up).  She's written a book and Blossom on the Vine is giving it away. 

I want to win.

Given, I never win give aways, except that one time when a whole box of gum ended up on my door step, but other than that I never win give aways.  This one is worth trying for. 

If I don't win I'll just have to buy the book on my own.  I love reading her that much. And her story is incredible.

Over the weekend I learned that I need to be a better budgeter.  I hate budgets.  Loathe them.  Mostly because I'm sporadic and spur of the moment, and when I want to do something nice for someone, or buy something cute for my circus or my man, or if I want to start a project, I want to do it now, and not when I have a minute to sit down and fit it in to my budget.

How do you survive budgeting?  I need to figure out a way that this can work for me.

I've decided I'm not going to survive my girls being in Young Women's.  I have watched all four of my girls go to kindergarten with out a single tear, but our first New Beginnings and it's all I can do to hold myself together during Casidee's spotlight.  And all they did was give her flowers and a YW pendant...

I'm so proud of my circus and the choices they make daily, and the people they are becoming. 

The theme for Young Women's this year is Arise and Shine Forth.  I love it.  It's so full of action.  Check out this music video.

Disco cupcakes for New Beginnings:

They literally shimmered, it was the neatest thing.  The young women loved them.

Our three days of Christmas

With the swapping my ex Thanksgiving for Christmas it threw our schedule off.  Normally we have both exes on the same weekend and same holiday schedule, so we either have all our kids and can be together as a full family, or we get to be together as a couple.  We like it this way.  But with the switch it made us a little off.  So we had to have two Christmas Eve's and two Christmas mornings, one with Jayme and Sean, and the regular one with the other four girls.
Christmas eve eve:
Christmas eve eve started with lunch with Grandma KC and Aunt Jessica and her crew at Cafe Rio.  Grandma decided to come for a visit for the holidays and this would be the only day while she was visiting that we would have the full circus.  She'd been working for a year and a half on quilts for all her grandkids and they were finally done.  The kids got to tell Grandma what colors they wanted their quilts and they were super excited that they were finally done.  I didn't get a closer pics of Sean, his was done with Sponge Bob material:

That night we celebrated Christmas eve eve.  And of course, no Christams eve eve is complete without a family throw down while watching Christmas cartoon specials on TV:

And of course, the pajamas.  We just gave them comfy bottoms this year so that would be why they're all raising knees and legs.  They wanted to make sure their bottoms could be seen in the picture:

Christmas eve morning Jayme and Sean got to open all of their presents from us, and we let all 6 kids open the presents for the names that they had drawn with each other.

And Papa Mike showed up with his gift, sleds for the entire family:

Which will be awesome if we ever get any snow this year...
I made our traditional Swedish Pancakes for the kids and then Jayme and Sean went off the spend the rest of the holiday with their mom.  Sad for us.
The rest of us cleaned and cooked for the family Christmas eve dinner.
I love my family.  They make me laugh.  My mom was there, with my brother Bill and his family, and my sister McKell and her family.  As well as the world's most awesome father-in-law, Mike.  We laughed and giggled and ate a lot of food.  Thank you to pinterest for the cheesecake filled strawberry idea! Oh, and we had fun watching Sam-I-am and the dogs tease each other:

We also watched Santa's progress across the world with Norad Santa Tracker which was so exciting, even for me.  I think that's going to have to become a yearly thing.  Cali pleaded with me as she went to bed, "Mom, please don't stay up too late.  He's getting close!"
Christmas morning was as magical as it should have been.  Cas got her long awaited for camera and the other girls got their American Girl dolls, which of course, looked just like them. 

And being as Christmas fell on a Sunday this year Santa brought the girls Christmas dresses for church:

Santa also brought me the softest robe I've ever felt in my life *sigh* and Grisham's new book :).

And don't forget about the puppy boys who got a nice cushy new bed:

And although we certainly enjoyed the gift giving and receiving, we didn't forget about the true spirit of Christmas.  There was much love and gratitude expressed and their was a wonderful peace in our home.  As well as, for me, thoughts of my Savior Jesus Christ and not just his birth, but his life.  And his atonement for me.
I have been given much.