Book review and a giveaway!

I've been given the opportunity to review a book and offer a copy to my readers.  It's a children's Christmas book, and although it seems a little early - Christmas will soon be here and you'll enjoy sharing this book with your kids or grandkids.

 Here's the book; written by Norma Lewis and illustrated by Katy Hudson.

It starts off talking about a special baby being born and then says "This is the bed where Jesus slept.  This is the straw that lined the bed where Jesus slept".   It continues to repeat, adding more parts of the Christmas story until it gets to the wise men coming.  The  illustrations are very colorful and cute.

  Our granddaughters enjoyed this book.  They liked the pictures and the repetition of the different parts of the story.  I like the way it tells this most important story in a way kids can understand and enjoy.

The publisher is offering a copy of the book to one of my readers.  I'm sorry, but this one is limited to readers from the United States.  If you would like to be entered into this drawing, just leave a comment, with your name and make sure there is a way for me to get in contact with you if your name is drawn.  I will announce a winner one week from today.


"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the
Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

A Day in my Life

It's November! I missed doing this last month because of our vacation, but today I'll share what I did on the first day of November.
Tuesday was my day off and it's a good thing because I started off the month here:

 Yes, this is the Emergency room.  Monday evening we were sitting at home, when suddenly Bob yelled out.  I thought he head a charlie horse, but no - he had dislocated his shoulder!  He did it once before, quite a few years ago.  This time, he was going to get up and must have pushed off on his arm just wrong, and his shoulder was out.  This was at 8:15. I drove him to the hospital as quickly as I could without making sudden stops or turns because he was in terrible pain!  Unfortunately the ER was very busy and we did a lot of waiting.  Finally, about 11:30 they put him under conscious sedation and put it back in place.  He was put into an immobilizer and they released him about 12:30am.  I took this photo as I was walking to get the car.

 Here he is when we got home at 1am.  They gave him a gown to wear because they had to cut his shirt off.  He went to bed, I was up for a little bit because I can't just go to bed and sleep without a little down time first!

I slept in the next morning, then started some laundry,

then it was time for my morning treadmill walk.  I finished the laundry and cleaned out a few drawers.

 I had to go out and run a bunch of errands, and it was an absolutely beautiful day!  This was a field I passed; the crates are stacked up for the year, and the field is plowed and ready for a winter rest.

Look at my car thermometer - 72 degrees on November 1!  That is unheard of in Michigan.

 It's my birthday this month so I had to go to the Secretary of State to renew my license.  I was next in line and was out in 5 minutes!  That never happens either!

I had to make several other stops - Costco, the grocery store, a little craft and vintage goods place and this orchard where I bought some apples.

This little sign is one of my purchases of the day.  Isn't it cute?  It's perfect for our house - we have both love and shenanigans here.  :)

 When I got home I changed out my welcome that's by our back door.  It was a Fall sign, but since it's November I thought it was time for the turkey to come out!

 I used the apples I bought from the orchard to make a few pies.  One of my guys in the nursing home has had a really rough few weeks and he loves apple pie, so one for him and one for Bob!  Since I usually post a recipe on Thursday, here is the recipe for this pie.  It's so good!

Mom's Apple PieCombine:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Press out any lumps. Ad 6 large tart apples, peeled and sliced. Toss well.
Place unbaked pie crust in 9 inch pie plate. Fill pastry shell with apple mix.
Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Stir together sugar and flour, then cut in better until mixture is crumbly. Spread over filling.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes or until browned.

I ended the day at my ladies Bible study at church.  We are really enjoying this study which shows how we can see Christ in the Old Testament.

It was a really good day, in spite of the rough start.  The weather was perfect, I got a lot done and Bob is doing quite well, other than being sore and achy.  He has to wear the immobilizer for a while and is seeing an orthopedic surgeon next week.

Wordless Wednesday