No Good deed...

You've heard the phrase, "No good deed goes unpunished." Right? I mean there's even a song about it in the musical Wicked. It seems to hold true sometimes. especially in our house right now.

You see, Bethany and I went to a work day at the AYSO fields last Saturday. We have done it a few times and it always feels good to help. Until now.

We both are covered in poison ivy. My arms are pretty ugly while her legs are icky. It is spreading to most of our bodies and we are just plain miserable. Several of my blisters are boil-like. They are big and UGLY. It is a little embarrassing really. But beyond that I wish I could take a wire brush to my rash and go to town. But I'm pretty sure that would be a bad idea!

For now we are stuck with steroids, antibiotics for the infected spider bites we got the same day, and every home remedy we hear about. I would try almost anything to relieve this itching.

 

Immortals by Ednah Walters Review

Book Title:  Immortals

Series:  Runes

Author:  Ednah Walters

Release Date:  August 5^th 2013

Genre:  YA Paranormal Romance

Length:  342 Pages

Publisher:  Firetrail Publishing

Presented by: Walking on Bookshelves & As You Wish Tours

Immortals Tour Schedule

BLURB

Nothing can stop Raine Cooper when she wants something…

Raine finally knows that her gorgeous neighbor, Torin St. James, is a legend straight out of Norse mythology, and that her feelings for him are strong. Torin is crazy about Raine too, breaking the one rule he lives by: Never fall for a mortal. The problem is he no longer remembers her, his memories erased by Norns—Norse destiny deities—to punish her for defying them.

She will make Torin forget his one rule a second time and fall in love with her all over again.

But she quickly learns that well-laid plans do not work when dealing with deities and supernatural beings. Desperate, Raine makes choices that could not only tear her and Torin further apart, but lead to the destruction of everything and everyone she loves.

Immortals Book Trailer

REVIEW

I have been waiting on pins and needles for this book to come out.  I really loved the first one, Runes, and so did my daughter.  We devoured it and was so sad to see that the next one hadn't been published yet.  It's so hard to wait for a good book, isn't it?

Well, this one is worth the wait.  Immortals picks up right where Runes left off.  Which wasn't particularly a great place to be but at least we can finish it now!

Immortals takes you further on the journey of Raine and Torin with all the twists and turns of any good romance.  I enjoy the way Raine develops as a character and we get to see that evolution.  She is spunky and isn't whiney like so many characters in books.  I can see being friends with her.  Okay, maybe not because she has some seriously crazy stuff happening around her!  By the end of the book I was invested in her and her life.  I cried when things happened that I didn't like and punched my fist when people 'got theirs.'

Torin, Torin, Torin.  What can you say?  He is a great fictional character!  He is tough, tender, rough around the edges, and all out kick butt.  When the book first started I found myself yelling, in my head so people wouldn't think I was nutso, for him to remember.  He has to remember Raine!!!  aagghh  I won't give anything away but you just have to read this book.

Each of the characters in this book seem so alive.  From the swim team to the 'mean' girls at school.  They are all vivid and jump off the page for the eager reader.  Ednah Walters has my attention and I will look for her whenever I need a good read.

AUTHOR BIO

EDNAH WALTERS grew up reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and dreaming of one day writing her own stories. She is a stay-at-home mother of five humans and two American short-hair cats (one of which has ADHD) and a husband. When she is not writing, she’s at the gym doing Zumba or doing things with her family, reading, traveling or online chatting with fans.

Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was released by Pill Hill Press in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED, the third installment, will be released April 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series, FORGOTTEN. Visit her at www.ednahwalters.com

Ednah also writes YA paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series. IMMORTALS is book 2. She is presently working on book 3, GRIMNIRS (Release date TBA). Read more about this series and the world she's created here www.runestheseries.com

Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published four more books in this series. She's presently working on book six. You can visit her online at or www.ebwalters.com.

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**I received a copy of this book in order to review it.  The opinions in this review are my own honest opinions.

Super Moon

Yes, I know it was a while ago but I just found the pics! heehee

I am not usually able to capture the moon on camera. I don't know what it is, I just can't do it. The pics are blurry, shaky, you name it. It is something I have been trying to do for several years now with no success.

So, when the Super Moon was scheduled to appear I knew I had to try it. this could be my one and only chance to get a good picture of the moon!

The problem? We missed it.

I thought it was for the next night and so we didn't go looking for it on the correct night. But...we didn't find that out until we went out on the night in question and looked for it.

Nothing.

So.disappointing.

My one chance was gone.

As I laid in bed lamenting my loss I hear Bethany shouting from the living room. Not anything too out of the ordinary there but what she said got my attention pretty fast.

"Mom, people on facebook are saying the Super Moon is out tonight. Did you see it?"

WHAT???

I hopped up out of bed, okay really it was more like fell with a roll and a lot of grunting, and ran (shuffled) to the living room.

"What are you talking about? It was last night." What I really wanted to say was, 'how dare you get my hopes up, what kind of daughter plays this kind of sick joke on her mother?' But I didn't.

I casually put my shoes on and went out on the front lawn. I didn't see anything at first because the neighbors built their stupid house (45 years ago) right where I needed to look. I actually had to walk a little to be able to see the sought after Super Moon. Good grief, how much work am I going to have to go through to get a picture of the moon? I mean, really.

After all my internal grumbling and complaining I looked up to see the beacon of the night-time Creation. She was beautiful. I can imagine God looking on the moon with her craters and shadowing and just smiling. It was breathtaking and we only got to see it on the second night.

I quickly ran inside (again with the shuffling) and grabbed my camera praying the whole time there was room for more pics and battery life enough to snap a few pics.

There was.

I am so stinking happy to mark this off my bucket list!

 

 

I did it again.

I remember last summer I said that I would not let the next one be so busy.

I failed.

Miserably.

It started with Convention and moved right into theater camp. Which slid into vacation.

We did get a bit of a break the week after vacation but we were so tired we couldn't have done much anyway! There were some orthodontist appointments, dentist appointments, lake day, and Bethany and Sarah teaching Sunday School to pre-schoolers thrown in the week good measure. But not too busy. ;-)

The following week had more dentist appointments followed by Cousins Camp for three of the younger kids. Somehow during Cousin's Camp I didn't get as much done as I had in the past. I did get to spend some great time with Bethany and Phoenix though so it wasn't wasted.

I started a Bible Study on Thursday nights. A Beth Moore so I am super excited about that.

The weekend of June 28th, we headed out to my mom's to paint the outside of her house. Yup, the whole house. Our six, Robin, my brother, my other sister and her husband scraped, repaired, and painted the entire house in just one weekend. It was HARD but so worth it.

The next week was Fourth of July and we were still busy. Another ortho appointment and a field trip on Tuesday made the time off fly by. Bethany had rehearsal for her song she was singing on July 6th and then we had a family night with some friends. That Sunday Beth sang at my in-laws church and then we ate lunch with everyone.

The week of July 8th was quiet. Kind of. Steven, Bethany, and I were getting ready for our missions trip with Royal Family Kids Camp. Hannah had a service project day at church and she got her braces that Wednesday, and then we had our RFKC picnic that night. Bible Study and then the kids went to my mom's on Saturday.

July 14th-19th we were at RFKC. Sarah worked on Friday at another theater camp for me and then the following week we had theater camp from 9:30-1:30 Monday -Thursday. It was more than exhausting. It was a hard show and the kids really struggled with it. By Thursday night I was in tears. But that could have been because of the broken molar and dentist appointment I had to go through that day. This time, again, the numbing medicine didn't work all the way so I was shaking and frazzled by the end of it. *sigh* Hannah had another service project and I had Bible Study. Friday had three eye appointments in the morning with Sarah having a b-day sleep over that night. Saturday Beth and I went to work day at the AYSO fields then came home to finish cleaning out the garage. ugh. Then Beth and Sarah had to teach again this morning at church. This afternoon we will try to celebrate Sarah's bday but she isn't feeling well and neither is Bug and Naomi. :-(

So far, next week isn't looking too busy but there are some things going on. But the following week is another theater camp and the start of school.

Summer has yet again flown by and we haven't crossed as many things off of our Summer Bucket list as I had wanted to. This week we are going to work on that and may have to carry it into September...but we will get many more crossed off. We will.

For now we are going to enjoy the slowness of today and wait for tomorrow's troubles to come tomorrow.

Vacation recap

Since I am struggling to get the post about vacation up...or even blog at all, I am just going to post some pics and call that good. :( I hate being behind but I am too overwhelmed and have too much going on so I am just cutting corners.

That sums up vacation. Kind of. I have reviews to write and so much happened but I will have to just post about it when I remember them. ;-)

 

Economics for Everybody Review

Economics...do you know what it is?  Really?  Did you take Economics class in high school?  Do you remember it?  Do you even care what it is?

 I can answer all those questions with a No or a Not Really.  I am pretty sure I took an Economics class in high school but I can't tell you anything I learned in the class.  It didn't stick.  That and I'm pretty sure I didn't like it!

Well, I have an Economics course that your kids will not only love but they will learn from it and remember it.  The company that brought us our very favorite Visual Latin brings us another great video program.  Economics for Everybody.

Economics for Everybody is a video course taught by Dr. RC Sproul, Jr.  He is an engaging speaker that makes this typically dry topic interesting and fun to learn.  He presents it from a Biblical perspective so that students get a clear picture of where Economics come from and Who is really in charge.  I have never wanted to learn Economics before but after watching just the first lesson in this series I wanted to keep watching and learning.  They use visuals including Charlie Chaplin and other video clips to draw the student in and keep them interested.

Economics for Everybody is a 12 week video course that is worth 1/2 a credit for high school if you follow the Scope and Sequence they provide.  This Scope and Sequence will walk you through what your student needs to do for their credit work and some additional work to add to their understanding of the lesson.  There is also a section for additional resources for the class if you are having your student take it for credit.  They recommend using Basic Economics, Third Edition by Carson and Cleveland which you can get on the Compass website.

However, you can also use this series for your family with middle school kids and older, small group, middle school/high school in traditional schools or homeschools, or any adult who wants to understand economics.

To use this program you will need to download the series or order the DVD.  You will get a Study Guide book with your purchase and access to all of the great information on their website.

"This is a 236p guide that includes an expanded outline of each lesson with additional material not included in the lessons; it also includes related Bible readings, discussion questions, short answer questions, and multiple-choice questions.  Finally, it includes a listing of all the sources used in the series."

The Study Guide is an amazing resource for this program.  It is extensive and well written.  The student can have in their hands a text to read and study or take notes in.  There is also the list of questions they can study to write them out later.  There isn't enough room in the Study Guide to write in it so they will need to have a notebook for their answers.

To see a list of Lessons, head over HERE.  To see a sample Lesson click HERE.  To see an Overview THIS is your spot.  You can also read the FAQ page or just head over and get your 2 FULL FREE Lessons!

If you want to purchase your own copy of this great program it is only $36 for the DVD!  Yup, you read that right.  Isn't that a fantastic deal?  Or you can download your copy for just...$36!  You can also purchase additional Study Guides for $9 if you have multiple students.

Head on over and check it out.  I know my high schoolers will be using Economics for Everybody and learn more than I ever did.


***Disclaimer***
I received a copy of Economics for Everybody to use in this review.  I received no other compensation for this honest review.  The opinions stated are my own and are honest and not promised to be positive.