December Books

Happy New Year’s Eve!
This year, I was on a mission to read more books.
My goal for 2019 was 150, and…..I MADE IT!!!
Here are the books I read in December (plus some I forgot to record from earlier months):
1. Protecting Tanner Hollow by Lynette Eason-I liked these short stories, they were really interesting and packed full of action.
2. End Game by Rachel Dylan-Really good, and looking forward to the next one.
3. An Arkful of Animal Jokes by the Barbour Staff-fun, clean jokes for the whole family-I liked it.
4. Hope’s Highest Mountain by Misty M. Beller-Not bad. I liked the story line, but it got a bit too mushy for me in the end.
5. Seconds to Live by Susan Sleeman-OK, but I wouldn’t read it again.
6. Because by Mo Willems-fun!
7. Where was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? by Jean Fritz-a good read aloud the kids and I did with our history unit.
8. And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz-another good read aloud with the kids.
9. George Washington’s Breakfast by Jean Fritz-I liked this one. I will be reading this one as a read aloud next month to the kids for school.
10. Forever Hidden by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse-pretty good, but not my favorite of theirs.
11. Aiming for Love by Mary Connealy-good
12. The Inn at Ocean’s Edge by Colleen Coble-good
13. Spy School British Invasion by Stuart Gibbs-I finished reading this series to the kids, and everyone loved it. In fact, we bought the audio books, and the kids have already listened to the first six over again!
14. Just Right for Christmas by Birdie Black and Rosalind Beardshaw-a cute, heartwarming Christmas book. I liked it.
15. Tractor Mac Autumn is Here by Billy Steers-the pictures in this one are AMAZING.
16. The Bumpy Little Pumpkin-cute, and I liked the message in this one.
17. The Dinky Donkey by Craig Smith-just as fun as the first book.
18. The Full Armor of God by Tony Evans-The Boy and I read this devotional together.
19. Indescribable by Louie Giglio-I read this aloud with the kids for our family devotional in the 2018-2019 school year. It was so good we are going through it again. I am excited there is another one now, and I am sure I will pick that up for the next school year. Great devotional!
20. Bedtime Math The Truth Comes Out by Laura Overdeck-I read one of these per week to the kids. We started this one in 2018, and finished it in 2019. We are now reading another one. They are really fun!
21. Eggs and Chicks by Usborne-this was a science read aloud with The Little Guy. Very informative, and great pictures.
22. Mommy’s Favorite Smell by Brock Eastman-cute book, and better than the first one.
So that’s all the books for December, and now I have officially read 155 books in 2019!
I am already in the middle of four more books, so I will post more about those next month when I set my new goal! Yay! 🙂

Card Monday-A Birthday Card

Now that the end of the year is approaching, I found one card I never posted, and thought I would post it today.

Supplies: Die: MFT; Stamp: Lawn Fawn; Other: Alcohol Inks
To say I had problems with this card is an understatement. I tore it apart three times and would have given up on it, but I did not want to waste that pretty alcohol ink background-the only part of the card that went right the first time! In the end, I wasn’t totally happy with it, but it worked, so there you go!

Book Review-End Game

End Game is a modern-day novel written by Rachel Dylan and is book one in the Capital Intrigue series.
Summary: Elite military personnel are being murdered and it is up to Special Agents Bailey Ryan and Marco Agostini to figure out why.
As the mystery unravels, the agents find themselves targeted as well. Will they be able to solve the case-and their own lives in the process?
My Thoughts: This was very enjoyable read. The story is well-written, full of suspense, action, and drama. I liked the characters, and the overall plot is full of twists and turns.
If you enjoy action/suspense novels with a little romance thrown in, you are going to like this book.
I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series-it was a fun read from beginning to end, and I recommend it!
As always, I would like to thank Bethany House Publishers for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. Thank you!
*This book will be released on January 7, 2020.

Book Review-An Arkful of Animal Jokes

An Arkful of Animal Jokes for Kids was compiled by Barbour Publishing, Inc. and includes almost 500 jokes and fun short stories for pre-teen kids.
My Thoughts: I thought this book was great. It is the perfect book to sit around and read to (and with) your kids. Mine are currently 6, 9, and 13, and every one of them enjoyed the book. My husband and I also had fun with the jokes.
I really like that the book is split by type of animal-making it very easy to flip to your child’s favorite animal and read those jokes first. I also liked that short little stories were interspersed with the one-line jokes. This gave the book a lot of variety.
The jokes are clean and fun, and I liked the preface by Noah himself! 🙂
If you have a kiddo that enjoys joke books, or you just want to have something fun to read together and enjoy as a family, this one fits the bill.
I was thinking it would even be fun to start a tradition and read just a few after every evening meal-could be fun.
As always, I would like to thank Barbour Publishing, Inc. for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!
*This book will be released on January 1, 2020.

Christmas Cards 33-34

OK, today wraps up my 2019 Christmas cards! Whew-I barely got them all posted by the end of the year, but here they are!
Today’s cards are some of my favorites. I used dies for the background, inked the sky, and added a sticker and some glitter. I really like the results!

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Echo Park; Dies: Hello Bluebird, Ebay; Sticker: Echo Park, Other: Stickles, Distress Inks
So pretty, right?
Well anyway, I hope you enjoyed my Christmas card series this year, and hopefully next year I will start posting at the beginning of November like I normally do, and spread them out a bit! 🙂