From Amber’s Sketchbook

I'm showing a clay piece again this week instead of a drawing, but there's a reason. Amber had to turn in her first book report for the year this past week. She had to read a non-fiction book, which she loves, and she chose to make a model as her project. It's a pink dolphin, which I didn't even know existed when I was Amber's age (9). Amber really enjoyed the book she read, Encantado, which I've included below. She learned a lot, not just about pink dolphins, but also about other animals of the Amazon and the culture and customs of the people who live there. Encantado: Pink Dolphin of the Amazon  by Sy Montgomery Publisher's description: Welcome to a forest filled with water. In the wet season, the swollen Amazon becomes a looking glass into another world, where pink dolphins swim like something from a dream. In Peru they are called bufeo colorado—the ruddy dolphin. Their color ranges from white to gray to a vivid...
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Game Night – Arkham Horror

Arkham Horror Designers: Kevin Wilson and Richard Launius Manufacturer: Fantasy Flight Games Artists: Brian Schomburg and Scott Nicely Year: 2005 Players: 1 - 8 Time: 120 - 180 minutes Ages: 12 and up The town of Arkham, Massachusetts is in a panic. Horrific and bizarre events have begun to occur with increasing frequency -- all seeming to point towards some cataclysmic event in the near future that may spell disaster for everyone. Only one small band of investigators can save Arkham from the Great Old Ones and destruction! No fan of the Cthulhu Mythos will want to miss this opportunity to acquire this classic Call of Cthulhu boardgame! Fair warning- this is a tough game. We've only played a couple of times.  There are a lot of rules, which is tough for David, and his character spent two-thirds of the first game we played insane. I enjoy it, even if we don't play it often.  Basically, each player has a character and all the characters work together to kill an assortment of...
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Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey

Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey I'm not a money person, period. I don't understand it or care, really. I don't think about it that much, tracking where it comes from and where it goes is a pain. I've heard that arguments over money are one of the main difficulties facing married couples, but that's not true in our house, because David's not a money person, either, which is a problem. We read Financial Peace as part of a workshop we attended over about three months at our church. It's simple, clear baby steps are perfect for us. Ramsey explains them in terms we can understand, gives clear goals, and encourages partners, spouses to actually communicate, not yell or let one person be solely responsible. If I had to boil it down, Ramsey advocates saving, getting out of/avoiding debt and then moving on to investing for retirement and college.  I like, too, that it is Christian-based and encourages giving, but it's still practical. I'll grant...
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Winners!

Congratulations to the winner of The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson and a temporary tattoo. Suzie And a bunch of people won temporary tattoos. Have fun with them. Ken Dina Renee Catherine@The Blonde Diaries Paula Patterson Dawn Jessica diane Rebecca S. Cox heatherzilla John Freda Mans Janel Joani Julie P. bermudaonion Rebecca N. Lisa Rita K amanda I will be e-mailing everyone. I just need your mailing addresses. Thanks....
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RIP IV Challenge

Fall just seems the perfect time to curl up on the couch under an afghan with a cup of coffee and a spooky, mysterious, scary, thrilling, eerie book. I'm giving in to the urge and joining the RIP challenge, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.  I'm only committing to Peril the Third, which is one book, but hopefully I'll read more that fit these categories: mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, gothic, horror, supernatural. The challenge runs through October 31. Here is a list of books I may be pulling from. Of course, I might read entirely different ones altogether. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón Salem's Lot by Stephen King Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Ghost Writer by Josh Harwood The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken ...
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G is for Girl

Vicki of Reading At The Beach hosts A-Z Wednesday. Today's letter is G. This is one I read back in 2006. All I remember is enjoying it, but I've always been a Nancy Drew fan.   Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak This is the publisher's description. A plucky “titian-haired” sleuth solved her first mystery in 1930. Eighty million books later, Nancy Drew has survived the Depression, World War II, and the sixties (when she was taken up with a vengeance by women’s libbers) to enter the pantheon of American girlhood. As beloved by girls today as she was by their grandmothers, Nancy Drew has both inspired and reflected the changes in her readers’ lives. Here, in a narrative with all the vivid energy and page-turning pace of Nancy’s adventures, Melanie Rehak solves an enduring literary mystery: Who created Nancy Drew? And how did she go from pulp heroine to icon?    The brainchild of children’s book mogul Edward Stratemeyer, Nancy...
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