Merry Christmas to Me

This Christmas I had a very small wish list.  Most of the things I want(ed) are out of our price range right now - a KitchenAid Mixer, a Cricut machine, a better lens for my camera, and a Kindle.

So when asked to give a list, I put the few reasonably priced items on my list and then I asked for money. 

Family was good and I was able to get myself a Kindle Touch, which I absolutely love.

It is an incredible blessing and it is a great temptation.  I am an avid reader.  I wish I could find a job where I could read books I liked all day long.  I am not very good with things I am not interested in though, so I do not think I will be finding anything real soon.

Back to my Kindle, I never thought I would be willing to buy something like this, because I love books.  I thought part of my love of books was actually holding the book, feeling it in my hands, that physical connection.  I was wrong.  I still love books, but I have found I am very satisfied with my Kindle.

One of the things I love about my Kindle is it can hold over 3000 books.  I am getting close to 500 books on my Amazon account right now.  Not all of those are on my Kindle though, but about 2/3 are.  The rest are held in my Cloud, which I will tell you more about later.  I also started collecting these before I got my Kindle.  You can actually download a Kindle app on almost anything you have - PC, Mac, iPod, and many other devices.  So I had been using my iPod to collect free Kindle books for about a year now.

Another thing I like is its size.  It is just the right size to fit into my purse.  I take it with me everywhere.

I also love that I can get lots of free books through Amazon.  There are other sites online where you can get books print pre1920s, but Amazon has a large selection of current titles for free.  I have to admit that I check Amazon at least once a day to find these free books.  They will put titles on for free for just one day some times, so I do not want to miss anything.  At the end of this post, I am going to include a list of current, free books that I think are good reads.  

I will warn I am rather eclectic in my book tastes.  I love Christian romances where the author not only gives you a happily ever after, but a solid message to go with it.  I like scifi books with action and aliens.  I like fantasy that includes other dimensions and traveling in time.  I like go old good guys versus bad guys.  Some of my favorite authors are Lori Wick, Susan May Warren, Clive Cussler, Michael Crichton, and Dee Henderson.  I love the classics.  Give me Austen, Montgomery, Alcott, Dickens, Shelley any day.

Well, this was a whole lot long than I had anticipated.  I am leaving you with a list of Amazon's current free books that I can vouch for.  Like I said, these are sometimes only available for free for one day.  If you see something that strikes your fancy, check it out.  Each will have its own link.  I hope you enjoy a good read on me, well, on Amazon.

Always the Baker, Never the Bride - Sandra D. Bricker

Finders Keepers - Catherine Palmer

Fools Rush In - Janice Thompson

Okay, well, these do not show my eclecticism, but I will keep looking.  

Going to Jesus

This weekend I had a friend leave this world and go to be with Jesus.  In my mind, I know she is in a much better place, but my heart wishes she was still here.  She was definitely one of the kindest, gentlest people I have ever met.  She spoke in a soft voice that you really had to tune in to hear, but it was never a wasted effort.

Please pray for her husband and family.  Lynnette, you will be very much missed.

Rain, rain, go away! Please!

That might sound like an odd way of starting a post about all the snow we have had this week, but as I sit writing this (3:30pm Thursday), it is raining outside.  Our snow has been reduced by 1/2, if not 2/3 and I am just sad.  It has been raining all day up here on the Palouse so far.  It seems rather cruel to give us all this beautiful white, fluffy snow and then kill it with rain.

Anyway, the rest of this post will be about snow and the fun we had while it was here.  Below are pictures from Monday and Wednesday of this week.

Not a lot of snow on Monday, but the kids thought it was enough to sled with.  They were right.

Luken would not let me take his picture until he pulled the sled over himself.

These are now from Wednesday.  This one just shows how the wind moves our snow around.

Luken loves sledding this year.  Wasn't so fond of it last year.

You really cannot see it, but she is zipping past me on her sled.

With Makayla, you can see a bit of the snow being thrown up.

This is an idea of the distance we trudge up to sled.

Luken gets a ride up the hill.  It is a whole lot easier than carrying.

Finally, one picture of the kids and mom.

Winter Storm Warning

I thought I would just let you know what our weather is like right now.  I will try to get a picture up later today.

Winter Storm Warning for Idaho Palouse, ID from The Weather Channel

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST THURSDAY.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 6 TO 12 INCHES IS EXPECTED TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING... WITH THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS OVER THE IDAHO PALOUSE. ANOTHER 2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY.

* ELEVATION: ALL ELEVATIONS.

* TIMING: SNOW WILL FALL AT TIMES TODAY AND TURN TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OVERNIGHT. ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW IS EXPECTED ON THURSDAY.

Stuff

Not a very eloquent or interesting title, but I just could not think of anything.  I do have more holiday pictures.  They are just not ready yet.  I am working on them.  

I thought I would just take a minute and share a couple of great sites I have found.  One via Pinterest.  If you are not on Pinterest, you should be.  Fabulous ideas on everything.  The other because I was researching how to make money at home and save money.

The first is SproutRobot.  It is a website for all you gardeners.  You put in your zip code and it will tell you when you should be planting.  Yeah!!!  I am very excited about this.  These last years of doing a garden have been challenging for this very reason.  I love to simplify my life.  They will even send you emails to let you know what should be going on each week.

The second is Money Saving Mom.  I have chanced across this site a couple of times.  Today I was reading a series of articles on making money and being a stay at home mom.  It was very interesting and informative.  This site all kinds of money saving ideas though.  It is great.  Check it out.

On the personal side, we were suppose to start school this week, but didn't.  Bailee has had a terrible sinus infection all week.  I could use that as the excuse, but the reality is, I was not ready.  Our holiday parties were just too spread out this year.  The last one being on Sunday.  I needed another week.

The younger girls and I did do some fun "school" stuff though and we made sure to read every day.  I also had Makayla tell me that she likes reading now.  Yes, getting her to read has been like pulling teeth.  Not fun.

Next week we will be back to our full schedule with dance and church groups starting again.  I am taking a big breath before we jump back into the fun.

On to Grandpa and Grandma Kelly's

We are blessed with a lot of family.  We definitely feeling during the Christmas season.  We end the year with abundant blessings.  

As I stated, our Christmas Eve is a day of family.  We have our family time.  Then we head to Grandpa and Grandma Kelly's house.  We spend a couple of hours with them before we head over to Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Grimm's.  You will get those pictures next.  Here is some of the fun we had with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Pam.

This is Luken's forced smile face.

All three of the girls received a ring.  I am not sure what Bailee is looking at, but I like this picture.

Luken was so excited to get this rocket out.  The minute someone picked it up it started to talk and Luken wanted it out of the box.

Each year the girls also get a collector's Barbie ornament.  They love them.

Thank you so much for all that you give us, Mike and Pam, and not just at Christmas.  We appreciate all you do for us through out the year.