Saturday Snapshot- First Snow! October 29, 2011

I had a ton of cute Halloween shots I was planning to use today, but then the weather forecast changed to snow, snow in October!  So I made a change.  The first picture is our poor apple tree.  In August Hurricane Irene knocked it with drenched soil combined with high winds.  We used stakes and had it upright until today.  I guess the weight of the snow was too much for it.  I'm not sure if it is going to make it or not now.  We planted it the month we moved into our house six years ago.  Hopefully we can save it!

Scarecrows and pumpkins and snow!  This doesn't usually happen unless I am really late at getting the decoration back in the house.  The scarecrows look like they were blown astray a bit too!

Today was supposed to be pumpkin carving day.  The ones we did at church earlier this month all rotted already so we had planned to do some more.  I'm not sure that is going to happen anymore!

In other news today was my third 5K.  I started running in July and have been doing a race a month to keep myself from having the option to slack off or quit.  This was the first time I've ever run outside in the cold or in the snow.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I made my best time so far.  Granted it was a very level course, but it was still an accomplishment as I didn't take any walking breaks this time.  I don't take breaks on the treadmill, but being outside is always a bit different.

The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy -Blog Tour

I posted a review of this earlier today but didn't have all the blog tour information.  My review is here.

Code:Enter to win a KitchenAid Mixer and RSVP for Facebook Party on


11/10!

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About the book:

To save her husband and son, Audrey Bofinger must rescue her enemy.

The Bofinger family has lost their church ministry in a scandal exposed by Officer Jack Mansfield. Hoping to heal and to restore their reputation, Audrey, Geoff, and their son Ed take over a failing bakery in the small community.

Driving to the bakery one morning, blinded by fog, Audrey hits a motor scooter owned by Jack’s wife, Julie. The mangled scooter is crushed and bloody. But Julie is nowhere to be found. Her disappearance coincides with a sudden illness that nearly cripples Audrey.

Jack believes the Bofingers have hurt Julie to take revenge on him, but the evidence dries up and her trail goes cold. At a breaking point, Jack takes the tiny bakery and its patrons hostage, issuing only one demand: Audrey has six hours to return Julie to him, or lose Geoff and Ed forever.

With only an excruciating and intuitive gift, an ex-con, and Julie’s estranged daughter to help search for clues, Audrey starts the search of her life for a woman who has vanished like the fog.



Read an excerpt here.

 http://www.erinhealy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ch-1-4-for-Web-Site.pdf 


About Erin:
Well-known to critics and reviewers, Erin Healy has established herself as an award-winning editor and a best-selling co-author with Ted Dekker. Healy received wide acclaim for her two debut novels Never Let You Go and The Promises She Keeps. Her work focuses on the psychological and spiritual, driven by high moral stakes. She lives and writes in Colorado with her family.



For more information please visit http://www.erinhealy.com/


Link to buy the book:

http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1595547525&title=The_Baker 's_Wife&author=Erin_Healy



Let the flour fly! Beginning October 24th, Erin's celebrating the release of her latest page turner, The Baker's Wife,  http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1595547525title=The_Baker%27s_Wifeauthor=Erin_Healy

with an outstanding KitchenAid baking prize package giveaway http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/165048 ] that includes a brand new

KitchenAid Mixer, cook books, and all you need to whip up some fabulous bread or

sweets! Then and on November 10th she'll be wrapping up the release of http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661  The Baker's Wife http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661 with an Author Book Chat Party  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661 on Facebook!

Don't miss a minute of the fun!

One grand prize winner will receive:
Empire Red 4.5 QT Ultra Power KitchenAid Stand Mixer

Black & White Kitschy Apron

Black Silicone Oven Mitt

Black OXO Rolling Pin

Wilton9X5 loaf pan

At My Grandmother's Knee Cookbook by Faye Porter

Second Helpings with Johnnie Gabriel Cookbook

The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy


Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on


November 9th. Winner will be announced at

[ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661] The Baker's Wife

[ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661 ] Author Book Chat

Facebook Party [ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112996508810661 ] . Erin

will be wrapping up the The Baker's Wife celebration with a book club chat and

giving away a bunch of "sweet treats"! So grab your copy of The Baker's

Wife (it's okay if you don't have one yet- you might win one!) and join Erin on

the evening of November 10th for a book chat, some "baking" trivia and lots of

"sweet" giveaways (books, and Amazon, iTunes & Starbucks gift certificates)!


Blog Tour Schedule:http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13434589

The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy

I really enjoyed this book, the mystery element kept me reading and what made it even more compelling was God’s guiding hand in solving the mystery. Audrey is able to feel the weight of God’s arm on her shoulders guiding her to someone in her community who is in need in some way. She uses this gift to bring bread she and her husband have baked on his day off from being a pastor. She comforts and spends time with those who need that extra bit of attention, until an act occurs that costs her husband his job and her son his college acceptance. Then, they turn to running a bakery to earn their living. Baking bread and acting as a pastor turn out to have more parallels than one would think.


Baking bread involves taking the time to pay attention and having the patience to knead for long enough, allow it to rise for long enough, and bake for long enough. Too much or too little time in an area can ruin a loaf. So many times in life we are rushing around and not taking the time to appreciate the smaller moments, the things that seem inconsequential, but maybe all the steps involved are important for a reason and having patience would give us all a chance to see that. The lesson on bread baking comes from Estrella, a grandmother who has been working with bread for decades and has come to work with the couple because the place she worked for before wasn’t interested in the beauty of bread.

While being held hostage at the bakery, Audrey’s son Ed wonders if, “his own humiliation wasn’t divine at all, but merely a distraction from what he was supposed to be doing? What if all this, this insane ordeal, was not a consequence of his own sin but a chance for God to do something amazing, if only Ed would participate?” How much more would we all experience if we participated more? If we were less afraid to say what we think and step in when we see a situation where we could lend a hand?

While solving the mystery, I also thought about how some people would view Audrey as crazy. She believes fully that God is working through her and having her experience a part of the pain that a person is having so she knows who needs her help. She feels that it is God, but most of us would be looking for some other explanation as to why phantom pains were cropping up and looking for medical help for ourselves.

I read this book as part of a Litfuse Blog tour.

It's Monday, What are you reading?

Okay, I am using my laptop and don't have the picture saved on it and it is already way late in the day to even be doing this post, but better late than never!  This week I finished reading The Baker's Wife.  I am waiting for an email to see when it is my turn to post my review for the Litfuse Blog tour.  Also I got around to writing up a review of the Hank Zipzer book I listened to with my children a few weeks ago.

My plan for this week is to:
Finish  The Creed Legacy by Linda Lael Miller
Finish Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
Read and review The Runner's Devotional

I've been reading a ton of children's books and would like to work them into the reviews, but so far it hasn't happened.  October is such a busy month.  In the last week I attended five birthday parties, took my children to a Home Depot workshop for kids, went to an amusement park and went to a parade.  

This is hosted by Shelia over at Book Journeys every week.  Check out all the cool posts by other bloggers by going to her site first.

The Day of the Iguana (Hank Zipzer #3) by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver

Summary of The Day of the Iguana #3
Inspired by the true life experiences of Henry Winkler, whose undiagnosed dyslexia made him a classic childhood underachiever, the Hank Zipzer series is about the high-spirited and funny adventures of a boy with learning differences.


It's science project time in Ms. Adolf's class. This is good news and bad news for Hank-he loves science, but he hates the report part. So Hank turns to TV to take his mind off things. But when the program directory scrolls by too quickly for Hank to know what's on, he decides to take apart the cable box to try to slow down the crawl. Great! Now Hank has found the perfect science project! But what he wasn't counting on was his sister's pet iguana laying eighteen eggs in the disassembled cable box. How is Hank going to get out of this one?

My thoughts:
This was an audio book we listened to a few weeks ago.  When I borrowed it from the library I had no idea that it was part of a series that had so many books, it just looked like something my children would enjoy.  There are 17 books in the series and they all look like they would be fun to read.

In this one Hank is trying to do an experiment with the family cable box, but his sister's iguana has other plans.  Hank just can't seem to get anything right and has a falling out with his best friend for failing to tape the right channel for a program he promised they could watch.  I think so many times in children's books if the characters work hard enough it works out, but this was more realistic, because even though he was working hard things still weren't working out.  Eventually  of course they do, but it was nice to see a struggle to put things right and needed to come up with a new idea and a new plan when the first one or two or three didn't work. 

There was enough humor in this book to have my children laugh out loud and it was nice that Henry Winkler is the one reading the audio version.

Details:ISBN 9780448432120

160 pages
15 Sep 2003
Grosset & Dunlap
5.15 x 7.67in
8 - 12 years

Saturday Snapshot- Halloween Take 1- october 22, 2011

We took the kids to go trick-or-treating at Dorney Park again last weekend.  We did the Halloween themed area and then went on two rides.  The park was very crowded and the lines were taking forever, so we told them we would try to make it back at least one more time on the two remaining weekends for the season.  They were good sports about it, mostly because they really wanted the candy and weren't worried about the rides.  I'm not sure it has really sunk in that they will need to wait until next spring to go on rides again or not, especially since the older two are starting to realize that roller coasters can be fun.  Hopefully the weather will hold out and we can make it again.

Run Your Butt Off!: A Breakthrough Plan to Shed Pounds and Start Running (No Experience Necessary!)by Leslie Bonci , Sarah Butler , Budd Coates

Overview
Shed unwanted pounds and keep them off ONCE AND FOR ALL with Run YourButt Off!, a back-to-basics, test panel-approved weight-loss plan and beginners' running program that yields sustainable, healthy results. The Run Your Butt Off! program is founded on the simple concept that in order to lose weight, calories burned must exceed calories consumed. No gimmicks, no shortcuts, no silver bullets can circumvent that reality. With this program, you'll learn to burn fat from both sides of the weight-loss equation—the calories in and the calories out—at the same time. Run Your Butt Off! will make you fitter, stronger , and leaner .

My thoughts:
I wish I had found this book when I took up running this summer.  I had my own plan and I think having had these ideas to follow through on might have helped make it look more achievable.  The plan takes you for 12 weeks, or longer if you want to spend more than one week at a level and running plan, and you go from walking for 30 minutes to running for 30 minutes.  Each chapter also has some ideas to help you adapt your life to more healthy sustainable approaches like eating more fruits, vegetables and protein and reading food labels. Actual people who participated in the program are featured with achievable goals.  No one lost absurd amounts of weight in the 12 weeks, but everyone made progress toward their own goals.  A mother at my daughter's  Brownie meeting was telling me how this book was written by someone in our area and she has applied to be one of the walkers in the next book, about Walking Your Butt Off!  She encouraged me to apply, but as I have already been running I don't qualify for the the new book and I don't want to give up running to go back to walking anyway.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to get started with running.  I checked it out of the local library, and need to get it returned as it was due today, which would be a great way to see if it what you are looking for before buying it.  I loved the calculator online to find out your BMI and the logs at the back.  Personally I've been using Dailymile for logging my exercise and I like that more than a paper pencil method, but I can see the merits of both.


Details
•Pub. Date: March 2011
•Publisher: Rodale Press, Inc.
•Format: Paperback , 304pp
•ISBN-13: 9781605294049
•ISBN: 1605294047