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Complete Order Summary Order Date: 10/22/2012 Order Number: R031221184 Merchandise Subtotal: $0.00 Shipping: $0.00 Taxes: $0.00 Order Total:* $0.00 Your total saving today is: $11.99 Items In This Order Green Mountain Coffee GMC Sumatran Reserve Vue Vue® Pack Box (16) Quantity: 1  $0.00

B Reads to Me

This is a bit long, but B never ceases to shock me. He got this new book: 'I Was So Mad' and yesterday we read it about 6 times. He's never heard this story before yesterday. Today he tells ME the story. And he's pretty accurate too!

Shingles

We've been dealing with a leaky roof/mold problem the last couple of weeks here. Yuck. We had a bad storm and what is presumed to be a tiny leak grew to a large leak we were unaware of until I looked up one morning, and there was a pretty large, damp, black spot on our bathroom ceiling. Talk about panic. Roof repairs? All I saw were dollar signs and health hazards. Oh my.

I'm happy to report that the insurance Adjuster came this morning and the homeowner's insurance is going to pay for an entire brand new roof. Yippee! So now my decision is: what shingle color do I want to put on?!? Hmmm...
I'm torn between "Weathered Wood" and "Aspen Gray". Repairs will begin in about a week & a half, so I'll have some house updates for you as they work on it and then a final result. I'm excited to see the end result. The new roof should update the look of the house, but most importantly, clear up any health hazard to our family! God is good.

Libby of High Hopes: A Review

From Elise herself:

Working on LIBBY OF HIGH HOPES was a wonderful experience but my oldest friends keep saying, "What took you so long?" They know that I spent virtually everWorking on LIBBY OF HIGH HOPES was a wonderful experience but my oldest friends keep saying, "What took you so long?" They know that I spent virtually every waking moment of my childhood and well into my twenties riding horses.

Through Pony Club I became interested in three-day event competitions. Eventually I took a year off from college to train and compete in England. From there I went on to train for three years with Bruce Davidson -- he had just won the team gold in the Montreal Olympics and is still one of the most well known event riders in the world today.

Drawing had always been something I loved to do as well and when it came time for college I chose art school. There came a point where I had to decide whether I wanted to make a life with horses or pursue a career in art. It was a tough decision fraught with a lot of soul searching but in the end I chose art.

I left riding to become an artist -- and here I am today coming full circle finally writing this series about a girl who rides.

LIBBY OF HIGH HOPES came out of the gate in June to amazing reviews and is off and running. There will be another LIBBY -- and hopefully many more after that.  It's wonderful to finally be able to combine my love for horses, with my love for drawing and writing books.y waking moment of my childhood and well into my twenties riding horses.

My Thoughts:

This story was inspiring and fun for me to read to B. The illustrations really made the story for him and as a  visual learner, I enjoyed Elise's original drawings so that I could picture the story as she intended to tell it rather than as the story that I would've imagined in my own head. You could truly get a good sense of who Libby is as a little girl. The story had real truths - money concerns for instance. It talks about not affording lessons for Libby but affording them for her older sister. Now, as an only child, I can't relate to doing without in a siblings shadow, but I have 2 children now that will have interests and hobbies, etc. Since this is my personal review, I have to share a side story. My grandmother has a U-shaped kitchen with long counters. When she cooked or washed dishes, I ALWAYS sat on the counter as a child to watch her and talk! When I visited over the summer with my kids, I even hopped up on the counter out of habit. The illustration of Libby sitting on the counter took me back to memories of my childhood, made me think of my grandmother, and was very familiar. I love that. I love a story I can relate to. Something that can make me smile. And I love that my children can learn something from Libby about passion, hope, perseverance,  and dedication.

If you'd like to read it, you can purchase through Amazon here. Read more on Elise and her other works here. I can't wait to read Auntie Claus soon!

*I received this book to review free of charge, but all opinions expressed are my own.