Family Camp 2016

My younger sister Anna blogged about our family camp adventures complete with some adorable pictures. ;)

Tons and Bunches: Camp 2016!: HBC Family Camp was September 17-19, and we drove up and back home each night for Friday and Saturday! Enjoy the adventure! ;)  Thursda...

And here's a picture of my favorite camp memory. ;)

Long Time, No See (Literally)

What have I been doing? And what am I grateful for? I'm glad you asked!

I'm grateful for...

1. Bible studies. Our Evangelism training and Reclaiming Beauty studies ended earlier this month. It was sad to say goodbye to acquaintances who have become good friends, but we all agree that we should do something together again soon. ; )

2. House cleaning! Top to bottom deep cleaning. And yardwork. ; ) I got to organize our history bookshelves chronologically which was helpful to organize my own brain. (Believe it or not, I had the Alamo in the totally wrong mental place!)

3. Out of town guests. It was so much fun to catch up with friends we haven't seen in over a year! Balderdash, Chik-fil-a, thrifting, Studio C, a water fight, and just plain hanging out... Good times. ; )

4. Family. ; )

(The crazy sisters on the slide. We're screaming because we're falling of the end as Anna is taking the picture. And yes, that's all of us, Blue is just hiding next to Aimee's head.) ; )

5. Homeschooled Authors work. I'm now officially part of the team helping out with emails and keeping the booklist updated. It's been a ton of fun to work with the amazing Sarah Holman and all the other authors I come into contact with. ; )

6. Short story inspiration. A couple weeks ago Em and I spent a couple of days at Perry and Tyler's. During our nighttime talking time together, we told each other stories. I recently expanded my idea into a full short story which I hope to have up on Noble Novels soon. I had her and Blue read the finished version to give me their opinions. They enjoyed it and found a few continuity errors/missing words which was really special. ; )

7. More book related stuff believe it or not. ; ) I'm part of a summer reading program on Homeschooled Authors (more details Wednesday!). It was quite a bit of fun work to get my entries put together, and Anna helped me a ton by taking the pictures for me. ; ) We had a hilarious time together trying to pick poses. I'm a bit of a photographer's nightmare since I like to photobomb myself; but she did a good job, and we got it figured out. ; ) Here's one of my favorite pictures we took...

The necklace is one of my birthday gifts from Dad and Mom this year. I put it together from components from Hobby Lobby, and it's now one of my favorites. (Chum loves it too. He'd open and shut the locket for hours on end.) Since it's a bit whimsical, what book could be better to pose it with?

8. Library books. We are so funny when we go to the library. We usually hit the limit of books that can be checked out, which means both book bags are full and still everyone has to carry something. ; ) I'm enjoying reading all the juvenile fiction that is too adult for it's age group but is just perfect for mine. It's a lot safer and more fun than the adult section! 

9. A store. Em, Blue, and Pearly put together a little store of things they had made and invited us all to come browse through it. There was some pretty neat stuff; and, when all the shopping was done and the store was closing, they generously gave us all gifts. ; )

10. Nephews!!! Like I said, Em and I were over at their house a few weeks ago; and there's been visiting between our families a few more times as well. We also get the blessing of seeing them at church (and chasing them all around the play area--in medium-high heels!). I'll post some newer pictures of the little friends sometime.

11. Grace. We are weak, but He is strong.

So that's what I've been doing in a nutshell! (Not that I've personally been in a nutshell, but what I have been doing has... Oh, forget it. Grammar.) ; P

Questions, Questions

The last survey I did was so much fun, I thought it was high time for another. This is borrowed and tweaked from Aimee's Google+, so you can thank her later. ; )

1. Name: Kate Marie
2. Age: Young enough and old enough. ; )
3. Role model: Jesus Christ, Mommy...
4. Hobbies: The three r's (minus the 'rithmatic), cooking/baking, nephew chasing, singing with my family, writing letters, test reading, amateur sewing, talking.
5. Favorite actor: Jimmy Stewart, and Gregory Peck. (And if you're asking about ones currently living I'll add Kirk Cameron, and David Tennant. And James from Studio C!!!)
6. Favorite actress: June Allyson, Julie Andrews, Donna Reed, and Amy Adams 
7. Best friend: I live in an artist colony (yeah, creative people who wear weird clothes--we qualify when we're still in pjs), so I'm pretty much best friends with everyone here. Outside of my family, I'd say Esther, Rebekah (both of them), Anya, and Susie.
8. Favorite band: Andrew Peterson and all his folks!!! (Though I'm beginning to branch out into some of the other Rabbit Room-ers...)
9. Favorite song: Kung Fu Piano by The PianoGuys and Rejoice by Andrew Peterson.
10. Favorite movie: Fireproof, A Man Called Peter, and Toy Story 3.
11. Favorite animal: Big dogs and small cows.
12. Favorite subject: English. (That covers about all of the wordy stuff.) ; )
13. Pens or pencils? Pencils, because I'm a fallible human. 
14. Summer or winter? Winter. It's so moody and good for inspiration and a really good excuse for reading.
15. Tea or coffee? Chai tea! It's like coffee without the dirt flavor.
16. Good day or bad day? So far, so good. I've made breakfast, read my Bible, and done my chores while talking waaay too much with my crazy siblings. 
17. Birthday: In the springtime. Lovely, lovely springtime.
18. Something that makes you happy: God's love, babies, books, breaking 13k words in my story, my family, our sweet dog Ella... I'm sorry, there are too many. ; )
19. Something you're looking forward to: In the future future, having a family of my own and Christ's return. In the present future? Eating lunch, publishing, writing more, and seeing the nephews again.
20. Tell a story in one sentence: Once upon a time, there was a problem that was solved so everyone could live happily ever after.
21. Nominate any number of people: I think it would be fun if Rebekah, Holly, and Lauren answered these questions! ; )

Now it's your turn! Answer the questions if you like or ask me an extra one. ; )

Inspiration

When C.S. Lewis was trying to describe how he got his inspiration for The Chronicles of Narnia, he wrote, "It all began with a picture of a Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy woodland. This picture had been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself: 'Let's try to make a story about it.'" (You can read more of what he said here.) We all know what happened next, and some delightful stories were born.

Just like Mr. Lewis, I'm often not sure where my inspiration comes from. Sometimes it's another story, a song, a random Scripture verse, and yes, even pictures.

I didn't really know until I had finished writing the first draft of "The Book of Dreams' where it had come from, and even now I'm not completely sure. Maybe it was the book from the BBC Voyage of the Dawn Treader that had caught my fancy years ago or my fascination with Caspian's half-dwarf tutor. Maybe it was listening to an audio drama of "At the Back of the North Wind", reading "The Weight of Glory", or listening to Andrew Peterson music that filled me with a longing for heaven. Or maybe it was just my own random thought: "What if you were chosen to have an adventure?" 

This story has been one of the easiest for me to write. The words, especially the description, just seemed to flow into the keys of the computer. I felt almost like Handel frantically writing the Messiah. Although my siblings keep begging me to let "Letters for Victory" be published next, I've decided that it must be "The Book of Dreams". It's a story that I love and can't wait to share.

I will admit to you, that not all of my inspiration has been this glorified or extraordinary. Most of it comes from everyday life and interactions with my creative and amazing family. ; ) When I was describing Grandma Rowena, I pictured her as Grandma Nutt from the board game Candyland. ; ) Cool, right? (Cinnamon doesn't quite look like her peanut dog.)

I think some of my characters would protest if they knew their origins. So, dear Sir Larkin, Drewin and Ryla, Byron, Sienna, and everyone else please stop reading this post if you won't be able to handle it. ; ) I'm about to confess.

• Sir Larkin--your name was originally a girl's name I heard at the Homeschooled Authors' book table in 2014. Very sorry, but I thought with the medieval twist it would work. Will you forgive me?
• Drewin and Ryla--your names themselves are made up because I had run completely out of medieval names since I've overused the time period/genre. But I have an ever bigger confession to make. The name of your story (The Twin Arrows) is actual the name of a local casino. I didn't know where I had picked it up until I was idly reading the billboards on our way somewhere. I'm reclaiming it though. It's mine, and it's ours.
• Byron--yes, I know I haven't visited your story in a while. I'm stuck. But your name was an awesome inspiration. I've read it almost every day of my life, and it was such a part of me that I didn't know it was the brand name on the tag of my teddy bear. He is very noble and unique, though; so you shouldn't be ashamed to be named after him. (And it's really not as bad as the random Pony Express rider who was named after my pencil case...)
• Sienna--hello, again. I want another story for you, but we'll have to get to that sometime. I believe you are named after a local resort from yet another billboard. It's a beautiful name nonetheless, and I love it. ; )
• Fiddler--I love you so much that I couldn't find a name good enough for you (and Edward already got a story, so I can't use that again); so that 's the real reason you don't have one. There's no geeky or cool reason for the "secret" except lack of inspiration and fear of ruining your awesomeness. (I don't think Isolde minds.)
• Percy--you are so cool that I'm sorry you got that name. Only thing I could think of when you needed one. (At least you aren't stuck without one like "Mr. Strathmore's boy" or "the half-grown boy with the half-grown voice"...) And by the way, if you end up in a second story, you just got ten times cooler. I was reading the Arthurian tales the other day and crying over Sir Perceval's coming to Camelot. Your name is now short for Perceval. ; )
• Isolde--you're name is also from the Arthurian tales, but hopefully your story won't be as tragic as Tristan and Yseult's. It's beautiful nonetheless, and I'm really not ashamed of it all. (You're sister Ariel is from one of Jerusalem's alternate names and the name of the sprite from The Tempest. I heard somewhere that they were naming people during the 1860s from the Bible and classics, so... And Shallia was completely from my own head.)

So it ranges from everything from billboards to Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis to teddy bears, and everything else in between. Sometimes with stories like "The Book of Dreams", I feel as if I am writing something beautiful and amazing that will bless many people and bring them closer to God. Other times I feel as if I am writing a collection of random ideas that is just a cheesy remake of The Princess Bride. And then I remember that, as long as I am writing for God, He will make something out of it that I could never have imagined being possible. He will use my crazy stories to change a life, even if it is only my own. So I keep writing. ; )

I've recently started using Pinterest to help with inspiration. I have boards for "The Book of Dreams", "Letters for Victory", "Fiddler's Bargain", "Awake", and another story currently (and boringly) known as "Kiera". I try to keep my boards God-honoring and kosher, but please use the site in general with caution. (Same warning as I give for YouTube.) And please note that there might be spoilers. ; ) 

I'm Back!

Yes, I'm here again. There's a lull in the storm of things to do, so I thought I'd pop in and tell you what I'm grateful for...

The auntastic adventures I had while Aimee and I stayed at Perry and Tyler's house for a few days helping out. Chap and Chum were so hilarious and adorable with their clip-on ties, cowboy boots, and sunglasses (that don't quite stay on their heads or their noses). Their two favorite things definitely are playing outside (except one time when the sprinklers were on--then Chum was happy to just sit on the porch with me) and eating. (Eating a lot. Especially if it is "callilip", known to everyone besides toddlers as cantaloupe. The score was 8 for Chap and 5 for Chum.) ; ) We also had a great time with Perry and Tyler when they were available. Perry took us grocery shopping and treated us to Starbucks. (I got to try out their Chai tea for the first time!!)

My birthday celebration. On my actual birthday, I had a nice quiet day hanging out with my family. My two littlest sisters treated me to a treasure hunt (with very hard clues! They had recently got a kid spy book from the library, so there were a lot of really creative ones.) with a package of cards they had bought together as a prize at the end. Then all of us sibs (and Mom for awhile) played a crazy game of Ultimate Monopoly. Near the end it was just Paul and I switching back and forth, back and forth. We called it a draw, especially since it was time to eat Chik-fil-a and ice cream since Dad was home. Soooo yummy!!!! After that they showered me with presents and appreciations (that were so sweet I almost cried). It was truly a great day!

My other birthday celebration. ; ) Because my birthday landed on a Monday, the Perry and the Tyler and their very silly babies weren't able to come so they had us over that Saturday for more celebration. Ice cream, politics, silly babies, my local aunt and uncle, and leftover wedding cake from my cousin's wedding combined to make it another great celebration. (And the gifts too! More on one of them later...) ; )

Evangelism training. We are going through the Way of the Master training videos with two different groups (north and south since we are so spread out!) from church. It has been great to be able to get to know these church friends better and to grow in our ability to share the Good News. (And this lucky pastor's family gets all the info twice!) ; ) Please pray for me that I would get over my shyness and actually reach out to people.

Reclaiming Beauty webinar by the Botkin sisters. My mom and a friend of hers are leading this study together for their own daughters (that includes me!!) and some other mother/daughters from a homeschool group. It has been so amazing!! I've been learning exactly what God thinks of the whole topic, that I must dress as His ambassador and an example to my younger Christian sisters, and that it really is okay to enjoy it as long as I keep it in its right place just like any other art. ; ) (If you want to find out more about it, you can download the first episode for free here.) It's also been a ton of fun too. ; )

Anna and I spent a several sister-ly hours decorating our study guide notebooks together. (Yes, that's us! Looking weird and horribly lit.) ; )

My book on the left, hers on the right. I love how our different styles came out in the process. ; )

Over the past several weeks, we've also gotten to know some girls that we had never met before, collected a ton of info for our style files, figured out face shapes and colors (vaguely, anyway) ; ), and I had the insanely irritating and wonderful privilege of doing an entire closet inventory. ; ) Which actually turned out very helpful when we went on our field trip to our local modest (unfortunately Mormon) thrift store together. We all found some amazing things and had a great time. ; )

Our Ladies' Bible study. It only happens once a month, but it has been amazing so far. We are studying through "Living the Gospel in Relationships" by Tara Barthel. We like it so much that we've actually been watching it as a family and gleaning a lot.

Stories. What would a blog post by Kate be without her stories? (Don't answer that question. It was purely rhetorical.) In my "Year of Editing Six Large Works", I have four down and two to go! I just finished editing "Fiddler's Bargain" last night, and I can't wait to move on to its companion story. (When I say these are edited that doesn't mean they won't get more later on, but it is a step forward.) ;) "The Book of Dreams" project has progressed in one exciting way--Perry and Tyler have offered to give me a free cover!!! (That's my birthday gift from them. Aren't they just the best?!!!) I have a story spinning in my mind, but I'm not sure it will ever make it out of the idea stage. (The fact that I have 7k+ words does help to encourage me a bit. I'll share an excerpt of the beginning some time here...)

My crazy family. Right now my mom and I have ganged up on my littlest sister and are tickling her mercilessly. Other fun times include another treasure hunt Em made for Blue and I yesterday, watching the second National Treasure movie together yesterday on VidAngel (Anna and I love quoting Riley Poole to each other), coming up with eighty business/book/movie/ministry ideas a day, and listening to Mom read a book about Marco Polo aloud. Pretty great. ; )

That's just a bit of the awesome things that have been keeping me busy. ; ) What have you been doing?

Story Project: The Twin Arrows

One of my numerous projects last year was writing the first draft of a novelette called "The Twin Arrows". (Last year should probably be named "Year of Three Novelettes and Three Short Stories", and this one is definitely "Year of Editing Six Large Works". Sorry, I'll get back to the what I was saying...) It was a medieval adventure. A journey of danger, hope, and most importantly trust. Each protagonist had to deal with their own doubts and fears in various ways along the journey. Disguises. Horseback chases through the rain. Dungeons. Silver arrows. A father who gave them the very gifts he knew they would need and the companions that would guide them best. That's the story. (And I probably made it sound cooler than it actually is...) ; P

I couldn't tell if the story was good or not (a mother is always blind to her children's faults); so I decided to put the first six chapters (out of nine or ten) on Noble Novels and ask the other authors their opinions. I've gotten some really good feedback so far that has helped me to craft the story better, and I look forward to seeing what they say about chapter six when it posts next month. ; )

Would you like to read them? Please be aware that you won't be getting the whole story, and it is an early draft. You are also quite welcome to comment on them and give your own feedback--everything helps! ; )

Chapter One: Father and the Sisters
Chapter Two: Boy
Chapter Three: A Place of Protection
Chapter Four: Anger
Chapter Five: Not a Sound

Next month I plan to have the next chapter up, and that will be the last one there is on the internet. I hope to publish it as a book someday, so in this "Year of Editing Six Works" I'll need to do some editing of the last few chapters. (I'm kinda' glad I won't be sharing them soon, because those parts need a bit more work.) ; )

I hope you enjoy reading these!!

If you were curious what last year's two other novelettes were, they are two companion stories set during the time of the American Civil War. What makes them different than all other books about the time period? War is wrong. Neither North or South will solve their problems by fighting. Only the Gospel is the answer. ; )

It's been fun. ; )

Discovering, Breathing, Enjoying, and So On...

Yes, I have been extremely busy! You can just look at our church calendar and see at a glance 2/3s of what is filling our time. Add to that birthdays, celebrations, social events, and family ministry--wow!

Today's blog post is going to be a little different. So many awesome things have happened that I'm going to just share a few pictures of some of my favorite experiences. ; )

We celebrated Chum's birthday by feeding "eatmeal" to ducks at the park. He had a ton of fun!!

Chap and Uncle Paul watching the ducks.

Love that sweet smile!!!

Yeah, this is what I mostly did. ; )

On that same day, Pearl and I discovered our first Little Free Library! We had the back of our van full of rejected stock for our used book business, so we decided to take the time to fill the library with an assortment of books. It was so much fun, and we can't wait to do it again! ; )

Our evenings have been mostly occupied by church Bible studies. It's been a really good time of learning and fellowship! Mom, Aimee, Anna, and I are also going through the Botkin's Reclaiming Beauty study with some friends of ours and their homeschool group. We just had our third session today, and it's been really good so far.

Anna and I spent a huge chunk of one day decorating the backs of our notebooks with things we love. (Mine is on the left and hers is on the right.) ; ) It was a great sister togetherness time, and we were sad when the project ended. ; )

What else have I been doing? Well, living, experimenting (more on that later), discovering (love this creative community!), editing ("Mara"), breathing (glad to hear it, aren't you?), cleaning, studying (real Mount Sinai!!!), enjoying, loving, and learning (the Levites were presented to God as a "living sacrifice" just like we are to be!). 

Oh, and um... stories... Perry Elisabeth is hosting a short story contest!!! I'm so excited, and I can't wait to start on my submission. Also, if you go to my page on Noble Novels, you'll find the fifth part of "The Twin Arrows". (The suspense is building!!)

It's been an awesomely blessed week and a half! How was yours?

Sick Day

Last weekend, we were at the Southwest Family Vision Conference hosted by our church and a few others in the valley listening to amazing sermons like "Conforming Marriage to the Image of Christ and the Church" by Scott Brown and "Are Family-Integrated Churches Legalistic" by Greg Thornberg. (There were many others, but those two are my particular favorites.) ; ) We were also enjoying fellowship with friends from church and making new ones.

This weekend is a bit of a different story... We are keeping company with lemon/ginger tea, zinc lozenges, elderberry tincture, and crackers. Mom carries her thermometer like her life depended on it, and we are keeping the hours of retired people. (With an emphasis on the tired...) Kid Snippets, VeggieTales, and other random family friendly movies have been the daily fare; and yesterday the living room was a regular sickbay. (The dog even got in on it deciding that the end of the mattress on the floor was perfect for napping on.) We seem to be on the mend as far as high fevers go, but we are all still very tired.

Sometimes it takes being sick to make us grateful for health, and I think we are all excited to get back to our regular everyday lives no matter how ordinary they are. ; ) So, here's to being patient and riding it out and eating chicken soup!

Just Another Gift

“God who is the Creator of the world is also the source of knowledge for the Bible. God does not lie or contradict Himself. True science is a search for the truth of God’s world. The Bible is truth. By the very nature of the two, they will not disagree.”

~ My science textbook “Investigating God’s Orderly World”

Today I am thanking God for the privilege to be schooled and discipled at home where my book lessons never contradict my Bible ones! ; ) 

I also wanted to thank you for bearing with my short, infrequent posts this month. ; ) We've been really busy with everyday life, ministry stuff, and our church's conference; but I hope to be back soon to update you on these adventures or move on to telling you about new ones. ; ) Thanks for reading!

Book Review: Stephen

"Norman Mavrich has no need for another hired hand, but when a young boy shows up asking for work, he can't turn him away. But where did the boy come from and what really brought him to the Triple Creek Ranch? The search for answers sends Bruce on an investigation and brings an unexpected conflict to the ranch family. Join the Mavriches, Mrs. O'Connor and the ranch hands for an eventful summer of hard work, fun and excitement."

If someone asked me which of the Triple Creek Ranch books by Rebekah Morris is my favorite, I would probably just give them a blank stare and say, “Ask me a question about the end times—even that would be easier to answer.” To tell the truth, Stephen comes the closest to being my favorite. I actually read it soon after we moved down here last year but never had time to write a review. I hadn’t realized how much I liked it until I just reread it. ; )

The Setting:

The story is, of course, set on the fabulous Triple Creek Ranch during summer. Awesome descriptions of the season and ranch life (including how to fix a fence, though I still don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it since I’m not strong enough). ; ) Probably my favorite part of the whole setting is the horses especially since there are a few new ones added in this book.

The Storyline:

The storyline was really amazing! Although the book is mainly about Stephen, the author didn’t drop the continued story of Orlena’s growing in Christ. I loved the lessons on reaching out to other and loving them especially the part where Norman says, “God made love to grow, if we share it. We can’t use it up.” Once again, the love of Christ really shone through the characters, and I loved the story of how they cared for Stephen.

The Characters:

The characters were delightful (and I almost have the ranch hands’ names down!) as always. The Mavrichs are just the cutest ever, and I love watching their family grow. Lloyd, Ky, Stephen, and Orlena rank next in my favorites; but I enjoy just about every character there is. (Nice detective work, Bruce! Thumbs up!)

The Concerns:

Parents should have caution in considering this book for younger readers because of some schoolgirl spats including calling another girl a liar. (Resolved, of course.) Also, the marriage relationship in this is very sweet and godly, but some parents may not want younger children to read this because there is a lot of married kissing throughout the book. : ) My main concern however would be SPOILER ALERT!!! an evil, distant relative that has mistreated the boy and is coming to take him back.

I was very excited to read this book and bought it ASAP with the Amazon money I was gifted with for that Christmas. (My relatives know me!!!) It arrived at our new house as we were barely just moving in, and I hurried to read it up. (Like snap it up. Yeah, forget I said that.) Now, I’ve started this year almost the same way (but not with the moving part, thankfully) by skimming Stephen again so I could finally review it. I’m sorry if this review is a little sketchy since I usually like to write them directly after I read the book the first time.

Altogether, I really loved this book! The only disappointment—after reading Rustlers, I had been completely drawn into Ky’s storyline and hoped to hear more about him. And then Rebekah Morris asked me to test read the fifth book—Ky’s book. But that’s a story for another time. ; )

Living Sermon

Here is my dad's sermon that I promised a few posts ago. This sermon has really blessed me, and I hope it blesses you as well! Have a great day!

Busy and Blessed

This weekend has been super busy and blessed. Added to the regular activities of usual weekends, it’s birthday season for us! ; )

Thursday

Buddies' actual birthday; but, since we were going to celebrate it on Saturday (so we could have Perry, Tyler, and the nephews come), a school holiday was declared as long as we played with the birthday girl all day. ; ) After some chores, a little bit of school that had a deadline, and that silly selfie session from my last post, the younger girls launched into a game of dollhouse. It was, of course, only a precursor to the main event when they were allowed to go outside and build a town. That’s right—a town. Em set up a very nice Doctor’s Office in the tree house (which was kind of funny because “injured” people had to climb up the ladder to get there) where I got a real bandage for a real injury; and Pearly set up a sort of carnival/game tent (Literal tent and one of the walls was held up by a rock on the roof that fell off later. No one was hurt!) with activities including guess the number of Skittles in the jar, a penny toss, a raffle, a hidden object challenge (bottle of rice with small objects in it—the challenge was to find them all), and a ball ramp she had made by herself. There were prizes and even badges that said things like “Champion of the Skooter Race” that they got to wear all day. (Em had her doctor name tag and two champion badges, so let’s just say she was very decorated!) ; ) Also very popular were the bags of complementary popcorn  with a few turns at the games. (Which was really good, because we were so busy playing that our meals were a bit off schedule.) ; ) Speaking of lunch, the Birthday Girl herself served it through one of our back windows as a drive through. I made a big batch of chai tea and served it in my new adorable glass mugs. It went like hotcakes! Buddies even wanted seconds after it was gone so she went and made herself more (with a little help from Aimee). ; ) Paul spent most of his morning on the computer making something mysterious and interesting for our game. None of the younger girls were allowed to look at the computer, but if they had I don’t think they would have understood what he was doing. (I had to be told, myself.) He coded an app for our family phones that read smart tags off “debit cards” that were linked with play bank accounts. Talk about an advancement from the tinfoil coinage of the old days when the big girls were little! He set up a tent and chose Birthday Girl as his assistant. She was so cute sitting there reading a book as he explained the cards to his primitive customers. She had dressed up for her birthday complete with stick-on earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet. Anna had done her hair in a French braid and twisted little hair jewels into it. Very grownup! ; ) She got even more dressed up because of the salon hosted by Anna and I. Anna set it up next to Pearly’s game tent on an old bureau that decorates the back porch in it’s own rustic way. She took a mirror, all the hair stuff, and a ton of small decorating items (including Christmas lights!!) outside and arranged them to make a very pretty picture. ; ) My job was to paint fingernails and toenails while she did hair and makeup. Mom let us have the rare treat/torture of using some of her makeup like face paint. (I tried a little and it turned out like war paint so I washed it off.) ; ) Anna got into the act and dressed up as a crazy salon lady, and we used a little face paint to get the clown next door into character. The pictures say it all. ; ) Tyler surprised Buddies by dropping by on his way home from work to wish her a happy day. He was a little astounded by our costumes; but he seemed to enjoy seeing the town, and she certainly enjoyed showing it off. ; ) So we played until it was almost completely dark (or maybe it was completely dark), then came inside to warm up. My favorite part of the day was definitely when Birthday Girl thanked us all by saying, “Thank you so much for playing with me, guys!”

The lovely M.D (Mother on Duty)

The "clown"

Mayor and secretary

Getting dark!

The crazy salon lady, the M.D., and a little sliver of Yours Truly

Friday

We did do some school, and I did get some editing/writing in. I actually finished editing “The Book of Dreams” as much as I can, and I’m looking forward to sending it out to test readers hopefully soon. My current writing WIP is “One Day After Eden” and my editing WIP is now “Letters for Victory”! ; ) That evening, we went to some friends’ house to have dinner with them and learn to make their Paleo friendly apple cake. (It was so good!!! I’ll have to put the recipe here sometime.) We had a great and blessed time with them. ; )

Saturday

Oh, wow. We packed in four days’ worth of stuff on this day! The first day of this day was Dad’s birthday celebration (since it was actually his birthday) where Mom gave him a collage she had made to commemorate our years in the Northwest. The second day, Dad, Em, and I had to do some last minute birthday shopping for Buddies before her celebration later that included going to Barnes and Noble and the Christian bookstore. *angels sing* It was a ton of fun! Back home, I helped to finish cleaning the house and Em and Anna closeted themselves to wrap the presents. (They did an adorable job!) Day three: the relatives arrive! Perry, Tyler, Chap, Chum, and Brudder Baby as well as our local aunt and uncle! We had a nice party appreciating Birthday Girl, eating too much ice cream, and watching as she celebrated over each present. ; ) Dad also got another present—this time from us. Starbucks giftcard but since we only have non-birthday girly cards in the house, Aimee’s sense of humor told her to use a sympathy card. “In sympathy for all the health problems this coffee will cause.” ; ) ; ) ; ) And then day four, all the adults left for a courtship discussion with a few other families from church as they introduced the idea to a homeschool group. We got the babies!!!!! (All except Brudder Baby but I didn’t complain too much.) ; ) Chap and Chum kept us on our toes (and themselves happy way past bedtime) with dancing to “The Fiddler on the Roof”; cooking with kid kitchen (They both pray over food, and Liam loves “cutting” wooden food with a little wooden knife. He would have done that all day if there hadn’t been anything else to do!); playing doggy with streamer leashes; and just being generally cute. Buddies got to share one of her birthday gifts, the first volume of What’s in the Bible with Buck Denver, with them which was pretty fun. I think they liked it even if they felt the need to play a little Duplo when they got bored for a moment. ; ) So cute! Anyways, it was a great day!

Birthday Girl!!!

Chef Chum ; )

Sunday

Dad wanted to take us to Savers for his birthday, and since there was a big sale we thought we would snag a little time at the store before our afternoon church. We found some great things, but we were a bit rushed getting to church since it ended up taking a lot longer than we had thought. Dad preached some of the last few verses of the book of James this Sunday. It was so good! The sermon will definitely be posted here in the near future since it is about serving God in every area of life. The communion service was really great too, especially since one of our piano players from the church’s early days was in town so we resurrected a really amazing communion song we used to sing. Fellowship afterwards was simply amazing as I found myself talking to people I don’t usually get to, and we were discussing amazing principles from the Bible (and coming up with analogies that include water balloons so they definitely break down). And the nephews were awesome as always. That’s a given. ; )

Monday

Oh, wow, that’s today! The only reason I’m writing this right now is because I’m the only one up and my computer was handy, but today is going to be busy. We’re renters, so it’s time for the annual walk through and we have a few things to do. (Like yardwork—because weeds always grow.) Dad is home because it’s MLK day, so I’m excited to see what we’ll do when the work is all over. Mom’s birthday is tomorrow, and we have a good long week of school (and editing/writing!) ahead of us so I’m excited. ; )

What about you? How have you been busy and blessed?

Book Review: The Blackstar of Kingston!!!

"A century before Heather and Picket's adventures in The Green Ember, a displaced community fights for hope on the ragged edge of survival.

My place beside you
My blood for yours
Till the Green Ember rises
Or the end of the world.
Whitson Mariner and Fleck Blackstar face old fears and new enemies, forging a legend that will echo through the ages. 
Old wars haunt. New enemies threaten. An oath is born. 
A hero rises." (Amazon synopsis)

So after I read The Green Ember and loved it to pieces, I began to try to stretch my Amazon money to buy a paperback copy of its prequel. The author, S.D. Smith, had done such an amazing job with his other story that I wanted more, more, more. ; ) And why not buy paperback while I was at it? While I was still in the stretching process, The Blackstar of Kingston became free on Kindle. Oh the temptation to pick it up! Then I found out Mom had picked it up. Oh the temptation to read it! Don’t ever look at the cover, table of contents, prologue, and first chapter of a book if you intend to wait on reading it. Confession: I read it in a day and a half.

The Setting: Again set in the fantasy world of Natalia, this book has a lot of the same feel as its sequel but a whole new dimension of its own. Instead of a broken kingdom with a lost king, this time it is the beginning of a kingdom being carved out in a new land. And again, it’s so awesome that the characters are rabbits because it makes action and danger so different. This time it’s not just rabbits with swords—some of them have bows too which is good because they are being attacked from above! (And the rabbits look really cute with them in the pictures, but that’s beside the point.)

The Story: This book was a lot shorter than The Green Ember which naturally made it more fast-paced. While it lacked the fabulous mystery of its sequel, it made up for that in brilliant action and inspiring moments. (I underlined so much in some places because I seriously couldn’t read a page without finding some gem!) ; ) The main lessons in the story were being loyal and hoping for the future. I loved reading about Heather and Picket’s heroes of old, finding out the significance of the green ember, and having something more to read about Natalia. ; )

The Characters: I loved Fleck Blackstar. He was loyal, passionate, cautious, and heroic. Definitely one of the best rabbits ever. (He invented that really cool pledge!) Humble King Whitson Mariner, Massie, Burnley, and Gavin were also huge favorites of mine. And little Prince Lander is pretty cute. ; )

The Concerns: Parents should have caution in considering this book for younger readers because of some intense un-graphic action. (Seriously, birds of prey with blades strapped to their feet and torches to set your ships on fire is really scary when you are a rabbit!) Other concerns include a young child/rabbit in danger, a destroyed town, and a rabbit who is so scared it's making him go crazy.

So, that’s the prequel I was longing to read. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to decide which book is better because this one is an action-packed story of their inspiring history and the sequel is a complicated, surprising mystery full of hope for the future. To make this decision even worse, the author is coming out with another book this spring. (I seriously cannot wait to see what happens to my most favorite rabbits ever!) Sigh.

I really liked this part of the book because it was so unlike others I have read...

“’They are well, thank you,’ the king said. ‘Last night I broke the news to Prince Lander that he was not to accompany us on our return trip, and he was—how shall I say it—Most displeased.’ Fleck smiled. ‘His Royal Highness has spirit. It will serve him well when he is king.’ ‘But he must learn obedience,’ the king said. ‘That will serve him better.’”

And I have to share just this one quote in closing so you can see how awesome Blackstar is. ; ) 

“It was the little prince who spoke, arresting Fleck’s waking dream. ‘You don’t seem afraid, Captain Blackstar,’ he said. ‘You’re smiling.’ Fleck realized that he was and that now the prince was smiling too. ‘I am afraid,’ Fleck said, tenderly touching the prince’s head. ‘But I keep on loving what’s on the other side of this fight. And that will have to make me brave.’”

Spring is just too far away...

King Tut, Chicken Feed, and Editing

A lot of cool things have happened this year. (This year as in the last week, because that’s all there has been.) I mean, there’s been cheesecake, funny moments, new schedules, etc. What’s not awesome about that? ; )

I’m grateful for…

Cheesecake. I made my very first cheesecake ever, and it was so much fun! I got to smash graham crackers, get my hands all yummy messy pressing them into the world’s coolest pan, snitch a little occasionally, taste my cream cheese mixture to see if it was just right, and peak at the gorgeous creation (well, it didn’t turn out perfect looking, but I could see deeper) sitting in our refrigerator. And then we ate it. So yummy. So yummy. So yu---you get the point. But you still need a picture...

And also I thought it was really cool how the graham crackers in the pan looked like a bucket of chicken feed. Don’t you think so?

Our new Bible reading plan. It’s a chronological approach to reading the Bible through in a year; and it’s only five days a week, so if we get behind there are a couple days to catch up. It’s been really great how our family has been all on the same page, so to speak, so we can discuss our reading together. I haven’t read the book of Mark very well since I tend to prefer Matthew and John, but our schedule has opened my eyes to some of the treasures in there. For example, when the demon possessed man whom Jesus had healed wanted to come with Him, Jesus wouldn’t let him and said this instead, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (Mark 5:19b) Words to me too!

School. I finished up all my textbooks last year, but I have a bit of science and history to do now that our school year has started again. It’s been really fun to study alongside my siblings especially when my brother says “scientific attitude” in the Lobster Bisque voice during our discussion group or we research extra information on King Tut (because our books are over twenty years old, and we wanted to know the current research) or the Foucault pendulum. There are some pretty fascinating things to know out there! I also love how God-honoring our science textbook is. No evolutionary fairy tales to deal with there!

Editing. Since I don’t have that much school to do and since I counted and I have five to seven works I want to publish and since I’m a flake about editing and jump to the creative writing first, I’ve been editing. I don’t really set New Year’s goals or resolutions, but if I did that would probably be one—discipline yourself, Katie, and edit. I’ve started a sort of rewards system for myself. If I edit for half an hour, I am entitled to up to one free hour of creative writing. ; ) I’ve only done this four times this week, but I’ve seen the results and love it! The creative writing doesn’t always go for very long (depends a lot on when dinner happens), but I’m happy to get some editing done. ; )

Our littlest student. She can read almost perfectly, and she’s not even the age I started learning at! When we read the Bible aloud during family devotions, she amazes us all. ; ) She’s still learning the spelling side of things, but I thought I’d share this picture of her adorable school sheet.

A short story. I was on Amazon (I do that often) looking through Rebekah Morris’ sale on her books when I saw her short story “At the Christmas Lodge”. Oh, nice, something new to read. Only a buck. Kindle. It’ll be here in two minutes. I’ll buy it. It was awesome! Very cute and Christmas-y. I highly suggest you go check it out if you’re looking for a nice, quick read. ; )

FroYo and FroCo. Yeah, I’m a nerd. Those stand for frozen yogurt and frozen coconut in case you were wondering. (I think I made the second one up, so you were most definitely wondering.) We’ve been trying to go low-carb, gluten-free, almost Paleo just because it’s better for my sister’s T1D and everyone else in the family’s possibility of getting it. We haven’t been doing the best at eating this way, but when we do her glucose numbers are awesomely regular. I’m the breakfast cook in the family, and it’s been interesting to try to switch my brain over from the sugar-y wheat bombs to something actually nutritious that still tastes pleasing. There are only so many options for breakfast food, so we’ve been trying to think creatively. (Sweet potatoes for breakfast, anyone?) Hence my frozen stuff. We have smoothies planned for this week and since we’re trying to stay away from milk and bananas (my usual staples in the smoothie world) I’ve decided to experiment with yogurt cubes and coconut milk cubes. They are just the coolest frozen! I’ll let you all know how they taste in blueberry smoothies and chocolate peanut butter smoothies. ; )

Nephews. Even though we haven’t gotten to see them in a little while, it’s been awesome to hear stories about them. The other day, for instance, Chap walks up to his mom and says, “Kungun needs chlokit.” (Kungun is how he says his name.) Isn’t that so funny?!! We love our “happy boys” as Aimee calls them. ; )

So that’s what my week has been like. How about you?

And I can’t get over that “chicken feed bucket”. ; )

Grateful for 2015

Wow, I can hardly believe that 2015 is already over! Every other blog post you’ll read this week will probably start with those same words, but isequelh it’s the truth—time flies. There has been so much to be grateful for this past year, even the fact that this year happened. The world was supposed to end in 2012, so don’t forget that we are all miracles, folks.

It would never do to try to exhaust everything awesome that happened in the last 365 days. My brain would steam and yours would fall out your ear. So I’ll just cover the categories and please forgive me if I leave something out. ; )

I’m so grateful for…

• My family. The more I live the more I learn that my family is awesome. They are my built in friends, Romans, countrymen, critics, laugh track, comedy show, iron sharpeners (‘cause I have a pastor-dad!), and friends. Nobody else in the world would giggle at 11 o’clock at night about dropping flashlights or understand the joke “the eggs rolled off the ceiling”. (We don’t even understand that one.) Nobody else in the world would properly appreciate the term Calminian or be able to go on all day about the Trinity and constitutional rights at the same time. And definitely no one else would die laughing over our brother’s ability to mimic the voice of everyone in our family and beyond.
• More of my family. Yeah, I’m talking about the cute chubby ones and their chauffeurs. The Chap and the Chum and their tiny brother who is trying to learn to crawl so he can join them in throwing all their toys out the bedroom window and hosing each other down when Dad and Mom aren’t looking. They lived with us for five months this year in which we got to witness Chum getting un-chubby enough to be able to walk, Chap learning to do fist-bumps and say all sorts of intelligent things, and their fabulous brother being born. Then we got to help move them into their own little house, and altogether it’s been altogether amazing. ; )  The chauffeurs are pretty amazing too, by the way. Perry is great for calling and telling all about the three mile thick novel you are never going to write or getting all the advice you could ever need whether you want it or not. ; P (Hi, Perry! I know you are reading this! This part is for you!) And Tyler is awesome to bake for and shoot with Nerf darts.
• Church family. Since we started out on that infamously crazy road trip to move down here a year ago, they have been so welcoming and helpful. It’s been great to learn and grow and laugh and love with them all. Probably my two favorite things I’ve done with them all this year were our church picnic in April and caroling this past Christmas Eve.
• Friends. Most of my friends are at my current church, but if I didn’t talk about this category I’d be leaving out the special people back in the Northwest and my pen-pals far and near. All of these people have enriched my life so much.
• Media. I don’t mean the tv/social networking/newspaper kind. If you’ve been reading my blog long enough, you’ve probably noticed that this year has been a book explosion for me. There are definitely too many books for me to mention; but my favorites this year have been Dreamlander, Gift from the Storm, The Green Ember, its prequel The Blackstar of Kingston, The Warden and the Wolf King, and the Aggie’s Inheritance series. It’s not just books that I’ve been enjoying this year either. Andrew Peterson’s albums “After All These Years” and “The Burning Edge of Dawn” have been used by God to draw me so much closer to Him, and Handel’s “Messiah” is going to be a forever favorite now that I’ve heard it live. Two of my favorite movies this year are probably “Inside Out” and “The Stratton Story” (Jimmy Stewart—yup, yup!); but “Cinderella” isn’t on there just because I still haven’t seen it yet. (Goals for this year…) ; )
• Projects. Very sorry to bore you with more of “Kate’s Nerd Stuff”, but this year has been awesome for writing and test reading. I’ve written three short stories, two 10k words stories that I like tolerably well, and I’m halfway through another. I’ve also gotten to test read three manuscripts this year, which is always fun because it’s been rare for me to get to read something by someone who’s living and breathing right now and is asking my opinion. ; ) I love working out my worldview and imagination in story form and the sharpening from fellow authors is pretty awesome. The two Rebekah’s and the lovely people at Noble Novels have been a big part of that process this last year. (And those funny phone calls with Perry!) ; )
• Little things. A mini muffin tin; family celebrations; our sweet dog Ella (Nana if there ever was one!); sunny, breezy days; boots (I just got some for Christmas!!!); driving two hours just for the world’s best Mexican food; teaching a little friend from church how to say my name; old pictures; swings… There’s so much more, but you get the idea. Aren’t you proud that I didn’t accidentally sneak more books into this category? ; )
• Lessons and love. I have big problems with fear. I have big problems with change. I have big problems with adoring people but not wanting to talk to them because they are just too scary. I have big problems with controlling my imagination. I have problems with trust. I still have problems with crying when I smash a dish and then getting all defensive. I have problems with managing to get everything done. But when God said, “Let there be a Katie”, He knew there would be a lot of problems with her. Her teeth would be crooked; she would be afraid of the dark; she would love Him one moment and forget Him the next. God knew all of that. He loved her unconditionally. He sent His Son to atone for all of her sins. He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in her heart to conform her to His image, and He gave her lessons this year to teach her. And someday, when all things are made new so will Katie. Right now she’ll listen to Andrew Peterson’s songs “The Rain Keeps Falling” and “Rejoice”. She’ll talk about herself in the third person so she can tell her blog readers about herself while pretending that that problematic person is someone else. ; ) And she’ll strive to love people and listen to the Holy Spirit. 

All of that is why I am grateful. What about you? 

Package

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and will have a happy new year!! ; ) If you enjoyed my story "Snowman" you also might like this companion story. It's written about a time just like this when you aren't exactly sure what holiday it is. ; ) I hope you enjoy and have a great whatever it is day!

Package

 Corrine tucked her light hair behind her ears and hummed a Christmas song as she moved about the tiny kitchen. Breaking into song, she voiced the words, “Smooth the batter with your spat-la, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la—Wow. Bad idea to skip the hot mitts this time.”

Sticking her tingling finger under the icy cold tap she had left running, she carefully shut the oven with her foot and used her free hand to set the timer. “Sean and Dad will love these goodies, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. Christ-mas is for poisoning relatives, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-laaaaaaa.” She stopped singing and caught her breath dramatically.

“Well, that was interesting…” a voice remarked from around the corner, and the speaker immediately earned an icy, cross-eyed glare.

“You were not supposed to hear that, Sean,” she said, spanking her brother with the dish towel she had been absentmindedly drying her blistered finger with.

“Couldn’t help it,” he said, shrugging unapologetically. Glancing at the eighty-odd dishes she had piled in the sink, he added, “What do we have here?”

She moved to spank him again, but he deftly took the towel from her hands. “No comments about my messiness please. Wanna’ help? Or you could go up in the attic and fix those speakers so we can have some real music.”

He eyed her thoughtfully. “Or participate in the world’s most epic battle of the DISH TOWELS!”

She squealed as he began to attack her with the dampish weapon and frantically opened drawers to find her own. “Ah, ha! A bulky hem,” she said, stretching her prize choice out for him to see. “Perfect for whacking the daylights out of meddlesome brothers.”

He had fallen back to regroup—basically take off his glasses so she wouldn’t break them again. “En guard!” he replied, and the battle was on.

Just then the front door opened and a crowd of people fell in. Corinne froze and looked up at her brother with wide-eyes. He stared back and twisted his dish towel nervously.

“I really hope they are related to us. No one else would understand this,” Sean said tragically.

Corinne tried to smother her giggles and ended up snorting into her hand and turning very Christmas-y colors. Sean’s eyes began to water with internal laughter; and, fortunately for them, it was only relatives who found them moments later.

Mom carefully settled a magnificent gingerbread house in the middle of the dinner table, and the younger children gathered to gaze at it and discuss the different candies one more time.

Sean and Corinne were still recovering from their hilarious battle when their middle sister Kristyn came into the kitchen. Placing one hand on her hip and arching an eyebrow, she observed playfully, “So I see the boring people who stayed home from the gingerbread house party weren’t so bored after all.”

Corinne would have spanked her with a dish towel if she had had one; but her older brother replaced his glasses and said quite peaceably, “You see correctly.”

“And besides, boring sister here had her ‘crrrrazy project’ to work on,” Corinne reminded her.

Kristyn grinned. “Did you figure out who your gift this year is for yet?”

“Nopers.”

Kristyn shook her head with a mock sigh. Her older sister was saved from further comments by the sound of the kitchen timer and an erupting argument between the littles about whether or not licorice was actually alcohol. Corinne hurried over to the oven, slid her hands into mitts twice their size, and removed the brownies.

“Oh, Mom,” she called over siblings short and tall. “That reminds me. I need to go to the post office to send my package.”

“They’ve already closed up tonight, but I’m sure Dad could take you in the morning. He has some errands downtown anyway,” Mom assured her. “Like the gingerbread house?”

All eyes turned to look at her and asked the same question. She smiled and nodded. “And I’m looking forward to eating one of those chocolate windows.”

Conversation returned and somewhere underneath it a little voice could be heard counting the peppermints and dividing the number to see just how many he could possibly eat when the time came. It was terrible sitting there with it just in reach and knowing he had to wait until Christmas. Two days was too long.

He was still staring at it during dinner when Dad said, “Do you want to come with us tomorrow, Arron?”

Everyone was looking at him. “W-what?”

“Dad is taking me to the post office tomorrow morning, and you’re welcome to come with us if you want,” Corinne explained with a little smile.

“Oh, sure.” He gave a toothless grin.

The evening passed quickly—too quickly at least for everyone who wasn’t dying to eat the gingerbread house and was actually enjoying the anticipation of Christmas. Corrine had another problem on her mind that made her wish tomorrow would wait longer in coming. Who was she going to send her gift to?

Every year since she had come to Christ, He had laid it on her heart to make a special little gift and give it to whoever He told her to. Every year He had told her who in one way or another. But she still didn’t know yet, and she would be going to the post office the next morning.

Yawning, she turned out the light in the girl’s bedroom. As she fell asleep, she prayed for wisdom then decided to let tomorrow worry about itself.

Arron was up with the first light and already more awake than she was as they climbed into the family car. “I feel like I should say ‘good morning, Corinne’ and ‘good afternoon, Arron’,” Dad joked as they pulled out of the driveway.

Corinne smiled and settled her package more securely on her lap. The blank space for the address looked odd and irked her somehow. Couldn’t she just choose someone on her own? But she knew that wasn’t how it worked. She had committed to let God decide, and she would just have to wait for His answer.

Arron was jabbering in the back seat about the gingerbread house, and she called her thoughts back to the special time at hand. A few miles down the road and three versions of Feliz Navidad later, they had turned off the radio and pulled into the parking lot of the Chesslie Post Office. A few white mail trucks passed them and more were pulling out of the driveway.

“Ready?” Dad asked, turning to her with a smile.

“Nopers, but I’ll do it anyway,” she replied, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the side door.

“Good luck!”

“Bye!” Arron said before turning back to drawing faces in the frost on his window.

Holding the package tightly in one arm, she slammed her door shut and hurried up to the shining glass doors. No address on her package yet. She was crazy to be doing this.

“Last minute gift, eh?” a voice said, and she looked up to see the young man who had been standing there dusting snow off his coat.

He was holding the door for her; and, as she moved through it, she said with a bright smile, “That’s right. I do hope they get it in time for Christmas day.”

As he followed her through the door, she noticed he was looking at the package. “No address, I know. I really don’t know who it’s for yet.” She grinned sheepishly.

He lifted one eyebrow but didn’t ask any more questions. She found herself strangely glad. This was getting awkward. How was she supposed to take her package up to the counter and tell the clerk that she wanted to send a package but she didn’t know where?

Fortunately there was a bit of a line; so she sat down in a chair, settled her purse and her package in her lap, and began to pray. “Hi God. It’s me, Corinne, again. Who do you want me to send this Christmas gift to?”

She waited, but there was no audible answer. She hadn’t expected one exactly, but it would have been nice. “Better get my Sharpie out of my purse, so I’m ready when He tells me,” she thought.

Her purse was a mess. Kristyn called it “the bottomless pit” once, and Adelinne had countered by affectionately calling it a “bag of tricks”. Either was pretty bad, in Corinne’s humble opinion. She found the Sharpie despite the gum wrappers, old receipts, and compact mirror that threatened to stop her. Mercifully, the only thing that fell out of her bottomless bag of tricks was a lavender-colored business card.

She flipped it over. Why had it been in her purse again? Adelinne had given it to her because it was her favorite color. She had probably gotten it from Arron who collected business cards since stamps were too expensive. An address! It had an address on it!

“Oh, thank you! I have it now!” she said aloud.

The clerk was looking at her strangely.

“Sorry,” she said with a little smile.

“Can I help you next?”

The line was gone. “Oh, yeah, just a minute. Let me write out this address a second.”

A few minutes later, she emerged triumphantly from the post office, still holding the business card in one hand.

“Did you find out who to send it to?” Dad asked as she got in the car.

“Melanie Tweeny, piano teacher, is getting a wool scarf for Christmas,” she said happily, handing him the business card.

“Then hooray for Corinne, and hooray for God!” Arron interjected.

Corinne was sitting in a folding chair in the middle of living room with a pile of Christmas lights at her feet. She wanted to sing, but she wasn’t sure what since it was too late to sing Christmas carols and too early to sing the one good New Year’s song.

“What would you sing in this no man’s land between Christmas and next year?” she asked Kristyn, who was carefully packing away the ornaments they had taken from the tree that morning.

“How about ‘Let It Snow’?” her sister offered.

Wagging her head with a huge red bow fixed to the top of it, Adelinne added, “Yes, do. It seems so lonely without music.”

Coming in moments later, the boys were greeted by three laughing sisters who immediately began singing another verse of their odd song. “You both look rather frightful, but we’re sure the walk was delightful. Now since you’ve no place to go, help us…”

“Nothing rhymes,” Adelinne said, exchanging glances with Kristyn.

“Spreading the disease, Corinne?” Sean said, looking at her over his glasses with amused disapproval.

She gave him what she thought looked like a very innocent face and Arron laughed. “Not exactly the desired effect,” she said wryly.

“Well, anyway, you have mail. Something from a Melissa—no, wait it was Melanie—yeah, Melanie Tweeny. Whoever that is,” Sean said, running his fingers through his hair.

“Melanie Tweeny! Isn’t that—“ Kristyn almost swallowed the tiny piece of candy cane she was sucking on.

“That’s the woman I sent my package to this year,” Corinne said with surprise. “They never write back.”

“This one did,” Arron said, plopping the envelope down on her lap.

They all drew back respectfully and waited for her to read it.

“What did she say?” Adelinne asked, seconds later.

“I’ll read it aloud. ‘Dear Corinne, I loved receiving your gift. Since I’m an older lady, I get cold a lot more often now, and the warm scarf was just what I needed. I don’t need to ask if you made it yourself, because I’m sure you did. It’s very beautiful. I’m a little short on friends right now, and I’d like to invite you and your family to come over tomorrow if it’s all right with your parents. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Mrs. Melanie Tweeny.’ There you are,” Corinne said.

“Wow,” was all Sean could think of to say.

“Let’s take a break and show this to Mom and Dad.”

The next day, almost New Year’s but not quite, the whole family found themselves packed into the van and on their way to Mrs. Tweeny’s. They were literally packed in, since coats and sweaters made them a lot bigger than usual.

“You know something,” Arron told Corinne, pressing his nose against the frosty window. “It’s sad that Christmas is over, but at least ‘Feliz Navidad’ isn’t on the radio anymore.”

Corinne laughed and ruffled his hair. Although she could laugh, she felt a little nervous in the pit of her stomach. Never before had she been able to meet one of the people she had sent a package to. It was exciting and scary at the same time.

Dad turned the van down another street, and she knew from the signs that they were getting close. The neighborhood was half decorated for Christmas and half not. Since it was a sunny day, they noticed that a few people were out in their yards taking down their decorations.

When they reached Mrs. Tweeny’s house, there was a man on the roof who waved to them with one hand and held a coiled string of Christmas lights with the other. They waved back as they piled out of the van. Taking the baby out of her seat, Corinne handed her to Mother and followed Arron out of the van then shut the door behind her.

Walking up the cracked sidewalk, she joined her family at the door and waited as Adelinne rang the doorbell. No answer.

“Try again,” Mom said.

She tried again and nothing happened. They even tried knocking since they knew that sometimes old doorbells didn’t work. Just when they were deciding to leave, the man came down off the roof and tucked his roll of Christmas lights into a dilapidated cardboard box.

“Hey, can I help you all?” he asked, wiping his hands off on his pants and shaking hands with Dad. “I’m Mrs. Tweeny’s nephew.”

“Nice to meet you. Mrs. Tweeny invited us over for a visit. We’ve been ringing the doorbell, but nothing has happened. Is it broken?” Dad asked.

The man laughed. “She’s probably playing piano in the back room. Want me to go in and tell her you’re here?”

The family all nodded at once and told him “thank you” then waited while he went inside. A moment later, a tall older lady with curled gray hair and a moss green dress opened the door.

“Hello, everyone! Do come in! I’m so happy to see you!” She opened the door and let them come in, talking all the while. Her nephew was standing next to her, looking rather amused. “I’m so sorry I didn’t answer the door, but I have to get all the Christmas songs in I can before the season is officially over. Sometimes I can’t hear anything over the grand, especially when I play Handel.”

Mrs. Tweeny was one of those remarkable people who was able to talk, urge you over to the living room, make you feel quite at home, and seem to know you completely by the time she was done with the process. The whole family found themselves sitting around the living room, some on the rug and others squeezed together on the tiny sofa, listening to her hilarious stories of being a piano teacher.

“There was one little girl who was about…your age I think,” she said, looking at Adelinne with a bright smile. “She used to tell me that she couldn’t play the piano unless she took her shoes off. I only smiled at that, but when she took them off at a recital I nearly died of laughter.”

Everyone laughed, especially when Sean added, “Just better hope she’s not a famous pianist someday. Who knows what she’ll do.”

Mrs. Tweeny laughed the hardest; and, when she had finished, she asked, “Which one is Corinne?”

Corinne raised her hand and gave a shy wave. “I am.”

“Thank you so much for the Christmas gift dear! It blessed me so much,” she said, laying a hand on the girl’s arm. “Now, tell me, what made you decide to send it to me?”

“Well, it sounds funny when you say it out loud, but God did. Every year since I really came to Him, I’ve been making an extra gift each Christmas and sending it to whomever He wants me to. It’s been everything from a decorated mug to a store bought book,” she explained, hoping the older lady would understand.

“Why that’s wonderful! A nice way of showing faith in Him and love to other people,” Mrs. Tweeny said. “I feel even more special now that I know.”

            Corinne smiled. “Thank you for your encouragement.”

            “So how did you decide to become a piano teacher?” Kristyn asked, hugging her knees to herself.

            “Well, I’ve always loved music and—“ Her eyes fell upon Arron. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I totally forgot. I made some goodies you all can have if it’s all right with your parents.” She started to rise from her chair.

            “Corinne and Arron, would you get them for her please?” Mom asked, then added when the older lady started to protest, “Where are they?”

            “We’d love to help you this way. Honest,” Arron said, happy to rise and stretch his legs.

            Mrs. Tweeny sat down again and smiled. “You dear people. Blake, will you show them to the ice box, please?”

            Her nephew stood up and led them into the kitchen, then opened the refrigerator door for them. Corinne took out a tray of tiny cheesecakes and handed them to Arron before taking the other tray herself.

            Blake shut the refrigerator door again, and she said, “Thank you. Always opening doors, aren’t you?”

            “I suppose so,” he replied, looking at her strangely. “Oh, that’s right! I know you from the post office. You’re the one who didn’t know where your package was going.”

            “Yes, that’s right,” she said, smiling. Then she balanced the tray on one hand and offered the other, “I’m Corinne.”

            “I’m Blake,” he said, shaking it. “Nice to meet you. Who could ever have imagined that that package would show up here?”

            “I’d call it God’s sense of humor, I suppose,” Corinne said with a little laugh.

            “Indeed,” Blake replied. “Sure you don’t need help with that tray, Arron?”

            “No thanks, I can eat it all by myself,” Arron said, slyly.

            Corinne laughed happily as she came into the living room and set her tray down on the table next to Mrs. Tweeny.

            “Thank you, dear,” the older lady said. “And I’ll still say ‘Merry Christmas’ just because I like to.”

            “Merry Christmas to you as well,” Corinne replied.