Wednesday, May 15, 2013

From Mercury to Honda

Hello! I'm back with some pictures of our new van!  It's a Honda Odyssey and it's so nice! It's blue, with heated front seats, the middle windows go down, air conditioning, and a sun roof!
Here is our old van........
No sun roof.............

And here is our new van!





The boys in the back...
Up front.......
And Anna and I in the middle


I thought this looked kind of cool







That's all I have for today! Oh, and by the way, this is my 200th post!!!!! Woohoo!! Thanks so much for 48 followers and 13, 895 pageviews!!

Thanks for looking at my blog!

Emma

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

In which I ramble for hours about my favorite books

Sorry Becca-I just had to copy you on that one! It was so perfect!:) Anyways, hello!:) I was inspired by the lovely Miss Becca Anne from Life's Melody, to do a post on my top ten favorite books. Let me copy Becca again because this describes it so well........................

Please be warned before starting to read this post:

This is a subject I can fully expound on, and I have, so please be warned before reading this, I wrote on and on and on, and this is crazy long. So please be sure to have enough time and a cup of tea/coffee handy, because you will need it. :P Or, your other option is to skim through some of them and find the titles that interest you. Personally, I would opt for the last option. ;)

Recently, a lovely sweet amazing girl (aka Hannah Elise,) who also happens to be one of my very favoritest people on earth, requested that I do a post on my top ten favorite books. Thank you so much Hannah for forcing me to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. It was awful. Trying to pick a favorite book, I have heard, is almost like picking a favorite child. So, favorite ten books, is like picking your favorite ten children in the world… Devastating, because it’s almost certain that you’ll leave out one of the best.  Ahem… anyway… :) (No, actually, she knew I was having huge inspiration leakage in my brain right now, and I wasn’t coming up with anything creative to post about, so she was trying to help. ;)  So without much more ado, I present a long post about books. Because I’m a bookworm and a writer. Welcome to my world. Enter only if you are willing to get lost in worlds that don’t really exist, and fall in love with fictional characters. You must also be willing to have your heart broken many times, and learn to return to your own world on occasion for necessary things like eating and sleeping and the occasionally housework.. Welcome to the world of Words and Manuscripts. Enjoy your stay, my friend.

My thoughts exactly Becca! Here are MY ten favorites. (in no particular order)

10. At Home in Mitford-Jan Karon
Okay, so this is the first book in a series of eight. It pretty much evolves around Father Tim, the Episcopal priest living in the fictional town of Mitford, North Carolina. I'll just give you the back cover................. It's easy to feel at home in Mitford, North Carolina. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are friendly. Yet, Father Tim, the bachelor rector, wants something more. Enter a dog the size of a sofa who moves in and won't go away. Add an attractive neighbor who begins wearing a path through the hedge. Now, stir in a lovable but unloved boy, a mystifying jewel theft, and a secret that's sixty years old. Suddenly, Father Tim gets more than he bargained for. And readers get a rich comedy about ordinary people and their ordinary lives.
I love Mitford! I love Miss Sadie, Louella, Hoppy, Avis, Hessy, Home-less and Dooley! You will too, because I am ordering you to read these books! (well, you know, only if you want to:)

9. Anything by Janette Oke
And no, that's not the title of a book. Janette Oke is another of my favorite Christian authors. And she has so many books! Let's start with Love Comes Softly Nineteen-year-old Marty Claridge starts west with her adventurous, boyish husband, Clem, seeking to claim land and hoping for good fortune. But when the venture turns suddenly to tragedy, Marty is left alone with her great loss. And coupled with her grief and heartache is the grim reality that there is no way to return home.

Clark Davis and his little girl, Missie, are also in great need. Clark's wife has died, leaving him to care to Missie and the farm at the same time. His offer to Marty comes with good intention, but will courage and faith be enough to bring them to true love?

Those are really good--there's eight books in the series. Than there's the Women of the West, Canadian West, Prairie Legacy, Song of Acadia and a lot of stand alone books but we won't go into detail on them:)

8. Cherry Ames-Helen Wells
So a lot of you probably haven't heard about Cherry Ames. I pity you poor girls. I really do. Cherry Ames is a series about Cherry Ames, (duh) who is this girl who goes to school and becomes a nurse! The first book is Cherry Ames Student Nurse. She becomes a nurse and she also solves little mysteries that pop up in the book. They're pretty old-my grandmother read them when SHE was in nursing school-so you can't get them at most libraries anymore. But I got some for Christmas and some for my birthday so now I am the proud owner of 7 Cherry books!! I would really recommend them! 

7. South Sea Adventures-Pamela Walls
This is also a series centered around a girl named Abby, whose parents move to Hawaii to help her uncle who is sick. Her friend Luke, stows away on board in a lifeboat and during a storm, the lifeboat's ropes come undone, leaving Abby and Luke alone on the ocean. Then they get mixed up with a crew of pirates, something about treasure-I won't spoil it ALL for you:) They are also really good Christian books. The first one is Abby: Lost at Sea

6. Stepping Heavenward-Elizabeth Prentiss
"How dreadfully old I am getting! Sixteen!" So begins 'Stepping Heavenward' by Elizabeth Prentiss, the journal-like account of a nineteenth century girl who learns, on the path to womanhood, that true happiness can be found in giving oneself for others. "This book is a treasure of both Godly and womanly wisdom told with disarming candor and humility, yet revealing a deep heart's desire to know God," says noted Christian speaker Elisabeth Elliot. "I do not hesitate to recommend it to men, who need to understand the wives they live with, and to any woman who wants to walk with God."
I haven't finished this yet, but it's really good! Elizabeth Prentiss was actually born here in Maine! This book is really good and the ladies at church are actually using it for Lady's Bible Study right now! It is a great book that follows Katherine, a sixteen year old girl, as she grows up and gets to know God more and more.

5. Anne of Green Gables-L.M. Montgomery
Oh my goodness-where to start with Anne? (with an E, mind you) She's lovable, imaginative, dramatic, makes the most hilarious mistakes, (the mouse in the pudding, for instance) and is just so fun! I haven't read the entire series yet but just the first book is so good!! "What is your name, child?" "Could you call me Cordelia?" or "Yours sincerely, Anne Shirley." I suppose you are Mr. Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables? I'm very glad to see you. I was beginning to be afraid you weren't coming for me and I was imagining all the things that might have happened to prevent you. I had made up my mind that if you didn't come for me to-night I'd go down the track to that big wild cherry-tree at the bend, and climb up into it to stay all night. I wouldn't be a bit afraid, and it would be lovely to sleep in a wild cherry-tree all white with bloom in the moonshine, don't you think? You could imagine you were dwelling in marble halls, couldn't you? And I was quite sure you come for me in the morning, if you didn't  to-night.

4. Little House on The Prairie-Laura Ingalls Wilder
Okay, do I really need to give a description? I think not. Who hasn't heard of Laura and Mary? *crickets chirping* Aha! See! So, I'll just say these are the best books and a classic. Read them again! And again and again and again!

3. The Hobbit-J.R.R. Tolkien
Again, need I say more? We are reading The Hobbit in school and though long, it is great! "May the hair on your toes never fall out!" It gets me every time. I can't wait to watch the movie! We're just at the part where they are hiding from Smaug. We'll see how that goes! J.R.R. Tolkien was a master mind. (photo by me)

2. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon-Grace Lin
This was the first book we read in school this year-it's so good! Kind of like a Chinese Wizard of Oz!:)
In the valley of Fruitless Mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.
This is really good-I love it! If you love mystical things, Chinese stories and stuff like that, you'll love this!

1. The American Girl series-various authors
American Girl is always there for me when I need something to read. Even though I've read them all, they're the kind of books you don't mind reading again. Felicity-Molly and Emily-Kaya-Josefina-Kit and Ruthie-Samantha-Julie and Ivy-Rebecca-Addy-Caroline-Marie Grace-Cecile.....love them!! I actually have Josefina and Caroline:)
And that's all I have peeps! (my mom uses that all the time, I love it!:) That only took me--two hours! Oh, and for an update, I have read 59 books in 2013 so far. Go ahead, say it. I am amazing.:)

Thanks for looking at my blog!

Emma

Monday, May 13, 2013

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Hello! Sorry about the lack of posting lately. Mom just fixed the computer so that I can do posts on it so here we go!! Today, I am going to be showing you my photos for Scavenger Hunt Sunday, hosted by Mrs. Ashley Sisk (ashleysisk.com) Here are my photos!


                                         1. PERSPECTIVE


 These are the little stairs that lead from the lawn to the lower driveway. Oh, and that's Owen in red at the top:)

                                                                 2. GOLDEN

 This is some forsythia down at our mailbox. It's really our neighbors but it just grows over on our side. I love it! It's so purty!!

                                                               3. BLOOM
Our lilac bush is in bloom! I can't wait to see them when they bloom completely!!

                                                                       4. DARK
I have absolutely NO idea how I got this. I just took a pic of the clouds, and I upload it and it did not look anything like I thought it would! I love how there's that rainbow around the edge!

                                                               5. LOCAL
Dandelions are definitely local--global, for that matter! Even if they are weeds, they do make for a pretty picture!

That's all I have for today, but I'll be back with the rest of the pics that I took!

Thanks for looking at my blog!

Emma


Monday, May 6, 2013

My Birthday!

Hello! Okay, I know I'm REALLY late with this, but my mom's laptop broke and there was a bunch of things that went wrong so I'm posting about my birthday late:( It was April 20th--I know, I know!! Sorry! Anyway, I took soooo many pictures, I'm doing them in three series---my party, what I got, and then my photo shoot with my doll Caroline that I had after wards. First up, is my party!! Enjoy! Oh, and the pictures are very small because when I enlarge them, they appear very fuzzy and grainy so that you can't really see it, so just click on them:)

When you give Poppy the camera, there is sure to be a funny picture
of everyone when you upload the photos---take new 6 year old Aaron,
for example

And here we have Anna, showing off her pouty lips


Me and Caroline!

My new sweater dress from Justice!
My presents! Love all the color!
Owen was upset because he didn't get to sing:)
The cake that Mom and I worked so hard on--
vanilla cake with chocolate mousse
and raspberries in the middle---yum!!




Nana and Poppy---oh Poppy!!


Of course, the only picture Poppy gets of
me blowing out the candles would be one
where I look like some kind of pig. Oh Poppy!
My pink fishing pole!!
  Well, that's all I have for today, but I'll be back tomorrow with what I got!



Thanks for looking at my blog!!

Emma