Lisa R. Howeler's Blog, page 53

A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong

I wrote about A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong last year but wanted to share this post again for this year since my daughter and I just watched it last week. It has become a Christmas tradition, along with the other Goes Wrong Show Christmas special.

Have you seen this one? If you have or haven’t, click through to read more about it.

This is part of the Comfy, Cozy Feature with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.

Read more about it and join up to the linky here:

‘Tis The Season Cinema: A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong

10 Christmas Gift Ideas for Teenage Boys

Teenage boys are not always easy to buy gifts for. I know because I have one and he sometimes shrugs when I ask what he wants for Christmas.

If he does tell me, it’s sometimes something way too out of our budget while also buying gifts for others.

Finding affordable gifts that a teenage boy might like and use can lead to an extensive search online and you don’t have time for that so I have done the search for you. Granted, I only have ten suggestions for you today, but there are other bloggers doing the same out there on the interwebs so don’t be afraid to search a couple places for these ideas.

(Some links in this article may be affiliate links. This does not affect the cost to you, but may provide commission for items purchased.)

1. Night Light Bluetooth Speaker, Bedside Lamp with White Noise Sound Machine, 16 Soothing Sound, Alarm Clock

This is something that I actually have added to my list for my teenager. I have not used it but it looks like a great idea.

|| Night Light Bluetooth Speaker, Bedside Lamp||

This is a combination lamp, Bluetooth speaker, white noise machine, and alarm clock.

My son sometimes goes through periods of insomnia and I think it would be great for him to have this white noise to drown out some noise and also the alarm clock to get himself moving in the morning, which he does fairly well on his own.

I don’t know if the idea of big blue light shining at night would be a great idea since it might keep some awake but I’m sure there is a way to turn it off.

2. Mini Drone with Camera,

Here is another fun idea. We did buy my son one like this one year for Christmas, but we never really got it to work well so I would love to look at this particular one for him.

|| Mini Drone With Camera ||

The D70 drone comes with a camera (720P HD FPV) and is foldable.  It has a headless mode, altitude hold, gesture selfie, and speed switch. It can fly 22 minutes with a control range of up to 130 feet.

Because it is foldable it is also easily portable.

3.  Flipslide Game – Electronic Handheld Game

The seller says this is an addictive multiplayer puzzle game of skill with four thrilling game modes. Is it? I don’t know but it does look fun.

Sure it isn’t a Play Station 5 but it might be something fun your teenager can take with them on a car ride to entertain themselves.

|| Flipside Game ||

4 . TOSY Flying Disc

Parents today often think their children need to get out and touch grass more and this is a great way to do it. Back in my day (yes, I am old enough to be able to say that now) we had frisbees and they were fun enough but these are frisbees that light up. That’s pretty cool if you ask me.

The TOSY flying disc has 15 Million Color RBG or 360 LEDS and several smart modes and is rechargeable. If nothing else, you won’t lose your teens if they go out in a dark field to play together.

||Tosy Flying Disc||

5. Medieval Crusader Sword with Scabbard.

|| Medieval Crusader Sword with Scabbard||

Yes. I am suggesting a sword for your teenage boy.

I know. But hear me out.

Many boys like the idea of owning a sword and this one is for collection only. It has a dull edge and is for cosplay (for all you old folks, that is along the lines of dressing up.

In other words, they can’t harm themselves or anyone else with this sword but it will look cool on their wall.

6. Stanley Ice Flow Stainless Steel Tumbler with Straw, Vacuum Insulated Water Bottle

This is another item I’d love and this could be purchased for a girl or a boy, or a man or a woman (or a mom named Lisa. Ahem.)
There are a variety of colors and from what I understand Stanley products keep beverages very cold for a very long time which means your teenager could have this next to them during a video game marathon. They also have tumblers for warm beverages.

|| Stanley Tumbler||

7. Funny Gaming Shirts

There are many options for funny gaming shirts online but here are three I found that I know my video game playing son would find funny. He did mention to me that you have to be careful that these aren’t designs that aren’t stolen from artists online so just be cautious.

|| I Went Outside Once || || My Perfect Day || I Paused My Game To Be Here||

8. Crave Box Snack Box

What teenager doesn’t love to have some snacks on hand any time of the day or night?

No, these aren’t the healthiest snacks but they would be nice for a once-in-awhile treat. There are 50 packages of a variety different snacks inside this kit.

|| Crave Snack Box ||

9. MACHLAB Men’s Pullover Winter Workout Fleece Hoodie Jackets Full Zip Wool Warm Thick Coats

This is not only a warm coat but looks like a stylish one to wear anywhere.

|| Hoodie ||

10. PRINCE OF SLEEP Fleece Robes for Boys

I don’t know about your kid but my teenage son likes to sleep and he also likes to hang out in his pajamas when he has time so this one is a great idea and it comes in several different colors.

|| Fleece Robe ||

Sunday Bookends: Thoughts on reading, didn’t see that deer coming, and Gladwynn’s second book coming out Tuesday

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with  Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer , Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at  The Book Date.

What I/we’ve been Reading

I don’t read as many books in a year as other people and this year I decided that was okay and I don’t care.

I sometimes do not finish books either and I decided this year I was also okay with that.

Every week or so my husband announces how many books he’s read so far in the year and I like hearing it. I like that he keeps track of it and that he reads over 80 books each year.

He was also a more avid reader than I was. I only started reading more books again in the last few years. I used to read all the time as a teenager, took a break in college and while working for newspapers and even while raising my son. Now I’m loving how reading has become an escape from the real world for me again.

For a while, I wanted to be like my husband and count all my books read and be able to announce the totals to him and the world.

There were several problems with this, though. One, I’m a slower reader. It isn’t that I read slow. It’s that I get interrupted a lot while reading a book so it takes me a while to finish one. People or pets aren’t always what interrupt me. Sometimes it is housework or homeschooling or my own writing or simply because I can’t seem to stay as focused as I used to.

I like that The Husband tells me his book count. It used to irritate me because I felt less than but now (okay in the last week) I let it go.

I don’t have to read a bunch of books in a year to be a reader. I don’t have to finish a book I started to be a reader because life it is too short to worry about competition in something like reading which is supposed to be relaxing and it is too short to keep reading a book you’re not enjoying.

There are also too many good books in the world to waste our time on a book that might be good but isn’t working for us personally.

I often think things like, “But this is a popular book. It’s on the NYT bestseller list. It must be good, right?”

Well, it may be that it is good for some and not for me and that’s okay.

I read a lot more than books during the year, as well – textbooks with the kids and blogs, articles, etc. So I do read a lot just not always full books. Again. That’s okay. If it is okay for me, it is okay for you.

If you’ve been holding on to all these imaginary ideas of what it means to be a reader and a book blogger or whatever – let them go.

We all have our own journey and path and just because we don’t inhale books like Galactus eats planets, we are still readers.

Anyhow…on to what I’ve been reading this week.

This week I have mainly been reading The Spectacular. Every other day I was reading a chapter from either Little Women or The Cat Who Talked Turkey (a cozy mystery). I dropped The Cat Who book last night because there was no mystery. It was driving me crazy. I was on chapter 4 and still nothing had happened other than Qwill looking for someone to narrate some presentation he was giving.

This book was one of the ones written later when people suspected Lilian Jackson Braun had gotten a bit too old to write and had a ghostwriter. It showed. I have a soft spot for the Cat Who books but I had to set aside for now because I have so many other books I want to tackle. Not every book in a series can be a winner.

I love reading Little Women a chapter at a time. I don’t mind dragging out the enjoyment of reading it because it gives me something to look forward to every night.

The Spectacular is fairly slow moving so far and I’m on Chapter 12. My husband insists that something is going to happen soon and I hope so because I’m a bit bored. I read a lot of boring books this year so in 2024 I am going back to Longmire and Anthony Horowitz to give myself some excitement. Those and some more Christian fiction because I know there are some good ones out there I haven’t read yet by authors like Nicole Deese.

I still haven’t finalized what I will read this winter but The Boy and I are reading The Tale of Two Cities for his English so I do know I’ll be reading that.

I also just ordered a Christmas regency-era book recommended to me by Erin at Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.

Little Miss and I just finished The Black Stallion. Talk about boring and wordy.

She just wanted to watch the movie but I insisted we finish the book. Then I ended up skimming two chapters and getting us to the end because good grief there was way too much explanation and rambling in that book. I mean how many times could the dude describe what it was like for Alec to ride the horse? And for three to four pages every time. Plus the dialogue which was repetitive.

We are listening to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson at night now. I read this book to her last year and I wouldn’t mind reading it again but one night I was too tired to read so we put the audiobook on and now she enjoys the narrator more than me (I think. She didn’t actually say it), so we are listening instead of me reading it.

The Husband is reading In The Blood by Jack Carr.

What’s Been Occurring

Last night The Husband, Little Miss, and I went to a Christmas parade about half an hour from us. We saw some of our friends and visited for a bit, The Husband took some photos for the newspaper and we headed home. On the way to the event and back we saw a ton of deer and had to put our brakes on more than once. About ten minutes after an eight-point buck that was blending in with the center line, turned and crossed in front of us, another deer came out of nowhere from the right and there was no missing it when it turned to go back in front of us. We slammed into it but I have no idea what happened to it, though I vaguely remember it darting off to the left.

It did some extensive damage to the front of our car, smashing in our left headlight and the body of the car in that same area, but allowing us to get home without any damage to us.

We were really very lucky considering I’ve heard stories of deer being hit that way and rolling up onto the hood and through the windshield.

We aren’t sure if our insurance will cover the accident since we adjusted our deductible to make our premiums less. We will find out more later this week but for now the car is parked in the garage. The deer left part of its fur under the edge of the hood.

All three of us were fairly shaken up and a bit in shock from it all so at first we didn’t think about how much the damage would cost us. I think we were all simply happy it wasn’t worse. There have been a lot of accidents in our area caused by deer lately and I’ve never seen as many as I have this year.

It is hunting season in our area right now so I don’t know if the deer are running wild because of that or not but driving is certainly nerve-wracking for now whatever the reason.

The Boy was at a friend’s house spending the night so I called to let him know about the incident. I also sent him some photos to which he replied, “She’ll be fine with some Flex Tape.”

Having the car out of commission is a bit sad for me as I finally had a car to drive that had heated seats and a stereo system I could patch my music into.

My husband gave me the car after he bought his truck, which we call Bambi Killer. Sadly, it has horrible gas mileage so we took the car to save on gas. Had we had the truck, there would have been very little damage to the vehicle but a lot to the deer.

What We watched/are Watching

This past week I watched Beyond Tomorrow, a fairly obscure Christmas movie from 1940. I wrote about it on the blog Thursday.

I also watched – or well, watched most of The Bells of St. Mary’s, which I hope to finish later today.

Little Miss and I watched A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, which has become an annual tradition for us now.

We also watched Elfat Little Miss’s request.

I’m sure there will be other Christmas movies and specials on our list this upcoming week.

I also plan to continue watching Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman this week. I am rewatching it after last seeing it some 20 years ago when I was in high school.

I started Men In Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham this past week as well. I enjoyed the first episode.

What I’m Writing

Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage comes out Tuesday in ebook on Amazon. Amazon messed something out with the paperback so it is out now.

I am working on Cassie and made a bit of progress on it this week.

On the blog this week I shared:

Saturday Afternoon Chat December 2: A hodgepodge of thoughts about my week and the week to come Six Historical Fiction Chapter Books for Children 8 to 12. Books you can read for fun or education Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Comfy Cozy Christmas Movie Review: Beyond Tomorrow What I love about December and Saying goodbye to November Comfy, Cozy Christmas Posts and invite for you to join in

Erin and I are also hosting a Comfy, Cozy Christmas feature where other bloggers can link up their Christmas/holiday-themed blog posts. You can find the link up here:

https://lisahoweler.com/comfy-cozy-christmas/

What I’m Listening to

I listened to a lot of Needtobreathe’s The Cave this week.

Photos from Last Week

I didn’t take a ton of photos last week. I hope to remedy that this week and get my camera out more.

Here are a couple from the parade we went to a display in the town.

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

Saturday Afternoon Chat December 2: A hodgepodge of thoughts about my week and the week to come

Dry skin. That’s what I’ve got right now.

Horrible dry skin from the dry air in our house.

Don’t worry – it just feels dry. I won’t describe how it looks because it doesn’t look bad. It just looks — pale and dry.

We don’t have a humidifier downstairs but I think we are going to have to get one because when I get dry skin it causes my entire body to feel inflamed with itchiness. It’s a horrible feeling and sometimes I have to practically bathe myself in lotion to get relief.

I have a soap I use from Cetaphil that is moisturizing and helps immensely.

I find it fairly cheap on Amazon and at Walmart (no, this is not a sponsored post. I promise.) but I’m sure you can find it in other places as well.

Cetaphil used to make an amazing lotion too, but they changed the ingredients earlier this year and I don’t think it works as well.

My mom keeps telling me to put lotion or coconut oil on right after a shower to help my skin absorb the moisture but I always forget and pay for it later.

What do you, dear readers, use to help your dry skin if you have it? My curious mind wants to know.

An uneventful week where we almost died . . .

This past week was a rather uneventful week.

The only day I had something to do was yesterday when I drove 30 minutes down and back to pick up our groceries. On our way there some driver decided he’d try to pass a truck and a car on a stretch of road right on a corner, where there were double lines, and in a spot on the highway near my parents where there have been a number of fatalities over the years. When I saw him in my lane I couldn’t believe it.

I laid on the horn and luckily, he yanked back into his lane but it was certainly a frightening experience.

I’m not sure what was so important that this person needed to risk everyone’s life but I have a feeling he needed a beer.

I’m kidding.

Sort of.

Tonight The Husband, Little Miss, and I are headed to a Christmas parade in a tiny town half an hour away. He has to attend the event for work and I decided Little Miss needs to get out of the house and see her friends because she’s so bored that she’s started asking The Husband and I to play Hide and Seek or Red Light, Green Light with her.

She’s really gotten desperate for entertainment apparently. We are not really the most fun and we are easily distractable.

A question for my readers . . .

This reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend recently. I said Little Miss wanted me to play dolls and stuffies with her and she said she was always impressed with how I played with my daughter because most parents she knows don’t do that.

I have a variety of ages reading my blog so my question to all of you is if you play(ed) with your children when they were young or if you did what my mom did which was essentially tell me to go find a way to entertain myself. She wasn’t rude at all. She just had work to do in the house and couldn’t sit and play all afternoon so she’d gently suggest I go draw or play with my dolls on my own if I asked.

I don’t even remember asking, actually. I was used to drawing or playing on my own a lot. I was sort of a lonely kid with only a handful of friends my entire childhood. In fact, I was a lot like Little Miss is now and only had two close friends (sisters) until junior high.

She also has two sisters as her friends.

Her other two friends moved to Texas in the summer but are returning for a visit around Christmas.

As a follow-up to the question of if you played with your children, did your parents play with you? I mean, I know most parents at least throw a ball with their kids or play some board games, but did you really sit down and play with the dolls and their stuffed animals?

I like to do that some with Little Miss because I think it helps to develop her imaginative play and I know how important play is to the development of a child. I can’t, however, do it all day like she wants me to.

Moving on . . .

Right now I am listening to Cozy Cafe Ambience – Relaxing Smooth Jazz Music with Rain & Thunder Sounds at Night on YouTube. I’m trying to drown out the noise of my house. We don’t have a lot of people in our house but it is very noisy.

Little Miss seems to think she has to have the TV on at all times, even while talking to her friends on a chat app while they play online games.

She’s not watching anything bad – it’s often a show on YouTube about reptiles that she likes. I don’t allow her to have YouTube on her phone anymore because she was watching all those Shorts and they were kicking out some very inappropriate stuff at her.

Even though the shows she watches aren’t bad, it’s constant noise.

I find it hard to focus on what I am writing with the constant chatter and interruptions. (How many times should a dog need to go out in an hour? Asking for a “friend.”) Sometimes I’m amazed I get any books or blog posts written but I do so by making myself get up early, before all the chatter starts, and also by going into the kitchen and sitting at the kitchen table where I’m a little bit more removed from the noise.

Oh and sometimes I just tell Little Miss to turn it all off! That helps too.

Today I goofed off this morning when Little Miss and others were sleeping so that’s my own fault for having to deal with the noise and activity.

We are having a slightly warmer day with rain forecasted for later on.

Then we will be dropping back into the 30s tomorrow. I know I was wishing for the cooler weather so I could cozy up under a blanket with a good book but on days like this when it isn’t exactly cold enough to light the fire but we don’t really want to turn the heat up too much and use up our heating oil, I find I don’t enjoy cuddling under a blanket as much as I hoped I would.

We do tend to romanticize the whole idea of a warm blanket, a cup of tea, and a good book, don’t we? We never factor in our cold nose or fingers, the cat that wants to warm up with us so she lays on our chest (right under our chin), or the way the tea gets really cold in the chilly air so we have to keep getting up to warm it up.

Or at least I don’t always think of all those negatives.

But, I think I’ll still continue to romanticize my life a little. Finding those little moments of magic are important, even if they aren’t as perfect as we had imagined. Plus, I have the option to turn the heat up, I have a roof over my head and a nice house, my family around me to make me laugh and smile (even if I sometimes have to tell them to be quiet so I can think.), I have food in my cupboards and fridge, and I have the luxury of being able to choose when I want to read or right – most of the time.

I’m very lucky and even though I grumble a bit from time to time (usually in jest, not a real grumble) I recognize that and I am grateful for it all.

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”

— G.K. Chesterton

How was your week?

Did you do anything holiday-related yet?

Read anything good or have a fun experience?

Let me know in the comments.

Six Historical Fiction Chapter Books for Children 8 to 12. Books you can read for fun or education

As we all know, history is something important for children to know because, as the saying goes, we are doomed to repeat it if we don’t learn about the negatives of our past. History doesn’t only remind us of negative events, of course, though. We can also learn about how our ancestors lived and about the good things that happened in the past.

As a homeschooling mom, I am grateful to be able to expose my children to a variety of historical fiction that ties in with the historical events we are discussing in our lessons.

My youngest prefers hearing a story versus a list of facts. She learns about history better this way. We have been either introduced to or have found on our own, a selection of fiction books that have enriched our historical knowledge.

What I love about historical fiction is that while the book educates, it also entertains.

Here are six of my family’s favorite historical fiction books for children ages 8 to 12.

(Some links in this article may be affiliate links. This does not affect the cost to you, but may provide commission for items purchased.)

Freedom Crossing by Margaret Goff Clark

|| Freedom Crossing ||

This story about a brother and sister who hide a slave in the mid-1800s is a nail-biter with a great message but also realistic portrayals of life for black people in the United States when slavery was legal. My daughter and I read it when she was 7, going on 8, and enjoyed it very much, even though it presented us with a difficult topic to discuss. We became wrapped up in the story of Martin, a young male slave, and Laura and her brother who work to help him escape to Canada.

Laura is not completely on board with this mission in the beginning and struggles with overcoming her preconceived ideas about slavery, which makes the story even more realistic and believable.

Description:

Laura Eastman returns to New York after living in the South with relatives for four years to discover that her brother and father are part of the Underground Railroad, helping fugitive slaves to escape to Canada. When a friend brings a runaway slave, Martin, to the house while her father and stepmother are away, Laura must decide what she believes — and whether she should help Martin escape.

2. Children of The Long House by Joseph Bruchac

|| Children of the Longhouse ||

This book is my 9-year-old daughter’s favorite book, besides Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman and the Paddington books. It is a book that tells the story of the Native Americans of our country and kicked off a fascination of Native Americans for my daughter. She now has asked that we read and learn about Native Americans every Friday for our lessons.

The book tells the story of Ohkwa’ri and his sister Otsi:stia. Ohkwa’ri overhears the plans of some boys in the tribe who plan to attack another tribe and tells on them. This makes the boys angry at him and they threaten to hurt him. Between their threats and his being ready to grow into a man, Ohkwa’ri struggles with his emotions while his sister worries about him. Woven into the story is the lead-up to a showdown with the boys and Ohkwa’ri through the game  Tekwaarathon (lacrosse).

My daughter was 8 when I read this to her and when we were done she asked me to read it to her again.

I can see this as a book she will read on her own as she grows up as well.

Description:  When Ohkwa’ri overhears a group of older boys planning a raid on a neighboring village, he immediately tells his Mohawk elders. He has done the right thing—but he has also made enemies. Grabber and his friends will do anything they can to hurt him, especially during the village-wide game of Tekwaarathon (lacrosse). Ohkwa’ri believes in the path of peace, but can peaceful ways work against Grabber’s wrath?

We have several other books by this author on our book wish list.

3. The Year of Miss Agnes

|| The Year of Miss Agnes ||

This book was very charming and also very informative about Native Americans from Alaska.

It is the story of children from the point of view of Frederika (Fred for short), a Native American girl living in a fishing village in remote Alaska. Miss Agnes comes to their small school to teach, but the children think she’ll leave because all their teachers do – the smell of fish and living in the middle of nowhere gets to them too much.

This book had me laughing and a few chapters later I was crying from a touching scene. It was a gentle roller coaster of emotions and at the end, I had such a peaceful and warm feeling.

Description:

A year they’ll never forget
Ten-year-old Frederika (Fred for short) doesn’t have much faith that the new teacher in town will last very long. After all, they never do. Most teachers who come to their one-room schoolhouse in remote, Alaska leave at the first smell of fish, claiming that life there is just too hard.
But Miss Agnes is different — she doesn’t get frustrated with her students, and she throws away old textbooks and reads Robin Hood instead! For the first time, Fred and her classmates begin to enjoy their lessons and learn to read and write — but will Miss Agnes be like all the rest and leave as quickly as she came?

4. Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady

|| Toliver’s Secret ||

Like The Year of Mrs. Agnes, this book features a girl main character who is brave, strong and overcomes her fear to help not only her family but our country.

This one was an action-packed one and we both looked forward to when it was time to read another chapter of it. This one takes place before the Revolutionary War so it is perfect when you want to teach your child about the start of our nation.

Description:

When her grandfather is injured, 10-year-old Ellen Toliver replaces him on a top-secret patriotic mission. Disguised as a boy, she manages to smuggle a message to General George Washington.

5. Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

|| Farmer Boy ||

This book is part of the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder but it does not focus on Laura and her family’s life. Instead, it is a book completely about Laura’s husband, Almonzo, and his childhood.

This book is rich in description of life in New York State in the mid to late 1800s. It is not about a pioneering family, like Laura’s other books are. This book is about Almonzo and his siblings growing up on a farm

Description:

While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the Western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Here Almanzo and his brother and sisters help with the summer planting and fall harvest. In winter there is wood to be chopped and great slabs of ice to be cut from the river and stored. Time for fun comes when the jolly tin peddler visits or, best of all, when the fair comes to town.

This is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved story of how her husband, Almanzo, grew up as a farmer boy far from the little house where Laura lived.

6. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr

|| When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit||

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I have not read it with my daughter yet because she is extremely sensitive and I don’t really want to have to tell her about what happened during the Holocaust until she is a little bit older. The book is aimed at 5th grade and older so this one is a little bit out of the lower end of the age range of for this post.

It is very historically based since it is based on the true story of the author’s family and a great leap-off point to discuss the situations surrounding World War II.

Description:

Anna is not sure who Hitler is, but she sees his face on posters all over Berlin. Then one morning, Anna and her brother awake to find her father gone! Her mother explains that their father has had to leave and soon they will secretly join him. Anna just doesn’t understand. Why do their parents keep insisting that Germany is no longer safe for Jews like them?

Because of Hitler, Anna must leave everything behind as her family embarks on a journey that extends over several years and over the borders of many countries.

Have you read any of these books to or with your children?

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot

Welcome to another Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot hosted by Marsha in the Middle, Melynda from Scratch Made Food For Hungry People and me.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving last week. We are back in session this week for our Weekend Traffic Jam. We are still looking for an extra host so let Marsha know if you are interested.

This is a post where you can link up any post about any topic as long as it is family-friendly. You can even dig into your archives to share.

The most clicked post for the week before last was:

My favorite posts include:

Getting Started Homeschooling by My Slices of Life.

I enjoyed this post because I am a homeschooling mom myself and I know how hard it can be to get started. Parents need all the advice they can get.

This post from Is This Mutton was perfectly true. There really aren’t any good “belly laugh” shows out there anymore and while she didn’t think it had all to do with political correctness (maybe some), I think that is the biggest reason no one can laugh anymore. They’re always afraid of who they will offend. Of course, everyone is also offended anymore. Like everyone.

I remembered a lot of the shows she remembers (Father Ted, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Keeping Up Appearances – all shows I have watched over the years and enjoyed).

That is my intro post for today. I hope you’ll share a link with everyone at the link up below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enterhttps://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

Comfy Cozy Christmas Movie Review: Beyond Tomorrow

This post is part of Comfy, Cozy Christmas, a feature that Erin with Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs suggested. You can find a link-up page at the top of the page and can link up your own holiday-related posts.

This week as I get ready for the Christmas season, I decided to look for Christmas movies from the 1930s and 1940s I’d never seen before. I scanned the list that came up after I typed “1930’s and 1940s Christmas movies” in the search bar and found one I hadn’t heard of, Beyond Tomorrow. It was also apparently called Beyond Christmas at one time.

I also found an article that listed several “forgotten Christmas movies” from that era and I plan to watch a couple more over the next three weeks.

Beyond Tomorrow was released in 1940. It was a bit quirky in some ways, but also very sweet. I’ll try not to summarize too much or give away too many spoilers so don’t fret if you haven’t seen it. I won’t tell you everything.

The movie starts with the story of three old men (Michael O’Brien, George Melton, and Allan Chadwick) who are living in the same house and looking back on their lives with some sadness and regret. They want to help others to make up for some of their regrets and we learn that they have given away wallets with money in them for Christmas.

We aren’t sure what war these men served in together – maybe World War I.

Whatever they did in the military holds both good and bad memories for them.

It’s never really explained why they living in a house with a woman who is called Madam Tanya who is clearly Russian and escaped her country during some war. A butler who escaped with her is also living there.

We learn about their lives a bit toward the beginning of the movie when she gives him an award that would have been an honor in their old country.  

“Joseph, when I had jewels and land and purses, I was often greedy and discontent,” Madam Tanya says after she gives him the award. “When everything was taken away, except my life, I learned that the way to be really happy is to serve others, to be needed, so don’t be sorry for me or for what was lost.”

The household is a buzz as we begin the movie because it is Christmas Eve and some special visitors are coming for dinner. They are a couple who have traveled the world extensively and two of the men are excited but George, a rather morose fellow, is not happy because he isn’t happy about a lot it seems. In fact, when the movie opens he mumbles something about Christmas being a silly holiday and lifts up a piece of paper and says, “What the Dickens is this?”

When the couple eventually cancels later on, George blames himself and says it is because of some scandal he was involved in in his past.

It’s never really elaborated on what that was but the other men say they are sure it has nothing to do with that. Michael then suggests they take some of the extra wallets they handed out for charity, slide their cards inside with $10, and toss the wallets out the window onto the street and see if three honest people will pick them up and come back to the house to return them.

Whoever returns the wallets with the money in them will be invited to the dinner that is already ready for them.

George doesn’t think anyone will show up but eventually two people do.

First, we have James Houston (who I swear said John Houston when he was first introduced), a cowboy from Texas. He came to New York City for a rodeo and ended up staying around but will be heading back to Texas again soon.

Next, we have Jean Lawerence and when James Houston sees her he smiles and is clearly enchanted. Love at first sight.

The young couple agrees to stay for dinner and after dinner, James amazes everyone with his singing voice, especially Jean. As soon as he sings with that caroling group that stops by she has eyes only for him.

“I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair,” John sings right to Jean and she is mesmerized

Michael O’Brien is as well and gets very teary in one of the sweetest breakaways I’ve seen in a movie. He sincerely looked touched.

During a scene where everyone sings Jingle Bells, we see the diversity in the house from the Russian countess and butler, a German or Swedish maid and an Italian chef.

Before the couple parts ways, Jean invites the men and countess to come to the children’s hospital the next night to sing carols. Jean is a Kindergarten teacher and teaches and entertains the children while they recover.

Jean and Jim arrive early the next night and connect as they meet a horse belonging to one of the New York City officers.

Events develop from there, is all I’ll say, but tragedy strikes, which is something any description of the movie shares, so it is not a spoiler.

After the tragedy the movie becomes a bit of a supernatural movie with ghosts and dark clouds and voices from beyond the grave, but for very good reasons.

The movie was considered a “B-movie” at the time so it did not feature any big-name actors.

Veteran actors Harry Carey (real name), Charles Winniger, and C. Aubrey Smith starred in the movie, which was directed by A. Edward Sutherland.

All three men looked vaguely familiar to me. An article on the TCM site explained why each man might look familiar to some.

Wittinger, playing an Irishman, looked especially familiar to me.

According to TCM, “Charles Winninger’s cherubic face graced many a picture in his long career from 1915 to 1960, including Nothing Sacred (1937), Destry Rides Again (1939), and State Fair (1945). His best-known role, which he created on Broadway before playing in the first film version, was as Cap’n Andy in Show Boat (1936).”

Carey was originally a silent film star and would star in a John Ford film, Three Godfathers, in 1948.

Smith was a very well-known character actor. Films he would be known for include:

From the TCM article:  “Already over 50 when he began his film career in 1915, his amazing longevity and ability to convey his specific type of stock character in a wide range of stories carried him through more than 100 pictures up to his last, at the age of 85, Little Women (1949). When he wasn’t busy standing up for the Empire in such films as Clive of India (1935) and The Four Feathers (1939), he could be seen supporting the likes of Katharine Hepburn in Morning Glory (1933), Jean Harlow in Bombshell (1933) and China Seas (1935), and Irene Dunne in the war melodrama The White Cliffs of Dover (1944), his upper lip stiff for another dark time in English history.”

The movie was not well received by critics in its time, but I found the movie heartwarming with many sweet and memorable moments and quotes.

I watched the movie for free on Tubi, but it is also free on YouTube and Plex and available for rent on many other streaming services.

Here are some of the other movies that are considered “lesser known” which I plan to pick one or two from to watch.

https://discover.hubpages.com/entertainment/lesser-known-classic-christmas-movies-from-the-1940s

Full movie:

What I love about December and Saying goodbye to November

I truly do not know how November went by so fast.

I know that many of us say that about every month but November really did fly by for me.

We had some activities, but for the most part it was a relaxing month.

We celebrated two birthdays, an anniversary and, of course, Thanksgiving.

We took a field trip at the beginning of the month to a reptile zoo, which Little Miss was thrilled about.

The Boy and I enjoyed it too, but she was just in heaven. I’m sure we will visit there again in the spring or summer.

We did schoolwork and while there were some of it we didn’t enjoy, we are learning a lot of new things from a variety of sources this school year, so that has offered us some more chances for fun than other years.

I am moving a little away from a strict curriculum for some subjects and focusing on reading books on the topics or doing more hands-on activities instead of paperwork.

That seems to be a lot more relaxing for both the kids and for me.

The Boy still has to do some paperwork, but Little Miss is doing a mix of paperwork with reading various non-fiction and fiction books and exploring more of the things she is interested in.

I plan for us to do some lessons on cooking in December and January for both Little Miss and The Boy.

Even with our oven broken, there are many other ways to cook and that would be something to teach the kids in case they ever move into a place that doesn’t have an oven.

My goal this year for homeschooling is to focus on life skills and things that they will need to know how to do in life in addition to academics.

I still feel like I am not doing enough with actual curriculum, but teaching with less strict curriculum and more freedom in how we learn seems to be benefiting the children’s desire to learn and their overall feeling about school in general.

We still continue to use the curriculum, of course. We are just not as strict on using it every day. Some days we allow reading, art, music, and exploring to be our educational guide instead.

In a couple more days we will be moving into December and I love December more than I used to.

I once dreaded December because I knew cold weather came with it. It officially kicks off a winter that usually lasts a couple of months here in Pennsylvania and sometimes even more.

But now I know that December is when we can make excuses to watch cozy movies, read books full of Christmas happiness, and tell people who want to know if I want to go out in the cold for some sort of cold activity that I have family commitments for the holidays when I really don’t and just want to stay in and drink cocoa and watch movies instead of attending whatever function they want me to.

I’m joking about that last part, of course. I don’t really lie to people. I’m middle-aged. I just tell them like it is: “I don’t want to go out in the cold because I’m old now and I don’t have to do things that I don’t want to. So there.”

Our house is already decorated for Christmas. The Husband (my silly “pet name” for my husband here on the blog only) decorates every year the day after Thanksgiving. I would probably wait until December to decorate otherwise, but it’s nice to start the happy movies and books early.

We only decorate inside because our neighbors go all out for Christmas. Everyone in town (of like 600) loves seeing their lights, but the people driving on the highway down the hill from our street also love it because you can see them from there. They aren’t at the level of one of my husband’s co-workers who has a huge display every year. It’s one of those displays where people almost have accidents looking at it and it’s on a busy street too.

I’ll have some more photographs of their display later on this month, I’m sure, but here are a couple photos I took last year for now:

The weekend after this upcoming weekend there is a holiday event and book sale at the local library which I am looking forward to. I have a couple classics I hope to find there. There is also a light display at the local fairgrounds either that weekend or the next that we plan to visit.

So, while December was once not as fun of a month for me (until we got to Christmas), I now like several things about it, including:

Colder weather that allows us to snuggle up under covers with a cup of cocoa or tea.Christmas movies and booksMy neighbor’s decorationsChristmas celebration and family timeChristmas events (like book sales!)Snow on our naked trees to make them look less depressing with no leavesFun things to cook or bake

What are you looking forward to in December? Let me know in the comments.

Comfy, Cozy Christmas Posts and invite for you to join in

Christmas creates such a warm, cozy, and relaxing feeling in me and I look forward to carving out time well before it every year just to immerse myself in those feelings.

Last year I watched movies, read books, and participated in a few Christmas-related activities in our community and made an effort to truly soak in the season. I withdrew from social media, choosing to read a book or watch a Christmas-themed YouTube video, show, or movie during that time. It was one of the most peaceful stretches of time because I made a concentrated effort to focus on joy.

It was a restorative month that came right before a period of a month of stress when my mom went into the hospital to have her gallbladder removed.

I am striving for that restorative month again and hopefully this time I won’t be met with stress on the other side.

As part of this month of comfy and coziness, I will be blogging about movies I watch, books I read, or Christmas activities I participate in. I plan to blog some about Christmas memories as well.

Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs is the one who came up with the idea to join up and blog about our Christmas-themed experiences this year. She then suggested we open a page on each of our blogs where everyone who wants to participate by writing their own Christmas-related post can link up and we can meet new bloggers and continue the cozy feelings. I loved both ideas and am so excited to participate! It will be a much-needed distraction from life!

We also both decided that the event would be open to people who celebrate other holidays this time of year, not only Christmas. Erin and I are fans of alliteration, however, so we stuck with the name Comfy, Cozy Christmas for the feature.

We do ask that only posts about the holiday season be added to the link.

You can find the link to the page for this fun feature at the top of the page or HERE.
That page is where you can add your links.

I hope to see some of your Christmas posts listed there!

Sunday Bookends: Winter temps have set in, The Spectacular, getting ready for Christmas movies

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with  Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer  and Kathyrn at  The Book Date.

What I/we’ve been Reading

This week I am continuing to read chapters before bed of Little Women. It’s such a cozy read.

I’m also reading The Spectacular by Fiona Davis. It is a mystery.

A description in case you are curious:

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Magnolia Palace: A thrilling story about love, sacrifice, and the pursuit of dreams, set amidst the glamour and glitz of Radio City Music Hall in its mid-century heyday.

New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy. Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweep her off to the life everyone has always expected they’d have together: a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children. But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped. So when she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes—the glamorous precision-dancing troupe—she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer. 

Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the “Big Apple Bomber,” who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling. 

As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she’s been training herself to blend in—performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes—if she hopes to catch the bomber, she’ll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she’s worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.

The Boy and I will be starting A Tale of Two Cities this week and I really hope I can make it through the old language because sometimes I am confused by it. Just being honest. I enjoy classic literature but sometimes the metaphors and allegory, etc. totally throw me off and I have to re-read a sentence more than once. I wouldn’t consider myself stupid (some might) but I don’t read classics all the time so it doesn’t come as easily for me as some. 

The Husband finished an ARC of the next Joe Picket book and recently started another Fiona Davis book.

Little Miss and I will probably finish The Black Stallion this week and I’m not yet sure what we will read next. We are reading a book about a Native American girl for school but I can’t find it and forgot the name of it.

What’s Been Occurring

Cold temperatures are becoming the norm now as we move into winter, which means lighting or keeping the fire going in the woodstove is also becoming the norm. It also means that hot cocoa and hot tea are the norm.

I am very lucky that I have a husband who makes amazing tea for me with just the right amount of honey and a daughter who makes me the most amazing hot cocoa with just the right amount of maple syrup.

Those have been my treats to warm me up this week.

Last week was a relaxed week with the Thanksgiving holiday.

Monday we will be back doing schoolwork and back to Kid’s Club at the church and gymnastics for Little Miss. The Boy has an extra day off trade school, but goes back on Tuesday.

Photos from Last Week

Here are a few photos from our Thanksgiving.

What We watched/are Watching

I started watching Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman last week. It’s been fun to go back because I don’t remember most of the episodes or what happened, even though I watched them during junior high and high school.

We also watched some episodes of Doctor Who this week and the 60th anniversary special, which I don’t want to talk about. Ever. I’m not kidding.

I’ll stick with the old episodes.

Little Miss and I watched the first Paddington movie since we have been reading Paddington books off and on during the week.

This week I’ll be watching a couple of Christmas-themed movies or shows as Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs get read for Cozy Christmas, which you can find out more about in her post here:

https://crackercrumblife.com/2023/11/24/comfy-cozy-christmas/

I’ll be posting my own separate post about this later this week as well.

What I’m Writing

I’m working on Cassie this weekend and will be this upcoming week after finishing preparations to release Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage next Tuesday.

On the blog this week I shared:

Black Friday Book Sale and a Chance to Win Some Books Wednesday Afternoon Tea and Chat Eight cozy gifts for the reader in your life

What I’m Listening To

This week I listened to Needtobreathe’s new album The Cave.

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.