Children's book: To Mimi's House We Go

About the book:

Join bestselling author Susan Meissner and other "Mimis" in this Christmas-season poem inspired by the traditional holiday traveling song "Over the River and Through the Woods." Modern families find their way to grandmother's house using a variety of vehicles to celebrate with Mimis, Omas, Gigis, and Nanas.

This sweet Christmas story

• is for boys and girls 4 to 8 years old and grandmothers of all names and types;
• explores the different modern modes of transport used to take Christmas journeys;
• features rhyming text resembling traditional carols and folksongs; and
• celebrates the unique ways families celebrate Christmas while showing the common threads of food, family, and love in them all.

To Mimi's House We Go combines the magic of Christmastime with sweet memories of time with Grandma in an adventurous romp through country and city, from coast to coast.

My thoughts:

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, but I do like Christmas books during the holidays. I think this is a great book to read with your child or grandchild and add to your holiday library.

This is a rhyming book sharing many different places that Mimi's live and the various ways we can get to Mimi's house.  Some of these include "down dusty roads," "down the steps and to the subway,"or "step aboard the motorboat" to her deck.  

I'd also like to point out there is a list of other grandmother names as part of the book.  

The illustrations are beautiful and children will enjoy looking at the various scenes.  

The teacher in me saw many opportunities for learning with this book....transportation, family, homes, and travel to name a few.  

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

Have a day of blessings! Bethany

Our Family Vacation....Part 3!

As I checked my emails Tuesday night I had one from Tuesday morning that said it was the confirmation for our White House tour at 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning.  I was not expecting that!  We had applied for a White House tour in April and the information said we'd hear back 2-3 weeks prior to our trip if we were approved for it. (That's how I understood it!)  We started looking at the information about visiting the White House and there was a lot of rules and regulations.  I asked if my husband and Caleb wanted to go, and Titus and I could just stay at the hotel.  (I wasn't sure how we would do it without his stroller or any bags and such because there isn't a place to store that stuff and you can't take it inside with you.)  They both wanted to see it and this worked out great!  Titus and I slept in and that was just what I needed.  We had a late breakfast, and then the boys came back.  They had a great time at the White House and enjoyed their tour! 

After they got back we went to do our tour at Arlington Cemetery.  I'm so glad we got to go back.  It was very beautiful and moving. 

We watched the changing of the guard ceremony again and saw the gravesites of President Kennedy and family.

We went for a late lunch at the USDA Headquarters building.  It is a huge building! 

Then we went to the Air and Space Museum.  There was lots of fun things to see in here.

Thursday morning we had tickets for a Washington by Water monuments river cruise.  We took our first Uber ride to go there to Alexandria to get on the boat.  It took us to Georgetown and we had lunch there before riding back. 

We stopped for (expensive) ice cream on the way back. 

That night we had supper and got some souvenirs. 

We headed to the airport with the hotel shuttle.  It was supposed to leave at 11:55, but there was a delay. It was a maintenance issue they were fixing.  Then they had to get a new crew. I don't know what time it was when we finally left but it was near 6 when we got back to Texas.

We walked outside and knew we were back in Texas with the suffocating heat!  It was 109 when we got back I think.

We stopped for delicious supper at El Fenix (with the sweetest waitress) before driving home.  It was nearly midnight when we got home. 

We had a travel agent who helped us plan this trip.  She did a fabulous job and I would recommend her if you need help planning any trip.  Please send me a message if you would like her contact information. 

Our hotel in DC was the Hampton Inn and Suites.  It was very nice and not too far from a metro station.  The only negative was that the swimming pool was under renovation so we didn't get to use that and I know the boys would have enjoyed that in the evenings.

We used the Metro a lot when we were there.  My husband figured it out pretty quickly as he had been there before. 

We are glad to be home and really enjoyed all we got to see and do on our vacation.  It was a special trip we've dreamed about for a long time and fun to get to actually do it!

Have a day of blessings! 
   Bethany

Our Family Vacation....Part 2!

Monday morning (July 16) we got up and headed to take back our rental car in DC.  It was a long stressful day.  We barely made it back to return the car in time.  We were supposed to go to tour Arlington Cemetery but we got lost to get over there so we didn't have enough time.  The man told us to come back another day to do the tour.  We walked to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Funny story:  As we were walking over, Titus said,  "I need to go tee tee."  He started to pull down his pants, and we said noooooo.  He said, "I can here on this grass!"  Daddy picked him up, and they walked quickly to find a restroom!

If you have not visited Arlington National Cemetery, I recommend that you do.

I knew Tuesday was going to be a full day.  It was our day to see the monuments and museums.  We walked A LOT this day.  And it was HOT.

We saw the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Washington Monument, and World War II Memorial.

We stopped at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and had lunch there.

It was raining slightly after this as we were walking to the National Museum of Natural History.

I really would have liked to spend more time here.  But we had an appointment to tour the Capitol at 2:15 so we had to get on our way.  It was raining still and I was SO thankful when a $1 trolley came by called the Circulator and took us part of the way to the Capitol.  Then we still had quite a ways to walk when it dropped us off.

The tour was nice, and we all enjoyed it.  Titus fell asleep during the tour.  It started raining when we were in there.  They suggested we use a tunnel to go to the Library of Congress.  We were going to do that, but the tunnel was flooding!  So we didn't get to do that.  It was pouring, coming down in sheets, so we had to wait around a little while for the rain to slow down.

After this we got some supper and went back to our room. I took a bath and that helped me feel so much better.

Continued tomorrow for Part 3!

Have a day of blessings! 
   Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Brrrrr! We have had quite the variation in our weather this week.  It was so nice and spring like with temperatures in the 70s or maybe low 80s earlier this week.  After I got out of Bible study on Tuesday it was so warm.  Then we went to the library.  When we came out I told Titus we need to hurry and get to the van because it looks like it is about to rain.  We got in the van and started to go to lunch before it started POURING.  It was a very hard, long rain.  We met my husband for lunch and he helped us get inside.  He carried Titus under his umbrella, and I used another umbrella.  We were both thankful for umbrellas!  The rain let up for a bit and we started home and the streets were flooded badly.  At one place I had to turn around and go a different route.  It was also much colder by this time as well. 

Wednesday morning we had freezing rain.  School was delayed two hours and then ended up cancelled for the day.  It was cancelled again today.  Now I can hear the ice melting off of our roof. 

The boys have had fun playing in it and we have had a good time mostly relaxing at home.  I got some things done too.

This week I am thankful for...
~ my husband being home for part of the time during the ice days. He made it to town for his dentist appointment but then his work office was closed so he came home.  He helped with some chores, cleared off the sidewalk, made supper, etc. 

~ my big boy being at home for two days this week.  I am also thankful he was okay after he broke out in a terrible case of hives Sunday night.  I ended up taking him to the doctor on Monday to see if it was a reaction to his antibiotic.  He had to switch to a different med (which I am also thankful that he was able to swallow those pills).  The doctor thought it was a reaction.

~ hearing my little boy pray for us, for his brother, for things he is thankful for. It is so sweet to hear.

~ visiting with one of my cousins.  We had not seen each other in 5 years.  He went over to my Mom's with two of his daughters.  It was nice to visit.  I am thankful for the things God has done in his life as well and the changed life that he now is.  He gives God all the credit.

~ rest, being home, heaters, fire place, and umbrellas!

~ time to work on my Shutterfly book and getting a ticket for a free book. 

Have a day of blessings! 

   Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday!  We are enjoying the fall weather we have had lately and the fun weekend we had of fall activities.

Today I am thankful for...
~ my husband's paperwork being approved regarding his accident he had while driving. (He got rear ended.)  He is STILL in pain and some days it's worse than others.  He is going to be able to get treatment now because paperwork was approved.

~ hearing my big boy tell about the things they learned in youth class.  It is great to hear his excitement and how he is relating it to his personal life. Such a blessing and answer to prayer!

~ fun doing lessons with my little guy. We both have fun.  We have been doing the letter P this week.  We made a P with pennies and did a letter match on a pizza print out I'd found online. I bought pumpkin candies to make a P with also but we haven't done that  yet.  He cut out a pink pig...he loves to cut and is getting so good at it.  (It seems there are so many words that start with P.....I told him our whole weekend was filled with P things as highlighted below.)  :)

~ learning more about the youth ministry at our new church.  We had lunch with the youth minister and he shared about their camps and opportunities.  We left feeling like we are at the right place for our family.

~ the fun weekend we had together.  Saturday morning we went to the going to the local parade.  Titus liked the band!  Then we went to the pumpkin patch and took pictures. 

~ going to the fall church picnic at the park.  The boys had fun playing, and it was a nice evening.


Have a day of blessings!   
Bethany

Crossflix + GIVEAWAY

I was recently introduced to Crossflix.  I had never heard of this subscription service. Have you?
Let me share a little about it.

Product Description:
Crossflix delivers the best in Faith Oriented Entertainment, Education and Inspiration by licensing and producing the best faith Content see New Featured Movies every week like "Like a Country Song" Starring Billy Ray Circus,  Revive Us with Kirk Cameron, Gallows Road starring Kevin Sorbo and Ernie Hudson, Savannah Starring Jim Caviezel and Chiwetel Ejiofor, plus hundreds of award winning documentaries, Kids animation and the Crossflix Living Bible Series consisting of 50 Half hour Episodes.

My thoughts:
I was surprised by the variety of shows offered.  There is pretty much something for everyone in the family.  There are movies and also shorter cartoons for younger ones.  Some are about familiar Bible stories.  They have categories for drama, comedy, family, Christmas, children's, sermons, and others. I like that these programs are something we can watch as a family without worrying about content.  You should check out Crossflix.  Keep reading to find out about a giveaway!  


GIVEAWAY:
Go to this link to enter a giveaway to win a subscription to this great service!!  Click here.  Ends soon so enter today!

I was provided a trial version of Crossflix for my review from the Frontgate review program.  Thank you.

Have a day of blessings!
   Bethany

Thankful Thursday

I hope your week has been blessed.  Ours has been filled with blessings since the last post I did! Thank you God!

Today I am thankful for...

~ the way my husband listens to me when I talk and tell him my heart.  He always does a good job of hearing me and knowing what I need.

~ my big boy choosing a book for me from the table of giveaways from his school library.  After school he told me they were getting rid of some old books and he got one he thought I would like.  It was one about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I loved that he thought of me and got it for me!

~ my little guy getting well!  He felt warm to me Saturday evening after his party and then in the night I could tell he had fever.  I stayed home from church and he just wanted to be held and kept saying Momma, Momma.  Poor little guy.  His fever got over 103.  We prayed for him and started diffusing essential oils and rubbed some on his feet.  We gave him some med and the fever did go down but then would go back up.  He ate fine but did not want to do anything except sleep and lay on me.  We had planned to take him to the doctor on Monday morning. But he woke up as normal as could be with no fever.  He has been fine ever since!

~ having a wonderful 2nd birthday party for our boy!  It was a fun day and most of the family got to attend. He had a fun time with his cousins and opening his gifts.  Here are the cakes my Mom made.  We thought they were amazing and tasted good too!

~ having a fun evening out at a fundraiser called Taste of Abilene.  We went last year and decided to go again.  It was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed the food!  Caleb saw the list of participating restaraunts and was disappointed Chick fil a wasn't going to be there.  He found plenty to eat and tried Firehouse Subs and loved their meatball sub!

~  reading books for fun. I finished up my last book I received to review so I've been reading library books for fun lately.  (Not that the review ones aren't fun!)  It's nice to be caught up with the reviews.

Have a day of blessings!
   Bethany

Family Vacation 2016 (Part 2)

Read about part 1 of our vacation in this post.

After we left the park, we drove a short distance over to Cherokee Trace Drive Thru Safari.   I had never head of this place but found it on Trip Advisor.  

We tried to arrive earlier in the day before it got too hot.  We started our drive a little past 11.  Some of the animals were under the trees, but they would come up to the car for food when we stopped.  

It was such a pretty day, and we all enjoyed it.  We could take our time and drive at our own pace to enjoy the animals.  The boys thought it was fun to feed the animals out of the windows.

We recommend you driving through too if you are in the east Texas area.  Visit their website for more information about pricing and hours of operation.    

Here are some of the animals we saw:  

This camel was chasing us!

You can tell what a beautiful day it was when we went.  I loved the big clouds is the sky as we drove through the park.

We had to stop to figure out how to get around these guys!  This big fellow would not move!  Look at those horns.  

Have a day of blessings!

Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Happy July!  I hope you had a nice Independence Day weekend.

This week I am thankful for...
~ going on a date with my husband last weekend.  We went out to eat and went to a couple stores.

~ having my boy back at home! He had fun when he stayed with my Mom but I sure missed him....It reminded me how much I miss him when he goes to school.

~ seeing the love my baby boy has for his brother.  It was just precious to see how excited he was to see his brother when we picked him up.  He kept hugging and patting him.  Caleb was equally excited to see him.

~ watching fireworks at the home of a friend from church on Sunday evening.  It was a beautiful night.  Titus ended up taking a late nap that day and enjoyed the fireworks too.  He liked playing with the other kids too before they started.

~ cousin day!  Caleb and Titus had a fun day with their cousins, and I enjoyed visiting with my sister in law. We went to the park for library story time, lunch, and then home to play.

~ purple tulips my husband brought me.

Have a day of blessings!
   Bethany

Family Vacation 2016 (Part 1)

I wanted to share a little bit about our vacation.  We were not sure when or where we were going until about a week prior to leaving.  Earlier this year we'd thought about going to Arkansas but didn't know if we wanted to drive that far so I didn't plan anything.

I had found one cabin for us that I thought would be great.  Then a couple days later I looked and I believe the prices went up over night. While it said prices may change without notice, I just did not like that so I did not want to go there.

Instead we went to Jellystone Park at Whispering Pines.  I'm so glad we made the decision to go here!
We drove down the beautiful tree lined road and came upon the entrance to the park.

Examples of some of the cabins

We got checked in at the Ranger Station and found our cabin.  It was situated among the trees and across the "street" from the pond.  In the picture below you can see the pond behind these other cabins.  

The resort property is so nice.  Everything was clean and comfortable.  The equipment was well-maintained.  I thought the staff was nice and friendly.  They seemed to enjoy being there and wanted to help.

They have all sorts of activities for guests....swimming pools, basketball, horseshoes, shuffleboard, volleyball, and a jumping pillow to name a few which are all free to use.  They have a mini golf area that was very new and very nice.  You do have to go "rent" the putters from the Ranger Station which is free but you have to buy the ball for $5. There is also a really cool playground with a neat wooden climbing structure.  They have a nice outdoor theater where they show movies at night.  They have a big fire pit surrounded with tree stumps to sit on where you can meet with Yogi to make s'mores. Besides these amenities, they offer some special activities for the kids including gem mining, tie dying, and ceramics.  

I thought this was a pretty picture with the light coming through the trees.  

We stayed here Sunday through Wednesday.  There was plenty to do and enjoy.  We would not have had to leave the park except we forgot a couple of cooking items!  It was not overly busy while we were there.  There were quite a few cabins full as well as RV spots and tents, but I did not feel like we were surrounded by people.  

We took food to cook on the grill outside our cabin.  Some of the cabins have kitchens in them, and I may get that cabin in the future. We forgot our BBQ tools so had to run to get some at the dollar store nearby.  One day it started raining too while my husband was trying to cook. He'd already finished the hot dogs and had to take off the pork chops because of the rain. I had not considered what we would do about our food if it had rained and he was unable to cook.  It did not last long though and was able to finish cooking the pork chops for our supper.

We all enjoyed our time here and would like to return.  Check with this park if you would like to make a reservation this summer for an affordable vacation at a fun, relaxing location!
  
Have a day of blessings!
  Bethany

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday!  We've been on vacation this week and got home today. We had such a great time. We couldn't decide for a while where to go on vacation. I didn't want to be too many hours in the car.  Then we finally found a place about a week ago.  I guess i will do a separate post on the days of our vacation but we had a wonderful time!  It was so fun being together in a new place and having new memories together!

This week I am thankful for....

~ my husband having vacation time at work and his boss being agreeable to him being off. Also I'm thankful for the love he has for his two boys and me. I loved seeing them interact this week at the pool and being silly in our cabin.

~ my big boy fisherman. He made a fishing pole for me so I could fish with him at the catch and release pond. It was so fun to do that together and see him in action as a fisherman

~ my baby boy having fun with his new experiences on vacation. He loved being outside so much and also climbing up and down the steps to our cabin. Also he went swimming for he first time.

~ safe travels.

~  my online orders arriving before we left. I had ordered a car seat for Titus, two Shutterfly books, a swimsuit, YL essential oils, and a Father's Day gift. I was glad it all came before we left.

~ getting to see my Dad last weekend.

(I typed most of this on our way home Thursday and internet at home messed up so I couldn't post it last night.)

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

We've had a nice week.  It's gone fast for us all I think.  Next week is spring break and we are looking forward to it.

This week I am thankful for...
~ my husband's sweet words to me.  He's been so encouraging to me with his words, and I appreciate that so much.

~ my boy's finger being okay after his injury last Thursday. It was sore for several days.  He was able to play his trumpet again by Sunday.  It is still bruised.

~ my baby boy helping with the laundry.  He is so cute when he will put the clothes in and out of the dryer when I am putting some in.  He likes to help pull them out of the basket to help me fold and hang them.  Today he had some pants he acted like he was trying to put on himself.  He will put his socks down by his feet too but hasn't figured out getting the feet in the socks!

~ rain.  It has stormed a couple times this week, and we received quite a bit of rain.

~ feeling better myself.  Last Thursday evening my throat felt scratchy.  I thought it was allergies so I gargled and took some zyrtec. It hurt worse in the night and all day Friday plus I felt achy, so I assumed it wasn't allergies.  It wasn't any better by Saturday morning so I went to the clinic.  I was diagnosed with strep.  My husband was so wonderful to take care of everything and let me rest.  I started feeling much better by Sunday afternoon.

~ plans for someone's first birthday party!  Titus will be one soon, we can't believe how fast the year has gone.  We are having fun making plans. The theme is books.

Have a day of blessings!
 

Day 7 and HOME!

(Continuing on with pictures from our vacation after taking a break from posts this week!)

Day 7 (Thursday)

Today we had to pack up and head back to Texas. The man at the cabin recommended a scenic drive for us before we left so we went there and to a visitors center. We saw a pretty waterfall  and took some pictures. I remembered last night how we took a family picture in our Colorado shirts when we went there on vacation, and I wanted to do the same in our new Tennessee shirts.

We drove until we got to the Financial Peace Plaza.

When we got there Dave Ramsey was recording a show. We looked at the store and watched the show through the window. A lady came up and asked us if we'd just arrived. We told her we were passing through on our way home from vacation. She told us the plan of the show for the next 30 minutes and said at the break we could talk to Dave. We watched a couple scream "We're debt free" and then he came out. Apparently he'd already talked to the others. He talked with the couple and then shook our hands and took a picture with us. Then he gave us his autograph. I got him to sign the coupon book I use for our cash following his cash envelope system. It was very fun and exciting to meet him. We weren't really expecting that!

 

Then we drove.  And drove some more to stay the night in Little Rock.

Oh and on the way before we got to Memphis, TN we were stopped in the left lane as the right lane was closed ahead. A truck pulled over right in front of us to cut into traffic on the left lane before traffic started moving. We thought he was going to run into us with the back of his trailer. Thankfully he did not.

Day 8 (Friday)We did not have a restful night of sleep which was disappointing.  We'd used our points for a "free night" so I guess that is a good thing that we weren't paying for it! ha!  We were at a La Quinta and heard loud banging that woke us up at about 3:45 and again after 4:00.  It went on for some time and was shaking the pictures on the walls in our room.  We called the front desk and they couldn't get an answer in that room or do anything about it.  It eventually stopped.  It was hard to rest after that though. 

We got up and got Krispy Kreme before heading on our way.  We were so glad to see the Texas state line!  We got out at the Texas welcome center and took pictures with the Texas shape before driving on towards home.

We got home and unloaded so I could start on the laundry on Saturday. 

I'm so thankful for our vacation and the memories we made.


Have a day of blessings!

In Tennesse (Days 3 and 4)

Day 3 (Sunday)
With the time change and our tiredness from travel, we got up too late for the hotel breakfast. So we had brunch at Cracker Barrel (which we all enjoyed very much!).

Then we went and bought a new camera. I didn't want to only have the iPhone pictures from this trip and the other camera didn't improve any.  It kept telling me "lens error." So we let the new camera battery charge a little and went to some shops downtown.

We also shared these downtown at Cupcake Kitchen.  I have always wanted to go to a cupcake shop.  One time on our anniversary trip we looked one up to visit and then got there and it was no longer in business!  We got cookies n cream and the other was plain chocolate.  They were yummy.

Then we went back to the room to get the camera and went on the Tennessee Aquarium River Gorge Explorer. It was a nice ride and such pretty scenery. The boat itself was closed on the lower deck where we sat for part of the ride and watched from the windows. Then when it slowed down we got to go to the upper deck.

Caleb enjoyed it and especially liked when the boat would slow down quickly while it was going fast and make a big splash.  He wanted to take a picture of this. 

We ate supper and then drove around Racoon Mountain. It was pretty as the sun was setting   We opened the windows and enjoyed the peaceful drive.  We loved seeing the lightning bugs everywhere also! 

Day 4 (Monday)
We visited Ruby Falls this morning. Once we went down into the cavern I had to not think about where I was at so I wouldn't get to feeling scared! In the beginning room we watched a short video clip about Ruby Falls. The guide had moved the children to the front so they could see. Then as we started on our tour, Caleb stayed at the front. I didn't think it mattered at first but most of the whole tour was single file through the cavern which you can see in this picture.  It made me nervous to be separated from him. He was fine though and didn't think it was a big deal.

At the end we got to the falls, and it was just beautiful. I loved the sound of the falling water. It was hard to capture the falls with a camera.

At the end we went up to the lookout to see the city. They had a nice playground and a pretty little waterfall up there too.

We headed on our way out of Chattanooga. My husband found us a place to eat in Cleveland, TN. He just searched on his GPS to find it.  It's called Farm House Restaurant. It was so good, I wish we could go back. He had a BBQ sandwich that was delicious.

Then I got to meet my longtime blogging friend Marsha!  It was wonderful to be able to meet her in person.  She has been such a blessing to my life through her writing and encouragement through Grace Café.  I'm so glad we could visit for a little while. 

We drove on to Townsend and found our cabin. We could not believe how remote it was. We were all just in awe of the beauty of the mountains. We went back into town to get supper and buy some groceries.

The cabin is so nice. We got settled and got in the hot tub before bed.

Have a day of blessings!