A Perfect Dinner, In a Perfect World

Everyday at dinner time, I have so many willing hands to help. My wonderful, loving, and ever-so-helpful husband is always a step ahead of me, anticipating the needs of our daughters and myself. The girls are setting the table, while he pours everyone a drink, and I put the final touches on our dinner. We all sit down to the table and give thanks to the Lord for our meal with bowed heads and a perfect little prayer, recited by one of my blue-eyed princesses. Then we all politely take turns fixing our plates, listen to each other as we talk about our day, and, of course, use every manner ever written. Everyone compliments me on the amazingly delicious meal I have prepared.  All of this is done effortlessly, without spilling a crumb of food, or drop of drink.

And then I wake up.

Well, I wasn’t lying when I said that I have blue-eyed princesses! Three, to be precise! Give me some credit there!

I dream of a day when no one complains about what’s for dinner. I would love to not hear someone ask for something else from the refrigerator with a whole meal laid out in front of them. It would be a miracle if we could get through dinner without the echoes of a burp reverberating through the house. Keeping the two-year-old in her seat throughout the entire meal would be a HUGE accomplishment! A simple, ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ would probably make me pass out. Someone offering to help clean up after? HA! Fat chance! I force my poor kids to clean up after dinner. Manual labor builds character. They have to rotate who does which ‘after dinner’ chore, and you would think they were driving railroad spikes into the ground. No, sweeping is NOT the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do, child!

I’m sure this is every parent’s dream! I think I’m going to have to get creative when it comes to teaching table manners. How do you teach your kids to exhibit good table manners?

From FOUR A’s to FIVE!!!

So many things have happened since March. I cannot believe I have taken such a long hiatus from blogging. Writing is one of my favorite things to do. Things are insanely busy around the Five A’s and a D house, but I’m going to try to keep up with my blog. It’s my little creative outlet.

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According to the new blog title, this particular post is to introduce you to A number 5. She graced us with her presence in late September. Her big personality is already shining through!

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Having all these little girls with names starting with A made me realize that I need to come up with unique nicknames for each of them. I’ll work on that.





   



         

Review: Greenwoman Magazine

Many of you know that I do book reviews as a part of Sage’s Blog Tours from time to time. This time, Sage has asked me to review a magazine instead of a book. 

Greenwoman Magazine celebrates garden writing in all its forms: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, commentary, biography, art, and comics! 

Daring and fun, Greenwoman is for the hip gardener who loves digging into the world of art and environmental thought that underlies gardening."

Greenwoman Magazine is a completely independent, one-woman-owned-and-run publication.  (Well, two-women, when Sandra’s daughter Zora, who is the Deputy Editor, has time from her full-time college work).

I have always enjoyed gardening. When I was young I would help my grandfather plant his vegetable garden, and then help him pick the veggies when they were ripe. Those are some of my favorite childhood memories. Reading the stories and articles in this magazine brought back some of those memories. 

The entire magazine was a wonderful read. I particularly enjoyed the fictional pieces. “Diary Of a Garden Goddess” was a fun read. 

One of my favorite short stories was “A Generous Season”.

"We’ve warned friends to watch out, that the squash vines may be growing faster than they can run! Savvy friends visiting our ranch know about our squash problem and lock their cars, lest their back seats somehow mysteriously become filled with zucchini, neatly stacked like cord wood.”

Another of my favorite snippets of the magazine was this picture: 

I think I would like to print and hang this in my kitchen. 

There really wasn’t a part of Greenwoman Magazine that I didn’t enjoy. There are so many contributors it takes three full pages to list them! It’s refreshing to read quality content and not have to flip through pages and pages of advertisements to find it. 

This wonderful magazine is available in PDF format for less than $3 an issue. 

You can order your copy on the Greenwoman Magazine website.

You can also visit her on Facebook!

Book Review: Gated by Matt Drabble

Synopsis:

Michael and Emily are a happy and contented 

English couple, a writer and a school teacher. 

Their lives are complete when Emily falls pregnant,

 however their dreams are shattered one cold 

winter night by a car accident that robs 

them of their happiness.

To overcome their loss they up stick and move to Eden Gardens, a US gated community that offers "Heaven on Earth and Twice as Nice". The people are warm and friendly and welcome them with open arms. The town is a beautiful throwback to a bygone age, where the sun always shines and the sky's always blue.

As they settle into their new perfect lives, the circle is complete when Emily falls pregnant. The town is perfect, the weather is perfect and their lives are perfect. But are the stares from their neighbours a little too intense, is the town a little too interested in their happy news, and is Eden all that it seems.

They are about to find out that paradise comes at a cost, and when you sign a lease, you should always check the fine print.

My Review:

    Michael and Emily Torrence are an English couple looking for a fresh start after the loss of their unborn baby. Michael stumbles across some information about a little town in America called Eden Gardens. It claims to be “Heaven on earth, and twice as nice.” It seems like a wonderful place to live, so they sell most of their belongings and move to Eden Gardens to start their new lives. 

    After their arrival in Eden, Michael and Emily quickly get used to living life in their new home. They have a large beautiful home, and Emily has a job teaching at the elementary school. Michael is a writer and stays home to work. Everything is within walking distance. The town is always beautiful and clean. Everyone is extremely nice....maybe a little too nice. 

    Michael starts noticing little quirks and curious goings-on. Emily is so happy in their new home that she dismisses his claims as being the product of a writer’s overactive imagination. She becomes pregnant and begins to notice that her neighbors’ stares tend to linger a little too long. She and Michael begin looking into the town’s history, which is dark and twisted with mysterious disappearances and deaths. The town’s history catches up with them and they land in real trouble. The residents have plans for the Torrences and their unborn baby, and Michael in Emily weren’t included in the  planning part. 

     

   Horrors and thrillers are not my usual genres. That being said, I found Gated to be a well-written book. I couldn’t stop reading it. There are so many twists and turns in the  story that you don’t know which characters to trust. The author includes detailed accounts of the town’s history to help you understand a little bit more about Eden without giving away what will happen next. This story reels you in and keeps you on the hook. Drabble ended the book in such a way that you’ll be wanting to read more about Eden Gardens and the Torrences.

You can purchase Gated in Kindle Edition on Amazon for only $1.49!

Book Review: HerStory

HerStory

by Delaina M. Waldron

Synopsis

HerStory a novel by Delaina M. Waldron is a paranormal/thriller that takes the reader on a journey in the life of a young African slave woman named Ayira who has a dark secret.  A dark secret she does not understand and is beyond her control.

Ayira can see the past and the future and she can also speak to the dead. 

It is the beginning of slavery in America, a Native American tribe rescues Ayira and she struggles to balance her special powers and face her dark past to help the people around her.

Ayira must overcome her fears of her dark past, survive the present and accept her destiny to help prevent the Indian tribes fatal outcomes.

My Review

Ayira is an African woman who was sold into slavery. After she arrived in America and was sold to a slave owner, her group was attacked by Native Americans on the river.  Ayira and the other slaves were taken to live in their village. 

One of the elders of the Native American tribe had foreseen her coming. He knew she was there for a purpose. Ayira, however, was haunted by her past and by visions of the future, so she kept to herself. She rarely left her teepee and didn’t socialize with the members of the tribe if she could avoid it. 

Ayira is a very intriguing character with secrets beyond her control. As the story progresses, more light is shed upon her secrets and the powers which she possesses.  She must deal with the demons from her past who are haunting her as she learns how to use her gift to help the tribe. 

I enjoyed HerStory. It was a great, quick read. Waldron does a wonderful job of keeping just enough secrets to keep you interested as the story progresses. She knows just when to give you a little more information to make you want to see what happens next. 

Author Bio

Delaina M. Waldron is a Screenwriter, Novelist and freelance writer in her spare time.  She wrote two feature length screenplays one of which was adapted to her novel "HerStory" and the other a comedy called "Ghetto Ghost Hunters" was a finalist in the 2011 Hollywood Screenwriting contest.  She also wrote a short screenplay a thriller called "Peeper", which is currently in production.

Delaina M. Waldron is a single mother of one and is currently a city bus driver and a military veteran for the Army Reserves, based in New York City.

Website:  www.herstorynovel.com

Twitter:  @delainawaldron

Blog: http://delainawaldron.wordpress.com/2012/12/07/hello-world/

Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Delaina-M-Waldron/227854963892903?ref=hl

                                                                                   

HerStory

Wordless Wednesday

Little Conversations

This is a conversation that Middle A and I had the other day. We have many cute, strange, and funny conversations around here. I need someone to share them with, so I choose you! Aren’t you so lucky!?

Middle A
Me

Soooo......I want a tree house.

You do?

Yes. One with bars I can climb on. Outside in our tree so I don’t get hurt.

Really?

Yes. How can I get one?

Maybe you could ask Daddy to build it.

[gasp] I have my own tools!
(She’s referring to a toy tool bench).

Wow! You do!

I have a hammer, and stickers (nails), and I can help Daddy build it!

Sounds good to me, kiddo!


That night, she woke up in the middle of the night looking for her sheep. Sheep is her favorite stuffed animal. She sleeps with it every night. We found sheep and I started to tuck her back into her bed, but she got upset and started kicking the covers off.

What’s wrong?

I want to sleep in my sleeping house!!!

Sleeping house?

Yes. I want to sleep in it. 

Honey, I don’t know what that is.

Outside! I want to sleep in my sleeping house.

OH! Your tree house? 

Yes! My tree house.

We don’t have a treehouse yet. 

I have to ask Daddy to build it?

Yes, sweetheart. 

I can use my hammer and my stickers? 

Yes, love. 

I love you so much, Mom.

I love you too, sweetheart.