November Entertainment

I know the past few weeks have been kind of quiet around here. I've been struggling with some of the books that are in my to be read pile. So I've been working on some of my crafty stuff. Which I hope to be able to show you  in few days. I've also been watching more TV and Netflix stuff. So I thought I give you the highlights.

TV wise I've added a couple of more new shows:

There's the Grimm on NBC. Which is crime based show based on Fairy tales.

And then there's Once Upon a Time on ABC. Where the story book characters are trapped in present day and don't remember that they had a different life.

Well my niece and nephew were down a couple of weekends ago. So my SiL and I took them to see Breaking Dawn part 1 at 3am opening day. It was nice I think there was maybe a dozen people in the theater at that time. And then we got home in time for me to get everybody up and ready for school and work.

I've also been watching the first two seasons of Vampire Dairies.

Again another teen based drama that been sucking me in.

Anybody have any suggestions for other movies to watch? I wanted to take the Monkey to see the new Muppet movie. But I changed my mind, because she kept telling me the Muppet's were boring when ever we saw the preview for it.

Weekend Recap

Well how was everybody's weekend? Ours was really good. Busy but good. We left Wednesday for Des Moines to have Thanksgiving with my brother. We came home on Friday. So the that was about a 4 and 1/2 hour drive back home. Saturday was normal errand day. And then on Sunday it was a trip to Ikea and Mall of America.We picked up this at Ikea:

 It was about 1/2 off. And then we picked up some other miscellaneous stuff. And collected some ideas, for future buys.

When then headed of to MoA for lunch, to use a coupon/gift card that was expiring soon. Then we took to the girls to Nickelodeon Universe, or what used to be Camp Snoopy. The both got to go on some rides. Monkey was even able to go on the roller coaster by herself.

She said it was awesome!

Snack break.

After that we walked through the American Girl store. Someone (Monkey) has been asking for one for about a year and a half. I haven't given in yet. But I'm seriously thinking about it for her Birthday. We will see.

Sorry for any of you that stopped by yesterday for Meal Monday. But I can't  remember much from before we left. MM will be back next week.

Meal Monday

Good Morning!

Is everyone gearing up for a big Turkey dinner later this week? Us we're going away to my brother's house in Iowa for Thanksgiving.

Okay here was my meal plan for last week:

• Ham steak and Scalloped Potatoes. -- using PW's recipe that I posted about a couple weeks ago
• Baked Potato soup found here -- I loved it. I got mixed reviews from the peanut gallery though
• Biscuits and gravy
• breakfast -- eggs, bacon and hash browns 
• crock-pot pork chops -- I love this recipe. I know it looks gross but it taste wonderful, even on the pork chops that have been in the freezer a little too long.
• Taco soup
• Chicken pot pie -- I use PW recipe from her cookbook. Warning though the is enough chicken mixture for a 9x13 pan. so I would think about 2 pies.

So I had lots of good comfort food last week to eat. What's your favorite comfort food to make?

Meal Monday

Okay we're going for short and sweet here.

So this is what was made last week:

• Chilli
• pork loin
• mac n' cheese with tuna
• chilli mac
• frozen pizza
• santa fe chicken 
• left over night

So did you try anything new this week?

Caribou Island review

Caribou Island by David Vann

Type: Adult fiction

Synopsis: Gary and Irene have been married for thirty years and now their marriage is at it's end. They are blaming the other for how things have worked out. But during this time they are building a cabin on a remote island in Alaska.
     We also meet Rhonda and Mark, Gary and Irene's children. Jim who is Rhonda's boyfriend. Monique and Carl a couple that have come to explore Alaska.

Review: I found the book to be very sad and depressing and almost all of the characters to be dislikable or very bitter. The ending left you hanging on how the climax would effect the characters that were still left in this remote area Alaska. I found it to be an interesting read, but not something I enjoyed all that much. There was no light or happiness in the book.

2 out of 5 stars.

Meal Monday

Things have been quite around here. We haven't been doing much of anything. So I found sound new recipes to try this week past week so here we go.

• spaghetti -- this was something that didn't get made last week
• mac 'n cheese with tuna -- again something that didn't get made last week and got moved again in favor of some leftovers
• Chicken Wild Rice soup -- recipe found here. I really like this version, much better then the last recipe for this that I made
• Frozen Pizza -- I hate to admit it but a planned for this. I need a no fuss quick meal for Halloween
• Santa Fe chicken -- This got bumped to next week, as I forgot to take it out of the freezer and we ended up going and picking something up.
• Mediterranean Pork -- recipe found here.
• Hotdish

 Did you make anything good last week?

My Reading Life review

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy


Type: non-fiction


Synopsis: Pat talks of books and how they have shaped his life.


Review: This is another book that I didn't finish, not that it was a bad book by any means. In fact it was pretty good. I had a hard time deciding not to continue reading it. But it flowed along nicely. Nothing really stood out to me. I probably would have finished it if wasn't a library book, or if I didn't have half a dozen other books sitting at home waiting for me to read. I did in fact stop reading this book to read two other books that I just couldn't wait to read. There was nothing exciting or that enticed me to pick it up instead of watching TV. Would make a great filler book.

2 out of 5 stars

The Rose Garden Review

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

Type: fiction

Synopsis: After her sister's death Eva returns to Cornwall, a place where she spent her childhood summers. Trying to find a place where she can call home. Some how she finds herself jumping back and forth in time, from her present time to 1715.

Review:  I loved this book. I finished it in just over 24 hours. It takes for all the things I love to read about: other places, other times, some danger/adventure, a little bit of magic and toss in some romance for good measure. Seem to make a wonderful book for me. This is a pretty light read, though. 

5 out of 5 stars.

October Best of Kid Books

We didn't get through a whole lot of kid books this month. I know we read but not a lot of them stood out. Some were just read because we needed something short. On the plus side Squirm who is now 2 and half, has decided she likes to be read to at bedtime. Granted it mean crawling into her bed with her and reading, as she doesn't like sitting still long enough to be cuddle up with a book in the living room. She also likes looking at book in bed when she supposed to be going to sleep. So come morning time there is often a dozen books or so in bed with her. Can't blame her I like going to bed with a book too.

This is one of the books that did stand out for me this month. ZooZical by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown. In brief its about what the zoo animals get up to during the long, boring winter time.

I liked it a lot. The pictures were cute and the story read like a poem.

So did you have any books that you or your kids enjoyed this month? I'm always looking for books to read with the girls.