Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Halloween Family Photos & Tell me Something Tuesday: What Was Your Favorite Halloween (or cosplay) Costume?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. 

Here we are on the last Tuesday of October. That means Halloween is right around the corner. Feeling nostalgic, I am posting family Halloween photos. Here are my:

Top Ten Halloween Family Photos

The Lil' Princess's first Halloween

Two sister witches

JohnnyBoy likes Halloween too

The year the Lil' Princess broke her wrist

Don't you love how the Lil' Diva aggressively hugs her sister?

Pumpkin carving with Bob and Yia-Yia

Travis the bat and Dwight the pumpkin

Mortica and Gomez

Theo the dinosaur

Our spooky greeters

 

Tell Me Something Tuesday (TMST) is hosted by Jen Twimom at That's What I'm Talking About. TMST is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Participation is optional, and you leave your comments in the weekly post when participating. Check it out if you would like to join.

Thankfully, when we are discussing my favorite Halloween costume, there is no photo evidence. We didn't own a digital camera until after the Lil' Diva was born. The Lil' Princess is the only child of ours who has all digital photos taken of her. We have limited Johnnyboy photos from his younger years because all we had were film cameras. 

The first year we moved here, I dressed up as a witch because all the moms dressed up. It was the kind of neighborhood that had holiday parties, summer BBQs, and amazing Halloweens. All our kids are grown now, and some of the newer families don't have any kids. That's part of why I don't feel bad about going out this Friday night. I used to go through ten bags of candy. Now, we don't even go through one. 

That's it for me. I'm on the road today, but will check in later. Happy Halloween!!!

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Board and Card Games I Like

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but if you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Visit the other bloggers participating to see what they discuss that week. Comments are appreciated. 

This week's topic is so much fun. I grew up playing board and card games. Every Sunday, we attended church, had dinner, and then played games the rest of the day. My dad always cheated because he was a sore loser, but we still had fun. 

Games that I played as a kid that I still play with my own children:

• UNO
• Monopoly
• Life
• Trouble
• Sorry
• Clue
• Go Fish
• War
• Gin Rummy

We also love to put together puzzles. We just bought one to complete on vacation called "101 Pooping Puppies." Don't ask. I didn't choose it. 

How about you? What board and card games do you like?

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favorite Book Covers and Why

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but if you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Visit the other bloggers participating to see what they discuss that week. Comments are appreciated. 

Wow! This is a tough topic, especially after nearly two decades of blogging. I will stick to my top five, but I could change my mind quickly. :) 

I am not usually a fan of yellow covers, but I love this one for The Unhoneymooners. The tropical colors and feel are so attractive. 

There are so many pretty covers for Charlotte Hubbard's books. I love the one for A Mother's Love because it reminds me of my days as a mother of young girls. 

I've been drawn to historical homes for decades. That's likely why I enjoy historical fiction as well. Duffy Brown's Killer in Crinolines is set in Savannah, Georgia, in a consignment shop housed in a rundown Victorian. Everything about this cover is beautiful. 

Until we owned Travis, I thought of black cats as creepy. He has such a loving personality that I no longer feel that way. Halloween Murder by Leslie Meier reminds me of our friendly, furry family member. It also makes for a cute cover. 

Half of why I want to read The House in the Cerulean Sea is because of its beautiful and colorful cover. 

Have you read any of these? Did any of these make your list? 

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Characters I Want to Meet

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but consistent blogging seems to be the key to success. I can say that when I participate in weekly memes and challenges, I see the most traffic and comments at The Book Connection. 

If you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Then visit the other bloggers participating to see what they are talking about that week. Comments are appreciated. 

How is it Wednesday again? Hope you're having an amazing week.

Today, we are talking about characters we would like to meet. I'll start by sharing the expected ones: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anne Shirley, and Jo March, all young women whose impulsive natures and forward thinking pushed the boundaries of their times. I would also add Dr. Michaela Quinn to that list. Though this character originated on television (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman), there were a few books released that tied into the series. The daughter of a Boston physician, she replies to an ad for a doctor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Not originally well-received (they thought her name was Michael), she slowly wins over the townsfolk.  

Wouldn't it be neat to visit the fictional town of Cabot Cove and sit down with Jessica Fletcher? She is a writer and a mystery solver. The Murder, She Wrote books were a result of the popularity of the television show of the same name. Several authors have contributed to this series of books. 

Gordon Butler is introduced as a rookie cop in the third book of F. M. Meredith's Rocky Bluff P.D. series, Fringe Benefits. He is a magnet for mishaps and is often the butt of many jokes. He is my favorite character from the series. Would love to hang out with him and see what he's up to, how his job has changed, and if there is any special news he wants to share. 

Deputy Tempe Crabtree is the only woman and Native American on the Bear Creek police force. Introduced in Deadly Trail, this book finds her putting off her wedding to Pastor Hutch. By the time the series ends with A Final Farewell, she and Hutch are facing a different stage of life. In some ways, she reminds me of Dr. Quinn, because she depends upon her Native American roots to help solve crimes, while Dr. Quinn introduces Native American medicine into her practice in Colorado Springs. Both woman have ties to different communities. And Tempe, like Michaela, must overcome discrimination to become a valued member of her community.

Tempe has always fascinated me: the way she works; how dreams play into her life; how she taps into her ancestry, and her friendship with Nick Two John. Considering her age in the final book, I think as women in transition, we would have a lot to talk about. 

What are your thoughts on my list? Have you read any of these books? Which characters would you like to meet?

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Book I'm Nervous to Read (and why)

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but consistent blogging seems to be the key to success. I can say that when I participate in weekly memes and challenges, I see the most traffic and comments at The Book Connection. 

If you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Then visit the other bloggers participating to see what they are talking about that week. Comments are appreciated. 

Welcome back to Wednesday. Today, we are talking about books we are nervous to read and why.  

I pre-ordered this book, just like I have done with every Little House on the Prairie cast memoir. The main reason I haven't read it since it arrived in 2021, is because my review schedule has been steady for many years. Until 2024, I hadn't dedicated real time to reading from my TBR pile. 

The other reason that I keep putting this one off is because I know that Grassle addresses her sometimes tense relationship with Michael Landon, and part of what makes Little House on the Prairie so special is the chemistry between Caroline and Charles. Kudos to them for being such professionals that this never came across onscreen. It is kind of like when I learned Christopher Plummer didn't like acting alongside children, and they didn't even use his real voice. You know these things happen, but you don't like to think about them happening on the sets of your favorite shows and movies. 

What is a book you're nervous to read? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Things Characters Have Said

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.    

Here we are at Tuesday again. The days pass so quickly. This week, we are looking at things characters have said. Jana's explanation says, "Maybe a character said something really profound or romantic or hilarious or heartbreaking. You could share witty one-liners, mic-drop moments, snippets of funny dialogue between multiple characters, catchphrases, quotes that have become a part of pop culture–like 'May the odds be ever in your favor.', etc."). I fear I will struggle with this one, but here it goes.

Top Ten Things Characters Have Said 

“Harry — yer a wizard.” - Hagrid, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (I say this one a lot, and at the strangest of times.)

"I volunteer as tribute." - Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games (We've said this around our house more than once.)

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." - Rhett Butler, Gone with the Wind (How many times have you used this line?)

"We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print." - Offred, The Handmaid's Tale (Powerful and sad.)

“The truth of God's love is not that He allows bad things to happen, it's his promise that he will be there with us--when they do.” - Clark Davis, Love Comes Softly (My favorite line from the book and the movie.)

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think." Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables (Everyone should have at least one kindred spirit out there.)

"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship." - Amy March, Little Women (At first I thought this was a Jo March quote, but it was actually Amy.)

“There are no ambitions noble enough to justify breaking someone's heart. ” - Father Ralph de Bricassart, The Thorn Birds (Reflection can be a bitter pill.)

“We don’t have many murders here in Cabot Cove.” - Jessica Fletcher, Murder, She Wrote: A Little Yuletide Murder (Enough murders to last 61 books so far.)

"We'll make due, and we'll make it all work out, and we'll make new friends." Rosetta Bender, Promise Lodge (Starting over can be hard. Love Rosetta's encouraging words.)

Do we share any of the same quotes? What is your favorite book character quote?

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favorite Hobby and Why

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but consistent blogging seems to be the key to success. I can say that when I participate in weekly memes and challenges, I see the most traffic and comments at The Book Connection. 

If you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Then visit the other bloggers participating to see what they are talking about that week. Comments are appreciated. 

Hobbies is such a great topic. I've had several throughout the decades. Some I no longer have time for, like cross-stitching. Maybe in retirement I will pick it up again. Honestly, I haven't missed it, even though I did enjoy it. 

There are hobbies I'm really not good at. Take gardening, for example. Through the years I've improved, but if there is a way to kill something, I have probably done it. Three of my seed packets arrived from Burpee last week. For the first time in twenty years, I am going to start seeds inside. We will see how interesting that is to the cats. 

The other hobby I enjoy and am good at is baking. Now, I can't make fancy cakes or elegant pastries, but breads, desserts, pies, and cookies are all yummy. Since I've chosen to eat fewer sweets, though it is killing me, I don't make them as often as I used to, but I love spending time in the kitchen.

What are some of your hobbies? Do we share any?