I just finished reading Andrew Peterson’s latest book, North! Or Be Eaten, and it was amazing! Before I get into the details of my review, here is the summary from the back cover in the edition published by Waterbook Press in 2009:

First they found themselves On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.  Now they must make their way North! Or Be Eaten…

Janner, Tink and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past.  but now they know they’re really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them.

In order to survive, the Igibys must flee to the safety of the Ice Prairies, where the lizard-like Fangs of Dang cannot follow.  First, however, they have to escape the monsters of Glipwood Forest, the thieving Stranders of the East Bend, and the dreaded Fork Factory.

But even more dangerous is the jealousy and bitterness that threaten to tear them apart, and janner and his siblings must learn the hard way that the love of a family is more important than anything else.

I undertook this latest book after having recently completed a re-reading of the C. S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia series and the J. R. R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings series. I would definitely include the Wingfeather Saga alongside the works of these great authors, and I am already anticipating the day that Peterson writes and releases the next book in the series. This book is addressed to a more advanced audience than C. S. Lewis’s Narnia, but without the deluge of history and details that sprinkle Tolkien’s novels. Peterson gives just enough detail to let the reader know that the places and towns the Wingfeather’s find themselves in have a rich history without taking away from the nonstop action and exciting adventures that befall the Wingfeather family. In fact, my one complaint about the book is that there never is a good time to set it down!

If you like The Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings series’, I highly recommend the first book in this series, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (book 1 in The Wingfeather saga).  Be sure to have book 2, North! Or Be Eaten close at hand so you can just keep reading this great story. In fact… Andrew Peterson’s site has both books (signed!) listed for $20.

Andrew Peterson is the author of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Book One in the Wingfeather Saga, and The Ballad of Matthew’s Begats. He’s also the critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter and recording artist of ten albums, including Resurrection Letters II. He and his wife, Jamie, live with their two sons and one daughter in a little house they call The Warren near Nashville, Tennessee. Visit his websites: www.andrew-peterson.com and www.rabbitroom.com

The most influential people in the world are those who pray big in Jesus’ name. The second most influential are mothers. –Tweet from John Piper

What a powerful thought!  May I be a mother who prays big in Jesus’ name!  I’ve been mulling over the what influences I specifically I want to have on my children…

• Grace… yes, there’s discipline, but I hope when they’re grown my kids will remember that they could find grace in our home and from me.  I will love them no matter what, a reflection of the amazing grace I’ve been given by my Savior.
• Patience… yes, Mommy will get mad inevitably, and surely more often than she should.  But I hope and desperately pray that I can grow in patience so that in the end, my kids won’t remember my mad moments, but they’ll remember grace-filled patience.  (Currently working on Beth Moore’s Living Beyond Yourself study on the fruit of the Spirit… I could spend the rest of my life in this study, I think!)
• Faith… When I think back on my own walk with Christ, I think of an adventure.  I pray that our lives would be filled with one adventure after another of learning to trust God and seeing the amazing ways He’ll provide, from big adventures like trips to Nicaragua to little adventures like praying and believing for something.
• Love… In this day and age, divorce is everywhere.  I know how much I cherish the fact that Brian and I both have parents that can celebrate nearly 40 years of marriage.  It’s the most joyous thing on earth to be married, but it’s also HARD WORK.  I hope that Brian and I can display grace and love to each other so that down the road, Analise and Josiah can learn from us and put it into practice in their own lives.
• Prayer… Definitely an area that ebbs and flows in my life.  But I want my kids to see me praying, to hear me asking God for His will to be done, to know that we can specifically, to know we can pray together for needs in their lives.  If they know from the earliest age that their mom prays confidently and boldy, they will learn that they, too, can approach the throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16).

Lofty goals!  But the quote above should inspire me to press on daily, reminding me that EVERY day I’m a mother, I’m leaving a legacy even beyond my children and grandchildren.

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” –Deuteronomy 7:9

Today was the start of 12 years of having 2 kids in school.  Whew… that seems overwhelming!  But more importantly, it was Josiah’s first real day of school.  He’ll attend Lakeside Baptist’s 3-K program on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Analise asked  yesterday what I was going to do, and she said over and over, “You’re going to be so lonely!”  Indeed, sweet girl… I was.  For about 5 minutes in the car, when I realized that I was embarking on a whole new chapter of errand-running by myself, with my choice of music or podcast or nothing at all.  There was a twinge of loneliness, and then I remembered how much fun Josiah was having, and I was reminded that we’re both winners in this situation 🙂

Without further chatter… I present my handsome little preschooler…

A sweet smile outside, holding the cute (and tasty!) apple-shaped cake pops we gave his teacher, Miss Kaylor.

"Ok, Mom... let's get on with it!"

Analise was excited to see Josiah was using her old backpack... and he was super proud to tell his teacher he was using his sister's backpack.

And yes, the 4 hours flew by.  I barely had time to get to Curves to workout, grocery shop, get everything put away, grab lunch and check my email.  At which time I found an email from Analise’s teacher sent at 8:30am that she was a bit upset because I’d forgotten to send her nap mat back to school after washing it.   UG!  The ONE day I don’t look at my computer until noon is OF COURSE the day that I really needed to get a message early.  It was too late for me to make it over there before nap time, and amazingly, Analise said she “got to” sleep on the carpet.  I love how kindergarten teachers make everything – even a back-up plan – feel like a great experience!

Wow… life as a kindergartner is amazing!  Earlier this week, Analise came home telling me she had learned to spell.  She explained how if you sound out a word, you can figure out the letters to spell.  We proceeded to spell 10 three-letter words.  It was so exciting!

I explained to her how reading was almost the same, sounding out the letters on paper.  I picked up some Dick & Jane books from the library, and today after school, she wanted to read.  So we sat down, and just like that… she was sounding out words and reading.  It was amazing!  She read 14 pages from her book by the time we called it a night.  Amazing!  I’m just in awe at watching the lightbulb go off and seeing her put it all together.  And as much as I love to read, I know this is just the start of many, many, MANY more books to come!

It’s peach season here in the South!  YUM!  I love fresh peaches.  And I LOVE my ice cream maker.  So when I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine, it was the perfect combination.  It was so easy and AMAZING!  I’ve made 3 batches of it so far 🙂  It’s very creamy and smooth.  And if you don’t have fresh peaches, I bet you could use canned, just decrease the sugar a bit and make sure they are well drained.  Let me know how you like it!!

• 4 medium peaches, peeled and sliced
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 1/2 c. sugar
• Dash of salt
• 2 1/2 c. low fat vanilla yogurt
• 2 t vanilla extract

Place peaches in a blender, cover and process until blended.  Set aside.  In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over milk and let stand for 1 minute.  Heat on low, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat, and stir in sugar and salt until sugar is dissolved.  Pour into large bowl, and add peaches, yogurt and vanilla.

Transfer to cylinder of ice cream freezer, and let process for 30 minutes or so.  It will be the consistency of soft-serve, and DELICIOUS!  Transfer the rest to another container and place in freezer.

One of the (many) highlights of the trip was Carlsbad Caverns.  It was AMAZING.  Even the kids really enjoyed our visit there.  Pictures do not do it justice, so if you’ve never been… you just have to experience it for yourself.  Analise’s favorite part of the nearly mile-long walk in the underground caverns was Fairyland.  She still recognizes it in the photos.  And of course, the evening bat flight from the cave entrance was awesome.  Definitely worth planning an overnight stay to see that unique sight.

The Grand Canyon was, of course, beautiful.  But it was HOT, the kids had been up early, there were lots of people there, and my kids wanted to play on the rocks, which was a little too nerve-wracking with the drop to the canyon floor just feet away.  Analise had a meltdown after disobeying us by jumping on the rocks, and so we left after about 20 minutes.  Definitely not a GRAND experience.  As Brian reminded me, the kids just can’t grasp how huge it is.  It’s awe-inspiring for us, but they can’t understand the depth and the beauty of it.  Next time, I’d like to plan to be there at sunset, as I’ve heard that’s a beautiful experience.

After a disappointing experience at the Grand Canyon, we had a long afternoon with whiny kids in the car.  Hot, tired and hungry, with grumpy parents, and we were driving 4 hours to Las Vegas.  Food was many miles between, our windshield caught a rock and cracked, and at some point, Brian mentioned maybe I’d better check our reservation in Las Vegas online (on my phone) as he had a feeling he might have made it for the wrong night.  ?!?!?

We had booked the hotel through Expedia (for a lower price than the conference rate, though it was the same hotel!) months in advance, and actually before we knew the schedule of Brian’s conference.  After battling intermittent internet on my phone, we realized that indeed… it was Sunday evening, we were headed for Vegas, and our hotel reservation was not until Monday, but Brian had to present at the conference on Monday morning.  ARG!   More phone problems, dealing with customer service, finding out the hotel rate was twice what we’d paid, and so we finally settled at Starbucks to calm our frazzled nerves and use their internet so Brian could find us another hotel.

He ended up booking us a night at the Desert Rose Resort, just off the strip and less than a block from where we’d be staying the next two nights, at the Monte Carlo, for the conference.   I was a bit irritated about having to stay one (short) night in one place, then move to another.  But once we arrived, we very nearly canceled our other reservations to stay at the Desert Rose.  It was AMAZING!  Full kitchen, huge king bedroom, separate from the spacious living/dining room, delicious full continental breakfast, free wireless (as compared to $15 a day at the MC), 2 pools.  It was awesome.  Highly, highly recommend it, and if we ever go back, I won’t stay anywhere else.  Back to the trip to Vegas…  Now the experience is comical, and turned out to have many blessings in it, but man, was it a long end to a frustrating day!

So we set out for the last couple hours of the drive from Arizona to Vegas, via the Hoover Dam.  I was excited to see the Dam, as I’d never been there.  But we’d been way-laid for a couple hours, and it was going to be dark.  We thought we wouldn’t be able to see anything.  Much to our surprise, the dam was well lit, and there was construction going on for the new Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge.  It is INCREDIBLE!   What a feat of engineering!  And the Dam is amazing too.  Seeing it at night was really different, but still very cool.  And it was 109 degrees outside at 9pm!  Crazy!

Ok, more thoughts on Vegas and the California part of the trip another evening.  Enjoy a few photos… Click on the first one and it will open in a small window and you can click through them all.

These have made it into the top tier of my “most used recipes”.   I tried them about a year ago, and when I want a GOOD fluffy blueberry muffin, this is the best.  Recently, I loaned out my recipe card, and I had to search and search all over the internet this morning to track this exact recipe down.  So I’m posting it here for my own (frequent!) personal use, and for all those of you that love a good muffin.  (I like to give credit when I can, and this was first posted at MomAdvice.com.  She’s got a picture to tempt you even more, but the link is no longer valid. So whoever came up with this recipe… thanks!)

Bodacious Blueberry Muffins

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 c sugar
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 3/4 c milk
• 1/4 c oil
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 c blueberries

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.  Mix wet ingredients in a bowl, and gently stir both together just until mixed.  Add blueberries.  Place in greased muffin tins and bake at 400 for 25 min. (12 muffins)

Crumb topping

• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• 1/8 c (2 T) flour
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1 T softened butter

Mix together until it resembles cornmeal.  Top muffins before baking. (Makes enough for 2 batches)

Analise pulled out her lacing cards this afternoon, which she hasn’t played with in months… or maybe even since Grandma Sandy was here last year!  She said, “It’s been like a week since I played with these!”  She’s just finally caught on to the go up from the bottom/go down from the top to “sew”.  I was impressed.

She was really excited about the lacing cards, though, and said, “I’m going to sew with Grandma Sandy! And you’re going to… do chores!”  Haha.  Sounds like fun.  Maybe Grandma Sandy and I can at least work in a trip to Kohl’s around all my chores…

(This post is going to be filled with randomness, as that’s the status of my mind today, this week, this month… come to think of it, this year!)

Analise has also reached another wonderful developmental milestone.  She hopped on a swing, got herself going, and started pumping her legs, swinging completely independently.  Honestly, this is an exciting achievement!  It means that my work on the playground just got much easier… or at least divided in half.  Between potty-training and swinging, it’s serious freedom for a mom 🙂

I do have pictures from our Out West Adventure in the works.  At the moment, it’s an open folder on my desktop with my favorites.  But currently, there are more than 80 of them, not counting Corrie’s and Michelle’s from our visits with them.  I’ll try to pare it down to less than 50 for your enjoyment 🙂  Actually, I’ve got coupons for photobooks that expire soon, and so that may happen before they get uploaded here…  Or not.

But Grandma Sandy’s coming tomorrow, and we’re going to have a great visit with her this next week!

Today is the big day for Analise — her first day of school. I just got back from dropping her off. Everything went smoothly, and she was excited when she saw her teacher and ran over to sit with the other kids who had already arrived.

The lump is starting to form in the back of my throat.

I curled up next to Analise in bed tonight, praying for a good night’s sleep, praying for her day, her year, her teacher, her friends.  I snuggled close to her and it struck me that 5 years ago right about now, I was snuggling a tiny Analise on my chest with a lump in my throat the night before I headed back to work.  She was just 6 1/2 weeks old, and I couldn’t imagine leaving her, even in the capable hands of her daddy.

In between that night 5 years ago and tonight, there were 1825 days.  Some were busy days, some were family days, some were quiet days, lots were fun.  And some were long days.  Maybe it was a day after a sleep-deprived night, maybe it was a sick day, maybe our attitudes were not what they should have been.   But those were the days that I thought to the far-off day when she’d be headed to school, and I wished – with a twinge of guilt – that they days would go a little quicker.  And on the days that I was worn out with laundry, meals, picking up and whining, I imagined the coming quiet of school days.

And here we are, on the eve of the next chapter in our lives… our first child headed off to kindergarten.  Now, of course, I’m wishing I hadn’t wished for these school days to come so quickly.  So my public service announcement for moms of young kids is to be careful what you wish for, because, as cliche as it sounds, they’ll grow up faster than you can imagine.

Analise is full of excitement and anticipation at starting school.  She enjoyed meeting her teacher and checking out her room.  We picked up our short list of school supplies, the requisite pink and purple backpack, Disney Princess lunch box and thermos, My Little Pony nap mat (which she insisted on sleeping on last night!), and purple pencil bag.  She’s got a cute new dress and headband, and she’ll be a great student full of enthusiasm and curiosity.

We live too close to school for the bus, so we’ll walk the short 15-minute distance most days.  In the last few months, our kids have finally grasped the art of sleeping past 7, which elicited much joy and made for leisurely (and snuggly!) mornings this summer.  But being ready and on our way for the 7:45 start time will take some getting used to!  Since we all know I”m the emotional one, Brian’s going to do the first day of school walk tomorrow.  Josiah and I will stay at home, I’ll snuggle him close, and remind myself to appreciate each day I have left before he heads off to kindergarten.