A Happy Harrison Holiday

Our Crazy Christmas Card for this year. Sure beats getting everyone to smile at the same time!

We have had a lovely Christmas so far.  The kids slept til 8:30 on Christmas morning which is a present for us! We heard Eóin wake up and use the bathroom and then the crazy kid went back to bed to wait for everyone else :-) Soon after, Aidan woke up and we heard the boys talking to each other:

Aidan: Eóin, it's sunny out! (generally his cue that he can get out of bed). Do you think Santa is here?

Eóin: No - you can't see him - he's invisible.

Aidan: Oh - can we open presents now?

Eóin: Well we have to wait until lunch time to open Grandma's when everyone is ready. We have to wait for everyone.

Aidan: I don't like waiting for everyone.

Soon after they came into our room and we got Molly for our traditional prayer time on our bed to say Happy Birthday to Jesus. Molly heard us mention praying and shouted "Amen" the continued to say "Eat! Eat! Eat! Eat!" I think she was ready for breakfast :-) Finally after two more rounds of waiting while we changed Molly's diaper and Daddy went to turn on the tree lights, the boys charged out to open their presents. Jonathan took some video but it's on his phone so I need to wait til he uploads it before I can post it. 

 Sleepy Christmas Faces

Molly got a bed for her baby, but once she opened her new cups in her stocking, she wouldn't play with anything until she got a drink :-) 

We got ready and skyped with my fam then headed over to Eric and Christina's for round two of presents. The kids were thrilled with all their gifts - I'll post some pics in another post very soon! 

Giggles

 Reading the Christmas Story with Grandpa on the iPad

The strollers were a big hit!

The Adventures of Brown Blanket

Whenever Aidan meets a new person, his conversation generally goes like this...

"Hi, I'm Aidan. I have a brother Eóin. He's 5 so he's in school. I'm only 3 so I have to wait to go to school. This is our baby. His (no I did not mistype it) name is Molly. She (sometimes he) is OUR baby."

This is pretty much verbatim what he told the librarian this morning.

Next comes..

"I have a brown blanket. It's at home. I got it when I was a baby."


EVERYONE he meets knows he has a brown blanket! Any time he is not moving, you better believe brown blanket will be with him. It has travelled to Wisconsin, Michigan, Ireland, and pretty much anywhere we go for any length of time. Playing games on the iphone, reading, watching tv - brown blanket is NECESSARY to enjoying any of these activities! It also comes in handy for using his imagination. It has been a road for cars, a sleeping bag for camping, wrapping for "presents" and these - my two personal favorites...


being JESUS!

and


a superhero :-)

I was laughing at how it is such a part of family life, and how often it shows up in pictures I take of the kids all the way from the first week of his life :-) And now you know about Brown Blanket.

Book Review: The Messenger by Siri Mitchell

I always get excited when I see another book by Siri Mitchell come up for review and I have yet to be disappointed! I have enjoyed that each book I read by her is on a different set of people and how their lives are different to others.

This story takes place during the Revolutionary War and centers on Hannah Sunderland, a Quaker, or as they would call it a Friend. Hannah is confident in the belief that friends do not get involved in war or conflict in any way, but then her brother joins the colonial side and gets taken prisoner. Now Hannah is faced with a difficult decision - aid her brother and go behind the backs of all those she cares about, or let her brother live out the consequences of his actions, even if it means his death.
Just as Hannah is facing this crisis, Jeremiah Jones needs a spy to get into the jail, but no-one can get in there - unless a poor quaker girl just wants to see that her brother is well. Together they form a plan to see to the well being to the prisoners, but Hannah is determined to do right and not tell a lie - which does not really suit spy work! Somehow they need to find a way to work together, and see past their pre-concieved notions of the other to rescue the men before they die!

I thoroughly LOVED this book and stayed up way too late reading it :-) I always love that I learn something new about history and people groups when I read Siri Mitchell's stories. The only downside was that although it mentioned God a lot, and the Friends' relationship to him, their theology is a little flawed and does not really mention the gospel as recorded in the Bible. I would be careful before giving this to a new Christian or unbeliever to read as it could come across as a little confusing that way. The story is brilliant though - and I would recommend it to lovers of historical fiction who are confident that the way to God is through Christ and Him alone!

Thanks so much to Bethany House Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

Book Review: Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer

The Archer Brothers NEVER leave their land, and anyone wanting to step on it better beware!

Meredith Archer has been dreaming about Travis Archer since he rescued her when she was little, and feels that it is time to pay back her debt to him by warning him of a plot against his home. When she sacrifices everything to try to help his family, Travis must again rescue her by marrying her.

Life with the Archers is certainly different, but Meredith soon finds her way into the family, but she wonders if Travis will ever see her as more than an obligation - a short straw bride, and if she will ever lay claim to his heart.

I always like the stories when people who have married for other reasons find a way to love, and this is a very sweet one. The story is pretty predictable, but I still enjoyed it and would probably read it again down the road sometime :-)

Thanks so much to Bethany House Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

Book Review: Flight of Fancy by Laurie Alice Eakes

Cassandra Bainbridge is not your average English lady. She would happily spend her day reading Greek or designing hot air ballons over balls, parties, and other normal pursuits for young ladies in her position. Despite that, Geoffrey Giles, Earl of Whittaker still loves her madly. In fact maybe even a little too much. As their wedding date nears, Cassandra and Geoffrey have a hard time keep their feelings, and their hands, to themselves.

After a tragic accident, Cassandra thinks that God may be giving her a wake up call to better obedience, and so she breaks her engagement to the man who caused her to stray, persuaded that she will now stay to the straight and narrow path, concentrating only on her ballooning to keep her amused. But that is not so easy when there is danger, intrigue and embers of love to deal with as she tries to recover.

This is the second story in the Daughters of Bainbridge series, and while it does allude to the first book, it gives enough of the details to not need to have read the first story (though I would like to read the story of the first sister now). While I did enjoy the story, I didn't feel that pull to be rushing through to read what happens next, even though there are twists and mystery involved. It was a good story, and I appreciate that even though it dealt with physical temptation as a topic, it was not overly graphic. I thought it had a good balance in that area where many books are lacking.

Thank you to Revell Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

Available October 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.