Skewered Halo by Brenda Youngerman--Book Review

Skewered Halo by Brenda Youngerman
ISBN 978-1618974280


I've previoiusly had the honor or reading 3 other books by Brenda Youngerman.  I do enjoy her style of writing.  Brenda writes in a style and reels you right in to the story.  You don't want to put the book down because you just have to know what will happen next.

This book starts out just like the other 2 I have read.  Chapter one starts out and the end of the story.....well, almost the end.  Chapter 2 takes you back to the beginning of the story and you are lead through until the end chapter which reveals the outcome.

In Skewered Halo we meet Diane.  In chapter one her mom and dad are leaving after spending some time with her in time of crisis.  After they are gone she is left alone in her house, with memories.  We don't know more than the fact that her husband and children have disappeared.

Then, we had to chapter 2 and Diane's birth.  Diane's older sister, Brittany, was 3 years old when she was born.  Brittany resented her from the time of her birth and all through life.
She had a secluded type childhood being told by her sister that she wasn't a part of the family and believing it.

And such is life for Diane and she grows up, graduates high school and heads to college.  Nothing is ever anything but strange through her whole adult life.


I found this to be a novel of mystery, suspense and murder!  As stated above it's a must to keep reading just to see what is going to happen next---who ends up missing next----how many are going to end up dead along the way---who is committing all of the murders.

Nope, I'm not going to have any spoilers here telling you what happens in the final few chapters.  I will say that I was in  shock.  I finished the book and all I could say was WOW!  30 minutes later I was still saying WOW! And, I even woke up in the morning with the book still on my mind and saying WOW!

Recommended reading in my opinion.  In fact, I recommend reading all of Brenda's books. 

I'm including links to my reviews of the other books I've ready by Brenda Youngerman if you are interested:

Disrupted Lives by Brenda Youngerman--Book Review

Sorrowed Souls by Brenda Youngerman--Book Review 

Hidden Truths by Brenda Youngerman--Book Review and Giveaway!-- ended

 

 

******Click to join in on the Skewered Halo Blog Party and enter to win while you are there too! ******

 

Disclosure:  I rec'd Skewered Halo is pdf format to read for the purpose of my review.  I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are my own.

 

Kaskey Kids Toys--Review

I was sent a mini-pack of the baseball players for the purpose of my review.  This mini-pack contains 14 baseball players.  A full team including the ref.

My grandson was over when they came in the mail.  He couldn't wait to "help me with my review" by getting them out and playing with them.

Kaskey Toys are geared towards 3-8 year olds.  My grandson is 10.  Now, of course I didn't tell him there was a suggested age range on the toys.   He loved them and still does!

Right away he set up the team on the floor.  He even took this picture of his set up:

 After taking this picture, he cut out bases.  Then he went and got out the dry erase board and set them up on it instead of the carpet.   He played with these guys all evening!

The following day 3 of my granddaughters came over.  They seen the Kaskey Toys baseball players out.  They didn't ask any questions, but instead immediately started playing with them!  Their ages are 4, 6 and 7.  It was a joy to see them have a good interest in them.

Another day my 2 year old grandson came over.  He will be 3 June 1.  He seen the guys and got super excited!  He ran to the hall draw and got out his box of cars.  Knowing nothing of baseball of course, he had them all driving his cars.  It was really cute.

Since then, there have been very few times that these 5 grandchildren haven't come over and asked "where are those guys to play with?"  Also since, my 10 yr old grandson has been telling the granddaughters about the game of baseball and teaching them how the field is set up.    I was only sent the mini-pack, so just have 1 team instead of the 2 teams you will get if you buy a set, but that's not mattered to the kids. (mini packs with one team are available for purchase in both baseball and football)

I really recommend these toys!


Now, let's learn more about Kaskey Kids and their toys----

Their toys are Mom-invented and kid tested to stand the test of time.

The main idea behind all of their toys is to entertain children between the ages of 3-8 years old.
Baseball Guys, Hockey Guys,  Soccer Girls, Soccer Guys and Football Guys are boxed sets of sports action figures that are designed to encourage creative and imaginary play.  There are no set rules or directions.  Children are inspired to use their imagination to play with the sports figures just as they have their action figures for years.  Children control the action all the time....moving the players when they want and where they want.

Even though they are made to entertain children from 3-8, kids of all ages enjoy the figures.  Even parents and grandparents get in on the action play.

 Taken from their website, these are the choices you have in toys.  Lots to choose from!





Head on over to Kaskeykids.com and check them all out for yourself!

You will also want to check out the Kaskey Kids facebook fan page. 

You can also follow Kaskey Kids on twitter.




Disclosure:  I rec'd a mini-pack of baseball players for the purpose of this review.  I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions of the product are my own.

Frugal Friday's With Marsha Link Up---It's Been a Great Week

It's been a great week at our house as far as being frugal goes.

1. I've been hanging the laundry out on the line to dry all week. It feels good to be doing so again. I know with the mild winter that we had, there were lots of days I should have hung the clothes out then as well.

2. We grocery shopped at Aldi. I don't go to Aldi near often enough. A cart full of food and things was $127, but by looking at the overflowing cart, I really expected it to be over $200. It feels so nice to have this much food in the house again.

3. I did some coupon shopping at the grocery store. No, I don't save like they do on tv, but I had $25 to spend and I spent $24.85. I saved 60% with sales and coupons. Some of my better deals was: 3 packages of Reames frozen noodles for $2 after coupons, Hostess Donettes $1 after coupon, Purex detergent used a free coupon, 2 Barilla whole wheat pastas .38 after coupons, and Jello geletin 2 boxes for .36 after coupon.

4. We've really been paying attention to turn off lights in rooms we are in.

5. We planted the garden. We put in a raspberry vine, grape vine, purple onions, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and basil. There was spinach and garlic already growing from last year. Wish us the best that we get a nice harvest this year. We did buy a huge bag of Miracle Grow Moisture Plus to add around since the soil out there is horrible for growing anything but weeds and stickers. ($5 rebate on the Miracle Grow sent in too!) I also started another compost pile. It didn't work last year and I don't know why, but I'm trying it again.

6. I picked up a couple of things through freecycle--Christmas card fronts to use in making my bags and things and some fabric and lace.

I do hope you will share in comment, or by sharing a blog post in the linky, how your frugal week has gone.


On to my sharing this week from the 99 Cent Solutions book. This week it's 4 uses for vanilla.

1. Sweeten a microwave. Pour a couple of tablespoons of vanilla into a glass bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Let the vanilla cool and repeat. It will smell as sweet as fresh baked cookies instead of all those dinners you've cooked in there.

2. Perfume the paint. Stir 1 tablespoon of vanilla into a gallon of paint before you start work. It won't completely get rid of the fresh paint smell but will make it a whole lot more pleasurable.

3. Make a kid-friendly tick repellent. Douse a cotton ball with real vanilla extract and dab it liberally on the ankles, wrists and any uncovered skin. Reapply as needed. This will keep your little ones from getting ticks if playing in long grass.

4. Sweeten the house. Dab a cotton ball with vanilla and dab it very lightly on the outside of light bulbs (not halogen bulbs) in your lamps. When turned on the vanilla heats up and a faint but alluring scent of vanilla drifts out. This is great for those who are allergic to air freshners and sprays but still want their home to smell nice.

(I love the scent of vanilla!)

Squidoo Hopping--Have You Learned Something New This Week?

I don't think that I specifically learned anything new this week.  I'm still fighting to figure out about photo attribution and what photos are ok to share.

Here is what I need an answer to please----if I see a photo on a regular website (not flickr etc) how do I find out if I can share it?  Sometimes the person that wrote the page will have a photo attribution that I could copy.  Most of the time there isn't anything saying where they got the photo from.  I've tried right clicking for properties, but it doing so tells me anything about the photo for attribution I'm not seeing it.

I'm having a hard time even finding photos that I want on flickr that aren't All Rights Reserved meaning I can't share them without the specific consent of the person who took it.  That's fine, as most would probably allow me to use them in lenses.....however, I want the photo NOW, not wait until I get approval.  In those cases I have removed the photo I had and added a flickr module.

I've still been busy updating lenses here and there and have built at least one new one since last weeks post.  I have one more to build and then to update my lensography before I apply for Giant Squid 50.  Wish me luck!  I'm still working on getting in to update the This Day in History lenses for citings and attributions.  I have to complete what I have built already before building any new ones.

I also have quite a few more lenses to do updates on before getting them a page in my new alphabetical notebook.  It's been great though being this active with squidoo.  I look forward to May's payday to see how I do, but mostly waiting for June's payday to see if my work is paying off.  I didn't start the updating until later in March when Virginia put up her challenge.

That's my news for this week.  I look forward to seeing your lenses linked up this week  :)

 

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