Heart of Ice

Heart of Ice by Lis Wiehl and April Henry is a mystery/detective fiction novel in which Elizabeth Avery is making sure that no one gets in her way of having everything she wants. At all costs. And this gorgeous, twisted woman, is just that, twisted.

The whole time I was reading it, there was something that was bugging me and I couldn't decide if I liked it or not until the end.

The main thing that I didn't like the lack of... Jesus I guess you could say. Someone in the book was a Christan, but I don't actually remember. It was one of the woman, but I can't recall who because, other than the occasional prayer (in their head) their faith wasn't evident. There were no conversions, nobody talked aloud much about Jesus and at the end they almost didn't seem forgiving.

Not that someone needs to be saved for it to be a Christan novel or for me to like it. I think planting seed in someones heart is as important as sharing the gospel. I guess an essential thing to me in Christan fiction that there is some sort of spiritual growth in a character. Which I didn't see in Heart of Ice.

I felt like it was a little bit rushed at the end and that there were some lose ends but overall I'll give it a three out of five.

Girl Talk With God

Girl Talk With God, by Suzie Shellenberger, is a non-fiction book inspiring teenage girls to actually talk with their Savior like they would with their best friend. Not just talk, but listen as well.

Suzie gives an example of what its like to have a conversation with God, not like blessing a meal, or a cry for help when things get tough, but something so much more personal and intimate. She goes over lots of different topics, things like eating disorders, modesty, boyfriends, God's love, etc.

I am a big fan of some of Suzie's other devotions and non-fiction, so when I saw this book on Booksneeze, I was really excited to get it for free. I was certainly not disappointed because it really has made me think of my relationship with God differently. God doesn't want you to feel any obligation to talk with Him. He wants you to get to know Him better so that you can see how He doesn't just know about all of the unimportant details of your life, He cares about them too.

So, as a 14 year girl, I would recommend this book to my friends. I loved the conversations because it is the kind of things that I would ask God and talk to him about.

I would give this book a five out of five stars.

Venom and Song

The Berinfell Prophecies Series- book two
By Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper

I was quite lost until I realized that this is book two in The Berinfell Prophecies series. Although, I found it easy to get to know the characters and find out what was going on without reading the first book.

The story is about seven Elven lords of Allyra who have super powers- walking on air, reading minds, super strength etc. It was previously believed that the lords died as babies, but tremors from another world called 'Earth' (weird name huh?) showed signs that Elven blood lived among the people. Sententials were sent to see if the sings are true. And yes- they were. Their task was to bring the seven back to Allyra. Fortunately, they succeeded. Unfortunately, the teenagers do not yet know how to use their abilities, and in order to defeat the spider king and find the mysterious legendary Rainsong, they will need to know.

Venom and Song made me think a lot of Batsons' other series 'The Door Within' -a little bit cliché, but an excellent plot, it kept me entertained. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the end was good, a little emotional, but good.

Bibleman: Combating Commandant of Confusion

The Bible Adventure Training Academy is interrupted when The Commandant of Confusion and his sidekick Chaos steal their secret weapon which helps the Bible Team put on the full armor of God "anytime, anyplace."

Scripture lesson: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can fight against the devil's evil tricks." Ephesians 6:111

Bibleman: Combating Commandant of Confusion is a Bibleman LIVE adventure. I was not expecting it to be live and was a little disappointed. The graphics weren't that great and every once in a while, the screen would become small and was placed in the left-hand corner which was annoying.

But overall, Bibleman is a great experience for children to learn more about the armor of God an how to use it.

(By the way, I received this movie for free from BookSneeze, and I am not required to write a "good" review.)

In loving memory of Chief Cherpa

Today the rainy weather seems appropriate...
Yesterday, when Doyle was getting a ride to Bible study Cherpa bolted out the door. Continuously mom tried to call him back but he wouldn't listen, as usual. That dogs personalty didn't fit his size.
Mom immediately rushed him to the puppy hospital, unfortunately, his pelvis was crushed, and there were only two options: surgery, (the chances that it would succeed were quite slim, and there was the possibility of him being in pain for the rest of his life) and...
Anyway, I thank God that we had that little dog while we did...

Cuttlefish

This report is not quite exhaustive...
I was originally interested in cuttlefish from "Sunday school" /youth group, when my leader put on a video about different animals that defy evolution. The next day was the first day after Christmas break, and in the morning, Ethan and I really didn't want to do school (I know, we are spoiled) My mom said since I was so fascinated by cuttlefish, that I could write a report on them for school, so I did.

My exhausting report on

Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish are amazing creatures. Sometimes called, “the chameleon of the sea” because of their incredible ability to change color in a split second.

Cuttlefish tend to range in size from 15cm to 25cm; their life span is about 18-24 months. Their diet consists of mollusks, crabs, shrimp, fish, octopus, worms, and even other smaller cuttlefish.

The scientific name for a cuttlefish is sepia. Sepia ink was used by artists for their paintings. For cuttlefish, this ink is a means of escape from predators.

If a large fish were to attack a cuttlefish the cuttlefish would eject a cloud of dark brown ink towards its attacker, which would coat its nostrils. Meanwhile, the cuttlefish is hidden from view and propels itself using a siphon which forcibly expels water and moves the cuttlefish backwards.

During mating season, some male cuttlefish use sexual mimicry to successfully impregnate females.(1)

The male to female ratio is about four to one but can get as high as eleven males to one female. Because of this, consort males (males with female partners) guard their mate almost constantly.

Large consort males mate the most; forcing smaller males use trickery and mimicry to mate at all. The techniques used by small males include waiting until the consort male is distracted by repelling other competition, waiting for females under rocks, or making themselves look and act like females to get close to females. When mimicking they get close to females about half of the time.

To mimic females, males hide their fourth arms, adjust the pattern on their skin, and act like egg-laying females. Shortly after spawning, females become lethargic and their body quickly deteriorates.

The eggs are laid in clumps and are coated in ink from the mother; this serves as a camouflage for the eggs. It takes 14 days for the eggs to develop and they hatch at a much further developed stage than an octopus. They immediately start feeding on suitably small shrimp.

1. Senior scientist Roger Hanlon and his colleagues at the Marine Biological Laboratory

BAM!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a really long time, I have been kind of avoiding it because there is always so much readin- I mean work to do around here.

We went to the Boise Art Museum today (or BAM) because it is free on the first Thursday of every month.
I would've taken pictures, but there were no cameras allowed, so I looked up a couple of pictures of art by Ansel Adams (1902-1984), and James Castle (1899-1977) online.

Here's a picture of James Castle.
Wikipedia said that he was mute, illiterate, and mentally challenged.

He was also pretty poor, for pens he sharpened sticks and twigs, for ink he mixed stove soot and saliva.
Paper was scavenged from useless or found supplies (bulk mail, cardboard cartons, cigarette packages, or discarded
textbooks).
Here's one of my favorite of his drawings, it looks like a kitchen or maybe a living room

This one of the cat in a purple dress, I'm not sure what he used for the color, but it is very, hmm...
How do I put this?
Interesting.

Ansel Adams was a photographer, and he traveled around the World and took incredible pictures for a living, He was born is San Fransisco and was an only child.
These are only a couple of his very many pictures.

Cat Pictures

Which one's your favorite?

Cavity Search

Mom, Doyle, Ethan and I went to the dentist on Wednesday.
It turns out that I have four cavities, I have never had any cavities before.
I am going back with mom March 11th to have them filled.

By the way, there are some pretty disgusting pictures of teeth in this video, just to let you know.
"Numb me, drill me, floss me, bill me."

Lotsa Cake

This butterfly, is the extra cake that I had from when I made the M&M rainbow cake with Becky.

For the cake class that I am taking at Michel's, I was supposed to bring a light blue frosted cake, and we were going to decorate a rainbow there.
When I got home, it just looked empty, so I added a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and a four leaf clover at the other. It is an early St. Patrick's day cake.

I was taking half of the cake to our neighbors, when Ethan reminded me that I haven't taken a picture of it. That is why there is that big line through the middle, because I was cutting the cake as he said that.

New Stuff

As you can tell, I picked a new template for my blog.
To get lots more and cooler templates, Click Here.
You should also check out my playlist at the bottom, I had a lot of fun messing with it.
I love you all,
Naomi

My Spud Leader

In my church, there is a Wednesday night service where the 6th- 3rd graders worship, play games, memorize verses, and then listen a leader talk.
You probably want to know what awanas stands for, (just pretend like you do) It stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed.
awanas gets its name from 2 Timothy 2:15,
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Anyway, every week has a different theme.
This week is hats and scarfs night, we are supposed to wear boots. (Just kidding!)
Last week was dress a potato like your leader night.
Guess what we are supposed to do?
Dress a potato like our leader. Big surprise.
Instead of a regular potato, I got a sweet potato, because my leader's so sweet.
Well my leader wasn't there because she had car trouble, so I took mine home.
I also found out that she is pregnant, so when I got home, I stuffed my potato's construction paper's dress with cotton balls, And I will give it to her next time I see her.
It was so much fun to make!

Web Camera

We got a web camera from Aunt Katie for Christmas.
It is really cool, we can see people while we are chatting with them on Google
Doyle was messing with it the other night, he found out that we could take pictures and then mess with them.
We had so much fun!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow....

Aunt Katie, Becky and Grandma and Grandpa Poole left today at about 8:45.
We have been just lazing around since.
About an hour ago we finished Prince Caspian and everyone is half-way asleep, or playing video games.
Last night was a lot of fun, we opened Grandma Gossett's Christmas present. She got me a really cool cake book. (Thanks Grandma!!)
Becky and I wanted to make a cake, so we ran to the store and bought some M&M's to make a rainbow cake.
It was so much fun!
(Sorry I couldn't get the pictures to go where I wanted to.)

Doyle's Birthday

Well, today is Doyle's birthday. I can't believe he is fourteen! He is now a teenager and full of him self.
Tonight Doyle wants sushi and brownies with just our family.
Mom sill owes me a birthday dinner which she never made, I want broccoli raviolis and chocolate breads.

It snowed about five inches here this morning. We have never gotten thing much snow in Twin where it is colder. It's probably just global warming.

The other day I crocheted a hat and a scarf for my new build-a-bear.
And since it actually turned out good I've been making more.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Not as good as Mama!

We've recently discovered that we can borrow Wii games at our library. One of the games that we have been renting is called Cooking Mama.
The whole idea of the game is that you are mama and that you have to prepare dinner which includes slicing vegetables, cracking eggs, and then cooking the food.
After you do one of those things "mama" gives a rating and if you did it good she will say, "Wonderful, better than mama!"
If you do OK she doesn't say anything but if you do horrible it sounds like she says something like "I help for you" (we're not really sure.)
The thing is she says them in a really annoying accent and she is saying it constantly.
Whenever mom and I are in the kitchen and we do something wrong while we're cooking we say,
"Not as good as mama."

My Musings

I finished The Importance of being Earnest yesterday, and it was a lot shorter than I thought it would be.
The book has a couple of short plays in it including, The Importance of being Earnest, Lady Windermere's fan, A Woman of no Importance, An Ideal Husband and Salomé all written between 1891 and 1895.
Now that I finished the book today after math, we get to watch Pride and Prejudice
Last night at Awanas it was store night so all the Bible verses that everyone has learned they get a point and if you had enough points than you can buy something.
I didn't have enough for anything but Ethan did and he had the choice of a really cool 3D wood spider that you can put together or popcorn.
He choose the wood spider and put it together last night when we got home and has been playing with it since, it actually is really cool.

12 Days Until Ethan's Birthday!

I just started the book The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. I watched the movie a couple of years ago with mom. It is confusing, but really funny.
I'm done writing the Declaration of Independence and now for history I have to memorize the Preamble which I already know the beginning of, "We the people of the United states of America, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility..."
Ethan is so excited about his birthday, everyday he has been telling everyone how many days are left until his birthday. Today when we went to Fred Meyer Ethan told mom that since we were there that she should do some birthday shopping in reply mom told him that she wasn't sure if dad has even said he could turn ten this year (every year they say we are not going to be able to turn how ever many that year but they always let us.)

Hooray!

I finally finished Pride and Prejudice!
Last time when I said that I had three chapters left I actually miscounted, I really had six left.
I also found two more words that mom didn't know!
1. missish- prim; affected; prudish or sentimental
2. arrear- the state of being behind or late, especially in the fulfillment of a duty, promise, obligation, or the like.

Pics

Here are the pictures I promised:
Ethan took the bottom one.
It kind-of looks like a ham and cheese sandwich doesn't it?
The peanut butter frosting was actually pretty good, for the jam we used powdered sugar and boysenberry syrup.