The Happiness Project

We had a wonderful Christmas in Johannesburg.

The tree looked lovely with lots of presents.

The table was set.

Mel and Christine

celebrate Christmas on the 24th. 

Presents get opened at midnight.

But there was no way Ethan would stay up that late,

so he got to open his gifts at 10.

But since Santa comes on the 24th,

Ethan awoke to more gifts

on Christmas Day!

He even got to Skype with his mate

in Finland!

Christmas was a little quieter this year,

but it was still lovely.

Happiness is a lovely Christmas

with friends. 

A Very Gothic Christmas - C. Feehan & M. George

It's Christmas time,

so I had to read a Christmas book.

A Very Gothic Christmas

is not very Goth,

but it is a little Christmassy.

There are two little novellas here.

The first one,

After the Music,

is written by Christine Feehan.

It's the story of Dillon,

a famous musician.

Years ago,

 his wife got involved with the occult,

and after walking in on her friends

abusing young Jessica,

shots were fired

and the house was burnt.

Years later,

Jessica arrives on the island

with Dillon's teen aged children

in hopes for Christmas miracle.

Someone has been trying to kill the twins,

and Jessica hopes spending time with their father,

will bring them together as a family

and learn who is trying to harm them all.

Lady of the Locket

is written by Melanie George.

I've never read anything by her,

but after this,

I think I will.

Rachel Hudson travels to Scotland

to fulfill her parents wish, 

of spreading their ashes over Glengarren,

the Scottish castle where they met

years before.

She sees a portrait of the fierce Highlander,

Duncan MacGregor,

and something awakens within her.

After a stormy night,

Rachel finds herself face-to-face

with Duncan.

This one was heart-wrenching

but so lovely.

Dark Desires After Dusk - Kresley Cole

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year,

for many reasons.

One of them being,

having nothing to do all day,

but enjoy a book

(or two).

Dark Desires After Dusk

is another Immortals After Dark

book.

This one is the story of Cadeon Woede,

a demon.

He's fated to be with Holly Ashwin.

There's just one problem,

she's a human

and it's forbidden to mate with a human.

So Cadeon spends his days

watching her

and watching over her.

Cadeon is determined to help his brother

reclaim his throne.

When the opportunity to help comes,

he takes it.

It seems simple enough.

Deliver the Vessel to an evil sorcerer.

But when he learns the Vessel is Holly,

a Halfling,

can he give up his fate to help his brother?

The Happiness Project

We weren't able to make it to Canada

this Christmas.

So we decided to have a 

South African Christmas,

spending a week 

with mates.

Since it's summer here,

the weather's not quite as cold

as it is at home,

so our mate

took us to Gold Reef City,

an amusement park.

She thought Ethan would love it there.

He went on rides,

played some games,

Auntie Mel even won a big dog for him.

Ethan got to meet some miners,

and saw a gorgeous peacock.

Ethan even got to see Father Christmas.

Happiness is a fun-filled day.

Writer's Workshop - Pajamas

Write a blog post inspired by the word:

pajamas

Last year,

my cousin started a new Christmas tradition.

She has three sons,

her oldest is the same age as Ethan.

We have another cousin

with a son the same age.

Every Christmas,

we try to get the boys together.

So, she had a fantastic idea.

Get the boys matching pajamas.

The boys had a blast in their PJs.

We're not home this Christmas,
but she hasn't let that stop
the second annual
pajama party.
She sent Ethan a pair.
I'm going to let him open it on
Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile,
everytime I think of pajamas,
I think of Sandra Boyton's book
Pajama Time.
What I like even better
was hearing it as a song.

And since I've now got it stuck in my head,
I'm going to share it with you...

Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton

The moon is up, 

It’s getting late. 

Let’s get ready to celebrate.

It’s Pajama Time!

Pull on the bottoms. 

Put on the top.

 Get yourself set to pajama-dee-bop-- 

It’s Pajama Time!

Now, some are old and some are new. 

Some are red and some are blue. 

Some are fuzzy. Some are not.

 But we can all pajammy in whatever we’ve got.

 It’s Pajama Time! 

Ooooo yes, it’s Pajama Time!

Some are pink and some are green.

 Some are the ugliest you’ve ever seen.

 They might be stripey,

or polka dot.

 But we can all pajammy in whatever we’ve got. 

It’s Pajama time!

Pajammy to the left. 

Pajammy to the right. 

(Jamma jamma jamma jamma P! J!) 

Everybody’s wearing them for dancing tonight.

 (Jamma jamma jamma jamma P! J!)

Now all around the room in one big line, 

wearing our pajamas and looking so fine.

It’s Pajama Time! 

Hop into bed.

Turn off the light.

 You can have a party in your dreams tonight. 

IT’S PAJAMA TIME!

(Hush, Hush.)

(Shhhhhhhh.)

GOOD NIGHT 

SLEEP TIGHT.

The Happiness Project

Last week,

was the last week of school 

before the Christmas break.

As tradition at IST

there was a class party.

This year's party was fabulous.

The class mum thought it would be nice

to have a little present exchange.

However, 

so parents didn't have to go out and buy something

the idea was to bring in a 

wrapped book

and take one.

There was a dance contest.

Ethan won.

But the best part

was not him winning

but the reaction of his classmates

when he won.

Happiness is having a wonderful

class.

The Pagan Stone - Nora Roberts

Have you ever read a trilogy

or series

and got to the last book

and was slightly disappointed?

Well...

that doesn't happen here!

The Pagan Stone is the third

and final book in the

Sign of Seven Trilogy.

Cal, Fox and Gage,

along with Quinn, Layla and Cybil

are determined to fight

The Big Evil.

As July 7th approaches

they are willing to risk everything to save themselves,

their families,

friends

and the little town of 

Hawkins Hollow.

This is also the story of Gage and Cybil.

Both have the gift of seeing

the future.

Neither is looking for love.

And when you're out to fight the

Big Bad,

love is the last thing you're looking for.

This book is heartbreaking as well.

Gage lost his mother when he was young.

His father turned to the bottle

and beat him.

He then let out the Big Bad.

Is the way to win sacrifice?

Will Gage need to sacrifice himself?

Unlike the others,

he doesn't have a family.

He has no ties.

Is he the key to success?

The Happiness Project

We have a cook!

Yipee.

We finally get home cooked meals.

Yipee!

On Monday, she came

and made some pizza bases

and homemade pizza sauce.

Which meant

that last night,

we all got to make our own

pizza.

Happiness is homemade pizza.