'Tis the Season ... to be Tired

I've been so tired and lazy-feeling since Christmas. Can anyone else relate? We had a lovely Christmas with the Dashingly Handsome Sidek...

WQI: Cath Crowley's GRAFFITI MOON

photo by Darren James I'm honored to have Cath Crowley here for a World's Quickest Interview (WQI).  I read her book, A LITTLE W...

The ACTUAL Deja Vu Blogfest: Creation

Today I'm participating in the DL Hammons Deja Vu Blogfest, co-hosted by Creepy Query Girl , Nicole Decleroir , and Lydia Kang . I acci...

Truth Tuesday: Spiders

You already know the state of my bathtub from my blog title, but today I have a true (gross) confession to make. Our house seems to attract ...

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Just a few pictures to help you feel warm and cozy this Christmas season... It's too cold to snow. Instead, we get hoar frost... Which i...

Picture Book Writer Jesalyn Cole & MeeGenius! Contest

Today I'm excited to welcome my dear friend, Jesalyn Cole. We live in the same town and met when our daughters were in tumbling class to...

Movie Monday: Tianjin Opera

My dear friend Marilyn filmed this short video on a street corner in Tianjin, China, the city in which we lived for eight years. This is an ...

Well I Never Blogfest!

Well I never.... thought I'd share embarrassing pictures from my past just to show you how much I appreciate my husband. Here I am in mi...

WiP Wednesday: NaNo Update

First of all I want to thank my math teacher, Mr. Martin, for teaching me to type in tenth grade. Because, you know, if I weren't such a...

Movie Monday: Flight of the Starlings

If you've known me very long, you know I love to take pictures of My Valley. And I love to post them on my blog. My friend Kimberly des...

Simple Beauties

This time of year we return to the simple beauties of life: Home Family Food Fellowship Laughter  Warmth & American football God bless y...

Book Vlog: SPACEHEADZ

My eight-year-old, Gabe, wanted to share his thoughts on Jon Scieszka's SPACEHEADZ series, so we decided to experiment with a vlog inter...

WiP Wednesday: The Other Story

I'm NaNo-ing my way through a first draft right now. It's going well. I'm over 30,000 words on Day 16, so a little ahead of sche...

Movie Monday: Lady Gaga in China

A friend asked me to "explain" this video to him the other day. Okay, I can see why the average American would think this is bizar...

All Things Are Possible

It was one of those evenings where I looked at my band of alternately crying and hyperactive children and thought to myself: I have to feed ...

Movie Monday: Hong Kong Homeland

My good friend and critique buddy, Krista V. , wrote a neat post entitled Writing What You Are ... and she used me as an example in her pos...

Snoopy Mom Strikes

Shhh! You must never disclose that you saw this on my blog. This is a big, big secret. My ten-year-old daughter does not know I scanned this...

WiP Wednesday: Tense Troubles ... & Insignia ARC!

I started the first draft of a new book the other day. I tried to write it in first person past tense, but just couldn't do it. I kept i...

I'm NaNo-ing. Are You?

I've decided to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers Month) this year. NaNo is where a bunch of crazy people commit to writ...

WiP Wednesday: A Seagull and a Butterfly

It's Wednesday! I haven't done a Work-in-Progress update for awhile, so here's the scoop. I'm working on two books simultane...

Delicious Fall

 It's unmistakeably fall in the Yakima Valley.  Every year my in-laws make grape juice from the grapes they grow in their back yard. Her...

My Tribute to Yue Yue

Little Wang Yue, nicknamed Yue Yue, died today. >> Here <<  is the BBC report. You've probably read the articles, maybe you ...