A quarterly Chatty report and a Christmas give-a-way.

Things are status quo around Chatty Land - now don't think that is a bad thing - it is a good thing.  For me that means slow and steady and I really like and need that.  Kids are back home and settled in.  House is off the market and we have made it home again.  Grandson is in his new school and may I say this school is one of the biggest blessings we have received.  It is truly a God and Jesus filled school - they don't beat it down your throat - what they do is love you to death and expect the very best of their students and they get it.  Amazing concept.  No punitive punishments and religion shoved down their throats - but a loving teaching style and and loving expectations.  Living out life the way Christ did - a living example.  And you know what most of the kids live up to their expectations.

This is my grandson who is getting his clothes for Homecoming - I can't believe he is that old now, but he is!

THE GRANDSON

Kindergarten 

Ten years later....

9th Grade

THE LIFT

THE LAUGH

Technology!    (YUCK To too much!) 

THE GIVEAWAY

A friend and fellow blogger sent me her e-book as a gift and I have to tell you the truth - it was nothing but awesome!!!!

It is called The 12 Days of Christmas Adventure - by Marianne B. Ball.   It takes you through the  12 Days of Christmas and gives you so many awesome and easy ideas to share and give to others and your own family too - to celebrate the  Christmas Season!   It is a way to give to others and let the whole family be involved in the giving as well.

We talked and she has decided she will give one away here on my blog.  I am so excited.

An early Christmas Gift.  I love Christmas. 

Leave a comment and let me know if you are interested.  I will have a drawing on October 23, and I'll get in touch with the winner!   I'll write all the names and have my grandson pick one.

How will she get a copy of the book to the winner?  She can offer a mobi format for a kindle, or a pdf. file, or a format for a Nook.  You can let me know what form of it you would like.

Now who is Marianne B. Ball?

A bit about Marianne B. Ball.

When did you first start writing?

In high school, I had English teachers who encouraged me to write. I graduated Writer's Digest School in 1984 and then continued to develop my writing throughout my college years. In 1994, I wrote a high school character-education curriculum that was implemented nearly county-wide for twelve years. In 2010, I established my blog, Adventures in the Ballpark, where I write about life's adventures.

Who are your favorite authors? Favorite book?

For fiction, John Grisham and J.K. Rowling are both are captivating storytellers. Jen Hatmaker and Lysa TerKeurst write insightfully about women's spiritual growth. My favorite book is Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud. It’s the best book I've ever read about healthy relationships.

Tell readers about your e-book, The 12 Days of Christmas Adventure.

On Dec. 13^th, 1993, we were anonymously gifted with a Bijou pear and a handmade note welcoming us to “the 12 Days of Christmas.” For the next eleven days, small gifts arrived on our doorstep from the same anonymous giver. Our family loved the mystery, the surprise, everything about this creative gift. When it ended on Christmas Eve, I decided I wanted to gift someone, in the same way, the following year because we had so loved the experience. It’s an adventure we have been perpetuating ever since. Giving gifts anonymously is not a new idea; however, our family spun the tradition by giving gifts (many homemade) that actually played on the lyrics of the carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Doves, dancing ladies, leaping lords, drummers. This is when our adventure really began.

Does the book offer gift ideas that match the lyrics of the song?

Yes! That is the bulk of the book - gifts that match, or creatively deviate, from the words.

Each chapter of the book covers one day of the song, and there are at least 12 gift ideas for each day. For example: on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree – it’s not realistic to give someone a tree and a live bird. But, one gift idea for this day is to create a partridge in a prayer tree – a simple hand drawn (or computer generated) tree with a bird in it and construction paper pears attached. On the pears, write scripture verses for your giftee. Attach a ribbon for hanging. This gift can be displayed every year.

What if you love this idea, but you’re not crafty?

You don’t have to be crafty to enjoy this adventure. Gifts can be purchased – or baked – as well. For each day, there are many gift suggestions in the book. One of my favorite purchased gifts for Day 9 (nine ladies dancing) is a package of snowmen marshmallow PEEPS. Most people don’t pay attention to this, but there are 9 PEEPS in the package, and the snowmen have top hats and canes – they’re dancing!  “9 snowmen dancing” is a perfect example of an inexpensive, purchased gift that is ideal for Day 9.

How did you come up with so many ideas?

Well, we’ve have been doing this project for over 20 years. So, we’ve discovered lots of things that coincide with these Christmas lyrics. Secondly, I keep a look out all year long for gifts with The Twelve Days of Christmas items on them: birds, pears, turtles, things that are French, rings, etc. It’s amazing what you can find.

How do you decide who to give this gift to every year?

That’s always the easiest part. We all know people who are struggling for one reason or another. We usually know who we will be surprising with this gift by September. We have given this gift to families dealing with cancer, divorce, accidents, and people who have lost a loved one during the year. (In the book, some of these recipients share what this gift meant to them.) We’ve also given this gift to people who are celebrating as well – a new baby, or a new home.

How did receiving this gift so long ago impact you and your family?

It really moved me that a friend was thinking about us for 12 days during the busiest time of the year. The gifts we received were small and inexpensive – they really weren’t the point. We simply loved being treated to 12 days of surprises. The greater impact, however, was annually executing this project with our own three kids. It gave us all a focus outside ourselves during the holiday season. I loved seeing our kids become excited about who we were going to surprise every year. Giving became more important than getting. This, to me, is the real value of this 12 days adventure.

Who is your target audience with this ebook?

Honestly, everyone – singles, couples, families, youth groups, grandparents. Every age group can learn how to surprise a friend using this colorful, easy-to-read book. It has over 100 gift ideas, recipes, and tutorials. Individuals can also work together to surprise a third party. A local Christian school in our area has adopted the project – the entire faculty works together to present The 12 Days to a needy family.

When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?

Mostly, helping my parents, who are in their 90's. They have various disabilities, but are relatively healthy.

What inspires you to get out of bed each day?

The fact that God has a plan for my life. I trust that and cling to Him daily. Even when my folks are both in the hospital and I don't have any chocolate in the house.

Where can readers get your ebook?

E-book Distributor:  MARIANNE BAKER BALL AT SMASHWORDS (Kindle format, pdf, epub, rtf, lrt, pdb, txt, and online reader formats)

BARNES AND NOBLE for Nook

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