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Great news…

After years of procrastination I’ve taken the plunge… My first children’s book has been published.

A Special Adventure for Hugo Hugs was inspired by Proverbs 11:25 and tells the story of a fun little character who discovers what is means to find real satisfaction instead of fleeting fame. This vibrant book was written while writing a study on Proverbs and I wanted to find a way to share some of the wisdom in Proverbs for younger readers and their families too. The biggest challenge was illustration – a children’s book is nothing without its pictures. Anyone who knows me will know that even my stick figures look like some type of bizarre code so I stitched together my own character and roped in a photographer friend, Dave Simpson, to help the story come to life.

You can read more about the release at:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/JanineIrvine/08/prweb11021458.htm

Or check out the book’s webpage:

http://www.aspecialadventureforhugohugs.com/

If you would like to order a copy from me, I have copies available for $20 each (+ $5 P&P if needed). Send me an email with your details and I’ll supply details on internet payments. Limited stock available!

The book has been published in the USA so copies are available online at www.amazon.com or www.xlibris.com – but will be more expensive than ordering direct from me.  However, the e-book is only $3.99 at Xlibris if you’ve made the switch to e-reading. Search for ‘Hugo Hugs’ or ‘Janine Irvine’ to find listed items.

If you enjoy the book, please recommend it to others or forward this email!

Janine Irvine

jane and kezia were up early for swimming / walking pearl

then later in the morning Tim came over

and Tim, me, Esther and Amy went to a guinea pig show

it was in greenhithe which is quite posh so we were expecting great things

it turned out to not be that big (or busy), but was really funny

this is a lady judging guinea pigs.  this one didn’t have big enough shoulders apparently

some had curlers

kezia had a friend over today (also called Amy – apologies if i’m spelling either amy’s name wrong).

kezia and her amy went to the shopping mall for a few hours whilst jane went to the supermarket

then after lunch Tim went off to watch some rugby before he flies off to australia tomorrow, and the rest of us went to the launch party for the hugo hugs book

we were invited because i took the pictures which appear in the book

and kezia was the model

there were lots of hugo hugs styled food and leaflets

and cake …

then this evening we watched Murder On The Orient Express which confused everyone

you can read more about the book here:  http://www.prweb.com/releases/JanineIrvine/08/prweb11021458.htm

kezia had a mid-term break day off school today so i took a day off work and we both went to shoot animals at the zoo

the weather forecast was a bit rubbish but we went anyway

we arrived at 9.30am but by 11.30 it was chucking it down with rain and very cold

we stuck it out until about 1pm then came home.  between us we had around 800 photos i think

these are kezia’s photos

she also fed a giraffe

meanwhile jane and esther had school

and then this evening kezia had swimming

and jane and esther walked pearl

a good day out!

school and work for all.  

i had a busy day, but with a great out come at the end of the day when i heard a piece of work i’d done earlier in the year had been successful and we got the result we wanted with government! yay.

esther had orchestra after school so we met at the bus station.  i waited half an hour for her yesterday before realising i was a day early.  only 2 minutes wait this evening.

then this evening kezia had swimming.  all are exhausted but i have the day off work tomorrow as kez has the day off school.

work/school.  youth for esther this evening and photo club for me

both my images this week got honours, so that’s nice.  the subject was street art/graffiti:

funny old trip to the allergy place today.  i was just there for a dairy allergy test, but whilst i was there i asked if they could test a few other allergies too, so i ended up with 16 holes in my arm covering a variety of things, including dairy. 

in the end, none of the dairy items showed up with a reaction (though i can still be intolerant) but i did find i was allergic to dust, mould, cats, dogs and various pollens and grasses.  all of which i already knew (except the dog).

the nurse was so impressed by my reaction she brought a couple of other nurses in for a look!

my english friend Alex also popped round this morning for a coffee and a chat.  not seen him for a while so that was good.  and i posted some letters

jane and the girls had school, then violin and swimming

here’s a good hairdressers sign (above) and a good advert positioning for Mad Butcher’s fresh thighs and wings next to pictures of dieting large people.

everyone had school/work.  esther had tennis after school

kezia cooked burgers and i made a little video of it.  but i don’t know about video editing so haven’t can’t do anything with it!

church this morning then various domesticnesses.  to be honest i’m not sure what everyone got up to this afternoon as i slept for 4 hours as i was feeling like i was going down with a cold.  feel a bit better now though

this evening our friends tracey and john came round to talk about website problems which i managed to fix.  they brought some chocolate which had a story on it (you might be able to just about read it by clicking on the picture below). 

the picture at the top is of me last night.  Tim took it whilst running around swirling my torch during the long exposure

jane and the girls took pearl for an early morning walk at long bay

then jane went out for a coffee with a french neighbour and spoke french lots

jane was back just in time to go out again for a hair cut (exhibit A above)

whilst jane was out the girls and i went to an open home down the road to have a nosey

this evening i spent 5 hours in auckland with our friend Tim and a dozen people from hamilton who had come up to do some photoing of auckland at night

i didn’t get too many great photos, but i enjoyed using my new camera and did see a man with an amazing mullet

here’s Tim.  he hasn’t got a mullet

jane and the girls watched a DVD and had hellish pizza

a jolly day for all

jane was back at school today and i worked from home

kezia had swimming after school. esther, jane and pearl went for a lovely walk on the beach

then we watched some family telly.

kezia got her results for her violin exam last week, but won’t let me tell you what they are.  instead you’ll have to ‘watch this space’