Numbers a-go-go

I recently did a post about working on letters in alphabet ride. So I figured today we would show you how we are working on our numbers with the boys.

On our way back from school conferences Josh came up with this idea.

The best way for our boys to work on things that aren't that fun is to find a way to hold their attention. Props again to every single teacher out there for doing this every single day.

So we give you CARS A GO-GO

There isn't too much into this craft. Right now the goal is to know all our numbers up to 100, in order and out of order.

So we captured the picture of NASCARs from 1-100. You would not believe the options out there!

 

The thing that takes most time is collecting all the cars.

 

Use them as flashcards or line them up!

 

I can send you a copy of the NASCARs that we picked out if you shoot me a message. Or just have fun going out there and picking out your favorite cars with your kiddos.

 

Two for Twosday

Two for Twosday: two thoughts/ updates/ photos/ something that I don't want to forget or am flat out oober excited about.

1. HALLOWEEN is tomorrow!!!!! We are carving pumpkins tonight! I know it's the night before... we seem to have a bad habit though of carving too early and then... roting pumpkins. That and life has been going non-stop so the night before it is!

This year I want to roast some pumpkin seeds. I found this roasted pumpkin seeds recipe. If you have one that you know is great, PLEASE share!


2. Also that means that November is around the corner. Last year I did thirty days of what I was thankful for. Friends and family had a great time reading them. The thing is, I got SO much out of it. It was great for me. One of the all time great scrappers, Cathy Zielske, has put together a mini album that I cannot wait to play with. Take a look at her 30 days of thankful: A gratitude album project.

Thank you

The military holds a very special spot in our families heart.

I saw this picture and wanted to share with you all.

Maybe it slipped your mind as to what this is. This is the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in Arlington, Virginia. Currently there are hurricane weather warnings in this area.

Thank you to the men that have and will stand guard. Thank you for carrying on this duty even while the weather is terrible.

Thank you from our family.

Oorah!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Remains Guarded Through Hurricane Sandy

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Alphabet Ride

Sometimes kiddos have a rough time with paying attention to things that aren't that... exciting. Shocker, right?! Enter school time... a lot of learning sometimes... not that exciting. NOT that the teachers aren't trying, please don't misunderstand me on that. Josh and I believe that the learning shouldn't just take place at school though. The more we work with our boys at home just helps them that much more at school.

To make things a little more attention grabbing for our boys we turned to cars.

We made a car that needs to get around with some letter wheels. OH YEAH YOU'RE EXCITED ARE'NT YOU?!?! Please calm down for just a second and you can have one of these too!


What you will need:
Construction paper
Glue
Sharpie
2" circle punch
(If you don't have one, no biggie, just fold the paper in half and cut a half circle. Next time you are looking at expanding your craft supplies though, I HIGHLY suggest a circle punch. I got mine at Michaels, I think it was around $12.)


I started out with making the car. That's the hardest part of the whole thing, promise
I used one whole sheet of white 12x12 construction paper for the back.
The rest is just paper-piecing the scene together. Your going to want to glue down your paper scene. Add more detail or less completely up to you.
*I cheated on the wheel spots. I used the 2" circle punch to get the right size.
*This is the only spot you want to use the glue. The letters will need to be removable.

 

 

Next, punch 52 circles out! Again you don't have to use a circle punch you could fold the construction paper and cut a half a circle and ta-dah, perfect whole circle. Each circle will have one letter on it. So grab the sharpie and do 26 upper and 26 lowercase. 

 

*Make sure to keep the upper and lowercase separated for now. You could make that a part of the game too though. Mix up the letters and have the kiddos put the uppercase in one pile and lowercase in another. 

 

 

 



Your done creating. Wasn't that bad was it?

 

So here is the game...

Place the car page down with the uppercase on one side of the page and the lowercase on the opposite.

 

Call two uppercase letters out:

 

Call two lowercase letters out:

 

Call one uppercase and the matching lowercase:

 

 

Mix it up, match it up, call it out... most of all, HAVE FUN!

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



Book log: The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games Trilogy
By: Suzanne Collins

OVERALL TRILOGY RATING
TWO OUT OF FIVE STARS
(That was the average that I got from my scores given.)

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-The Hunger Games
THREE OUT OF FIVE STARS

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with everyone out to make sure you don't live to see the morning? In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

My thoughts-

It was a shocker to me that this book was being read by pre-teens. It's about children killing children to survive. I didn't like the book so much BECAUSE they had children killing children. Just wasn't my cup of tea, okay! That was my thought half way through. The second half of the book is when I couldn't put it down.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Catching Fire
THREE OUT OF FIVE STARS

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn.

My thoughts-
I know what you're thinking and I will stomp it now. You didn't like the first one so why read the second one. Well... enter a ton of peer pressure and here I am reading the second book in the series. I liked this book MUCH more than the first book.

So by the description of the book you get that Katniss is back in the arena. The part that you don't except is how *SPOILER* she leaves the arena....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Mockingjay
ONE OUT OF FIVE STARS

 



Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plains--except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter what the personal cost

My thoughts-

Again let me stop you from asking why did you read the third book if you weren't a fan of the first two. Well, your going to like this reason... I was told it was so horrible that I had to read it. Psh, why not!

They were right. The third book in this trilogy was terrible. It does not read like the first two books. The writing is choppy, like they wanted to get it done and published. Almost like the third one was written by a different author who didn't really read the other two books but got a brief rundown of what happened.

The characters are nothing like they were in the previous books. This is understandable on some level however it's never explained like it would have been before.

One of the main reasons for the revolution was to stop the games. Yet somehow they find themselves voting on having more. What was the point in the revolution.... Katniss even asks herself this question.

The ultimate question is does Katniss choose to marry Peta or Gail... I'm not going to tell you that BUT I am going to say that I was and still am Team Gail.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SIDE NOTE

They did make a movie out of The Hunger Games. I do not know for sure if they are coming out with a second one, I'm sure by the popularity of the books and movie that they are.

The historical question... book vs movie

My hubby and I watched the movie, we chose NOT to allow our children to watch this, and there were so many spots that were left out from the book. Mr Josh really liked it, but he had questions about why this was happening or that. Really without reading the book you wouldn't have known why either.

So that is why...

BOOK for me
MOVIE for him

Trick or Treating Tuesday

Normally on Tuesday I give you two updates, news, etc... Well the fall season has me in the crafty mode!So without further ado, here are some of my craft fun-ness that is on our to-do list.

The VERY hungry Caterpillar
Paint 10 pumpkins and the stems (light green and black paint), arrange to form a caterpillar, and cover with adhesive-felt dots. Finish the creepy creature with a pair of large googly eyes.

Stringing scary
Create a spooky cast of characters. Use spools of thread for the mini-monster's bodies. Embellish with googly eyes, ribbon and string. We used felt cutouts for the eyes and mouths for the creatures.

Jack-O'-Lantern without the mess
Paper-wrapped glass cylinders mimic the look. Wrap yellow paper around glass cylinders. Cut patterns out of orange paper and wrap on top of the yellow paper.

Spooky Sunflowers
Use card stock and attach to Sunflower!

Faux Fall Leaf Window Dressing
Sam, Louis and Rian can go on a twig hunt for this one. Cut out various shapes of leaves on bright colored paper; crinkle and then flatten the leaves. Use hot glue to attach the leaves to a length of twine or string.

Shot out to bhg.com with these GREAT fall ideas! Can't wait to try these out :)

Book log: Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon
By: Daniel Keyes

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS

My thoughts-

*Spoiler*

Charlie is a mentally disabled adult. He holds a job at a bakery doing tasks that he is able to do. Through an operation he is turned into a genius in a very short time. The experimental operation gives Charlie a taste of what "normal" life is like. The problem, the experiment was tested only for a short amount of time... on a mouse, Algernon. Charlie takes an amazing journey but only to find that he has lost himself. The real Charlie. The Charlie that our society just isn't ready to welcome.

Charlie discovers many things while genius. He saw how he was treated before the operations. His 'friends' that didn't really treat him as a friend should. Or the statement that one of the doctors continually says throughout the book, that he created him, finally wears on Charlie. It indicates that this doctor presumes that he was not a human until the doctor made him.

The million dollar question throughout the book... how long will he get to be this way?

..................................................................

One last thing. Retarded. I HATE THIS WORD WITH A PASSION. It's used a few times in different spots. I understand the meaning. Retardation, means delayed. Yet our society rarely uses it in that form. Why? Why can't we use this word the way it is meant to be used and NOT in a form that is degrading to other people in our society? For goodness sake we talk about kids bullying, yet here we are as adults still using this as... what a back up joke? You've taken a term that is used to describe a human's disability and adjusted it for your jokes. SICK.

So here is my challenge.
I beg, no, I dare you to not use this word out of context. Be observant, how many people around you use this word? What if every time someone used this word, you asked them not to?

Make a difference and stop using a hurtful word.

Book log: The Language of Flowers

The Language of Flowers
By: Vanessa Diffenbaugh

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS

Description-
A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what’s been missing in her life, and when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

My thoughts-
Real. This book reads real. The pain and hurt was tangible. The need to communicate through flowers made you want to learn the language. I kept finding myself trying to remember what every single flower meant that was used.

This book hit very close to home for us. Our family has a very close understanding of adoption, foster children and mixed families. It's everything that you don't want and want to happen all smacked up together. The fear of what happens to some children in "the system". The hope that they can over come the hand that was delt to them.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

SUPRISE!

MY BROTHER WAYNE IS IN MISSOURI!!!

We are so stocked to have him out here.

He has lots of decisions and choices to make.

Truly excited for the new journey that he gets to start.

Halloween fun

We have a few Halloween traditions that we have.

-The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, this is a classic. My brother got me the Charlie Brown DVD three pack for Christmas a few years back. It includes The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas. They are all must watch movies for the holidays.

-Apple cider, YUM

-Pumpkin patch, we love getting out to the pumpkin patch.

-Decorations. I love the re-usable gel window cling thingys. They are great. We made a pumpkin garland years ago and keep on using it.

Those I've already shared with you... The biggest one of all... COSTUME CHOICES!

Costumes. The decision is unbearable. I remember deciding to be one thing and then changing my mind three or four times. I now know what my Momma went through. The boys decided early and are not changing their minds. It's given us enough time to try making our own! We've done this a few times and have had fun. Sometimes you just don't have the time for it.

This year we will be preparing...

 Drum roll.....
 

Rian will be a pumpkin.

 

Louis will be an Angry bird, the red one.

 

Samual will be a lion.

Can't wait to show you the amazing costumes that our boys are putting together. That's right! I'm not doing this on my own. Our boys have decided they want to get in on the costume making fun!

AND THE BONUS!!!

 My little brother WAYNE is here to celebrate with us!!! He hasn't decided what he will be this year. Sometimes you don't grow out of the hard choice of what you will be for Halloween. : )
 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-

Show and Shcary

With three boys we are always looking for cool boy stuff to do. No pink here!

 Halloween is fast upon us! Our boys picked out their costumes early enough for us to... drum roll please... make homemade costumes this year!!! More on that later. : )
 With all the holidays and pictures I do a ton of scrapbooking. Let me rephrase that. I have a ton of scrapbooking to get to. I am some what of a hybrid scrapper. I kind of have a soft spot for fonts. I love having tons of fonts to pick from. My Pintresting landed some pretty cool Halloween fonts for free!!! So I shall share them with you :)

 



{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Look ma, I'm cooking!

You know when you're talking to your girlfriends and somehow someone will blurt out...
"Oh and *insert significant other's name here* cooked dinner last night".
Then all the girls do a "Oh how sweet is that! I wish *insert significant other's name here* would do that for our family".

Well ladies I really hate to do this to you but Mr. Josh is the cooker in our family. I know! I know! It's pretty great. Not that I don't throw in a meal or two every now and then. For the most part though Mr. Josh does the cooking.

For a few reasons...

1. I loath grocery shopping. I get nervous. I get distracted. I don't know what the heck I'm looking at sometimes. When I do go, I leave with a $300 total and really no 'meals'.

2. I suck at cooking.

3. I am not artistic with food. I don't look in the fridge and say "Oh, why that... artichoke would taste delightful with... a... side of..." SEE I can't even make up a pretend sentence for you. I am that terrible at "throwing things together".

4. By the time I get off work, get all the kiddos picked up, unloaded, listen to their days, make sure the dog gets taken out, look at all the paper work/art that the kids did I DON'T FEEL LIKE STANDING BY THE STOVE AND COOKING.

5. I want to "throw things together" by turning the oven on, putting a frozen pizza in and call it a night. OR flash back from middle school... put some spaghetti-Os on the stove. DONE.

6. Mr. Josh enjoys cooking. Why take that away from him?!

So really our cooking relationship works out really well : )

UNTIL...

You buy a house that has a ton of renovation that needs to be done to it and Mr. Josh doesn't come home until 10:30 at night.

*** Slight distraction here... Can I just throw a big GO MR. JOSH!!! My hubby leaves for work at about 5:45 in the morning. As soon as he is off his full time job he heads to our work in progress home and works there until 10:30 ish if not later. Yeah he is amazing. We do have a few AMAZINGLY GREAT friends that have been helping us too! Tony, Tony's little bro, The J Crew (these might be their nicknames by the way).***

That being said. I have been doing the cooking around here full time. You're feeling my pain right?

The first week was actually terrifying.
The second week I got my meal schedule together and went shopping and that made it easier.
The third week... I had a grocery shopping panic attack and made Mr. Josh go. That's another story for another time.
That brings us to this week...

Not trying to toot my own horn here. I "threw a meal together" last night!!! YEAH IT HAPPENED!
Chicken, corn, peas, couscous in tortillas.

We probably didn't have to do the tortillas BUT the boys seem to eat when you put any food in tortilla form. Pick your battles right?

I figured I had a recipe, by George I shall share it!

Remember this is for a family of five.
Needed:
3 good size boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 boxes of couscous
1 can corn
1 can peas
Tortillas
2 1/2 cups of water
2 tbsp olive oil

-Prepare chicken. Nothing fancy here. Cook thoroughly, no pink!
-While chicken is cooking, in a separate pan bring water, oil, corn and peas to a boil.
-Once chicken is thoroughly cooked pull it apart into little strips of chicken.
-Mix couscous and chicken into the boiling water. Remove from heat.
-Let sit about 6 minutes
-Stir it up and put into tortillas!!!

*I added some hot sauce to mine, just cause that's how I roll.

YUMMY!

Sharing: Our Pumpkins

I made these decorations for Samual's first Halloween, SIX YEARS AGO. The majority of them are still gracing the main window. 

When I made these decorations they weren't made for long term decor. Apparently they last!

What you'll need:
-Cellophane pumpkin treat bag
-Packaging paper OR the cheapest tissue paper you can get. We had a plethora of brown packaging paper, orange tissue paper would like cool.
-Confetti paper. It's basically strips of construction paper that has been folded back and forth.'
-String
-Clothes pins

Steps to create pumpkins:
-Open the cellophane pumpkin treat bag
-Fill the treat bag to desired 'fluffy-ness'. Leave at least an inch on top.
-Fill the remaining room with confetti paper.
-Repeat for as many pumpkins as you want : )

Steps to hanging pumpkins:
-Tack your string up... make a clothes line.
-With the clothes pins, pin one pumpkin at a time up on the line.

The first year I made these pumpkins they hung outside. The following years they were inside decorations. This was the first year that we lost one of our little pumpkins.

 

So farewell my little pumpkin. You will be missed.

Having a very pumpkin evening

Tonight we decorated for Halloween and fall. Maybe my favorite time of year. I wont lie I love holidays, all holidays. Halloween was my Grandma's favorite holiday. I loved all the fun that she put in to Halloween. Homemade costumes, special trick or treating treats, scary stories, caramel-apples, cider, decorating, movies, the battery operated ghost that wiggled when you walked by... I could keep going. Gram made holidays so very special. Knowing this washer favorite and she did so much to entertain the kiddos, meant SO very much.

Tonight I'll keep that spirit going with the boys. We decorated for Halloween and watched 'It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown', my Momma's favorite Halloween movie.

Book log: Life of Pi

Life of Pi
By: Yann Martel
FOUR AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE STARS

Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Piscine Patel choose to live this life. In all things he choose to follow that life. The question is do you believe.

Life of Pi is a masterful and utterly original novel that is at once the story of a young castaway who faces immeasurable hardships on the high seas, and a meditation on religion, faith, art and life that is as witty as it is profound. Using the threads of all of our best stories, Yann Martel has woven a glorious spiritual adventure that makes us question what it means to be alive, and to believe.

Growing up in Pondicherry, India, Piscine Molitor Patel -- known as Pi -- has a rich life. Bookish by nature, young Pi acquires a broad knowledge of not only the great religious texts but of all literature, and has a great curiosity about how the world works. His family runs the local zoo, and he spends many of his days among goats, hippos, swans, and bears, developing his own theories about the nature of animals and how human nature conforms to it. Pi’s family life is quite happy, even though his brother picks on him and his parents aren’t quite sure how to accept his decision to simultaneously embrace and practise three religions -- Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.

But despite the lush and nurturing variety of Pi’s world, there are broad political changes afoot in India, and when Pi is sixteen his parents decide that the family needs to escape to a better life. Choosing to move to Canada, they close the zoo, pack their belongings, and board a Japanese cargo ship called the Tsimtsum. Travelling with them are many of their animals, bound for zoos in North America. However, they have only just begun their journey when the ship sinks, taking the dreams of the Patel family down with it. Only Pi survives, cast adrift in a lifeboat with the unlikeliest of travelling companions: a zebra, an orang-utan, a hyena, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Thus begins Pi Patel’s epic, 227-day voyage across the Pacific, and the powerful story of faith and survival at the heart of Life of Pi. Worn and scared, oscillating between hope and despair, Pi is witness to the playing out of the food chain, quite aware of his new position within it. When only the tiger is left of the seafaring menagerie, Pi realizes that his survival depends on his ability to assert his own will, and sets upon a grand and ordered scheme to keep from being Richard Parker’s next meal.

As the days pass, Pi fights both boredom and terror by throwing himself into the practical details of surviving on the open sea -- catching fish, collecting rain water, protecting himself from the sun -- all the while ensuring that the tiger is also kept alive, and knows that Pi is the key to his survival. The castaways face gruelling pain in their brushes with starvation, illness, and the storms that lash the small boat, but there is also the solace of beauty: the rainbow hues of a dorado’s death-throes, the peaceful eye of a looming whale, the shimmering blues of the ocean’s swells. Hope is fleeting, however, and despite adapting his religious practices to his daily routine, Pi feels the constant, pressing weight of despair. It is during the most hopeless and gruelling days of his voyage that Pi whittles to the core of his beliefs, casts off his own assumptions, and faces his underlying terrors head-on.

As Yann Martel has said in one interview, “The theme of this novel can be summarized in three lines. Life is a story. You can choose your story. And a story with an imaginative overlay is the better story.” And for Martel, the greatest imaginative overlay is religion. “God is a shorthand for anything that is beyond the material -- any greater pattern of meaning.” In Life of Pi, the question of stories, and of what stories to believe, is front and centre from the beginning, when the author tells us how he was led to Pi Patel and to this novel: in an Indian coffee house, a gentleman told him, “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” And as this novel comes to its brilliant conclusion, Pi shows us that the story with the imaginative overlay is also the story that contains the most truth.

Book log: 1Q84

1Q84

By:Haruki Myrakami

TWO OUT OF FIVE STARS

The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.

A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.

As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector.

A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s—1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers

I'm going to be real with you on this one. This is not the kind of book that I would normally pick up and read the back and be like, YEAH I want to read this! It was one of the books that the Nook book club picked out on Goodreads. I figured I'd give it a whirl.

One of the reasons I would not typically pick this book our is well.. I'm not good at reading Asian literature. I have a hard time following it. Character names in Asian lit always mess me up. I try to relate to characters in books and when I can't really keep them straight... it messes me up.

I felt this book had a solid plot. However, it kept repeating many parts. I know in part that was because the author was showing different views of one situation. I might even have to chalk some of that up to the fact that this was a book that was translated. The bottom line repeat parts were more distracting.

The thing that did have me read on was that I did find myself wanting to know. The mystery behind the whole story was great. I don't think you could read this book and not find an 'angle' that you would be able to follow. It had a little of every genre in it.

When I did get the characters straight Aomame became an amazing person to me.

You defiantly have to let go with your typical thoughts on this book.

Book log: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree grows in Brooklyn

By: Betty Smith

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS

What they say:

The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.

 

What I have to say:

Wow! I’ve been trying to read books that are classified as classics or that are one of my families’ favorites. This one was on the list. Great read! Ms Smith does an amazing job of taking you back to a time where the heading of a newspaper was everything.

 

The book was great for these reasons:

-A family that struggles together.

-True heart break.

-It made me think what my Grandma was thinking/feeling when she read this book.

-It reminded me what you family will do for one another.

 

I challenge you this: Find out what your Grandparents, parents, someone you respect, brother, sister, best friends’s favorite book is and read it. It lets you into their style.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.


This one has four pictures but it should count as one ;)

Book Log: The Kitchen House

The Kitchen House
by Kathleen Grissom

FOUR AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE STARS

When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while on board ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.

GREAT BOOK! This book had been on my list to read for a while. I could not put the book down. It made you go through literally every single emotion. I found myself wanting so badly to yell at the characters to tell the secret to save one another. It was a book that you thought you might guess the ending to. Until you realize you had it all wrong at the end. Then you want to read it all over again with the new understanding. I’m being vague and I know it. Mainly so that you will get this book and read it.

Mawwiage

"Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togethew today. Mawwiage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam within a dweam. And wove, twue wove, wiww fowwow you fowevah and evah... So tweasuwe youw wove..." -Impressive Clergyman

If you haven't seen Princess Bride, watch it, it's a classic.

Josh and I just celebrated an anniversary. Yay go Team Launius!

We had a fabulous time; we got to dress up, dinner with candles, champagne. Yes, my hubby is a romantic. Our anniversary was just that though a day that we get to celebrate all the hard work that we put into our relationship every single day.

We are still in our honeymoon stage. Don't get me wrong there have been some definite ups and downs. The amazing thing about being married though, my husband went through those ups and downs with me. My best friend was there through it all.

My best friend and now sister-in-law helped coordinate a wedding shower. Everyone wrote down a piece of marriage advice to us. Some from single ladies, some from people in a relationship, and some from married couples. They were all great! 

- Marriage is not 50%/50%. It’s each person giving 100%.
- Laugh and play together.
- You must have open lines of communication for your marriage to thrive.
- Love is not just a feeling – it is a choice.
- Don’t go to bed angry.
- When there is a problem, even if it is 90% the other person’s fault, you still need to apologize for  the 10% that is your fault.
- Keep dating after you’re married … be his wife, but also still be his girlfriend.
- Respect the roles God gave for the husband and the wife.
- Give and receive criticism with love.
- Flirt with each other – and with no one else.
- Pray together.
- Men and women are different. Learn to speak and understand each other’s language.
- Grow closer to God and grow closer to each other.
- Make your bed everyday.

Before Josh and I were engaged he asked me what I pictured a marriage to be like. I wanted and still want the marriage that my Grandma and Gramps had. They were always a guiding light through good times and bad. I asked my Gramps once about their marriage. This is what he had to say...

"Love. Love each other fully each and everyday. Love the bad times. Love the good times."
- Gramps Manning

Mind you my Gramps was not a talker, my Grandma was. She told me about the ring that she had made for Gramps. On the outside it was a plan gold band. On the inside though were four, four leaf clovers. They were so worn that if you didn't know about them you wouldn't have seen them. My grandparents were German-Irish so any superstitions they would know. The four leaf clover stands for faith, hope, love and luck.

I think my grandparents were pretty smart.

Here's to faith, hope, love and a little luck!

GO TEAM LAUNIUS!

PS
Found this post, Relationships: the first year of marriage and really enjoyed it.

*Special* Twenty-two for ALAN

Typically on 'Two for Twosday' I give a shot out of two thoughts/ updates/ photos/ something that I don't want to forget or am flat out oober excited about.

Today we are celebrating my youngest brother Alan's birthday!!! He is turning 22! Crazy right!

So in honor of the young man that he is, I'm going to give you all 22 amazing shot outs about him.

1. He has the biggest heart.

This is a photo of Alan, Gramps and Samual.

October 2006

 

2. He isn't scared to try new things.

Wayne and Alan deep frying our turkey for Thanksgiving.

 

3. He is a wonderful uncle!!!

Uncle Alan and Rian

 

4. He likes cheese.

Alan, Me, Rian and Josh at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

 

5. He will hold your towel if you decide to run into the Pacific ocean.

Alan watching Josh run in.

6. He cleans up real nice.

Alan looking superb!

7. He has amazing facial hair.

Alan at the Flying Saucer in Missouri.

8. He knows what team to cheer for. GO CARDINALS!

Alan wearing his authentic Cards jersey from Missouri.

 

9. He's our hero.

Wayne, me and Alan after Al's accident.

10. He is always there for you, even if it is a 3 hour time difference.

Samual and Alan at the Courthouse Exchange.

We had to get some grub!

 

11. He is crazy good at games. Like magic good.

Alan playing with his new toy. I couldn't figure out how to turn it off.

 

12. Outstanding cook! Chef Boyardee doesn't have anything on him.

Alan with Samual and Louis smoking some beer chicken.

 

13. Insanely creative.

Alan designed his first tat.

 

14. He has an amazing perspective on life.

Alan the Water Viking.

 

15. Terrific laugh and the ability to make others laugh.

Me and Alan at my wedding.

 

16. Beautiful singer

Alan and Cooper.

 

17. Very deep thinker.

Rian and Alan looking out for the dinosaurs.

 

18. TALKER

Jacob, Alan, Zabor, Drew and Josh

 

19. Always up for a fun time.

Me and Alan getting ready for Rian's BLUE birthday party.

 

20. Passionate about history.

Alan at the Independence train stop.

 

21. Makes every family outing fun.

Wayne, Louis, Samual and Alan at the 'Magical Night of Reading'.

 

22. Our little Alan!

Momma, Alan, Me and Wayne

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALAN!

 

 

Love,

Josh, Anna, Samual, Louis, Rian and Cooper