Summer Reading
Since I don’t have access to my pictures on the computer I’m currently using, this will be a pictureless post. Kody unplugged the one with our picture files and I am currently waiting for my new mini laptop that I got for my birthday. It was shipped yesterday, so it should be here soon!
So, we are doing the summer reading program at our public library again. We are a reading family, so we’ll probably do it as long as it is offered! The great thing about our library’s program is that they include the parents and younger siblings of children who are actually the right age to participate. So Kristopher is actually “signed up,” but Taylor, Kameron and I also get to keep a reading list and earn book bucks. Kameron gets special baby ones and I get adult book bucks. At the end of the program in a few weeks we will get to spend our book bucks on items like school supplies, little toys, coffee mugs, paper, etc. The reason for the different colored bucks is so the babies only shop at their table with safe toys and the adults stay at their designated tables. I think involving the whole family is great and actually encourages reading more than a program just for the K-12 crowd. Kristopher has already filled up 2 front and back pages with chapter books and is working on his third sheet. He has a little friendly competition going with his best friend B. He also really wants to reach the maximum number of allowed book bucks – although he really doesn’t need to. Last year he had over 100 and didn’t end up spending all of them because the merchandise is priced low so kids can get it! But he’s reading and enjoying, so if he wants all those that is fine with me!
Usually I don’t read much because our summers are so busy. I will count the books I read to Taylor and Kameron, but only read one of my own. This year I decided to actually read some books that interest me and I have enjoyed them. I have gotten less sleep this summer though! Here is my Summer Reading List:
Ford County: Stories by John Grisham – I’m a big fan of John Grisham and I really enjoyed his latest work.
Knit the Season by Kate Jacobs – I probably should have either skipped this one altogether or waited until closer to Christmas. I read her first novel last year, The Friday Night Knitting Club, and while it was enjoyable, this one just seemed to go on and on and just updated me on the old characters. It was kind of boring.
Ever After by Karen Kingsbury – Such a sweet story. Her books always make me cry, a lot, and this was no excecption. Even though her works are fiction, I always learn something from her writing because she uses so much of what is going on in the world to tell her stories. So good.
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks – I had a vague feeling that I’d started this one before, but not finished it. I did enjoy it though and am glad I read it. I have read most of his books and think his love stories are very good reads.
A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks – Now, this one was sad too. I did like it, but after the last two sappy love stories I was getting ready for a change, so my heart wasn’t in this read as much and I had to hurry to finish it! It was a good story though. Wonder if they’ll make a movie out of it – might be kind of a thriller…not his typical book turned movie romance.
I’m currently reading The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule. I actually own this book and have read it mostly before, but I wanted to reread for ideas so I checked it out from the library so I could count it. :) I think this will be my last for this summer (at least on the list.) Too much other stuff going on to focus on books right now. I’ve read many little kids books to Taylor & Kameron and will continue to do that. I let them pick theirs and then I pick some good ones for them so that we don’t have all Disney and board books to read.
Do you have a summer reading program at your library? If you do, and aren’t involved in it, check it out. We have a lot of fun and reading new books is always an adventure!
Filed under News | Comment (0)Bug ID
Can anyone tell me what this bug is? It has 6 legs and appears to have bright red fangs hanging down from it’s face. We looked in our bug book and didn’t find any answers. If you know tell me!
Filed under News | Comments (2)Ten Things on a Tuesday
1. Yesterday I realized that Kameron really likes things with wheels; vehicles. This is kind of new to me, having a boy who loves all things that go. Kristopher liked cars okay, but he didn’t sit and play with them for hours at a time and smile or laugh so much while doing it. If there are things with wheels around, you’ll see Kameron pushing them or trying to climb into them as the case was yesterday morning! He wanted to get in a diego jeep (a small toy one) at a friends house. :) He also wanted to drive our car and he loves riding on the lawn mower. I think he’s going to need his own little jeep/car to “drive” in the yard for his upcoming birthday!
2. Kristopher had his 5th piano lesson yesterday and he really seems to like it. I don’t have to tell him to practice everyday, he just does it, and he’s flying through the book. My friend who is teaching him said he’s doing really great. I am so happy he likes it and is doing so well, because when it comes to musical instruments I am not able to put my brain and hands together. My dad tried to teach me piano when I was a child and I didn’t like it, I tried to teach myself a bit in college and I didn’t really like it, and now I have looked at the stuff and tried a little and I still don’t really like it or find it easy to try to play. But I love to hear piano music and I hope that he will continue to play for me. Kody has been playing some things by ear too (which amazes me since I can’t sit down and do that), so maybe he will be playing more soon too.
3. A couple of weeks ago, I was having a rough morning getting ready for church. The dress I wanted to wear needed some hem work, so I did that with very little time to get ready, and then I was getting everyone else ready and the zipper split in the back. After that I looked in my closet and decided that I had nothing to wear! So, Saturday I went to a local thrift store to look. I found a beautiful dress for $3 that fit and another little weekday dress for $1. I also found 3 yards of a great fabric to make myself a fall dress ( I had a pattern in mind when I saw it – yay!) Then on Sunday, one of my good friends gave me a dress (brand new!) that she couldn’t wear because it was too short. That is never a problem for me and while it is not something I would normally pick out, I tried it on and I think it is pretty cute. So, I had a good dress weekend!
4. Kristopher had his games taken away for the last week and I am considering not ever giving them back…just kidding, I think. His offense wasn’t terrible, he just wasn’t listening and his attitude was poor much of the time. Since the games have been gone he has been so nice and good and things here have been peaceful. It seems like that’s the way it works wach time and I don’t think it has anything to do with “getting them back.” I think our house is just a more happy place when we are spending time together and helping each other. Once the games come back it is too tempting to ignore others and just turn the game on. Instead of finding something else to do when bored, all he can think of is games. I know his brother and sister are much happier when he is playing with them!
5. Well, my garden is not quite so beautiful anymore. Something knocked over a lot of my corn and I think something else tore a few of the stalks down. I’m not sure if it was a recent storm that knocked it over or if an animal did it. I didn’t see any tracks. My second corn planting is coming in and the ones that were knocked over seem to be okay, they just aren’t standing straight anymore. My second planting of green beans were supposed to be bush beans (I thought), but they seem to need something to grab onto, because they are shooting out vine things from their tops. I guess I need to work on something for them. I’m still hoping for a good crop of food, and praying that all animals and bugs will stay away from my veggies! We have gotten about 15 green beans (we sauteed them) and 6 blackberries so far. They were good!
6. I will be making lots of paper vines and waterfalls and animals on Saturday. That’s right, it’s time for VBS again! I am teaching the 3 year old class for the third year (3′s a charm!) I like the little ones and I’m looking forward to a great week. We’re doing the Sonquest Rainforest theme and teaching from the parables that Jesus used.
7. My birthday was last Saturday. Twenty-nine is not very exciting. I guess since I’ve been waiting and wanting to be 30 for so long I am just not happy with this age. I know no one wants to be 30, but I can’t wait. I look forward to being out of my twenties and feeling like the youngest one in my group of friends. I know I’ll still be the youngest, I just won’t feel quite so young when I’m 30, which to me is a good thing. I’m tired of being a kid! Anyway, this birthday was not very good – just a regular day for me, Kody was sick, so I had to make my own birthday dinner. I did get to go to town by myself for my regular errands, but I didn’t do anything exciting the rest of the day. I told Kody that I wanted a surprise party next year for my 30th. I have told him several times, actually. If I keep “reminding” him I guess I’ll expect it and if there is a party it won’t be much of a surprise, but either way I want a party! We’ll see.
8. It is so unbelieveably hot this week! I know everyone is talking about the weather and how hot it is, but I don’t remember the heat being this bad last year. We are drenched within 3 minutes of walking out the door and I can’t keep enough water on hand when we have to run errands in the car. I hope it cools off, just a little even, soon.
9. For my birthday, from my dad, I got some money. He usually sends money, but this time I had my short list of things I wanted and it turned out to be a perfect amount for them! I got a serger that I’ve been wanting for a long time; it’s just the cheapest little Singer one, but I don’t need a big fancy one to do what I want to. I also was able to get a little netbook/notebook computer. I got the Dell Inspiron 11z. I really wanted blue, but I decided that color wasn’t worth $40 extra. So I looked at skins and I found a really awesome one with trees that I hope is going to work. If it does it will be exactly what I want!
10. I’ve been watching my children lately when they are picking out clothes and listening when they complain about what I’ve picked out. I just think it’s funny to see how their sense of style has evolved. Kristopher likes his shirts to be kind of fitted, he doesn’t like loose or baggy shirts. I’m going to have to work on this some, because I like to buy his shirts big so he can wear them longer. He also likes his shorts to come down to his knees and cover the knee caps. If they are above his knees they bother him. (wow it’s really hard to type knees.) Taylor has decided that she really likes shirts with sleeves. She is not really a tank top kind of girl and she really doesn’t like thin straps. I know I shouldn’t complain about this because it will probably be a fight to get her to wear sleeves in the future, but she has so many cute sleeveless things that she doesn’t want to wear now. She also hasn’t been wanting to wear dresses much this summer and I’m not really sure why. I think she is just nervous that someone will see her underwear. She feels more secure if she is wearing the little short leggings with her dress. I guess I need to invest in some more of those so she’ll wear the dresses again!
Well, that’s 10. I was going to share my summer reading so far with you, but I’ll save that for another post. Enjoy your day and stay cool!
Filed under News | Comment (1)Garden 1.0
The garden is changing everyday, growing and being added to by me. I am enjoying it, but it is a lot of work! Of course I learn new things everyday too…like that I should fertilize my plants if I want them to get bigger…should have already known that.
Anyway, here is what it looked like on June 10th: (I even labeled it – click for larger)
In that big open space that says, “nothing grew here” I have now replanted some corn that will hopefully come in later and some pumpkin seeds in a row. I know they’re supposed to be in a hill, but I’m experimenting and since it’s my garden I can do that! The carrots and second zinnia planting were the other newest things and they’re labeled, but so far no carrots and only 4 small zinnia plants. Each time I go out I feel so excited to see all my plants, but then am discouraged by the things that aren’t growing. I need to be happier about the things that are growing. :)
Here are some close up shots of my plants.
Our kale is ready to eat, unfortunately I don’t think I really like it and I know I won’t cook greens, so not sure what to do with that. It is beautiful though! I’m not sure the cucumbers are going to make it. Yesterday when I went out they were lying down on the ground looking sad. Maybe that’s what they’re supposed to do though? We have lots of little tomatoes and I’m so happy about that. I have big plans to can lots and make spaghetti sauce and of course eat them everyday this summer! If you know anything about me it should be that I love tomatoes and could live off them. The peppers have small blooms on them now, so it looks like we will have a few peppers at least. In my second and third garden plots I have green beans, sunflowers, tomatoes and strawberries. The strawberry plants are growing, but we won’t get strawberries until next year. All the tomatoes in these areas are small and not ready yet, but the beans are taking off and looking great. I’m so excited for those as well. Yesterday there were even beans on the 4 plants in the big garden and they look ready to me, so maybe I will pick them today. Our blackberries are also coming along nicely and will be ready soon, I think. No blueberries this year though.
Saturday and yesterday I worked around the little sitting area we are making. Last April we tore down the smallest shed that was in our back yard and there was a concrete floor under it. We didn’t want to break it up and there was nothing much we could do with it since it’s not that big (12′ x 9′), so we’re turning it in to a sitting area. Earlier this spring we lined it and filled it with pea gravel. And now I am surrounding it with flowers so it looks nicer. I put roses, that I got for $3 at Lowe’s, along the back side and I’m really hoping that they live! The two long sides will match, although I only have finished one side right now. I have a rudbeckia in the middle and then bush that I can’t remember the name of (fire-something?), and then the dark red and yellow day lillies on the ends. My yellow butterfly bush is now next to the stepping stone going into the sitting area and I will either put daylillies or spiderwart (that my inlaws have offered me) next to it along the front. Hopefully I will get back to Lowe’s tonight for some of this and some mulch so that I can make it look like a real little flower garden. This is the first year that I’ve really done much with plants and I’m surprising myself with how much I enjoy it and how much fun it is to choose things. I hope that I can someday make our yard as beautiful as my in-laws!
Plants I still need to get: flowers for the last side of the sitting area; a hosta to put in the flower bed around the deck where I removed the butterfly bush; some kind of small, pretty, flowering tree for the front of the house next to the porch to make it less plain; 2 more blueberry bushes and 2 more blackberry bushes; a cherry tree, possibly.
Items I still need outside: bench/chairs for sitting area; weed control fabric; mulch; fertilizer; my own tiller – someday!
Filed under News | Comment (0)This moment
Today has been a day of ups and downs, thankfully mostly ups. I was able to spend the morning in town by myself shopping for our weekly groceries and some plants. Since payday was yesterday it was the big grocery week and this is always nice to do alone. I found some $3 roses at Lowe’s and this was my most exciting purchase. I also went to a local grower and was able to talk to her about choosing some plants to put around our sitting area. I like what she helped me choose and now I’ll have to go back so I can do the opposite side to match. I think I’ve pretty much decided how I’m going to finish it now, so that makes me happy and content even though it isn’t finished right now. It really makes me happy to have a plan. I don’t like wondering what is going to happen or winging it. I’ve learned this in more ways than one this weekend and even though I already knew it I think I’m finally “getting it”. I planted all of those plants and worked in the garden some cleaning it up and planting some more corn that will hopefully give us a second round of it late in the summer. I will try to do a garden update in a day or two. I have the pictures taken, I just need the time to sit down and sort through them and upload. Maybe I can take some of the flowers I did today too. I haven’t taken any pictures today and there were plenty of opportunities. We were all outside enjoying the sun and the water (even though it is so hot!) I have found this summer that I have more days like this than I used to. Days without pictures. Days that I am too busy enjoying the moment and being involved in the moment. I want to remember these moments, but part of what makes me want to remember them is my activity in them. I can’t spend every moment capturing things with photographs. Sometimes I just need to do and keep it in my head. Right now we are getting ready to eat. Kody grilled all the things I prepared. We haven’t grilled enough this summer. Time to get back on track.
I hope you are having a wonderful summer day! Sorry about my modge-podge post. It was just what I needed though. :)
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