Books Number 6 & 7

I finally finished books number 6 & 7!!!

Book number 6 was The Kitchen House. This book was recommended to me last year but I had a really hard time getting into it for some reason. Life got in the way and I ended up returning it to the library before I had even made it through the first chapter. It was recommended to me again a few weeks ago so I decided to give it another try. I was told that if I liked The Help, then I would LOVE the Kitchen House. After reading both books, I'm not so sure that's accurate. They are both about race relations, but that's where the similarities end in my opinion. The books are set in very different time periods, and while one was more lighthearted, the other was very heavy and pretty dark. 

I adored The Help!! I was sucked in from the very first page. I thought it was funny and poignant although not exactly accurate from an historical standpoint. For me, The Kitchen House felt dreary. There were some wonderful moments for sure, but for the most part, the book was about some very tough to deal with issues. And nothing ever really felt like it was going to get better for the main characters. I felt sad for them throughout the entire book. I really think this book is more accurate in it's portrayal of what went on between slaves and their owners than other books I have read in the past. It showed the not so bad (none of it's good, right?) and then also the monstrous side of a nasty nasty time in America. I was emotionally spent by the time I made it to the last page. I had to read really fast through some parts and even skim a few other parts. There are certain places that I just won't let my mind go. Even though it was a hard read, and I can't really say I enjoyed the book, I did LOVE the characters!!! Well, most of them anyway:) I loved who they were and their point of view. I am still thinking about them a week after I finished reading their story. I learned a lot from them. That's the sign of a great book for me!! I thought the words flowed nicely from the author and I came away thinking about who I am and where I'm going. Again, signs of a great book!!

Book number 7 was just okay. A Promise to Remember by Kathryn Cushman. It had been sitting on my nightstand for a crazy long time and I was getting worried that it was long past overdue. Which wouldn't be a first in this house!! Anyway, I picked it up and started reading with full intentions of finishing it in one day, which wasn't too hard because it was a sweet story. The story centered around 2 women whose sons were involved in a fatal car crash. One woman's son was responsible for the crash that took both boy's lives. One woman had a lot of money, the other didn't. They both needed to find God, forgiveness, anger and healing. Something about the book seemed kind of sort of familiar from the very start. About 150 pages in I realized that was because I had read the book before:) But I didn't remember the characters, plot or the ending. I just had glimpses of recall during certain scenes. That's why I rated the book as just okay. It wasn't a bad book. But, it obviously didn't leave a lasting impression on me. I think a lot of people would probably like the book. It might even be life changing for some. Just not me:)

Put Ups

My kids all get wonderful grades and I am super proud of them for working so hard towards those goals. It's important to do and be your very best. I feel like the effort they put towards learning and school work has the potential to give them a better life later down the road. And what parent doesn't want that for their kids? But, it's not the number one thing we emphasize in our home. 


Maia and Asher's guidance counselor is awesome. All the kids adore her and I think all the parents do too. She emphasizes "put ups" instead of put downs. Clever right? I thought so:) She went into Maia's classroom last week and asked the students to write down a "put up" for each classmate. Here's what some of Maia's classmates wrote about her:


Lane: You are always friendly in school.


Ella: You're always a good sport and are really great at sports.


Sam: You are not afraid to be yourself.


Molly: You're very nice.


Sariah: You are a natural born leader and are great at cartwheels.


Gabby: You are such a good friend and so funny!!


Juliana: You are a good friend. You don't get mad easily.


Joseph: You always start good chains and give put ups.


John: You love to laugh when I tell jokes.


Allison: You are just so good at making friends. You love to share and are good at raising your hand.


Liddie: You always make me smile and are very kind!


Ian: You are very confidant and a good sportsman.


Khasim: You have very good compliments. 


Beckham: You are funny and you don't get angry


Isabel: I love how good of a funny friend you are. I have so many put ups for you I can't fit them all on the paper. 


Seth: You are a really nice person. You almost never tell put downs. 


Rayyan: You are a good writer. 


Maddy: You start good chains and you are a great at giving book recommendations!


James: You always give put ups and never give put downs. 


Kurt: You're so nice and not selfish.


Michael: You are never mean or selfish


Miss H. (Guidance Counselor): You always want to do the right thing and I am so glad you came here. I think you are honest and kind. 


Okay, so I lied:) I couldn't pick just a few to share so I shared what everyone in the class wrote about my sweet girl!!While I am proud of her grades, THIS is what I am most proud of. The awesome person that she is. Her desire to be Christlike:) That's what we emphasize in our home and I am so glad to know that she puts those teachings to practice even when she isn't with us. I am so thrilled that she is a blessing to her classmates and her teachers!! It does my heart good!!


Just a little side note-- Good chains would be like pay it forwards:)

Busy, Busy and more Busy!!

Title says it all. Things have just been really busy around here. Sometimes I feel like we go go go nonstop. We have friends that are even more busy than we are. I don't know how they do it. 


So I went to that ladies retreat that I talked about in my last post. Sort of. I went to the first evening of it anyway. It was nice and I am glad I went. I don't consider it a waste of money even though I didn't stay for the whole thing.  I didn't make any new friends as I don't even think that's possible to do in just a few short hours. But, I did have some great fellowship and lots of fun playing games. I probably would have gotten more out of the retreat if I had stayed, but I just couldn't bring myself to sleep in a full size bed with a stranger. I have personal space issues:).


Asher's Pinewood Derby went ok. He came in 3rd for a few of the races speed wise. I guess there was a mishap on the way to the derby that caused the derby car to go sailing through the air and hit our real car's dashboard. Hard. This messed up the balance of the derby car's wheels--which just so happens to be a critical factor for the speed of the car. Maybe next year:) Asher wasn't too upset because daddy bought him an overload of baked goods to make up for his disappointment. Baked goods always makes things better:)


Maia's basketball season is going very well. They have won 3 games and lost 2. I LOVE Upward sports:) 


This past week we have also been pushing...um I mean selling the Girl Scout cookies :). I was also in charge of Maia's Girl Scout troop earning their Simple Meals badge. That was fun!! 10 girls in my kitchen learning to cook!! Talk about chaos. It went really well though!! We made yogurt parfaits, cinnamon french toast with blueberry sauce, individual pizzas and cake in a cup. Everything turned out pretty yummy. Except maybe the pizzas. I ended up throwing away about half of the pizzas:(


I FINALLY put curtains up:) I don't love them though. SSShhhh, don't tell Andy, I am currently looking for new, new curtains:) I just want something with some more color than what we've got up now. I think I'm gonna make a trip to World Market this week to see what they have. 


Time Warner came to our door last week and offered us a pretty sweet deal for switching our cable and internet over to them. We were thrilled because we have missed Time Warner's services ever since we switched providers  to AT&T last year at this time. We ended up hating AT&T and switched to WOW when we moved into our new home. WOW was okay but I am super thrilled to have Time Warner again. They came over on Thursday and got us all set up with our new services:)


Today Asher is at a birthday party for his little friend Elizabeth. Asher really really really likes Elizabeth. He blushes when he talks about her:) That kid is gonna be trouble when it comes to the ladies:) I was helping in the classroom a few months ago and a group of students told me how much my little guy likes Miss Elizabeth. Sigh...Trouble with a capital T. 


I finished my 4th and 5th books for the year. 


My 4th book was called Christmas in Sugarcreek. Yes, I know Christmas is done and over:) I  just couldn't help myself from picking this book up at the library though because...HELLO...it's about Sugarcreek:) I wasn't really all that impressed with the book. It certainly could have been worse but character development was seriously lacking. I guess there is a whole series about Sugarcreek and this book was just a spin off of it. It was fun knowing the exact locations that the author wove into the story. But other than that? Not a very exciting read. 


My 5th book was called Delivered With Love. This book was awful. I had to really push myself through the whole thing. I should have given up but the story itself was interesting and had real potential. The writing itself was really awful though!! 


We are gearing up for the Superbowl tonight. None of us could care less about football, but we all like a party so why not right?!?!?! I am headed out to get snacks:)