FIFTY BOOKS

Last year, one of my goals was to read 50 books. It was the only goal that I actually completed! I decided to set the goal after 2007 when I realized I had read a LOT of books that year and wondered how many it was. So, for 2008 I decided to read at least 50 and keep a list of what they were. I'm sure you've all seen the list down the side of my blog.

A lot of the books are Bluebonnet Books. These are 20 books picked by Texas elementary school librarians. 3rd through 6th graders (5th grade in our district) read these, and in our elementary school give an oral book report on each one to pass them off. (Different schools have different ways to pass them off.) If they read at least 5 they can vote on their favorite which goes into the statewide vote for the Bluebonnet book of the year. If the kids read 10 they get a certain prize, 15 a better prize, and so on. Our school has a posse of "Bluebonnet Moms" who volunteer to go into the school and listen to these reports. I've been a Bluebonnet Mom in the past and have read most all of the Bluebonnet books to my kids over the years. Though some are very simple reading and some are picture books, they are all well written and many are favorites.

I've always read to my kids at night. We've read all of the Harry Potter's twice, Series of Unfortunate Events, all of The Borrowers, Bluebonnet books since Erin was in 3rd grade, and anything else we find at the library that looks interesting. There seem to be a lot of fantasy books out lately for that reading level. They aren't my favorite, but most are well-written and the kids enjoy them. I also enjoy reading Newberry Award winner books.

There were some books that I started this year but after a chapter or two I put them aside. I usually make myself finish what I start, but I am starting to get pickier about books. One book that I should have put aside was "One Thousand White Women." I don't recommend that one. It not only had too much xx in it, it was also depressing and ended sad. I usually don't mind tragedies--one of my all time favorites is "Tess of the D'Urbervilles"--queen of tragedy! But the White Women book wasn't worth the time it took to read it.

This year, I also read about the Korean war. I found a simplified version (in the kids section) to give me an overview. My dad fought in the Korean war. I don't know what he did because he's not around to ask, but I wanted to know a little more about it. It was enlightening. I read about Edward Hopper who painted one of my favorites, "Nighthawks." The painting reminds me of Hemingway's short story, "A Clean Well-Lighted Place." I also read "Anne Frank" for the first time. I saw her house when I was 14, but hadn't read her diary until this year. I loved it. So, I found other books from WWII -- "A Hatred for Tulips" and "The Boy Who Dared"-- and read them as well. I also read "Make Me a Home" which is authored by a friend, Tami Norton. I think this is her 5th or 6th book--Go Tami! Some of the books I read were books that Caitlin was able to borrow from work (one of the perks of working in a bookstore--the other perk is the discount!). Some of those were good and some were typical LDS fiction--a happy easy read.

Some of my favorites from this year's reading include, "Three Cups of Tea," "One-Handed Catch," "Out of the Dust," "Peter Simple," "Invincible Louisa," "Journal," "The First Day," "Reunion," and "The Christmas Sweater."

I have enjoyed keeping track of what I've read. It's nice to go back and remember what they were. For 2009, I'm going to change my reading goals a bit. I'm not going to worry if I get to 50 books or not. I'm going to try to read more classics and more spiritual books--I'm going for quality over quantity. If you want to recommend a good one, let me know!

Catching Up!

Wow! It's been over a month since I've posted anything! I guess life happens. And WOW! Erin's t-shirt quilt finally got finished! Miracle!

I think I'll start this catch-up back in mid-November with my birthday. It wasn't like a big thing, I don't like to go around telling people it was my birthday or anything. At my age, it's just another day! But what made this particular day memorable was my sweetie arranged for me to test drive one of my dream cars--a brand new Mustang GT. Oh, did I mention it was a convertible? Oh, and cherry red? Totally awesome! It was the middle of the day and the freeway was pretty clear of traffic. We sailed with the top down for miles and miles. Yes, I have a very cool husband. :) We also went out to lunch and saw James Bond, too. But the drive, now that was something.

Thanksgiving was a nice day. We actually were a bit selfish and didn't have anyone over. It was just us (minus Erin) and we could do our own thing. Chris and the boys went to play football in the Turkey Bowl and Chris happened to break his finger trying to pull a flag. It didn't hurt that much so he kept playing and then, later in the day, carved the turkey. He didn't go in for an x-ray until the next day. It was actually a pretty bad break--a spiral oblique, or something like that. But he's getting better. He still needs to keep it taped. Sorry I don't have a picture of the x-ray like I did with Stef's collarbone. This emergency room didn't give us the CD. I don't think we'll go back to that one. :)

The last two weeks we've had a great time with everyone home! It's so nice to have Erin here. It's almost like she never left and now that it's almost time for her to leave again I'm going through all of those emotions again. Also, the last two weeks I've been trying to get over a double ear infection, sinus infection, and bronchial infection. My sinuses are taking forever to clear out and my cough is still tight. I've been wearing my new BYU hoodie and we've been playing a lot of Monopoly which was one of Jace's Christmas gifts. It has electronic banking--very convenient. We have also done another puzzle, eaten a lot of goodies of all kinds, and I've mended some things for Erin. Today I took Erin to pick up some of those essentials every college girl needs--shampoo and chapstick and books and such. And we got pedicures and went out to lunch as well. Fun girl bonding stuff. Oh--my gift of the year was a heavy punching bag. Yes, very cool husband. I love it! It's so much nicer to punch the bag than the wall (j/k!).

Last Monday Caitlin had her wisdom teeth out. Not fun. Poor girl. She handles pain very well but I think she's getting tired of eating soft stuff and not feeling well. She had to go to work today and Erin and I went in to visit her. She looks a little swollen and bruised still. But she's a trooper!

Well, there's a bit of catching up for all of you! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and lots of relaxing time to spend with loved ones.

"oh, the weather outside is frightful ..."

We have lived here almost 10 years and this is our second snowfall. I missed the first one. It was snowing on Christmas Eve 4 years ago. I was on my way home from Albany, NY and was stuck in Atlanta's ever-crowded airport. Our flight crew was trying to get to Atlanta from Cleveland and was snowed in there. So, our plane- ful of people sat and tried to emulate a little bit of Christmas spirit by trying to not get too disagreeable with the situation. Then my cell phone rang. It was my hubby. He had taken the kids to Wendy's for a yummy homemade Christmas Eve feast and while they were there it had started to snow. Christmas Eve magic. I spoke loudly back into my phone, "WHAT?!? It's snowing in Houston??" About 200 pairs of eyes were on me and everyone waiting at my gate repeated like a chorus, "It's snowing in Houston?" I wanted to laugh and crawl under my seat all at the same time. They all pulled out their cell phones to verify. Silly people.

Today, I was walking Benj home from school when the thick white stuff started coming down all around us. It was magical. All the kids walking home from school started yelling the obvious, "It's snowing!!" We all danced around and tried to catch the stuff in our mouths. I pulled out my cell phone and called my hubby, "Look out your window! It's snowing!"

Lemon Season

I love this time of year. The weather starts cooling off, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, it's time to start pulling the Christmas lights out of the attic, and the lemons are about ready to pick. We bought this little lemon bush about 6 or 7 years ago and planted it in the ground. Which means it can grow bigger but it is still susceptible to freezing weather--which happens here occasionally. It is the only thing that we love to eat that is somewhat easy to grow here. You have to watch the freezes--especially in March when the blossoms are on, and this year I had trouble with birds and with Ike, but we got 15 lemons which is 15 more than I used to have. The last couple of years we have gotten 40 lemons--that's quite a lot of lemons from one little bush. So, what do we do with all of those lemons?

We give a lot of them away and use a few in cooking--lemon bars, lemonade, lemon pie, lemon chicken, and our favorite, lemon jelly. Chris's sweet aunt from California brought some lemon jelly to a family reunion and then was sweet enough to remember to email me the recipe. I suggest you give it a try. It is good stuff! I don't think she'll mind if I pass along the recipe. I think she said it was a state fair winner in AZ. If you don't have fresh lemons where you live you might find some at a store that will do but I'm sure they won't be quite as good. :)

Lemon Jelly
(makes 4 ½ pints + a sample)

4 lemons (our lemons are so big, we only need 1 1/2)
1 ½ c. water
4 ½ c. sugar
1 foil pouch of Certo (liquid pectin)
Finely shred enough lemon peel to make 1 tablespoon. Squeeze juice from lemons to make ¾ cup. Combine peel, juice and water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Strain to remove pulp and peel. Measure 2 cups of juice mixture.
In a large pan, combine the juice mixture and sugar. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Quickly stir in the pectin. Return to a full boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim foam. Ladle into hot, sterilized ½ pint canning jars, leaving ¼" headspace. Wipe jar rims and put on lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes (I use my steamer). Start timing when the water starts to boil. Remove jars and cool on a wire rack.

Tag!

Tag yourself! Copy and paste into your blog. Put an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not, then answer the questions at the end. This is for your entire life!

( ) Gone on a blind date
( x ) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
( ) Been to Canada
(x) Been to Mexico
(x ) Been to Florida
( x ) Been on a plane
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x ) Been to Washington , DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x ) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
(x) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Sang Karaoke
( )Paid for a meal with coins only?
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
(X) Made prank phone calls?
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x ) Danced in the rain
( x ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( ) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
(x) Blown bubbles
( x) Gone ice-skating
( ) Been skinny dipping outdoors
(x) Gone to the movies
(x) Got a speeding ticket

1. Any nickname? A few over the years—Princess, Greenyhead, Lizard, Skip, Isabeau

2. Favorite Drink? water

3. Mother's name? Michal

4. Tattoo? no

5. Body Piercing? Ears

6. How much do you love your job? I love all my jobs! Wife, mom, Preschool teacher

7. Birthplace? CA

8. Favorite vacation? South America—Chile and Peru. Loved Macchu Pichu! 2nd place: all our family campouts; 3rd place: Hawaii

9. Ever been to Africa ? no

10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? Yes and breakfast and lunch and snacks

11. Ever been on TV? no

12. Ever steal any traffic sign? No, but I’ve paid money for one—antique store

13. Ever been in a car accident? I’ve been rear-ended a couple of times, not bad enough to hurt the car. —ooh, hit a deer in Grandpa’s red truck, that one was a mess.

14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door

15. Favorite salad dressing? Ranch, raspberry vinagrette and homemade poppy seed

16. Favorite pie? Homemade apple, warm and ala mode

17. Favorite number? 4

18 Favorite Movie? Nacho Libre—I like movies that make me laugh

19 Favorite holiday ? Christmas

20. Favorite Dessert? Crème brulee

21. Favorite food? Mexican, indian, pork, all vegetables, chocolate, etc.

22. Favorite day of the week? Thursday—I try to get in the weekend attitude early

23. Favorite brand of body wash? I like soap—Lever 2000 and then followed with Bath and Body Works Sesual Amber body lotion--yummy!

24. Favorite toothpaste? Colgate

25. Favorite smell? sheets that have been dried in the sun

26. What do you do to relax? crossword puzzles, read, sing with the radio

27. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Driving a smaller car, maybe grandkids, maybe botox


Consider yourselves tagged...I will be checking your blogs!

Cait's Christmas List

So, what do you get a 17 year-old who seems to have everything? Cait did some brainstorming and here's her list:


1) pony (yes, a real one)

2) gift card to Target

3) plane (yes, a real one)

4) cute pilot (real)

5) Michael Phelps (yes, the real one)

6) white teeth

7) 50 lbs. hot chocolate

8) CTR ring (she lost her last one in a swimming pool)

9) Cheesecake Factory (yes, the restaurant)

10)lamb (real)

11)new tennis shoes (finally, something normal!)

12)a servant to do her homework and she will name him Jim Bob (?)

13)Japanese game show (?)

14)mouth wash

15)cute new baby scriptures

16)good ACT score

17)movies--Newsies and A Walk to Remember

18)be an EMT

--I'm going to forward this to Santa and we'll see what happens.

A real self-esteem builder :)

Yesterday I came downstairs dressed for the day/work. I was wearing a short-sleeved hoodie with a long-sleeved t-shirt under it. I'd worn the hoodie before but this was the first time with a long-sleeved t- under it. But, you know, the weather's cooling off--high of 80.


Benj took one look at me and said, "Wow mom! I've never seen you look like that before! You look cool!"


Was that a compliment?