I finally finished 5 books for my first entry into the winter reading program at our local library. It took me WAY longer than it used to! I really thought i could read 5 books in a week. It ended up taking 2 weeks, which isn't too shabby but is pretty slow for me. So here is what I read:
The Life of Pi by Yan Martel : I ended up loving this book and finishing it in about a day. I started it about 2 years ago and couldn't get into it. But once you get past all the exposition about swimming pools it gets really interesting.
The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White : Really, really, REALLY loved this book. It is about an Army nurse in Vietnam so parts of it were like watching an episode of M.A.S.H. but it was so well written and easy to read. I read it pretty fast too.
The Presidents Daughter by Ellen Emerson White : I had high hopes for this one, I really did. But by the end I just wanted to punch the main character in the mouth. AND it is the first in a series of 4 books (blegh). It is about a 16 year old girl whose mother runs for and becomes the President of the United States. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. It never did.
White House Autumn by Ellen Emerson White : Sequel to The Presidents Daughter. I actually enjoyed this one more than the first, the plot was better developed but i still wanted to punch Meg, the main character. I plan to read the last 2 in the series, after a little break.
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan : I patiently waited for this one to come out in paperback because i am cheap. LOVE the Percy Jackson books. Hated the movie, BTW, don't waste your time. This one didn't disappoint. It was as well developed and exciting as the first 4. Read this one in a day.
So I have 5 more ready and waiting. They include the 3rd in the Ellen Emerson White series, What the Dog Saw, and a couple by Marcus Zuzak
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Something Fantastic.
I just discovered something fantastic!
Our local library is having a Winter Reading Program for Adults. And the prizes are really fantastic! All you have to do is read 5 books for one entry into the prize drawing. Considering that i can read 5 books in about a week if i put my mind to it, I may have a pretty good chance at a prize. The program ends on March 15th which is about 8 weeks from now. So I am off to the library while the girls are at school (and hopefully William will be asleep in my arms) to get 4 books to complete my first entry. I already read THe Life of Pi, in about one day. I'll take recommendations although i tend to rely on Janssen's blog for good books. I am not a reviewer like she is though so don't expect me to review any of the books i read, However i will let you all know when i win a fabulous prize.
Happy Reading!!!
Our local library is having a Winter Reading Program for Adults. And the prizes are really fantastic! All you have to do is read 5 books for one entry into the prize drawing. Considering that i can read 5 books in about a week if i put my mind to it, I may have a pretty good chance at a prize. The program ends on March 15th which is about 8 weeks from now. So I am off to the library while the girls are at school (and hopefully William will be asleep in my arms) to get 4 books to complete my first entry. I already read THe Life of Pi, in about one day. I'll take recommendations although i tend to rely on Janssen's blog for good books. I am not a reviewer like she is though so don't expect me to review any of the books i read, However i will let you all know when i win a fabulous prize.
Happy Reading!!!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Grace is 5!!
I got the idea for her cake from I Am Baker. Her cakes are fantastic! They seem to be as fun on the inside as they are on the outside. You should check out her jack-o-lantern cake and her heart cake. Ohhhh and her Easter cake. She is AWESOME!
My colors were not as vibrant as hers, she must have used gel food colors. I just used a white cake mix and separated it into smaller bowls and colored them with regular liquid food color. Grace loved it.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
So many Months.....
So many months have gone by since my last post! I kind of let it get away from me, didn't I. SO in lieu of a lengthy post(s) about the last several months here are some bullet points.
-April: Tim was offered a job in Olympia Washington in the beginning of April. So we quickly listed our house for sale and it sold in 4 days. And they buyer wanted to close exactly when we were needing to head north. It really worked out perfectly.
-May: Tim was training in California for the first 3 weeks of May. I was doing the single parent thing but thankfully since the house was under contract I didn't have to worry about showings etc. We survived. Then on the 24th we closed an the house and drove out of town the same day. It was sad to leave our friends and we miss them a lot.
-June: After driving through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington we made it to our new (rented) house. We spent June visiting family in Oregon and getting acclimated to our new town. Towards the end of the month we went to Oregon for Tim's family reunion. Eleanor turned 3 at the end of the month. She had a little b day party at grandmas house.
-July: My sister Abi got married. I made the wedding cake. Spent a fair amount of july in oregon.
-August: The kids and i made a trip to Idaho to visit my extended family. Loads of fun! Swimming, marshmallow roasting, and sleeping in the camper. The 9 hour(one way) drive with all 4 kids by myself wasn't particularly fun so next year maybe we will convince daddy to go with us.
-September: School started. I am sure my rejoicing could be heard for miles. Eddie and Grace are at the same school now, which is nice. We live close enough that i walk them to and from school. Some time in August, with Tim's encouragement I signed up for the 5k at Oktoberfest in Mt Angel. I had been running some since we moved but hadn't gotten serious about it till then. We went to Oktoberfest the 2nd weekend and i ran the race. Since then i have continued my running and am running at least 3 miles every day in preparation for a 4 miler on thanksgiving.
-October: Eddie turned 7 in October! It is so hard to believe that he is that old. He is really a great kid. For Halloween Eddie was a jedi, Grace was a Doctor, and Eleanor was a giraffe. William wore a festive sweater( after making costumes for the other 3 he kind of got left out. Next year...)
Now it is November. Grace turns 5 on Friday. She is coming along, although her teachers are concerned that she may have other delays besides speech so we are looking into that.
William is getting so big. He cruises around the furniture and is starting to stand on his own too. He is a really happy baby and if I could just get him to consistently sleep through the night I would be one happy Momma!
One last update about myself. All this running has been beneficial to my figure. I happened to come across a paper where i wrote down my weight and measurements when i started back to the gym after having William. I have lost 35 pounds and MANY inches(i haven't actually measured recently). Also, I am down 4 pants sizes! YAY ME!
-April: Tim was offered a job in Olympia Washington in the beginning of April. So we quickly listed our house for sale and it sold in 4 days. And they buyer wanted to close exactly when we were needing to head north. It really worked out perfectly.
-May: Tim was training in California for the first 3 weeks of May. I was doing the single parent thing but thankfully since the house was under contract I didn't have to worry about showings etc. We survived. Then on the 24th we closed an the house and drove out of town the same day. It was sad to leave our friends and we miss them a lot.
-June: After driving through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington we made it to our new (rented) house. We spent June visiting family in Oregon and getting acclimated to our new town. Towards the end of the month we went to Oregon for Tim's family reunion. Eleanor turned 3 at the end of the month. She had a little b day party at grandmas house.
-July: My sister Abi got married. I made the wedding cake. Spent a fair amount of july in oregon.
-August: The kids and i made a trip to Idaho to visit my extended family. Loads of fun! Swimming, marshmallow roasting, and sleeping in the camper. The 9 hour(one way) drive with all 4 kids by myself wasn't particularly fun so next year maybe we will convince daddy to go with us.
-September: School started. I am sure my rejoicing could be heard for miles. Eddie and Grace are at the same school now, which is nice. We live close enough that i walk them to and from school. Some time in August, with Tim's encouragement I signed up for the 5k at Oktoberfest in Mt Angel. I had been running some since we moved but hadn't gotten serious about it till then. We went to Oktoberfest the 2nd weekend and i ran the race. Since then i have continued my running and am running at least 3 miles every day in preparation for a 4 miler on thanksgiving.
-October: Eddie turned 7 in October! It is so hard to believe that he is that old. He is really a great kid. For Halloween Eddie was a jedi, Grace was a Doctor, and Eleanor was a giraffe. William wore a festive sweater( after making costumes for the other 3 he kind of got left out. Next year...)
Now it is November. Grace turns 5 on Friday. She is coming along, although her teachers are concerned that she may have other delays besides speech so we are looking into that.
William is getting so big. He cruises around the furniture and is starting to stand on his own too. He is a really happy baby and if I could just get him to consistently sleep through the night I would be one happy Momma!
One last update about myself. All this running has been beneficial to my figure. I happened to come across a paper where i wrote down my weight and measurements when i started back to the gym after having William. I have lost 35 pounds and MANY inches(i haven't actually measured recently). Also, I am down 4 pants sizes! YAY ME!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A grocery deal too good to pass up.
On Krazycouponlady today she detailed a grocery deal that i could not pass up. I rarely pay more than $1 for a box of cereal and my supply was getting low. I am going to try to break this down but explaining is not my strong suit so here we go. 
I bought 10 boxes of cereal and 10 boxes of fruit roll ups/fruit by the foot, 3 doughnuts, and one softsoap all for $14.87. I think the most expensive thing was the doughnuts.
For the soap I used a $.50 off coupon, which doubles to become $1, and the soap was on sale 10 for $10 making it free.
This is the portion of the receipt that was the cereal and fruit snacks. If I were to averege the cost between the 20 items it would come out to $.65 per item.
This is the portion of the receipt with my coupons. On the Krazycouponlady she posts links to all kinds of printable coupons and e coupons. I had a couple of extra higher $ off coupons from various mailers.
Annnnd.... this is the savings portion of my receipt. I pretty much rock.
But to top all that off I got 2 catalina coupons(the ones that print out at the register) totaling $7.50 which i used to by 4 movies that were on clearance.
I paid $3.78 out of pocket for the movies.
I bought 10 boxes of cereal and 10 boxes of fruit roll ups/fruit by the foot, 3 doughnuts, and one softsoap all for $14.87. I think the most expensive thing was the doughnuts.
For the soap I used a $.50 off coupon, which doubles to become $1, and the soap was on sale 10 for $10 making it free.
This is the portion of the receipt that was the cereal and fruit snacks. If I were to averege the cost between the 20 items it would come out to $.65 per item.
This is the portion of the receipt with my coupons. On the Krazycouponlady she posts links to all kinds of printable coupons and e coupons. I had a couple of extra higher $ off coupons from various mailers. 
Annnnd.... this is the savings portion of my receipt. I pretty much rock.
But to top all that off I got 2 catalina coupons(the ones that print out at the register) totaling $7.50 which i used to by 4 movies that were on clearance.
I paid $3.78 out of pocket for the movies.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Girls Dresses
My friend Jennie posted about some sewing goals she had for the new year. I decided to take her lead and start some projects of my own. On of her projects was making a little girls dress from a mens shirt. I went to good will and got 2 shirts for $5 each. I used the link jennie provided for the Red dress but i wasnt rally satisfied so i hunted around for a different one. the turtorial found HERE is what i used for the green dress.
This is what i started with.
My finished product
.
Eleanor wore hers to church today. I am going to alter grace's a little bit and then she can wear hers too.
This is what i started with.
My finished product
.
Eleanor wore hers to church today. I am going to alter grace's a little bit and then she can wear hers too.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Grandpa
My grandfather passed away this morning after being ill for some time. He was a wonderful man. I had the privilege of living with my grandparents fro 2 summers while i was in college. I was able to form a wonderful relationship with both my grandparents. I remember Sunday mornings, when it was almost time for church, he would play the piano and it was kind of a signal that it was time to be ready for church.
the kids an i were able to go to McCall in 2008 for his 80th birthday. I am so glad most of my kids were able to meet this amazing man. We saw him again in April for Ada's wedding and i was able to speak to him on the phone earlier this week. He was such a wonderful grandpa, and i will miss him dearly.
the kids an i were able to go to McCall in 2008 for his 80th birthday. I am so glad most of my kids were able to meet this amazing man. We saw him again in April for Ada's wedding and i was able to speak to him on the phone earlier this week. He was such a wonderful grandpa, and i will miss him dearly.
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