Mysterious Book:)

I finished the 3rd Mysterious Benedict Book:



What can I say?  These books are just so darn cute.  I loved it of course.  I give it a

Just like the first two:)  These books are so much fun to read, the children in them are adorable and admirable - these are just great great books for kids and teens, good moral stories about fighting off evil and doing what is right. So cute!

Now I am on to The Honeymoon by James Patterson...something a little darker;)  I have about 2 weeks to finish MOST of my list this month.  Quite a goal, hopefully with work ending this week I'll have more time.  I am sad to be leaving my little post as School Counselor, and I'll miss my kiddos so much - but it'll be nice to be home and work on house projects and get everything more organized.  I have lots of goals for the house this summer and I'll be sharing all of them and updating them here!

Hopefully I'll be getting a full time position for next year as school counselor, no more of these long term thingys...though I don't mind them because its SOMETHING and it's giving me such great experience.  It all has to be for something, I think!?!?  More on that as I get more news....

Hope everyone is doing swell and is reading some fabulous books!!!  Do share with me what you are reading!

Bella Tuscany - how I need to visit you!!

I finished this wonderful book by Frances Mayes yesterday.  I'm considerably slower these days at reading!!  Oh well...maybe its that I am busy, maybe it's that my age of 30 is catching up to me, but I can't speed through all books anymore!

This book was just lovely.  Frances talks about her time in Tuscany throughout spring and summer, and some more time after that, with her hubby as they continue to live and remodel and garden at Bramasole.  I'm telling you, the movie Under the Tuscan Sun is NOTHING like the books!  It's so delightful reading about homemade pasta and lemon trees and oh-so-much wine, it makes me what to drop everything in life except my family and travel, speak and cook Italian!!  Its a nice, lazy summer read.  My only complaint is that, while it's such a good book and so fun to read about all things Italian, it's a little slow going reading through it all.  I wasn't jumping at every chance I could to read it.  And it made me hungry....for carbs, every time I picked it up;)  Its a GREAT book dont get me wrong, I recommend it...I give it a:

Ah Italy....I hope I can go one day.  Soon.  I just want to travel the wine country with Dave, tasting and basking in glorious Italian sun and fun.  One day....

Moving on...Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there!  I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weekend.  I went to my parents yesterday to help mom ready the house for guests and a rehearsal dinner next weekend.  My brother is getting married next Sunday, and we are all so excited!  We went over there and helped clean and garden, and Krystal (the bride) & I finished her wedding favors.  It was such a nice day and fun being together.  Poor Dave had to work and miss the fun.  We took Frodo over and they brought their cat Rudy over, and we had a kitty face off:

Frodo (left) loved his cousin Rudy, but Rudy wasn't so sure of Frodo.  Frodo was a pesky little thing, following Rudy around all day.  It was cute watching them though.   Man, we really need to have babies...this love for our cats is becoming ridiculous;)

Today we are spending time with Dave's mom after he wakes up (from working all night).  I'm trying to clean and get things done.  I've hurt my foot somehow so I'm going sloooow today!!

I'm also starting book 2 for May:  The Mysterious Benedict Society & the Prisoner's Dilemma.  This is the 3rd and maybe final (??) book in the Benedict series.  I'm excited to read it, I loved the first two!! 

That's all for now!  Have a blessed, beautiful Sunday!



Introducing....

The books of May!!!

So I didn't think I knew my May list yet, but after doing some inventory of the books I have here and books I want to read - I DO have an idea of my May 10 - I need two more but they will come to me as I do some looking.   Here is the list, so far,  in no certain order;)

1.  Bella Tuscany by Frances Meyers
2.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
3.  The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
4.  Honeymoon by James Patterson
5.  7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
6.  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
7.  The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoners Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
8.  The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
9. TBA
10. TBA

Ok, that's all for now!  Night!

This is a perilous journey - trying to read 10 books;)

This series is seriously cute!!  I read the first one a few months ago - then in March I bought the whole set because I enjoyed it so much.  There are three altogether.  Perilous Journey is the second book.  The children set off on an adventure set up by their friend and mentor, Mr Benedict, only to learn he has been kidnapped by his evil twin brother Mr Curtain.  I enjoy reading books that have a good moral lesson for children - this book is one - good triumphs over evil but with lots of obstacles and learning along the way.  This book is definitely considered Kidlit, which you all know by now that I love!!  It's perfect for your young readers Grades 4 and up (probably...I'm not a teacher so I really dont know reading levels well!) I give it a 4:

If you need to know how I rate my books, scroll to the bottom of my blog and there's a little book "key" that explains my rating system.  Most of my books lately have been a 4 or 5!

So...this was only book 6 for April.  I'm not going to be able to read 10 this month!  I'm on 7 now (The Screwtape Letters, which is way short) and I'll finish that one but that will probably be it.  April was a busy month for me - birthdays and getaways and shower and parties and cake pops - I just didnt find a lot of time to read.  Oh well, I am still going to keep my challenge and try harder next month!  Even though I get way busy or get sick, I still like have the challenge to motivate me.  I'm having such a wonderful time reading all these books!!!  So far this year I've read (almost) 37 books!  That's pretty crazy if ya ask me!  I love reading, so so much, so I'm having fun with it:)

I hope you all enjoy reading the blog!  I've had a few friends tell me lately that they are reading it (Hi Sherre!  Hi Katie Mac!!) it warms my heart to know you guys are taking time out of your busy lives to learn about my boring one - I hope it's entertaining at least sometimes...

Now I'm off to read some more, maybe finish the next book - I guess I could start book 8 for April...and just finish it this weekend. We'll see, I'm not beating myself up about it.   Stuff happens, right!?!?

Happy Weekend everyone!!!  Please, give me ideas for books to read - I need 8 more months worth:)

Goodbye Spring Break:(

Oh where oh where does the time go?  5 days just flew by me in a flash.  I had a great break though!  I finish two whole books, almost my goal of finishing 3;)  I'm working on Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey now (book 2 in this series...)

I totally repurposed a while IKEA sofa table I had, sanded it and painted it black to go in our hallway for our "launch pad" entry table....only to realized after I did all the work that it doesn't fit in that spot!  It's too big!  OH MAN!  It's really nice too, looks like new.  So now we have to 1) find where to put and use this new beautifully redone piece of furniture (pics to come) and 2) find something else to put in our foyer hallway.  Moral of the story: always measure your furniture to make sure it fits.  We've only lived here a year and already we have more furniture than we have room for.

I got a lot of cleaning done, but mostly a lot of hanging with with family and friends.  Thu I went to my parents to help work on the house, at night Katie Drost (Hi Katie!) and I watched HP 7 Part 1 together.  Friday I went to the Lancaster Outlets for some shopping, it was so fun.  Then Dave and I got ready and went down to Bmore for the Orioles game but it go cancelled:(  We ended up ordering pizza back home and having a quiet night it.  Saturday I went shopping with Katie Mac (Hi Katie!) and then spent the evening going to church with Dave, Ashley & my MIL Joyce, and going to DuClaw after with Dave.  Yesterday was a day full of fun and family, Easter service at Joyce's church and dinner and Easter Egg fun times.  Here are some pictures.....

 Connie, MIL Joyce, Ashley and Dave....

 me, Ash, Dave - my family:)

 Just me - with the pretty tree....

 Dave & I hiding eggs for Ashley to find...

 Ashley hunting the eggs...

 Then Ash hid them for us and we found them, gotta love joining in on the fun!

 We celebrated Ashley's 12th bday, which is actually today, with ice cream cake and gifts later at the house...

 Make a wish!

 Oh, here are our eggs - solids and tye dyes....

 Ashley at home, getting ready to find all her gifts.  Dave & I wrapped and hid them all and came up with clues so Ashley went on a Scavenger Hunt to find them all....we hid them is crazy places...

 This chair was all set up in here room, she started here....

 We hid one in the dryer,

 In the shower, sorry its so blurry...

 In the craft room....

 These were just a few of the clues, there were 10 all together I believe,  it was so fun watching her scramble around excited to find her gifts.  It was a cool way to present her gifts too - she loved it.

All done and ready to open!  Again, sorry for the blur!

Today for Ashley's actual bday we spent the day at Six Flags America riding rides like the Superman and Batman and Jokers Jinx, my head is still rattling around!  It was a perfect day, actually a little too hot to be there and not have access to the water park (it's closed til summer) but overall it was so fun.  Then we took her out to Olive Garden fora big dinner.

My break was awesome.  I spent time with a lot of people I love, shopped for the first time in ages, and ate way too much!  Tomorrow it's back to work and reality.  I'm not ready!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful, fun and relaxing Spring Break. 

The Saturdays, and Sundays....and Mondays:)

Finished Book 5: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright



It was so cute!  So you know how I am on this big "kidlit" kick right now.  This is definitely a kids book, its short and sweet - which is sorta why I chose it.  I had to give up The Host and Maybe this Time, because they were due back at the library and I was out of renews for those.  So I had to replace them.  The Saturdays was one of those, and I'm not sure what the other one will be yet! 

This book was about 4 children, brothers & sisters, who come up with a Saturday club where they put all their allowances together and go on fantastic adventures only on Saturday.  It's such a sweet book and any kid will love it, big or little:)  I give it a 4:)

Oh my, Spring Break has gone by way too fast!   Today was such a lovely day - going to church with family, eating dinner at my MIL's and dyeing & hiding & hunting Easter eggs, letting Ashley open her bday gifts early (we did a scavenger hunt - it was so fun!) and just beign together.  Tomorrow (Monday) is my last day off.  It is Ashley's birthday and we are taking her to Six Flags America for the day.  It'll be so fun and a perfect day for an amusement park, 80 some degrees and sunny!  I've gotten a lot done this weekend and I've had lots of fun - I'll get into details tomorrow.  Now I have to start a new book and get ready for tomorrow!  Happy Easter Everyone!

Happy April!!! Where is Spring?

I don't know about you guys, but here in MD it's frigid and cold and rainy and basically just miserable!  I'm reading for Spring!  I'm ready to work in our garden for the first time!!!  We moved in last year at the end of May, and got married in June and really couldn't work on the garden until July - which at that point it was like, why even bother?  I want my world to look like this:

                                         

Flowery and beautiful!!!  Maybe on of my books needs to be something on gardening this month?  I don't know, lets see where I'm at!

My preliminary April 10 is looking like this so far:
1.  Catching Fire, Collins (Book 2 of HG)
2.  Mockingjay, Collins (Book 2 of HG)
3.  No Plot, No Problem, Baty (How to write a novel)
4.  Bella Tuscany, Myers (Bio of sorts)
5.  The Host, Meyers (writer of Twilght)
6.  Screwtape Letters, Lewis (Spiritual)
7.  Maybe this Time, Crusie (chicklit)
8.  Cake Pops, Bakerella (cookbook) specifically the Bride and Groom pops
9.  Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, Stewart (more kidlit, I'm obsessed)
10.  Pioneer Woman, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, Drummond (bio, chicklit, love story)

I've got a lot of kidlit and YAlit on my list this month, but that's ok.  I'm really excited about reading all of these!!  I may switch out one or two if I find a garden book or a cook book or something that I like.  I can always read some of these in May.  I've ordered some of these books because I want to own them, they should be arriving Monday or Tuesday.  I'll do a photo shoot of them all when they get here.

Later I'll post my Happiness Project goals for April.  This month is all about Being Healthy.  Let me tell you, I started out REALLY great by pigging out on junk food last night with a friend - watching Tangled (see?  I'm SUCH a kid!) and eating chocolate cake and cheese curls and candy, lol.  "Everything in moderation" so no more pigging out this month!!  Today I am working at my parents house stripping wall paper, sanding and painting - its a good work out.  Anyways, will post more about the HP later on today:)

Happy Saturday!

Awesome book!!! Hunger Games!!

I started this book on Saturday night and finished it around 1am last night (Sunday) or, well I guess I should say this am (Monday).

I had to stop for sleep on Sat night, for church on Sun am, and for dinner with my parents yesterday afternoon (but believe me, I wanted to break all sorts of ethical rules in church AND at dinner and read through it all, lol!) but once I got home I cracked it open again finally and could not put it down until I was done.  I tried.  Around 11:45pm I told myself I had to stop reading, turned out the light and tried to sleep, but I couldn't because all I wanted to think about was how this book was going to end?!?!?  I figured since I was agonizing over it and not sleeping anyway, that I may as well finish it!  So, around 1am I was done. 

This book is SO good.  It's a 5 for sure!!!

The heroine is a teen names Katniss, who lives in a post apocalyptic world.  To remind the people in the 12 districts of the blasted apart US just who is in control, The Capitol (people in control) runs the "Hunger Games" every year.  24 teenagers (2 from each of the 12 districts) are put into a huge arena and fight to the death, just for the amusement of the Capitol really.  Every teen from 12 to 18 is obligated to enter for their name to be drawn, every year the number of entries grows with age.  Katniss' sister is newly 12, only has one entry in the drawing, and still her name is called for the Games at the yearly ceremony called the "Reaping".  Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place, Katniss is sure she has a better chance since she hunts and provides for their family, and is older, and can't imagine her meek, young little sister in an arena with 23 other murder hungry teens.

The story is so awesome.  It's an easy read, honestly if you have a whole day mostly uninterrupted, you can finish it!  I highly recommend this, for teens and for those adults like me, that just love love love "kidlit".  Well, it's more Young Adult or YAlit really.  Its such a different type of story too - teens forcing to kill each other to survive?  It doesn't sound good but believe me, it is!  Katniss is not crazy about the idea of murdering others, but what choice does she have? 

You'll love it, I promise!  Read it and let me know what you think!  Or, if you've read it, post a comment!!  I'd love to know everyone's thoughts.  Books 2 AND 3 are on the list for April, I have to have them....NOW!!!