Book Review: Village School

This is the first of the Fairacre series of books, set in a quaint little town in England and centering on the village school teacher.  The series  has been compared to the Mitford series by Jan Karon and I agree the gentle style is similar to that in Father Tim’s world.  The characters are a bit predictable but well fleshed out and endearing, especially the children.  The humor is subtle but enough to crease a smile about. :)  It’s certainly a nice change of pace and a delightful bit of reading, the kind you walk away from in a happier state.

Book Review: Dewey

I guess I should make it clear that the “book reviews” I do are simply my own ramblings about books I personally buy, borrow or steal (JUST KIDDING!)  I’m just giving my own thoughts and views on the book, and hope that maybe it might benefit someone.  I know I like to hear opinions from “real” people who have read books I may be interested in.  I’ve had a few people who have seen how many books I read and have contacted me about sending books for me to read and review here…but I get all antsy when someone tells me what to read and when (I think that’s why I never last long in book clubs lol) and I give some pretty harsh opinions sometimes so I turn the offers down.  :P  Disclaimer over with, on with the review!

I am a cat lover (gasp! who knew! :0) so of course I was drawn to this book.  Aw, just look at that face!  Anyway, Dewey is the story of the poor little kitty in Iowa that was stuffed in a library book return chute on a freezing night and thankfully rescued the next morning by the library staff.  Eventually he was “adopted” by the library and lived there a long and happy 19 years.  The story is told by the head librarian, the woman who rescued and adopted Dewey.  While he was officially her cat, she “loaned” him to the people of the small town.  Vicki Myron did a good job with the book, although you can tell it’s a first time novel, and it feels a little like her editors chopped up the story in some places.

You not only get the story of Dewey himself, but a charming description of the small Iowa town and it’s surrounding areas, some bits and pieces of a few library patrons’ stories, and some of Vicki’s own story.  Vicki often contradicts herself in her writing and at some points even admits to it…which in my opinion doesn’t make it right.  (Makes me think of that Will Ferrell movie where he is a Nascar driver and always says “With all due respect” before making mean or harsh statements lol.)  I’ll admit I skimmed through some of the chapters that had longish background stories leading up to a connection with Dewey’s involvement…hey, I wanted a good cat story after all. :)  In the end, Dewey is a good cat story, and a good story about a small town and it’s trials and triumphs over a few rough decades.  :)

Got Boys? Gotta Have Science!

I am pleased as punch with my choice for science this year for ds2.  He is in 8th grade this year, and has followed Abeka’s science program from the start.  It’s a great program, but as with most of Abeka, a tad repetitive.  Neither one of us wanted to crack into a new science book with the same old topics.  Plus, as this will probably be ds’s last year homeschooling I wanted to make it a bit more fun!  And fun we have had. :)

This is the book ds has been using.  I got it from Mr. McWizKid himself (well, from the Mrs., actually) at a local curriculum fair.  Btw, they are both really nice people.  Anyway, this book is chock full of fun yet easy experiments for, like the cover says, kids of all ages!  Ds can go in the kitchen and set up the experiments by himself and then performs them for the rest of us later.  It’s been a great hands-on way of learning science for him.  You probably have most of the supplies needed on hand and Mr. McWizKid explains the procedures very well.  I also picked up the assessments for each section covered.  Here are some of the things ds has done with this resource…

learned that sound travels faster through solids than air;

discovered how sound waves can blow out a candle;

and made his own musical instrument (with the help of Mimi the cat, of course.)

I had a ton more pics of ds and his experiments, but alas, they were on the old hard drive that decided it had just had enough and gave out.  Anywho, I highly recommend this book, either on it’s own or as a supplement to your science program.  Great fun!

What’s On Your Nightstand: January

Ah, a new year, a fresh stash of reading on the old nightstand. :)

There are so many things to like about this meme…I get to talk about books, see other people’s books, and it encourages me to straighten up my nightstand lol.

Okay, on the bottom we have The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome which I ordered off Amazon to help me understand my ds3 a little more.  Next is the Feb issue of Woman’s Day, then Dewey which I finished last night and will soon post a review for, Village School by Miss Read which I started just this morning, The Time Travelers Wife, and Forever Princess, the last installment in the Princess Diaries series, which I devoured in about 2 days. :)  I am hoping the Miss Read book will be good, as it is a pretty long series, and I need a new series to start (I have finished the Princess series and read and reread Harry Potter and Twilight, 3 and 2 times respectively lol!)

I look forward to seeing what everyone will be reading this month.   Head over to 5 Minutes for Books to join in. :)

Cats On Tuesday: Seeing Double

 

Mimi and Katy were playing with our eyesight this weekend, one on the inside and one on the outside and both striking the same pose at the front window.  If it weren’t for the little patches of white, Mimi could be Katy’s “mini me.”  :)  Not that queen Katy would allow that, of course.  Maybe for Katy it was like looking in the mirror to her youth…younger, thinner, more agile.  Hey, we’ve all been there lol.

Head on over to Gattina’s for more cat antics.  Happy Tuesday, Cat Lovers!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

I think all the talk and coverage concerning our new president has trickled down even to the little ones’ minds.  We were walking up to the dentist office, and as it had been a while since we had last seen him I asked the boys if they remembered his name (Dr. Bonnin.)  Ds3 said he couldn’t recall, but ds4 (my 4yo) quickly chimed in “It’s Dr. Obama!”

This weekend we took a little family walk around the neighborhood.  We went a different route on the way home, skimming by the highway.  Ds3 asked, “What would happen if we walked all the way to Wal-Mart?” (about 2 miles down the highway.)  I replied, “Mom would collapse.”  To which he said, “Oh yeah, like this!”  and he started clapping!  (Collapse, clap, get it?)  LOL.

Head on over to Mary’s at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk.  Do it!  Start your day off with a smile. :)

Book Review: Brokeback Mountain

DON’T BOTHER!!!!  I’M SORRY I DID. :(

Book Review: Bingo by Rita Mae Brown

Rita Mae Brown is a very talented and prolific writer.  I found her through her series of books centered on the Hunsenmeir sisters, two hilarious southern charmers.  The first of these books that I found was The Sand Castle, a short but sweet taste of the sisters.  I lent the book to my mother and discovered that she already was acquainted with Miss Brown’s work, as Miss Brown has also written tons of mystery novels involving a cat.  (My Mom really goes for those lol.)  How fun that we found an author we can both enjoy!

Bingo is a great example of Miss Brown’s talents.  The characters are unforgettable, the humor sincere (I literally laughed out loud most pages!) and the plot keeps you reading.  Now, when I read a book that I am thinking of sharing with my Mom, I look for things that she wouldn’t like (and that I don’t personally go for either) such as cursing, explicit s*x, etc.  Well, Bingo does have some cursing that I could have done without, and some of the subject matter is iffy (affairs,  “alternative” lifestyles) but I could easily overlook these offenses and enjoy the book anyway.

Oh, Juts and Louise, the over 80yo sisters, are such wonderful characters!  Both full of southern charm but never too stereotypical.  Believe me, these two are quite unique lol.  Jut’s adopted daughter Nickel narrates the novel, and it’s her character that gets a bit iffy, but her story telling is compelling.  I am eagerly looking forward to picking up the follow-up to Bingo, Loose Lips.  If you want to start at the beginning of the “series” revolving around the sisters, pick up Six of One first.  However, I will note that Brown does an excellent job and each of the books stand very well on their own.

Destination Disney: Favorite Souvenir

First off, hurray for Heidi and her family, first day of their Disney vacay!!  I know you all will have a super time. :)  Second, please forgive me, Heidi, I don’t have your cute little button for this week’s meme, as my hard drive crashed and I lost all my buttons and photos. :(  Now this week we are to share our favorite Disney souvenir.  ACK!  I am one of those people who can never, ever pick a favorite.  People ask, “Oh, what’s your fave movie?”  Well, I like just about all of them the same lol!  Same for books, songs, etc.  So be prepared, I am going to share a lot of “favorite” souvenirs. :P

The best, most personal souvenir you can bring home is pics! 

Here you see the wall above our couch and our front entrance.  Both are covered with those pics taken by professional Disney photographers, camped out in strategic places all around “the world” and pics from the big rides.  Seeing as how we’ve taken over 25 trips to Disney, we have a lot of these lol.  A couple of years ago I had them all framed and presented them to dh for Christmas and they now help us relive fond memories every day. :)

This baby hangs over my fireplace.  It really needs to be updated lol.  We posed for this at Downtown Disney, and had them develop it in a poster sized print.  We had it professionally framed at a crafts store and it’s a beauty. 

This is my favorite non-professional pic from Disney, of my oldest two boys and dh in the pool at the Polynesian resort.  They tore this pool down a few years ago, but it was the neatest one as it played music underwater.

I like to buy souvenirs that are useful.  I guess I would say that I really do have a favorite after all…

the refillable cups you get at resorts and on property.  I have tons of these and use them every day.  I even have a commemorative cup from when the Animal Kingdom Lodge first opened…the #1 cup of the series!

I also like to get notepaper and get all the pens they leave in your resort room. :)  As you can see, I’m running low.  Looks like another trip is in store lol.

My ds2’s favorite souvenirs are the pins from pin trading…he is an expert pin trader!  He seeks out the “executive” type cast members, those in suits and ties who really have no clue about pin trading…they often have the best pins.  Dh bought me a case to keep all our pins in.

Isn’t it a beauty?  Probably the most we’ve ever spent on any souvenir, but worth it for keeping our treasures safe.

Here are various pins ds has collected from the Magic Kingdom.  5 dwarves down, 2 to go!

Here is a special pin they sold during Epcot’s Flower and Garden show one year.  Cool, huh?

I lied before.  We have spent more on souvenirs, most especially on this one, dh’s favorite by far…

It’s a crystal block with our images engraved inside.  The base it sits on lights up.  This baby was expensive, but dh had always admired them (they do this in the Imagination exhibit at Epcot) and he saved up so we could get one.  It is now outdated, and missing our latest family member. :)

That’s just the tip of the iceberg for Disney souvenirs, but a good representation of our “favorites.”  My advice for souvenir hunters…buy while on property if you want true Disney souvenirs.  Skip the toys and clothes, you can get those anywhere (except for those sold at the resort hotels and have hotel logos on them.)  Try and go for things that are unique to Disney World.  Hope you had fun and it won’t be long before your next Destination Disney!

Homeschool Memoirs: Abc’s of me

For this week’s memoir we are to use the letters of the alphabet to make words that describe ourselves.  Sounds like fun to me. ;)

Anne (my middle name)
Blonde
Cats
Dutiful
Evelyn
Four (boys!)
Garden Grill (my fave restaurant at Disney World :))
Homeschool
Imagination
Julie
Kitties
Lakenheath (hospital in England where ds1 was born)
Mother
Nice
Opal (One of two hurricanes that hit us in 1995)
Pace
Queen
Reese
Sister
Tea
Underpaid
Vaseline
Waterfall (I have always wanted to see one!)
Xcitable (pushing that one a bit, eh?)
Yard work
Zany

Yep, that was fun. :)  Off to see how creative everyone is this week.

Wordless Wednesday

Because you can never have enough straws. :)

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Ds4 provided plenty of fodder for this week's Tiny Talk.

One morning I found him closing our front window blinds, because "I don't want the sun to see me!" (I think he meant it was too bright. :))

I had pre-ordered the final installment of the Princess Diaries book series and eagerly awaited the mail every day. When we did finally get a package, ds asks "Is it your princess diarrhea book, Mom?" Oh heavens, I hope not! LOL

Head on over to Mary's at Not Before 7 for more Tiny Talk.

Cats On Tuesday: Supercat

When I get a chance to cozy up on the couch with a book, Mimi loves to join me.  She was very cozy and quite relaxed last time we did this…

  She struck this pose while sleeping the silly girl.  Go Supercat!  This view is actually from above her…she is laying on top of me on the couch this way. LOL.

She stayed in this pose for a nice long photo session to take place.

Just how precious is that?

Not to be outdone, Smokey gives his best peek-a-boo from my bedcovers. 

Head over to Gattina’s for more cat fun!  Happy Tuesday cat lovers. :)

Ice, Ice, Baby

We had a pretty cold week last week (we seem to be getting over that now lol) with temps dipping down in the teens.  Of course, in my testosterone driven world of 1 dh and 4 boys, this translates into ICE TREE TIME!  We actually don’t have many trees in our yard anymore (thanks hurricanes Ivan and Dennis :P) but they made do.

A defunct patio set that sits in our backyard for the kiddos to play with became an ice palace!

Wouldn’t want to sit there lol.

Hey baby, that’s one cool ride!

The boys got up that morning and bundled up, put socks on their hands (please, we live in Florida, we do not invest in mittens!) and played until it all melted and they were soaked.  Our little taste of winter. :P

It’s back…

My laptop, that is.  Turns out the hard drive was bad.  The Geek Squad was pretty quick about finding that out, and then fixing it, but dh decided to replace the OS himself.  I have spent a lot of time today putting things back on the computer…my homeschool software, Windows Live Writer, some of my shortcuts and favorites, some of the downloads I got from Currclick (now I understand why they give you, like 5 downloads of the same product!  THANK YOU CURRCLICK!) Adobe Reader, etc. etc. etc.  Still doesn’t feel quite like my “old” computer yet.  They gave us the bad hard drive and dh says they have something at his work that may be able to retrieve some of the data off of it, so there’s always hope.

Now, when we picked up the computer, I asked the Geek why…why why why did this happen?  The computer is less than a year old!  Did I do something wrong?  Should I keep the kids off of it?  Do I need to be more careful somehow?  All he said was, “Oh, the hard drive goes bad the most often.  Sometimes we pull them out of the box new, and they are bad.”  Uh,  Geek dude, not a big help.  When I get a little extra money I’m going to get something to back everything up on, but honestly, you spend HUNDREDS of dollars on a piece of equipment that can decide to just go bad at any moment?  Come on! :P 

Changes

I've been making plenty of those these past few days. Ugh. Now that my (not even a year old)laptop is with the Geek Squad at Best Buy being tested for all kinds of hideous computer type ailments, I am making do with the old computer. With it's HUGE monitor that takes up 1/3 of my desk space (not even kidding), the mouse that won't right click, none of my saved photos, bookmarks or even Windows Live Writer to blog with...ugh. But, I'm getting used to it all, little by little. I sat down to make up ds2's lessons for the week and of course realized...I don't have the homeschool planning software to do so. Or a printer hooked up to this computer. I said oh well, let's just prepare some of ds4's lessons on our African safari...oh, the ebook I bought for that is on the laptop. Ugh. I think I should have titled this post Ugh and just been done with it. WHY IS THE HOME KEY RIGHT NEXT TO THE BACKSPACE KEY ON THIS KEYBOARD!!! Anywho, maybe I have that off my chest now, back to happily accepting my circumstances and making do. Change can be good. My new motto. :)

Book Review: Forever Princess

Oh well, it's over. All good things come to an end. And so it goes with the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. But oh, what an ending! Princess Diaries X: Princess Forever is the 10th and final installment in Meg Cabot's endearing Princess Diaries series. It just came out last week, and I had pre-ordered it so I got in delivered right to my doorstep before it even officially hit the bookstores! And I read it in one day. :) If you are familiar with Disney's Princess Diaries movies then you may or may not like the books. The books actually make fun of the movies! In the books, Mia's grandmother is not the sweet character Julie Andrews portrays in the movies and Mia is a lot less "innocent." Plus her dad is alive! But even though I agree the movies are completely different (and possibly a little better?) than the books, I LOVED this series. Meg Cabot is an excellent writer, especially with character development and plot.
When we left Mia in volume 9, she had broken up with Michael, had a falling out with her best friend (and Michael's sister) Lily, and discovered that the country she is princess of is actually a democrocy, not a monarchy. She had new friends and even a new boyfriend. I have to say, I was ready to send a lot of not so friendly emails if Cabot had failed to give us our happy ending in Forever Princess. :) Not to worry, there are a lot of twists and turns on the way, but we get our happy ending!! Now, these books are aimed at young teen readers, and definitely capture the current trends and moods, but the final few do contain cursing and mentions of s*x. Just a little. I don't have girls, but I find myself wondering if indeed I would share the series with a daughter...yeah, I would. We'd be open about that stuff, just like I am with my boys, and discuss how reading does not equal condoning.
The only thing that grated on my nerves a bit with this final Princess book were the attempts to throw in current event references...some were appropriate and some just seemed out of left field and it felt like the editors inserted them in at the last minute with no thought to it. Otherwise, prime Cabot reading and a superb farewell to our Princess Mia. Need a quick read and little escape? The Princess Diaries series will fill the need!

Crash and Burn

Or possibly just crash. My computer, that is. My brand new Dell, not even a year old yet, locked up while ds3 was doing lessons in T4L and then refused to turn back on! WAH! Dh ran the self check garbage and got codes and we contacted Dell who said since we bought it at Best Buy we have to have the Geek Squad look at it. I drove in to town today and dropped it off...guy said it could be the operating system (what I think it is) or the hard drive. Either way, I miss my baby!! I'm on the old computer and feel so LOST. Speaking of lost, oh all the ebooks for school, so many of my photos, the kids' homeschool software...gone, all gone. So my posting will be sporadic for a while, it's for the best, no one wants to watch my pity party anyway. WAH!

Remnants Of An Era

I mentioned that our final trip to the Boy Scout Camp that my fil recently retired from had two purposes; to say a final farewell to a treasured gathering place, and to retrieve something.  Well, this is the something...

A player piano.  Oh, but not quite that player piano.  Uh-uh.

 This player piano. :P

Dh's family had this in their home as he was growing up and moved it out to the camp when his father took on the ranger job, over 20 years ago.  Unfortunately, the piano was stored in, uh, not the most ideal conditions over the years.  But dh is up for the project and really wanted to bring it home and try restoring it.

Bringing it home was quite the effort in itself!  Dh rented a van with a lift in the back.  Even with that help, it took a lot of effort to get the piano in the van.

Plenty of room!

Heave ho!

And now it sits in my garage.  I'll be posting every once in a while as dh progresses on his project.  First up, cleaning out the debris left behind by the, uh, cute little fairies that took up residence in the piano.  Yeah, cute little fairies. :P

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Ds4, my 4yo, was running through the house in his new crocheted slippers from Gran.  Fearing he would slip in the kitchen I yelled out "Be careful!"  To which the little bugger replied, "I'm carefulling Mom!"

It's rare to be alone with just one of my boys, but when it happens it's always a treat.  I had the chance to spend an entire hour alone in the car with ds3, my 8yo, not too long ago.  We spent some of the time finding shapes in the clouds.  Ds thought one of the clouds looked like Baby Jesus.  Then another he said looked like a woman.  "Man, she is a GIANT!" he muttered to himself. :)

Head on over to Mary's at Not Before 7 for more cuteness.

Cats On Tuesday: Laundry Day

 

My washing machine died this week.  It had a near-death experience about a year ago, but dh revived it.  Then about a month ago I discovered my laundry room floor flooded...the poor washer was on it's way out, but it served us as well as it could until we could come up with the funds for a new one.  Farewell washer, you were good to me. :P  Now, I had been without a washer for a week...in a house full of 6 people, this is not good.

This is just part of the pile awaiting our new washer.  But wait, there is something amiss...

What's that curled up in the laundry pile?  My precious Winnie of course.  But I have one question;

Do I wash him with the whites or darks?

Head over to Gattina's for more kitty fun.  Happy Tuesday cat lovers!

End Of An Era

My fil has been ranger at the local Boy Scout Camp for over 20 years.  For all those years our families have had the wonderful opportunity to experience all the treasures available at the camp; the mysterious trails, the lakes with all the swimming, fishing and boating, the beauty of the nature all around.  It's really been the gathering place for dh's family, where we all get together, especially on holidays.  And now my fil has retired from the camp.  We made one last trip out there last month to retrieve something (that will be in another post) and said our fond farewell to this special part of our lives.

Ds3 and ds4 climbing on some canoes.

It was a cloudy day, kind of set the mood for the farewell.

The boys and I started the walk down to the main lake.

Along the way is a really cool trail...

Here is the lake as you approach.  The large white thing on the opposite shore is the lifeguard tower.  We've spent many a summer day swimming at that shore.

Ds4 racing down the slope to the edge.

Mission accomplished!  Now for the hard part.

Getting back...

up... the hill!

Ds snapped a pic of dh and I, watching all the fun.  Maybe I will be able to find some old pics of our years at the camp and do a little series.  If I ever make up with my scanner, that is.  We've had a bit of a falling out over the holidays. :P  I'm just not ready to forgive and forget yet.  Sigh.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  We just wish we were at the camp. :)