I don't read enough

A few days ago, I read a post on my friend Amy's blog about the 100 most beloved books of all time. Looking over the list, I realize I've read very few. Actually I was surprised to find that I have read any of them. I love to read, but in high school I never read the books that were assigned. Let's just say I wasn't the top student at our school. It wasn't even a very good school, obviously, because I somehow made it through high school without ever reading a decent book or turning in a term paper. I never even took the SATs, but that's a gripe for another day.

So, I read this list of books and it inspired me to read more. I'm going to print the list, post it on my fridge and attempt to read them all. Realistically I'll say that I'll attempt to read them all because I'm sure there are a few that I really won't like very much. No sense in wasting my time with a book I dread reading. I'm sure there will be plenty that I will love and those will be worth my time.

Here is the list, copied from Amy's blog. I've bolded the few I've already read, including those I've read so long ago I have no recollection (I have a terrible memory)

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien (Working on it now...)
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie



I'm going to keep a record of the books I've read here on the blog. Any recommendations on where to start?

We did it!

We started school on Sunday! Mike was preparing to take Kayla to the airport to see her off to PA and Maddie was heartbroken about not being able to tag along. I offered to start school a day early as a distraction and it was just the thing she needed! Today will be our 3rd day and so far we both love it!

So far we have done a math lesson each day, reviewed phonics and practiced reading short words, practiced writing. We are also studying Animals in their World, a curriculum offered by Winterpromise. We've learned about various animal senses, movement, and skeletons and we've read the first chapter in a book called Red Dog, by Bill Wallace.

Soon we will be starting a unit on the African Savannah and I will be adding some geography and American History lessons as well.

Nicholas and I are working through Winterpromise's I'm Ready To Learn preschool curriculum as we have time but I am beginning to realize that we won't take full advantage of all this program has to offer until he's a bit older. He just turned three last month, so this will probably work better next year.

Sweetest baby ever!

Isn't he just the cutest little man you've ever seen?

Cuteness!

These pictures are a little out of focus and not technically perfect but then again, are they ever? This was my attempt at a spur of the moment professional style photo shoot. I have lots to learn!

Nicholas looks like a 5 year old. He's only 3. He JUST turned three in June, but he's so big and looks so grown up! He's all boy!




Madelyn was posing in all sorts of funny poses, distorting her face and putting her hands up while I tried to take photos of her. This was what I got after I asked her to stop posing.



Ben smiled a bit at Maddie but the lighting in the house was poor and everything was blurry. I got one good shot of him. I'll try again today.





Kayla of course wasn't here and doesn't let me take pictures of her anyway, but I plan on catching her off guard today. Maybe later I'll post a photo of her.

Homeschool ramblings...

We have made the decision to homeschool our younger children. Kayla will stay in public school where she is happy, so I'm starting fresh with Maddie. Kindergarten will start in our house sometime within the next 2 weeks. The original plan was to start on July 14, while K is visiting my parents in PA but not all of our books have arrived yet so we need to wait til everything gets here and til I can organize everything, shop for our project supplies and go over my checklist a couple of times to make sure everything is in place.

The thought is kind of daunting. We like to go go go all the time and frequently we rush through our chores (or give up when I realize I'm not going to make any progress) and hop in the car to make a trip to the park or a friend's house. Other times we invite all the friends here for an all day playdate. We have a great circle of friends and there is always someone ready and willing to have a playdate. We call them playdates, but really it's mama time. We cook, sew, eat, clean and mostly just sit around a kitchen table and gab while the kids play. It's incredibly therapeutic and through these conversations I have laughed, cried, and learned tons from these incredible women whom I'm lucky to have as friends.

However, once we start school, the days of spontaneous playdates, shopping trips, and outings will most likely end. Kindergarten, as I've been told, should only take about 1 hour a day or less. Our program is likely to take longer and with a baby and energetic 3 year old I'll probably stretch our "school" day to 2-3 hours sometimes. Then there are the chores and all the other things that go along with parenting my children and caring for my home.

I guess the easy way out would be to send my daughter to the big brick box down the road, but I just can't do that. There is no way the kindergarten teachers know how to teach my child. I know they all have great intentions and most are generally good people, but will they really take the time to know my child? Are they going to give her exactly what she needs? They won't and they can't be the kind of teacher my sweet girl needs.

Homeschooling in our state is very common, so there are many resources available to us. We can take classes at the McWane Center, or Zoo this year. When she gets older there are coops where she can learn with other children. There are organized park days for homeschoolers, drama classes, ice skating classes, sports teams, field trips, clubs to join and many friends to be made. I have heard from other Alabama homeschoolers that fitting in time to do actual "schooling" is sometimes hard with all of the outside activities and classes that are available. This thrills me. I am so happy to have a world of resources available for my children.

Even Kayla, who is in public school, will benefit from this as we go on a homeschooling field trip to WDW in December. Both girls will participate in Disney's YES program during one of our days there and prior to the trip I will educate them about the countries we will "visit" in Epcot, and the regions we will "visit" in Animal Kingdom.

We will be using Winterpromise's Adv K Language Arts, Animals in their Worlds and Horizon Math K for Madelyn. Nicholas will be doing Winterpromise's I'm Ready To Learn preschool program.

Figuring out how to schedule our day will do doubt be a struggle as we get started. Many other homeschoolers have told me that it pays to remain flexible and rework the system over and over again til I find a way that works for us.

Pray for us as we start this wonderful journey! We'll need it!

Nicholas is THREE!!!!

My boy is three years old! He is such a blessing to our family and we are so lucky to have him in our lives. Some things that I love about him.....

He greets me with a cheerful "Good Morning Mommy!" every morning and afternoon(after his nap)
He LOVES his baby brother! Lately his whole reason for being is just to make the baby smile and he will do whatever it takes.
He can recite "Miss Spiders New Car" word for word, without even looking at the book!
He gives the best eskimo kisses
He has an amazing imagination.
On his birthday, everytime someone said "Happy Birthday Nicholas" he wished them a Happy Birthday in return!

He's a sweet, smart, fun and amazing little boy. I Thank God that I was chosen to be his mama.

His cake was homemade. He wanted a race car cake and I am NOT a cake decorator, but Maddie and I had fun decorating this..don't laugh, ok? This is the best I could do! He saw it and immediately started driving the little cars all over the cake.


This is him 3 years ago, sniff sniff......

Our letterboxing adventure

It's time I start updating this blog again, don't you think? I'll start by telling you all about our letterboxing adventure a few weeks ago. I read an old article in Family Fun that reminded me about this great activity that I had been wanting to do once Maddie got old enough. Kayla is old enough but not at all interested in searching for little boxes in the woods.

I did a little research and found www.atlasquest.com, which lists letterboxes and the clues you need to find them. I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few in our area, so I picked a few easy ones and printed out the clues. Most letterboxes are found hidden alongside hiking trails and we already enjoy light hikes. Maybe this will motivate us to do more hiking and as the kids get older, go back to doing longer more strenuous hikes, which would be great for my not so girly figure!

We packed up a special bag just for our letterboxing supplies-our stamps, ink pad, pens, books, bug spray and water bottle- and headed out to the state park which happens to be only a 10 minute drive from our house.

Here are some pictures of our first find-





After we found our first box, we made our way through the park to an easy trail where we would find our second letterbox-

We have a baby!!!

Almost two weeks ago I gave birth to our fourth child. He's so sweet and the older kids love him. Even my moody teenager can't seem to get enough of him. His name is Benjamin and he was born at home after a fairly quick but sort of intense 2.5 hr labor. We are doing well and adjusting to life as a family of 6 much easier than I had anticipated. This easy adjustment is all thanks to my wonderful friends, family and midwife.

Four weeks

We have four weeks left of this journey if this baby decides to hold out that long. I'm expecting that he will, considering none of my other births occurred earlier than the estimated due date. It's so hard to believe that February is right around the corner. It's very surreal, just like the last 3 times. No matter how many children you already have I think you are never prepared for the life changes ahead as you wait on the birth of the next baby.

Mike says this one will be our last, so I'm trying to do as much as I can to enjoy these last few weeks. I sit and gaze at my ever growing belly as it moves and I love to imagine how this little person grow. He is truly a blessing and I can't wait to meet him.

As of yesterday, my amazing midwife says I'm clear for birthing at home, so whenever he's ready he's welcome to come on out! I'm ready to meet him but only if he's ready to meet me.

We have everything washed and ready to go. Birth supplies are all collected and in a bin waiting to be used, baby clothes and diapers are stacked neatly in bins in our room next to the pack n' play where he will sleep some of the time.

Contractions have been coming every so often for weeks now, making me wonder if we really will make it another four weeks. I try not to get my hopes up that he will come easily or early(but still fully cooked), so that in the even this does turn out to be a 42 weeker, I'm not desperately begging for induction instead of peacefully birthing at home.

I love the ultrasound lady!

The ultrasound lady at my OB's office is my new best friend! Sure, I'm a crazy freak who is planning a homebirth, but I love my ultrasounds. Today we went in for our 2nd ultrasound to recheck a few things that didn't look right last time and suddenly this beautiful picture appeared on the screen! We weren't planning a 3D ultrasound but when the tech saw him in this position she decided it was time for us to get a better pic and so she flipped a switch and this is what we saw! I almost cried!!! I got to see him opening his little eyes and move his little fingers and it was so SWEET!!!

For the record, I always thought these pictures were creepy and never really saw the need to spend $100 for the 3D scan but you know what? When it's your kid you are looking at, it's darn cute!!!!

What I want...

This is what I want right now. When I say right now I really do mean right now. It's a sandwich from Primanti Bros. in Pittsburgh, PA. Hands down the best place to go after a night out and exactly what I'm craving right now in my 20th week of pregnancy. Too bad I'm nearly 800 miles from PA. Sure, it looks weird and gross but it's damn good! I'd do just about anything for one of these right now. If we had a primanti's within 2 hours of here I'd probably go every week. If you can't tell from the picture, I'll tell you what's on these famous sandwiches. You get your choice of meat or egg, or both (I usually get hot italian sausage or pastrami) topped with cheese, tomato, coleslaw and thick french fries fresh out of the fryer. All this between two thick slices of fresh italian bread and there you have it. Heaven on a plate :) Well, that's how I feel about it this week. Next week I'm sure it will be something else, hopefully something containing a decent amount of fresh veggies and a lot less fat!

Yes, I've made many posts about food. I'm realizing that now, but hey I'm pregnant so I have a good excuse, right?

New Recipes to try!

I'm back on Allrecipes.com again, looking for a meal for tonight and on the front page was this Carrot Muffin Recipe. Gotta try that if I have time. Great way to sneak in some carrots. I'll use half whole wheat flour and half the amount of brown sugar will be substituted for Agave nectar. Love that stuff. Hopefully the kids will love it!

No clue what we're having for dinner now!

It's a boy!

I'm late in posting this, but most of my friends and family already know we found out on Monday that this little one is a boy!!!! I love that each of my kids gets a brother and a sister and that they each have a sibling of the same gender to grow up with. Granted, the difference between my two girls is 8 years but they have such a special bond that the age difference barely matters.

Nicholas has been told that he'll need to share his room with the baby someday and he's fine with that, but he does not want to give up his crib. He tells me that the baby will sleep in the firetruck toddler bed that sits unused in his room. He's 27 months old right now and wants nothing to do with any sort of bed other than his crib. He calls it his "bootiful cib" We still have plenty of time to work on that, as the baby will probably cosleep for the first 6-8 months or so. Keeping him in his crib is nice since he can be a little too adventurous. It's nice to keep him confined and out of trouble til he gets a little more common sense!

Anyway, here is my baby boy! We didn't get a very good picture, but I need to go back in 4 weeks for another scan so maybe a better picture is coming.

Lollipop Slippers

A few weeks ago, Maddie asked me to knit a pair of lollipop slippers for her and chose this yarn from my stash. Unfortunately I don't know the type of yarn or name of the colorway since I bought this yarn from another mama who was purging her stash and I'm not experienced enough to know by sight and touch. I used the Little Turtle Knits Stripey Slipper pattern but I didn't do the stripes. I've made this pattern a few times and never tried stripes actually. I think it covers my mistakes better!

Keilbasa Apple Pasta Bake

This is yummy stuff! I've been making this for years every autumn and it's my husband's favorite. I made it for dinner last night and thought I'd share the recipe. As you can see, it's not organic or healthy in any way, but I bet you could use healthier ingredients like organic milk and cheese, whole wheat pasta, and organic turkey sausage. If you try it, please leave a comment and let me know what you think :)

Kielbasa Apple Pasta Bake

1 lb rigatoni
2 TBSP Olive Oil
1 large onion, sliced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 quart milk
3 Fuji apples, cut up into 1 inch cubes
3 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 package fully cooked kielbasa, sliced

Heat oven to 350 and coat a 10 cup baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large deep pot, cook rigatoni.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan heat oil over med-high heat. Add onion, cook until soft. Stir in flour, cook 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute.

Stir in 2 cups of cheese into milk. Stir until melted, then toss pasta, cheese sauce, kielbasa and apples. Spoon into baking dish and bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle 1 cup of cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Yesterday we spent the morning at our local state park's observation farm. The weather was perfect, the animals were friendly and the kids had a blast!

Update on the recipe list!

I never did update about those recipes, huh? Well a few people asked so I'll give my reviews.

Rachael Rays Peanut butter and bacon on Banana Bread

This was good, though I like my banana bread recipe better so I'll use my own recipe next time. The bacon flavor didn't stand out as I expected. It seemed to be all bread and just a little pnut butter and bacon. My banana bread recipe can be sliced a little thinner than RRs without crumbling, so I'll use mine, cut the bread thin and use more bacon for more even flavoring.

Curried Hummus

This was okay. You'd think a curry lover like me would have been all over this recipe, but I made it, tried it and it sat in the fridge til my friend tossed it after realizing it had been in there for way too long. I'll stick to the hummus recipe I usually use. In fact I just made a batch yesterday and Nicholas ate a bowl of it with a spoon. The boy will have garlic breath forever now!

Bodacious Broccoli Salad

This was really good! I wouldn't change a thing. My teenager even ate it, so if she likes it anyone will like it!

Rachael Ray's cold ginger soy and honey noodles

I never got around to trying this one, but I will. Maybe today. This was planned for a lunch food for my teenager. Unfortunately she forgot her lunch container at school and until she brings it home, she's getting pb&j, apples and grapes for lunch in her brown bag. Hopefully soon she'll get sick of it and want some real food.

Wow! I'm really gonna have a baby!!!

I'm 18 weeks pregnant today. I tested positive before the 4 week mark, so you'd think by now I'd be used to it. I'm not though. I've seen this child on ultrasound at 7 weeks, listened to his/her heartbeat many times. I even borrowed a doppler from my wonderful midwife so that I could reassure myself when having moments of doubt. I don't feel pregnant and seem to forget all the time that certain things might not be a good idea, like having a glass of wine, or an extra cup of coffee. The other day I was working outside sealing our deck and a friend mentioned "Is that okay with the chemicals?" For about a half a second I had to think about what she was talking about. Oh yeah, there's a baby in there!

It's not that I totally forget completely every day, though. I do check my blood sugar from time to time since I had some blood sugar problems in the beginning that miraculously got better on their own. I'm slightly worried about developing gestational diabetes, so I'm careful about what I eat. I take my prenatal vitamins daily. Please don't think I'm just ignoring this pregnancy and living on the edge (though that would only mean that I'm eating sushi and drinking an extra cup of coffee every day!). It's just that many many times throughout the day I get this reality check that yes I am pregnant.

I think today it's finally hitting me. I'm 18 weeks exactly today. Three days ago I went to a prenatal with my midwife and her assistants. Monday we are going in for our big ultrasound with the OB. I hope this baby will reveal himself/herself because I think once we know the gender it will be easier to bond.

This morning I was reading a message board and someone a really cool ticker that said she was 18 weeks, so I had to go get one for myself.

I've been scrapping!

Would you believe I have over 3400 pictures on my pc?? That's insane! They date all the way back to 1999. The reason I have them all is because I have great intentions of making digital scrapbook pages with all of them, so I take out my old photo discs, load the photos onto the computer and forget about them in favor of more recent pictures. I will eventually catch up I hope, but in the meantime this is what I've done recently. I'm still learning photoshop, so these need some improvement, but I think they are pretty good.

The 2Cute and Oak Mountain pages are ploppers from the freebie gallery at Digital Scrapbook Place.

The Jiminy peak page elements came from the freebie download section at Scrapbook Bytes

Ice Princess

Madelyn is taking Ice Skating classes at our local skate school and I'm so proud of her. By the end of the very first class she was already able to skate on her own with no help from her instructor.

She's even signed up to be in the annual Christmas show, which occurs during our town's annual Tree Lighting Ceremony.