Thursday, September 8, 2011

Summer 2011 Reading List

I spent my summer with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Percy, Annabeth, Father Tim, Cynthia, Katniss, Peeta, Gregor and Boots...
I started the summer with a challenge from my 9 year old son: read all the Harry Potter books! So I did!! I spent about a month immensely enjoying all 7 books. We’re also making our way through the movies, with just 3 left to watch.
I recently read The Hunger Games triology…LOVED these book and literally could not put them down!!!!
I started the Mitford Series, books one and two were terrific. I’m about to start the 3rd.
I started the Gregor Series by Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games author) and really liked book one. I just got book 2 out of the library today. This was a fast read, likely targeted for 8-11 yr olds. I hope my son reads the series – I think he’ll enjoy it.
I also started the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series…so far, I’ve read books 1 and 2. Another fast read. My son and I are sharing the books and we’ve had fun “comparing” them to the Harry Potter series.
I read a Kristen Hannah book, not the best. Pretty predictable with an unnecessary amount of swearing. I have to be careful with 2 young readers in the house now!
So what next? Finish the Mitford series, the Gregor series and the Percy series. I also requested “The Help” from the library a month ago…looks like a popular one, as I’m still waiting to borrow it. I put a “book suggestion” plea out on facebook at the beginning of the summer and it generated a nice long list…I’m chipping away at it here and there.
It’s been wonderful to escape into the world of books…I noticed that I watched very little TV this summer. Sure, we had “kid” movies and shows on here and there, but I loved the feeling of looking forward to jumping into a book and “meeting up” with the characters before I drifted off to sleep.

Last of my Summer Ramblings

written on 8/28/11:

We spent the last week at my parents’ house at the lake…what a great time! Plenty of boating (rowboat, motor boat, kayaks), fishing, tubing – I even waterskied for the first time ever!!! We took a day trip to Howe Caverns, had a lobster fest dinner, hubby and I got out for a date night, we did campfires with guitar sing-alongs and s’mores. Feeling tremendously blessed to have such a great vay-cay spot just an hour away!


written on 8/29/11:
When mowing the lawn, be sure to check on the children. Often. *sigh*
And even when you’re not mowing the lawn, if it’s too quiet for too long, check on the children. Yep.
New running socks somehow make heading out for a run so much more fun. Maybe it’s my imagination, but it sure felt springy-er on my run tonight!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

VBS songs, bumperstickers and balloon fail

here's what i was thinking about on 8/19/11:

100+ kids singing VBS songs = precious! Especially “How Great Thou Art”. Seeing my CAH standing next to a fellow 2nd grader with a terminal illness made me very weepy…

Obscene bumper stickers are SO annoying, especially when I have two kids who read in the van with me! I’m also getting really tired of LOUD people walking on the road behind our house while my kids are playing in the backyard…these people feel the need to curse LOUDLY for no apparent reason and I don’t like that my children hear it!

It’s been fun running little 5K’s in my neighborhood each morning, especially with Pandora playing in my headphones…I listened to Dynamite one day, Jock Jams another, Rhythm of Love today.

Balloon FAIL: Got a dozen latex balloons and one mylar for CAH’s bday party…got the balloons home and looked at the mylar more closely…it read “Happy B-day DAD!” Ugh!! 