Sunday Salon

I've been neglecting my blog this week.

It's time for Sunday Salon. Any big new books for me to share this week?? NOPE! I am STILL reading "The Crimson Petal & the White" by Michael Faber. I am on page 424 so Im just over 1/2 way. I just haven't dedicated any time this week to reading.

But my kids & I did finish "The Stinky Sneakers Mysery" by Beverly Lewis (Cul-de-Sac Kids Mystery #7. We also tried "Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus" by Barbara Park. Which requires it's own paragraph..

When I say we *tried* Junie B. Jones I mean just that, we tried it. We read 2 chapters and I said to the kids "That's it, we are returning this book to the library..it has to many naughty words." You're thinking "WHAT? Naughty words??" Well, in our house stupid, dumb and hate are naughty words. I really cringed at the thought of getting this book to begin with at the libarary because of the word stupid on the front cover. But *A* asked if we could get it, and she rarely asks about books (no chance of her following in my book reading footsteps..boo hoo..) so I had to say yes, we could get it. After 2 chapters my kids & learned that Juie B Jones has a bad attitude and she threated to beat up another little kid on the school bus. It's very safe to say that Junie B. Jones will NOT be visiting our house again anytime soon.

Oh My Gosh! I won TWO books!!!

I know you always hear people saying "I never win anything!" I AM one of those honest people who really never win! I've never even won a dollar on a scratch off!! But my luck has changed!!!! I won "The Almost Moon" by Alice Sebold from Cheryl's Booknook and "Matrimony" by Joshua Henkins from Nat's blog

Thank you so much Nat & Cheryl! I am so excited! :)

Sunday Salon

Another week has ended and another pretty oh-hum Sunday Salon from me.

This week the kids & I finished only 1 book "No Grown-ups Allowed" (Cul-de-sac Kids Mystery #3) by Beverly Lewis. This book wasn't as good as the others in the series, there was one part (when the cul-de-sac kids were making a snowman) where I completely lost my kids interest, but it was still real enjoyable.

I am STILL reading "The Crimson Petal & the White" by Michael Faber. I've been reading this book for almost a month now, sure seems longer though. I am almost halfway now. I was really hoping to be done by the end of the month but I don't think I will be.
Am I enjoying it? Yea I am.
Am I really enjoying it? No not really.
Is it worth 800+ pages? IMHO, probably not.

I usually love books of this type. 1800 London ho's, but for some reason I just can't muster up any feelings for Sugar.

"Shoot the Moon" by Billie Letts

Bree over at The Things We Read is giving away FIVE of this book by this very talented author! Come over and win one of the copies!!

"The Almost Moon" by Alice Sebold-giveaway

Cheryl's Book Nook is giving away FIVE copies of this book! This book is up there on my wishlist and Im hoping to win a copy! You could win one too!! Head over there and sign up!!

This morning..

at 6:15am I am woken up by *W* screaming "MOM!! Im sorry, Im sorry, Im sorry!!!" I jolt up, run to his bedroom (not there) and yell "Where are you?" I hear the toilet flushing and run to the bathroom. I open the door and see *W* standing by the toilet, with his feet wayyyyyy in the corner and I look down and I am met at the door by fecal matter, toilet paper and gushing water. It takes me a second to realize what is going on and the first thing that goes through my mind is "This is more then a 1 Bounty sheet job..." After using every towel in our house and a little dry heaves I think we've learned our lesson. You don't need to use an ENTIRE roll of Charmin Double Roll, and if it doesn't go down on the 1st flush or the 2nd flush, yell for mom BEFORE you hit the 5th flush.

"Matrimony" by Joshua Henkin (giveaway!!)

My book pal Nat is having a giveaway for "Matrimony" by Joshua Henkin.

Stop by her Nat's blog for a chance to win!!

Tuesday Teaser & and what not..

Time for the Tuesday Teaser!!

Grab your current read

Let the book fall open to a random page

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Join here!!

From the book "The Crimson Petal & the White" by Michael Faber. I really wanted to take my teaser out of the other book Im reading, but that book is downstairs and I don't want to go get it (you'll understand why later in this post).

Anyhoo, taken from pg. 575..

"Possibly." William knows very well she is. His wife's belief that she and her coachman share a "little secret" is a pitable delusion. "She'll grow out of it, I trust."

On to other news..

I can't go downstairs because..I AM SICK! And I mean really sick. White blood cell really high sick. I needed a shot and antibotics for several days sick. I have bronchitis & pharyngitis. I went to the dr. yesterday and though I am getting better going up/down stairs makes me wease and really winded. Pretty pathetic. My hip hurts like crazy from the shot. So please..pour on the sympathy. The ONLY reason my other book is downstirs (which is.."Riding the Bus with My Sister" by Rachel Simon..tune in next Tuesday for a teaser) is because it accidently went downstairs with dh in a laundry basket.

Well another week, another Sunday Salon! Im still plugging my way through "The Crimson Petal & the White" by Michael Faber. Im almost done with Part 2, so hopefully before the end of the month this big book will be behind me! I am enjoying it more now then I was a few days ago, finally Im starting to learn more about the characters, rather then just hearing pages and pages of Williams obsession over Sugar.

This week my kids & I finished "The Chicken Pox Panic (Cul-de-Sac kids #2)" by Beverly Lewis. We are really enjoying this series of books! I picked up a couple more from the library this week.

I also picked up "Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1)" by Mary Pope Osborne and "Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (Junie B. Jones #1)" by Barbara Park.

This week I am also going to start a side read for myself "Riding the Bus with my Sister" by Rachel Simon. I need a book that can travel with me to/from school, etc. I usually can not have 2 books going at the same time so we'll see how this goes.

My Birthday!!

Well today is my birthday. I am now (hahaha..Im old enough not to tell) years old. Today I spent the day with Rachel and her adorable babies and then Rachel took me out for lunch. Ok..the truth is she gave me money and said "Go get us lunch..my treat for your birthday". So I ran across the street to Dairy Queen and got us Chicken Strip baskets. YUMMY!! I haven't had a chicken strip basket in a long time and it was wonderful.

Birthdays really haven't ever been a big deal for us, even our kids are not overly fazed by their own date of birth. They don't expect the earth to move and the sun to rise and set on their wishful whims on their birthday. Are we bad parents because we don't spend months and months on a particular b-day theme? I sometimes wonder..

A few weeks ago I asked "A" what she wanted to do for her b-day and she said "I just want to have a family day". Well she'll kinda get her wish, on their b-day the kids & I will be in Omaha with grandma for our bi-annual kids weekend get away. "W" says he wants a boy party (with only his sister there..and sometimes that changes). "B" says nothing.

Grab your current read

Let the book fall open to a random page

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Join here!!

From the book "The Crimson Petal & the White" by Michael Faber (pg. 188)

"Guided by the master of the house, brother Henry and his companion are shown everything. The melancholy atmosphere of the Rackham home, which had been replaced; the old steps have been removed from teh garden; new French windows have been screwed into the parlour door. The whole place smells of paint, wallpaper paste and fresh air."

Sunday Salon today is going to be short and sweet.

Im still reading "The Crimson Petal & The White" by Michael Faber and this week I worked everyday so I didn't get much reading time. I did lug this book to school once and tried to read it during lunch but I couldn't concentrate on it. So it will not be making any more out of the house trips. It's just to heavy and bulky. Anyway..I read about 50 pages this week so I am making headway.

My children & I read "Arthur and the Popularity Test" by Marc Brown this week. My kids are not Arthur fans, so this book was not a huge hit. We're going back to the Cul-de-Sac kids & Beverly Lewis tonight.

Because of someone's blog (sorry I can't remember how, so please post me a comment and tell me who you are so I can thank you) I ordered the book "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova from Bookmooch. I should hopefully get it this week and start it soon! Im so psyched!!

Tuesday Teasers

Grab your current read

Let the book fall open to a random page

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

30 Books in 30 Days Giveaway!!

Check out Deanna's Blog for all the details!

WOW, it's been a week?!

Since I updated. It sure doesn't seem that long but the calendar doesn't lie. This past week has been pretty crazy around our house. I was busy every day this week. Monday of course we didn't have school, but I worked Tuesday, Thursday & Friday and spent Wednesday with my friend Rachel & her babies. :)

The kids are now in their full school schedule. They start at 8am and get out at 3:20pm. That's been a huge adjustment for them. They also had their first spelling test this past week. *B* passed on the first try, *W* and *A* passed on their 2nd try. Now they have new spelling words for next week. UGH..

Dh is busy gearing up for harvest which will start very, very soon.

Really isn't to much to comment on this week.

I just joined "The Sunday Salon", it looks like fun so here goes my first blog dedicated to The Sunday Salon.

Im reading "The Crimson Petal & the White" by Michael Faber . Yesterday I finally got a really big chunk of reading done and Im starting Part II. Im enjoying it so far. If I may quote my friend Giz here..."It's all about the Ho's"

My kids are starting to get into chapter books, but since they are only 6 years old I am reading the books to them. So we finished our first chapter book last night "The Midnight Mystery" by Beverly Lewis. My kids loved it and I enjoyed it too. I'll be reading more of these books to them in the coming weeks.

Labor Day

Happy Labor Day weekend all my American friends!!

Any big plans for the long weekend? Here in our household there wasn't any plans, but so far we've had a great long weekend and we're looking forward to another day tomorrow.

Dh's friend from work went away for the long weekend and we've had the joy of watching their 2 horses. Now *A* loves horses, LOVES them, but I think she was a bit intimidated when she saw those 2 big horses yesterday. I'll have pictures to share tomorrow, because I got my digital camera back yesterday and the battery is now fully charged!! YEA!!!

This weekend Bella & Sadie (our new puppies..well they are 8 months old now) went into heat. Oh what joy..any dog owner knows what the next few weeks will be like for us. The dogs not left outside alone for ANY reason. Though the absolutely worst hasn't started yet, the extra entryway gate has been put up in hopes of keeping them off the carpet.

Yesterday was a fun day for us, it's nice that the kids are now at an age where they almost prefer to eat at restaurants where we don't have to wait in a line to carry our food to a table, and there isn't a slide and private dining area for children attached to the building. So yesterday we all went to Valentio's Italian Buffet. The kids ate great and dh & I were shocked with how much we saved! A family a 5, all you can eat buffet, costed us less then $30.00. After that dh & *W* went to get their hair cuts and then we went to Wal-mart. Oh Lord in heaven..I dispise that store. After we went there, saved a crapload of money (the only reason I go at all is because in the long run I really do save sooo much) we went bowling.

It was a great day. I got a lot of reading done during the drive and while everyone else bowled.

First week of school over

The first week of school is over already! It went by fast, but considering that it started on Tuesday and the kids got out at 1:30 everyday this week I guess it should of gone fast!! Personally I think the 1:30 dismassal is a joke, the kids no more then get there, they get a morning snack, eat lunch, have 3 (THREE) recesses and then they are home. No one is overly tired yet, but Im sure that'll change when they start their *normal* hours (getting out at 3:20 Monday-Thursday) after Labor Day.

While the kids have been in school I have been enjoying my time! I did work at the Middle School on Thursday which went really good and Im looking forward to working more again (I already have 4 more days scheduled in Sept/Oct.) and I spent two days this week with my friend Rachel and her 6 month old quads. They are soooo damn cute!!! I'll be with them again on Monday next week for sure.

It's a beautiful rainy Saturday today. The kids & I have nothing really planned today. We should go to church and clean and we should go to the grocery store. I should finish my current book too.

Kids love 1st grade!!

Today was day 3 of 1st grade and they love it! They are in a perfect size class (10 kids total, 6 boys & 4 girls) and they really seem to like their teacher.

I'll have picture to post once I use up the rest of the film in my 35mm. I really miss my digital camera. I hope I get it back REALLY soon.

3 days

Three days until school starts! I think Im a bit more nostalgic about the kids starting 1st grade then I was about them starting kindergarten. I've said it before but it deserves to be repeated, this summer has gone by so fast. We had fun, but looking back at the summer, not nearly enough. I didn't get some things accomplished that I wanted to this summer (*W* still is on 1 training wheel and *B* is the only one who can tie his shoes).

Next week is already jam packed with what I need to do.

Monday-dentist appt. for *A* in the am, back to school night for kids
Tuesday-kids back to school, work all day at Matt's (I haven't been there in 3 weeks!!) Im hoping to have time to run to Wally World and return some stuff.
Wednesday-Spend the day with Rachel and her kids
Thursday-Work at middle school
Friday-NOTHING (yet)!

Im not going to work for Headstart this year, I just didn't mesh well with that structure. I was plenty busy last year with just subbing at the school. Matt is giving me some more responsibility this year and that needs to be my first priority.

My mom left early (like crazy 4am early) this morning. The kids & I really miss her. It was great having her here. But I suppose a week is about long enough. We did quite a bit, but we also stayed home some too. We're already looking forward to our yearly trip to Omaha in October. I think the weekend is going to end up being the weekend of the kids b-day, which could cause a problem because Im sure *dh* would like us to be home that weekend.

Well I'd better go finish the laundry, I've neglected it all week.