"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.

School shopping is done!

That feels so good to type, now school can start Im not in a panic anymore. Walmart was crazy (as usual) with hundreds of other moms doing the same thing as me..Arguing with their kids to pick a lunch box they wanted, beggin' them to try on 1 one pair of pants and screaming at them to "GET OFF THE CART!!"

School starts next tuesday the 19th and I already got called to work at the middle school on the 21st.

13 days

I just can't believe it. 13 days until school starts again. The summer went crazy fast this year. I haven't even started school shopping yet, oh I take that back..I did buy the boys new backpacks.

My mom is coming down this friday to spend a week with us. We're really looking forward to her visit! The kids are super exicted to see Grandma Elmo.

I had to send my digital camera off to be repaired. The LCD screen went out and I've had to go back and use my ol' 35mm one. Boy has that taken some getting use to!

Somehow I got talked into helping with bible school this year. So my friend Jane came over this afternoon so we could go over the stuff. I feel so unorganized. Bible School is friday 1-5 and all day Saturday. Since my mom is going to be here visiting, my *plan* was to drop the kids off at bible school and then do some serious school shopping. I guess that went out the door, completely! As long as I get everything the kids need for the first couple of days all should be fine. I'll worry about buying the clothes while they are in school. Plans are meant to be ruined anyway right? Oh well..

And speaking of school, I got a call on Monday and my first day of subbing is the 21st. Yea..two days after school starts I'll be subbing already!!

Dh brought camper back home yesterday

I think I forgot to mention that our camper was in the shop. On our maiden voyage we found some cosmetic flaws so the dealer was fixing it. Dh finally had a chance to go pick it up yesterday. YEA!! Seeing that thing come down our road made me want to go camping again sooo bad. I spent the day yesterday stripping bedding, and cleaing in the camper. I have the bedding all washed now and Im going to remake the beds today in hopes that we get to go out one more time before school starts.

School starts in 23 days!!!

Back from vacation

We recently got back from our maiden voyage with our camper. We had so much fun and 2 kids cried when we left the campground. They didn't want to come home. We were in Minnesota for 9 glorious days!! Everyday was an adventure filled with nothing but fun! I enjoyed sitting by the campfire and reading! :) The kids loved running around the playgrounds and fishing with dh. Dh enjoyed everything. We're ready to go back. Here's a few from many, many pictures.







34 days of summer vacation left already! Where is the summer going??

Summertime!!

Summer is in full swing and today was our first trip to the pool. It was short lived trip because W decided he was going to smart off to me and be a poop. A's friend left an hour after we got there so she was ready to go, and B scrapped his foot on the rough deck around the pool. So we were gone within an hour. We'll try again maybe tomorrow.

Kiddos & I also just got back from our first solo driving trip to Minnesota and it was a success!! I think dh feels more comfortable that I can do this and hopefully it'll be a yearly thing for the kids & I. We had so much fun!! I took a few pictures and will upload them when I get time.

Another highlight is we bought a camper! All 5 of us are SUPER excited about this venture! Though the gas prices are out of this frickin' world high, we are not going to let that stop us! I am hoping that we go out camping alot. Our maiden voyage is end of the this month when we head back to MN over the 4th of July.

School was out on May 22nd. The kids passed Kindergarten and will be going to first grade in August. I can't believe it!!!

10 days or something like that..

Im to tired to get up and check for sure, but the last day of school is the 22nd at noon and today is the 9th, so if you're so inclinded you can do the math! lol

And so far I am working 7 of those 10 days. UGH! I was approached today at the high school if I wanted to be lunch lady sub next year. I tried to contain my fierce urge of laughter as I was thinking of Adam Sadler & Chris Farley SNL skit, and I told her "I'll think about it, but school subbing keeps me pretty busy already."

Here's the skit, incase you've never seen it or need to see it again. It's worth a repeat..lol lol

Chris Farley & Adam Sadler Lunch Lady Land