Mommathon

I randomly chose this book of the library shelf, but when I went to go check it out, the librarian gave it rave reviews. I will say, it was a very good book. It was also a quick read. This isn’t the happiest of books and is actually quite depressing, but still, very good.

It follows the life of Charley, age 15, whose mom has abandoned him and whose dad gets killed shortly after the story begins. He is left in a new town with no parents, no friends and no way to make any money. He ends up taking a job with a man near the horse track that is near his house and that’s where the adventure begins. This poor kids sees and hears things that no one should ever have to, but his resiliency is amazing. With a little help from Pete, his beloved horse at the race track, he might just make it.

We had a busy night tonight. Colm had TKD belt testing and Liam had a music program at school. They both did a great job and we even managed to eat dinner before 8:00.

Forms

Admiring the medal he earned

The little girl to the left of Colm is the cutest little girl EVER.

Liam and his friends ready to sing and dance their way along the Oregon Trail

This is not a book I would have normally picked to read myself, which is one of the great things about belonging to a book club. It makes you stretch yourself a little as a reader.

This historical fiction piece takes place in England in the 1700′s. It’s a story of betrayal, spies, greed and murder.

Our school had its annual arts celebration tonight. The school is turned into an art gallery with every child having a piece of artwork displayed. The library turns into a stage where children, teachers and parents perform on their violins, trumpets, saxophones, guitars and the list goes on. There are also local artists sharing their work with students in the gym doing hands-on projects. It is a great night and such a wonderful way to bring our school community together.

Colm’s Joan Miro

Liam’s pencil drawing

Colm playing “Go Tell Aunt Rhody” with his classmate.

Colm was SO proud of the ribbon he received for playing his violin that he asked me to put it in the safe.

Liam playing “Gavotte” by Lully

We woke up to some snow this morning. I love the views from our kitchen.

I picked this book up at the library book sale for a dollar. I figured even if I ended up not liking it, it was only a dollar. What a good investment I made. This was a great book about a group of couples and their journeys to adopt a baby from China. The book also tells the stories of the families who have given up their babies to be adopted. I really liked how the author presented both sides of the story. She could have easily written the novel just from the viewpoint of the adoptive parents, but to see the other side of the story gave the reader an entirely different point of view.

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book. Such a sweet story of a dog who, through multiple lives, finds his purpose in life. If you have ever loved a dog, then you will love this book. It may make you really start to pay attention and think about what might be running through your dog’s mind and this story may lessen your pain if you’ve ever lost a dog. So sweet, so touching and just an overall great story.

One thing I have noticed in the past two years is that the older Liam gets, the easier his birthday parties have gotten. His parties no longer need to be huge productions with an invitation sent out to everyone in his class. He is content to have a few of his closest friends over at our house to hang out, play video games, eat pizza and talk Pokemon.

Lots of gaming going on here. This was after the big Pokemon card swap that took at least an hour.

I love Liam’s friends. They are great kids, but more importantly, they are great friends to Liam.

The very important opening of the gifts.

It wouldn’t be a good party without a little Mario.

The best part of the party for me was sitting around the kitchen table with them listening to them talk. It’s so much fun to listen to what’s on their minds. Also, there had been much talk in our house as to what kind of cake Liam would have. It was decided that he wouldn’t have cake, but instead would have banana cream pie, chocolate cream pie and ice cream. After all of that, you know what those boys wanted to eat? Ice cream and Girl Scout cookies. Oh well, more pie for me. (And thank you to the Girl Scout who dropped off the cookies in the middle of the party. She has no idea what a lifesaver she was.)

I think one of the single most important things we have done for our kids is give them the gift of faith. Just like with any gift, they may choose to use it all the time because it is just what they wanted. They may exchange if for another faith, not the one they were given, but one that is a better fit for them. They may decide at some point in their life to put their faith away for awhile. Just like a gift you may have received and it wasn’t what you needed at the time, but one day while you are cleaning out a closet, you discover it and realize it’s exactly what you need right now. Whatever they choose, I am so glad they have it so that whatever they decide to do with it, they have the faith they were given to make decisions and educated choices about what they decide to do when they are older and are out in the world making their own choices.

I have wanted to read this book for a long time. In short, it’s several stories in one that tie together a larger story. As a whole I liked this book. It’s basically about polygamy and the history of the Mormon church. What I didn’t like about it is that there is a lot of fact mixed in with the fiction and it could be rather difficult to sort the two out. I would definitely recommend it; it gets a little slow towards the end, but definitely very interesting, especially if you don’t know much about the beginnings of the Mormon church. It also happens to be a movie which I plan on watching sometime this week.