Fill-you-in #14

On this last and beautiful day of April, I've carved out a piece of time type up a blog post. Blogging has been a rarity lately because I was working furiously to finish up a marketing project, and then last week, when things should have slowed down, pneumonia hit Eleanor hard. In between caring for my sweet, sick girl, and trying to keep my other sweet girl healthy, it just didn't happen.

This week is another busy one, but it's full of fun. We have three soccer games this week to make up for last week's never-ending rain storm, three "lessons" for Eleanor, two book clubs, a hair cut and dinner with a friend, and a partridge in a pear tree a full hummingbird feeder. Yesterday, we had a few "firsts". I went to the SHEM (homeschool) convention in Springfield last weekend, we visited a homeschooling group for the first time, and Eleanor had her first piano lesson. Both went well, and I might write more on homeschooling later.

I've read lots of good books lately, and have a reviews coming for Beautiful Ruins and The Bell Jar. I've been notified by the library that The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Fault in Our Stars are waiting for me. When it rains, it pours! And, I'm starting to notice that the library's wait list NEVER takes as long as anticipated.

We wrapped up Game of Thrones Season 2, and oohhh was it good. I'm all geared up to read book #4 as soon as I can work it in. Rarely does a tv series or movie meet my expectations after I've read the book, but GoT does an excellent job. I don't even tell Jon he needs to read the book instead of watch the show :) I've been wanting to pick back up with Mad Men, too. I'm only on season 2.

Here's to a good week, friends! We're off to enjoy the weather before it gets COLD!

Fill-You-In #13

I might as well start calling these posts "Insta-XX". I stopped hauling around the real camera, and have been snapping my entire life with Instagram. It's just so convenient and filters make everything prettier.

Wehad a great week. We weathered the cold and rain at the beginning of the week with tumbling and soccer practice. The end of the week gave way to visits with grandmas (on both sides), a coffee date with a good friend for me, an early morning soccer game followed by a monster-breakfast at Smith's Restaurant, and a joint birthday party for two brothers (Calvin and Nolan). I slowed things down today to nap, play outside, work a little marketing magic, read, run, and get ice cream cones at "old McDonald's". The quiet spring rain seems like fitting way to end the day. A BIG thumbs down to the impending rain and (relative) cold. The week in pictures (from Instagram):

You might have noticed that Eleanor has been flashing us some very awkward smiles and poses. Getting her to look right at the camera is a tall order. I have no patience for it, and the awkwardness is reminiscent of her phase.

Books: I finished Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Watership Down this week.. Both books were great! Watership is easily one of my favorite books. It was sooo good. If you haven't read it, go read it. It's an adventure that just happens to be an adventure of bunnies, but it's so much more than a book about bunnies. I may never look at rabbits the same, though. Reviews coming soon. I just started Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters.

No TV, no crafts. Just work.

Memorable moments: Eve stuffing her feet in her mouth melts my heart. She's still trying sooo hard to crawl.

Watching Eleanor struggle to climb a tree with her twiggy arms (pun intended) in a dress cracked me and the neighbors up. On a less heart warming note, I nearly blinded Eleanor today. She was peacefully watching TV and the mood struck to rough her up a bit (I think I get this mood from my father). I intended to throw a small toy at her to get her to howl. Throw I did. The toy landed right under her left eye. It left a little scratch and caused instantaneous bawling. Mom of the year award right here! If you see Eleanor this week, ask her what happened to her eye. I'm sure she'll make me look great ;) I am very thankful that her wound is just a scratch and not a lost eye. I nearly bawled along with her. New commandment: Mom shalt not throw toys. I've always had terrible aim. Thank God children are forgiving.

Peace be with you!
Mari

Fill-You-In #12

What a great week we've had over here. I've been busy working on a few marketing projects. They've been enjoyable, and I've enjoyed collaborating with my co-workers even if it's mostly through email. I work with an extremely talented group of ladies, and I learn so much from them. I'm thankful for the professional outlet every now and then.

This week was the start of the spring soccer season, but I failed to get any pictures. I meant to take pictures at Tuesday night practice, but Eve successfully ended her first pooping strike with one heck of a mess on the soccer fields. I meant to take pictures of the first game, but it was cold AND windy, so I watched from the car with Eve. We are the pink team and the girls chose mermaids for their mascot. Cuteness pretty much oozes on and off the soccer field when six little girls are involved. I believe there were two criers (my daughter included), three potty breaks, and one little girl who just didn't want to play. It was so windy that no one blamed her.

Jon's mom, grandma, and grandpa (but from different sides) came up Friday to see the girls and take us to "the bbq barn". We had a good time and enjoyed cross-generational bonding. I think Eleanor tried to cripple her great-grandpa Fred.

Saturday, I got to celebrate Lindsey and her sweet baby, Avery. We had a great baby shower with lots of good food, great friends, and cute presents. The cuteness just doesn't stop. At one point, Lindsey looked at me and said, "Look at all of this pink wrapping paper. We are surrounded." I told her to get used to it. It never. ever. stops. :)

I'm reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. It's great. You can expect a book review in a few weeks. I've watched no TV, have done zero crafting, minimal cleaning, and even less cooking, but that's how it goes.

Without further adieu, the week in pictures (Almost entirely from Instagram. My apologies to my followers for the redundancy):

Sisters, sister and more sisters. We took as many walks as we could. The week was sandwiched with warm weather--Hallelujah! 

 Baby Shower delightfulness (Linds, I guess you get to see a few more--mostly of me.):

 Me and the mama to be. Lovely, isn't she?

 Lindsey and Kendra. They go waaay back.

Me with the sisters-in-law, Katie and Kendra. Katie graciously offered to help me with my hosting duties, and we unintentionally kind of matched. She has good taste!

 

Kind of boring, but I was SUPER pleased with how our (mine and my mom's) Sunday school project turned out. The kids (Kindergarteners) made stained glass for the "Light is good" lesson. I don't know how many times I said, "WHO is the light of the world?" They would look at me, and one of them would say, "JESUS!" I would reply, "GOOD! JESUS is the light of the what?" That went on for a while. I always hope they can tell their parents what we talked about in class.

 Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book to finish come Hell or high water 3 a.m. Have a great week, everyone!

Book Thoughts: In the Time of the Butterflies

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is a fictionalized account of four Dominican sisters, Patria, Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabel. She recounts some facts and invents a lot of (good) story to convey their lives and deaths during the Dominican revolution in the 1950s and 60s against the dictator Trujillo. The story is told from the perspective of the only surviving sister, Dede, many years after her sisters were assassinated.

The story starts out as the girls are growing up on the family farm with their  devoutly Catholic mother and ??? father (you'll have to read the story to find out about him!). The sisters help run the family business, dream about boys, and go off to school. The drama quickly heats up when Minerva catches the dictator's eye--it's all downhill from there. Although the story is based on fact, Alvarez creates riveting stories for each of the sisters and the book is full of personal and national rebellion, growth, love, family, babies, husbands, friendship and sacrifice. Each sister stands out in her own way, and makes unique contributions to the revolution, although Minerva Mirabel is the clear leader. Their assassinations are foretold in the beginning, but it doesn't make them any easier to stomach. I cried. and cried. and cried some more. The sisters left behind a mother, a sister, their husbands, and their babies. If you read it, have your tissues handy (if you're the weepy sort).

Much like Running the Rift, I'm glad to be informed about history through historical fiction. I enjoyed Alvarez's version of the Mirabel sisters, and was horrified at the Dominican Republic's past of which I had no prior knowledge. As good historical-fic often does, I was inspired to read up on the Mirabel sisters and the Dominican Republic. The story was good, the history important, and the writing enjoyable.

The book was nominated for the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award, is a "The BIG READ" selection from the National Endowment for the Arts, and according to Wikipedia, was even banned by a NY school district because it has a detailed diagram of how to construct a bomb!

I'd recommend this book to anyone, and I thank my book club friend, Amanda, for bringing it to the Christmas book exchange, so I could steal it from my other friend, Emily, and read it! I'll be passing it along soon.