April Reading List

Yeah I'm not going to push through another book tonight. So

April
1-26 Libriomancer - Jim Hines (4/2) free/library
2-27 Tiger’s Destiny - Colleen Houck (4/4) free/library
3-28 The King - JR Ward (4/8) free/library
4-29 Twice Tempted - Jeaniene Frost (4/8) free/library
5-30 Because I Said So! - Ken Jennings (4/9) free/library
6-31 Cycle of the Werewolf - Stephen King (4/10) free/library
7-32 Some Girls Bite - Chloe Neill (4/11) free/library
8-33 Recipes for Disaster - Tess Rafferty (4/13) free/library
9-34 Black Bird V.1 - Kanoko Sakurakoji (4/13) free/library
10-35 Black Bird V.2 - Kanoko Sakurakoji (4/13) free/library
11-36 Black Bird V.3 - Kanoko Sakurakoji (4/14) free/library
12-37 Doll Bones - Holly Black (4/24) free/library
13-38 The Great and Terrible Quest - Margaret Lovett (4/28) free/Kaeley


I loved every single book I read this month, with the exception of The Great and Terrible Quest. It wasn't bad! It was just slow. This book is a wonderful entry level fantasy book. short, good relatable characters, sinister, faceless bad guys. It was just too simple for my already-used-to-epic-fantasy brain. I think kae needs another year before tackling this one.

Feeding Florida Together

April marked the 6th annual Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida "feeding Florida together" food drive!

At the beginning of the month the girls decorated boxes to leave at their parents places of business to collect canned goods!

Then today I took everything to the Food Bank to be weighed

That's right! 99 pounds!! The top collectors last year collected 86 pounds of food. It's a competition where everyone wins, the best kind.

I'm always humbled and awed by my girls, they surprise me every time I see them with their kindness, intelligence and generosity. 

Officially summer

In Florida we really only have two seasons, Summer, and Summer in Hell.

We determine summer actually starting by whether or not the pool is warm enough to go swimming.

It's officially summer.

A day in my life

One of my favorite bloggers on The Stir (part of cafemom) did a "day in my life blog" not to show how hard it is, but to show how happy she is, even when she complains.

So I decided to try too!

6:40a is the absolute latest I can get out if bed and still get kae to school on time. I hot snooze and Ross gets up 9 minutes later. Saves bathroom fighting. 

Get kaeley up! She's not usually this happy.

Check on Connor, he's usually still sleeping. But sometimes he pretends.

Then I make breakfast for the girl, and pack her lunch. I also untie the knots in her shoelaces, and send her back to change her clothes at least once. Some days she lets me do her hair for school, but not often.

Then Connor wakes up. He's never in a good mood.

Diaper change and breakfast.

Then we say bye-bye to daddy and sissy.

About 8:00a was bath time. He loves being in the bath, getting him out requires creative thinking, or his Cars towel.

Typically we hang out at home and watch Mickey Mouse and be lazy.

Not yesterday!

We dropped books off at the library, then went to downtown at the gardens.

We looked at the koi

Look at that face! Wait, you can't see it behind the hair.

Haircut time at Cartoon Cuts! And there is Mickey Mouse.

Awww yeaaaah, faux hawk!

We rode the carousel after, since he was so good for his haircut. He insisted on riding the birdy!

Then back to the library to pick up books. No pictures, chasing him is enough work.

Mmm lunch! Yup that's a cookie. 

During nap today I decided to read (in between loads of laundry and dishes) this is my pile of library books!

I took a book of Kae's shelf instead. One mom keeps pestering me to read. 

Kae gets home from school and does her homework, on Friday that's just 30 minutes of reading.

Then we get bubba up, he decided to read too!

Then make a traffic jam

I took the opportunity to knit, Aunt Gail and I are doing a KAL on the same shawl (my Shifter Shawl on rav)

Mmm dinner, broccoli nachos

Then Ross gets home, eats, and takes Connor duty ;)

While kae and I played a couple games of Pokemon TCG. I won, but she's getting better about not freaking out when she loses!

Then story time! And bed for the kids.

I knit until 10 while Ross watched Nanana's Buried Treasure, a new anime that's pretty funny.

Hurray bedtime!!

That's a typical day, Connor and I do stuff in the morning, but not always a haircut. 

My life isn't hard, but it's not easy either, but my family makes it worth it!

Gotta catch em all!

Pokemon...

I can only blame myself I guess.

It started about 12 yearso ago, I got a gameboy advance color. I got pokemon red used at GameStop, and played while i worked at qvc taking people's orders over the phone.

Then Ross and I got Ruby and Emerald with gameboy advanced SP's. 

Pokemon, the game where you catch little digital creatures and subjugate them, making them fight to earn money and prizes. 

And I gave kaeley a copy....

So now we're playing diamond and pearl, trading and battling, all is happy...BAM!

Pokemon TCG...and online...free to play?! Crap

Kae has pokemon coming out her ears, books, games, cards. 

She wants to be a pokemon trainer for Halloween. 

I will say this. It's fun, it's safe, it's social, pokemon helps her with math, and makes her want to read (more than usual). She has to follow directions, and play by the rules. 

She's also learning to win and lose graciously. 

Sooooo, annoying? Sometimes...

Still a win? Yup

Ostara

Or Easter, if you prefer. A holiday named after the Goddess Ishtar, pronounced East-ar. 

We do a modern traditional Easter Basket. 

Kae's basket

Connor's basket

And this year we did a scavenger hunt from mommy and daddy (not the bunny) 

For Disney Infinty and some extra characters. 

We also went to Grandma Debbie's for lunch, it was a good day ;)

World Book Night

WBN is an annual event to help spread the love of reading. People sit in public places and hand out books.

So I have 15 copies of the same book to give out.

Last year my plan was to ride the bus and put a copy on as many seats as I could and hope people would take them, and read them. But the logistics of that with kids, at night, was a nightmare. 

This year I think I'll take the kids to the park, and put books on windshields like flyers >.<

It's like witnessing for Literacy, "excuse me, do you have a few moments to talk to me about Reading?" 

Only not quite as annoying as crazy people knocking on my door for god.

So

This happened yesterday

Dad gave us money to get Ross a new car, the Buick is going to Dave (who has his license now!!!!), and I'm still happy with my little blue Nissan Versa. 

We've become a Nissan family lol

That moment when

You realize how boring and messed up life is.

Because...

Two of the three people I ever hung out with, 

one is in prison for bank robbery.

The other moved to Connecticut.

And everyone else has JOBS, ugh. ;)

March Reading List

March
1-19 The Girl in the Steel Corset - Cady Cross (3/4) free/library
2-20 Up From the Grave - Jeanine Frost (3/5) free/library
3-21 Asylum - Madeline Roux (3/11) free/library
4-22 A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness (3/17) free/library
5-23 Breathe - Sarah Crossan (3/20) free/library
6-24 Red, White, and Blood - Christopher Farnsworth (3/28) free/library
7-25 Night Broken - Patricia Briggs (3/29) free/library

I liked every book i read in march EXCEPT

Breathe, and A Discovery of Witches.

Breathe was annoying, too much like the conspiracy theories that Ross is always talking about, and reading about on Above Top Secret.

Discovery of Witches was long winded, Twilight meets  The mayfair witches, and i liked the mayfair witches. it's just trying too hard to be an Anne Rice book for me, and it lost me.

my favorites, all the rest..really, even Asylum, which reminded me of an episode of Scooby Doo.