This morning Livia came into our bedroom. She said she wanted to tell us something about her sleeping bag. The sleeping bag was, we had thought, well out of her reach, high on a shelf in her bedroom closet.
Livia: Is it OK that I took down my sleeping bag?
Mommy: How did you do it?
Livia: Long story.
Mommy: Does that mean you don’t want to tell us how you did it because you’ll get in trouble for it?
Livia: Yeah. But I’ll tell you how Marshall got his down!
As I mentioned the other day, we finally had to let our Christmas tree to go. My husband placed the tree outside. Then snow fell overnight, covering the tree with sparkly white. I took one last picture of it.
Here is the picture, a fitting farewell to the best-looking Christmas tree we’ve ever had.
The Perfect Christmas Tree
I read some great books in 2015. There were also some that disappointed me. The reviews for the disappointing ones were originally listed in my Reading in 2015 post, but I thought that the negativity dragged the post down. Still, I want to remember what these books were like, so now I’m putting the reviews into this separate post.
P.S. I found more about The Silver Pen in my journal. I wrote, “I just finished The Silver Pen by Alice Dalgliesh earlier tonight. I’m not sure how to grade it. The main character is likeable enough, if not particularly memorable. The story is semi-autobiographical, so it’s not a tightly woven and deliberately paced narrative, but more of a “story of a life.” There are four countries in which the main character lived, so there was no chance to really fall in love with any of the locations. A pity, since they included Trinidad, England, seaside Canada, and several places in the U.S. The ending is also rather abrupt.”
Our Christmas tree has been dropping a lot of needles, and the only thing drinking its water is Peeps, the cat. So I decided yesterday that it was time for the tree to go. The kids and I removed the ornaments and lights, and also rounded up all the candles, wreaths, and other Christmas decorations. Then I packed all those bright and cheery things away in boxes. It was depressing.
But I did enjoy putting away some of the ornaments that have special memories attached to them.
Sheep ornament from Bath, England
Glass lizard ornament from Bermuda
Cloisonne spider ornament from a craft fair in West Virginia
These are all ornaments that I bought on trips with my husband. Handling them, even if only to put them away, always reminds me of good times. It helps that I still have the original packaging, so I can be sure of where they came from. Now they’re tucked away in their packaging again, but I’m glad to know that they’re safe and sound, and that they’ll be there to make me smile later this year.
I read only 32 books in 2015. That makes 2015 one of the weakest reading years since I started tracking my reading on this blog. Only 2009 had a lower total (23), and that was the year that my son was born, so I had a good excuse for not reading more. Even 2011, which is the year that my daughter was born, had a higher total (36). Clearly I need to read more and watch less television!
Some of the books I read were unexpectedly good. Here is a list (in no particular order).
I also reread some favorites, which helped to carry me through some of the rougher patches of the year. It’s good to have old favorites. And we make old favorites by finding new ones, so I’m looking forward to reading in 2016. May it be a year in which we find many new favorites!
Chick
Dear Kids,
Here is one last collection of stories about you from 2015.
One day earlier this year you littered the floor with strips of construction paper. Your father and I were appalled at the waste of paper, and we couldn’t understand why you had done it. But then we looked closer and realized that each scrap had a face. You had created a horde of friendly worms. They were sort of cute. So I couldn’t stay mad over it, but I did keep a closer eye on the paper for a while!
We had an uninvited guest at one point this year. His name was Mr. Squeakers. He broke into our pantry, sampled a variety of foods, and made quite mess. He was physically evicted, but he stayed with us in spirit, becoming a sort of invisible friend or mascot for you. He sometimes left us notes, and you sometimes wrote letters to him. I thought it was sweet, but I never liked Mr. Squeakers, because he had had the nerve to take my Pop Tart. But you didn’t mind that. You thought it was hysterical, probably because it wasn’t your Pop Tart!
I gave Livia a strong cardboard box top so that she could stretch rubber bands across it to make a “guitar.” I used to do the same thing when I was a kid, so I understood exactly what she wanted to do. I helped her to put the strings on and tune them. She played her rubber-band guitar well. I videotaped her and managed to catch this wonderful, impromptu song:
I got my own guitar with rubber band stri-i-ings.
I got my own guitar. Hmm-hmm-hmm.
I used cardboard for the bottom,
Rubber bands for the tops and strings.
Hmm-hmm-hmm.
I got my own guitar with a pick. Hmm-hmm-hmm.
Two different, two the same.
I got my own guitar.
Ohhh, yeah.
It was a fun year with paper worms and Mr. Squeakers and rubber band strings. Ohhh, yeah.
Love,
Mom
I set myself to a big reading goal earlier this year. I had hoped to read 33 additional books before year’s end. I didn’t come even close to reaching that goal, but at least I read some! Here are the books that I read.
The Book of Tomorrow by Cecilia Ahern
Grade: B
The Book of Tomorrow is about a teenage girl who, due to a terrible event, has to go live with an aunt and uncle in the countryside, near the ruins of a once-grand castle. There’s not much to do there, so when the traveling library comes to the house, she’s thrilled, even though she doesn’t like to read. The book she chooses turns out to be a magical diary that every day rewrites itself to tell the story of what will happen to her tomorrow. This focuses her attention on the immediate future, but it’s to the past to which she should be looking.
The Book of Tomorrow was described on its cover as being “Gothic.” I don’t agree. Just because a book has a castle, a mystery, and a deadly fire, that doesn’t make it inherently worthy of being called “Gothic.” It wasn’t scary and the mystery wasn’t that mysterious. I also didn’t care for the main character. She was rude and self-absorbed. But the worst thing was that the story’s main feature (the magical diary after which it was named) was a real yawn.
On the plus side, the ruins of the castle always make for an interesting setting. There was humor at times (for example, one of the characters communicated primarily in “grunts, nods, and snot-snorts”). So I gave it a B grade, which means that I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t care to read it again.
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
Grade: A
Abandoned by their terrible parents, the Willoughby children have to make their own way in the world, and they do so in dark comedy fashion. I finished this book a while ago, so I don’t remember the details, but I really enjoyed the dark humor.
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Grade: A+
I have enjoyed many Roald Dahl books, but I don’t consider him to be one of my favorite authors. His over-the-top style of storytelling is usually not quite my cup of tea. However, I was pleasantly surprised by The Witches. His description of witches is enjoyably terrifying. These awful creatures live among us, masquerading as human women, and their single, evil purpose is to get rid of every child in England. An orphaned boy discovers the witches’ plan and, with his grandmother’s help, tries to stop them. I really liked the ending, which I would have to call “bittersweet.” This is my favorite Dahl book to date.
Beyond the Deepwoods (The Edge Chronicles Book 1) by Paul Stewart
Grade: B+
A nicely illustrated (by Chris Riddell) and enjoyable book about a boy named Twig who’s lost in the forest of a strange world teeming with all sorts of interesting and scary creatures. I liked this just enough that I’m interested to try one of its sequels.
Rowan Hood by Nancy Springer
Grade: B+
This book is about a girl named Rowan who wants to join Robin Hood’s band of thieves because she thinks that he’s her father. I always seem to enjoy Nancy Springer’s writing. This particular story didn’t quite resonate with me, though, perhaps because I’m long past the age of its intended audience. I think its ideal reader would be a tween or early-teen girl.
I like a trees. I particularly like trees with character, such as this one.
Big Tree With Character
This tree is located near the Icefalls. It has more trunks than is usual, and I wonder why. What benefit is there for a tree to grow like this? In any event, it has a remarkable shape. I sometimes imagine it as a throne for some regal animal. Doesn’t it look like a place to sit?
This tree begs to be used as a seat.
Here is another interesting tree.
Small Tree With Character
This tree is not as impressive size-wise. It’s really quite small, but look how it’s growing straight out of a rock. How it must struggle to survive! But it keeps on growing. Amazing.
Marshall: Mommy, do you want to see a picture of Uranus?
Mommy (trying not to giggle): No, Sweetie. I don’t need to see a picture of that.
Marshall: But Mommy, don’t you want to see a picture of Uranus? It’s purple.
Mommy (quietly giggling): No, Sweetie. That’s OK. I don’t need to see it.
Marshall: But Mommy, Uranus has a ring around it!
Mommy bursts out laughing.
A post about a weekend in July:
On Friday evening I found some roses on my doorstep. A kind friend had sent them to start my weekend off well, and they sure did.
On Saturday I received an unexpected envelope from the company for which I work. Inside was a card to celebrate my 20th work anniversary and $400 in American Express gift cards. Woo-hoo!
Saturday evening my son announced that he’d seen a hummingbird flying around outside. I looked out the window, and yes, there was a hummingbird visiting the hostas. It tasted most of the flowers on the plant, so we got to watch him for at least a minute, which is like an hour in hummingbird time.
It was not all good surprises.
On Saturday, I was surprised when my husband, who had been splitting logs outside, came in and asked if any of the walk-in clinics were still open. He thought he had broken his finger. The walk-ins were not open, so he had to go to the hospital. On the bright side, his finger was not broken (but he babies it as if it were, typical man). 😉
Also on Saturday, a bottle dropped out of my arms as I was carrying it to the recycling bin. It bounced off the hard floor (wow!) and I thought I might luck out, but when it landed back on the tile, crash! Glass everywhere. On the bright side, as I was cleaning up the glass, I noticed that the dishwasher was leaking. I pointed this out to my husband and he fixed it. We were both glad to have discovered it before it became a major problem.
On Sunday, Livia said her stomach was hurting. She often says her stomach is hurting, though, so we’re never sure how seriously to take it. She was also pale and quiet and when she went to take a bite out of her breakfast waffle, blaaaagh. Vomit everywhere. On the bright side, . . . there’s really no bright side for this one.
And that was our weekend full of surprises.
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