A Good American

Blogher Book Review! Sorry I haven't posted much lately, I have HIVES. Pretty much anything that doesn't depend on me for survival is being ignored. Luckily, I have a nice stack of books to help distract me from the itching-seriously! Next on my list for blogher was A Good American by Alex George.

This sad story was exactly what I need to escape my pity party. Oh you have hives? At least you aren't a pregnant outcast, vomiting night and day in the bowels of a ship. That's basically how my pep talk went.
I'm a big historical fiction fan, so this book had a lot of what I enjoy. It has intimate and emotional details about people in the past and events I've only heard about. Specifically, the book centers around one family and their growth over several generations, from Germany to America in the early 1900's. My complaints are few and nitpicky. I would have loved a little more energy from our narrator, but the emotional roller coaster this family is on was enough to keep my attention until the last page. Don't read if you can't stomach some depression and tragedy. Frankly, I crave a book like this from time to time. Endings aren't always wrapped up in a pretty bow.
Check out blogher for weekly chats about this book and others. I'd definitely recommend this one!

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Saturdays

QOTD #349

Gracie: "I'm drawing a picture of Tater with tears on his face because he'll never find love." Wow. Pre-K burn!

Big Sister

Tater came out and told Sean that he couldn't fall asleep last night because he was having bad dreams. He was scared of part of a VeggieTales movie we had watched (seriously?). I came home from yoga and heard Gracie singing in their room. She was singing to her brother to make him feel better. She sang a song from their chapel at school and then I heard her pray and my mama heart swelled. She was asking God to keep them safe and for Tate not to be scared anymore.
After she said amen, he asked for another story. She sighed and said she thought another song was better than another story, but "let me get a hat on first." I smiled and continued to eavesdrop outside their door for another 10 mintues, reporting to daddy from time to time what our sweet girl was singing about.

Just the other day we were talking about splitting them up soon, big girl and boy rooms for everyone. But these are the moments that give me pause. How special their relationship is now and these nighttime rituals they are developing are not for me to disrupt. Not just yet. There will be enough time for "No Boys Allowed" signs hung from bedroom doors. I want to cultivate their frienship as long as I can.
Tater told me that she has been teaching him ballet at night and that sometimes she sings him a lullaby that talks about it being sunny the next day and how they will play together, how she loves him and that it's time to go to sleep now.

She may only be 3 minutes older, but I've never been more proud of our big sister.

Further Proof

that my kids aren't ready to be unsupervised for any amount of time.

Bag of candy hearts I left in the living room was dumped into a plastic container, filled with water, then dumped into the sink and put back in the container. Gracie was trying to discourage the boys from eating my candy. Benny assured me, "it still tastes good mama!"
Um, gross.

Also found: Lightning McQueen bubble maker filled with hand sanitizer in the bathroom. Beta fish moved by (sticky) hand to the same fish bowl.

We are to blame I guess, trying to get an extra 20 minutes of "sleep" staying in bed and thinking they were old enough to play with their toys in the living room alone. Rookie mistake.

Here We Go Again-book club

“Every high school has a Lissy Ryder. You might have known her as the Prom Queen. The Mean Girl. The Bitch. Lissy Ryder spent her teen years making yours miserable. But you escaped her. And even though you went to college, grew up, and got a life, every now and then you wonder if that thing called ‘karma’ ever comes for the Lissy Ryders of the world.
Rest assured it does.”

I got to read Jen Lancasters new book for Blogher Book Club this month and I was so glad for some no thinking necessary, chick lit. I have been marching through The Game of Thrones series for months and this was the light and quick read I needed to refresh. The story is basically a chance at redemption for the book's classic mean girl, Lissy Ryder. We'd all like to think that the mean girls we know would behave differently given 20 years and some perspective on high school, but Lissy doesn't buckle so easily. The book is cute, sometimes annoying when you have to listen to her drone on and on, but overall, its a solid beach or nap time read. It's good for a few laughs and to pass on to your high school BFF.

Check out the Blogher forum on it here!

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Tater on Taters

At dinner:
T: I can't eat these mashed potatoes, daddy. Daddy: Why not? T: They are just too blonde. Us: ? T: You know like mushy and don't taste good. Me: Do you mean BLAND?! T: YES! They are bland, so I can't eat your mashed potatoes daddy.

How does he even know that word exists let alone how to use it to insult Sean's cooking?! We were too impressed to make him eat them.