book reviews

We gave Bobby's great nieces and nephews books for Christmas this year (along with a small gift card to Five Below). Thankfully most of them love reading more than their parents did. We purchased a few books we weren't familiar with based on reviews, and all but one of them passed my inspection read. I did purchase one as a backup option (and because it piqued my curiosity). And I loved it.

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai  is written in poem. It's simple, but packed with description and emotion. Based in both Vietnam and Alabama, it shows some of the confusion and chaos that comes to people whose lives are impacted by war, and how our immigration system then (and even more so now) could use a serious overhaul. Despite the deep subjects the author introduces, it is written well enough that I wouldn't hesitate to share it with Mom who prefers light reads and romances. It's definitely a book I'd like to both keep and share.

Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy.  Bobby surprised me with this book for Christmas. I'm still undecided how I feel about it. The book itself is well written, and she does an incredible job of making up back story for all the older characters in the Anne of Green Gable series while introducing historical facts and situations into the story. And yet, I can't say that I truly enjoyed the book. It always bothers me when a person creates a fictional world, whether it be Anne of Green Gables or Harry Potter, and other authors suddenly start rewriting the story or editing it. McCoy's attempt to flesh Marilla out and show her as a more well-rounded character rings true in some places but falls woefully short in others (the wishing stone, the ending of the relationship with Blythe, etc). I finished the book with a twinge of unease. I'm thrilled that I received a surprise in a book form for Christmas, but it's not one I care to share or keep.

I'm hoping this year I can get a little more reading done than this past year, but I also recognize that it's more than okay if I don't. Meanwhile, my seed catalogue came this week, so I'm reading plant descriptions and trying to make mental diagrams of what can be planted where this spring. It will be planting time before I'm ready!

Sort of kind of moving

The hardwood floors in 2 of our rooms in our house are showing bare wood in spots. I've refinished and polished to the point I'm done and the floors are in danger of being ruined. The floor guy told us most hardwood floor finishes last for 12 years. It's been 19 for us, so it's time to get them redone.
And that means we have to move everything out of those rooms in about 2 weeks. Did I mention a lot of this stuff has been in place for 19 years?!?!
So today I started tackling cleaning out the desk drawers in the study...here's just one of the antiques I found:

Bobby's nieces in college don't even know what floppy disks are! All of our correspondence from when we are dating are saved on t floppies. I think it may be too late to get the information off (and I'm okay with that.)
Who knows what else we're going to find?

Before and after, piece #2

Bobby's parents had the old, plastic, light-up nativity set. I think he bought it for them years ago, and we added a few pieces to it after we got married. Various things happened over the years, causing it to stay in one of the barns. I asked her this year if she wasn't going to put it out anymore could we have it. It's not in the best of shape. I've painted one lamb, and finished Joseph last night. Realistically, I don't think it will go out this year. I expect it to take another week or so to finish painting and repairing (baby Jesus) has 2 holes on his arms. Then I'll need to wait until a warmer day to put the sealer on it. I fear the paint I've used will not allow it to light up properly, so I'm thinking we'll go for a spotlight or two.
Before:

I had already painted the right side
 of his head before I thought to take a picture.

After:

Not exactly what I had planned, but it works and I'm moving on to the next piece!

last big activity

Since August I've had 3 major things on my calendar that I've kept telling myself  "Get to this point, and you can breathe."  Today is day two of breathing day. :)

Sunday morning the kids from our church had their Christmas program. I can honestly say I've never had a class at CBC that I didn't love as my own. Other than dealing with active toddlers during practice (which reminded me of why we've done 2 programs in the past - one play and a verse and song or two for the toddlers), it has been a true joy to work these kids. As with any play practice, there were moments:
- the day we introduced the sound system and kids were jockeying for position in front of a microphone
- the practice when a sheep pretended to bite the shepherds, resulting in some serious shoving
- the practice where a sheep pouted, another flipped off stage, and they crawled into an area they shouldn't be, prompting in several stands being knocked over - onto other sheep
- the practice where the shepherds decided to truly "shepherd" their younger siblings who were sheep, dragging them by their ankles!
- the practice where a sheep slung her arms about in protest and knocked a shepherd in the chin

but it was worth it. Every. single. minute. (and though Bobby is not here at the moment, I can hear him saying "Real-ly?")

So proud of these troopers! 

1st-3rd graders

Not sure which sheep crawled to the manger.
The rest are around the campfire trying to figure out why their fire isn't on!
(We forgot to flip the switch before church started.)

Our 4th-6th graders, minus one. These girls are extremely shy and volunteered the younger class to do the speaking roles because they were more outgoing and enjoyed performing. And they're right. And yet, these shy girls also told us they'd help in whatever way needed, and would speak if they had to. This crew truly leads by serving.