Showing posts with label cb strike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cb strike. Show all posts

All the Fun Keeps Us Busy

September has had many goings on, each and every week!  

Emily was invited to a birthday sleepover, and since she was gone, we had Jacob over for the night, and then Juliet got to go spend time with her new friend Charlotte for a few hours.


Right after school started, they had an open house at the new Dimondale School, so we walked up to check it out.  The kids were impressed by how new and shiny it is.  It is a nice facility, hopefully it serves as well long and well as the old one!  


An "eat me before I go bad" spread.  They did a good job, collectively, of eating the food!

For Emily's Halloween costume, she needed four matching white buttons with the back loops. I had just the right ones in my stash!  As I sewed on the final one of the four to her costume, I found that the back plastic of the loop had broken. = (  I've repaired it with three rounds of glue and sealant.  So far, it took my sewing it on, and it's stayed put, so we'll see how it does Halloween night!

New shoes!  I was subbing at the girls' school last week, and so many of their peers have converse shoes!  It's no wonder that they picked these.

For exactly one week, William carried this massive lunch box, plus his backpack and trombone to and from school.  The next week, we found him a soft side lunchbox that he could fit in his backpack.

On Labor Day, I charged up my kindle, in anticipation of a day of reading!

The latest installment of CB Strike, The Hallmarked Man came out, so I marked the day off on the calendar, made myself a fancy cup of coffee in my new Texas Tech mug from Haley, assembled a 'German' breakfast, and spent the day reading.  I didn't finish, but I was able to finish before reading any spoilers!

WGJ had a Grand Rapids check up with their Endo.  Everything looked good.  On the return trip, we stopped at the awesome thrift shop in Lowell, and even found a rummage sale in Ionia. = )

Alice loved her handmade gift from the Helterbrands!

"Look, now it's holding a sushi!"

I purchased the ingredients for a Greek Salad to make at the murder mystery party, and just flat-out ran out of time to make it.  We had plenty of food, so it wasn't a big deal, but I did want to use the ingredients, so for dinner I put together a Greek-inspired Chicken dish.  It was good, if a little plain.

William has been working on his handwriting.  Noticing lots of improvement during practice, and a little bit of improvement when he's not focused, we'll keep at it!

I felt like this vantage point looked so much like the architectural mockup photo!  I'm guessing that they still plan to put on the letters of the name, so I plan to add at least one more picture to the blog, and then I'll be done.  Promise!  I took this one when I was subbing one day.  

We earned enough grocery points in August, that I got the full dollar off of a tank of gas at Kroger!


Since the band doesn't get to participate in the student paint out before the first football game, the band holds a paint out night after practice the week following.  Emily didn't plan to go, but ended up staying and getting covered in paint. = 0  She had a good time, if you can't tell.

Asian-inspired chicken with rice and carrots from our garden!

Billy's Halloween village is getting quite large, so I needed a new tub, and found one for $2 at an estate sale.

At the same estate sale, I also bought some replacement luggage.  On the final leg of our Poland trip, the handle of one of our matching set stopped lifting.  = (  I had been going back and forth on a set from Sam's club for days, ultimately deciding against it that morning.  So, finding a used set, of the exact brand in my cart, in relatively good condition, for a fraction of the price was exhilarating!  I will most likely buy the set in my cart soon, or maybe I'll get lucky again!

We've had the old luggage for so long, Billy was worried about recognizing it, so I used my last Texas Tech sticker on the luggage tag of the one we'll use the most.

Grace decided to sort the crayons one night.

I found her a pair of tiny glues at that estate sale too, she loved them!  Sadly, the plastic was old, and broke when she squeezed it.  So, we rescued the glue that we could into our existing bottles, and threw out the old, cracked bottles.  = (


Emily's top pick for her color guard picture this year was a memory mate.  If you ordered this expensive ($55) version, it would let you pick your photo and your team photo. The cheaper one just indicated that it would include the team photo, and we were unsure if that meant just the color guard or the entire band. 


I was super proud of Emily, when she came up with the idea of just ordering the group photo that she wanted, and assembling our own!  I saved the template to use for the next three years, and slid our creation into the memory binder! (After she approved it, of course.)


I think I mentioned how quickly my canvas came in during the Country Mill post, but in less than a week, I took a picture of my dear ones and then had that picture installed on the wall!  I'm still getting used to it, but it makes me happy every time I go by!



This past weekend we had Zoey and Kennedy over, while Emily was spending the day, and night, with Emma, while doing all things Homecoming.  Kristy brought us some tasty seasonal chocolates when she dropped off Zoey.  I don't think they even lasted until dusk.



Emily's Homecoming outfit*!  


Despite not shopping together, they did a nice job looking matchy!




She had a great time at her very first High School dance!

And, catching all the way up to today, I helped set up the Book Fair at Grace and Juliet's school today.  Thankfully, the person in charge was new to the position, and was very unpick about how we set it up.

We were given the back of the choir room to set it up, so it was a tight fit, but every bit as magical.


Shopping is held odd hours, so I don't know that my girls will be buying anything.  I'm helping at William's school later this week.

The next few weeks, heading into fall break are wildly busy, so I'm hoping to have my blog all caught up before the next round of fun!

later days


*One day, Emily came home telling me that her friends were planning a Homecoming dress shopping day.  I told her I would be happy to take her to socialize, but that I would only be giving her $20 to spend.  I also offered to take her to some thrift stores ahead of time, so that she could have her dress ready to go before the shopping trip. One free afternoon we went down to the palliative care thrift shop where she scored three dresses and two pairs of shoes for $12.  So, she still had $8 to spend on accessories when her friends went!  Which might only buy a clearance necklace at Claire's or maybe a pretzel, but her outfit was set!  And then, they didn't even end up going. = (

Books

Each year I see people posting their list of books that they read for the year, and so at the start of last year, I added a 2023 tag to each of the books that I read through the app.  

Most of these were audiobooks that I can enjoy while folding clothes or making dinner, but a few of them I could only borrow as a digital book, so I did read words on a 'page' for a bit of the year.  And every now and again I had to check out the digital book, so that I could find a spelling of a name, in order to research it (mostly in the Mary Russel books.)

I listen to the books on 1.25x speed which works well on almost all of them.  However, on some of them that are read by the author, they will get excited about part of their story, and I'll have to slow it down because it sounds funny. = )  Some of my favorite non-fiction books were the ones read by the author.

Fiction

1. The Rebel Beneath the Stairs* (#2) EE Holmes

    Currently #4 in line for the final book, but can't wait for the conclusion!  I liked this one better than the first installment.

2. David Copperfield Charles Dickens

    I loved this book.  I don't know if I've just read too many mysteries, because the ending was clear to me in the beginning, he gave so many clues, or if it's just part of reading these books as an adult.  Either way, I can't wait to watch a theatrical adaptation!

3. What the Ladies Maid Knew (#1) EE Holmes

    I will forever think of the Lego Advent calendar when thinking about this book, since that was my project at the time.

4. Iron Flame (#2) Rebecca Yarros

    No better than the first, I'm so invested, it's so good, and I'm still embarrassed.  When does #3 come out?

5. Little Lord Fauntleroy Frances Hodgson Burnett

    One of the homeschool books we never read, but such a sweet story!  I thought of my Grandmother the whole way through, she would have loved this book (but she may have read it, I don't know!!)

6. Fourth Wing (#1) Rebecca Yarros

    Hooked. So embarrassed.

7. The Ink Black Heart (#6) Robert Galbraith

    reread.

8. Troubled Blood (#5) Robert Galbraith

    reread.

9. Lethal White (#4) Robert Galbraith

    reread.

10. The Running Grave (#7)  Robert Galbraith  

    So, this one just released, and I absolutely could not help myself and read this in the middle of my re-read because I have no self-control when it comes to the Strike series.

11. Career of Evil (#3) Robert Galbraith

    reread.

12. The Silkworm (#2) Robert Galbraith

    reread.

13. The Cuckoo's Calling (#1) Robert Galbraith

    reread. Strike's London is one of my favorite places to be, so I reread all the existing novels once every year or so, and any time that a new book comes out, or a new episode is released. = )

14. Beekeeping for Beginners (#10.5) Laurie R. King

    I felt like this one was a great read, and love her internal portrayal of Sherlock Holmes! 

15. Castle Shade (#17) Laurie R. King

    An awesome installment of the Mary Russel series. It's about vampires.

16. Back to the Garden Laurie R. King

   Not a part of the Mary Russel Series, but a solid stand-alone read.  Would recommend!

17. Please Report Your Bug Here Josh Riedel

    This one had an unsatisfactory ending, so I still feel like it's been left unfinished.  Despite being a fictional story, I learned the 'magic' of how touch screens actually work!

18. Mary Russell's War (#0.5) Laurie R. King

    I love all the Mary Russel stories, and just found out that I can expect a new installment 13 February 2024.  All the Laurie R. King books below were so enjoyable.  It's no wonder that I finished so many books this year.

19. Riviera Gold (#16) Laurie R. King

    A super enjoyable continuation of Mrs. Hudson's backstory.

20. Island of the Mad (#15) Laurie R. King

21. The Murder of Mary Russell (#14) Laurie R. King

    This one was a super enjoyable detour into Mrs. Hudson's backstory and such a great story!

22. A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens  

    Was my Dickens reading a direct result of my non-fiction selection? probably.  But I really enjoyed it, particularly in light of the upcoming Napoleon movie.

23. Secret Adversary Agatha Christie

    reread.

24. Partners in Crime Agatha Christie

    reread.

25. A Wrinkle In Time Madeleine L'Engle

    Reread, but it had been so long I didn't remember any of it.  I read it along with Emily, so we were able to discuss it as we read. = )

26. Dreaming Spies (#13) Laurie R. King

    I think I read this on the heels of Ikigai which made it all the more enjoyable!!

27. The Enchantress (#6) Michael Scott

    I liked this series.  It was kind of predictable, but a solid story!

28. Garment of Shadows (#12) Laurie R. King

29. White Sand Blues Vicki Delany

    I barely remember this one, it was a very short book, but I remember the murderer being so obvious that I got it wrong!!!

30. The Warlock (#5) Michael Scott

31. Pirate King (#11) Laurie R. King

32. The God of the Hive (#10) Laurie R. King

33. The Language of Bees (#9) Laurie R. King

34. Nothing More to Tell Karen M. McManus 

    I really enjoyed this one, I loved the other books that she's written, despite the fact I am far from her target (teenager) audience!

35. The Necromancer (#4) Michael Scott

36. Locked Rooms (#8) Laurie R. King

    My favorite (or very close second**) of the Mary Russel series.  

37. The Sorceress (#3) Michael Scott2

38. The Game (#7) Laurie R. King


Non-Fiction - My 2023 New Year's Resolution was to read one non-fiction book a month!  Sometimes I read more than one, if they were short or particularly well written. In the case of Aletha Gibson (Serving Herself,) it took me months (and a trip to Germany) to finish, but I met my quota!!!

The way I picked each non-fiction was to select "audio books" > "available now" > "non-fiction" and to choose the top pick that I hadn't yet read.  It made for quite a variety, and a really enjoyable year of reading.

39. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry  Neil deGrasse Tyson

    I snuck this one in at the very end (just finished it today!)  It was over my head at times, but mostly he made the contents really relatable and interesting.  The bit about the composition and naming of the periodic table elements was my favorite.

40. Dare to Lead Brené Brown

    I felt so inspired after reading this one! I even found a few nuggets that could be used in my daily life.

41. In Light-Years There's No Hurry Marjolijn van Heemstra

    This one felt very much like poetry or prose, not my favorite.

42. Heirloom Rooms Erin Napier

    A very sweet room by room of life stories!

43. Spare Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex

    Very good, I finished it quickly!

44. Serving Herself Ashley Brown

    This one was written by an academic, and took me months to finish! So hard to read, though I'm glad I did finish it and still learned something.

45. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning Margareta Magnusson

    A lovely, quick read.

46. Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer

    I learned so much about native culture from this, and it was an enjoyable read.

47. Ikigai Hector Garcia, Francesc Miralles

    I don't remember too much of this one, but I liked the perspective and all the tidbits that have stuck with me about aging gracefully.

48. Educated Tara Westover

    This was such a good read.  Would recommend.  I am hoping that she'll write a follow up in a few years.

49. Dickens and Prince Nick Hornby

    I would not read this again, but it apparently influenced my life to a point I read two previously unread Dickens novels this year, and possibly listened to a few extra prince songs, so definitely a book that influenced me!

50. Finding Chika Mitch Albom

    I cried, but it was good.

51. The Total Money Makeover Dave Ramsey

    Motivating and affirmative!!!

52. Soundings Doreen Cunningham

    This one I refer to as the 'bad decisions' book.  I enjoyed it, and learned something, but as a mother I hope my children make better decisions.

53. The Unspeakable Mind Shaili Jain, M.D.

    This one is not for children, but was unexpectedly good! I found it very interesting the whole way through.

54. Becoming Michelle Obama

    An excellent read to start my non-fiction journey!!!


I think I will continue to read non-fiction along with my beloved fiction, I am definitely a fan!

later days

*and (probably) ::spoilers:: Eli is so obliviously Jessiman's brother, or at least that's what the clues have pointed to. I mean Eli could definitely be short for his name William Elias Hollowell, and Jessiman finds him very familiar looking, and it was clearly Eliza's mom that brought him to Sully.  

**I didn't read it this year, but I think my absolute favorite Mary Russel book is O Jerusalem.