Book List 2012

 

• Sea Glass by Anita Shreve
• Swapping Lives by Jane Green
• A Fool's Gold Christmas by Susan Mallery
• Fifty Shades Darker by EL James
• Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
• Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
• Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen
• Wicked by Gregory Maguire
• Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
• Keepsake by Kristina Riggle
• Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
• Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
• A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand
• Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
• Ruthless by Sara Shepard
• Swimming Lessons by Mary Alice Monroe
• Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
• Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon
• The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
• The Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy
• Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits
• A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve
• Bloom by Kelle Hampton
• Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
• Nanny Returns by McLaughlin & Kraus
• Dewey the Library Cat by Vicki Myron
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Friendship Bread by Darien Gee
• One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
• Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
• Light from Heaven by Jan Karon
• Under the Boardwalk by Carly Phillips
• Sweet Potato Queens' Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit

At the beginning of the year, I joined Goodreads' reading challenge and set a goal of reading 50 books in 2012.  I can't find where they are doing an official challenge for 2013, but if you're a reader, you should check out the website.  It allows you to rate what you've read, and gives you suggestions of other things you may like.  You can also track what your friends are reading, so find us both on there if you like!  Anyways, if you took the time to count the list above, I only read 37 books this year, which is two books less than the year Amelia was born.  Part of that is because it took me almost two months to read The Nanny Returns.  Nathan had just started working in Charlotte, and I found I could get a ton done after the kids went to bed, and then I relied on TV to settle me in, and I fell asleep almost every night to after-midnight reruns of Friends every night.  True story. 

However, if you add the books I have read to Seth this year at bedtime...I have read 54 books this year, tying the highest count since I started keeping this list.  I don't think that's cheating, because it was me reading, not him, and honestly I had only read one of these before:

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum
• Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary
• Disney's Peter Pan
• Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary
• The Witches by Roald Dahl
• Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
• The Story of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
• Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl
• Brave
• Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
• The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
• Matilda by Roald Dahl
• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

And add several hundred if you count all the books I have read to Amelia, or the books Seth has read to me for required reading...but those are all read-in-one-sitting type books, and too numerous to count...

Nathan has been reading faster than me lately; he gets uninterrupted reading time on the bus to and from work.  Perhaps I'll start a column for him in 2013. We recently signed up for a Barnes & Noble rewards card and have almost gotten our money back on it. 

So, best book of the year?  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.  The WELCA circle I was loosely associated with at our old church was reading it for their September book club.  I knew I wouldn't be there, but the book sounded interesting.  I brought it along with us on our Disney trip, along with a couple fluff books in case it was too heavy for vacation.  That book was fascinating.  I highly recommend it, especially if you're even the tiniest bit of a biology buff. 

TV is terrible these days, read more books in 2013!

early Christmas in Hickory

On the 15th, we headed to Hickory to celebrate Christmas a little early with the rest of the Mayse crew.  Here are some of the best snapshots of the day:

 

James is on the verge of walking.  I was trying to entice him with a stuffed reindeer:



You can't really see what's in her hands, but that's the only Barbie in the house!

Everyone should have Will around when they are opening presents.  His enthusiasm is contagious!

Seth got two hit presents that day, a puffer vest (which he's wearing, you just can't see it), and an Angry Birds Star Wars shirt!

My new scarf! 

This one is out of order, but I'm too lazy to move it...here are the kids lined up, not in age order, but more than ready to go!

Brian, I mean Spiderman...we rarely saw his face the rest of the day!

Here is Amelia, sitting under the trampoline while the big boys jumped on it, snuggling with Addie...

lunch with daddy

There was no class after Amelia's Christmas program, so we were able to drive to uptown to eat lunch with Nathan.  We ordered a pizza and then took Nathan on a quick tour of Imaginon.  Right now they have Snoopy's doghouse on display from the play we saw in October:

Then we went to see the singing bears in the Bank of America atrium.  Nathan couldn't stay for the whole show, but I'm glad he told us about it!

Just some robot bears singing holiday classics.  Amelia loved it. In fact, right after Nathan left she perched on an armrest to get a better view:

Amelia got a lot of smiles as we walked back to our car.  Nathan says it's fun to see kids around uptown, since it's such a rarity, but I'll always wonder who had already heard about what had happened in Connecticut.  I first heard about it as I was driving home that afternoon. Our day had started so happy and innocent, and quickly took a solemn turn as our hearts hurt for the families of Newtown.  



preschool Christmas program

On Friday, December 14th, while something horrible was happening in Connecticut, something wonderful happened in the sanctuary at Amelia's preschool.  The 4-year-old classes performed their Christmas program, and it was beautiful.  I am so thankful that this, our last year of preschool, is at this school.  They are amazing.  The extra effort those teachers put in really means a lot to the parents, especially someone like me, who loved our last preschool.  The classes performed their first couple songs playing jingle bells, which were later collected by the teachers.

Then each class performed individually.  One class had baby Jesus puppets, another wore halos, and one class even played handbells!  Here she is listening while another class performs:

 I didn't get a good picture of Amelia's class, because I ended up being in a bad location to take a picture when the kids were front and center.  Her class wore glitter light masks that went around their faces (does that make sense?), and they sang, "We are Christmas lights".  The kids all sat down and sang several more songs and recited scripture.

After the program, there was a reception with food prepared by the classes.  Amelia's class made peppermint bark.  It was so tasty, we made some to give to our neighbors the next week!

handwarmers

I have a sewing machine that I think pre-dates Seth, but like with the rolling pin, I am not patient, and I've never sat down long enough to feel comfortable using it.  So I usually only get it out when Seth needs a costume for school, and I always use some sort of weird material and I end up cussing, or in tears, or both.  This year I decided to make hand warmers for gifts.  My first set went to Nathan, and he has tested them out a couple cold mornings as he waits at the bus stop.  I have more fabric. I may make more after the holidays!

reindeer day

On the 13th, Amelia's class had a reindeer day.  She insisted on wearing all brown to fit the part:

 She brought home this cute Rudolph she had made:

 and tried to replicate the reindeer sandwich they made at school (although to me, this one looks a little bit like Wylie Coyote):

 She wasn't hungry enough to eat her sandwich though, and we accidently left it on the table when we wen to pick up Seth.  When we came home, this is exactly how we found the reindeer:

Somehow Colette had gotten to the bread, cheese and pretzels, but the raisins and m&m were left to look like eyes and a nose!

eaters

On the 12th, I made lefse by myself.  By 7am, I had peeled an 8-pound bag of potatoes:

 By 8am, the potatoes were boiled,

 and riced:

 (If you're in the market for a potato ricer, the one from Crate & Barrel is AWESOME.  Thanks, Bryan!)

After I dropped Amelia off at preschool, I spent the next 3.5 hours baking what ended up being a septuple batch of lefse.  I re-rolled, and re-rolled, and cursed, and re-rolled some more.  I kept seeing my grandma pursing her lips at me, and I couldn't decide if it was due to the inadequacy of my lefse skills or the tapestry of profanity coming out of my mouth.  Both Nathan and Bryan got cussed out via text message and were put on the "no lefse" list.  (They both were put back on it immediately when I was finally finished.)  Only about three of my lefse turned out pretty, the rest are what my dad would call "eaters":

 But here's the thing:

• lefse-making is meant to be a team sport
• I swore off making it years ago, because I am not patient with a rolling pin
• it tastes the same
• living in the South, my worth as a good Scandinavian Lutheran is not at stake based on the prettiness of my lefse
• my boys are grateful for it, no matter how it looks

Here is one of the better ones:

 Nathan ate three the first night

and Seth had one for breakfast the next day.  Technically they're all eaters, right?

Cricket's on the move!

Coincidentally, Cricket arrived as Seth was reading Amelia the Elf on the Shelf book.  He has found lots of perches in our new house, and one day we found him zip-lining across the hallway! 

more preschool holiday decor

All through December, the goodies kept coming home in Amelia's backpack...here is a wreath containing the letters she knew on sight when quizzed:

 This was made during M week:

The precious nativity diorama she made.  She made the clay figures, painted them, and added faces herself.  I hope we can figure out how to preserve it from year to year:

 Her letter to Santa:

 A Christmas tree with thumbprint ornaments:

the sweetest trees

After a couple years of failed gingerbread kit attempts, I was inspired by pinterest to make a "gingerbread" forest out of waffle cones and icing:

Carley is 5!

After Seth's first basketball game, we drove to Clemmons for Carley's birthday party.  First we went to play with Nickolas, and Seth actually stayed there for a while and the boys came to skate mid-party.  Here are the BFFs skating together:

 And Seth doing his thing:

Unfortunately, Amelia was very overwhelmed seeing so many of her old classmates, and really needed a lot of TLC to make it through the afternoon.  I was so glad to see so many of my preschool mommy friends, though!

my other tree

I will have to get a picture of our outside decor at night...we are the only people on the street with a big inflatable, but so far the HOA hasn't come out to get us.  The president lives right next door, and he likes it...anyways, I bought some round ornaments from the dollar bins at Target, and I have decorated the two little trees in the front yard:

I have always love seeing ornaments outside in other people's yards; I'm tickled I can do it now myself.  It makes me smile every time I drive down the driveway!

mindful gray

I forgot to mention...Veteran's Day, Nathan and I painted the bonus room SW Mindful Gray.  We LOVE it. I need to find the perfect curtains, and then I'll be able to post official before/after pictures of this room.  For now:

And here is one of the quirks of our new home...the bonus room was originally unfinished.  The previous owners finished it, and then placed this tiny door that connects the bonus room to our bedroom:

It's actually really nice, because we can sneak up/downstairs while the kids are asleep, and the back stairs are an easy way to/from the laundry closet.  The only downside is you can unintentionally end up chasing each other around in circles because there are two sets of stairs!

SouthPark Santa

hoopster

As soon as tennis finished, Seth asked if he could play basketball this fall.  We haven't tried any team sports since soccer was such a fiasco when he was 4.  Then he went to that first Bobcats game, and he REALLY wanted to play.  So I signed him up at the Y.  He has practice Friday nights and games Saturday mornings, so he's pretty content to laze the rest of Saturday away.  On the flip side, it's not affecting school at all.  Last Saturday he had his first game.  They had ten kids there, so each kid got to play two quarters.  Sitting the bench during the first quarter:

  

He's #7.  Seth was passed the ball right after I took this picture, and he scored his team's only 2 points for the game.  They lost 16-2.  He also had three rebounds and two steals (or vice versa).  He played the second and third quarters and was pretty darn tired by the end of the third.  You don't run back and forth that much in practice!  There are several little sisters in the league, so for the most part Amelia is entertained and we can watch the game.  

bright blessings

I've noticed that after I've had a bad day (or three), an opportunity will fall in my lap where I know I've been able to be a blessing in someone else's life, and it causes me to refocus on what's important.  With the excitement of decorating, the kids were quickly spiraling into a bad case of the "I wants".  There is a local company that provides birthday parties to homeless children, and they advertised a stocking stuffing event.  You brought the contents, they provided the stockings.  I went through my stash of stuff, and we went and made two stockings, one for a girl Amelia's age, and one for a boy Seth's age.  I tried to really emphasize that this was all those children were going to get for Christmas.  

The group also provided a lot of fun games and some yummy hot chocolate, so I think it ended up being more fun and less a service project for the kids, but I tried.  At least I know we've helped two little kids out. The week after that, Seth's school did a glove and hat drive, and Amelia's school collected gifts for baby Jesus, which are really going to be given away to children in need.  Our neighborhood did a food drive last weekend, and I've heard that we donated 565 pounds of food!  The food pantries are always in need!  Donate if you can!

5 minute projects

We still have curtains and pictures to hang in Amelia's room, but it's a little closer to done.  I made a magnet board for Amelia's closet:

I also finally got around to putting up the wall decals I bought for her room at Target.

 She loves them!

stick 'em up

Taking a break from the holidays for some more house updates...

My mom gave Seth these Angry Birds wall decals...he decided to decorate his closet doors with them:

Only a couple days later, I found the Disney princess set Lisa and Michael had given her for her birthday.  The house went on the market the week after her birthday, so we never put them up.  She chose to put them on the inside of her closet door, which is great, because her door is rarely closed during the daytime, anyways.

new version of an old favorite

There is an updated version of an old carol being sung at our house:

"Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree,

You're really made of plastic.

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree,

Now the boys will breathe fantastic"

After the holidays last year, I bought an artificial tree.  It moved with us, and on December 1st we pulled it out of our storage closet and it was up in under 10 minutes.  I got a great deal on the tree, but by adding the storage bag, I guess it cost about what a tree would from the lot.  So next year we'll start reaping the rewards of no longer having that expense.  This year we are reaping the rewards of Nathan being able to breathe well!  It's a pretty tree, with lots of room underneath for presents.  All our other holiday decor found homes around the house, and so far we have refrained from purchasing anything new.  I wrapped the paintings in the "fancy room" with holiday paper.  We're eating off the holiday dishes I found last year at the consignment shop (that matched the starter set Lisa gave us the year we were married).  It's been unseasonably warm lately, but the inside of our house is festive!

walking and strolling

Last Saturday afternoon we were busy.  The church that holds Amelia's preschool was hosting a Walk Through Bethlehem.  It used to be an annual event, but they'd taken the past three years off.  It exceeded our expectations:

 This is the same room the consignment sale was held in.  It was completely transformed into a marketplace:

There were two areas with live animals, but none of my pictures turned out.  We enjoyed watching a scrappy chicken that kept trying to make a run for it!  Then we walked downtown to watch the lighting of the tree.

 Let it snow!