Book #5-The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

The book chapters were short and the story moved along quickly. However, it lacked something for me. Was it ruined for me from the start because it followed the awesome and inspiring The Hiding Place? Or is it another one of those European authors, whose writing style just doesn't captivate me? I remember after reading Atonement last year I thought to myself, "Yep, the movie pretty much summed it up." Will I say the same after watching the movie The Reader, for which Kate Winslett won an academy award I believe? Overall the story was interesting, but it wasn't one of those book that you just can't put down.

My friend and competitor, Kelly, made a remark that reading has taken priority over housework. Maybe next year we should come up with a housecleaning competition of some sort. I thought of suggesting whenever we finish a book, we have to complete one housechore before moving onto a new book. I'll defer to Kelly as she is pregnant. Maybe we'll put that stipulation on next year's reading competition.

I ordered two more Corrie ten Boom books: In My Father's House, which is about her life before WWII, and Tramp For the Lord which picks up where The Hiding Place leaves off. Those won't be delivered for another week probably, so I'm really not sure what to move onto next. A Francine Rivers novel? The Screwtape Letters? Lone Survivor? Just don't know.

Something wonderful has happened as a result of this reading. I've been sharing the books I read with my mother. The great thing about this is that my mom has always stuck to trashy romance novels which do nothing for mind, body, or soul as far as I'm concerned. They're like female emotional porn in my opinion, if I'm not being too harsh. So lately she's been reading more uplifting, moving things like The Hiding Place. Right now she has The Shack, one that I have not read yet, but Keith has. My mother could use more of God's Holy Spirit in her life, and if these books are a way to facilitate hat then Lord guide my own choices as they get passed on to her.

Book #4-The Hiding Place

I'll never be able to effectively describe the impact this book made on me. If you haven't read it, you simply must. Some shy away from books that have anything to do with WWII and the Holocaust. In spite of the topic, or the era, this book is actually encouraging and uplifting in that Corrie ten Boom shared Jesus with EVERYONE, even the lieutenant at her hearing in prison. I also don't know how an atheist could read this book and still say there is no God. Well, I don't know how they can say that in the first place, but even more so after reading such an account.

If I were in her (Corrie ten Boom's) shoes, would I have done the same? Would I have taken such risks? If something like that were to happen in present times, would I be as brave? As bold? Or would I hide behind the excuse that "I have 3 children, I can't take any chances?"

I bet even before the Nazi's invaded Holland, Corrie didn't have conditioner for her hair, Clinique eye shadow, or Victoria's Secret undergarments. I admire how closeknit her family was even before trouble came, and how her parents helped their neighbors and the poor and the needy always. We barely know our neighbors!

Anyway, to make a long story short, I highly recommend this book. Not sure what I'm moving onto. Maybe The Reader because it takes place in the same era, though it is fiction. Or I may do a Francine Rivers. We shall see.

Books 3

Yes, I pluralized my entry for book 3 because Young Zaphod Plays It Safe is only 8 or 10 pages long. I felt guilty about counting it as an actual separate book of its own. I have to say I didn't get these last 2 books in The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide at all. I actually thought the ending to Mostly Harmless, the last book in the Guide, was stupid. However, if you're looking for a mindless work of fiction to delve into, then these 5 or 6 books of the Guide are a good choice. Overall, I did enjoy it very much.

Next I'll probably move onto The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. Either that or a Francine Rivers.

So to organize my thoughts a little I'd like to post some of the books I intend to read this year, or at least some topics I plan to read about.

Non-Fiction
The Hiding Place-Corrie ten Boom
Bringing Up Boys-Dr. Dobson
Sacred Marriage (a book Keith and I started and have not finished)
Nutrition Therapy: Advanced Couneling Skills (one of those continuing education things I have to do)
Lone Survivor-Marcus Luttrell
Arguing with Idiots-Glenn Beck
Going Rogue-Sarah Palin
Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti-Farrels

Fiction
The Screwtape Letters-C.S. Lewis
The Notebook-?
The Time Travelers Wife-?
The Shack-Young
The Reader-?
Lineage of Grace-Francine Rivers
The Last Sin Eater-Francine Rivers
The Scarlet Thread-Francine Rivers
Sons of Encouragement-Francine Rivers
More Jane Austen novels
The Twilight Series

Non-Fiction Topics I'd Like to Find Books About
Homeschooling
Motivational/Weight Loss/Exercise/Health Promotion type things
Gardening

That's all I can think of right now. That should be plenty to keep me busy and hopefully beat Kelly this year! LOL!

Book #2-So Long and Thanks For All the Fish

Witty, clever, and downright hilarious at times! Douglas Adams' So Long and Thanks For All the Fish just may be my favorite in The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I'm probably going to continue finishing The Guide. Only two more books to go. The next one is extremely short-I feel a little guilty even calling it a book. It's more like a short story...Young Zaphod Plays It Safe. This is followed by Mostly Harmless, which concludes The Guide.

And another potty training blooper...Isaac pooped in his pull-up this morning before he got out of bed. Which is fine as far as I'm concerned, at least he got it out. However, when I picked his pull-up up off of the floor to put it in the trash the poo-poo fell out onto the floor. Maggie (the dog) didn't miss a beat. She promptly went over to it and put it in her mouth to eat it. Luckily, I got her to drop it without difficulty.

Potty Training Bloopers

I taught Isaac a new trick. I threw a few Kix in the big toilet and encouraged him to pee on them. I didn't have any Cheerios, so Kix would have to do. He likes this trick, which is great. We've had a bit of a breakthrough in this respect.

The thing is he needs to pull his pants all the way down to his ankles when he stands up on the stool, or else a slight mess can result. Like yesterday, when I went to pull his pants down further, he ended up peeing on my sleeve. Lots of giggles. Then, as the stream slowed down, it began to dribble on the rim of the toilet and on his pants and underbuns. Isaac then says, "Oh no, that wasn't supposed to happen!"

Josiah counted to ten by himself yesterday too. He is amazing.

Elizabeth has been ridiculously smiley and chatty lately. She blows raspberries like a pro.

Dialogue

So one of the manifestations of Isaac's resistance to potty train is to hold his poop in. Naturally, this leads to some major flatulence.

The scene takes place on the couch in the family room. The Newsboys are playing in the background. Josiah is playing happily. Isaac is laying on his side, under his blanket on the couch, sort of propped up on the arm of the couch.

Isaac: "Mom! Come lay with me."

Me: "I'd love to Isaac."

I lay down on my side on the couch too, with my head laying on Isaac's legs.

Isaac lets a few rip, which causes both of us to giggle uncontrollably. I know I shouldn't, but I just couldn't help myself this time.

Isaac: "I passed of gas!"

Giggling escalates.

Me: "Isaac! No leaving stinkers on mommy's head!"

Isaac: "Oh, I forgot."

More giggling.

There are no typos in this dialogue. Whenever I tried to tell Keith and my mom this story, I couldn't stop laughing long enough to get the words out.

Update

Took all the kids to the dr yesterday. Isaac continues to need breathing treatments 3-4x per day. Josiah and Elizabeth were both wheezing, so I got them checked out. Both of their lungs were junky, so they both need breathing treatments as well now. Elizabeth has it worse, requiring them every 3 hours. Josiah, however, has an ear infection on top of everything else. And now, Isaac has officially constipated himself. He was screaming every 15 min or so throughout the night trying to hold it in. Lots of juice, water, fluids in general, and Miralax are in order today.

Naturally Keith isn't deal well with any of this, especially not with Isaac refusing to poop.

On a very happy note, Josiah is putting 2-3 words together to make little sentences like, "Thank you Isaac," and "Daddy at work." He can also sing Happy Birthday and is beginning to sing the ABC song. He's such a wonderful boy. He's starting to learn to drink from regular cups too, not sippies. He's been doing well with forks and spoons for a while.

Elizabeth has slept through the night, from about 9:30pm-8am, 4 nights in a row now in spite of how sick she is. She remains a very happy little baby, quite chatty and smiley!

Lastly, even though Isaac can't seem to let his poop out, he is learning his numbers fairly well. I'm using a clock, because he became very interested in telling time. Great way to learn 1-12. I also caught him talking to his bulldozer yesterday. He said, "You got Newsboys in there? Yeah? Aw, what happened to your truck? Did you hurt it? Aww." It was adorable. I also subscribed to this Highlights magazine for kids 1-5 called Highlights High Five. He loves it. We learned that on the highlightskids.com website Isaac can listen to stories online. Now he knows how to point and click with the mouse. It's adorable.

Something I never mentioned...while we were in Michigan for Christmas Wella gave me some little board books for Elizabeth, one of which was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Isaac proceeded to pick this book up and make up his own story to it, which he called "Going Away Star." He sat on the couch with Aunt M one morning and recited this story to her 3 times in a row. Never caught what he was saying but I thought if he would just say it one more time, I'd record it on my phone, type it out and frame it as his first composition. Do you think he'd ever do it again for me though? Nope! All I caught of the story was something about not wanting to go to bed, but it's time for bed, etc. Oh well.

Isaac is screaming his head off in the bathroom right now trying to poop.

When Keith comes home and asks what I did today, sometimes I simply tell him that I kept from going insane. If I can refrain from putting my fist through a wall, or throwing a chair through a window, then I've accomplished something great. Today is one such day. And it's only about 10am.