Books Read in 2013 - My Favourites

I read 42 books this past year. Pretty good. I would love to get up to 52 books, one per week.

Here are my top 8 reads, in no particular order.

Elizabeth the Queen by Sally Bedell Smith. What a great book. I learned so much about Queen Elizabeth and I already knew quite a bit since I grew up in Canada and have followed the Royal Family for many years. I admired her more after reading this book. She has an amazing energy and has enjoyed excellent health which allowed her to continue being the monarch into her 80s. This book is funny as well.

The UnCommon Reader by Alan Bennett. Fiction. This is a novella so it is pretty short. It is hilarious! What if the Queen took up reading and became obsessed and started neglecting her duties? What if she talked of nothing else?

Going Solo by Roald Dahl. Autobiography. I listened to the audiobook read by Dan Stevens (aka Matthew Crowley from Downton Abbey.) Dahl is such a fantastic story teller and he had a very interesting life. His experiences in Africa and then during WWII were fascinating. Highly recommended.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Fiction. This was an amazing book. I wish that I had read it earlier in my life. I do think it is a classic. It isn't a "fun" book since it is dystopian (the opposite of utopian). I should write a blog post with my review of this book. It would be a good book for book club. So much to discuss.

Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden. This is the story of who was born in a camp in North Korea and escaped. I learned so much about NK from this book. We will be reading it in my book club.

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick. Non-Fiction. Journalist Demick follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years. 

Idea Man by Paul Allen. Memoir. I really enjoyed the funny incidents involving Bill Gates. I read many of them out loud to my husband who occasionally interacts with Mr. Gates at his job. I also liked reading about the history of Microsoft.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Fiction. The writing in this is beautiful. I recommended this for my bookclub. Some people liked and some didn't. Hi Linda! Once in a while I like to read a "literary" book where not a lot happens. :) The protagonist is Congregational minister John Ames.

If you are interested, that is 5 non-fiction and 3 fiction.

Some other books I enjoyed (and can recommend) this past year were as follows.

Fiction:
- Left Neglected by Lisa Genova. Fiction. A workaholic mother of three is in a car accident (while driving distracted) has a brain injury and loses awareness of everything on her life side. She is forced to examine the pace of her life. It was interesting to learn about brain injuries since the author is a neuroscientist.

- Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson. A woman in a small English village in the early 1930s needs money so she writes a novel about her neighbours. What can go wrong? This was a very fun read.

- Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. Two parallel plots. The first concerns ten year old Sarah, a Jewish girl in Paris in 1942 whose family is rounded up. She locks her four year old brother in a cupboard because she expects to be back soon.  The second plot concerns Julia, a journalist living in Paris covering the anniversary of the roundup.

- Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith. I love the #1 Ladies Detective series and this is book #14. Light, predictable reading.

Non Fiction
- In the Land of Blue Burqas by Kate McCord. This was a very interesting book about an American woman who worked in Afghanistan for five years for a humanitarian organization. She spoke the local language and witnessed to Afghan women.

- Bringing Up Bebe: One American Woman Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman. I enjoyed reading about how the French parent young children.

- Six Ways to Keep the Good in Your Boy by Dannah Gresh. My oldest son is approaching the teen years. This book advises how to navigate the preteen and teen years from a Christian perspective.

- Boy by Roald Dahl. Dahl's account of his childhood. I wouldn't actually recommend this book to children since his time in English boarding school including many intense incidents of beatings. He managed to find the humour in the dark times.

Looking back on the books I read in 2013, there were many disappointments and unfinished books. I sometimes bite off more than I can chew, as it were, so I resolve not to take on books over 400 pages. :) I gave up on a huge biography of Margaret Thatcher and another huge book on Catherine the Great. Both books were much too detailed for my taste.

I'm not going to set reading goals for 2014. I looked back on the goals I set for this past year and I missed them abysmally! I just hope to read a lot of interesting books and make sure to read a few classics.




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Christmas Decorations & Our Christmas Tree

I thought it would be fun to share some of my decorations, 

especially for my mom who can't be with us this year for Christmas. :(

I love glitter churches. This is my medium sized one - I have three. 

This one came from TJ Maxx or Marshalls.

I took this photo on our snow day.

One decoration that is new this year is my rag garland.

It was very easy to make. I cut strips of fabric - 1 1/2 inches wide by 6 inches long. Four different fabrics. I used about a half a yard of each fabric.The fabric is tied onto a string of 50 lights. Here is a close up view.

On my mantle, I have a lighted garland that I got from an after Christmas sale at Molbaks last December 26th. I actually forgot about it so it was a nice surprise to pull it out of a box and use it for the first time.

Here's my mantle with my Christmas sign (from Ruffles & Rust 2012), my garland, 

and our velvet stockings which now have initials on them.

My little angel amidst my milk glass collection.

I put lights in the kitchen window. I'll leave them up after Christmas. It helps with the dark months of winter. In one corner of my kitchen window I put some lights inside an old milk bottle.

I have this little white tree for more of a "girly" look. 

You can see in the background that we now have Christmas cards to fill my memo board.

Here's our Christmas tree. It is a little "skinnier" than usual. It is a Noble Fir.

I ordered our tree this year (a school fundraiser) so I didn't actually pick it out myself. 

It wouldn't be Christmas without poinsettias. Here are mine.

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Snow Day

Today was supposed to be the last day of school but it turned out to be a snow day. I wish I had some snowman photos to share but my boys weren't getting along well enough to work together to make one. Pray that the rest of the Christmas break goes better than this morning!

The funny thing is that this tree/bush is my least favourite and I'd like to cut it down. It does look good covered in snow, though. 

These pots are waiting for spring since there are bulbs planted in them.

The snow makes everything look better!

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One Thousand Gifts #362 to #368

362. My husband's acts of service. My youngest had the stomach flu last week and J stayed up almost all night with my poor sick little boy. He also cleaned up the mess.

363. No other family members came down with the stomach flu.

photo source

364. During a break from the stomach flu we were able to visit Garden D'Lights (photo above) for the first time. It was a cold night but I enjoyed it.

365. A Christmas bonus from J's employer. No "Jelly of the Month" club for him! That's a reference to the movie Christmas Vacation.

366. The opportunity to bless our missionary friends by loaning them our extra vehicle when theirs broke down.

367. I had a blood test done by our insurance company to encourage wellness and lower our rates. I got healthy on all the measurements (cholesterol, bmi, etc). I felt like I got all As. :) My weight was good, too. (I never weigh myself at home.) The counselor told me to keep doing what I'm doing. I had climbed up a big hill the day before. We are trying to make walking up that hill our new Sunday afternoon family tradition.

368. A working furnace and a warm car. Temps dipped down to the low 20s a few weeks ago.Pin It

Christmas memo board (tutorial)

I've made a few French memo boards before. One for myself and one for my mom. I thought I'd make one to display Christmas cards and photos we receive.

Materials needed:
- fat quarter of fabric
- canvas - I used 14  by 18 this time but the other memo boards I made were 16 by 20.
 Either size will work. You can get a canvas at Michaels/JoAnns/Hobby Lobby and use a coupon!
- brads
- ribbon
- staple gun

Directions:
1. staple fabric to the frame of the canvas (on the back).
2. measure and cut ribbon, one piece at a time.
3. staple the ribbon to the back, in a criss-cross pattern.
4. I used a Swiss army knife to make a small hole in the ribbon and the fabric.
5. insert the brads.

I ran out of ribbon before finishing the project so some of the ribbon is wider and some is narrow. If you have OCD tendencies, you will want to line up the ribbon better than I did. :)

Here is a (bad) photo of the one I made for myself, back in 2007.

The ribbon is sheer which is much more forgiving of any bad alignment.

Now, I just need more cards and letters to fill up my Christmas memo board! The funny/sad thing is that we've receive a grand total of ONE photo so far this year. Come on, people! I guess I can't judge since we haven't sent ours out yet. :)Pin It

Advent Activities

Advent. What is it? Advent is a season of preparation that some Christians observe to prepare their hearts and minds for the coming of Jesus. Advent comes from the Latin word which means coming.  I like this quote:

For four weeks, it’s as if we’re re-enacting, remembering the thousands of years God’s people were anticipating and longing for the coming of God’s salvation, for Jesus. - Noel Piper (wife of John Piper)

I made my own advent wreath last year. It was pretty easy. I used a styrofoam form for the base. I added candle holders (from Michaels in the wreath making section). I took apart a thrift store wreath and hot glued fake evergreen branches around the base. The funny thing is that I bought advent candles for it and there were 4 in the package. For some reason I made 5 spaces for candles - that was before I bought the candles. :) There seems to be different numbering methods for the candles. I guess I'll get a white candle for that missing space. I think it is for lighting on December 25th. To be honest, we haven't actually lit the candles yet. I was the one who lit the candle for the 1st Sunday of Advent at church last Sunday.

Lego City Advent Calendar. Yes, I know this has nothing to do with the real meaning of Christmas but the boys love Lego and I got it on sale. Every day they create something - a dog with bones, a fireplace, a man holding hot chocolate, etc.

The Starbucks Advent calendar. I remember driving around trying to find a store that had one back in 2006 when these came out. They were hot sellers. They came with chocolates inside (which I enjoyed). When all the drawers are turned around, a wintry scene is revealed. Back in 2008 or so I printed out a Bible reading for each day along with a little symbol. I found the instructions on a homeschooling blog. Here's a sample.

Each day one of the boys pulls out the slip to read. We've been using it for years but they still enjoy it. They love traditions.

This year (as a family at supper) we are reading through the advent readings found in the Thriving Family magazine published by Focus on the Family. A subscription to the magazine is free upon request. The readings loosely tie in with Adventures in Odyssey which my oldest son LOVES to listen to.

For my personal advent devotions, I'm reading through this new little book by John Piper. It was $5 at Amazon.com. You can't beat that price!Pin It

One Thousand Gifts #352 to #363

352. Thanksgiving break
353. My boys have straight As at school.
354. Lighting the advent candle at church yesterday for the 1st Sunday of Advent
355. My husband's incredible progress on cleaning out our garage.
356. No significant colds or flu so far this fall.
357. A very unusual mostly sunny November.
358. Dinner with old friends.
359. Playing the game Clue for the first time.
360. the TV show Foyle's War which both my husband and I enjoy watching on Netflix.
361. Freedom to worship. In November our church had an evening to pray for persecuted Christians around the world. It was a good reminder to me of how much I take for granted.
362. Thankfulness. I enjoyed reading people's thankful posts on Facebook throughout the last month.
363. My youngest son received Student of the Month award for the character quality of Initiative.

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Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

When the days get shorter and gardening season ends, I like to get crafty. It is good to have some projects on the go. This one I finished up a while back. I have a big button collection and I've made headbands with them. I wrote about that on my blog.

I was at a craft fair back in October and saw button bracelets selling for $30  and I thought, I could make that myself for a lot cheaper!

Here's a simple tutorial for a button bracelet.

Materials list:
- chain (gold or silver)
- side cutter tool
- loop closing pliers
- buttons
- jump rings (gold or silver)
- clasp


Directions:
1. cut the chain to the correct length with a side cutter.
2. attach the clasp.
3. open up the jump rings
4. loop the button onto a jump ring
5. connect to the chain.
6. close the jump ring with pliers.
7. repeat until the chain is full.Pin It

One Thousand Gifts #345 to #351

I blurred the names out.

345. my youngest son embracing the thankful tree concept and writing done many many things
 that he gives thanks for.
346. the example of my parents' marriage of 50 years.
347. a safe and enjoyable visit to Victoria.
348. the end of soccer season (less driving).
349. an amazing compliment that I received for my soccer photo slide show.
One of the dads asked me how many cameras took the photos. I answered, "one, mine!"
350. I was able to show my slide show at my parents' 50th party.
351. veterans who sacrificed so much for our freedom.Pin It

More Celebrating!

The second party to celebrate my parents' 50th Anniversary was held in Victoria on their actual anniversary date - November 2nd. An afternoon tea was held (and 52 guests attended) in the large common room at my parents' seniors complex. Four of my parents' friends made the long journey from Calgary to attend this celebration! This was incredible since they also attended the September event. The unpredictable November weather kept a few guests away as two different ferries weren't running due to very high winds.

For the program:

• my mom and I sang a duet - Keep on the Sunny Side, 

  

  I hate my profile!!

• my husband read the poem that his dad wrote, 
  
• my dad's running group (TMG) sang an altered version of Old McDonald changed to Old Young Howard,
  
• my parents' friend Kailee sang When I Said I Do by Clint Black, 
  
• my mom sang a solo - Until Then, 
• we showed the slide show that I created (and it worked!) of the last 50 years,
• some friends spoke in tribute and my dad said a few words.

My mom's wedding dress from 1963 was on display, on a dress form.

We tried to get my parents to kiss after they cut the cake but they wimped out and did a peck on the cheek. :)

I convinced my boys to wear dress shirts and ties for the occasion. My oldest son wore a tie for the very first time.

I told him that his future wife will love this photo!

The boys helped me greet guests at the main door and guide them to the elevator or the stairs, depending on their fitness! The members of my dad's running group were in the stairs category. My youngest son did a fantastic job of introducing himself and being welcoming. He is a cub scout and I think this should get him a badge! You know, helping a little old lady across the street? My sons also handed out a keepsake to the guests at the end of the party.

Now I'm thinking of how we'll celebrate my mom's 90th birthday! No, it isn't for a few years yet. :)


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Halloween 2013

This year, it seemed that getting ready for Halloween was a big challenge. Life has been so busy with other things and my hubby was out of town for a while so that threw me off as well. On Halloween we were also preparing to go out of the town very early the next morning.

My youngest decided at the very last minute to be a wolf/werewolf and use the costume that his brother wore last year (which I made). The addition was a red plaid shirt underneath to be the werewolf part.

My oldest son didn't have a costume until about 4 pm on Halloween! He settled on being a survivor in the woods. He wore camo shirt, camo pants with a rope belt and a fake knife attached. He put some dirt on his face to look more authentic and wore black gloves.

We went to a very affluent neighbourhood for trick or treating. The street were packed! We were out for only about 90 minutes. The boys received lots of candy including some full size chocolate bars. The way that the houses were decorated was quite amazing. A lot of effort and thought was put into the displays and only a few were gruesome. We are thinking of returning at Christmas to see their light displays.

Here's a photo of the boys with their friends.

Here's a close up of my youngest son.

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Many Years of Trips to the Pumpkin Patch

I decided it would be fun to collect all the pumpkin patch visit photos into one blog post. We've been going for 10 years! I hope this isn't the last year we'll visit. I guess there is always the corn mazes which my boys enjoy. My photography (or maybe just my camera?) improved over the years. Also, the boys have gotten better at posing as they have grown.

Here's a trip down memory lane. I don't have a photo from 2003 (when A was born) to share since I hadn't gone digital yet. No photos from 2004, that I can find. C was born in 2005 but he was only 5 months old in October and difficult to pose so he doesn't appear in this photo.

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

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