Monday, April 10, 2023
2023 Books
Here are the books I read in the first three months of the year:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain - listened to the audiobook with the boys.
Thursday’s Child by Victoria Poole - had to Google it to remember, but this was about a teenager who needed a heart transplant.
Random Winds by Gelva Plain - Another from one from Grandmother’s Reader’s Digest Condensed Books.
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery - listened to the audiobook with Eleonora, delightful as always.
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon - decided to read the series again even though I think I just did in 2022 - delightful!
A Light in the Window by Jan Karon.
Out to Canaan by Jan Karon.
A New Song by Jan Karon.
Amanda Miranda by Richard Peck - saw Caleb taking the AR test, was intrigued and decided to give it a read. He’s to 10 million words for this school year. Woot.
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - skippable. No wonder I’m re-reading Mitford. These other books I keep trying are not the best.
Roanoke The Lost Colony - Spoiler alert - things do not end well for these people.
Efrén Divided - a fellow ESL teacher got this to read with her students, so Caleb and I borrowed it and read it first.
A Common Life by Jan Karon
Okay, folks, I only have two recommendations for you out of my January-March reading and you probably already know them - read the Anne series and the Mitford series today! (Beyond that, I’m needing some good recommendations myself.)
Let me go ahead and tell you the first book I’ve finished in April. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. I read it to the boys and I thought that it would NEVER end! We watched the first half of the movie a couple of weeks ago and surprisingly the boys are asking to watch the second half.
Sunday, March 26, 2023
A Spring Weekend
It rained and rained on Friday night, so the fields were nice and wet first thing on Saturday morning! Don’t let Caleb’s facial expression fool you, he scored four goals!
Eleonora played so hard, and we had the best time cheering her on!
Then her Gramma took her to visit some baby goats.
Saturday evening we attended Heather’s birthday party at the Winds and enjoyed the annual burning of the Christmas tree.
The girls’ choir sang two special songs at church this morning. We spent the afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather, planting our plants from the Mennonites, taking a walk at the track, and now Chris and the boys are whipping up a shrimp feast. A lovely weekend all around!
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Spring Break
Spring Break started with the first game of the season for these two birds.
First game ever for Eleonora!
From there we headed to the mountains where some friends generously gave us the run of their carriage house for the week.
But after enjoying only one night there, we had to run back home to drop Josiah off (at 6:30 am) to go to Florida with his high school band!
He’s off!!! (He was as sick as a dog the day before so we were all grateful he was recovered enough to go!)
…And back to the mountains, where our friends had moved us into their even fancier cabin!
The children enjoyed (mostly) an evening of musical instruction.
Then it was time for Cades Cove! There are deer and snowy mountaintops out that window!
It sputtered little snowflakes the whole day! We froze! It sure was beautiful though. We saw no bear, that was the only disappointment. Eleonora played some lovely ‘Away in the Manger’ on the piano in one of the churches.
Caleb in the attic.
Eleonora on the stairs. I love this kind of stairs! Why do they give me such a thrill?
Then Chris decided he needed to relive a memory and visit the Mountain Mall in Gatlinburg. The kids found driving down the street thrilling. Reminded me of the last time I probably rode down that street, which was in a Middle Valley ‘We Care’ van on a youth group trip.
Meanwhile, Josiah was enjoying three days at Universal Studios. Hint, he’s on the right.
While he was soaking up the sun, thanks to the generosity of our friends hooking us up with some free passes, we spent the day in Dollywood!
It was in the twenties when we got there and the bigger rides didn’t open until it got to 40 degrees. Brr!!! Standing in the long lines in the shade with the wind blowing made for the coldest experience I’ve had in a long time! But we had a blast!
And we happened to be there the same day as some good friends!
Afterwards, we stopped at this muy delicioso restaurant for a late supper. It’s like a modern Cracker Barrell. Try it today!
The next day we hung around the cabin defrosting and enjoying a show from these two.
And then our weary traveler returned! Woot!
We took a lovely walk in the drizzling rain and learned 40 types of trees.
Eleonora played with the elves and fairies (and gave herself a little rock face paint.
Then it was off to Rocky Branch to enjoy (and participate in) some music with the locals.
And finally, the moment we’d all been waiting for - Cousin Jonathan’s 16th birthday party!
And a little Bolívia to cap off the party
Happy birthday to JDT!
A lovely time was had by all!!! (This was us after our attempts to get to Clingman’s Dome were thwarted.)
Don’t listen to the 13 year old…best. spring. break. ever.
Then it was time for Cades Cove! There are deer and snowy mountaintops out that window!
It sputtered little snowflakes the whole day! We froze! It sure was beautiful though. We saw no bear, that was the only disappointment. Eleonora played some lovely ‘Away in the Manger’ on the piano in one of the churches.
She also missed a bit of the cabin when she took this picture.
Caleb in the attic.
Eleonora on the stairs. I love this kind of stairs! Why do they give me such a thrill?
Then Chris decided he needed to relive a memory and visit the Mountain Mall in Gatlinburg. The kids found driving down the street thrilling. Reminded me of the last time I probably rode down that street, which was in a Middle Valley ‘We Care’ van on a youth group trip.
Meanwhile, Josiah was enjoying three days at Universal Studios. Hint, he’s on the right.
While he was soaking up the sun, thanks to the generosity of our friends hooking us up with some free passes, we spent the day in Dollywood!
It was in the twenties when we got there and the bigger rides didn’t open until it got to 40 degrees. Brr!!! Standing in the long lines in the shade with the wind blowing made for the coldest experience I’ve had in a long time! But we had a blast!
And we happened to be there the same day as some good friends!
Afterwards, we stopped at this muy delicioso restaurant for a late supper. It’s like a modern Cracker Barrell. Try it today!
The next day we hung around the cabin defrosting and enjoying a show from these two.
And then our weary traveler returned! Woot!
We took a lovely walk in the drizzling rain and learned 40 types of trees.
Eleonora played with the elves and fairies (and gave herself a little rock face paint.
Then it was off to Rocky Branch to enjoy (and participate in) some music with the locals.
And finally, the moment we’d all been waiting for - Cousin Jonathan’s 16th birthday party!
And a little Bolívia to cap off the party
Happy birthday to JDT!
A lovely time was had by all!!! (This was us after our attempts to get to Clingman’s Dome were thwarted.)
Don’t listen to the 13 year old…best. spring. break. ever.
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