2024 Reading List

 The year is not quite over, but I won't have time to finish any more books tonight before bed, so here is my 2024 reading list of all the books I finished this year.

Fiction

Double Take by Lynette Eason

A Penny for Your Thoughts by Mindy Starns Clark

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels by Mindy Starns Clark

A Dime a Dozen by Mindy Starns Clark

A Quarter for a Kiss by Mindy Starns Clark

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

The Buck Stops Here by Mindy Starns Clark

The Irish Matchmaker by Jennifer Deibel

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (JFIC)

The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin

If I Were You by Lynn Austin

The Lady with the Dark Hair by Erin Bartels

The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple by Joanna Davidson Politano

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan

The Wreck of the Golden Mary by Charles Dickens

The Road Before Us by Janine Rosche

The Hudson Collection by Jocelyn Green

Her Part to Play by Jenny Erlingsson

Stella Diaz Has Something to Say by Angela Dominguez (JFIC)

Until Our Time Comes by Nicloe M. Miller

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller

This Thing of Darkness by K.V. Turley and Fiorella de Maria

The Spice King by Elizabeth Camden

The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright

A World Lost by Wendell Berry

Tea with Elephants by Robin Jones Gunn

Unforgotten by Shelley Shepard Gray

A Most Dangerous Innocence by Fiorella de Maria

A Little Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Retold by Joe Sutphin (JFIC)

Not by Sight by Kate Breslin

Nonfiction, Biography, and Memoir

St. Marianne Cope: Heart of Hope by Sr Fran Glangloff

Remembering WWII Women by Linda E. Minton

St Marianne of Molokai by Mary Cabrini Durkin (JBIO)

The End of Woman: How Smashing the Patriarchy Has Destroyed Us by Carrie Gress

Taught by Ten: A Psychologist Father Learns from his Ten Children by Dr Ralph Guarendi

God is Near Us by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI)

From Slave to Priest: The Inspirational Story of Fr Augustus Tolton by Caroline Hemesath, OSF

The Marian Option by Carrie Gress

The Splendid and the Vile by Eric Larson

An American Little Flower: Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich by Gina MarieTennant (JBIO)

Greed in the Guilded Age by Wm. Elliot

The Anti-Mary Exposed by Carrie Gress

The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy's Most Corageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario    Sforza De'Medici by Elizabeth Lev

Benjamin Harrison by Charles W. Calhoun

Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Pitre

The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of WWI by Lindsey        Fitzharris

St. Isaac and the Indians by Milton Lomask (JBIO)

The Thefts of the Mona Lisa by Noah Charney

The Prey of the Priest Catchers by Leo Knowles

The Fisherman's Tomb: The True Story of the Vatican's Secret Search by John O'Neill

The Family Economy by Rory Groves

The Shadow of His Wings: The True Story of Fr Gereon Goldmann, OFM by Fr. Goldmann

A Merry Christmas

We had a very Merry Christmas!

As usual, we had our Christmas at home before heading into my parents' house.  We had a great evening at Aunt Darlene and Uncle Keith's (no pictures taken, unfortunately), then back to Mom's.  We got to see Jeff at lunch on Christmas Eve.  We attended Mass on Christmas Eve, as usual, and then had a short visit with my uncle and cousins.  Christmas day was a whirlwind at Mom and Dad's and then Mamaw's, and then back to my parents'.

The day after Christmas, some of us enjoyed the zoo:

Nathaniel, Malachi, and Jake had an enjoyable golf scramble.   Later that evening, we celebrated Emry's and Charles's birthdays.  We kept busy!  We headed home the next day.

We were home for a day, then off to Natosha and Ben's for an afternoon.  The kids enjoyed Grandpa's cellophane ball game:

Merry Christmas!

 

12

So this guy is 12.  Crazy.

We celebrated Emry's birthday, and we continue to get ready for Christmas.  Lydia has been doing a lot of crafting:

The younger boys love having their big brothers around:

 

Getting Ready

 Everyone is eagerly anticipating Christmas around here.  We've now finished up school, and it's a good thing, since we have a lot of things to finish up before Christmas, including Emry's upcoming birthday!

Ok, so Acorn is probably not looking forward to Christmas.  :)

I've made a few gifts, including this purse for my littlest niece:

The rabbit continues to amuse everyone.  Lately, he's taken to chilling in the rocking chair:

And I've started on cookies and etc, including these peanut butter balls and turtles, both great favorites!

The countdown is on, and we've got plenty to do!  But we are excited.  The boys finally learned to sing "Joy to the World" decently.  Emry has mostly learned to follow along with reading the words and singing to Christmas carols, so he was able to do a lot of the singing last Sunday when he, Gyunay, and I went caroling with a group from church to the assisted living place near here.  We were going to visit the nursing home, too, but they had Covid, so we had to pray for them instead of with them.  Still, it inspired our youth director to plan on having some game days with the youth groups and the nursing home and assisted living home, so that will be very good.  

I have been doing much better overall, since the iron infusions and thyroid medicines have both kicked in, but I had a major setback after caroling.  My lungs can't handle that much singing yet, but I'm now doing better, just in time for Christmas.  So no more caroling for me for now, but I can still sing a little.  :)

 

Blue Kitchen

 So, after about 15 years with an orange kitchen (which I loved), I decided to paint it a new color.

You can also sorta see the beautiful hexagon white backsplash Nathaniel put in for me.  The blue is a big change from orange, but I think it looks really nice.

Now I need to paint the trim, the bench, and paint the bathroom, but all of that will wait until after Christmas.  Right now, we need to decorate the house!  Elijah got the tree up last night, and the younger kids have been adding ornaments.  Malachi and Pilot come home from college tonight.  Christmas is coming!

The Car Vending Machine

 So, our van's engine exploded, so we have to get a new van.  I've been driving a rental.  We thought we bought a van from Carvana.

The boys loved every minute of it.  They put the coin in to set the vending machine in motion.

The van was lowered down to us, and off we went, only to have to return the van 2 days later.  It had something wrong with the A/C, and the Bluetooth, and we had to wonder what else was wrong, especially since it was newer (2022).  So we returned it, and we are hoping to get a new van soon.

Also, Nathaniel and I went to his work party.  I haven't been able to go for the last couple of years; this was my first time back since the hospital.  

Nathaniel even won a door prize.  

So Much to be Thankful For!

 

All of us were together for Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving Day with Nathaniel's family, as we normally do, but this year we didn't have to travel, since his parents moved nearby.  

Last weekend, we made a quick trip into my parents' house for a Thanksgiving meal with my side of the family!

We are thankful that Charles is starting to recover from his surgery, and we are continuing to pray for his healing!

Eleanor was convinced that it was Valentine's Day instead of Thanksgiving, so she was thrilled that Lydia wore a sweater with hearts.

November Harvest Totals

 The meager November harvest totals are in.  The chickens are laying very little right now, as the daylight hours shrink.  However, yesterday, Belle laid an egg for the first time since May.  It was nice to get a blue/green egg again.

Arugula - 1 cup

Cabbage, Asian - 1

Carrots - 6

Eggs - 106

Jalapenos - 1

Peppers, sweet Bulgarian - 2

Radishes - 3

Tomatoes - 2

Happy first day of Advent!

Book Review - Unforgotten by Shelley Shepard Gray

 I recently read Unforgotten by Shelley Shepard Gray.  It has two main story lines, one following Amish young woman Bethanne, who has been crippled far too long by anxiety after an attack 7 years ago, and the other following Bethanne's English cousin, Candace, who is being stalked.  Both young women have sweet romantic interests, and the suspense over the stalker is well done.  The main characters showed growth, and the suspense was well done.  I enjoyed this story.  It is a sequel, and I did not read the first book, but it is easily a stand-alone novel.  I did feel that a few plot points didn't quite make sense, but maybe they are more for the third book that I'm sure will follow.  I don't usually read Amish fiction, but this was an enjoyable story, and I liked the way it bounced between the Amish and the English sides of the family.  

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.

Dogs and Couches

I haven't taken pictures of the dogs for a while, so here are a few.

Our last couch was well beyond needing replaced.  It was downright embarrassing to have people over, and it had more holes daily.  So a few weeks ago, Nathaniel and I went couch shopping.  We ended up with a sectional, a first for us.

It seats lots of people and is very comfortable.  The kids love it.  Now I just need to hope the dogs don't do anything to destroy it.  Or the kids, for that matter. The new and improved living room seating options allow for more people, and we of course kept Gyunay's favorite red rocking recliner, so he can keep rocking daily.  It doesn't match, but hey, it's comfortable, and the boy needs to rock.

 

This and That

The boys enjoyed making these portraits that play with proportions in their art class.  They are currently studying El Greco.  My friend is a great art teacher!

Also, we worked for a bit at the church fall festival.  I was going to work with food, so I had to wear a hat.

Obviously, I borrowed one of Nathaniel's.  He couldn't attend the fall fest, because he spent the week in Germany.  Fortunately, he returned home around midnight last night.

I also cooked one of the Cinderella pumpkins:

I've made 2 pumpkin pies this week.  Both were devoured quickly, and the little boys are asking for more, so I'll probably make another.

I've also been playing with my sourdough, and these rolls turned out really well:

 

Book Review - Tea with Elephants by Robin Jones Gunn

I chose this book because I couldn't resist the idea of having tea with elephants.  I like to travel, but I've never seriously thought of going to Kenya.  This book may just change that.  The setting was so lovingly described.  I liked both of the main characters, and their friendship was believable and sweet.  This book takes the reader on a cozy journey, and it was a pleasure to read.  I noticed that it will be the start of a series of books, and I would gladly read the second one when it comes out.  

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Revell, but all opinions are my own.

Pumpkin Carving

 Here is round one of pumpkin carving:

They all enjoyed carving and have decided to carve another day (probably later today).  Lydia carved the heart and the boys carved faces.  

The chickens got all of the seeds.  Gyunay wanted to roast them, but my kitchen was not available:

We're in the middle of a little kitchen make-over.  Nathaniel and Elijah did the very messy demo of the old backsplash, which had glass in it and was a disaster everywhere. Now Nathaniel has the tile in and grouted, and he and Elijah have been working on the switches.  We still have to seal the grout, and caulk, and then I'll paint the walls. It's getting there.... 

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Pumpkins!

 

Lydia and Emry have been interested in carving pumpkins.  We've watched a few pumpkin carving shows, and it's fall, so this makes a lot of sense.  So I was thinking of trying to buy some pumpkins after Halloween if they were cheap, just to let them play.  My friend gave me a call on Halloween afternoon.  Near her house is a farm stand, which has a sizeable pumpkin display in the parking lot.  On Halloween, all of these pumpkins were free!

So Emry, Gyunay, and I headed to the pumpkins, in the rain.  The boys filled the back of the van with pumpkins while I paid for some apples.  

Emry carried those huge ones to the car himself!

They had the time of their lives, picking out all the cool pumpkins, mini pumpkins, gourds, etc.  I also snagged 5 pie pumpkins, 3 cushaws, and 2 Cinderella pumpkins for eating.  I don't have pictures of those.  And there are more on our porch, too.  So many pumpkins!  It was so fun.  All three of us were soaked and chilled, but it was well worth it.

Also, I never posted Halloween pictures.  Lydia put together her costume, Draculara from Monster High:

And I never got a picture of the boys.  They were all so busy running around!  We did go for a walk on the trail behind my in-laws' house to see a row of skeletons, so I took these as we walked:

Gyunay was Knuckles, a character from Sonic.  Emry was obviously Spiderman.  My mother-in-law was a hippie.  It was wet and chilly, but the boys had a blast.  Lydia didn't trick-or-treat, but she hung out at the house with me.  Nathaniel and his parents took turns giving out the candy.