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!