Mommathon

We had book club last night. We discussed the last book we read and then chose Signora da Vinci as our next read. This is the review that helped us decide that was the book we wanted to read...

“In this exquisite gem of a novel, Robin Maxwell conjures a fascinating account of Leonardo Da Vinci's mother, a bold woman whose adventurous spirit and quest for her own truth captures the exuberance of the Italian Renaissance. Though little is known of the historical Caterina da Vinci, Maxwell's impressive research and keen storytelling skills sweep us into a very plausible account of a young alchemist's daughter whose unfortunate love affair brings her the greatest love of her life - her genius son - as well as the opportunity to escape the restrictions of her gender and enter a seductive garden of philosophy, art, learning, and danger. From the dusty streets of Vinci to the glories of Lorenzo Il Magnifico's Florence and the conspiratorial halls of Rome and Milan, Signora da Vinci is a tour de force celebration of one woman's unquenchable ardor for knowledge and of a secret world that historical fiction readers rarely see.”
—C.W. Gortner, author of The Last Queen

We had our own little Mardi Gras party here last night complete with beads and a King Cake. Our King Cake wasn't very fancy, but it did have some hidden uncooked pasta noodles in it for the kids to find. (I figured they wouldn't choke on penne as opposed to kidney beans.) Anyways, the noodles were found and our kings were crowned. They had so much fun we did it again tonight. There's enough cake left for a few more nights of crowning. It's amazing how the noodles always seem to end up in the boys' slices of cake and no one else's...

From February 2009

Monday-Stir Fry
Tuesday-Chinese Salad
Wednesday-Veggie Tacos
Thursday-Oven Fried Chicken, Biscuits, Salad
Friday-Baked French Toast, Eggs
Saturday-Chicken Enchiladas

Such a good book! It was a quick read, too. Not only was it a good story, but I had to keep reminding myself that it was non-fiction. The story takes place around World War I on a poor street in England. The interesting thing about the street is that half of it is Jewish and the other half is Christian and, for the most part, the two sides don't interact or even talk with one another. Even though they may not be speaking with one another, there are several stories brewing on both sides of the street and that is what keeps you reading. This author has written another biography, as well, and I am on the waiting list at the library for that one.

My plan today was to: take Colm to school, help the librarian at Colm's school for about an hour, go help the art teacher at Liam's school for most of the day, go home and watch the video I needed to watch for Bible Study and then go pick up the boys from school. This is how it actually went: took Colm to school and as I was getting ready to go upstairs to the library the secretary asked me if I could help serve lunch today since the parent who was supposed to do it was out of town, I said yes, decided I could help in the library tomorrow, drove to Liam's school and helped the art teacher for about 45 minutes, drove back to Colm's school, served lunch and ate lunch with Colm, drove back to Liam's school and helped the art teacher a little bit more, drove back to Colm's school, picked him up and then went and got Liam. I'm tired from all that driving.

Sunday-Liam's family birthday party
Monday-Breaded chicken, rice, green beans
Tuesday-Pasta alla Carbonara
Wednesday-Sloppy Joes and Potato Salad
Thursday-Stir Fry
Friday-Noodle Bowls
Saturday-Italian Wedding Soup

The boys didn't have school today, so we went with some friends down to Crown Center. One of the things that we did at Crown Center was visit Chip's Chocolate Factory. They watched a batch or two of fudge being made and got to sample both, learned about the history of chocolate and where it comes from, and learned about some tasty chocolate treats we can make at home. We had more samples than we probably needed and THEN got to take home a goody bag of treats as well.

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

Colm had his party yesterday and Liam had his today. I didn't get too many pictures of Colm's party because I was helping with a very messy craft. Oh well!!

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

About 13 months old




Playing video games tonight at Red Robin after his birthday dinner.

From February 2009

Liam got his yellow belt today. I don't think I have ever been so proud of him. It was awesome and he did it ALL BY HIMSELF. There was no one else testing today, so he was a one man show.

Defense

From February 2009

Form

From February 2009

Breaking the board which he got on the FIRST try

From February 2009

Taking off his white belt

From February 2009

Putting on his yellow belt

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

My neighborhood has started a Bible Study. I am excited about it because it is a pretty large group of women and we represent many different denominations. We have a reading assignment each week and then when we get together we watch the video that goes with it and then have time to discuss it and ask questions. We are doing Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself. It's a study on the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I just got the book today and have a lot of reading to do. The group met yesterday, but I was at home with Colm since he was sick, so I am already behind!!!

I could not put this book down. It is almost 400 pages and I read it in 2 1/2 days. It was one of those books that when you get to the end you want it to keep going because you want to know what happens next. Thanks, Dana, for the recommendation.

Sunday-Rotisserie Chicken, Cole Slaw, Bread
Monday- Rotel Chicken with rice
Tuesday-out to eat...busy night
Wednesday-Pulled Pork
Thursday-Liam's Birthday-out to dinner
Friday-Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy and Corn
Saturday-Salmon, Green Beans, Rice Pilaf

That was Colm's temperature last night. I don't think either one of our kids has ever had a temp that high. I think I cursed and prayed at the same time when I saw those numbers. I remained relatively calm and collected on the outside, but I was freaking out on the inside. He was on fire and his eyes were all crazy and he just wasn't there. I gave him some Motrin and it went down a little, but then went right back up after an hour, even with a cool washcloth on his head. Off to the hospital we went. We didn't have to wait too long and Colm slept the whole time we waited anyways so it wasn't too bad. They tested him for pneumonia, the flu and strep and all came back negative which is good, I guess, but we still don't know what he has. His still has a temp today, but nothing like it was yesterday. He is still lethargic and wants to do nothing but lay on the couch. So, the doctor gave us a list of symptoms to be looking for and if any of those happen we need to take him back ASAP, otherwise it just needs to run its course. We are now stocked up on Motrin and Tylenol so at least he will be relatively comfortable while his body does what it needs to do to fight those nasty germs.


****Update...The hospital called this afternoon and decided, after looking at his X-ray again, that he does have pneumonia. So we have antibiotics now which I am very happy about.

All of the Above is the last book I am reading for Battle of the Books, unless, of course the librarian asks me to read another one. This was a really quick read and was also very easy to write questions for. It was not my favorite of the three I have read for Battle of the Books, but it was still a good story. It is basically about middle school kids in an urban area who try to get into the Guinness Book of World Records by completing a huge tetrahedron project. It reminded me of the tetrahedron project I did with my 6th graders one year, but ours wasn't going to break any world records. Anyways, good book, fast read, but not my favorite.

Some of my fondest memories from childhood are of me, my oldest brother and our cousins running around our grandparents' house on Sundays. We always sat in the living room during family meals and ate on card tables while the adults sat at the big table in the dining room. (We still talk about Mark and his ham and olives...that's all he would eat.) :) Since they lived on a farm, there was always plenty to do. We jumped on the hay bales after crawling through the electric fence (once I got shocked-ouch), went exploring the fields, stepping over cow patties to get to the creek at the back of the property, we shot BB guns at aluminum cans and played on the swing set they got for us (which is now a big pile of rusted junk). We also had Easter Egg hunts outside and played hide and seek. I think the big propane tank outside was base. If it was too cold to go outside we would play endless rounds of LIFE and there was another card game that I remember playing a lot with them, but I can't remember the name of it to save my life. (It had a bell that you would ding and cards that had picture of various grains on it.) Anyways, I feel so lucky that I got to share those memories with my cousins and I am even happier that my own children have cousins that live close so that they, too, can remember Sunday dinners, birthdays, Christmases, Easters, etc. playing with their cousins. Even though there aren't any cow patties or BB guns involved, they can make their own memories.

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

Honestly, I didn't watch that much of the game. I was busy chatting with the women and playing board games with the kids. The kids spent most of their time playing board games and running around with their cousins. They were exhausted by 8p.m. I think they had too much fun, but I love it that they have cousins that live so close.

Sunday-Superbowl Party
Monday-Pasta and Salad
Tuesday-Southwest Salad
Wednesday-Stuffed Green Peppers
Thursday-Veggie Burgers and Coleslaw
Friday-Tacos
Saturday-Out to dinner