Macky's Baptism

We want to thank everyone that helped to make Macky's day special.  He had a wonderful day!!  

Book Review of A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty By Libba Bray Delacorte Press, c2003. $9.99

Don't read it.

The Mollies

This is a music video from the daughter of one of my friends in Utah.  I just stumbled across it today in the blogosphere.  They call themselves "The Mollies" and they rock!  They have a CD available if you would like to enjoy more Indie Folk Rock.  Go to CD Baby to buy it.

Book Review of Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson 308 pages. Scholastic Press, c2007. $11.55

 I picked up this book after reading a review from Esme Raji Codell (Check out her blog review here at PlanetEsme).  She was so enthusiastic, I had to try it!
Alcatraz narrates this story.  He tells us of his hard life as a foster child.  He has an uncanny ability to break things.  On his thirteenth birthday, he receives a bag of sand from his Dad for his birthday.  This sends him on a most unusual adventure, where he learns about his family and the true nature of librarians.
There were a couple of passages that I really enjoyed.  Alcatraz takes the time to describe what a real library looks like (not the ones we are used to).   He says,

"Dust settles on the books like a gray perversion of rain forest moss, giving the air a certain moldy, unwelcome scent faintly reminiscent of a baledragon's lair.  At each corner, you expect to turn and see the withered, skeletal remains of some poor researcher who got lost in the stacks and never found his way out."  (p. 114)    

 
My absolute favorite part was Alcactraz's rant on people who read the last page of a story first (I really hate that!!  Don't do it!!).  He says,

"You could even scan to the end and read the last page.  Know that by doing so, however, you would violate every holy and honorable story-telling principle known to man, thereby throwing the universe into chaos and causing grief to untold millions." (p. 236)    

It was a fun little book.  I think a third grade boy would just love it.  It took me a while to get through.  It just wasn't a page turner for me.  But it was funny and quirky - time well spent.

Valentine's Party

My kids and I went to a friend's home to make yummy Valentine's cookies and party!!  Ryan and Maddie enjoyed putting as many pieces of candy onto the sugar cookie as possible.  Needless to say, we didn't eat their cookies.

Raspberries!

This Saturday the kids an I planted raspberries!  We are so excited.  All three kids helped me pull weeds.  Unfortunately, that was the longest part.  Then we dug the holes and put in our little bare root raspberry starts.  We mixed in some special stuff to help the raspberries grow nice roots.  We are looking forward to picking them in July.  Our house feels more like home now.

Book Review of The Other Boleyn Girl

The Other Boleyn Girl By Phillippa Gregory Simon & Schuster, c2001. $10.08

I had to read this book because of my ignorance.  I was at a book club and realized that I was the only one who couldn't name the six wives of Henry VIII.  I knew that one of his wives had been beheaded and that was about it.  My friend recommended that I read this one to catch up on some history.
Historical fiction is probably my favorite genre, so I was very excited to get started.  Some parts I flew through and others were a bit tedious.  It covers the time from Henry VIII taking up with Mary Boleyn through to the death of Anne Boleyn, her sister.  You get to know all of the people in this crazy circle they called the Court.  It was just amazing to have all of the pieces put together in such a way that it all made sense.  It is such an amazing and exciting story.  After I finished I was motivated to find out more about the family and what happened to them all.  I spent some time on Wikipedia and now I'm ready for my next book club discussion on royalty!
I recommend reading this book and I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.  This story may be the rare exception where the movie is better than the book.  We shall see...