Rainbow Magic Fairy Bonding

 

Maria was so fabulous and typed out this list of the complete Rainbow Magic Faries Series. She lovvvvvvvvved reading them as a little girl and now she is reading them to her sister Ella. It is so sweet and thoughtful of her. They are having lots of fun doing this together. I'm on book duty finding the missing ones we don't have. I'd say though that we have over half the books.

Geronimo Stilton

Eli is such a great little reader. So of course we had to celebrate!!!

We LOVE Geronimo Stilton, the different fonts are fun and the characters are very diverse! Great book!

Free Books Adventure!!

 

We love Grassroots Books and when they put up the challenge to take a picture with a book somewhere recognizable in Reno, we jumped on it. Literally, within 10 minutes we were driving with  my camera.

25 FREE BOOKS ON SATURDAY!!!!
HOORAY!!!!

All the kids were excited. We have so much fun together!!

Books Books Books

4 out of 10

Lizzie is a girl in a wheelchair who stumbles upon an illegal monkey trading business. She ends up kidnapped and it's just kind of dark. It moved along but I didn't find it satisfying. A poor cousin is forced to work with the monkeys as blackmail. I just found it a bit too much a children's book.

 

8 out of 10

This was an EXCELLENT book!! It was easy to read in a very poetic form. The story was fascinating and made me want to learn more about Vietnamese culture. It was an honest look at American racism and worldwide culture of 'women are less than men' and how she overcome that hatred. The main character was strong and brilliant. She never gave up. The supporting characters were funny and wonderful. It was an excellent book and one that I'll buy.

 

 

5 out of 10

I was really looking forward to this one because it was recommended by Rick Riordan. But I guess I just have a problem with the whole Ocean's 11 for kids generation. Stealing is wrong. Why are we writing books that are making it acceptable? Why are we glorifying money over hard work no matter what our circumstances?

 

 

8 out of 10

I loved this book. It breaks your heart right off the back and then builds your trust in humanity again. I love how it shows that children are worth something. That they are heroes. That prejudices are horrible and worth being fought. I love the main characters and especially a supporting character who was the embodiment of good sacrificing everything he knew to help a poor old man. Would definitely buy this book.

 

 

4 out of 10

I'm not a fan of making teen pregnancy seem acceptable just because that teen was willing to work hard for their child.... and then in the mean time they are lying to them. I don't like putting ideas of running away into children's head. Running away doesn't usually have happy endings where everyone is safe and sound.

 

 

5 out of 10

This book really confused me. The 4th graders were acting like they were in middle school. Maybe I misunderstood the age. I liked how it encouraged children to not worry about what others think and to make your own pack. I think it was just a little bit too much though. The main character has a baby sister who has Downs and the parents act like it's the end of the world. I hate that. I'm sure it's an adjustment, but get over it. This is a precious soul from heaven.

 

 

8 out of 10

We loved this book! The girls each read it too. It was really fun and entertaining. A girl dreams of being a food critic in a household where the parents don't believe in anything that can't be microwaved. It was hilarious!! And a great reminder to be true to yourself and believe in your dreams. Really a wonderful read. We plan on choosing new restaurants and starting critiques ourselves!!

 

 

 

Harry Potter finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it possible??? How did it go by so fast?!?!?!

 

I'm not sure when we started. It was only sometime at the start of 2nd grade.

 

Anyways, every night we read. It was wonderful. There are so many life lessons to be learned from Harry Potter. I love Hermione and the strong example of female empowerment she is. That knowledge is beauty. That wit is important.

 

I love the opportunity to discuss vocabulary. I love the laughs and how clearly Maria understood.

 

I love the themes of loyalty, of good vs. evil, of pride. We all cried when the house elves went to fight in the final battle.

 

There were many tears shed.

 

We did watch all the movies. I fast forwarded a few parts so that they wouldn't have to see scary things.

 

It was just precious spending these moments together.

To remember always.....

We finished Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince.

It was down to the final 100 pages. I will always picture the girls just standing on their bed for an hour while the intense scenes unfolded.

Puffy, red eyes. Muffled sobs into blankets. Staring at the wall, tears streaming down faces. True grief, true grief felt by these little souls of my babies.

Disbelief. Realization. Ache. Hurt.

Maria, "I hope he kills Snape. I hope Snape dies."

Christina, "That was my least favorite book ever."

Reading with them is my favorite. I'm so grateful for good books that make us think.

There was the slightest of jokes. The language seemed a little complex, and yet Maria chuckled. I'm amazed at how she understands.

It was a good night. A sad night. But a good night.

BEST BOOK SERIES EVER!!!!!!!!

 

I must say...

I've had lots of good, wonderful, just amazing moments in motherhood.

But tonight was among one of the top.

 

As I sat in bed with Maria and Christina reading the last 150 pages of the final book in the Heroes of Olympus series, we bonded in a deep love of literature that you just can't put down. You must read. You must finish and complete the story. It's a part of you.

 

They are so fun. They are just the most fun little souls in the world.

 

We laughed, we cried.... we cheered together.

They literally were clapping and "woo-hoo"ing at the end... and jumping/hollering on the bed.

 

It was a great book!!!!!!!

 

Favorite parts:

Piper.... pretty awesome for a daughter of Aphrodite.

Coach Hedge naming his son Chuck.

Just the overall pace and way the crew of the Argo II and Reyna's mission switched back and forth.

The King of the Pegasus.

EVERYTHING Leo Valdez... especially You are surrounded by one SPANKING HOT war machine!!! What's up enchiladas!!!!!

 

A couple quotes:

 "She wished she could look at people and see what was hurting them, then whip out her prescription pad and make everything better. But she guessed there was a reason Zeus kept Asclepius locked away in his underground temple. Some pain shouldn't be wished away so easily. It had to be dealt with, even embraced." (394)

 

"Legion, cuneum formate!" Reyna yelled. "Advance!"

Another cheer on Jason's right as Percy and Annabeth reunited with the forces of Camp Half-Blood.

"Greeks!" Percy yelled. "Let's, um, fight stuff!!!"

 

God bless Rick Riordan! Looking forward to his new Norse series!!

 

I hope my children will always love reading and the places it can take you. I love this series too because we learn so much about mythology. We also have a deep sense of gratitude knowing that the only true and living God, is God the Father.

A Beautiful Day

 

We had such a lovely day together. It seems like forever since we've all been together!! This week was intense. It was Jody's first week of school, Mom was pretty sick, and with Nina's crazy homework... I was glad for an extra day of rest!! And that my mom is doing so much better!!

 

We headed out to Galena and enjoyed the beautiful weather. There was lots of shade and we had a picnic and small hike.

(Funny random story, my parents had taken a drive to Galena today too!!)

 

Eli makes the best faces when we say pose!!!

 

POSE!!! He makes my heart so happy. We put a diaper on him because we would be in the car a long time. When we got to the park he had to go #2 but there was no potty. When Jody took him to the side, Eli was very confused and said, "No thanks. I'll just wait." And he did!!

Ella's first selfie.

 

We found tons of little bridges to cross.

 

Always helping their little brother!! We are so blessed that everyone is thoughtful and mindful of each other.

 

Awesome walking sticks!!! Maria's was huge and heavy! Jody helped them get the walking sticks the right size. He worked pretty hard for about 5 minutes, breaking and bending. I asked Jody to time Maria and made a bet it would take 1 minute before she was done with the stick.

1 minute.

Mommy knows her stuff.

 

The trail went by a few mansions. They were pretty awesome and some lady was in a bikini talking about someone in prison in the backyard of one.

This is quite possibly my favorite thing ever. He just sticks Ella to the side!

My handsome almost 3 year old.

We didn't know we'd be going for a walk.

Flip Flop Queens Forever!!!!!!!!!!

 

We ended the day with free books from Grassroots books.

We've also started Harry Potter a week ago. I realized that I was missing our first Harry Potter book so I found one at the thrift store for $1. We're on the last chapter! The girls have loved it!

Great Conversations with my Almost 7 Year Old

 

Sometimes I really am blown away how quick my children are. They are very perceptive, curious, and thoughtful individuals.

 

About 6 months ago I got this book for the girls. I love Great Expectations and told them the story in my own words. They were enthralled. And then when the book came, they just read it over and over again. Then of course, they moved on to other books.

 

Namely The Secrets of Droon series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Children of the Lamp series.

 

But the other day, Maria started reading this book again and couldn't put it down. She asked if we could read it together today and I told her to pick out her favorite story...

thank you A Tale of Two Cities.

 

So it's been a while and we're reading and all of a sudden I'm having this super deep discussion about the French Revolution, sacrifice, the struggle of poverty... she's comparing the wine in the streets to the blood spilt. And I'm like... really? After a little bit, she decided it wasn't her favorite anymore because Sydney dies. She decided David Copperfield was much better and happier.

Mortal Instruments Series

So, to get my mind off the Divergent series I started and finished this one. There was an additional book not picture, City of Lost Souls.

I enjoyed the series. It definitely wasn't fantastic, but it was funny and the characters were enjoyable.
I guess they made a movie of the first book and it comes out on Redbox in December, so that's fun.

I really enjoyed Simon's character. He's a regular guy turned Vampire and everything about his band and T-Shirts made me smile. I found the main heroine of the book to be somewhat lacking... but she can create ruins and that's kind of cool. It wasn't intense, and that's what I needed.

I was thinking about it and I think why I was so wound up (about the last book in the Divergent series) is because I don't like the idea of trying to document grief and the process of continuing on without a loved one. Especially if there is no religion involved because that's a foreign concept to me. I understand parts of grief, so to take a completely fake person who ends up not being so fake to you because you're a total book geek, and have them suffer... just kind of wears on you.

Anyways, I guess the last book in the Mortal Instrument Series comes out in May. There are some other books, a prequel and sequel? to the series, but I'm probably not going to read them. I'd rate the series a 5/6. The whole brother/sister falling in love bit, was a bit much. However, I did like how there are no "surprises", things work out by the end of the book even if the whole world is still in danger.

Definitely wouldn't let the kiddos read this until they are 16+. I'm a little disturbed at how all these "teen" characters are dealing with very "mature" emotions and decisions. Also, they tend to really amplify the passion in love verses the more important aspects of love such as time, dedication, commitment, friendship, and service/sacrifice.

The Intense Reader

Today I called Ramya and told her to please read these so I could have someone to talk to who's in "the world". I, like her, do not "read". I submerge myself and become part of the world.

Characters become my friends. Romances become comparable to the love I have for Joe. My mind is able to fully picture the setting and action.

And it's funny because I loved to read when I was little. High school and College killed my love and then I'd say Harry Potter brought it back. One thing too, is I like to wait for a series to be finished before I start it. I hate being left "hanging".

So, when I saw that the third book in this series just came out I was way excited. The reviews said it was comparable to the Hunger Games, which I really enjoyed.

I LOVED these books. For the most part. I loved the idea, the development, thinking where I would be placed... definitely Amity. I loved the suspense. The whole Dauntless world and conquering fears bit.

Usually you have a favorite side character, but in this series you really really really become attached to Tris and Four.

I read all three books in 2 days. Yes. I neglected Elijah, but I also went to my Grandma's so he could play with his Yayas. Plus it's important for him to see me love literature. Cough. Cough.

So I'll wait until Ramya finishes to post the rest of my feelings. But Christina and Angela, if you have read these can you please email me ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!

I tried talking to Joe about it at 3 AM, but he wasn't very responsive. He still hasn't read the Hunger Games. Like who can start the Hunger Games and not finish it?

Vaction in Hell

 

So, we kind of took 2 days off of school for the release of House of Hades.

 

We were all totally excited and the book did NOT disappoint.

 

It was about 600 pages and was hard to put down. I read for hours on end and the girls listened mesmerized.

 

Some favorite parts:

* Leo and Calypso

* Bob and Damasen

* Frank defeating the Venetian cows

* Coach being coach

* Sciron's defeat

* Escaping Tartarus

 

Rick is an extremely talented writer. We all were sobbing at the doors of death and the sacrifice that was made. Yet, it was so well balanced with wit, humor and appropriate analogies. You'd think a book based in hell's hell would be too much, but he really did make it believable and doable.

 

One thing that really threw me off was Nico. This book is for 10 and older, that is the recommended age for all of them. But this is the first book where a very mature theme was introduced... Nico had a crush on Percy. I thought he handled it really well in his writing, but he made Nico so dark. I had a good talk with the girls that some people are gay. The girls thought that it was kind of weird. I reminded them that God has made us all different and that's a good thing. The most important thing is to know that no matter how God has made us, He's endowed us with the beautiful gift of agency and choice. No matter what we face in life, we need to choose God and He'll help us in everything. We also had a good talk about the importance of not judging others, loving and always serving others.

 

A main theme throughout the book was crossroads. How we'll always have important decisions to make and that we shouldn't be dependent on others to make choices for us. Another theme was self worth. So many of the demi-gods doubted their abilities and yet, they persevered and conquered. Lastly, another main theme was the power of love. Not romantic love, but a deep and abiding love in which you sacrifice for the good. I love that. I don't think there can be enough talk about the importance of giving all for good.

 

So fun!!!!! Only another year for the next book....

sigh.

The last book.

WHY.....

 

The real question is, why can't the people who did Harry Potter do this series. I don't who is in charge of the script of these movies but they are literally butchering the book. It's horrific and tragic.

 

Wednesday morning we were the first people in line and in the theater for Percy Jackson 2!!  Sea of Monsters. I couldn't believe everything they left out, made up and the poor quality of trying to incorporate the biggest element of the book- the prophecy.

 

With that said, we still enjoyed the movie. The girls saw it twice in one day.

 

Thank You Reno Savers....

Today we went to the Reno Savers and found a ton of books. Fablehaven... thank you 3,4, &5. And we also completed books 1-16 of The Time Warp trio series. Our library is seriously amazing.
And on that amazing note, we concluded our 9 book series of The Sisters Grimm.

Did we love these books? Yes. Were they especially perfect because the heroines were 2 sisters just a bit older than Christina and Maria? Was Puck quite possibly the best character ever? Yes. Yes. Yes.

These books were pretty great. Definitely a 10 out of 10. Michael Buckley did a fantastic job of weaving fairy tales together and changing them up just enough for you to say, "Aha!!" Thank you wicked Stepmother of Snow White. The books were hilarious with great plots and excellent character development.

Red Riding Hood was psychotic and totally creeptacular in the first few books. Thank you kitty/jabberwocky. Mr.Canis was to be respected. The fairy tale princesses were amazing and way past the dumb blond stereotypes. We dealt with death, revenge, justice, service and some intriguing questions dealing with villains and are they truly villains dependent on their surroundings and circumstances.

But the best part was Puck. Do my girls want to marry him? Yes. And the question really is why? He was absolutely immature and disgusting, yet his sense of humor would make up for everything. My favorite part of the series is when Puck tells Sabrina's dad that he is going to marry his daughter and he looks forward to the traditional duel between son and father in law that's to the death. The ending had a brief, what??? moment total page turner and ended quite nicely. Very neatly packaged and perfect.

Was is overly violent? Nope. Was is scary? Maybe a 4 out 10. Was it clean? Definitely!! I highly recommend this book series. The chapters are pretty lengthy... at least 30 pages a chapter... but definitely worth the read!! I think we went through this series in 1 month. And I wish I knew how to do a German accent, I had to do Granny Relda with a Brittish accent instead.

The Robin Babies & The Readers

 

They are so precious. Some might find them weird looking, but to us, they are absolutely beautiful. To see the mom every day sitting on them and the dad out looking for food.

Today I got a little too close and the mother let me know.

We pray for them daily. It's so special to have them in our mother willow tree.

 

These kids are constantly reading. I love it. I must admit. Yesterday was quite the miracle. It may seem small, but to me it's a huge reminder of just how much Heavenly Father loves us. I scoured online for about 1 hour one day looking for top recommended book series for kids. I checked the New York Times Bestsellers, Amazon, Barnes & Noble...... I came up with a list of about 30 series that sounded interesting.

I was getting swim diapers at Wal-Mart and had the small thought to go to Goodwill. I know small thoughts can often be the promptings of the Holy Ghost. So off I went. The kiddos were at the park enjoying time with Daddy. I went into the store and there it was.... The Unusual Suspects... Book 2, 99 cents. They NEVER have books we need. And yet, there was our blessing.

I thought, wow- what a great day!!! I headed over to Savers, would I be able to find #3?

Nope.

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!
I found 20 other books with a good 15 being on the list I had made!!! I couldn't believe it!!! I just saved a HUGE amount of money and now we have some awesome literature for the next few months. And of course, it's there when the girls want to re-read. Which they do often. Yesterday Christina was reviewing the Kane Chronicles. And today, she finished a 350 page Charles Dickens compilation from Great Expectations to Bleak House to Oliver Twist. She's also reading Hatchet.... which I just happened to find the second installment called, The River.... on my blessed Saturday Book Day. AWESOME. I didn't even know there was a 2nd book!

Hooray!!!

Fly You High...... Tonight we ended our night in tears

 

We first started the Overland series on April 23. We are done.

Probably 2000 pages total.

 

Did we love the series? Absolutely.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely.

 

Did book 5 end up a little too violent for my taste and to share with a 6 year old?

Absolutely. I had to edit.... a lot.

 

Today we read 350+ pages. It was the final war. It was brilliant. It was heartbreaking.

It caused deep reflection. It surprised us. It left us suspended and had me trying to explain how some authors don't spell everything out for you. You have to infer what will happen next and look at the clues they leave.

 

Do I have to compare it to Percy Jackson. Yes. Both have strong, lovable characters. Both have interesting settings. Both have prophecies that have to be fulfilled which is very interesting. 

Gregor has less romance. Gregor kind of kicks your feet out from under you.... because of Ripred.

 

They are both very thought provoking, but definitely Gregor has that deeper reflection of war, it's brutalities and pointlessness. One of my favorite parts is when Gregor is looking out and wondering why someone couldn't have played a game of chess. A game where lives weren't lost. Gregor definitely doesn't have as much humor, although there are some great parts placed at very good times... thank you blue light photos glo-glo's butt!!

 

We are all emotionally drained. I love love love that my daughters love the books we share together. The world we live in together as we desperately turn each page to see where our heroes will go and what will happen. It's so special to share this excitement with them. I love being obsessive and finishing long books within the day. I love hearing them beg for more chapters. For knowledge. For growth. For soaking up lessons. For talking about lessons. For listening to their beautiful and deep thoughts.

 

There were lots of tears shed tonight. But there were lots of smiles too.

Fly you high Gregor. Fly you high.

 

What possibly could we read now. Do we venture into Harry Potter. It is going to be hard because I really do think I liked the Percy and Gregor series better. I'm sure we'll find something!!

Possibly Literary Blasphemy....

Ok. I'm just going to come out and say it.

I like these books even better than Harry Potter.

I love Harry Potter. My mind is not working right now to go into a deep comparison. But these past few weeks of reading with the girls has been utterly awesome times infinity. Even Joe has caught the majority of the readings and agrees this book series is just amazing.

We just finished the Mark of Athena. Yes. I cried. There are 2 more books yet to be written and we were all in shock at the ending. But not to the point of wanting to send death threats to Rick.

I just love the characters. UNDERSTATEMENT.
Percy and Annabeth.

Leo!!!

Nico di Angelo.

Piper and Jason.

Hazel.

Frank. I know they're going to kill Frank. I just have a weird feeling.
Did I mention Percy and Annabeth? Seriously. They are the best.
Percy can control water. It's flipping awesome.
I love them.

Not to mention that my girls are Ancient Greek & Roman history buffs and can count roman numerals.

The way it's written is just such a good balance. It's funny. It's real. It's mythical. It's thrilling. It's clever. It's all interlaced perfectly in detail. It's written from different character view points which only makes you love the characters more. There's diversity! Plus there are plenty of books!

I really think we've read all 8 books within the last 2 months. That's about 3,000 pages. We go on binges during the weekends and read for hours. 

But now... alas... we must wait.

I feel so emotionally drained. I can't believe we have to wait. Where do we even go from here?

I was thinking maybe we could start the Little House on The Prairie series but how can one go from black Stygian iron from the underworld to a tree ax. How can one go from Arion (fastest horse in the world that can run on water), Blackjack (a beautiful black Pegasus with a New York attitude) & Temptest (an untamed wind spirit horse) to covered wagons. How can one go from Bacchus' raging diet Pepsi parties in the coliseum to Ma & Pa braiding someone's hair?

Where do we go from here?

In August The Sea of Monsters comes out. Hopefully they wont BUTCHER it like the first movie.

Then we wait for The House of Hades in the fall.

....

Rick Riordan better not die.

At least we'll have Maria's Percy Jackson Party in February.

** Update: We had a friend come over and the girls were trying to get their friend addicted to the series too. Kind of funny. At dinner we were talking:
Maria: "Ok!!! Mom. (Giggle, giggle) Christina has a love on NICO!!!"
Me: "Do you mean a crush?"
Christina: "MARIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Me: "Christina, I don't know why you care. If I wasn't married to daddy I would have a crush on Leo."
Maria: "Well do you want to know who I like?"
Me: "Obviously, yes."
Maria: "I love alllllllllllllllllllllll the boys."