Summer 2014 Book Challenge!!!

Last summer I participated in Megan's book challenge. For full details about the challenge head on over to Semi-Charmed Kind of Life. I don't expect to finish reading all of my books but I'm definitely going to try! Here is what I plan to read. This list can always change depending on how my holds at the library go.... I'll do my best to update it as I read as well as post links to my reviews. 

The Girl of Fire and Thorns

5 points: Freebie! Read any book that is at least 200 pages long.

The Cradle Will Fall - 1980
10 points: Read a book that was written before you were born.

REVIEW

Conjured - I started reading this and ditched it after about 2 chapters. It seemed okay but I had Gone Girl waiting on my table to be read and I was much more interested in reading that. 
10 points: Finish reading a book you couldn't finish the first time around. (You must have at least 150 pages left in the book to use it for this category.)

REVIEW

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Because I love it!

10 points: Read a book from the children’s section of the library or bookstore.

Missing You

15 points: Read a book that is on The New York Times' Best Sellers List when you begin reading it.

The Invention of Wings
15 points: Read a historical fiction book that does not take place in Europe.





I love this idea!!!
15 points: Read a book another blogger has already read for the challenge. (Yes, you will have to wait until the first check-in to choose this book! So no one will be able to finish this challenge in only one month; sorry!)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone
20 points: Read a book with “son(s),” “daughter(s)” or “child(ren)” in the title. No other words will count—including kids, offspring, etc.—so please don’t ask. :)

Review

Divergent
20 points: Read a book that was/will be adapted to film in 2014. (Here are 16 ideas to get you started, but I know there are plenty more options.)

The Honest Toddler - A Child's Guide to Parenting
  25 points: Read a book written by a blogger. (Submitted by Jessica of The Tangerine.)

Look Me in the Eye
25 points: Read a biography, autobiography or memoir.

REVIEW




This could be tough... =) 
30 points: Read a pair of books with antonyms in the titles.





My favorite thing about the book challenge is that it pushes me to read books I wouldn't normally read. Last year when I did this I found some great authors that I've never heard of. If you like books you should definitely join and have some fun!

Perfect Ruin ~ Book Review

Image from Goodreads

You can read a portion of the book HERE from Amazon.

Morgan lives in a city floating in the sky. This city is named Internment. A train runs around the outer part of the city. Cross the train tracks and you find yourself on the edge. A place you do not want to be. You can't leave Internment. Many have tried. These people are called jumpers.  Her brother Lex is one of those people. Approaching the edge is dangerous. Lex is blind because of it. Morgan thinks constantly about what life would be like on the ground. She fears she might one day find herself at the edge trying to look down.
Strange things are happening in this once safe city. There is a murder. Judas is accused of killing his betrothed. Morgan is certain he is innocent. There is more to the murder than the public is being told. She also feels that people close to her are keeping things from her. She begins to question everything she knows. Nothing really is as it seems anymore. In the book we follow Morgan on her adventure to find the truth. She will discover things she never thought possible and feel sadness that she's never known before.


Internment is a very structured place...

Before birth you are betrothed to someone. On your 18th birthday they will become your spouse. Don't like them? Too bad...  If your betrothed happens to die before they are 75 you spend your life alone. Your job is to take care of and protect each other. You wear your betrothal ring on a chain around your neck until it fits your finger. On your wedding day it is filled with your spouses blood. 

You get 75 years of life. That's it. If you reach the age 75 you are dispatched, a nice word for killed kindly and cremated. Internment is a small city. They can't have people living too long and over crowding the place.

Also to prevent crowding and food shortage, you must wait your turn to have a baby. Once you are married you may enter the queue to be approved for a baby. If you happen to get pregnant out of turn you are forced to have the baby terminated. There are no exceptions. To prevent this all females are required to take contraceptives.  

Jumpers are required to take daily medication. Members of their family may be required to take medication as well. 



I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters are easily likable and believable.  I felt like this city really could exist. There are no lulls in the story. Each chapter is packed with new information that will keep you turning the pages. I was constantly saying to myself, "Just one more chapter." I would then take a teensy peek at the next chapter and end up reading that one as well. Morgan is surrounded by so many people who love her. Each of them different and interesting. The journey they take together is scary and exciting.  I'm only worried about three things. 

1. I have to wait a LONG time for the second book to come out!
2. What is going to happen to everyone?
3. The way the book ends sets up the second book to either be awesome or the story could fall apart. I'm hoping for awesome =)

These two!!!

I think my biggest concern when I was pregnant was for Noah. Would he like Emily? Would he be jealous? I have been so lucky that he hasn't had a problem with her. At first he was getting into a little more trouble at school and at home. I think that was due to all of the changes that were happening. However, from day one he has been in love with Emily just as much as I am.

He loves playing with her. He always wants to hold her. If he can't he gets upset. He often asks if he can go wake her up from her nap to play...no. =)

She loves him just as much. She laughs at him more than at me or my husband. Noah is so sweet with her. I love watching him entertain her.

Noah has grown up so much. I can't believe he is 8! He is an amazing big brother.

First Memories

Sometimes when we're doing something fun with Noah I think, "Will he remember this?"

I try really hard to think back to when I was little. The first memory I can come up with is getting into trouble for playing with my dads green stretchy things he used for his pants. He was in the Air Force. They went around the tops of his boots to keep his pants folded at the bottom. I have no idea what they were called. I used them as ponytail holders for my barbies hair....

I can remember in 1st grade tying a little boys shoe laces together. His name was Eddie. He had dark hair and freckled cheeks. He sang songs to me in class. He said he loved me. I did NOT love him back...
I got in a lot of trouble at school that day. The teacher had to cut his shoe laces out of his shoes. I guess I could tie really good knots.

I can remember living in Mississippi and playing with my friends Shannon and Sarah. We were playing dress up and told my sister she had to be a boy. We needed a prince... She cried. It was mean.


It's little snippets of time that I remember. I'm sure we did tons of fun stuff that I've forgotten. I don't really remember my birthdays. I remember very little of our Disney vacation. I know my mom and dad probably wish I could remember some of that stuff. It's strange how our mind works. Why do I remember jumping rope on the playground with my best friend Emily but not Disney World, the most awesome place ever?!?

I wonder what Noah will remember.

What are your earliest memories?

3 Lessons Learned

If your child says, "Look at me mommy!", there is a 99.9% chance they are doing something dangerous. Noah said this to me as he took off on his electric scooter and let go of the handle bar. That kid is going to give me a heart attack.


You need more mulch than you think...a lot more. We spent some time cleaning up the front flower bed and spreading mulch. We quickly realized that we did not buy nearly enough. Joey had to run back to the store to get more... Now we have more than we needed.


Emily NEEDS 3 naps. She has been taking two GREAT naps during the day. We were working outside, Noah was "helping", And Emily was in her ocean toy watching us. She woke up from her nap around 2:30 so I thought maybe she didn't really need her small third nap (usually around 3:30). That was a BIG mistake. By 6:00 she was having a melt down. I had to out her to bed. At 6! lol   We won't be skipping nap #3 for quite a while.

Letters

Dear Groceries,
WTH? Didn't I JUST spend $300 on the first? Where did all the food go? On that note why is food so expensive? Why can't I be like those awesome coupon ladies?

Dear Emily,
6:30am Is not wake up time. It's not going to be. Please stop waking up this early. Your brother was an early morning baby too. I am not an early morning person. At least you let me tuck you into the bed beside me until 7:00am...even if you're slapping my face and pulling my hair the whole time. At least I can close my eyes and rest.

Dear Spring,
Thank you for finally getting here. I love being able to take Emily out for stroller walks in the sun. I hate being cold so your presence is more than welcome.

Dear Bugs,
Stop trying to come in my house! It is spring. It is nice out. You should want to be outside not in here with the lady who will crush you.



The weekend it here and I'm going to enjoy it. Noah has two soccer games tomorrow. What a way to start the season. Back to back games. lol  It is supposed to rain a lot on Sunday but that's fine. Hopefully it will help our plants grow. Have a fantastic Friday and a great weekend!

Forgiveness

Normally forgiving someone and moving on isn't too difficult for me. There is one person who I really struggle with forgiving. This person has repeatedly broken our trust. When we thought things were going well and forgave them it would only be a short time before once again something happened. This person has a drug problem. Now I know that when someone is using they aren't being themselves. They are the drug. That doesn't make it any easier for me to say, "Oh, you're clean now? Yes....yes, please come into my home. Please be part of our lives again."

We've played the roll of helper before. We've given them a place to stay. We've helped with money. We wanted to help them to be better. That's over now. There were just too many times where they hurt not us. We're talking hurtful things. Took  money from my son's piggy bank. Took his pain meds he had for his surgery. That was it for me. That pushed me past a place of forgiveness. Now I just want to protect my family from and hurt or heartache. Noah doesn't know what happened. There is no reason to tell him. He's little.

I just hate that I'm in this place of anger and hatred. All I think is these are the things you've done to my family. You have used us. I know that's wrong. I know that's not how we're supposed to be. I can't get past it though. When I start to think maybe they are clean now. Maybe we can move forward. That seed of doubt and anger sprouts, grows, and takes over. It's just sad because things could be so different. I don't think any of it will change though. How do you forgive someone who over and over again breaks your trust? I don't know if you can. 

6 Months! Half! A! Year!

This little lady is growing up so much faster than I want her to. It's really hard for me to believe she's been here for 6 months. Didn't we just race to the hospital for her birth?  I swear every morning she wakes up and looks bigger. Her hair is getting longer. I love to put bows in it! Sadly it is getting a lot lighter. I was really hoping it would stay dark. It looks like she'll be blonde like her brother. She always seems to smell like graham crackers...even though she has never eaten one. I'll miss that smell when it fades away.

At her appointment today she weighed 14lbs. 9oz. and she is 26.5 inches long. She received two shots. She cried a lot. She is going through an I don't know you so I don't like you stage. She was fine if the nurses and doctors touched her as long as I held her. If they came near her and she was laying on the table she made a really sad face and cried.

After her mean shots =(

Eating~ Everything I give her. The only things she hasn't enjoyed were bananas and strawberries. We'll try again later though. She LOVES vegetables though!

Sleeping~ She's had a rough week. I think it's due to teething and a growth spurt. Hopefully she'll be back on track soon. I recently shared her sleep training and schedule. sleep-training, taking the pacifier, and what our day looks like

Likes~ Playing with her brother! She's still a very happy baby. She's very quiet. She likes to play with pretty much all of her toys now. She has a lion that she sleeps with. She has to have his blanket part tucked under her cheek before she'll fall asleep. She REALLY likes Bella. She laughs at her and is always trying to touch her. Bella equally loves Emily. She always wants to be next to her. She brings Emily toys sometimes expecting her to play fetch lol. She nuzzles Emily gently like she's a puppy. It's very sweet.

She loves her brother's silly faces =)

Mr. Lion

She was supposed to be napping.

Emily can roll from her tummy to her back. She can almost roll from her back to her front. She can sit for 20 seconds...then she falls over =) As soon as she wakes up she rolls over and starts playing in her crib. It's funny to watch her on the video monitor. She just talks to herself and moves around until I go get her.

She is  a very happy sweet baby girl.

Bella is always near Emily.

Toes are her favorite snack.

Always very happy!

UNLESS her gums hurt. Poor baby =(

She's growing up too fast!!!! Someone make it stop!!!

Flashback Friday

Today I've joined in for Flashback Friday. Everyone is sharing some of their favorite past blog posts!

Check out the link up HERE.


I shared THIS POST about funny things Noah says and THIS ONE about something stupid and embarrassing that I did.

Happy Friday!