The W List: May Books 2011

When I was ten years old, I had a wonderful teacher named Mr. Wolters. My family knew his family from church and he mentioned at a parent-teacher conference that he had shared with his wife that I was a voracious reader, which led her to continually ask what I was reading. Mr. Wolters told my parents that he would walk past my desk to see what book I had on the edge so he could report back to his wife. I remember how flattered I was upon hearing this: that my teacher noticed me and placed value in my taste in books. Even today, I hold this memory dear.

I haven’t read much early this year and about a month ago I discovered our library had made their website much more user-friendly, so I've gotten back into the hang of requesting books that I would like to read. The following is a list of what I have read in May with a brief mention of what I thought of each book or what it is about. This list is especially for those of you who ask what I am currently reading. You know who you are.

Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth by Mark Sloan ~ Interesting coverage of the history of childbirth. This pediatrician walks the fine line between the arguments surrounding the c-section rate, circumcision, and midwives. Good read. NF

Found Style: Vintage Ideas for Modern Living by David Butler ~ Too many glass bottles for my taste, but this book did feature an old International Scout. Both the Scout and some of the cool “found” flair made me think of the E family, AM specifically. NF

Great Houses on a Budget by James Grayson Trulove ~ Lovely pictures, but Trulove’s idea of a “budget” is quite different from ours. This book had some excellent ideas that we can take away. NF

Handmade Beginnings: 24 Sewing Projects to Welcome Baby by Anna Maria Horner ~ If you look up this book, the cover has a hexagonal quilt in the background of the cover photo and I totally want to make that quilt. Beautiful book and good instructions for making this quilt I’ve been thinking of for months. NF

Tiny House by Mimi Zeiger ~ A small book with a large impact makes you think about the space you really need to live and how close you want to be to nature and what exactly constitutes a building material. Great book to flip through and marvel at. NF

Atlas of the Unknown by Tania James ~ From L, C’s mom, who actually received it from C’s aunt C. Interesting storyline: essentially about sisters and family, secrets and what one has to do to get through. Ended short. F

The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage and My Family by Dan Savage ~ All about trying to figure out the marriage thing in the midst of America coming down on gay marriage/civil unions. The story of Dan and Terry trying to figure out if they should be married and what it means to them. Loved it – also own and love The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant: An Adoption Story by Dan Savage. NF

Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process by Irene Pepperberg ~ Not perfectly written, but I appreciated the sentiment of this book. Irene has been working with African Greys for decades to see if there is an intelligence beyond their vocalizations. She made amazing progress with Alex and the comprehension his "bird brain" displayed. Great information. NF

Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born by Tina Cassidy ~ Good read that I definitely recommend to anyone curious, pregnant, or you know, wanting to propagate. Some similar information to Birth Day (at the top of this list). NF

Midwest Modern: A Fresh Design Spirit for the Modern Lifestyle by Amy Butler ~ David Butler's (from above) wife. She designs beautiful bright colorful fabric and clothing/items. Again, their taste and aesthetic aren't quite mine, but I appreciate her ideas and thoughts as a talented style-maker. NF

Blankets by Craig Thompson ~ a graphic novel that follows Craig's life: childhood, drawing, church, camp, one special girl, tough decisions, etc. Very cool format and subject matter. I've definitely witnessed similar battles within self that the author/artist draws. NF? Memoir?

Porches and Other Outdoor Spaces by James Grayson Trulove ~ Again, not exactly C and my style, but there were a handful of porches we enjoyed looking at. This book definitely showcases the diversity of porches. NF

Fire by Kristin Cashore ~ Awesome YA literature, a borrowed Christmas present from me to sister B. Also loved (and own) Graceling, by the same author: lots of strong female characters and good endings - I still appreciate those. A little bit of monsters, magic and men, and lots of fighting, while still having a positive message to present. YA F

I finished Fire an hour short of midnight on May 31st, so it counts! I'm hoping to keep us with a monthly list to keep all of you in the know and to have a handy list for myself! It'll be fun to tally the total next May - 13 books this month is a great start. Let me know if you have questions about any of the books I read: as a (hopeful!) future librarian, I would love to answer them!

*Posted from my mobile phone

Thank You for C

I very very much love this boy.




He is so special. And you know what? More than anything, his mom and dad deserve a thank you today. Thank you for having C and loving and cherishing him, instructing and guiding him, instilling him with morals and values, and for teaching him what it means to be a man, both in strength and weakness.

I highly value his heart, which began with you two. Thank you G & L for this man I so love.

Happy birthday, C.

*Posted from my mobile phone

Saturday

This is what we've been talking about all week. Any guesses? D brother?



And how I spend my Friday nights:




Playing with the dogs, yes, but please tell me you noticed Bella's creative haircut! She is fully shaved now, but sported a fauxhawk like her mom did for just a little while.




*Posted from my mobile phone

LittleC's Quilt

My C and I returned on Sunday from a fantastic weekend with our friends N&A. They moved back to the heartland at the beginning of the year, so we were able to see their new house and definitely follow up with their son, LittleC. He's crawling all over that house and he is such a smiley baby!

I had promised A a baby quilt at her baby shower (approximately a year ago!) and made the last push to finish LittleC's quilt this weekend. [In the meantime, my dear friend M had her baby C about eleven weeks early and one quilt trumped the other.] Apologies for the following cell phone pictures.

I was definitely not done hand stitching the orange binding to the back of the quilt in these first few pictures!

I designed the bar-graph-looking top just for LittleC and quite like how it turned out.

Pretty typical back for a modern quilt.

Close-up of the back of the quilt.

I do not have a sewing machine that actually "quilts" (or a walking foot, for that matter), so I just quilted in straight, easy lines. They are definitely not perfect, but they are getting better and I know the babies won't notice any time soon.

See, it's going to look great wrapped around LittleC!

The front porch of N&A's new house! And slightly better light.

LittleC's daddy, N, holding up his son's quilt.

And the back, again. I really loved this quilt - the lines, the bright colors. But, I've loved each one I've made and I know that the babies will love them and that their parents appreciate them. The next one is already super complicated, so we'll see how it goes!

The Three Bs

These photographs (all taken by the lovely and talented KV of OrangePeelPhotography last October) will not post in the order of my choosing. I completely forgot that I never showed y'all some of the great shots K took of my family!

While we were attempting to get some great shots of C and I with the old military Dodge in the setting sun, the dogs were waiting patiently in the truck. Boris and Bailey.

Boris loves the ride of an open truck with the sun on his face. He's a happy dog.

Bailey and Bella eager to go wherever it is that we are going! Loadin' up!

Pre-parenting the three Bs: look at the camera, be good, smile big, don't be in a bad mood . . .

Oh, how I love my big girl, Bella. She has my heart.

Bella smiling. Such a beautiful girl.

Bailey's half smile.

Not sure if Boris is smiling, but he sure is attentive!

I'm sure C is trying to get Boris NOT to lick him in the mouth. No worries, that comes later in the session. I'll try and post more of these as I remember - K took so many thoughtful photos that truly capture what our life is about right now.

While these three dogs are our family, we recently lost two dogs that lived with C's parents out at the farm. Read the post below. We've been holding our dogs tighter and enduring more kisses in the wake of their loss.

They are Deeply Missed

If you know C at all, you have heard stories about Bubba and Loki. Bubba is a black lab, rottweiler, basset hound mix that C got as a puppy when he was in high school. Loki was one of a litter of nine or ten (depends who is telling the story) that Radar had and she was C's brother J's good pal (Radar was a dirty white Corgi-looking dog that apparently had an affair with a blue heeler, as Loki looks pure blue heeler).

In the last month and a half, we've lost both of these dear members of the family. C has lots of stories to share about both dogs, as do his parents, brothers, and aunt & uncles. I can really only share mine, but I'll ask you all to talk to the R family about these dogs because they were family.

This is Bubba. He was the sweetest dog I've met. He's also one of the funniest looking. Upon seeing Bubba for the first time, my dad said he thought he was looking at a black lab (Bubba was laying in the back of a truck), but when the dog stood on his basset hound legs, the lack of height was startling. Everyone loved Bubba, and as C found out in high school and college (so I hear), Bubba especially loved the ladies and they loved him.

No funny camera work, Bubba was short. He made an excellent pillow for me multiple times. And he just made you feel good about yourself; he was a happy dog, content to sit at your feet and wag his tail. He always seemed happy that you were there.

This is Loki. She is the reason we have Boris, our own blue heeler. That, and there was no finding another Bubba. She was alpha female and pack leader. C has always told me that Loki used to growl at other girls he would hang out with at the house and he found it surprising that she never growled at me. He says that because she and Bubba responded to me so well, he paid closer attention to keeping me around. I guess that means that I can thank Bubba, Loki, and Radar for my husband.

I love these dogs. They represent home to me just as much as C's parents and his home do. I miss them so much. They lived fantastic lives and were adventurous and spoiled and rough and soft and loving and vicious (okay, I never saw Bubba be vicious) and so very loved. That's about all I can say about them without crying. I am glad that one doesn't have to be without the other for Bubba and Loki were dear friends.

Love.

Randolph ORV Park

Fun times at Randolph ORV Park! We went out with friends D&N, their kids Au&Ad, and new friend R. Thankfully, we found some mud, some steep climbs, and of course, a reason to get the winch out!




Fun mud! Soon after this puddle, Au and Ad wanted to ride in the "fun" Jeep that went through really deep mud holes. Their dad's Jeep just wasn't cool enough. But it did have all of the food!




So, C drove into this puddle. Slowly. And buried the front of the Jeep about up to the doors (which is saying something as it is a climb to get into the Jeep AND it's 2-3 inches higher until the new springs settle). Au was in the backseat and I was watching muddy water slop against my door.




C had to crawl out the door, onto the hood and then the bumper (custom made Fat Kid Bumper - now taking orders!) to grab the hook on the spool to toss to R on the opposite shore. Yes, we all expected C to slip off the muddy hood into the abyss in very comic fashion, but he disappointed us.




C waiting for R to attach the hook to the red Jeep (yes, we hang with far too many red Jeeps - if you'd like to hang with us, we're only taking applications for purple, black, bright green, and orange Jeep owners). It all worked out, but we did have an audience and a bunch of people laughing. Fun times.




Priceless. We were in the lead and came back to find this. R is kinda young and impetuous (from what I know) and he said that he saw the mud puddle (and the tree growing out of it) and thought to himself "What would C do?" Oh, yeah - get buried! Or, not attempt the too deep mud hole at all.




No worries, Au pulled him out in a wonderful exhibition of girl power.

We stopped at Vista for the high class appetizer of corndogs on the way back to C's folks' house. Where we had an awesome dinner, crawled over a wannabe beaver dam, and poked the skin off of a dead, water logged possum (okay, that last one was Au and Ad). Played with some kittens, shot some guns, and Boris did not eat anyone.

That's what I call a successful weekend.

*Posted from my mobile phone