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The Fiddler

As much as I love to read, I really haven't had much time this summer. However, I was finally able to get started on "The Fiddler" by Beverly Lewis, one of my favorite authors. Once I got started, it was a quick read. I didn't want to put it down!

As always with Ms. Lewis' books, this book is set in Amish country. However, the main character isn't female, nor is she Amish. Amelia Devries, an Englisher who is also a classical violinist feels pressured by her parents, especially her father, also a renowned violinist, and her agent to continue growing her fame as a touring violinist. However, she feels like something is missing, and has been moonlighting as a fiddling champion under the name Amy Lee. On her way home from a fiddling performance, Amelia is caught in a rainstorm, gets turned around and lost in Amish country, specifically near a remote cabin close to Hickory Hollow, where a young Amish man, Michael Hostetler is also searching for his path in life. He escaped to the cabin to sort out his feelings and decide whether or not to follow in his father's and ancestors’ footsteps and join the Amish church. Amelia is invited to spend a weekend with a friend of Michael's, and Ms. Lewis weaves a story of soul-searching, family, and budding romance. The book takes some unexpected turns before revealing Amelia and Michael's decisions on what path they want to follow in life.

Overall, "The Fiddler" was an enjoyable read, taking me to Pennsylvania Amish country and once again, giving the reader a peak into Amish culture, this time from the viewpoint of an Englisher looking in and an Amish man looking out. So many of Ms. Lewis' books are from a young Amish girl's perspective, making this change was quite delightful.

I was provided with a copy of this book in order to review for the publisher, Bethany House Publishing, but was not required to give a favorable review.

The Messenger Review

I was recently given this amazing opportunity to review books and blog about them. How great is that? The first book I received from Bethany House Publishers was "The Messenger" by Siri Mitchell.

First of all, I will say that this is the first book I have read by Ms. Mitchell, and the time period, the Revolutionary War, is not one of my usual picks. However, I really enjoyed the book, and look forward to reading more of her books, and maybe I'll branch out to other books on this topic.

It  did take a little time getting into the book, maybe because of the different time period, use of the Quaker language (ie, thee, thou, etc) mixed in the speech, or the writing style of switching back and forth every chapter between the main characters, Hannah and Jeremiah, speaking in first person.  By the middle of the book, I was used to the style, and looked forward to reading the other character's viewpoint as the story progressed.

Overall, the story was well laid out and the slight bit of suspense kept me wanting to come back to finish the book. I especially enjoyed the note from the author at the end where she pieced together the factual history to the fictional story she had written. 

The Messenger

I just got my first book to review for Bethany House Publishers. Of course, who can say no to free books? Since it WAS free, I expanded my horizens and went with an author I was not familiar with at all, Siri Mitchell. It's a historical fiction, but from an era I haven't read alot about, the Revolutionay War period, especially dealing with the Quakers. Should be interesting!

Book reviewer!

I just signed up to be a book reviewer for Bethany House publishers! I'm very excited since I love to read and I am constantly looking for new books to read! I'm just finishing up one of my favorite series by an amazing author - Karen Kingsbury. And I have a completely new author on hold at the library - Sara Evans, a book called Sweet By and By. Should be interesting given the good reviews on it. In spite of my insanely busy days, I always find time to read, especially now that I fallen in love with reading on the iPad. It makes it so much easier to pack several books to take with on a car ride or even just to read and turn the pages one handed while holding a sleeping Elijah!

My Lucky Husband

So on Tuesday, Doug spent the day in Indianapolis at a conference for work. Usually it's rather boring and the only thing he looks forward to is the breakfast at Cracker Barrel on the way there! But this year, he got an early Christmas present. (Side note - I've been wanting and talking about a Kindle Fire for months, and before that just a regular Kindle.) WELL.....Doug didn't get a Kindle, or a Fire, but an IPad. The conference organizers had a drawing for an IPad, and guess who won!! Merry Christmas, Doug! I guess I don't need the Fire after all, because I'm sure he'll share his new toy with me! Since he got the call earlier this evening, he's been researching all the apps he can get and fun things he can make & do with his new IPad.

Tornado in November?

OK, so why do tornadoes have to happen when I'm on a roll? About 4 o'clock this afternoon, I had 2 of the 3 kids napping, and I'm cranking out fundraiser packets when I get a call from my almost frantic hubby telling me there's a huge storm on the way, and we are under a tornado warning. Yes, that is right, a tornado warning on November 14th. It shouldn't really be that shocking since it was almost 70 degrees today, and we live in Indiana. Since we have no basement or any rooms without windows in our house, I stop what I'm doing, wake up the girls and load up the family and head over to my grandma's. It turned out to be nothing, but you never know. So, the storm passed, we ended up eating supper and then I rush off to a meeting, making it home after 9:30 to a house that was left as it was this afternoon - dishes on the counter, toys all over the floor, fundraiser packets strewn across the dining room table, laundry in the washer and dryer. Good thing I have nothing to do tomorrow.

Cool Fall Days

It's that time of the year again! FALL! My favorite season! I love the leaves changing, the cooler days, crisp nights, smells of campfires, apples, and harvest! Last week, I got to take a drive way out into the middle of nowhere and enjoy the beginning of fall in Indiana, (which also included a 2 year old screaming for part of the trip, but I digress). The scenery was beautiful, lots of woods with varying amounts of color change on the trees and fields of corn turning to a rustling brown. Tomorrow is Kenzie's first field trip of preschool. We get to go to the pumpkin patch! She is very excited, and so is Lillia (who also gets to come along!) Wish me luck, I'm taking all three kids. Am I slightly crazy?

Anyway, this week is going to be super busy, lots of places to go, things to do, and people to see. And actually, this is just a busy busy month!! The one thing I'm looking forward to the most is the fact that Doug's football season will be over! Only 3 more weeks! Finally - especially after a very long week last week, where he had 5 games in 6 days. The kids and I missed him very much!

Well, I just pulled 7 quarts of spaghetti sauce out of the canner, and I have 3 totes of clothes sitting in the living room that need to be priced for the garage sale this weekend. (This is just a start of the garage sale stuff, there are at least 8 or 9 more totes upstairs that need to be gone thru and priced.) It has been slightly sad and bittersweet sorting the girls' clothes and significantly downsizing the amount that I'm keeping. Even little Elijah has a tote of clothes that don't fit him anymore!

Here's another reminder that kids don't stay little long - my little Kenzie is tying her shoes by herself and is riding her bike without training wheels! And the sad part is, she didn't even really need anyone to teach her how to ride without training wheels - she just basically started riding! (Tear..., sigh...)

Size Update

By the way, at Elijah's 5 week check up today, he weighed in at a whopping 12 lbs 1 oz and is 23 inches long. That puts him in the 90% for his age. Yikes, he's a big boy, and already wearing 3-6 month clothes. Wow!

Newborn Photo Shoot

Here are a few of my favorite of Elijah's newborn pictures. He was 3 weeks old, and we also took some of all 6 cousins, which was a treat.

Hilary, who at 15 1/2 is very concerned with people seeing her in "embarrassing" situations, was not thrilled with the fact that she was wearing jeans while my girls were wearing shorts and it was 100 degrees. And she really didn't like the idea that we were taking the pictures outside by the trees closest to the road - "But someone will see me!!" Hence the picture of them all looking down the road. But by the time we started taking pictures in the corn field she was over her insecurity of having her picture taken. She was actually having fun. Gasp!

My Big Little Man

I am finally getting to posting about my big little man. I can't promise lots of details right now, but at least I'll get some pictures up!

Elijah Joseph was born Aug 9, 2011. He was a whopping 9 pounds 12 1/4 ounces and 22 1/4 inches long! YIKES! Yes, he came on his own, and I delivered him naturally, with just a few drugs (surprisingly, not as painful as you'd think with his size!) But enough of that stuff, here's the good stuff - pictures of my beautiful little man!!

Me on Saturday night before he was born. (Where was he hiding?? I have no idea!)

Yes, he has really LONG feet!

Meeting Kenzie & Lillia for the first time

Mommy & Elijah

Showing his support for Daddy's team - the Colts

Kenzie & Lillia ADORE their baby brother!

Watching TV with Dad

All dressed up & ready to go home!

Such big, bright eyes!

Sun-tanning to help get rid of a little jaundice

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I cannot believe it is June already! This spring has flown by and here we are, June 6th. Yikes! It has been a crazy busy spring, but that's what keeps us out of trouble! Here's a quick update:

Doug's youngest brother got married this past Saturday, and my three favorite people were in the wedding:

My new favorite song is "Just Fishin'" by Trace Adkins. It may be my pregnancy hormones in full swing or the fact that this song IS Doug & Kenzie, but I almost cry every time I hear it. My favorite line "She's doing almost everything but sitting still. Talking her ballet shoes and training wheels, and her kitten. And she thinks we're just fishin'......But I guarantee this memory is a big 'un." Especially since Kenzie is so excited to be able to go fishing with her Daddy again this summer with a new pink princess fishing pole.

We spent Memorial Day relaxing and enjoying family in Tennessee. Everything from swimming, eating, Laser Tag, eating, swimming, and eating some more. What a great weekend!

The girls enjoyed the pool. Even Lillia was all over the pool on her own with her "wings."

Oh, and it was the year of the cicada. I could not believe how LOUD they were! The sound was almost deafening during the day, and it was constant! It sounded like someone shaking maracas very hard, all day long! And the ugly things were everywhere!

We also started our big outdoor project over Mother's Day weekend. Our deck by the back door. We've talked about this since we've moved in, and this year seemed like a good year to actually do it. Well, to at least start it. This is what it looked like after the first weekend.

And this is almost how it still looks today - but there are the rest of the joists in. It is quite a chore to use our backdoor. And its only been about 4 weeks since we started. It MIGHT get done before the end of the summer.

We had an absolutely gorgeous spring (if you don't count the unusually large amount of rain that we have been getting) - at least I think our yard was amazing this year!

The girls have a few new animals to take care of - we got 6 new baby chickens in March and 5 new ones in May. Of course, they are all named. Sometimes I wonder why we name all our animals! Kenzie could not wait to hold the new chicks, but Lillia was a little more skeptical! She hated the feeling of their feet on her skin, so she preferred to just "pet" them with one fingertip!

Notice the mitten in the hand she's actually holding the chick with!

We are also just 2 months away from meeting the newest little member of our family! And I don't think Doug will be allowing me to put hair bows and cute little dresses on this one! We already have a laundry basket started with lots of clothing with BLUE, puppies, footballs, and cars! The girls cannot wait to meet "Baby Brother." And Kenzie is doing a great job practicing taking care of her baby doll - asking questions like, "Will be hold Baby Brother like this?" and "When will Baby Brother be big enough to do....?"

Yes, There is a Reason!

To answer any questions before they are asked, "Yes, Lillia is wearing Kenzie'shirt." But,"Yes, there is a reason she is wearing it!" Lillia is going to be a big sister too! We are expecing Baby #3 in August! We can already tell that Lillia is going to be a BIG help, too!

And after this weekend, three kiddos will definately keep me busy! We took our first trip to the ER for stitches on Saturday. Miss Lillia, my little helper, was helping me in the kitchen and found the food processor. She managed to get the cover off, and grabbed for the blade, as I reached for her. Her little thumb bled and bled, until we made it to the ER, in a snowstorm, none the less! Lillia ended up with two stitches and a big bandaged thumb. She was a trooper, poor thing even fell asleep with we were numbing her thumb in a little cup of lidocaine. However, she was wide awake and not happy as they put the two stitches in her little finger. She has done very well, though, and for the most part leaving the bandage on. Lillia hasn't complained or even acted like it bothers her! She just holds it out as she goes about playing - and the only reason she does that is because the tape is all the way down her finger and keeping it from bending! This is the child that will give me gray hair. I'm sure of it.

Merry Christmas!

The worst part of being a parent is when your child gets sick. The even worse part is when it happens over Christmas. Poor Lillia got sick on Christmas Eve, during our Paxson family get together. We weren't opening gifts that night, just having supper and playing games. But still, it's not fun when your baby gets sick and there's a houseful of people. However, she seemed to be feeling better by morning, and we opened our gifts and the ones that Santa left. The girls had so much fun opening gifts and playing with them right away, we had to keep reminding them that there were more to open! We were up until the wee hours of the morning putting together the big gift for Lillia. It took 5 adults and almost 2 hours! Granted, one was reading directions, one was putting the main piece together and 3 were putting together the accessories. Here's what it looked like when we opened the box.


Even Bo & Dakota got it on the Christmas morning fun. They could smell something in their stockings, but couldn't quite reach them! They were very patient too!



Here are a few pics of the girls enjoying their gifts.



And the big gift that took forever to put together. Note Kenzie's excitement over Lillia's present!!And Kenzie's Santa gift - she was very excited too!


After opening gifts at our house, we headed over my Nanny's for another Christmas. Lots of food, people and gifts. Then poor Kenzie get hit by the flu bug. All afternoon she was acting pretty yucky, but then once she actually got sick, she said she felt so much better! But we came home, and Mommy & Kenzie took a nice long nap. Hopefully they are over the yucks and can enjoy the last 2 Christmas celebrations we have this week!

Birthday Party Times Two!

We don't things small around here. With Kenzie turning 4 on the 12th and Lillia turning 2 on the 22nd, we needed a couple of parties to celebrate the big occasions. So instead of having two small parties a week apart, we decided to have one HUGE party. Complete with homemade gingerbread houses and all the cake and candy that goes with it! Everyone decorated their own houses, and we had icing, candy, and coconut everywhere! It looked like it had snowed in my dining room, there was so much coconut on the floor! So, without any further ado, here's the pics of the party!

Kenzie's Gingerbread house cake

Lillia's Gingerbread girl cake

Kenzie working on her house

Lillia eating some of her house!

Opening presents

And we ended the day by eating ice cream cones. Great idea at 9 pm, Uncle Gary!