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Christmas Countdown: Day 4

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth" -Jeremiah 23:5

 

Tonight's story by Paula McDonald

Catch UP!

Life is getting away from me with the end of the school year busyness and a trip back east thrown in there too.  A few photo highlights since the last post.  

On Memorial Day, we went  to the mall to pick up a couple things for Emily and Maren was able to sweet- talk Daddy into letting her get her ears pierced.  Never would have happened if it had been Emily 8 years ago.  (Emily just barely got her ears pierced 2 weeks before Maren).  We took Maren into Claire's, she picked out "pink ice" studs and the salesgirls did a "double" on her (they pierced both ears at once).  Maren looks so cute and is very fastidious about cleaning her ears morning and night.  No infections for her!  

All ready and excited!

No tears for this girl!  Just a look of shock.

So beautiful!

 

I've written before about the Mitford books by Jan Karon.  My book club chose to read the first in the series for our May get together.  I was the host as it was one of the books I suggested.  Being a HUGE fan, I went all out.  I bought the Jan Karon Cookbook and Kitchen Reader and made Esther Bolick's Famous Orange Marmalade Cake, I picked up a Violet book at the bookstore and had out all the other little Jan Karon books I've picked up over the years (highly recommend her children's book Miss Fannie's Hat).  I am still slightly shocked that not everybody LOVED the book as much as I do, but am trying to get over it.  Here is a picture of the cake - it was every bit as delicious as I imagined!

 

Craig had a conference in Rhode Island last week and so I met him there for a little getaway.  When he found out he had to be there, he suggested I come along and then we could go to New York or Boston for a couple of days.  Well, I jumped at the chance to go since I've never been farther east in the continental US than Denver.  Not to mention that my good friend and roommate from college, Lisa S., lives in Boston and has invited me repeatedly for a visit.  So, Craig and I spent a day and a half in Providence, RI with a day trip to Newport to see the famous mansions.  We only had time to visit one, so we visited the most famous, The Breakers, home to one of the Vanderbilt families.  Quite beautiful and fun to think about life in the "gilded age" - I'm ready to re-read The Great Gatsby.  

We ate delicious clam chowder at The Black Pearl in Newport (sorry, Lisa, Legal Seafood is a really close second!)

On Friday, Craig and I took the train up to Boston where Lisa picked us up and then played tour guide for us.  We walked through the Boston Public Garden where I sat on the statue of mother duck (Make Way for Ducklings, another favorite children's book).  We walked the freedom trail and saw Paul Revere's house, the old North Church (one if by land, two if by sea), and the Boston State House where the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time.  We waited in line at Giacomo's in the North End for super yummy Italian food and then got cannolis and ricotta pie from Modern Pastry.  We went and saw the new Star Trek in the theater!  Can't tell you the last time I saw a "grown-up" movie in the theater.  Saturday, we went over to Cambridge and walked around Harvard's campus (I felt smarter just being there!), toured Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home, where George Washington actually lived while conducting the Revolutionary War, saw where Lisa lived while she attended Boston College, and ate at Legal Seafood, a Cambridge favorite.  We stayed up and watched two movies at Lisa's that night (again, when was the last time that happened?), and then Sunday morning we were off to the airport and back to reality.  What a great trip!  I can't wait to take the kids back east to see all the historical sites!  Lisa promises she will happily host our tribe when we come back someday!  We will take her up on that!  

Me and Lisa in the Public Garden

The State  House - the Declaration of Independence was read from that balcony.

The steeple of the old North Church where the lanterns were hung.

Harvard's graduation had just taken place two days before and alumni gatherings were in full swing. We contemplated jumping into their group photo!  

 

OK, so time for bed so I can get ready for a crazy 4 days til school is out!  

two great books for kids

We've got some library books home and two are worth "checking out"  (ha ha!). 

The first we picked up at the public library simply because it has a Christmas tree sticker on the spine classifying it as a Christmas story.  It is titled An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco.  It is a heartwarming story from the author's family history about love and charity.  I teared up at the end and Ashley had to help me finish reading it.  The second book Nathan checked out from the school library because it had a cool cover with a skateboarder, snowboarder and motocross rider on it.  It is called E is for Extreme: An Extreme Sports Alphabet by Brad Herzog.  Even though it is a picture book the text is pretty advanced.  I'd recommend it for kids up to 5th or 6th grade just because it gives such interesting facts about some very cool sports.  (Renee, I'm thinking Niko here!)  Hey, I'm 37 and I think it's a fascinating read!  Who ever heard of apnea diving or whitewater rodeo-ing before?  So look for these two books at your library or on amazon.  After all, Christmas is right around the corner.