Promises to Keep, written by Ann Tatlock, is a story about a preteen girl, Roz, and her life after moving to a new town. Once in the town of fictional Mills River, IL, her family discovers they have a new house guest, Tillie, a rather eccentric, but wise 70 year old woman, who also, in my opinion, happens to be the best thing the family encounters.
I enjoyed the book, however, I felt like it was a slow read up until half way through. The book has 47 chapters, but is 345 pages long, so you can see that the chapters are short. This I viewed as a disadvantage because I would read only one chapter at a time, and be OK with that. I didn't feel like there was enough of a pull to make me read the next chapter in the same sitting. However, it could be an advantage for someone who doesn't have a lot of time on their hands and wants a book that they can read a chapter in five minutes. If you have the patience to make it through the first half, the second half is well worth it. I flew through the final chapters on the book. Although it was rather predictable, there was still the desire to see what would happen, and yes, some surprises!
The characters in the novel are complex, yet likable (well, at least most of them!) Ms. Tatlock did a wonderful job of developing the characters, and the different stories they all told in one novel.
Although the story is a drama, there is some humor and light-hearted moments as well, which is appreciated and frankly, needed, because the topics in the book are rather deep and complex.
All in all, my review of the book is average. There are elements I liked (the characters), but others I could do without (disliked the short chapters!) I may read more of Ms. Tatlock's work in the future if her books come across my path, but I won't go out of my way to.
**I was provided a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Fess Up Friday
Considering it has been over a month since I last posted, some of these are rather old but too good not to share!
On a particularly blustery day, Foster Child #1 and I went to get haircuts. I went to pay for parking at one of Mayor Daley's most ridiculous ideas-the Parking Meter Boxes. I pushed my bank card in, pulled it out, and saw it, just-like-that, fly out of my hands! I ran down Howard Street chasing after my bank card for a block! And fortunately I was able to grab it before it blew into traffic on Clark Street!
The night before Mother's Day my mom and I prepped Baked Oatmeal for us to have for breakfast the next morning. I woke up on Sunday to a wonderful smell wafting from the kitchen, but soon enough forgot about it. As we were bustling around that morning (we had house guests, had to bathe the kids, and just general Sunday morning prep to get to church) I turned on the oven to preheat the Baked Oatmeal, and then went about my merry way getting ready. Well, it's a good thing my mom is our family's chef extraordinaire because she turned off the oven shortly thereafter as I was apparently cooking the Baked Oatmeal more. Yeah, the yummy smell that woke me up was the Baked Oatmeal already done being baked! (I failed to check the fridge first to see if my mom did bake it, but I also didn't see it out on the counter, which would be the ideal place for something already baked!) And I guess I sucked pretty bad at communicating-which is pretty sad, because my mom and I are usually pretty good at it!
Recently Foster Child #2 came downstairs with Foster Child #1's toothbrush. I questioned him, asking him why he had Foster Child #1's toothbrush for brushing his teeth, and he replied, "She's sharing with me!" I laughed and said, "Not toothbrushes!" But, yes, I still let him use it!
This week we ate at McDonald's twice! And if you know my family at all, you know that is out of the ordinary. We're more like once a month McDonald patrons. Oh, and if I'll be really honest, the two times we ate at McDonald's were 2 days in a row!
On a particularly blustery day, Foster Child #1 and I went to get haircuts. I went to pay for parking at one of Mayor Daley's most ridiculous ideas-the Parking Meter Boxes. I pushed my bank card in, pulled it out, and saw it, just-like-that, fly out of my hands! I ran down Howard Street chasing after my bank card for a block! And fortunately I was able to grab it before it blew into traffic on Clark Street!
The night before Mother's Day my mom and I prepped Baked Oatmeal for us to have for breakfast the next morning. I woke up on Sunday to a wonderful smell wafting from the kitchen, but soon enough forgot about it. As we were bustling around that morning (we had house guests, had to bathe the kids, and just general Sunday morning prep to get to church) I turned on the oven to preheat the Baked Oatmeal, and then went about my merry way getting ready. Well, it's a good thing my mom is our family's chef extraordinaire because she turned off the oven shortly thereafter as I was apparently cooking the Baked Oatmeal more. Yeah, the yummy smell that woke me up was the Baked Oatmeal already done being baked! (I failed to check the fridge first to see if my mom did bake it, but I also didn't see it out on the counter, which would be the ideal place for something already baked!) And I guess I sucked pretty bad at communicating-which is pretty sad, because my mom and I are usually pretty good at it!
Recently Foster Child #2 came downstairs with Foster Child #1's toothbrush. I questioned him, asking him why he had Foster Child #1's toothbrush for brushing his teeth, and he replied, "She's sharing with me!" I laughed and said, "Not toothbrushes!" But, yes, I still let him use it!
This week we ate at McDonald's twice! And if you know my family at all, you know that is out of the ordinary. We're more like once a month McDonald patrons. Oh, and if I'll be really honest, the two times we ate at McDonald's were 2 days in a row!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sometimes the best quotes are from husbands
Me: How many gifts from us do you want Foster Child #1 to open?
Foster Dad: All of them (mind you he said this without skipping a beat)
Me (sarcastically): Har, har, har, har.
OK, and then I did laugh more genuinely.
Me: OK, let me rephrase that. I know we want her to open all of our gifts, but we have choices in how many I wrap.
Foster Dad: The more the merrier.
And, I concur! She'll be opening 4 from us. :)
Foster Dad: All of them (mind you he said this without skipping a beat)
Me (sarcastically): Har, har, har, har.
OK, and then I did laugh more genuinely.
Me: OK, let me rephrase that. I know we want her to open all of our gifts, but we have choices in how many I wrap.
Foster Dad: The more the merrier.
And, I concur! She'll be opening 4 from us. :)
Sunday, April 24, 2011
For Memory's Sake
I've been meaning to post these for awhile, but quite low on the priority list!
Foster Child #3 LOVES the vacuum cleaner. He'll actually crawl to it when it is turned on. He has no fear of it, and once even laughed when it was on.
Foster Child #2 has been going with us to the singing portion of our chuirch's worship service. However, when he tells us he wants to he says, "I want to go to surgery."
Oh, and while I'm at it....
When he went with us today to church, he refused to go into the nursery when it was time, and Iowa Gramma (who took him) had a hard time saying no, so he came back into the service, ended up falling asleep on Foster Dad's lap, and awoke startled when the whooping and hollering took place after the baptisms!
And since I was too busy on Friday cuddling with my new nephew and catching up with my sister and mom, I didn't have a Fess Up Friday, so here you go.
I was so exhausted on Tuesday, but my kids had napped in the car on the way home from picking up something from my cousin's house, that in order for myself to get a nap, I excitedly told the kids we were going to have a pajama party in my bed, and snuggle up together to watch a movie. Yup, they watched the movie and I took a nap!
Foster Child #3 LOVES the vacuum cleaner. He'll actually crawl to it when it is turned on. He has no fear of it, and once even laughed when it was on.
Foster Child #2 has been going with us to the singing portion of our chuirch's worship service. However, when he tells us he wants to he says, "I want to go to surgery."
Oh, and while I'm at it....
When he went with us today to church, he refused to go into the nursery when it was time, and Iowa Gramma (who took him) had a hard time saying no, so he came back into the service, ended up falling asleep on Foster Dad's lap, and awoke startled when the whooping and hollering took place after the baptisms!
And since I was too busy on Friday cuddling with my new nephew and catching up with my sister and mom, I didn't have a Fess Up Friday, so here you go.
I was so exhausted on Tuesday, but my kids had napped in the car on the way home from picking up something from my cousin's house, that in order for myself to get a nap, I excitedly told the kids we were going to have a pajama party in my bed, and snuggle up together to watch a movie. Yup, they watched the movie and I took a nap!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Quote of the Day
We're in the middle of making monster cookies, and I had to stop to document what Foster Child #1 said. She was using our handy dandy Pampered Chef Measure All Cup to remove the peanut butter. She had to flip over the cup and push down the bottom of the cup to let the peanut butter drop into the bowl. As she's doing this she says, "Oh, it's like a giant" and stopped herself! First and foremost, Foster Dad and I were proud of her for not using bathroom talk in the kitchen and knowing she should stop herself. However, Foster Dad and I were chuckling on the inside, not only because we knew what she was about to say, but probably more so because she was pretty right on!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Fess Up Friday
I volunteered in the church nursery on Sunday, after I switched with someone who I thought was scheduled for last Sunday. However, I misread the email and realized we were both scheduled for 2 weeks from now and she wanted to switch with someone to take that week (the 17th) for her and she take the 3rd. A lot of help I was since I obviously can't switch for a day I am already scheduled to volunteer!
Now, I am very ashamed to admit this next confession, because it really is a bad mommy moment, but that's what fess Up Friday is all about after all.
Foster Child #1 wanted to give her Bible Study teacher a picture she hadcolored scribbled. When she asked me if she could bring it with her, I responded by saying, "But Miss C., it's not even pretty." I know, not a very proud mommy moment. I definitely hurt her by saying that, as evidenced by her wide eyes getting teary eyed. And yes, I did ask for her forgiveness later.
Oh, and Foster Child #1 definitely got back at me later. She gave me a taste of my own medicine by saying, "Mommy, you look fat today." Yeah-ouch!
My friend Kim once said that my FUF posts share "to the world the stupid things I've done and that they are never really THAT stupid." Well, this week I can admit and fess up to something really stupid and downright dangerous that I did. Once again, didn't want to post this, lest anyone think I'm a horrible mother, judge me, and then talk about me behind my back about my stupidity, but you know what? We all have faults and have made some pretty bad errors. At least I'm secure enough to admit that I am far from perfect.
On Tuesday (wow, Tuesday was just an all around bad day for me!) Foster Child #3 fell asleep in the car after Bible Study, so when we got in the house, I laid him down on the family room floor to sleep since we'd have to turn back around in about an hour to take Foster Child #1 to school. I fed the 2 older kids lunch, and decided to unload the dishwasher and reload it since we had some time before we had to leave again. I looked up at the clock and realized I really needed to move to get out the door. I left the dishwasher open since I wasn't completely done loading it, and would do it when I first got back home. I went to do Foster Child #1's hair, but also realized I needed to change Foster Child #2's diaper. I stationed myself in our office to do these things facing the hallway to the kitchen. By this time Foster Child #3 was awake and crawling around. I did the diaper change while Foster Child #3 crawled toward the pantry. "Perfect," I thought, "the pantry will keep him occupied." When I was done with Foster Child #2's diaper change, I didn't ask him to keep an eye on Foster Child #3, which he totally would of done if I asked him, and I couldn't ask Foster Child #1 since I was doing her hair. All this time, I was sitting in our office facing the hallway to our kitchen, however, I couldn't see the kitchen because the pantry door was open. I finished doing Foster Child #1's hair, and went to retrieve Foster Child #3 from the pantry, only to see he wasn't in there, and it was then that I saw the HUGE bread knife lying on the kitchen floor in front of the stove! Foster Child #3 had crawled out of the pantry (I couldn't see him because the door was blocking the view to the kitchen), and not only went into the kitchen, but around the corner to the open dishwasher, where the only thing I had loaded on the bottom shelf was a big bread knife he grabbed and then dragged to the stove. Foster Child #3 was still in the kitchen away from the knife and sitting in front of the washing machine WITHOUT A MARK OR CUT ON HIM! Yes, I was stupid. I should have totally closed the dishwasher, especially since I knew a knife was in there, and especially after I realized Foster Child #3 woke up.
However, one of the reasons I share this confession is because I KNOW without a doubt God had protected him. That although I was stupid and made an awful mistake, God was there to cover my mistake, so that no harm was done. And how amazing that our God is the perfect Shepherd protecting all of His little ones!
(Ooops, and now one more thing to confess. Never told Foster Dad about the dishwasher/knife incident until just now as I was reading for him my last paragraph, and he said, "What are you talking about?")
And this is a long enough Fess Up Friday, and I didn't even get into the night I fed my family doughnuts for dinner. Surprise, surprise, that was on Tuesday also!
Now, I am very ashamed to admit this next confession, because it really is a bad mommy moment, but that's what fess Up Friday is all about after all.
Foster Child #1 wanted to give her Bible Study teacher a picture she had
Oh, and Foster Child #1 definitely got back at me later. She gave me a taste of my own medicine by saying, "Mommy, you look fat today." Yeah-ouch!
My friend Kim once said that my FUF posts share "to the world the stupid things I've done and that they are never really THAT stupid." Well, this week I can admit and fess up to something really stupid and downright dangerous that I did. Once again, didn't want to post this, lest anyone think I'm a horrible mother, judge me, and then talk about me behind my back about my stupidity, but you know what? We all have faults and have made some pretty bad errors. At least I'm secure enough to admit that I am far from perfect.
On Tuesday (wow, Tuesday was just an all around bad day for me!) Foster Child #3 fell asleep in the car after Bible Study, so when we got in the house, I laid him down on the family room floor to sleep since we'd have to turn back around in about an hour to take Foster Child #1 to school. I fed the 2 older kids lunch, and decided to unload the dishwasher and reload it since we had some time before we had to leave again. I looked up at the clock and realized I really needed to move to get out the door. I left the dishwasher open since I wasn't completely done loading it, and would do it when I first got back home. I went to do Foster Child #1's hair, but also realized I needed to change Foster Child #2's diaper. I stationed myself in our office to do these things facing the hallway to the kitchen. By this time Foster Child #3 was awake and crawling around. I did the diaper change while Foster Child #3 crawled toward the pantry. "Perfect," I thought, "the pantry will keep him occupied." When I was done with Foster Child #2's diaper change, I didn't ask him to keep an eye on Foster Child #3, which he totally would of done if I asked him, and I couldn't ask Foster Child #1 since I was doing her hair. All this time, I was sitting in our office facing the hallway to our kitchen, however, I couldn't see the kitchen because the pantry door was open. I finished doing Foster Child #1's hair, and went to retrieve Foster Child #3 from the pantry, only to see he wasn't in there, and it was then that I saw the HUGE bread knife lying on the kitchen floor in front of the stove! Foster Child #3 had crawled out of the pantry (I couldn't see him because the door was blocking the view to the kitchen), and not only went into the kitchen, but around the corner to the open dishwasher, where the only thing I had loaded on the bottom shelf was a big bread knife he grabbed and then dragged to the stove. Foster Child #3 was still in the kitchen away from the knife and sitting in front of the washing machine WITHOUT A MARK OR CUT ON HIM! Yes, I was stupid. I should have totally closed the dishwasher, especially since I knew a knife was in there, and especially after I realized Foster Child #3 woke up.
However, one of the reasons I share this confession is because I KNOW without a doubt God had protected him. That although I was stupid and made an awful mistake, God was there to cover my mistake, so that no harm was done. And how amazing that our God is the perfect Shepherd protecting all of His little ones!
(Ooops, and now one more thing to confess. Never told Foster Dad about the dishwasher/knife incident until just now as I was reading for him my last paragraph, and he said, "What are you talking about?")
And this is a long enough Fess Up Friday, and I didn't even get into the night I fed my family doughnuts for dinner. Surprise, surprise, that was on Tuesday also!
Our summer challenge!
The wait is now over for all of you who have been anxiously waiting on the edge of your seats to find out what our summer challenge is going to be!
With gas prices continuing to rise, our summer challenge will be to go carless as much as possible this summer! I spent almost $100 to fill up the tank today (yikes!) and I don't feel like doing that on a biweekly basis as we have been. $200 is just too much to spend on gas a month, especially since we live in such an accessible city.
I'm not exactly sure what this will look like. We either will try to keep our mileage under a certain amount each week, or we'll just challenge ourselves to cut our gas spending by half. We have a little bit of work to do before embarking on this challenge, like actually tracking what our mileage is each week, but here's what I do know:
I will walk with the kids to stores like CVS and Walgreens, plus the library and the 3 parks near our house.
We will totally utilize my new bike plus our Burley bike trailer and baby bike seat.
We'll try to take advantage of being home as much as possible, but not being hermits! We'll experience simple joy in playing in our backyard on the swing set, splashing in our pool, and having picnics on our backyard grass.
I'll grocery shop by biking to the store and using the bike trailer to carry our groceries home.
We will probably start attending a church close to our home that we will walk to on Sunday mornings (or Saturday evenings).
This doesn't mean we won't go anywhere far, after all we do have family and friends that live quite a distance away, but whenever we can be intentional about walking or biking someplace we will!
I'm excited about how this will necessitate a slower pace of life for us. We'll have to really take our time going places, since I don't want us to rely on our car. Additionally I think my waistline and thighs will thank me for this challenge!
Each week, I'll post how much gas we used and I'll also post at the end of the month what our total gas spending was. Whatever we don't spend on gas will go into our new car savings! Blogging our results will be the accountability I'll need to help us reach our goals.
(And if I'm feeling really brave, I'll post my waist measurements each month to see how this challenge has slimmed me down!)
With gas prices continuing to rise, our summer challenge will be to go carless as much as possible this summer! I spent almost $100 to fill up the tank today (yikes!) and I don't feel like doing that on a biweekly basis as we have been. $200 is just too much to spend on gas a month, especially since we live in such an accessible city.
I'm not exactly sure what this will look like. We either will try to keep our mileage under a certain amount each week, or we'll just challenge ourselves to cut our gas spending by half. We have a little bit of work to do before embarking on this challenge, like actually tracking what our mileage is each week, but here's what I do know:
I will walk with the kids to stores like CVS and Walgreens, plus the library and the 3 parks near our house.
We will totally utilize my new bike plus our Burley bike trailer and baby bike seat.
We'll try to take advantage of being home as much as possible, but not being hermits! We'll experience simple joy in playing in our backyard on the swing set, splashing in our pool, and having picnics on our backyard grass.
I'll grocery shop by biking to the store and using the bike trailer to carry our groceries home.
We will probably start attending a church close to our home that we will walk to on Sunday mornings (or Saturday evenings).
This doesn't mean we won't go anywhere far, after all we do have family and friends that live quite a distance away, but whenever we can be intentional about walking or biking someplace we will!
I'm excited about how this will necessitate a slower pace of life for us. We'll have to really take our time going places, since I don't want us to rely on our car. Additionally I think my waistline and thighs will thank me for this challenge!
Each week, I'll post how much gas we used and I'll also post at the end of the month what our total gas spending was. Whatever we don't spend on gas will go into our new car savings! Blogging our results will be the accountability I'll need to help us reach our goals.
(And if I'm feeling really brave, I'll post my waist measurements each month to see how this challenge has slimmed me down!)
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