March 19 - 25

Notable things of the week:

• Ross and Bella went to the multicultural fair. 
• I bought the girls matching Easter outfits and new shoes. 
• Bella forgot her lunch for the first time. 
• I saw Nate play soccer. 
• We all went to Flubs on opening day!
• The girls rediscovered the Wii and played a lot of sports games. 
• We started Spirit week at South. 
• The girls helped make drop biscuits. 
• We had a game night and played Ticket to Ride, Charades and Barbeque party.

March 12 - 18

Notable things of the week:

• Ross and I painted at Cheers to Art. 
• I ran the Star Card cart at South again. 
• We decorated our bathroom with a painting and a new storage unit. 
• We hosted the family birthday party for Mom, B and Rosie.

March 5 - 11

Notable things of the week:

• Lilly and I visited two preschools and picked the FCDC.  
• Ross and Bella went to Family Game/Literacy night at South. 
• I spent the night at Kasia's for VBS planning. 
• I attended the Lead Small Conference with 13 people from church. 
• Bella wrote her "famous American" report on Sally Ride.
• Lilly and I visited Melissa, Nate and Eli in the morning on Thursday.

Book Review: Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Reason for Reading: I have been fascinated by Alzheimer's and it's effects since my Grandfather and Step-Grandmother suffered from it. Since the book and movie have gotten great reviews I figured this should be something I'd be interested in reading.

Synopsis from Amazon: Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life—and her relationship with her family and the world—forever.

Review:  This is a really great book for anyone wanting to learn more about Alzheimer's. There was some clinical talk in the book, but it mostly focused on showing the mind of Alice as she discovers she has the disease and the progresses through it. I found it very interesting to be able to be inside her mind as she begins to lose pieces of her memory. I think Lisa Genova did a wonderful job at portraying what it's like to deal with this disease and it's obvious she did her homework. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who's dealing with being a caregiver (or a potential future caregiver) of someone who's suffering from Alzheimer's. And of course it's recommended to everyone just to have a better understanding of the effects of the disease.

Feb 26 - Mar 4

Notable things of the week:

• Ross and I had a date night while Mom kept both girls overnight. 
• I watched Micah and Molly during the day on Monday. 
• I looked into possibly doing our taxes online.

Book Review: The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate

Reason for Reading: This was a pick from my mom's book club.


Synopsis from Amazon: When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola's rambling Victorian house.

Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola's walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola's youth to her last days. Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper--the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change everything for Tandi.

Review:  I really enjoyed this book. At first I was a little annoyed at Tandi. She'd obviously run from some bad decisions she had made in her past but she seemed doomed to repeat them at this new place. And that frustrated me tremendously. But as she found the letters and made some new friendships in the town she began to actually make some changes and I began to understand her better. I thought the author did a good job weaving back and forth from the letters to the present day as well as tying in Tandi's past along with Iola Anne's.

The only thing that bothered me in the book was the tendency to bring something up and then go on a tangent for longer than I would've liked before returning to the topic at hand. But either she started doing it less, or I stopped noticing it as much because I don't remember it happening at the end near as much as at the beginning of the book.

Overall I give this 4/5 stars.

February 2015 Wrap Up!

Looking back at February these are some of the things that happened that felt note-worthy:

• Ross and the girls flew their kites for the first time in a while.
• I went to visit Sarah and Jason in Michigan for the weekend.
• I dyed my hair for the first time in over a year.
• Lilly and I went to Bella's school for Star Card Cart.
• Bella had her school dance - Candyland Theme!
• We made cupcakes as a family for Valentine's day!
• I cut about 4 inches off of Bella's hair.
• I started using iTrackBites again with Sarah.
• Bella had a week off school! (President's Day, and 4 snow days!)
• Went to Mom's for dinner after she returned from Belize.
• We made lemon poppyseed muffins with a homemade glaze.
• Had a proper Sunday roast that Dad was here for.
• Tried Sweet & Sour Chicken Helper to much success!
• Ross and I had a date night while Mom kept both girls overnight.
• Church unveiled the new Preschool worship room that Lilly has class in.

Resolution update:
1. Saving Money - We made our target again this month! This is very exciting! We now have a substantial savings and can start saving towards specific things, like a new bed!

2. Lose 2 pounds a month / Get Healthier - I started tracking my food on my app, iTrackBites. It has gone much better and I lost 4 pound the first week. It's also helped that I've been texting with Sarah about what we eat. It helps us keep accountable.

3. Read 3 books a month - I didn't quite make it this month. My first book was Faith Shift by Kathy Escobar. It's a great book and just what I needed to read, but it took a long time to digest and I still want to read it at least once more. It's also extremely personal and not something I would write a review of at this point in my life. I did read Everything I Never Told You (Amazon, My Review). I loved it. And now I'm working on The Prayer Box but I didn't finish it before the end of the month.

4. Blog at least once a week - I've managed to keep this up, blogging daily but posting it weekly. So far I'm happy with what I've managed. I feel like it will be a good record of this year.