What's On Your Nightstand - July

Normally, I feel like the month has flown by, but July seemed slow when it came to reading. Yes, I did get quite a bit read, but some of the books seemed to take up quite a bit of time. I do have a book from July's Nightstand back on for this month, but I couldn't renew it and had to wait for it.

August is looking to be a very busy month for me, so I am keeping my reading selections on the light side.

For August:

  

  

From June's Nightstand I read:

• The Two-Minute Drill to Manhood: A Proven Game Plan for Raising Sons by John Croyle - A good read.
• Miracle in a Dry Season by Sarah Loudin Thomas - Dare I say it? This was a dry read. It was actually a weird story. 
• The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman - So I hopped out of my normal reading box after talking to a friend who said she was enjoying the book. Now that wouldn't make me normally pick up a book, but we both agreed the movie was not a favorite so that really piqued my curiosity. I personally think the film is stupid. I actually found the book a lot better than the film. (Surprise!) I loved the humor throughout it and I found the actions that are kind of unbelievable much easier to read about than to watch.

I also read:

• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing  by Marie Kondo - I put this book on hold before I had ever come across a review about it. There are some very practical tips in this book, but you do have to weed through a lot of strange ideas.
• The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You by Jessica N. Turner - If this title interests you I recommend that you read the first part and then stop before all the unpractical suggestions begin. I think working moms would find this more helpful than stay-at-home or homeschool moms.
• The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows - This isn't The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but I still found it an enjoyable summer read. 

I listened to:

• The Secret Adversary: A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery by Agatha Christie - While working my way through the Hercule Poirot Series I came across the Tommy and Tuppence books and with a name like that how can I not read it? What a fun story. These are definitely a lighter read than Poirot. I am looking forward to reading more in the series. 
• Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott - I have to admit I was a little over my head with this story. I persevered through it. Maybe one day I'll go back and revisit it, but for now I am sticking with Ivanhoe which is a much better read.

 See what others have read over at 5 Minutes for Books.

Summer Update - Part 1

1. We started our summer break with a visit from my mom and dad (pictured) and my in-laws. Back in March my in-laws along with my BIL and SIL moved to Minot, ND. They came back for my nephew's graduation so it a short and sweet visit. My parents spent about 2 1/2 weeks with us and even stayed a day or two longer to help with church service since Shade ended up suffering with a bout of kidney stones (including an ER visit). Even with all that, we had a lot of fun just being together.

2. Delani getting quality time with Papa.

3. Delani was trying to survive our hot weather that we had. I love hot weather, but this seemed to suck the brain cells out of my head. I think this is due to the fact that we don't have air conditioning. Oregon doesn't normally get very hot in June, but this year that wasn't true. So we had to suffer with our allergies plus the heat this year. Thankfully I think we are through the worst of the allergy season and we have had a break in our temperatures, but high temps are heading shooting up to hover close to 100 degrees this week. 

4. & 5. Chantry turned 13 years old!!!! For the next six months I will have three teenagers in the house. :)

6. "The Coach"--We finished up another season of baseball. Chantry has had his dad as his coach since we started which I think is pretty cool. 

7. After a 10 month break, Destini started piano lessons again. 

8. Yes, that is a lot of candles on that cake. Too many as far as I'm concerned!!

9. After our intense heat and I found that I could think I headed to my sewing room to get some sewing done.  This is one of the new skirts I made Delani. I will have another post sharing more of my completed sewing projects.

I notice that I didn't have any pictures of Caleb. He finished up a CAD class at the local community college and he also completed a non-credit welding class along with working at McDonald's. He works the counter and cooks along with unloading the truck twice a week and cleans several of the machines several times a month. He also helped his dad with coaching baseball.