2017 Reading Challenge

A few years ago I signed up with a website called Goodreads.  In the past few years I've really been using it to track books I've been reading.  This year my goal is to go back and add a comment for each one.  Also, if I add a book to my reading list and it was recommended by a friend I want to notate that as well.

In 2016 I rocked my goal of reading 35 books by surpassing it with 63.  This year I though I surely wasn't going to reach that number again, so I set my list at 35 books. Well, I surpassed the goal AGAIN!  This year I read 81 books!  I will say about halfway through the year I joined Audible, so I guess about 20 of those books were listened too, but I think it's still a great list. 

I had also set the goal to read Pride and Prejudice and the entire Bible.  Sorry Jane Austen, I picked it up several times and even tried the audio, but I couldn't get too far.  I did however, complete for the first time reading the entire Holy Bible.  

My goal for 2018 is to read 40 books.  I've got a long list of "to reads" and a bookshelf full of books, so I'm looking forward to reading and learning even more this year.  

If you have recommendations, I'd love to hear them!

My Reading List
The Couple Next Door-Shari Lapena
Apple Turnover Murder-Joanne Fluke
Devil's Food Cake Murder-Joanne Fluke
Winter Solstice-Elin Hilderbrand
Happy Little Family-Rebecca Caudill
Plum Pudding Murder-Joanne Fluke
The Holy Bible- NIV
Cream Puff Murder-Joanne Fluke
The Turquoise Table:Finding Community and Connection in Your Own Front Yard-Kristin Schell
Tim Gunn: The Natty Professor:A Master Class on Mentoring, Motivations, and Making it Work-Tim Gunn
Brazen: The Courage to Find the You that's beem hiding-Leeana Tankersley
A River in Darkness-Masaji Ishikawa
Carrot Cake Murder-Joanne Fluke
The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns-Chris Colfer
Before We were Yours-Lisa Wingate
What a son needs from his mom-Cheri Fuller
Candy Cane Murder-Joanne Fluke
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning-Lemony Snicket
A Walk in the Woods-Bill Bryson
Key Lime Pie Murder- Joanne Fluke
Cherry Cheesecake Murder-Joanne Fluke
The Orphan's Tale-Pam Jenoff
The Glass Castle-Jeannette Walls
The Alice Network-Kate Quinn
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell: Chris Colfer
Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of this Wild and Glorious Life- Jen Hatmaker
The Mouse and the Motorcycle- Beverly Cleary
Into the Water-Paula Hawkins
The Shack-Paul Young
The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*uck-Sarah Knight
Alice in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll
Peach Cobbler Murder-Joanne Fluke
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe-C.S. Lewis
For the Love-Jen Hatmaker
The Tales of Beedle the Bard-JK Rowling
Present over Perfect-Shauna Niequist
This is Just My Face-Gabourey Sidibe
Sugar Cookie Murder-Joanne Fluke
The Magnolia Story-Chip and Joanna Gaines
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz-Frank Baum
Fudge Cupcake Murder-Joanne Fluke
Flags of our Fathers- James Bradley
Big Little Lies-Liane Moriarty
Lemon Meringue Pie-Joanne Fluke
Two by Two-Nicholas Sparks
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child-JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-JK Rowling
The Korean Word for Butterfly-James Zerndt
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince- JK Rowling
Clara's War: One Girl's Story of Survival-Clara Kramer
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix-JK Rowling
Blueberry Muffin Murder-Joanne Fluke
52 Things sons need from their moms-Angela Thomas
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban- JK Rowling
Below Stairs-Margaret Powell
Strawberry Shortcake Murder- Joanne Fluke
Dinosaurs Before Dark- Mary Pope Osborne
Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood- Jim Fay
The House we Grew up In-Lisa Jewell
Unstuffed0 Ruth Soukup
David: Seeking a Heart like his- Beth Moore
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- JK Rowling
Attack of the Dragons- Geronomo Stilton
See Me- Nicholas Sparks
Peter Pan- JM Barre
Made to Crave- LIsa terkeurst
Conspiracy 365- Gabrielle Lord
Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys- Stephen James
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder- Joanne Fluke
No Mardi Gras for the Dead- DJ Donaldson
Me, Myself, and Lies-Jennifer Rothschild
Anne of the Island- LM Montgomery
Winter Storms-Elin Hilderbrand
Anne of Avonlea- LM Montgomery
A Modern Girls' Guide to Bible Study- Jen Hatmaker
The Wedding Dress-Racher Hauck
The Best Advice I ever got on Parenting- Jim Daly
Uninvited Bible Study- Lysa Terkeurst
Uninvited Book-Lysa Terkeurst
Anne of Green Gables- LM Montgomery

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

Hafa Adai loved ones,

This year has been a wonderful year for our family, one I hope we never forget!  We truly are soaking up the Guam experience, the pace of island life, and enjoying nature and family time.  We have explored Guam’s highest mountains and the deepest seas and while it isn’t always smiles, we do have a pretty good time.  This year our entire family of five traveled to Japan (Tokyo Disney and Yokota Air Base) and Hawaii (Oahu and the Big Island).  Mason’s travels took him (multiple times) to Nevada, North Dakota, South Korea, and Hawaii.

Mason’s position is the Wing Weapons Officer at Andersen AFB.  His job involves combat plans, so there’s not a lot he gets to talk about when he comes home.  He engulfs himself in a variety of projects that really interest him since they involve real world operations, rather than training and exercises.  Although he knows he can never get everything done in a day that he wants to, he still tries and is thankful that his commanders give him a lot of leeway in how he prioritizes and divides his time.  Despite some long days and calls in the middle of the night, he makes it home for lunch and dinner most days, which wasn’t the case in previous assignments.  We both look forward to every weekend so we can go explore Guam and ocean.

This year I’ve just really been trying to focus on being present with my kids and Mason.  Guam has been such an amazing location to grow as a family and we’ll miss it greatly.  We have taken the kids on so many hikes and explorations this year.  We’ve seen caves, waterfalls, rives, you name it!  We took a submarine ride, had pj days, are working on becoming better chefs, and are just having a blast in general (although we have our grumpy days too)!  I enjoy helping out with family socials for our squadron, being on the board of the Officers’ Spouses’ Club, and attending monthly book club, bunco, and bible study.  One of the most fun things I was encouraged to do this year was try Scuba Diving, and I love it so much.  It’s so amazing and so fun to do with my best friend!   

Theodore turned six in September and he is just a hoot.  He is quite the character between being very imaginative and creative but also serious and literal about many things.  He is enjoying Kindergarten this year, although thinks it may be too much work for him.  At the beginning of the year he was involved in tumbling class, but this Fall he started Juijistu classes and for the most part really enjoys those.  He earned his Lion Cub Scout Rank in the Spring, and this year is a Tiger Scout.  He recently went on a camping trip and had a great time.  Theo’s into art, legos, reading, jumping on our trampoline, swimming, and has become very good at snorkeling.

Woodrow turned four in August and thank goodness we all survived three year old Woodrow.  This year Woodrow has really come out of his shell to more people and he is quite talkative at home.  He’s in to superheroes, airplanes, and little legos.  He’s pretty athletic and outdoorsy as well, and picked up snorkeling in the last few months.  Woodrow is in PreK at the same school as Theo and he just adores going every day. This kid is definitely fearless and is always up for various adventures!   

Maximus has grown quite a bit this year and turned one in October.  He just wants to keep up with his big brothers so badly.  He loves to splash in the water and get covered in sand at the beach.  He’s started walking recently, knows sign language for several words, and babbles and says a few words here and there.  He’s super chill as long as he gets a nap and fed as soon as he’s hungry.  He often gets toted here and there and he’s great!  Our Guam baby is a little water baby and he loves the ocean and the bath, wherever there is a puddle he will find it.   

We are thankful every day for this family of ours and for our assignment to Guam.  It’s so beautiful here.  We’re still accepting visitors until June 2018 when we will be saying farewell to our island home and PCSing to Chicago for Mason to complete a one year Fellowship at Argonne National Laboratory.  I try to keep up with our blog, so you can check out our adventures at http://ellenmason.blogspot.com.  The boys love to get snail mail and hear from friends. 

 
Happy Holidays with Love,  

Max Turns 13 months...wait 14 months!

I have been chasing these kiddos around and enjoying life and not spending time sitting down to blog, and I've gotten behind!  So, November 21st Maximus turned thirteen months, and here we are past December 21st when he turned fourteen months.  Mason and I just have a BLAST with him, and think this age is sooooo fun!  He's a lot of work to keep up with and keep track of, but he's so cute. 

Maximus is wearing 12-18 month clothes, size 3 diapers, likes to use the paci when he's tired/teething and at night.  One of these days I guess we'll need to put shoes on his feet and get him to keep them there, but we life the island life, so shoes are optional. Max has been doing well sleeping through the night again and had enjoyed having his brothers on winter break because he actually gets an uninterruped nap time!  Yay!!!! 

Our little guy has quickly gone from cruising, to first steps, to speed walking around the house.  It still makes me chuckle when I see his little thighs trot around the corners of the house.  He still loves climbing.  He is frequently on top of the coffee table, couches, brothers, and recently he enjoys trying to get on top of the dining room table.  If he isn't buckled into his high chair he's climbing out of it, so it's fair to say we're not really in the eating out stage with this one.  Beach picnics it it!  He does pretty well in shopping carts, but also knows how to evade those buckles!   

Maximus is truly our Guam baby!  He enjoys playing at the beach, getting covered in sand, and is always making his way back into the ocean.  I'm so happy that all of our little guys like the beach and that we can take advantage of the warm, beachy weather. 

I wish I could capture the interactions Max and Mason have because they are just precious.  When Max sees Mason for the first time in the day or after work, he's all smiles, points his finger at Mason, and grunts/squeals, and now he walks to him for a big Dad hug.  He's definitely Daddy's little man, although he likes his mama snuggles too.  This little one is always trying to be in on what Theo and Woodrow are doing, which sometimes they enjoy and sometimes they aren't too fond of (mostly when playing a game or legos).

Max does a pretty good job eating.  He loves mixed veggies (peas, carrots, corn), waffle are his favorite breakfast food, and he's mostly switched all to the sippy cup and whole milk, except for his evening bottle...but if he's sleeping well, he can keep the night bottle.

While Max likes to play with anything the big kids are playing with, he really enjoys the stackable blocks his great-grandma got him for his birthday and he likes playing with small stuffed animals from Sesame Street and every morning looks for his  "whoo whoo" owl to say good morning to.  

It has been pure joy watching Maximus enjoy the Christmas season.  He loves the lights, displays, and oohs and ahhs when we see decorations in stores or in offices/shops.  The giggling is contagious, and I wish I could bottle it forever. 

Max babbles quite a bit and says a few words (mama, dada, waa waa (waffle), uhh oooh (usually after he's thrown his food on the floor), nigh nigh, bye bye (accompanied with a cute little wave).  I wish I could bottle this age forever!!!  He's just gotten his 6th tooth popping out on his bottom row, and is a delight! 

Hawaii Trip-Day 9/10/11

Day 9

After our bought with the stomach bug we needed another low key day.  Mason was off to work, this second week of his TDY he was actually pulling double duty and attending two conferences.  Some days he was on Ford Island for Valiant Shield and other days he was at Hickam AFB for Pacific WEPTAC.  So, the car situation added some additional constraints.  This day though, he was staying at one base and I had him join friends for lunch so we could have the car the entire day.

They boys at I picked up my mom and we headed to the Honolulu Zoo.  We love a good zoo and the boys enjoyed 3.5 hours strolling around and looking at all of the various animals.  The Guam "zoo" is pretty sad, so the boys were excited when I told them there would be more than a crocodile to look at. There were quite a few birds, but the boys enjoyed the oranguatans, giraffes, elephants, zebras, and penguins.  In the petting/children's zoo they had an eye level (for kids) tank of humongous Koi.  This was the first thing Max was truly engaged with at the zoo.  After lots of walking we stopped to let the boys play at a park in the zoo which they had fun climbing on.

We met back at Mom and Dad's hotel for Subway lunch and after getting our tummies fed and swimsuits on we decided to head out to the lagoon at their hotel.  The water was pretty chilly, but the boys were super excited to see Aunt Jill and Ross. They pulled the boys around on little paddle boards which the kids thought was the best.  We moved into the ocean, but the kiddos quickly got cold.  Hawaii ocean is not as warm as Guam ocean for sure.  Jill, Ross, Max, and I floated around.  max took a nice little snooze on my chest while I held him and we even got to see a sea turtle who kept poking his head up in our vicinity!     

The kiddos and I raced off to grab Mason from work and we got cleaned up from our beach adventure.  Mason had some work and phone calls back to Guam he needed to make so we were all set by the time we were ready to head for dinner.  We decided to do separate dinners from the family and so we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings.  Yum!  The little things we miss-decent wings.

Day 10

This was another morning that could be erased from memory.  I had grand ideas of a hike with the kids that we'd head to early before the rest of the gang wanted to meet up.  We dropped Mason off at work, hit up Jamba Juice, and drove to the Northeastern side of the island to hike to some pillboxes. After finding the way there (still minus most maps/gps) we get out and ready to go and Woodrow was not having it.  At. All.  It was not a good parenting moment by any stretch.  By the time we got back to the car (without hiking) I was fuming, Woodrow was crying, and Max and Theo were pretty much just keeping quiet.  There were several miscommunications between the family that morning, so I decided I was going to my happy place-Barnes and Noble.  My parents walked over from their hotel and we regrouped. We ended up going back to Ford Island, having a picnic lunch and then we all swam in the pool (again, my kids didn't last terribly long since it's chilly water compared to Guam).

Mason joined us after work in the outdoor common area and we all went out for dinner with Jill and Ross.  Legos were a HUGE lifesaver on this trip.  I originally planned a small box for each boy for the Space-A travel, and grabbed a few packs of mini figures to open at various points during the trip and it was perfect.  

Day 11

I heard from many, many friends that Bellows AFB had the best beaches in Oahu, so we decided to check them out.  I was bummed Mason had to work.  We picked up Hot Malasadas, then Jill and Ross in the mini van and met Mom and Dad up near Bellows. I was able to sponsor them all on to a recreational area, where we had a gorgeous white sand beach, mostly to ourselves one a group of school-age kids left.  The waves were pretty huge and the day was great. Theo, Woodrow, Jill, and Ross got to work building a sand castle village and worked on it for at least an hour before Ross and Jill hit the water.  Maximus was still being fussy, but mom got him to sleep in his carseat on the beach, so we enjoyed a nice visit.

The waves were SO FUN to play in.  They were huge and I was definitely missing my hunny who was hard at work.  It was just such a beautiful day all together.  Mom took the job of snuggling Maximus, the kids barely went in the water because they had so much fun in the sand, and dad read his book.   

That night we needed a reprieve from eating out, so after everyone got cleaned up, the family met us back at our hotel and brought Papa Johns.  We had a nice time outside and then ventured into the lobby where the kids played cards (Liar Liar) and we just got to visit as our time was quickly winding down for our vacation with family.  

Hawaii Trip-Day 6/7/8

Day 6
Coordinating with a large group of people proved challenging on our trip since we had a family of five, retired grandparents, and a hipster couple...all on different schedules, and with various ideas of what they wanted to do on their vacation.  This was the first weekend and day off for Mason on the trip and he wanted to check out the beaches, so we proposed Shark's Cove on the North Shore.  We took the drive North and enjoyed the scenery along the way and we all ended up arriving there about the same time.  I think Mason was in the water snorkeling before the car doors were even shut.  We were able to find a secluded area to set our gear and it had a nice view of the cove/ocean.  This area was a little bit rough, but had some nice corals/fish.  It was a challenge getting and and out with the surf.  I did see one sea turtle, managed to lose our defogger in the ocean, and scrapped up my leg, but the morning was a fun one.  The boys spent most of their time on the sand burying themselves and turning black from the dirt/lava rock in the sand.  Unfortunately Max was pretty fussy still from his cold. 

Once we'd all had our turns playing in the water, snacking, and checking out the views we decided to take Ross up on his suggestion of the famous Matsumoto's Shaved Ice.  It was so yummy!  It was a great cool treat after a warm beach day.  Mason skipped it, but I got raspberry and white cake shaved ice over vanilla soft serve.  Yum!  The boys each got to pick their own flavors (cotton candy and raspberry).  Ross and Jill got a huge fancy dish, and everyone enjoyed their afternoon treat. 

Day 7

Dad's two requests were that we have Sunday brunch at the Yacht Club near their hotel and that we get some family photos, so despite Maximus still feeling under the weather, we met up for brunch (I think by this time we were getting tired of meals out).  Mostly because Theo and Woodrow want very limited foods and Max likes to climb out of the highchair or throw food...not super relaxing for me (or Mason who gets the brunt of my glares).  The food was tasty and we ate on a breezy deck which was nice. 

After that we headed back from the Waikiki area to Ford Island where Mason had scoped out an area to snap some family photos.  They turned out great, although I would love another family photo where were aren't all in our Hawaiian shirts.  ;)  Then the entire gang, minus me, mom, and Max went to the Ford Island Aviation Museum.  I think they were there almost 4 hours!  Woodrow was on cloud nine checking out all of the airplanes! 

The mainlanders agreed to check out Cheesecake Factory for us islanders, but none of anticipated the wait time.  We went to a location on the Western part of Oahu thinking it would be better than in Waikiki and long story short, we waited about 2 hours to be seated.  The kids were really good despite being tired and hungry.  Fortunately I'd packed some legos for them to play with and they had a great time building with Ross.  For awhile Woodrow just laid on the ground and was not a happy camper and by the time we were seated I was not feeling well.  When the first appetizers started arriving I excused myself and took Max who was d-o-n-e to the car.  I was pretty sure I was going to be sick in the car, but fortunately that wasn't the case.  Max and I pretty much cried until everyone else came out and finished up eating.  We scooted back to our hotel room and Mason took care of baths and putting the kids to bed while I passed out with chills and an upset stomach. 

Day 8
The day that could just be erased!  I was up one and off with an upset stomach during the night, but poor Mason and Woodrow spent the entire night throwing up.  Without going in to too much details, I'm just really, really sorry to housekeeping.  Our family got hit sooo hard.  Theo ended up waking up in the morning with a sick stomach and I have no idea how Mason went off to work the next morning after he basically spent the entire night cleaning up Woodrow or throwing up himself.  After a calm, cleaning up morning the kids and I got some fresh air outside the hotel, did the laundry, and waited for Mason to return around lunch.  We dropped him back at work and I decided to keep the car and drive around the North/West part of Oahu.  Woodrow and Max basically slept the entire way, and Theo slept a good bit too.  We saw some cool kite surfers and made it to Kaena Point...which unfortunately did not go all the way around the Western tip.  I was a little aggravated about that, since I had to backtrack the drive, but it ended up working out.  Needless to say, we did not see the rest of the family this day.