Children's Summer Read - Unidentified Surburban Object by Mike Jung

The 411 by Maria:

Great read about middle schooler Chloe Cho who embraces her Korean heritage unlike her parents who refuse to talk with her about their past, family, or anything having to do with Korea.  Chloe is growing up in an white town in suburbia and where there is no one like her.

Mike writes the angst of a teen girl perfectly. She is full of vigor, moody, abrasive and so done with everyone who annoys her when they compare her to Abigail Yang because of their shared heritage. Everything changes when new teacher Ms. Lee comes to school. Finally someone Chloe wants to relate to.

The plot twist comes out of nowhere. I had no idea what her parents deal was but found it exciting.

Not to give anything away. This is great read for the summer.  A little young adult, a little science fiction, a little humor.

Oh So Random

This weekend my daughter's classmate invited the entire grade to his house for an End Of School Year Splash. They live right on a lake and were told to bring sunblock, towels, a swimsuit, water shoes if they had them and a life vest if they had one. When we got there one of her besties was arriving at the same time which now that I have seen it should always happen. When friends arrive to a party together they don't feel uncomfortable when they first get there because they have each other. Mental note to set this up for my daughter for the next party.

My girl is in the middle, blue suit dragging her friend on a float

Goddess has matured so much over the past few years. It kills me sometimes.

She was having a blast

The kids had a blast. Even though it was a drop off, I hung out. I am not a drop of kind of parent unless I know you and really trust you. I can name three people like that right now where my kids would be dropped off without a second thought. Three is better than none.

The parents also set up a slip and slide. Which I hear was very cold.

She acted like she was about to go down but changed her mind last minute

Her friends are fearless

running through was apparently fine

Then before I knew it there was talk of  a boat ride.

Goddess without her glasses can see nothing. The squinting is not just from the sun

before I even had time to discuss, she was on the boat

And it was being lowered into the water

 

 

I watched them drive away and I thought...wait who is this guy? I don't really know him.

While the girls were gone I busied myself with watching the boys who were jumping from a 25 foot deck into the lake. UGH...

  

It was a great day and while I was worried about my daughter who drove away in a boat with a bunch of other 5th grade girls and a stranger she informed me on her return she was having the best time.

Still going to hover but learning that my little girl is totally growing up and doesn't need me as much.

SOB!

My Lake Shadows

Thursday was the kids last day at school before summer break. Knowing my morning will be a little busier in the next few weeks I decided to head to the lake for some quiet and relaxation before getting them from school. It was glorious and there was one other person there. I just walked around and looked at the beautiful lake while taking some deep cleansing breaths.

Let Summer Fun begin now!

Top Tips For Traveling With Kids This Summer

To View as a PDF

Chasing Grace A Movie About Forgiveness

Chasing Grace SYNOPSIS

The 411:

A movie about family, loss, forgiveness and redemption. Chasing Grace forces us to turn toward our faith as a family struggles to find a new "normal" as they go move on after losing their daughter.

Pastor Jonathan Matheson and his family have lost their little Grace due to the negligence of a family member.  With the family falling apart the Pastor is hit with a wave of anger and vengeance.

What seemed like a model community family is really quite dysfunctional behind the scenes which I think is something everyone can relate to.

The movie touches on alcoholism, violence, guns, and even shady cops but in the end the message is important.  My favorite character was "Professor" the middle child. He was the only one who seemed to have it together. The voice of reason.

This is not your typical preachy movie about forgiveness. I think some will be surprised at some of the directions the movie takes you however the final message is about forgiveness of others and forgiveness of ourselves.

All in all the actors did a decent job over all.

Learning CPR is More Than Just a Little Important

 

Babies are fragile to begin with. Now imagine the scene either close to home or when you’re out in a public, whereby a baby suddenly goes into cardiac arrest. Would you know what to do other than call 9-1-1?

For millions of people, the answer unfortunately is no.

That said it doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, millions of individuals could become CPR-certified right out of their homes.

If you’re someone who doesn’t know CPR, think about changing that moving forward. When you do, you could end up saving one or more people’s lives.

Gaining Important Knowledge

Double Pool Party = Twice The Fun!

Goddess says she looks like she is trying to poop! LOL

My daughter and her bestie have birthdays only one week to the day apart. This year they mentioned doing a double party and while I hadn't considered doing a party when my friend (the girl's mom) asked what I thought, I figured, why not!

We had a great time yesterday although I must admit in the first two hours I was nervous about all the kids in the pool thinking I need to watch them like a hawk what if someone can't swim well or if they dive into each other but eventually I saw that all was fine and I could chill out and actually speak to others who were at the party.

My daughter had a great time and can't wait to go back to her friend's grandparents house (they were nice enough to allow us to us their amazing yard and pool).

Goddess in the center splashing classmate

Goddess getting ready to put on her googles. Massive black and blue on her forehead today from them

Goddess trying not to drown on the left by the ladder

Trying to get everyone in for a photo

Selfie Stick shot

Goddess and her beasties

It was so much fun. I am sad that she is now 11 and miss my baby but so happy she has great friends.

Gifts For Dad

The watch comes in it's own lovely wood box with the Jord logo.  My husband was really impressed with the presentation of the watch.

It also sits on it's own very special pillow. I really did love the presentation of the watch!  The watch itself is made of Dark Sandalwood and Quartz Crystal. A very eye catching watch.

It also looks seamless from the outside of the watch. Each hole was obviously drilled as the watch is handcrafted there will be variations with each one.

We love that  you can see the grain of the wood. It is truly a remarkable piece.

Even the winder is nice looking.

We think it looks masculine and my husband has even taken to putting it back around the pillow and closed the box when he takes it off. That in itself is amazing.

Don't you just love the colors!?

Jord makes amazing time pieces and even men who don't normally wear watches like my husband will fall in love with these lightweight works of art.

For more styles and colors head over to Jord! Oh and they are not only for men....I have a Jord of my own in natural wood.