BBC's 100 Most Loved Books 51-75

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett Should probably read this one.
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck Hated this book.
53. The Stand, Stephen King Read this one and it was probably the reason why I can't handle Stephen King books anymore.
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy Has anyone read this book that wasn't forced to do so?
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth Hey, one that isn't set during a war!56. The BFG, Roald Dahl Boo loves this book but I haven't read it.
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome Sounds very, very odd...
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell Read this forever ago. Really ought to get a copy for Boo.
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer Been on my to-read pile for a while now.
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky Ditto the Anna Karenina comment.
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman Lots of books with this title by different authors. Make sure you get the right one.
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden Up on my bookshelf. Love it.
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens Decent enough. For a book with no zombies.
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough Why read the book when you can watch the cajillion shows in the mini-series?
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett This is #4 in a series. Weird that it's on this list and not the first book, but it still sounds good.
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton The info on this sounds like something Boo would like, too.
67. The Magus, John Fowles This is one of those books that teachers like to analyze to death. Haven't read it.
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman Read it. These guys are weird.
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett Discworld. Again.
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding Can't remember the ending, but there's no way I'll read it again.
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind Won't read. Too creepy.
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell It's political. Not interested.
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett #29 in his Discworld series. Well, maybe if I like the others.
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl She sounds just like my daughter.
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding Oh, please. This is considered a great book?

BBC's 100 Most Loved Books 26-50

26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy Nah.
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot I skipped the month my book group read this one...
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving Well, I've heard of it. Does that count?
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck Good. The play was kinda dumb, though.
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll Actually read this!
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson Just looked this one up and I can't believe I've never read it.
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez Looks interesting.
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett How do you make the zerbert sound? Phhbbbtt. Yeah, that's how I felt about this book.
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens Read as a kid.
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl The book was awesome! And I even liked both versions of the movie.
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson It's been ages. 
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute Kinda heart-rending.
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen The ending was awesome. Not because it was over, though.
39. Dune, Frank Herbert This is the one with the "spice," right? Haven't read the whole thing.
40. Emma, Jane Austen The book was good and I loved the movie with Hugh Grant. Not so much the Clueless version.
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery Would you hate me if I haven't read this? Cause I haven't.
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams Loved those creepy rabbits.
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald Read it. Still don't know what made Gatsby so great.
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas Started to read it. Skipped lots. Didn't understand the end. Should probably give it another try.
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh Never heard of it.
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell Freshman English. How can I forget?
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens Good story. But I like the Doctor Who version better.
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy I've seen this one of these lists but still haven't read it. Is it worth it?
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian Why are so many of these books based around WWII? Haven't read this one, though.
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher Well, lots of my friends have read this one.

BBC's 100 Most Loved Books 1-25

Found another one of those "Top 100 Books" lists and I thought I'd take a look. I'd like to know who creates this lists. English teachers? Book sales? Because if it's the sales, then the English teachers totally rigged that one by making us read these. And I'd love to hear your thoughts, too.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien Read it. Love it. 
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen Another really good one. 
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman Yeah, probably not gonna read this one, to be honest.
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams Read it in high school and really ought to read it again.
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling If all the books in this series are on the list, then that's an easy 7 books for me.
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee Once again, read it in high school, but this one I remember better. Probably because of the papers and tests.
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne Does it count if I've seen the cartoons?
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell So embarrassed that I haven't actually read this one.
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis On my bookshelf and shared with my daughter.
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë One of my very favorites!
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller Haven't read the book but I did the play.
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë Another good one. Reading it for a grade kinda ruined it for me, though.
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks Ummm…never even heard of this one...
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier Really good! I wonder if the movie captures the eeriness.
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger Ugh. Hated it.
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame Another one I introduced to my kiddo.
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens Liked this one. The Ethan Hawke/Gwenyth Paltrow movie is horrible, though.
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott Meh. It was okay but didn't change my life.
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres Another one I'll need to Google.
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy Never really wanted to crack this one, actually.
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell Seriously? Wasn't the movie torture enough?
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling Yep.
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling Yup.
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling Yuppers.
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien Love this one, too. But the cartoon version creeped me out for years.

Which ones have you read or plan to read?

Giving Thanks

We are a little behind on the traditions this year. Instead of our Thanksgiving ABCs FHE, I was trying really hard not to die. So today, when I realized "Oh hey, I didn't die!" I decided it was time to make up for lost time. I even set aside my totally awesome praline sweet potatoes to get this finished.

This year, I had the kids fill out their own terms, including Baby. Hey, she's in preschool now. It's time she start earning her keep. Besides, the creative spelling is always a big source of entertainment.

Apples (because we're original)
Braneys (brownies, actually)
Cupcakes
Dinosaur National Park
Elephant
Fiona
Grandparents (originally spelled "granperins")
Hogwarts (Boo's contribution)
In-laws
Jessica (that came from the Man…he's so cute)
Kookies (Baby's choice so we let the spelling slide)
Legos
Mommies (I'm dealing with a bunch of kiss ups)
Nutella
Our children
Ponies
Qilt (meant to be a quilt)
Ridonkulessnes (yeah, I have no idea, either)
Sewing classes
Tillie (our dog)
Umbrella (writing the letters was losing it's appeal so Baby opted for a drawing instead)
Venes (supposed to be Venus, but I'm not sure why)
Wizards (Boo, again)
X-istence ('cux x words are hard)
You
Zelda (our kids are nerds)

What are you thankful for today?

Is it Christmas yet?

I'm in denial that I'm required to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, I made a strong case for spending the holiday with our bosom buddies at the Cracker Barrel (because, seriously, have you herd of their special dessert?). Not to mention the fact that I am seriously behind on my NaNoWriMo word count. I've got a legacy to uphold!

So I've skipped over Thanksgiving and moved straight on to Christmas.

Because there's no better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ then by joining a swap. And the swap's hosted by Chaotic Goddess Swaps, so you know it will be awesome.

The Great Turkey Escape

The Boy cane home with a school assignment where he was supposed to save a turkey. This particular turkey wasn't awaiting execution on death row or frozen solid. It was a cartoon turkey that needed a to escape hungry dinner guests. The task was to disguise him before Thanksgiving. We were encouraged to choose something that had special meaning to our family.

So the Boy turned his turkey into a ninja.

What better way to get past the holiday than by dressing as a master of invisibility?

The Hazards of Being a Floor Cleaning System

I spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen. And when I do, I have a little dog constantly underfoot. It's not just because she always has to be within three feet of me (because she does) and gets pouty when I won't let her in the bathroom with me. She's there because I drop a lot of stuff, which means she gets to eat whatever hits the floor. Ham pieces. Bread crumbs. Cream. Shredded cheese. Usually, this works out pretty well for her. Sure, she might get stepped on periodically, but on the plus side, there's free food.

That brings us to last Sunday. I was schmearing chocolate frosting on a cake (because chocolate frosting on cake is awesome). For some reason, I could not keep my grip on the spatula. I dropped it on the floor three times. Since dogs should never have chocolate, I had to fight off my fluffy bundle of ravenousness in order to get the splatters cleaned up. She was getting a little frustrated with my breaking the Sacred Rule of Floor Food. So much so that she was practically sitting on my feet in an attempt to beat me to any drops.

I loaded up the spatula with a particularly large dollop of this delicious, gooey, dark chocolate frosting. Have I mentioned that my dog is pure white? Because that's pretty significant. You can probably see where this is going. Once again, my grip is faulty and the spatula falls.

But the frosting never touched the floor.

And of course, she didn't learn her lesson. Except that maybe she needs to get a longer tongue.

Mormon Daddy Style

Couldn't help but share!

Lars in America

Remember the Boy's Lego party? We're kind obsessed with all things Lego around here. Hence our extensive collection of Lego Wii games. So when I came across an animated movie featuring a minifigure, it quickly became a favorite.


Now the Boy wants a Sorry game for Christmas. I wondering if it's for the actual game or because he hopes to recreate the movie…

Go visit KendallNelsonart.blogspot.com and check out his other creations. He is majorly talented!

Best Decade Yet

Da Boo turned 10.
TEN, people! Double digits! I officially have a tween. So weird.

I am feeling far too decrepit and aged to put together a real post filled with nostalgic pictures. If you'd really like to see those, you can go here or here.

But I'd like to know how this…

Became this…

Seems like it happened overnight.

"With small children at home, the days are long, but the years are short."

Happy Birthday, Boo!