A Few Titles by Kate Douglass Wiggin

Hey there! So it has been far too long, but I thought I would pop in and do a little post! Today I want to discuss my fondness for Kate Douglass Wiggin, and two of her books that in turn, inspired movies that I loved as a young girl, and still enjoy now!
About a year ago, Anna and I saw the Shirley Temple movie "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was going to be on tv. I got all excited, and set it to record on the DVR. It was cute (not really as engrossing as my memory had it chalked up to be), and we enjoyed watching Shirley Temple do her stereotypical overly cute, bubbly thing (don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Shirley Temple, but sometimes she can go over the top!). Buuuut, anyway. The best part about watching it this time around, was finding out in the opening credits that this movie is based on a book of the same title by Kate Douglass Wiggin, an authoress whom I already knew myself to be fond of! Sooo, I did a little internet shopping, and landed myself Wiggin's book: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm! I'll now proceed to share with you my favorite passage from the book, that I recorded in the book review notebook that I keep. I warn you, it is a bit of a whopper, but that Kate Douglass, she can be a wordy woman!

"Sparkling in the sunshine, gleaming under the summer moon, cold and gray beneath a November sky, trickling over the dam in some burning July drought, swollen with turbulent power in some April freshet, how many young eyes gazed into the mystery and majesty of the falls along that river, and how many young hearts dreamed out their futures leaning over the bridge rail, seeing 'the vision splendid' reflected there, and often, too, watching it fade into 'the light of common day.' "
I liked the cover art I chose for this post (even though my copy unfortunately doesn't have this cover) because it is a picture from the scene of the above passage! I wrote in my notebook that this book was like a New England version of Anne of Green Gables. So if you are an AOGG fan, this book may be for you! =) I will warn you, it has a creepy Dean Priest element to it (for those of you familiar with Emily of New Moon). But, overall this book is delightfully witty, while touchingly tender at the same time. If you like the movie, definitely give the book a try, because in my opinion, the book is much better!

Next Kate Douglass Wiggin book turned movie is Mother Carey's Chickens which was made, by Disney, into one of my most beloved movies ever: Summer Magic. I just love Haley Mills, and the music in Summer Magic, and of course the fact that it is set during my pet season...Summer! So, I can't remember when exactly I found out that Summer Magic was originally a book, but that was my first introduction to KDW. It is a lovely book. Sadly, it has been a few years since I have read it, and I had not yet started recording favorite quotes/passages from my literary undertakings. =( It is definitely in my "to do list" of books that were greatly enjoyed and need to be eventually re-read. Sadly, I'm afraid that to do list usually takes a back seat to "books that I have not read, but cannot wait to read." So...all that being said, the book is a good bit different than the movie, but still a very enjoyable read. The book seems to focus more in on the character of Mrs. Carey, while Summer Magic revolves more around Haley Mills' character, Nancy (the daughter). Also, Nancy is a bit younger in Mother Carey's Chickens, so that sort of changes the dynamics of the storyline. I do remember enjoying MCC, and I would like to read it again one day, maybe out loud to future daughters. =) But...if I was forced to choose book over movie, in this case I would have to go with Summer Magic! Partly because I really love all of the songs! =) Oh, and this time I chose a picture with the actual cover art on the book I own!

Ok, so one last KDW book. I have not read this one, but seeing as how it is a Christmas story, I hope to read it in the Christmas season 2012 (haha, really planning ahead, I know). I've read good things about it, and since I already know I like KDW, I hope I will enjoy The Birds' Christmas Carol. As far as I know, this book has not been made into a movie, but I could definitely be wrong. I was recently given a Kindle as a very generous birthday gift from a family that I babysit for (Thank you Bells!). I have always thought I would not be a big e-reader person (Jake has a kindle, and I have tried it a few times), but I am finding out that Kindles definitely have their selling points. One of those being this: I can get books like The Birds' Christmas Carol for free on my Kindle because the copyright has expired. This way I can read it, and if I decide it is a favorite that I would like to own in an actual paper format, I can always buy it online, but for now, it's sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read in December, and I didn't have to pay a penny. Can't really beat that! Oh, and if I do end up buying this in paper form, I hope I can find this cover, because I think it is delightful! =)
Well, here ends my thoughts on Kate Douglass Wiggin. Hope you folks enjoyed! If anyone has any other recommendations of KDW literature, let me know! Hopefully I won't let quite so much time lapse between now and my next post. Maybe I will finish up this book vs. movie idea, and post about Pollyanna. Until then, happy reading (too cheesey?)!

The 1893 Chicago World's Fair (also known as The World's Columbian Exposition)

"The great exposition began to fan out below us, and all the pavilions were like frosted wedding cakes. It was the White City on blue lagoons against the endless lake."

I thought I would share a few books that I have recently (and not so recently) enjoyed that all happen to center around the 1893 Chicago World's Fair!

The first, is called Fair Weather, by Richard Peck. I found it at a book sale at a local library that Jacob was so kind as to inform me about. I believe I got it for 50 cents! I have heard good/read things about Richard Peck from various people whom I know to have good literary tastes. =) I enjoyed this book so much that I have secured two more books by Peck (A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder) that I'm reading now that it's August (they take place in the month of August so I thought I would read them then). I'll admit, Fair Weather initially attracted my attention with its fun old fashioned looking cover. Then I flipped through the pages and was even more intrigued by the real post card pictures of the World's Fair in each chapter. So I did, in essence, judge a book by its cover...please forgive me. =) Thisbook centers around a 13 year old girl from rural Illinois, and her crazy but lovable relatives. Peck has a very humorous writing style, and I am a sucker for books with nutty characters (think LM Montgomery). The quote I have at the top of this post is from this book. Ithink it captures the essence of the Chicago World's Fair, and paints a picture I wish I could have been there to see and experience in person!

The book I read directlyafter Fair Weather is set in the same time and place, but contains a completely different demographic of people and story line. A Proper Pursuit was my third book to read by Lynn Austin. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite christian fiction authors, just behind Brock and Bodie Thoene (but no one can really come close to measuring up to the Thoenes). I've really enjoyed Austin's quick moving plots, and deep but not overly moralistic characters. Of the three Lynn Austin books I have currently read (A Proper Pursuit, Until We Reach Home, and Eve's Daughters), I have enjoyed A Proper Pursuit the most. I really like Violet, the main character. She is quirky, entertaining, and likable. She seems like she could be a real person, instead of a spotlessly perfect being like some authors (whom I still read) like to create (think Louisa May Alcott or Martha Finley). Violet goes to Chicago to live with her Grandmother and three Aunts for a few months during the Chicago World's Fair. She goes to see the fair with each of her aunts, as well as with two different gentlemen suitors, and she gets to experience the fair in a whole new light each time she goes (some of her excursions are more enjoyable than others). This book has a fun love story, and mystery plotline in addition to its historical side. If anyone is looking for a relaxing, christian fiction book, I recommend checking out Lynn Austin!

The last book I wanted to write about is The Great Wheel by Robert Lawson. I read this to Jakey for Sonlight many moons ago. Maybe eventually I will read it to Andrew....if we can ever move past Witch of Blackbird Pond hehe. I can't say a whole lot about it, because it has been so long since I read it, but I remember really enjoying it! It's about a young Irish immigrant named Con, who comes to America. He ends up working in Chicago on Mr. Ferris' "great wheel" which is being built for the Chicago World's fair. It's one of those books that just makes you feel good about America's history as a melting pot for anyone who is willing to start over and work hard to make a better life for themselves and their loved ones. Good characters, lots of historical information, some adventure, and even a little romance thrown in to boot!

So there you have it....I challenge you to read any of these books and not wish you had been alive to see the 1893 Chicago World's Fair!

My next post I am hoping to do a little "Book vs. Movie compare and contrast" This will most likely include (if it doesn't make for too daunting of a post): Pollyanna, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Mother Carey's Chickens (Summer Magic) and Meet me in St. Louis!

It's Finally Betsy-Tacy-Tarzan Time!

Hm...my post title just got me thinking...what if, instead of Betsy Tacy and Tib, it was Betsy Tacy and Tarzan? That could make for some very interesting ideas! Betsy and Tacy take a trip to the African jungles, and meet a "god-like forest man." Or the long lost Lord Greystoke is discovered wandering around turn of the century Minnesota by two little girls. Either one sounds like a winner to me! hahaha.

Annnyways. Here are Jake's and my reviews of Heaven to Betsy and Tarzan of the Apes respectively. For anyone who may not know my 17 year old brother Jake, I will provide you with a photo so you can get a good laugh (just like I did) over the idea of him curling up with Heaven to Betsy to read about Bettina crying over the TDS, or Julia singing "Mi Chiamano Mimi." hahahahaha! Ok, good, we got that out of the way. But, in all fairness, Tarzan chowing down on raw lion meat, and D'Arnot being on the very verge of cannibalization were not exactly my cup of tea either (no picture needed to prove that, haha)!

So yeah, Jakey is the large one on the end. Without further ado....our reviews! I have to try not to take Jake's review to heart. =( I know that he secretly loved it, and I have not given up on trying to persuade him to read Betsy in Spite of Herself. It's going to happen one day, if I have to read it out loud to him myself. It's just like Gilmore Girls, I know he'll be glad to know all the lingo and be able to discuss it with Anna and me!! =) Now I leave you to the words of Jacob:

A deal’s a deal, anywhere—anytime—in the universe; but some deals, of course, are better than others. Sadly this deal was, for me, not one of the better ones. “What deal?” you ask. Well, here it is: Like the Oilers sending Wayne Gretzky to the Kings for some virtual no-names and some cash or the Red Sox shipping Babe Ruth to the Yankees for only cash—hold the no-names—I agreed to read a “book” called Heaven to Betsy if my sister (Jessi, the gracious hostess of this blog) would read Tarzan of the Apes. Now, undoubtedly, you know of the famous Tarzan series and its prolific genius of an author Edgar Rice Burroughs; and you would readily agree that Jessi got the better end of this deal. Despite the deal’s one-sided nature, I fulfilled my part in it, because . . . well, because I saw no way out of it. And how bad could a 327-page book with relatively large print be? Actually, that’s the question I intend to answer, for I’ve been asked (kind of) to review the book I read as my part of the deal. So, here it is—my review, which I’ve cleverly and descriptively titled:

Heaven to Betsy was Purgatory to Me

I read a book for any of three purposes:

1. To be entertained

2. To learn something of value

3. To get to the next book

If I’m reading a book that is fulfilling one of the first two purposes, I’m happy. Itis ideal if my current book is fulfilling both of the first two purposes. However, if I am only reading a book for purpose number 3, that’s bad news. Bad news for me, for the book, and for the people that have to endure my endless and vehement complaining (these poor souls are probably the recipients of the worst news of all).

Unfortunately, while reading Heaven to Betsy, all I could think of was when I would be finished and what book I would read after that precious moment was realized. Truly, as my title suggests, reading this book felt like being in Purgatory, where I imagine one is thought to simply be taking one’s “lumps” while waiting to move on to another (hopefully much better) place.

The first and greatest reason for my feeling this way is the book’s complete lack of a plot. As far as I could tell Betsy’s sole purpose and goal in life (and thus, “Bettina” being the main character, the book’s “plot”—if you care to call it that) was to look good and have other people see her look good. Mentally contrast this . . . uh, “action” with the thrilling adventures of Tarzan, John Carter, or Frodo Baggins and it should be quickly and easily deduced that I was quite bored.

I don’t believe I would have felt this way, even with the book not having any compelling action in it, had I cared for any of the characters—or at least the protagonist. But for everyone mentioned in the story I found myself feeling something somewhere between annoyance and cold indifference. Their lives, activities, interests, and dialog I found boring and irritating. Everything they did, said, or even were described as feeling—everything that happened—left me wanting to turn to the next page only to get there—not to find out what happened next. Possibly I felt this way because I knew what would happen: Betsy would go to a party, find a new fake beau (who didn’t really like her), blush, droop (for the duration of the party), and then go home. After a while (one or two chapters to be specific), that got old.

Along with my lack of feeling for the characters and the book’s lack of action, was my not having much in common with anyone in Heaven to Betsy. In full acknowledgement of my propensity to exaggerate and sensationalize, I submit that three of the five commonalities between Betsy and me are our humanity, breathing, and eating. Resisting the urge to simply contrast our two personalities, I’ll move on to the few positive qualities I saw in this book.

The last two of the five things Bettina and I have in common are our mutual interest in writing and our dislike for algebra. Not exactly things to build a strong lasting bond with, but enough to make chapters including things like the Essay Contest almost bearable.

Typing of the Essay Contest, it was, I feel, a good part in the book; but only—I must admit—because she lost. Of course, I have less than no confidence that this taught Miss Ray a lesson of any value (or, rather, that she learned anything from the lesson); in fact, I’m certain that she’d repeat her mistake again if given the chance. She just can’t resist those parties with all their opportunities to achieve her only goal in life (look good and have as many witnesses as possible).

Call me cold, hateful, unfeeling, or any synonymous word that you can think of, but I could muster no pity for any of her problems or troubles, for I believe she—through poor decisions and immaturity—brought most of them on herself. “But she was only 14, and sure to mature and change!” you might cry, eager to rush to poor Bettina’s defense. If that is indeed your reaction, I thank you, for you bring me to my next complaint: Throughout the whole book Betsy Ray undergoes no emotional or mental development (other than flippantly and pointlessly become an Episcopalian . . . which doesn’t count). She remains the same annoying girl, hiding behind the social persona she has created for no reason and thinks everyone—everyone—wants her to be.

In any event, I suppose that’s all I’ll say about this poor book. The last bit here will be in my own defense.

C.S. Lewis advised us to avoid reviewing (and avoid reading, if possible) books we already know we hate. A prime example would be me reading and reviewing Heaven to Betsy. A rather poor idea, I think, and I believe Clive would most heartily agree. But . . . keep in mind, please, that the reviewing was not my idea. (I cannot now remember if I was first to suggest the deal or not. Though I feel it matters less than the review.) I didn’t want to do this, but I was forced! So don’t blame me for what I honestly feel and tried to put into words. Blame Jessi, blame Betsy, even blame Ethel Barrymore (who I guess was a hunchback of sorts), but please don’t aim any ill feelings or harsh disagreements at me, ‘cause I’m innocent as a lamb.

Well . . . now, mercifully for those who enjoy this blog and those who enjoy this book, I’m done. I’m done with the book, with the review, and my own metaphorical purgatory. Now I’m off to my own metaphorical reading heaven (A.K.A.: a book with a plot).

I know you can pray someone out of purgatory, so I wonder it it's possible for me to pray that he stays there (at least until he reads all the way through Betsy's Wedding)? I'll be generous and let him skip Carney's House Party and Emily of Deep Valley. So, now I give you my review of Tarzan. A much more forgiving review I might add. =) I start out, as always, with my favorite excerpt(s) from the book.

"The Fuwalda, a barkentine of about one hundred tons, was a vessel of the type often seen in coastwise trade in the far southern Atlantic, their crews composed of the offscourings of the sea- unhanged murderers and cutthroats of every race and nation."

"But love is a strange master, and human nature is still stranger, so she asked her question."

I liked these two quotes, and it's kind of interesting because I think they represent the two things I did enjoy about this book. 1) The sea and sailors at the beginning of the book, and also when the French crew comes to the island. I love anything having to do with old sea, ships, and sailor stories. I love the way Burroughs calls the crew "offscourings of the sea." It's as if even the sea wants nothing to do with these scurvy fellows. I like to imagine what an interesting crew it was to be made up of "cutthroats of every race and nation." The second element of the book that held my interest was the romance and human nature story lines. Even though Jane and Tarzan's romance is a little on the unrealistic side, I'll admit I was disappointed when they collectively pulled a Miss Cobb on themselves at the end of the book. I also enjoyed the relationships between Professor Porter and Mr. Philander, D'Arnot and Tarzan, and even Clayton and Jane. I thought they were all good representations of true unselfish friendships. So, all in all, I enjoyed the beginning of the book (I also really liked Tarzan's parents as characters), but I got a bit bogged down through the middle with all of the jungle/apes/native silliness. The apes and natives were both disgusting and terrifying to me. I think Edgar Rice had a little too much fun detailing all of the lurid killing, gutting and devouring. But, the story picked up again once the rest of the human beings showed back up on the scene. I think Burroughs' portrayal of Esmerelda was a bit unfair and not really funny. I could almost be persuaded to read the next Tarzan book if it was guaranteed not to take place in the jungles of Africa (I have no idea if it does or not). Oh well....I guess I'll never find out, unless, of course, Jake agrees to read Betsy in Spite of Herself!

I leave you with a photo of Jake and me, which I think is a perfect representation of both of our feelings about Maud Hart Lovelace's great literary works! =)

The Age of Innocence

"In reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs."

I feel like this quote pretty much says it all as far as "The Age of Innocence" is concerned. Anna got this book at Christmastime about 4 or 5 years ago when we did a book swap with Matthew. I've always intended to read it, and when I told her I was finally getting around to it she just gave me an odd look and said something like "Oh." I was confused about her lack of enthusiasm, but after reading the book I completely understand. It's a wonderfully written book, extremely witty, thoughtful and insightful, but it left me feeling depressed.

When I read a book I like to have at least one character with whom I sympathize, but in this book I couldn't really find anyone. I guess I felt for May, but that may have been just because she was Wharton's punching bag throughout the book. Newland and the Countess seemed to be Wharton's little pets who couldn't say and do enough clever and brilliant things.

I kept wondering if Newland would have been different if his father had been alive. I have no idea what kind of a person his father would have been, but maybe it would have changed the dynamics of the Archer household. I feel like Newland was a momma's boy even though he didn't love or respect his mother.

Even though I had mostly negative emotions during (and after) my reading of this book, I think I would still recommend it. Wharton has a talent for getting the most out of every sentence she writes. She has a very witty and dry style that I did enjoy. I think one sign of a good book is that when you finish it you are dying to discuss it with others who have read it, and that was definitely true for me with this book. Sometime I would like to watch the movie adaptation, I've read that it is really beautiful. I will end with another quote from the book that is a great representation of Wharton's insightful humor. It made me laugh, because even over 100 years later it is so true! I'm thinking of the rush to beat the crowd out of a Brave's game, or Tennessee game, etc.

"It was one of the great livery-stableman's most masterly intuitions to have discovered that Americans want to get away from amusement even more quickly than they want to get to it."

I am hoping to do a post soon about "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" which I recently read, and loved! I may eventually do a Madeline L'engle post where I review "A Wrinkle in Time" and the first 2 books of the Austin Family Chronicles (which I am in the middle of reading right now). And then, some shining day I will finish "Tarzan of the Apes" and I can do the Tarzan/Betsy Tacy post that I have been longing to write! =) I'm on chapter 23 or 24.....so I'm getting to the homestretch! Well, I think that's all for this post, so long!

Upcoming Posts...hopefully!

A few book reviews that I am hoping to post in the near future: The Age of Innocence (read in January). A Wrinkle in Time (February-ish)...and a bit of a collaboration by Jakey and me. We struck a little reading deal that involves Tarzan of the Apes, and Heaven to Betsy! I'm excited to post about that one!! But before I can write that special post I have to complete my half of the deal and finish Tarzan. I believe I'm on chapter 11, but I've only been reading it every few nights, as I'm currently reading another absorbing book that is a little more up my alley (I know, excuses, excuses...sorry!). Can I just say that he finished his half of the deal with remarkable dispatch? I would like to think it is due to the wonderful-ness of the reading material! =)

So hopefully soon I will have a little extra time and at least post my thoughts on The Age of Innocence! Until then, I'll just leave you with pictures to peak your interest, haha!

My First Political Book Review

So I don't usually read political books, I like to read blogs and articles about politics, but I mainly like to stick to fiction in my book undertakings. I do like biographies, and this was in part a biography. That alone probably wouldn't have been enough for me to commit to reading it, but... I was stranded in the car one day with no book...gasp! Jake (aka my little political genius brother) got this book for Christmas, and he had brought it along (as well as some others). He graciously allowed me to borrow it. I was intending to merely read a chapter or two to pass the time in the car, but once I started this book, I very soon realized I wouldn't be able to stop until I had finished it!

It was interesting learning about Obama's growing up years, and his adult life before he was so much in the public eye. I don't think I could stomach a book on Obama written by the type who would usually choose to do a bio on him (a member of the "Obama Choir" as D'Souza likes to call them). So it was nice being able to read about him from a non-biased source that I feel I can trust. I actually ended up feeling sorry for Obama on a personal level. Neither of his parents were really present for his childhood (physically or emotionally present), and I know that had to have affected him. Obama's politics and ideals are different than I had assumed before reading this book. He's basically living through the 1950's political ideals of his unstable father. Here are a few quotes I wrote down because to me, they did a good job of explaining Obama's goals and outlooks as an Anti-Colonialist.

"If Obama has his way, America would look a lot like Obama's father wanted Kenya to look: government run peasant cooperatives rationing land and natural resources in order to enjoy a modest self sufficiency."

Call me a greedy capitalist, but I don't like the idea of this being the future of America.

This next quote is referring to Obama's preoccupation with his father's stories of his life in Kenya. Obama was quite enamored with his father, even though Obama Sr. barely acknowledged his son's existence, as well as lied to and abandoned Obama Jr. and his mother (he was already married, but he didn't mention this fact to Obama's mother).

"Obama inhabits a world of memories that harken back to continents far away and wars long ago. It was a world of marauding colonial armies and guerillas hiding in the Aberdare mountains. It was a world of pageantry and broken dreams. ... compared to all this, today's world of global summits and credit card bailouts and ribbon-cutting seems dull and thin. In terms of sheer human drama, nothing today seems to rise to the level of the way things used to be."

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I'm glad I happened to read it. I enjoyed D'Souza's writing style and fresh take on Obama. I also liked learning more about D'Souza's life, he's a fascinating person in his own right. I may read more of his books one day...that is if I ever catch up on all the fiction books I have planned to read! =)

A Frances Hodgson Burnett Trifecta

So...in 2010 I ended up reading three Frances Hodgson Burnett books (two by accident and the third just so I could say I've read three). This will be a joint review of The Shuttle, A Little Princess and The Secret Garden.

I first found out about The Shuttle through Betsy Tacy (of course!). There have been so many interesting books that I have bought/read because of the Betsy books (The Beloved Vagabond, Daddy Long Legs, Helen's Babies, and The Shuttle for example). So I was already familiar with The Shuttle through Betsy Books, and then I read an interesting review of it by a book blogger that I follow. I was intrigued when I realized that Burnett wrote the famous children's books: A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, as well as many books for adults such as The Shuttle. So last fall I found a nice used copy online, and finally this summer I was able to work through all my other "books to be read" and get to The Shuttle! Here's my favorite passage that I chose to record.

" 'That is American,' she said, 'the habit of comparing every stick and stone and breathing thing to some literary parallel. We almost invariably say that things remind us of pictures or books- most usually books. It seems a little crude, but perhaps it means that we are an intensely literary and artistic people.' "

A lot of this book deals with relations between American and the British (hence the lion and eagle on the book cover) in I would say...the late 1800's. This quote comes from the main character Bettina (which always makes me wonder if this was inspiration to Maud Hart Lovelace for the nickname Julia gives Betsy) when she has just arrived in England. Bettina's sister has married into the British aristocracy and given Americans a bad name, and Betty (Bettina) is coming across the ocean to save the day and the reputation of Americans everywhere. Forgive my sarcasm there, because I really did like the book, but sometimes I just got the feeling that Burnett was really really proud of her created heroine. But I did love this quote.

So....overall, I enjoyed the book all the way through. It was not an easy read. To me it was one of those books where you need to commit to paying attention to every sentence and inference if you want to fully understand the characters and plot. Some of the characters were tiresome with their extreme propriety and just plain uptight-ness. I am tempted to think that Burnett was overdoing things a bit. But she is the one who lived back then, not me, so I guess I should trust her take of society in that time. Personally I wished there had been an extra chapter or two at the end of the book to tie up loose ends. But I find myself wishing that about a lot of books. I am a big fan of epilogues. I will just have to imagine how all of the characters life's worked out, I suppose. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, or Edith Wharton type books. I hope to eventually read more of Burnett's books for adults.

A Little Princess- This was one of Andrew's read alouds for school this year. We read it right before Christmas break. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it held his attention, as he was not thrilled at first to be reading such a girly book (I guess the cover didn't help much). We just happened to have the Tasha Tudor edition, which I was excited about after having discovered her books and illustrations this summer (I may blog more on her later). My quote from this book is a short one.

"Only an Oriental could have planned it. It does not belong to London fogs."

I really enjoyed finally reading this book. I grew up watching the Shirley Temple movie version, which I've come to find out is a lot different than the book. I always loved the part where Ram Dass sneaks to her attic and makes it all cozy and livable, and that is the part where this quote comes from. It's said by the secretary who is helping Ram Dass with the plan, and he's right, it really doesn't belong to London fogs.
I liked all the old timey names in this book, for example: Ermengarde, Lavinia, and Amelia. I liked the "Large Family" (who weren't included in the movie), and all the fancy names Sara makes up for them. I liked the final chapter, because it gives a happy ending for even a very small character. I would have to say the plot of the book makes much more sense than the plot of the movie did. I would recommend this book to both children and adults.

The Secret Garden- So this was a book (and movie) that I always had a strange aversion to as a child. I'm still not sure what it was that bugged me about it (I never read it or watched the movie). But I decided to give it a try now that I'm older and on a Frances Hodgson Burnett kick. =) I don't have the Tasha Tudor edition like I have shown in the picture, but I may buy it one day, because it looks charming (more charming than our Wal Mart bargain book version).

I can't say that I loved this book. And I will definitely say that my childhood intuition was right. I would not have enjoyed it if I had read it anywhere under the age of 18 or so, which is when I started to appreciate more flowery writing styles, and more sedate plot lines. Andrew enjoyed hearing A Little Princess read aloud, but I can't imagine him sitting still and paying attention through The Secret Garden. I can't quite put my finger on why I didn't connect with this book, because I know some people adore it. I found it interesting at times, but once I got about halfway through with it I found myself having to plan to read it, instead of looking forward to each chapter, like I do with books I'm enjoying.

I can say one thing in the book I didn't enjoy was the Broad Yorkshire accent! Agh, I hate when an author insists on writing out an accent throughout an entire book (think Red Badge of Courage)! I would much rather just be told the accent and be left to imagine it myself for the remainder of the book. And in this case it wasn't even an accent I wanted to imagine for myself. In fact it really pained me when Mary and Colin started trying to speak it on purpose....no kids, just stick with your proper English!!

I'll end with a few quotes that I did like from the book. First from Mary, because I feel like I know exactly what she means:
" 'Don't let us make it tidy,' said Mary anxiously. 'It wouldn't seem like a secret garden if it was tidy.' "

The next is from Mrs. Sowerby, who was maybe my favorite character. She was a good combination of wisdom, bravery, and nurturing. All the talk about "The Magic" kind of weirded me out, but I liked Mrs. Sowerby's take on it because she saw it in a more spiritual sense as opposed to some mystical force of nature (which is the vibe I got from the kids). But who knows if you can even tell what she's trying to say with the camouflage of her very broad Yorkshire. ;)

" 'Th' Magic listened when tha' sung th' Doxology. It would ha' listened to anything tha'd sung. It was th' joy that mattered.' "

And the last little quote I'll leave you with is about Martha (Mrs. Sowerby's daughter, and Dickon's sister). I liked Martha. She seemed like a good sort, even if she was supposed to be more on the simple minded side. At least she wasn't afraid of hard work! This is talking about Martha's day off:

"She went away in high spirits as soon as she had given Mary her breakfast. She was going to walk five miles across the moor to the cottage, and she was going to help her mother with the washing and do the week's baking and enjoy herself thoroughly."

I probably wouldn't read The Secret Garden again, but I'm glad I gave it a chance and finally read it!

My first book review!

"On Hitler's Mountain" by Irmgard Hunt

So, here goes my first book review attempt! I've decided I'm not going to try to do a plot summary, because you can get plenty of those just by going to Amazon. I have a notebook where I write down quotes that I've liked from books that I have read, and little commentaries on them, so these blog posts will be slightly edited versions of what I write in my notebook. I'll just go ahead and say that recently I have been on a big WWII kick, and this book is one of the many WWII books I've recently read. The author grew up on the same mountain where Hitler built his "eagle's nest." She was just an average little German girl growing up in the thick of WWII.

I read this book back in October. It is one of the few books that I bought new and in an actual bookstore. Usually I buy all of my books online. Affordable used books are the best!! But when I saw this one in Barnes and Noble I just couldn't resist (plus I had a gift card...hehe). Here is the quote that I chose to write down from the book:

"I knew then that there were three things I would never get tired of: our mountains, Mozart's music, and Salzburg. But the shadows were lengthening and the clouds were losing their light. The Nazis had taken over our mountains, and soon most of Europe's ancient cities would be in ashes. Bombs would fall on the great dome of the Salzburg Cathedral, and to this day the sound of Mozart's music breaks my heart."

The author is talking about a trip she took to Salzburg in 1939 (I think it was for her 7th or 8th birthday maybe). I liked this quote because, just like the author, I love Salzburg and the mountains in Southern Germany (two of the few places in Europe that I have been lucky enough to visit)! I don't dislike Mozart's music, but I'm not familiar enough with it to say that I love it. What the author says is so accurately sad and foreboding to me. It's such a shame that so many of Europe's ancient cities had to be destroyed.
I really enjoyed this book because of the new and interesting perspective it gave to WWII Germany. It seems like the country life in Germany was much more sheltered than the life of those in the city. The people in Irmgard's life were almost unaware of how horrible things had become (of course part of this could be because this is coming from the perspective of a child).

Another interesting facet of this book was Irmgard's stories on the aftermath of the war. It was crazy to me to realize how different things were for the Germans occupied by Russia versus the parts of Germany occupied by America/Britain/France. In the years after the war, the most valuable currency to the people of Berchtesgaden were Lucky Strike cigarettes because that was what the American soldiers wanted.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book because it gave a back story on all of Irmgard's grandparents and their lives (how they dealt with WWI etc.). It was interesting to see how all of the problems and issues faced by that generation and their children worked together to sort of create the perfect storm that brought Hitler to power. Irmgard's maternal grandfather married a woman 12 years older than him! I just found that intriguing.

In my opinion, Irmgard turned out to be a bit of a nut as an adult. But...who can blame her with all she went through growing up. You will just have to read the book (and all of the extra interviews and such at the end of the book) and form your own opinions on her. =) If anyone has read the book I would love to hear your thoughts as well! Ok....even if you haven't read the book I would like to hear your thoughts. Because as of now....if I'm going by comments....I have 0 readers!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this, my very first book review. I hope to post more eventually! I may dig up a notebook I have with short reviews on lots and lots of LM Montgomery books that I read in 2009 (and a few in 2010). So....if you're an LM Montgomery fan....get excited!

Jessi and Anna's Betsy Tacy Fun!

Just something I posted on facebook yesterday and thought I would put it on my blog as well...since I haven't posted in about 2 years!!! Wow. This was incredibly amusing to Anna and me. Some of our answers will not even make sense to die hard Betsy Tacy fans because they are our own little inside jokes that have come from reading the books out loud so many times. Example: Bobby being the sun god in training, or Mr. Sibley having a crush on Bonnie.

So...Anna and I created this little activity to amuse ourselves in class today, and it was so diverting I decided to make it into a FB note so that our (very few) Betsy Tacy appreciating friends could join in if they so desired. If you are not tagged in this note, but you are reading it, and are a closet fan...please join in! And if you just want to make picks without having to explain, go for it...but I warn you..it's hard to pick without offering a little justification!

So, we took turns picking pairs of characters/things from the books and then we had to pick which we liked better. We allowed ourselves a bit of explanation just because. We wrote our answers/explanations separately and then compared. Some of our answers were amazingly similar and some were very different. Here are the pairs:

1. Tacy vs Tib

2. Carney vs Winona

3. Bonnie vs Irma

4. Cab vs Tony

5. Bangeter vs Clarke

6. Tilda vs Helena

7. Hunter vs Bobby (Sibley)

8. Mr vs Mrs Sibley

9. Win vs Winkie

10. Miss Mix vs Miss Sparrow

11. Miss Cobb vs Aunt Ruth

12. Mr O'Farrell vs Bob Barhydt

13. Larry vs Phil

14. Rocky vs Mr Bagshaw

15. Hazel vs Mamie Dodd

16. Sam vs Joe

17. Freshman Betsy vs Married Betsy

18. Onion Sandwiches vs Rarebit

19. Coconut Cake vs Lady Baltimore Cake

20. Dennie vs Squirelly

Our Picks:

1. Jessi: Tacy- she's more loveable.

Anna: Tacy- this was hard..but sometimes Tib's bluntness rubs me the wrong way.

2. Jessi: Carney- I relate with her way of thinking, except I'm glad that my family isn't dove gray!

Anna: Winona- She seems more fun, and Carney is a little stiff, verging on snobby sometimes.

3. Jessi: Bonnie- Because I actually feel sorry for her. She had a good year at 15, but I feel like the rest of her youth/young adulthood was really bland.

Anna: Irma- It's not Irma's fault that she's so darn attractive, if I was her friend I'd just join forces and try to get all of the boys in school between the two of us.

4. Jessi: Tony- He's just so dashing and loafing all at the same time!

Anna: Tony- He's more romantic...even when Betsy stops being in love with him.

5. Jessi: Bangeter- She actually teaches something with her Shakespeare class. Clarke just does memorization. Although I do like how much Clarke adores Betsy.

Anna: Clarke- She's just so nice...everyone wants a teacher like her!

6. Jessi: Helena- She's just so German and Old World Europe!

Anna: Helena- Yes Helena is snobby, but so is Tilda. And Helena was basically raised to be snobby and has no way out. Tilda has no reason to be so mean.

7. Jessi: Bobby- He actually has a shot at being purple...being the Sun God in training and all!

Anna: Bobby- No brainer.

8. Jessi: Mrs. Sibley- I feel like she wishes she could break out of her New England reserve. Plus..at least she's not having a fling with her daughter's friend like Mr. Sibley!

Anna: Mr. Sibley- at least he doesn't have a block of ice for a heart.

9. Jessi: Win- she's the not as manly one...right?

Anna: Win- she's only slightly less creepy than Winkie.

10. Jessi: Miss Sparrow- She's lovable, while I feel like Miss Mix is on a fashion high horse!

Anna: Miss Sparrow- I can't help but feel like Miss Sparrow helped Betsy and Joe realize that they belong together!

11. Jessi: Aunt Ruth- She didn’t choose to be alone like Miss Cobb, it was thrust upon her. Plus, she’s a relative of Joe, so there’s got to be some cool in her deep down somewhere. Plus… Wheat!

Anna: Aunt Ruth- She helped with Joe’s story and made delicious bread!

12. Jessi: Mr O’Farrell- He’s a philanderer, but at least he’s broad minded and interesting. Bob not only helped drive a wedge between Betsy and Joe, but he’s just a callow youth frat boy river banker! Ew.

Anna: Mr O’Farrell- At least he was older and exciting and dashing and a world traveler, Bob was just a frat boy.

13. Jessi: Larry- I would probably rather date Phil, but Larry seems more overall good natured. Plus, he's related to Herbert, so he has some good genes.. or maybe Herbert got them all!

Anna: Phil- He served his purpose of making Betsy’s sophomore year more exciting. It was just so great on the Monday after the dance they went to school and realized that they both liked each other!

14. Jessi: Rocky- I find him fascinating… obnoxious, but fascinating. Mr. Bagshaw is such a sensitive, prissy mougar!

Anna: Mr. Bagshaw- if you’re going to be in an unhappy relationship, you can at least be rich! No one liked Rocky… It’s embarrassing to date someone that everyone knows is mean…

15. Jessi: Hazel- She’s almost a real person. Mamie’s like some sort of cartoon in a world of live action people. Hazel is maybe… Pixar.

Anna: Mamie Dodd- At least she was a really great piano player! Hazel was just a freckle-faced debater…

16. Jessi: Sam- If it was who I was dating I’d choose Sam, he would never hold out on someone just because of his pride! But if I was more Betsyish it would be Joe!

Anna: Joe- how could I not pick him?! Sam is fun and all, but Joe is just so cute and works so hard and is just that guy that you would always be a little bit amazed that he liked you!

17. Jessi: Married Betsy-I guess… Married Betsy is more diverse and interesting. But freshman Betsy is pretty darn absorbing for just being a regular 14 year old!

Anna: Freshman Betsy- though married Betsy is more confident and sophisticated, I like Freshman Betsy. She just loves everything so much!

18. Jessi: Onion Sandwiches- I don’t think I’d like either in real life… But in the books onion sandwiches sound delicious, while rarebit sounds harrowing.

Anna: Onion Sandwiches- I’ve always thought they sounded like the most marvelous thing ever!

19. Jessi: Coconut Cake- I can never get a clear image of what Lady Baltimore Cake actually is… but it sounds elegant!

Anna: Lady Baltimore Cake- I don’t even know what it is, but for some reason I thought it would be like a mix between Boston Cream Pie and Chocolate Éclair Cake!

20. Jessi: Dennie- he’s just so jovial! Squirrelly is kind of like Lady Baltimore Cake… I don’t exactly know who/what he is… I mean, how do you even pronounce his name?

Anna: Dennie- He seemed cuter and more fun! Wasn’t it him and Cab that had the Soirees with Betsy and Tib in Betsy was a Junior?

Well...it's been such a productive day in class...and it's not over yet!

Just a post....no theme...nothin' special

Hello everyone (in an imitation of a certain some one's answering machine recording),
I don't have anything of value to say....I am simply bored at work and sort of feel like blogging. But now that I went through all the trouble of signing on (ha, sad when hitting a few keys is considered trouble, but that is, indeed how it felt) I might at well get a nice lengthy post out of it. What are some topics that I may want to toss out there during this post......Tennessee Football (ugh), my imminent departure for Disney World (imminent being late late Sat nite/Sun morning), my current longing/obsession with learning how to surf, books I am currently, and/or planning to read, my inability to stop purchasing books online (its just so simple, and usually not very expensive, and so satisfying when they show up on my doorstep about a week later), the VP debate coming up on Thursday nite.....ok I think those are all of the topics that I may or may not want to discuss.

First up..............Tennessee Football! Oh goody, this will either get me all riled up, or maybe it will be cathartic. I guess we'll see when I'm finished.
Well....to start off.....Crompton is completely and utterly useless!!! No, no, I take that back. He's not useless....he's a very big asset.....for our opponents!!! 9 out of 10 times he's pegging someone standing 10 feet out bounds (maybe he could at least blind the other teams quarterback while he's on the sidelines talking on the phones or something). And that 1 time out of 10 that he doesn't throw it out of bounds, Crompton's probably hurling the ball into the raised hands of the defense, only for the ball to come flying back at him. I never thought I would see the day when I desperately wanted Ainge to come back!!!
2ndly.....Fulmer!!! Come on buddy, just be the mean guy for once and take Crompton out in the middle of the game! Maybe a little embarrassment will do him good. Or, better yet, just sit him out the entire game!!! And, I know our running game is all we have, but could we please quit giving the ball to Foster!!! He is not that fast. He just isn't. We have other people to use....how about Hardesty....or maybe we could "find a way" to coax Creer just a little bit harder, and get him in the game.....haha ("we just can't find a way to get him in the game"). Fulmer, you're the coach, you're in charge of these guys and these games, start acting like it!!! Stop being such a softy!!!! Oh yeah, and this more applies to the past, because heaven knows, we will never have the chance to blow anybody out this year, but if you have the chance to beat someone badly.....just do it!!! Believe me, it won't be the first time it has happened to them. Get some killer instinct Phil!!! Ok, I think I am done with that topic. I think I feel a little bit better, although I'm pretty darn sure that none of the things I suggested/whined about will ever come to pass. Oh well..... it's the plight of being a Tenn. fan. I would still never trade it to be a #2 ranked Bamer. =)

Ok, on to another topic...lets see here....it is officially October. I am not one of those people that just loves fall, and the changing of the weather and all that jazz. Hot muggy weather is good enough for me, pretty much anytime. Unless it's going to snow, and some large mountains are going to pop up somewhere in North Alabama, and I am going to suddenly come into possession of some quality ski gear, then, for me, it might as well be summer year round. This "lack of appreciation" for fall, is one of the reasons Anna and I have dubbed October "The Lost Month." At least in September you have the novelty of the start of Tenn. football season, and November has Thanksgiving (which most people don't really appreciate, but that's another topic for another time). October....well, it doesn't really have anything special to call its own. And don't you go trying to suggest Halloween, that doesn't even come close to counting. When I see people who decorate their yards for Halloween.....well, I can't help but laugh at them. Sorry, but Halloween is just a joke of a holiday, and I even thought this when I was a small child. But, I am just going through all of this to say.....that this year....October is not The Lost Month. Because we are going to Disney World this October!!! So far, (meaning today) the thought of going to/being in Disney World has taken away all of October's gloomy powers. Hopefully the afterglow will stick around a while too, considering we get home the 12, so there is a whole nother half of the month to muddle through. Oh well, I'll think about that when it actually comes around (a little variation of Scarlett's mantra).

Surfing.....it's painful to think about it too much.....I thought I would be getting to try it in the not so distant future. You see, Typhoon Lagoon (in DW) has a wave pool, and on certain days, in the early morning, they give private surf lessons there. I've been reading all about it, getting all the information. I had even started watching a bunch of youtube videos of people there, even some pro surfers that rented it out for the nite. It looks so cool!!! I was going to call and make a reservation for myself for one of the morning while we're there. But, alas, on the official DW website, it says : Typhoon Lagoon Surf School Closed until Feb. 2009. Ahhhhhh!!! =( So, now I have just been watching surfing videos on real beaches, which look like even more fun. Now I want to go to a beach and try some for real surfing..... I don't know where the closest place for some good surfing would be. I wish I could just fly out to California, and surf there. Yep, that would be ideal. Haha. So, for now, my surfing dreams are dashed. I must be content to merely watch youtube videos......

So, I'm reading a book series by LM Montgomery called "Emily of New Moon." There are three books, and I am currently on the 2nd one. So far, they're very enjoyable. Not particularly realistic, but who really wants that? Anna is thoroughly creeped out by them, because I told her about a man in the books (Dean Priest) who is 36 and in love with Emily (the main character who is, at the time, 12). Yeah, I agree, it is pretty creepy, but I'm sure weirder things than that happened back then, and it does make the storyline more interesting. Plus, I'm 99% sure that Emily, unlike the obedient Elsie Dinsmore, would ever marry a man who was her Father's boyhood friend. Creepy! But, the best part about LM Montgomery books are all her crazy characters. I think that is why books about the olden days are so good. People were just a lot crazier back then. Even the ones who were considered sane were very very odd, and that, my friends, makes for good literature! haha.

So, it looks as if this post is a monster already. And not just a monster, but a fairly random and pointless monster. So.....I am hereby ending it now. I will have to talk over my other topics at some later date....or if I don't feel like it, I will never talk them over. So there! So....now I will engage in the not so pleasant task of cleaning up my most likely various spelling errors, typos, and generally hideous punctuation. Have a wonderful day, week, fortnight, or month, depending on how long it is until I post again! Good bye!

NaNoWriMo Ideas....

Well well well....it looks like I am back in the blogosphere after a long break. It's sort of funny...my blog was born out of an intense boredom at work (a place where I no longer work), and since the birth of my blog, I have gotten a new (full time) job. Now, I expected this new job to consist of lots of work, thereby keeping me too busy to do frivolous things like blogging, but it appears that I was wrong. In the 3rd week of my new job I am just as free time endowed (if not more so) than I was during my previous occupation. Sooooo....I have been sitting here mulling over my options for a big event in November that I hope to take part in. If I am just a bored by then as I am now, I can do a good bit of contributing to this event during my working hours. This event is called National Novel Writing Month. The cool kids call it NaNoWriMo, and I of course, am a very cool kid (note the title of this post). This NaNoWriMo thing is pretty simple...you take the entire month of November, and try to crank out a 50,000 word story/book/novel/whateveryouwouldliketocallyourwork. Last year Jake and I learned of this fascinating idea about a week into the month of November. We both wanted to participate, but me being the busy college student/part time employee that I was, and him being the busy 14yr old baseballing/basketballing/homeschooling kid that he is, we weren't sure we could keep up the pace. Plus, we were already a few days behind. So....with a stroke of brilliance that pretty much characterizes our lives, we decided to just collectively work on something that we were already co-writing anyway. "The Good Humored Hobos" was the title of our work. We triumphantly made it to our 50,000 word goal, and still ended up not wrapping the story up. It's been almost a year, and we still haven't ended the story, but we haven't really given the Hobos much attention over the months....we'll finish it one day...I just know we will. But....in the mean time, let's move on to the real topic of my post. I want to brainstorm on a topic/choice for NaNoWriMo this year. Since I plan to start on time, as well as possibly have a lot of free time on my hands at work, I'm thinking about taking on the 50,000 word goal all on my own. So, I'm tossing ideas around in my head about what I might like to write about. Here's what I have so far......

Stories that I have already begun:

1. I wrote a story when I was young called "The Mavericks Mishaps" it was about a family with a bunch of kids (probably 8 years old and up) and their parents go out of town and the kids get into all sorts of trouble (some their fault, some not their fault). A year or two ago, I started a sort of sequel to this story called "The Mavericks:the college years" The family now lives on the island of Oahu and they still have crazy "mishaps." - I think there is lots of potential left with this story, because it is kind of like a sitcom, it could go episode by episode, and never really end. I'm just not sure if I would get bored with it or not.

2. "The Wells Sisters Go A-Camping" This story spun off of a story that Lesley created about three sisters who are loosely base off of Anna, Lesley and me. My part of this story tells of the Wells sisters going to a summer church camp. There are zany characters such as the Yarboroughs (brothers and sisters who love Celine Dion) and Mrs. Johnson (the mother of one of the sister's SOS who likes to wear American flag wind pants...the mother not the SOS). I was planning on basing most of this story on my experiences at Awana camp which is a very weird place, therefore very good for story material.

3. "Emory, Honor and the Extra Personage" This story is almost as nonsensical as the good humored hobos, but who says nonsensical isn't fun??? This is a story I started about triplets. Emory and Honor are fairly normal, nice little girls who have been abandoned by their parents and their triplet whom they call the extra personage (her real name is Landry). Landry, and their parents have left for Hollywood, because they are convinced that Landry has the stuff to make it as the next Shirley Temple. This story is basically going to be tales of how Emory and Honor take care of themselves throughout their growing up years. It seems like it could turn out kind of Dixie Northi-ish / Pippi Longstocking-ish (hopefully way less creepy).

Are you sensing a pattern here......none of my stories have much of an element of realism....that's unfortunate. But, wait, I did once start a story that was supposed to be a realistic historical dramatic mystery type thing.....yeah.....weird right??? I started it...and built up this big dramatic mysterious type of plot, but I didnt really have an ending planned out or anything. So, needless to say, it kind of fizzled out. I could try to do something with it. That may be kind of challenging but it could be interesting. I could just keep going until I absolutely positively had to have the ending developed, and then.....who knows! I think that story was called something like "A Flower of the Prairie." haha! Don't you like my 17 year old attempt at the dramatic? Yeah, I started that story a long time ago, back when I hadn't realized my utter inability to write serious stories. Anyways, there ya go,
4. "A Flower of the Prairie" or something to that effect.....

So.....go ahead....cast your votes. Should I work on one of these.....or go in a completely new direction???? I have about a month plus to decide!!! Can't you just feel the suspense???

Jake, aka "The Clever One"

Well, well, well, it looks like we're nearing the end of my much acclaimed sibling posts. And today is the day we will talk, laugh, and reminisce over Jacob Reuben Nelson (or Bocaj Nebuer Noslen if you prefer). Man oh man...where do we begin with the crazy one that is Jake....


Well, I suppose I'll begin by explaining why we sometimes call him Bocaj Nebuer Noslen (which is most of the time shortened to Boc). You may remember me mentioning the Disney Cruise during my post about Adam and his insane luckiness. Well, it was during this same enchanted voyage that Jake, at the age of....61/2 I think.... let us all (including each of the Hubbards) know what our full backward names are. During the cruise we all carried around personal room keys/ID given out by Disney that had our full names (as well as other stuff) printed on them. Jake has always been one to quietly sit back and study things and after doing so he usually comes up with a rather random and entertaining revelation. So, we were all surprised and strangely enough, delighted when Jake let us all know that from then on we could address him as Bocaj Noslen. Immediately we all wanted him to translate our names into backwards speak. He obligingly did so, and we spent the rest of the trip and pretty much the rest of the years after the trip thoroughly enjoying his 6 year old discovery.


As a small child, Jake had a fondness for making up his own words. Sometimes these words were just a variation of a real word, and sometimes they were completely made up words that he liked to use as insults. For instance, if Jake got particularly outdone with one of us, he would shout angrily, "You boon!" I think this was meant to cut us to the quick....although I'm not quite sure why. Another favorite "insult" of his was to call someone a "doody pizza." This was usually used in a more good humored way, maybe more like calling someone a dork. Yeah, not nearly as hurtful as being called a Boon.
For the longest time Jake either wasn't able to, or just didn't feel the need to be able to pronounce the "cr" sound in a word. This resulted in words like Fritter(his favorite books by Mercer Mayer), Fristmas, and Frocodile. We would even write on his Christmas presents, "To Jakey, Merry Fristmas." He saw nothing wrong with this yuletide greeting. We were all thoroughly amused by Jake's lack of pronunciation skills. I think we were perfectly willing for him to go on the rest of his life using the "fr" sounds for his words. So what if he one day made it to the MLB and during an interview or press conference he said something like..."We were down with bases loaded, and I took off at the frack of the bat." He would more than likely be such an amazing player that people would think it was some kind of trademark of his or something.... Sadly enough, one fateful day, Daniel Hubbard took baby Jake under his wing, and drilled him and coached him until he no longer asked us to read him a fritter book, or insisted that he wasn't being frabby. It was a sad period in the Nelson household, I'm not sure if we have ever forgiven Daniel.....haha


In his early years Jake had a special talent, that he doubtless inherited from Mother (only Mom really possesses this talent, and Jake's was just a ruse). No matter what any of us chose to present him as a Christmas gift, Jake always knew exactly what it would be. We have this recorded for proof on home videos. He would start out picking up the present, "I bet I know what this is...." Then he would skillfully babel and make small talk, distracting us, all the while unwrapping the present. Once he could tell what he was receiving, he would joyfully exclaim something to this effect...."lion king slippers! I knew that's what it was going to be!" Once for his own cruel amusement(heck I would have done it too), Dad tried to catch Jake in his little tricks (or should I say "fricks"). "Wait Jake, don't open it yet, tell us what you think it's gonna be. Tell us!" But, like an old pro Jake just continued on his usual course "This is easy, I know what it's gonna be...." *rapidly talking and unwrapping all at once* "Oooh, a Fisher Price Castle, I knew it!" If I remember correctly, Jake didn't have this amazing gift guessing ability when opening birthday presents, it was mostly reserved to Christmas time. Maybe it was something in the Christmas cookies.....


Jake was a very stout little boy....which, aside from his love of hot dogs, and lemons, was surprising, because he was a constant bundle of movement. Literally, you could walk into the den at our house, and find Jake in the room alone having generated a full-on workout type sweat. Usually this would happen from his doing something like starting at one couch and throwing a ball in the air towards the other couch, and seconds later diving through the air onto the couch across the room to catch the ball while it was still in the air. He would do this about 100 times.....seriously.

This was just the type of thing he would do if there was no one available to have some friendly competition with. Jake was always up for a round of pool baseball, yard baseball, basement ball, or any other type of competition we had worked up for the day. And although he was the youngest, we never felt the need to humor him. All of this intense competition and physical activity set him up to be a much more fierce competitor than anyone among his own peers. We have tons of hilarious stories to tell about Jake in t-ball, machine pitch, and basketball. It would take far too many posts to tell them all. But, probably my favorite is the time that his basketball team played below their potential, and got eliminated from a tournament in which they should have taken first place. Jake was, of course, disgusted, whereas, more than half of his teammates were just elated to be getting medals. When Jake's medal was presented to him he did exactly what I would have felt like doing, but would not have possessed the guts to carry out. He walked straight to the nearest trash can, and was right on the verge of chunking his medal. But, before he could trash it, Dad ran frantically over to stop him, and probably give him a little talk on good sportsmanship (not that Dad thought the medal was any less worthless).

This competitive spirit, and drive for performance to full potential comes out in Jake when he's just a fan too. When he is a grown man, and not playing sports competitively, I can see Jake clearly, he's watching the Braves flub up a game, or seeing Tennessee make a ridiculous fumble. He'll shake his head, do a couple of his patented sarcastic claps, and throw a pillow at the tv for good measure. And we'll all chuckle a little because we all know that at the moment, he is actually practicing a lot of self control.


Jake has always been a voracious reader. Ok, wait, not voracious...that word has always creeped me out a little. It puts a mental picture in my head of someone carrying a stack of books to their kitchen table, and then cutting them up with a knife and fork and chowing down on them like a meal. Jake really likes to read. Yeah, I like the sound of that better. I like to credit Jake's love of literature, to my own, superior skills of reading aloud. Yes, these days Jake reads books about Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, Horatio Hornblower, and (shudder) Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, but back in the day the 2 of us had more cultured tastes. We read things like "Detectives in Togas," "The Wheel on the School," and "Kildee House (what a bizarre book!)." If I have kids of my own one day, we will hopefully be reading a lot of the same books that were read by Jake and me. I will definitely be telling them stories of how Uncle Jake just complained and complained whenever it was time to do his read aloud, even though he secretly enjoyed it. I will also tell them how Uncle Jake and I didn't (even secretly) enjoy "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry" or "The Great Turkey Walk." I will tell them how Jake attempted to hide his tears, when we finished "Caddie Woodlawn." Ok, maybe I just made that last part up, but they would never believe that big tough Uncle Jake would have done that anyway. So, what I'm trying to say is....you better watch out Jake, your future nieces and nephews are going to be hearing a lot of crazy stories about you!!!




*****I am proud to announce that this hearby ends my much acclaimed "sibling posts." I will not be posting anything about Andrew, mostly because he has not lived long enough to merit one of these posts. So, Andrew, I'll get back to you when you're at least 15. For now.......I am going to enjoy my accomplishment of being finished with 4 very unique Nelson children posts!!!*****

Anna, aka Anna Rebekah Nelson Fine Bajanca Hart-thin Ashley Martin Arlene Becky Coates CoCo!

Whew!! Ok, I think the title says it all....so my work here is done. Seeya next time to talk about Jake!

Ok ok, of course I'm kidding. Lets see.....what to say about Anna....Well, lets see here....

Anna was born at our home on a warm spring day during the afternoon. I remember sticking my head in and out of the room to try to see if she had arrived yet. I remember being annoyed because the midwives wouldn't let me stay in the room. Didn't they know I was all of 5 years old, and not at all afraid of seeing a baby being born? I think in reality I was just oblivious enough that watching my mother give birth really wouldn't have freaked me out.So, Anna was born, the runt of the family, at 7 pounds 8 ounces. She was still very chubby, just a little smaller than the rest of us (yes, Anna I know you love this). She was born with braces, a little known fact about her that the family has always tried to conceal. Luckily, she got them off before she turned 2, and we refrained from photographing her until then (didn't want to break any cameras). Ok Ok Ok, I'm kidding once again. Anna was not born with braces!!! Got that??? The braces thing is just a little story Jared and I made up to bother her. She still insists that she didn't believe us and she was only acting frantic because it made her angry that we thought she believed us..... But we all know better......


Anna has always had a very distinct sense of style. She knows what she wants to look like, and she's not going to compromise, or give up until she can achieve that look she has in her mind's eye. As a small child, she always had a certain look dancing around in her aforementioned mind's eye. One of our favorite movies was Toby Tyler, and Anna loved the style and flair possessed by the two little equestrians, Janette and Ajax. Even though she was neither a member of the circus, nor a bareback rider, Anna just knew she could rock their look anyway. She did so by almost every day wearing fancifully colored leotards with a turtleneck (no pants). I will give her credit by saying Janette and Ajax's also went pants less when sporting their equestrian wear....but....I'm not quite willing to say they were wearing leotards. I think I would veer more towards saying they were thin leggings. But, lets not forget about the other half of the outfit...the turtleneck....I'm not really sure how her young mind came up with that one. But, for a long time, Anna's outfit of choice (thankfully she confined it to only at home) for around the house was leotards and a turtleneck.


Anna has always had a soft spot for getting lost. I suppose she thought it was exciting or something. Cruel child. The very scariest time Anna wandered away from the family was in one of the biggest, and supposedly happiest places on earth. That's right, Walt Disney World. We were staying in the Polynesian hotel, and I think Anna was almost 3 years old. Our family of 7 was traveling with our grandparents, Ronnie, Sandra, Brooke, and Mary. We were a very large group....but somehow Anna managed to separate herself from us despite our largeness. If I remember correctly, we were walking from Polynesian to ticket and transportation center to eventually make our way to the Grand Floridian for a massive breakfast buffet. Apparently, in Anna's words, Jared climbed on a rock, and seeing him climb on that rock just gave her the unquenchable desire to do the same. Well, once that little bitty girl climbed all the way up on what I must assume was one gigantic rock, her large family had already walked far far away. It wasn't until we were about to board a monorail and Mother was doing a quick headcount that we discovered we were missing a small rock climber! Dad made what he describes as the most frantic and terrified dash he's ever made in his life, retracing our steps. This dash took him all the way back to the Polynesian hotel. Not at all far away from the rock on which Anna began her little misadventure, Dad found her being taken care of by a nice couple. Apparently they had found her lost and a little upset. She had doubtless charmed them with her small and chubby sweetness, and they were comforting her and letting her hold a little stuffed Minnie Mouse doll. So, although this was a very dramatic event in Anna's life, instead of deciding to retire from the life of getting lost, she continued to do so a few more times. For example, a few years later she managed to got lost in a super Wal Mart while we were driving cross country to Colorado. She got her name announced on the loudspeaker and everything....ok not exactly her name, but "the little girl in the Aladdin sweatsuit." hahahaha.


Although as I mentioned before, Anna has always been on the small side of us Nelson children. in her childhood years (thankfully she has sort of grown out of this now) there was one thing possessed by Anna that was not so small. Her stomach (particularly after eating a tasty and filling meal at Golden Corral). It never failed, whenever we would go out to eat, which was frequently, and almost always with the Hubbards, Anna's little gut would just balloon up like a watermelon. Usually, us girls (Anna Lesley and I) would just get a good chuckle over it, and Anna would unbutton her pants, and wha-la, problem solved. But one fateful day....the attack of the expanding belly became utterly unmanageable! Anna and I had these amazingly cool outfits, no doubt, they were picked out using Anna's hardcore fashion sense (seeing as I didn't develop any until I was about 14, and even that is debatable). They were church outfits, matching ones. The skirts were ankle length, with light purple, light blue and white flowers spread liberally and fancifully across the fabric. The tops were the real kicker. I think they were made of some sort of stretchy-ish polyester, short sleeved....and.... they zipped. Yes, that is essentially what made them cool, the fact that they zipped. The tops were light purple to, of course, match the light purple flowers on the skirts. So, on that particular Sunday, Anna chose to wear the coolest outfit in her closet to church. Looking back, she insists that it was already getting too small for her, but she wanted to wear it anyway, because, of course, it was so incredibly fierce. Soooo.....we go to Golden Corral, the Mecca of all buffets (until of course, it got rats)....we invariably stuff ourselves full of delicious food. Anna's stomach does its thing....and, to quote Pants Suit, "bada bing, bada boom" Anna is miserable. But....fate is not on her side. She is not wearing pants, therefore she cannot unbutton her button! The stylish zipper shirt is at this point painfully tight, and completely uncomfortable. Her stomach is bursting to get out of this corset like article of clothing, but there is nothing she can do about it! So, in a stroke of amazing luck, Lesley happens to be wearing a white t-shirt with some type of jean jacket vest kinda thing over it. She magnanimously offers to let Anna exchange her restricting purple zipper shirt for the comforts of a a size of two larger jean jacket/vest contraption. Anna gratefully accepted, and her stomach got its way, as usual, and expanded greedily, probably trying its hardest to fill up the jean jacket as well. I don't think anyone asked why Anna and Lesley switched shirts after the meal, they probably just assumed that Anna's stomach was up to it's tricks again. It was Golden Corral after all!