just in case you were wondering:

• almond milk, agave nectar, and coffee have to be the welcoming drink at Heaven's gates...

• even meat eaters should only get about 7 to 9 oz of their protein from actual meat...

• kids enjoy cleaning with their mama...beside them enjoying it, too...and music makes it even more fun!

• i have a big pot of assorted soup beans simmering on the stove...makes me feel like a "real grown up"...

• on my night stand right now: scandalous freedom (highly recommend this book...not for the faint of heart...i'd say it's very much for those who struggle with legalism...but it's just as much for those who struggle with legalists), nutrition book for class, marathon book, running and fitness book, stitch 'n bitch (i have been dying for this book and the library finally had it on the shelf...it's a fun approach to knitting), and 101 designer one skein wonders (because when you are poor...you must learn to do more with less...one skein for the non-knitting readers...is basically one ball of yarn), oh and of course the ever present Charlotte Mason Companion (this is an amazing book for anyone who home schools...but especially for those of us doing the CM method).

• we dab lavender essential oil under mermaid's nose to calm her and to help her "nose work"...it's one of the first things she asks for in the morning and last thing she requests at night.

• i am shamefully addicted to spin class...i think about it way more than any normal person should...but we all know...i am far from normal!!

Some Good Books

i have read 10 or more books this summer.
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller was a fantastic memoir. i have fallen in love with the way she writes! her memoir not only exposes her life but also exposes the beauty of africa yet the ugliness of war.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver was another incredible novel about africa...well...a family in africa...it was beyond good...i also fell in love with kingsolver's ability to tell a tale!

Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill was so good that i could barely put it down. something about this book gripped me immediately and spoke to my soul. it's about a little girl being ripped away from her family in africa and being brought back to US as a slave. i was even able to convince OA to read it!

i have read so many good books that i can barely express the goodness of each one, let alone remember what they were, without locating my list! i think that each summer i am going to challenge myself to complete my own summer reading program! maybe i can inspire my kiddos...mermaid already sits at the book shelf lovingly...and she is never far from a huge stack of books!