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Our lives from the beginning were all about our children but now we are officially empty nesters. Even after almost 35 years together we still learn something new about each other almost daily. The journal, One Question a Day to Stay Close & Curious, A Couple's Journal for a Lifetime of Love by Gina Senarighi is a great book for new couples at any time during their relationship. Actually, this would be nice to do at the beginning of a marriage and then updated throughout the marriage to see how the responses might differ over time.
Our marriage has always been pretty strong but it took work. We have had our lows, highs, and tons of twists and turns over the years. We only had a short time of being a couple before children started coming along and even though we took time for date nights regularly we always found ourselves talking about our children. Not much has changed but not every living minute is about our children now.
Now we are filling in all of the little details and learning more about each other. For instance, when Easter came around I knew my husband always liked his big solid chocolate Easter Bunny which was always in his basket growing up and I know he loves pretty much anything Reese's but other than that he always got what our children got. I didn't really know his favorite candies. These are conversations we have now.
Yes, most of our lives are still taken up with our children and grandchildren but we are discovering new things about each other every day. This journal takes us to places where we might not have taken the time to talk or write about but now we have a space for them. There are many we have spoken to each other about but have never taken the time to actually write down in words that we could come back and read at a later time or leave for our children to read when we are gone.
For me being diagnosed with 3rd Stage Colon Cancer was a big eye-opener. My whole life had revolved around my family which is not a bad thing, but I really never took time for myself other than a bath while reading, and that was OK, but now that I have time there are things I want to still do in my lifetime and that includes staying close to my husband and leaving something behind for our children. Money, we don't have but knowledge that I can do.
If you are interested in this book check it out below.
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A new year, a new list of books to read. In case you are just tuning in, I am working on one of my bucket list items which would be to read the whole original Nancy Drew Series. I read quite a few when I was younger but I wanted to read them all in order. I was lucky to find a great deal and add them to my new collection of books. To be honest most of my books are now digital but I still love an actual book where I can feel the page being turned and see the progress of how far I am in by looking at the binding and where my bookmark is. I would love to hear what you are reading right now.
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Finally getting back into my reading mode and have gotten a few read already with a few I am working on right now. In case you are just tuning in, I am working on one of my bucket list items which would be to read the whole original Nancy Drew Series. I read quite a few when I was younger but I wanted to read them all in order. I was lucky to find a great deal and add them to my new collection of books. To be honest most of my books are now digital but I still love an actual book where I can feel the page being turned and see the progress of how far I am in by looking at the binding and where my bookmark is. I would love to hear what you are reading right now.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
I Love Strawberriesis an awesome book to read and learn how to grow strawberries, or even before going to your local farm stand. Reading this one is both fun and educational. I even picked up a few hints about growing strawberries in our garden. Perfect for the start of Summer.
Side note for anyone interested the very first job that I was paid to do was to pick strawberries on a farm when I was about 12. It was hard hot work but gave me a new understanding of the work it takes to grow food.
Farm Bootsis a book for anyone who has ever enjoyed spending time on a farm or has fond memories of working alongside a grandparent. It is also a book for anyone who wants to celebrate the special bond between generations, the importance of family, and the simple pleasures of life.
For me, this book brought back memories of helping my dad on the farm with the cattle or in our backyard where we kept pigs, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, and for a short time a goat.
Both of these books can be found at most bookstores or retailers online.
Disclosure: MarksvilleandMe received one or more of the products mentioned above as part of a promotion. Regardless, MarksvilleandMe only recommends products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. Some of the links in the article may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive compensation. If you would like MarksvilleandMe to review or promote a product or service please contact us at marksvilleandme@gmail.com.
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This year was really hard on our family. Where I thought I would have all the time in the world to read I found myself instead fighting for my life. Stage 3 Colon Cancer really gave me a hard time. We did get in a few books though and I will share them below. One of my bucket list items is reading the whole set of Nancy Drew books. I have read many over the years some more then once but wanted to do them in order.
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I was recently able to try out the Glocusent 16 LED Rechargeable Book Light which was sent to me for my honest opinion. Honestly, I love it. It is rechargeable, you can change the light setting with a click, and it will last 80+ hours although I can't vouch for the 80 hours yet as I haven't read that many non-digital books to know if it lasts that long yet.
This is great for both children and adults. You won't bother your partner while reading, it is great for camping or even for the kids who love to read when they are supposed to be sleeping. I was one of those kids for sure. I love that it helps me read without having to ask someone to help turn the light on at night as I am currently battling colon cancer and this gives me some independence on my down days so that I can do something for myself without having to depend on other so much during the night.
What I think would make this better is a timer that blinks the light when it will turn off for those parents who don't want their kids staying up all night, as a reminder, it's time for bed you can read more tomorrow.
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Some of you might remember that we started family reading. Kind of like a book club for our family so we could read the same book at the same time. We usually have discussions on it and when there is a movie we would also celebrate the ending of the book with the movie and then critique it to see which parts we liked best. Spoiler for our family it is usually the book that wins.
Our first book was "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" written by C.S. Lewis. You can read all about why we started family reading here. We just finished reading it this last week and set Friday as our movie night to enjoy the book we read in movie form. We chose the 2005 version. We also ordered Turkish delight to have as a treat during the movie as a surprise for my daughter.
We bought both the fruit and nut versions of Turkish Delight because we couldn't decide.
My daughter called earlier asking us to watch my grand daughter for the weekend we call her Beaner. Of course we said yes. We enjoy almost all of the time we have with our grand daughter. My hsuabnd and I had decided earlier in the week as we were nearing the end of the book that we would make it a themed night so we served buttered toast with Sardines, cut up boiled eggs, and tea as well, before we pulled out the Turkish Delight just as Edmund was about to bite into his piece.
My grand daughter really was excited about everything and wished she had read with us over the summer. We told her she could still read the next book we pick out with us. We now have really neat gadgets and apps like facebook messenger, zoom, etc to be able to do everything in real time together. This whole thing really got my daughter excited about reading more books as well.
We are going to go back and read book one in the series since for some reason I didn't know that this wasn't the first book. That is OK though, sometimes that is just how you find a new author to read, and then go back and read all or most of their books. I can't count how many authors and book series I started in the wrong order and have gone back and read them in order, and then picked up other series they have written and read those as well.
Was Family Reading worth it? For us it really was and I hope to enjoy many more books with my family in the years to come. Here is to a new family tradition. Are there any new tradtions you have added over the last year?
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Over the years I have read many books to my children, the children I have cared for, my grandchildren, and even to myself. My husband and myself have read many books together and also shared our own genre of books with each other. I have a long time love of reading books. The love of reading books comes from my father who took the time each night to read to me till 4th grade when my reading level was college level and my father wasn't sure what to do so the Dr. told him to just read anything to me and he started to read medical journals, Life jornalism books, National Geographic, and the old Readers digest books, pretty much anything he could think of.
We were not rich by any means but I know there were always books for me to read, magazines like Highlights, Ladybug, Cricket, Jack and Jill, Spider, and Humpty Dumpty. Book sets delivered to our home that I devoured some with help, most without.
Years later when I would have my own children I just expected them to read like I did. At three years old my parent thought I had memorized the books I was reading and the Dr. told them that I knew how to read and wanted to know who taught me. They hadn't, they had just been reading to me and somehow I just picked it up. So when my children struggled with reading I didn't really know how to teach them because it had just come naturally to me, but thankfully my husband had learned to read the good old fashioned way so between us we did OK until the kids went off to school and let them take over.
Now forward past my first 4 children to my last two girls and I knew something just wasn't clicking for them and thought that the school had it all covered. In steps Covid-19, remote learning and the thrown in my face fact that the school had let me and most of all my chidren down. Not to say my kids haven't had great teachers because they have but the teachers can only do so much with the time they have when the government or state gives them a timeline to adhere to even if the kids are left behind (No child left behind is far from the truth of things). The truth is if the child falls behind they are usually left there to fail with little or no support to help them.
So our family after my 18 year old and 5th child graduated 12th grade by the skin of her teeth and my now 13 year old were done with school this year, we decided we would homeschool our youngest through High School. We want her to learn to read better, to understand what she is reading, and actually hold on to some of that knowledge before being rushed on to something she doesn't even understand (like algebra when she doesn't know her times tables).
Back to reading before I get going off to far in the wrong direction. This summer we decided to start family reading, where we all read the same book together at the same time. To make sure our daughter is staying up with us we all take turns reading passages so that we can help her with words she doesn't know while modeling what to do while reading. Such as pausing for commas, showing emphasis, how words look or sound the same but are very different from each other, and how to find out which to use in a sentence. We just want her to be better prepared for the future then her sister is at this time. We have just lost too much time trusting that the school would do the work for us.
So here we are on our first book The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe written by C.S. Lewis, which by the way I thought was the first book in the series The Chronicles of Narnia not the second so we will be going back to book one The Magician's Nephew at some time in the future. Learning never ceases even as an adult. If you are interested in The Chronicles of Narnia check it out below.
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INTERNATIONAL DINOSAUR DAY is MAY 18TH
National Geographic Kids is celebrating all month long with fun games, video shorts, facts, and even a dinosaur personality quiz. You can find them all here. They are even hosting a giveaway for one lucky winner on my site to win all 5 books below with a value of $80.00. Enter here.
I have always loved National Geographic while growing up and National Geographic Kids brings all of the beautiful illustrations and information down to a child's mind set. Check out these beautiful books. I just know my grandsons are going to love the bright pictures, while learning about dinosaurs, and then playing with their own dinosaur toys to bring the action to life. These books are big on pictures, facts, and inspiring stories to make learning fun for your child. Below you will find the books and a write up from National Geographic on each one.
(hardcover, ages 4-8, 128 pages, $14.95) - A #1 best seller on Amazon! The prehistoric world comes alive with dinosaurs small, big, giant, and gigantic, with stunning illustrations. Bursting with fun facts and age-appropriate information, each spread features a different dinosaur, along with simple text in big type that is perfect for little kids. Young dino fans will love the interactivity included in every chapter, and parents will appreciate tips to help carry readers' experience beyond the page.
(hardcover, ages 4-8, 32 pages, $16.99) - Ever wondered how to find a dinosaur? Paleontologist Dr. Scott Sampson, host of Dinosaur Train on PBS Kids, tells kids how! How do paleontologists find dinosaur bones? How do they know what dinosaurs ate or looked like? And what is paleontology, anyway? Dr. Scott tackles all these questions and more while inspiring kids to go out and make the next big dino discovery!
(paperback, ages 8-12, 208 pages, $8.99) - 300 dino-mite facts to sink your teeth into! Perfectly sized for back seat boredom busting, this new addition to the wildly popular WBT series is taking on the jaws and claws that ruled the Mesozoic world. Calling all dino dynamos! Did you know that the T. rex had vision 13 times better than the average humans? Or that people collect fossilized dino poop? And get this: There's a dinosaur named after Hogwarts--Harry Potter's wizarding school! Get ready to meet dinosaurs with horns and feathers, razor-sharp claws and gigantic teeth. You'll encounter the places they lived, the bizarre art they inspired, and the amazing paleontologists who discovered them.
(hardcover, ages 7-10, 296 pages, $24.99) - Big, beautiful and gift-worthy! The new edition of the popular Nat Geo Kids Dinopedia includes all the latest species and is the most complete, up-to-date dinosaur reference available. Find favorites, like the fierce T-rex and the gentle Brontosaurus, plus audacious new finds, like the Anzu, Kosmoceratops, and Yi. Every dino profile is colorfully illustrated and features descriptions of when they roamed the Earth, how they lived, what they ate, and more. There are more than 600 dinos featured in all, including 10 profiles of recently discovered dinosaurs and new entries in the Dino Dictionary. Reports from paleontologists present the latest news and insights from the field.
(paperback, ages 8-12, 208 pages, $14.99) - Curious which creatures ruled when dinosaurs roamed the Earth? Get ready to meet the record-setters, including the biggest, smallest, smartest, weirdest, deadliest, most notorious, and most mysterious of all time. You'll find fantastic firsts, including the first dinosaur fossils found and the first dinos in space. And you'll meet other rad, remarkable creatures that lived before, after, and alongside them. Did you know that the largest fish, the largest turtle, and the largest flying animal that ever existed lived during the time of the dinosaurs? Or that mammals – no bigger than a small dog when dinosaurs roamed – eventually evolved into massive land animals? See who wins in head-to-head species smackdowns and enjoy games that complement the records.
If you are interested in buying one or all of these books check them out here.
Giveaway Dates ~ 5/8/21 12:00AM EST through 5/31/21 11:59PM EST
MarksvilleandMe would like to wish all those who enter
Good Luck!
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Disclosure: This giveaway/sweepstakes is in no way endorsed, affiliated, or associated with Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Media Networking Site. This Giveaway is valid to continental United States residents only, Entrants must be 18+ years of age to enter. This giveaway event will end at 12:00 AM (EST)5/31/21. The winner will have 48 hours to email their information back to marksvilleandme@gmail.com or a new winner will be drawn, you may want to put this email address as safe as it could go to spam. The giveaway is not valid where prohibited! By entering you are authorizing us to collect the information on the form below, this information is used only to contact the winner! No purchase necessary, Void where prohibited by law, and the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Winners are chosen randomly by the RaffleCopter Tools program. The sponsors are each responsible for shipping of the above prizes. No blog associated with this contests are responsible for prize fulfillment. If you would like to be a sponsor in a giveaway like this please email Pamela Marks at marksvilleandme@gmail.com. If you take an entry you must stay following for the entire contest or you will be disqualified.
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