The Midwife's Apprentice

The Midwife's Apprentice is on Christina's summer reading list and she brought it home from the library last week. She passed it on to me after she read it and I found it very interesting. I read the reviews on Amazon and several reviewers found the book to be inappropriate for youth. That it is considered children's lit. is misleading in that I don't think my early elementary children who are capable of reading The Midwife's Apprentice would get nearly as much from the story as say Christina did. I would suggest this book for ages 10+ (depending on your child's maturity), but when in doubt, I would suggest reading the book before your child does.

Obviously, childbirth is part of the story, but there was nothing graphic in this element. The book takes place in medieval times and so life is naturally primitive and childbearing is portrayed in a primitive way with the midwife yelling at the mother-to-be, slapping one out of her hysteria, etc. The midwife is all business, not always moral (she's an adulterer), and crass. Her tactics are crude and unsophisticated illustrating how in medieval times "midwifery was a combination of common sense, herbal knowledge, and superstition." (pg. 119, Author's Note)

The apprentice, a young girl, goes from being homeless and finding warmth in a dung heap bed to getting a sense of self confidence through life experience. As a reader looking in on her life, it is apparent that she is quite clever and bright (even outwitting the more respected villagers) long before she believes this truth for herself.

The author tells the story in a descriptive way with many lessons appropriate and important for youth on up. For example, I enjoyed the lesson of the significance of a name. The apprentice went from being called "Brat" to demanding she be addressed by her self-given name, Alyce. Later she offered a royal name to a homeless friend. This got me thinking...What does my name mean to me? I have pretty thick skin, but naturally in my youth being called by my name felt better than being called something less than kind. I'm going to use the lesson of Brat vs. Alyce with my children in an effort to bring kinder conversations in our home.

Christina pointed out the lesson of persistence..."If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," or as Alyce comes to voice, "I know how to try and risk and fail and try again and not give up." (pg. 117) It was better that Alyce forge ahead learning from mistakes and failure rather than quit when things didn't go as hoped. We can always learn from each experience.

At just 122 pages, this is a short book, easily read in a portion of a day. I would suggest this book for a mother/daughter or womens' book group. Go HERE & HERE for ideas for The Midwife's Apprentice discussion questions.

We {heart} Grandpa Gary

In June we had a wonderful visit with Grandpa Gary who drove from Cooperstown where he was on an extended business trip to visit us. It meant a lot to us that he would make the drive, and we enjoyed catching up. Wayne came to and from Youth Conference, joining us when he was able.

We toured the Artemus Ward House in Shrewsbury, MA.

(Photo by Allison B)

The contents of the home were all left or donated by the Ward family. Grace liked the farm, Thomas liked the crooked ceiling, Christina liked the secret compartment above one of the doors (Thomas liked that too), and Caroline liked the "fedder" on the desk that you use to write with. This photo was taken in front of the barn.

Wesley didn't last, so I snapped some photos of my little handsome while we waited for the rest of the crew to finish touring the house.

We finished off the outing with some pizza and lemonade at Dean Park Pizza.

Thank you, Gary for dropping by. We hope to meet up again before too long!

Book Recommendation: The Amaranth Enchantment

I purposefully ignored my bedside clock last night as I became engrossed in Julie Berry's debut novel, The Amaranth Enchantment. This book fits in the young adult fantasy fiction genre. Although this has never been a genre I've sought out, I found this story to flow beautifully with interesting characters, themes of love and forgiveness and surprises along the way. I love 15 year old Lucinda's self discovery and personal development. Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Christina enjoyed it as well. I shared The Amaranth Enchantment with my friend who is a sophomore in college and when I went to pick it up she asked if she could keep it a little longer because her grandmother was reading it; truly a delight for pre-teens on up.

My favorite part of the Amaranth Enchantment is found in Chapters 28 & 29 when Beryl and Lucinda walk through the beautiful garden of Lucinda's childhood. Lucinda sees her parents, who have since passed away, sitting as they so often did on the garden bench, talking & reading. It was a beautiful memory for Lucinda, and Julie's descriptive writing brought me to tears as my mind wondered to my beautiful memories of my own parents.....

• The evening I happened to be near the entry of our home when my parents came home from an evening at the LA temple. I knew they had a lot of stress they were dealing with. Watching them walk in the door I sensed a peaceful aura about them. They seemed stronger as a couple, and happier than when they left that evening; not giddy happy, but peacefully happy. I noted that the temple made a difference in their marriage.
• On several occasions I saw my parents sitting in the car talking after a date night. This wasn't as appealing as the garden bench of Lucinda's home, but with 10 kids in the house, sitting inside the car was sometimes the only private, quiet place they could talk. Seeing them talk in the car let me know they were working on their marriage and worked as a team raising us kids.
• Many times in the morning I'd walk by my parents room and find them kneeling in prayer; a beautiful image in my mind.

Further, this tender garden scene made me reflect on the images of marriage that Wayne & I are offering our children. Will they see our work, faith, sacrifice, love, devotion, (& rated G PDA)? I hope so. Will they have memories of kind, supportive, and humble forgiving conversations? I hope so.

For more on Julie Berry and The Amaranth Enchantment, you can go HERE to Julie's website. You can find book group discussion questions HERE. I think this book would be perfect for a mother-daughter book group, but like I said, it appeals to all ages pre-teen on up.

Go grab a copy & ENJOY!

Happy Independence Day!

Boston 7/4/07

I've got lots of catching up to do....my random hiatus will come to an end on Monday. There's a lot to tell...luncheons, Cubs, fishing, KY, Grandpa Gary, Independence Day in Boston & exploring with Adam, Mari & Des. Come back and visit.

June in KY

Time to play catch up....

June 4, I woke up at 3am, threw Caroline & Wesley in the car and headed out to KY for my nephew, Christian's high school graduation. The only slowdown was 5 minutes of NYC traffic. About 13 1/2 hours later we rolled into KY an hour before the graduation started. I ran in my sister's house, dropped off Caroline & Wesley, changed into a skirt, hoped I hadn't spilled on my shirt, and ran out the door with Sherry. Commencement was just starting as we arrived. Christian looked great- really happy. We hooted, hollered and celebrated...

Friday was Christian's party. There is a cake story here.... Sherry is an amazing cake decorator. Christians school mascot is a commodore (no, not the singing group), and Christian is an accomplished swimmer, SO for the cake there was a commodore's head on top with his head tilted like a swimmer coming taking a breath. Sherry said there was a surprise as well. Thursday night the cake was taking shape. Friday Sherry pulled it together. Unfortunately the commodore couldn't stand the extended heat around the stove and a corner of the cake. It was a little devastating, for Baker Sherry, but she's tough and Christian didn't care that the commodore looked like a dead man. Sherry was true to her word and added a surprise just before lighting the cake...she put fireworks in the commodore's hand. What a crack up! The kids tried blowing the ash off the cake to save the frosting, but Sherry ended up scraping the frosting off. We still ate it...of course. Congrats, Christian! Your mom rocks!

Dan, Julee & sweet Ceseley

Mari, Adam & handsome, Des....

Lexington is BEAUTIFUL! We drove around, took pics at the Moody Farm...

Uncle Dan & Uncle Adam taught Caroline to make music from blades of grass.

me, Wes & Caroline

Saturday we went to Alee Simmon's baptism. Congrats, Alee!

Afterward back at the Moody home, we said our good-byes, I went to start the car and it was dead. My brothers and nephews traded intelligent hypothesis as to what jibberjabber was out of whack under the hood. Mark hooked us up with a good mechanic. I left the car there and rented a car for the drive home. Wayne was on a business trip and I needed to get home as soon as possible on Sunday. I left at 4am Sunday morning (forgot the Fast Lane transponder), hit gridlock at the New Jersey tolls, didn't move for 1/2 hour, and hit one obstacle after another until CT. 17 1/2 hours later my angel VTer, Lisle met me at the car rental office and drove the kids and I home to relieve the sitter. Wayne flew to KY and drove the van home on Saturday.

Crazy story told, I am so glad that we went to KY to be there for Christian and spend time with the Moodys & most of our east coast family. We love our extended family. The Moody cousins are the oldest of all of our kids' cousins and because of the good choices they've made, our kids are able to look to them as positive role models. We {heart} the Moodys!

I'm thankful for the progress and good things that came about on Wayne's business trip while I was in KY. He's back to full-time; HUGE blessing! I know that even when things aren't necessarily all running smoothly the Lord is there for us and blessings are right before our eyes.

Thoughts of mother- Wishes & Treasures

June is an exciting month over at Dare to Dream. The founder, Whitney Johnson has collected thoughtful guest posts from her treasure chest of friends and invited one and all to listen and comment. Each comment will put your name in the hat for a $75 spa certificate, and Whitney is giving away one cert. per week! Take the time to read....you'll be glad you did.

This week I'm guest posting based on a recent challenge I've taken on much thanks to Whitney's encouragement. I'm compiling lessons I've learned from my mom (& I've invited my siblings to contribute) based on letters and journal entries my mom left behind. Her text is a treasure filled with gems of life lessons; her thoughts and experiences while raising a household of 10 children, working hard on to her marriage, laughing at antics, crying at losses, etc. Her text is evidence to me that she has walked in my shoes and knows how to be there for me now. Head on over to Dare to Dream for a snippet of my labor of love for the mother I miss dearly.

This experience of writing my mom's story got me thinking of two things; what I regret not doing with my mom while she was alive, and things my mom left behind that I treasure today. Feel free to pass this blog post along...

What I regret not doing...

• Whitney requested a photo of me and my mom. I looked & looked & looked. Nothing. The photo on the left is priceless...my mom offering love to her baby and toddler (my brother & sister) simultaneously. I do think there are a couple photos out there somewhere of me and my mom, but probably just a couple. How did this happen? I would love a photo of me with my mom taken without us knowing while we were doing everyday things....cooking, mating socks, reading, weeding...anything. Too late. But it's not too late for me to give that to my children. And so I have learned to get out from behind the camera now and then...

• I wish I had more silly memories of me and my mom, even just one more. I ask my kids what we've done together that's simply silly & fun and they say: screaming on a rollercoaster ride, water balloon fight, funky dance moves, steam rollers.
• I wish I went to the temple more often with my mom. I only got to go once with her and it was wonderful.
• I regret any grief I gave her. From her writings I have a better picture of her mental and emotional state. Now that I'm a mother I have an idea what her schedule was like. I have an idea what her adult stresses felt like. I don't want my kids to feel the burden I've felt, and so we talk through things a lot. It's hard work. It can be draining. I know my mom gave all she could. I wish I was a better listener & didn't roll my eyes (mostly in my head) the way I did. She was so wise & honest, and it was hard to hear the truth sometimes.

Has your mom passed away? Is there anything you wish you had done with her while she was alive? These questions could be broader...have you lost a loved one, ie. sibling, father?

Treasures from my mom.....

• Her journals and letters. When she was sick she even had others dictate for her at times. She was an honest writer, and it wasn't all flowery and pretty. I still learn from her writings that she has walked in my shoes and knows exactly how to relate to me and help me through my troubles. Sometimes when I wonder what she would do I look to her writings & I find her wisdom there.
• The photographs I do have of mom and our family are priceless.
• I have a couple pieces of her jewelry...I love them. I love that her sterling silver CTR ring came to me well worn.
• Recipes. There are particular favorites. I'll include them in her memoir. A friend of mine from growing up found me on facebook and recalled how my mom could whip up a wonderful dinner in no time.
• The embroidered sampler my mom made just for me while there were no less than 8 kids in the house. This gift inspired me to make lasting gifts for each of my children... for Wayne too.
• I have her voice on a tape she recorded for me while I was on my mission. To hear her say in contemplating who I'd marry that "No one will be good enough for our Becky" still brings me to tears. My mom never said anything like that to my face. Every child should hear their parents speak genuine loving praise...heart to heart.
• A letter from my mom telling me how she felt the day I was born, why she and my dad gave me my particular name, her love for me, and her testimony. Because of this I will never wonder how she felt about me, or where she stood. She inspired me to share these things with my children.
• Important conversations...owning up to mistakes, FORGIVENESS, "I love you's," and questions about eternal things. Hearing her say, "I'll always be there for you at the crossroads of your life." Feeling in our last hug that we will in fact reunite. No doubt.

What has your mother given you or left for you that you treasure?

I would love to hear your thoughts...even if you don't know me personally, this is something that we can all relate to as a child, parent, and/or sibling.

Treasure one another,