Last night I had this urge to read a book. Actually, I wanted a new audiobook for my walks. So, I did what any normal person would do. I asked my social media networks. First facebook:

Then twitter:

And did yall come through or what?! Here is the current list of suggestions (it’s still growing!):

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain (apparently a recommendation from a recommendation!)

The Princess by Lori Wick

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philipa Gregory (I must have missed the bandwagon on this one.)

Just Between You and Me by Jenny B. Jones

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (I have picked this one up at the library about 400 times. I must read it!)

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (This one is set in a circus. And for some reason that totally intrigues me!)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (This was THE most recommended book. I’ve already got it on hold at the library!)

The Girls by Lori Lansen

Maid to Match by Deeanna Gist (also some recommendations for ANYTHING by Deeanna Gist!)

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

Pride and Prescience: Or, A Truth Universally Acknowledged by Carrie Bebris

Zion Chronicles by Bodie & Brock Thoene (Uhm. They are my heroes.)

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The Pillars of the Earthby Ken Follett (This one looks so good but do you know how long the audiobook is? 40 hours!)

Thorn in My Heart by Liz Curtis Higgs (This is the first in a series. I’ve actually read it but it was such a literal thorn in my heart I couldn’t read the second one. SO GOOD.)

Moon Tide or Season of Open Water by Dawn Clifton Tripp

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Fancy Pants by Cathy Marie Hake

Anything by Tracie Peterson

Her Mother’s Hope by Francine Rivers (Already read this one! Waiting for the sequel!)

Kent Family Chronicles by John Jakes (Oooh, this looks good, too. I love generational family stories!)

The Heretic Queen: A Novel by Michelle Moran

The Greatest Knight: The Unsung Story of the Queen’s Champion by Elizabeth Chadwick

Are you even believing that list?!

Got one you’d care to add? Or second one of the above? Let me know, I’m going to the library TODAY!

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We don’t set alarms around here. I can usually make myself wake up whenever I need to be up. My son wakes up at 6:30, so we usually don’t NEED to get up any earlier than that anyway. But this morning my husband set his alarm for 5:30. He is playing golf (which he never does) and had to be there at 6:15. Yikes. Regardless, I figured I’d get a few minutes of lovely early morning sleep alone in my bed. (What? You know that’s good sleep!)

Anyway, I was awake at 5:24. (See, I knew he had to get up at 5:30 and woke up on my own.) I was hoping he’d just get up and not let that infernal alarm go off. But he didn’t. And I think that alarm clocks have got to be the WORST invention in the world. Ugh. Nothing puts me in a worse mood than being awoken by that horrific sound.

Well, of course, he didn’t get up right away. He pressed snooze. Meaning I was going to have to listen to that alarm again. I begged him to turn it off but I could never quite tell if he did it or not. Apparently he did AND wouldn’t you know he actually fell asleep again and got up late? While I’m laying in the bed with my eyes open.

Finally, after he gets dressed, packs a bag, knocks down some chairs, throws a big blue ox through the living room and who knows what other loud things, he leaves. I was thinking, “Well, at least I’ll get 15 minutes to myself before Asa wakes up.” There is nothing like laying in your bed alone knowing you don’t have to get up yet. And I was planning to revel in it.

So, I hear my husband’s truck drive away, I nestle down in the blankets, close my eyes and hope for sleep. But as soon as my body relaxes, what do I hear?

“Mooommmyyy!”

photo by DanielJames

Four generations. 1977.

This is my great-grandfather, my grandmother, my dad and me. And even if it wasn’t adorable to see me as a baby, or think about my great-grandfather getting his picture taken as the patriarch of the family or see my grandmother so young and sweet–this picture would be worth MY DAD’S HAIR. Oh lovely day. Daddy is awesome. That is all.

linked to wordless wednesday, 5minutesformom and a daily dose of toni.

A few days ago (maybe weeks?) Darren at ProBlogger posted a little blogging exercise: The Seven Links Challenge. He gave seven prompts about your blog–links to find out more about yourself and your blog. I starred it in my reader and decided to give it a whirl…of course, I had to add #8-10. So, hopefully he’ll approve.

So. Here it is my TOP SEVEN TEN LINKS ABOUT MY BLOG, OHAMANDA:

1. My first post. Ah, my first post. I actually like this post. It’s about, what else? Blogging. Here you go: My First One.

2. A post I enjoyed writing the most. It’s called, “Something Beautiful Happened Today“. This is one of those posts I wrote in one sitting and it just flew out of my fingers. I was happy to post it. And I’ve looked back at it so many times to encourage myself.

3. A post which led to a great discussion. Two years ago I wrote a post about theology, aptly titled Oh Theology. It was much harder than I thought and it brought about some good discussion, but it was so intense that I could never write a Part 2.

4. A post on someone else’s blog you wish you’d written. Anything that’s ever flowed out of Scribbit’s fingers.

5. Your most helpful post. I don’t know if it’s the MOST helpful thing I’ve ever written–do I really write helpful posts?–but My Miracle, the story of Lydia’s first 6 weeks in utero is the first time I realized how powerful the internet could be. It was the first time I got interesting search engine hits—people would find that post by typing in things like “my baby’s heart just stopped beating” or “the doctor says my 6 week old baby is dead in my womb”. I pray I helped some mothers.

6. A post with a title that I’m proud of: Top Ten Snacks I Should Never Eat Again {But Will} and it’s alternate title “Top Ten Reasons I Think Exercise is Overrated”. Actually, I love most of my titles. I regularly snicker at them.

7. A post you wish more people had read. Love & Marriage or My First Parenting Scar. Both of these posts make my heart hurt.

8. A post with no words. You know a wordless post is very hard for me. But I do so love this picture: The Picture I’ll Cherish On Lydia’s Wedding Day. (Maybe that would have fit under the proud post title…)

9. A post you never published. I have 52 posts in my drafts folder. Some are there because they were only kinda-good ideas. Others are there because I’m too embarrassed to publish them.

10. Do you remember any of my posts? Any that stand out? Either good or bad? Funny or serious? (Really, leave me a comment, I’d love to know!)

:: :: ::

OK! Your turn. Got a Top Ten list to share? If you’re stuck for a topic, I’d love for you to do my 7-turned-10 links from Problogger. It was fun. I loved re-reading all my posts to find some good ones. Also, made me really like my blog! *happy sigh* Regardless of topic, all you gotta do is WRITE a post, LINK back to me, PASTE your url below and start LOVIN’ on the rest of the participants with comments, tweets or at least a little bit of traffic!

For official guidelines and a cute button visit my Top Ten {Tuesday} page.

Asa is halfway through his cast-wearing adventure. He’s got crawling and scooting down pat. He’s only mentioned the possibility of getting the cast off twice. And he still says he doesn’t like his doctors.

But the whole reason he has a broken leg is not because I let an almost 2 year old go down Chick-fil-a’s slide. It’s because I let him go down the slide WITH HIS SHOES ON. Yup. He was wearing Crocs with no socks. And when I saw the dirty floor, I thought, “Ugh. He can just wear his shoes. No big deal.” Yeah, I know they have the cubbies for your shoes. I know there was a big sign that said “NO SHOES”. But, the floor was dirty. So, the Crocs stayed on. He only went down the slide twice. The first time, Lydia took him in her lap. He laughed and laughed, even though his slowed him down. The second time he came down right in front of Lydia and his little leg was stuck under him AND Lydia.

I promise I’m not beating myself up about it. But I can remember the exact moment I thought of keeping his shoes on. I wish I had just been obedient to the rules of the playplace and let him go shoeless—even if he did get dirty.

I just glanced through google (or rather swagbucks search) to see what was written about fast-food playground injuries. I found lots of things that made sick to my stomach. Like a 2009 article that said 200,000 children are treated at the ER for playground related injuries every year. There was even an incident of brain injury because a boy fell at a play place.

But the most sobering news was that 40% of injuries* are because lack of parent supervision. If you hang out at fast food restaurant playgrounds you know what I’m talking about. It’s not the parents that can’t see way up top in the tunnel. It’s the parents that are eating in another side of the restaurant while their child plays. (I know because this happened to me a few weeks ago. I was the only parent in the enclosed room with 12 kids.)

I think it boils down to integrity. Or lack there of. Parents don’t obey the “no shoes” rule or the “for children under 42 inches” or the “no unspervised children” rule. Then they wonder why their own children don’t obey the rules at school and home!

This is not an investigative report. I’m not trying to prove anything or scare you. I’m just reminding you (and me) to obey the rules, be an example and TAKE OFF YOUR KIDS SHOES AT CHICK-FIL-A!

*I promise I read that statistic but I cannot find the article again!

Picture :: :: :: Lydia eating off her purple plate in celebration of her NOT SUCKING HER THUMB for the past month!

Post I Need To Read Almost Every Day :: :: :: Clutter Control For Any Space by Mandi Ehman

Parenting Series :: :: :: Have a New Kid By Friday at Impress Your Kids

Bloggy Posts :: :: :: Ten Common Spelling Mistakes That Haunt Bloggers by ProBlogger and Before You Hit Publish by Vanderbilt Wife

DIY Craft :: :: :: Apothecary Label Handtowels: Free Digital Download from Just Something I Made

Parenting Post :: ::  :: The Truth About Parenting by The Messy Mommy

Party Theme :: :: :: Once Upon a Time at Kara’s Party Ideas {I know, I think I link to her every week but I just LOVE this idea for a first birthday party. How clever is that?!)

Craft I Think I Can Even Do :: :: :: No Sew Purse Tutorial at Little Birdie Secrets

DON’T FORGET ABOUT MY A MODERN EDEN GIVEAWAY! ENDS TOMORROW!

linked to saturday stumbles at itscome2this