Book Review: Defending Jacob by William Landay

Is your child capable of murder? This was the question that Andy Barber had to answer in a fantastic novel Defending Jacob by William Landay. Read from the back of the novel:

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and their son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters the New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son ischarged with the murder of a fellow student. Every instinct Andy has as a parent rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He's his father. But, as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own- between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he's tried to bury and a future

he cannot conceive.

This book was absolutely fantastic, could not put it down! I had never heard of the author before but he has already been added to my must read list. His other two books are The Strangler, a Los Angeles Times Favorite Crime Book of the Year, and Mission Flats, winner of the Creasy Memorial Dagger Award for Best First Crime Novel and a Barry Award nominee. I highly recommend this book, it forces you to think of some very dark questions no parent could ever conceive of thinking about their child.

Shave for a Cure!

Every year, 160,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer. Cancer is the number one disease killer of children in the United States and Canada. Research is the key to saving lives. The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a charity run by volunteers dedicated to finding a cure for childhood cancers. 

On March 17th, 2000, executives John Bender, Tim Kenny, and Enda McDonnell used their company St. Patrick's Day party as an opportunity to benefit kids with cancer. 20 people stepped up and agreed to shave their heads with the hope of raising "$17,000 on the 17th". They reached their goal and then some. They ended up raising over $104,000!

This charity quickly grew into the world's largest volunteer fundraising program for childhood cancer research. The St. Baldrick's Foundation has funded more grants for research than any other organization except for the U.S. government. Since 2000, more than 189,660 volunteers, including 17,200 women, have shaved their heads at events in dozens of countries and every U.S. state raising over $117 million for cancer research.

Kelly McCausey, editor of Mom's Talk Network, is on a mission to raise $5,000 before Black Friday. On November 25th, 2011 if the $5,000 goal is met she will have her head shaved live via streaming video! So open your hearts and your wallets and make a donation today! To make your donation please click below:

Donate Here!

Paranormal Activity 3

I'm a huge fan of horror movies, so is the rest of my family for that matter. Hubby took me to see Paranormal Activity 3 over the weekend and it scared the crap out of me! By far I think it was the best one, Hubby thinks the second one was. Something I thought was interesting about the previews on TV for this movie is that none of them were actual scenes from the movie. I thought that was pretty cool because I hate it when you spend $20 to go to the movies and the previews showed the best parts of the movie. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone so I don't want to say to much but I highly recommend seeing it if you are a fan of the horror genre!

Hubby and I also watched The Human Centipede 2 this weekend. WARNING: This absolutely is not for anyone under 18 to watch or if you have a weak stomach either. The first one was horrifying enough but the second took it to a whole new level. It was one of those situations where you are just speechless because there are no words to describe the horror, disgust, or grossness of what you just saw. If you can stand the disgusting nature of this movie then watch it because there is nothing more gross than this movie!

Book Review of This Is US: The New All-American Family

A couple of weeks ago, I won a copy of This Is US: The New All-American Family by David Marin from a contest hosted by Goodreads.com. I just finished reading it tonight and thought I would share my opinion on it.  This is a direct quote from the back of the book:

"Heartbreaking, funny, and inspiring, This Is US, chronicles Davis Marin's quest to adopt three siblings stuck in the social services system, adjust to his new role as a father, and create a better life for all of them."

After reading this I thought to myself, why can't there be more men like this guy? Tired of waiting for the wife and white picket fence opted to make his dreams of a family come true by fostering and adopting children on his own. This guy should be made into a saint! This was an extremely touching book as well as sad. It's also very eye opening. I knew that there are a lot of children in the foster care system but I never knew how many were awaiting adoption and how few actually get adopted thanks to the ridiculous hoops prospective parents are put through. This book should be required reading for anyone going into social services as a career as well as for the parents who are seeking to foster and/or adopt. This isn't normally my usual genre of reading but it was still a really good book...a little slow in places but it was forgivable.                                                                         

A+ Kids!

Yesterday and today I attended parent/teacher conferences. Last night was Hannah's, who is in 6th grade this year. I was so happy and proud to learn that she is doing fantastic and is receiving mostly A's! Tonight was Stella's, who is in Kindergarten this year. To be honest I was a little worried about her. When she was in preschool, the teachers had told us that she wasn't ready and that we might want to wait until she turned six to enroll her in Kindergarten. We did follow their advice and I am so glad we did because she is doing fantastic as well! Her teacher even said that she is doing better than quite a few of the other students in her class. I can't express how proud I am of my kids and I'm so glad all our hard work is paying off! Now all I have to do is get my son into a preschool so that he can also strive for success!

Finding a preschool for Bub-bub has been tough because I don't have the money to pay for it and they all seem to be really expensive. One place wanted $116 a week and then on top of that I would have to pay daycare too because it isn't a full day program. There are some free preschools around me but they are only 2 hours a day and they aren't exactly close to my house so by the time I  got him there and came home it would be time to go back and get him. I just can't justify the waste of gas or time. Of all my kids he needs the preschool experience the most, especially the socialization aspect of it because he can be a bully when around other kids and he doesn't get his way. I feel bad for him too because he hears his sisters talking about all their friends and the stuff they do while at school and he feels left out. Hopefully I will get it all figured out soon.

Worst Luck EVER!!

So last Saturday hubby and I were lucky enough to have a sitter for all three kids OVERNIGHT since forever ago. I was so excited we were going to go watch the UFC fights over at my girlfriends house and then go out for drinks with a friend of ours. I loaded the kids up and started heading for Grandpa Joe's house via I280 when at 60 mph, I had a blow out and got stranded on the side of the highway with three kids at dusk. Luckily Grandpa Joe got there quickly and the tow truck as well. It ended up only delaying us about an hour since hubby had to come get me from his dad's house when he got off work.

Fast forward to tonight, after working 14 hours, hubby locked his only set of car keys in his car! So now I have to call all over trying to figure out the cheapest way to get in his car. My father-in-law has also had bad luck tonight too. His mini van wouldn't start tonight! I hope tomorrow is a better day!

Trick or Treat!

Tonight we went out to eat with my father-in-law at The Maid-Rite. For those of you who don't know what a Maid-Rite sandwich is, thinks sloppy joe's without the sauce. They are delicious and super easy to make in a crock pot. The restaurant is pretty cool too, it's 1950's & 60's rock and roll themed. There are old 45 records everywhere and pictures of famous actors and actresses on the wall. The kids meals come in these cardboard classic cars, my kids love them.

Afterwards, Grandpa Joe treated my kids to their Halloween costumes at Walmart! My Bub-Bub is going as Scooby-Doo whom he is addicted to right now, Hannah is going as Hello Kitty, and Stella is going as a Baterina ( a ballerina bat). The kiddos were so excited when we got home, they all tried on their costumes and protested when I made them take them off to get ready for bed. Walmart had an awesome selection of costumes this year and they seemed better quality than previous years but still cheap, each kids entire costume was $20 or under!

Maid-Rite Sandwiches

Crock pot

1-2 cans Coke or Pepsi

1-2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup diced onion per pound of ground beef (optional)

 Hamburger Buns

Desired condiments

1) Brown the ground beef and drain fat.

2) Put meat in the crock pot and add onions and 1 can of pop

3) Set crock pot on low and cook for however long you want but I recommend @ 3 hours so the meat absorbs the flavor of the onion and pop, it can be cooked all day though just make sure it doesn't dry out by adding more pop as needed.

4) Serve on hamburger buns with whatever condiments you like!