Having A Blast at Splashtown!

Book Review - Faith: A Novel

Book Description:
It is the spring of 2002 and a perfect storm has hit Boston. Across the city's archdiocese, trusted priests have been accused of the worst possible betrayal of the souls in their care. In Faith, Jennifer Haigh explores the fallout for one devout family, the McGanns.

Estranged for years from her difficult and demanding relatives, Sheila McGann has remained close to her older brother Art, the popular, dynamic pastor of a large suburban parish. When Art finds himself at the center of the maelstrom, Sheila returns to Boston, ready to fight for him and his reputation. What she discovers is more complicated than she imagined. Her strict, lace-curtain-Irish mother is living in a state of angry denial. Sheila's younger brother Mike, to her horror, has already convicted his brother in his heart. But most disturbing of all is Art himself, who persistently dodges Sheila's questions and refuses to defend himself.
As the scandal forces long-buried secrets to surface, Faith explores the corrosive consequences of one family's history of silence—and the resilience its members ultimately find in forgiveness. Throughout, Haigh demonstrates how the truth can shatter our deepest beliefs—and restore them. A gripping, suspenseful tale of one woman's quest for the truth, Faith is a haunting meditation on loyalty and family, doubt and belief. Elegantly crafted, sharply observed, this is Jennifer Haigh's most ambitious novel to date.

My thoughts:
I LOVED this book! I couldn't put it down! In 2002, I was living in Brighton, right down the street from the archdiocese, when the real scandal erupted. Everyday the Herald & Globe had something about it in their papers. It was one of the reasons, this book interested me from the start. I was so focused on thinking wheter he did it or not that the book had an element of surprise that I didn't expect. As someone who use to be a member of the Catholic religion, much of what they talked about was very familiar. It was more focused on the family dynamics of the McGann family then the workings of the Catholic church. It is told by sister Shelia but the author does a wonderful job telling the story of each family member. You will find yourself unable to stop reading!!

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Yum! Pete made this bread last week and I had never had Zucchini Bread before. He got the fresh zucchini from a co-worker who has a garden. The daycare kids loved it also! This has become a favorite recipe for us. I decided to add a cup of blueberries instead of walnuts the second time I made it and now I'll always include them!

 original recipe source: allrecipes.com

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup blueberries
optional:
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
1.Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165
degrees C).

2.Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

3.Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted
ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and
nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

4.Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes
out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Camp Cornville

Last weekend we finally made it up to camp!!! It was our first time this summer! Before kids we use to go up every other weekend. Since Peter has been born, we've tried to go a couple of times each summer. I was a little nervous about going up since Jack can be fussy and wake at night but they BOTH had a GREAT time. I should known they would, the both LOVE being outside. We had a wonderful time with everyone who was there, Grammie, Grammpie, Auntie Cyn, Katelyn, Uncle John and Aunt Jen. In a true Jen move, I go to take a photo and realize my camera battery is dead and of course I forgot my "little" Nikon at home. Won't make that mistake again! Thankfully, Pete's Aunt Jen takes more photos then I do so, I got still got great pictures!

with Auntie, he was spoiled by love up here!

We brought up Peter's John Deere Gator and he loved having it up there! We'll never go to camp again without it! He loved "helping" the guys and getting jobs from Grampie!

                        Great shots of the boys! So glad Jen was there to get all these pics!

The big project almost finished. Casa de Toilet!

Aunt Jenny, Uncle Craig and Cameron came up to have dinner with us. Cameron and Jack, 6 weeks apart, enjoyed a photo shoot!

Dropping off the wood he found for the campfire.

We ended the night with a campfire where, as you can see, Peter enjoyed some smores!

Both boys slept great in the tent! We were back up at 6:30am to play outside. After breakfast, Jack enjoyed his morning nap with Katelyn on the hammock swing :)

We had to get some more tractor riding in before we left! Peter wanted Jack to go for a ride with him so with the help of Grammie, Jack went for a short ride. Peter then noticed Daddy and Grampie doing a project so he was off and it was Jack's to drive, haha! We'll be going back up again during our vacation!

On the Move!

Jack is on the move!!! He does an army crawl with his hands and legs! I noticed this morning when I put him on the activity mat and went to get my tea, I come back and he was near the couch. I watched him and noticed he was doing the army crawl, couldn't believe it! Peter didn't crawl until 7 months so I thought I had some more time with Jack, oh boy!

Peter having fun and showing Jack how to crawl! He was liking Jack on the move until he made it over to his blanket and grabbed it while Peter had it, he was not impressed! Pete and I couldn't help but laugh!

Jumping off the dock!

Recap

For some reason, every year since I've had the blog, I always slow down on my posts this time of year. I think it's because we are just so busy! Here is a recap of some of the things we've been doing!

Every Saturday since we've discovered the Farmer's Market in Deering Oaks, we've gone. Peter loves to feed the ducks after we get all our fresh fruit & veggies!

A couple Sundays ago we went to Freeport with Grammie & Grampie. We started off with lunch at Johnny Rockets and Jack sat in a highchair for the first time. We got a little shopping done at LL Bean and Peter loved playing in the camping section!

Arriving at Wolfe Neck Farm, for open farm day.

Enjoying the tractor ride with Grampie

Jack turned 5 months old and we tried rice cereal hoping it would help him sleep better.....it didn't :(

Lola came back for another week and spent one of the nights with us! We took her to Stockhouse for 25 cent wing night that we've now made a weekly dinner!

Having fun during their sleepover!

My Uncle Donny came from Nebraska for a visit and got to meet Jack!

I had Nicole come down and I hosted a Mary Kay Pedicure Party! We all had a lot of fun... and wine :)

Brandon and Pete enjoyed a fire and some beer while we were inside partying!