In an attempt to read more and remember what I’ve read, I’m planning to do monthly, reading-round-up posts where I share what books I’ve finished that month and a few thoughts about them.  This will include books I’ve read for myself and books I’ve read to/with Ethan.

As I suspected, the Olympics threw a wrench into my reading time this month, but I still really enjoyed what I did get to read.

Books I’ve finished in February, including one from my original goal list…

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson – 388 pages This book, detailing some moments of history, unfolds like a novel, taking the reader on an incredible, hair-raising journey.  Starting about a week before Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, the story covers John Wilkes Booth’s movements and decisions, as well as those of his co-conspirators.  I had no idea that other government leaders were also targeted that night, including Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward.  By the end of it all, multiple people were involved in the assassination plots and many more were accomplices in their attempted escapes, whether they were aware of it or not.  It’s amazing to me that more precautions were not taken to guard the President’s life, especially given the war-torn state of the nation at the time.  Even so, Booth, the famous, handsome actor would probably not have been considered such a dire threat.  He ended up being the subject of a frustrating, 12-day manhunt.

Born to Run:  A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall – 282 pages Seth brought this one home off the bestsellers rack from the library.  It had been recommended to him, but I snatched it up.  About 1/3 of the way through the book, I realized I was really liking it, but also thought it to be quite strange and wondered what in the world I would say about it for my recap.  I ended up liking it even more by the end, but I’m still not sure how to describe it.  It’s definitely a compelling, true story, even while some of the people and places seem like they must be a figment of someone’s imagination.  As a subscriber to Runner’s World for many years, I recognized many of the names and races mentioned, and I was definitely interested in the subject material.  I found it entertaining, interesting, intriguing and inspiring.  The subtitle nicely sums up what it’s actually about.    (Bad language alert.)

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years:  What I Learned by Editing My Life, by Donald Miller – 250 pages This is a fast, thought-provoking read.  I underlined a number of things and will continue pondering them.  The book is about story, and how we are all living stories, and what we can do to make our lives into better stories.  Honestly, my story over the last few years is not one I am fond of, but quotes like these I found encouraging:  “…we were designed to live through something rather than to attain something, and the thing we were meant to live through was designed to change us.  The point of a story is the character arc, the change” (page 70).  “The point of a story is never about the ending, remember.  It’s about your character getting molded in the hard work of the middle” (page 177).  “…every conflict, no matter how hard, comes back to bless the protagonist if he will face his fate with courage.  There is no conflict man can endure that will not produce a blessing”  (page 188).

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Read aloud to Ethan…

Homer Price, by Robert McCloskey – 149 pages The six stories/chapters in this book are basically stand alone short stories.  They revolve around a boy named Homer, his family and the town of Centerburg, and they have a Normal Rockwell sort of appeal.  As usual, McCloskey’s  illustrations are delightful and the characters are a bit outlandish.  If I’m being honest, I think Ethan thought the chapters were a bit long and I found a few of the stories ended rather abruptly.  Maybe we would have liked it better if the stories and characters could have been developed a bit more, but with shorter chapters.

O the green things growing, the green things growing,
The faint sweet smell of the green things growing!
I should like to live, whether I smile or grieve,
Just to watch the happy life of my green things growing.

~ from Green Things Growing, by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

This is my blog and I’m a mom.  That means I get to blog/brag=blag, right?    My apologies for the length of this post, but for those interested in Ethan’s swimming, here is the play by play.

We spent the weekend at the Oregon Swimming 10 & Under Championships.

The kids had to qualify for the various races by meeting A-standard times during the season, so the kids at this meet were all fairly fast.  Over 400 swimmers from 51 teams came from all over Oregon to compete in 72 events (1/2 for the girls and 1/2 for the boys).  Ethan was one of 30 ten-year-old-and-under kids who qualified from his team.  At swim meets, the 8-and-under kids swim against each other, 9-year-olds compete against 9-year-olds, and 10-year-olds compete against 10-year-olds.

On Saturday afternoon, he began with the 100 yard freestyle.  He won his heat and improved his time by three seconds.  He placed 9th out of 24 (1:24.77).

Next was the 50 yard butterfly.  He improved his time by two seconds and placed 9th out of 26 (46.05).

The last event of that day was a 200 yard freestyle relay.  Our team only has three 8-year-old boys on it, and a slew of quick 9 and 10-year-old boys.  Ethan was able to participate on one of our three 10-&-Under relay teams, which was a real privilege.  Ethan’s team placed 2nd in their heat and 17th out of 19 teams (2:28.81).  Our faster relays placed 4th and 6th.

Wow!  It was an intense, hot, crowded, loud, exciting first day!  We were all thrilled with Ethan’s new personal best times, but bummed for him that he missed a medal by one placement, twice.  He really wanted a medal.  First through eighth place received medals and ninth through sixteenth received ribbons.  Medal or not, he did a terrific job.

That night, we went out to dinner and I ran into a friend from college who was in town with her family, watching her 9-year-old boy compete at the same meet!  In fact, she used to swim for Ethan’s team when she was a youngster.  That was cool!  Back at the hotel, we relaxed with the Olympics and tried to get some good sleep.

The next morning, we were back at the pool.  Ethan had four events to swim on Sunday.

First up, the 100 yard Individual Medley (25y each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle…in that order).  This is one of Ethan’s strongest events, but it proved to be a tough race that morning.  Still, he was only one second behind his best time and finished 13th out of 22 (1:39.87).

(By the way, his diving starts have improved SO much!)

In the 50 yard freestyle, he was seeded in the final heat of eight (the heats were seeded based on entry times and the last heat was always the fastest).  Dropping two tenths of a second off his time, he came in at 10th place out of 24 (37.30).

Next came the 25 yard backstroke where he was also seeded in the last heat of eight.  Less than 1/2 a second off his best time, he placed 9th (out of 17) for the third time (21.31).  That medal was still elusive.

Ethan’s final race of the meet was the 25 yard freestyle.  He was seeded 13th in the event and honestly, I didn’t expect him to fare all that well in this race.  He seems to do better in the 50 and 100 yard distances, and it was nearing the end of a long two days.  But he turned on some jets or something and shaved 1.22 seconds off his time (which is tough to do in such a short distance), won his heat and ended up placing 5th out of 31 (16.43)!  Oh, the drama!  He was able to snatch a medal at the last possible second!  We were amazed and so happy for him.  (In the following video, Ethan is in lane 7, second one up from the bottom of the screen.)

Things we learned at this meet:

• Arriving 40 minutes before warm-ups begin (and 2 hours and 10 minutes before races begin) is not early enough.  We ended up with decent seats, but not without some consternation.  (Remember the 400+ swimmers?  Come to find out, they all have parents and grandparents and friends and siblings and aunts and uncles who come to watch, too.)
• A blue, fine-point sharpie works the best (for writing the race info on the arm); a stubby green one…not so much.
• Mothers who whistle louder than…louder than…I don’t know what…just…shouldn’t.  It drives everyone else crazy, hurts people’s ears and their swimmer probably doesn’t even hear them.  (We noticed that some of the coaches, who were sitting at tables right in front of a bleacher full of parents, were wearing ear plugs.  They’ve obviously done this before.)
• It’s best not to discuss the results or performances much (with Ethan) while at the meet.  Logic goes unheeded in that charged environment.
• Bleachers are uncomfortable (but we knew that already).
• Do not delete anything on the video camera until the movies have been put onto the computer.  We had an accident and lost the video of the first race of the meet.
• Consolidate everything you’re carrying (towels, blankets, chairs, food, water bottles, cameras, wallets) into as few carrying devices as possible.
• Relax and have fun!

It’s really been amazing to watch Ethan progress as a swimmer and a person over the last eight months.  He’s gone from being very unsure of himself and having to ask the coach a million questions to understanding what’s going on, being confident about getting to where he needs to be at meets and interacting with and cheering for his teammates.  He’s had a great time learning and honing a terrific skill while making friends and getting some great exercise in the process.  Swim team practices will continue, and soon we’ll be into the long course season, setting our sights on another championship meet this summer.

Some color from the backyard today…

I’ve even heard a couple lawn mowers lately.  Our grass is definitely growing, but I figure once I start mowing, I’ll be mowing for months, so I’ll hold off for a bit.

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~ Henry Van Dyke

• I hope everyone had a sweet Valentine’s day.  I should have posted this yesterday, but I took these shots today, so there it is.
• Yes, that is a Lego heart. 
• Today is a holiday for us.  Yay!
• I asked my husband to help sort out our closet.  It’s one of his least favorite things to do, but he did it.  Thanks, honey!
• The Olympics are really messing with my routine (I use that word loosely).  I stay up way too late and don’t get other important things done, like reading and picture taking/editing.
• We sometimes get movies to watch from the library.  We put titles we’re interested in on hold and when they come available we see if we can watch them in the evenings.  Of course, about 5 movies have all come in now that the Olympics are on.  I think February is going to be short on reading.
• I’m ready for Spring.
• The house next door to us has been totally remodeled and is for sale.  We’re praying for nice neighbors.
• We made these individual Molten Chocolate Cakes for a special Valentine treat last night.  Yumm!!!  And so easy!!!
• Ethan has some conductive hearing loss in both ears.  For someone who has never had an ear infection that we know of, he’s certainly had trouble.  He’s had three sets of tubes, and the instant those puppies move out, we’re back to hearing issues.  This week, the doc said that he didn’t appear to have much fluid build-up behind his ear drums as he has in the past, but his drums are kinda concave, meaning there is some negative pressure in his ear canal.  He was tested by an audiologist who was able to confirm that his nerves are working perfectly, it’s just a conductive issue.  Where people with good/normal hearing can hear well in the 0-25 decibel range, Ethan’s ears work well with 30 decibels.  So, it’s not anything terrible, just enough to be noticeable and obnoxious.  The audiologist and doc figured it was to his advantage that he’s being homeschooled so he doesn’t have to deal with classroom noise.  Because of that, and because he’s swimming year ’round, we’re not planning to take any surgical action (more tubes), and we’re hoping and praying it’s something that will eventually just resolve.  Meanwhile, I’m also praying for some extra patience.  Repeating myself is one of my least favorite things.
• At the end of last year, the words “joy” and “discipline” seemed to settle in my brain as a focus for 2010.  Here we are in the middle of February and honestly, “discouragement” seems more accurate thus far.  Choosing joy and discipline no matter the discouragement…I think that’s the theme that will remain.
• I need to go fold laundry in front of the Olympics.

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.  ~Pierre de Coubertin

Ethan got a cool gift from his Grandma…a Red Ryder BB Gun that was hers when she was a kid.  Very cool.  And how can one not think of the movie A Christmas Story where this very gun is the sought after gift by Ralphie, and he’s told over and over again, “You’ll shoot your eye out!”  Well, we won’t be shooting any eyes out here.  We’ve got safety glasses!

In the top left photo you may notice some writing on Ethan’s arm.  That’s left over from the weekend’s swim meet, where Ethan swam six events and picked up 4 more A times and 2 B times.  (In one race, he improved his time by 8 seconds!)  This means he has now qualified for 8 different races at the state level!  The kids are only allowed to swim 6 individual events and 2 relays, so we’ll see what the coaches decide he should swim.  We are so proud of his continued progress, improvements and success, but we’re also pleased that he’s having fun, making friends and has very nice coaches.  Go HEAT!