LBlairK's Blog

I’m thinking of creating a list of books for Kanyon to read.  I got this idea from my sister who is doing it for her two kids.  She has a list of books for them to read up til they are 16 and once they have completed the list, that is when she will buy them a car.  It is a great incentive to get them to start reading.  Even Cadon (age 7) realizes that he will want a car by then.

I want books that he will be able to read at each age, for example, when he is 6, I won’t have him read 1984, but a book appropriate for his age.  I found a post from a guy that pretty much sums up the things I want him to learn about: About the tenacity and the strength of the human heart. About true courage and goodness in the face of horror and evil. About the reason for living, about life and love, about enduring rock solid faith tried to the limit of endurance and yet unshaken.

I really liked this quote.  These are life lessons that every person should know and be able to understand.  Even if it hasn’t happened to them personally, that they would be able to better relate to them through reading about the experiences.

Let me know the books you read growing up or wish you would have read.  This is what I have so far:

The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

The Bible

The Total Money Makeover – Dave Ramsey

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain

The Giver – Lois Lowry

Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White

Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis

I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist – Lee Strobel

Harry Potter Books

I want to add another book in here about history but don’t know what the best one would be.  I would like it to focus more on the history of the United States.  Any ideas?  Another book I want is about finances.  I have Ramsey’s book listed but maybe another one that would focus primarily on IRA’s and such.  I just started this list so I will be adding a lot more.  I guess I need more kid books in here too that he will be able to read in the 5-10 yr age.  Let me know what you think!

Hi!  This is my first blog and I would like to start out by saying that one of my really great friends, Nicki has a blog here and she is the one that gave me the idea to start my own.

For the past four years, Darin has managed our money.  I rarely knew where our money was going.  It was actually really nice because I never had to stress about it.  He is very organized and did a really great job with investing and saving.

We have now completely changed the way we do our budgeting.  We are trying a new way, where all the bills are payed/managed online, but everything else we spend will be paid for in cash.  The way we are doing this is he will be in charge of everything online and I will manage the cash in which I will be using for groceries, gas and everything extra that comes up.  Since I have had a four year break in doing this, I am nervous that I will screw it up!  I know it’s not that big of a responsibility, but the part I am worried about is the extra expenses like buying new tires.  Also, it is really hard to keep all the cash because I am really bad about losing things! (like for instance, Darin is currently searching for his Flip that I misplaced)  Hopefully I can plan out a mini budget for it and get it under control.