Summer
i love summer
On my bedside table. . .
Nancy E. Turner: Sarah's Quilt: A Novel of Sarah Agnes Prine and the Arizona Territories, 1906
I read the book that came before this one (These is my words) a few years back and finally got this one. It is based loosely on the author's great-grandmother who lived in the Arizona Territory. This journal-style book is set in 1902 and is an interesting read. The author made it as factually accurate as she could and it blows your mind to think about how easy our lives are now in comparison.Tatiana de Rosnay: Sarah's Key
Maureen gave this to me for my birthday and my book club is reading it this month. I thought it was a great book -- it is rooted in history and details how the French police (following Hitler's orders) rounded up 10,000 Jews and sent them to their deaths in the concentration camps. The author profiles a little girl and how the experience shaped her. I didn't want to put this one down -- well-written and captivating.Catherine O'Flynn: What Was Lost: A Novel
Started out as an interesting story, but it went down hill from there, for me. A lot of trivial characters to keep track of and kind of a nothing story in the end.Geraldine Brooks: People of the Book
Not a great one this time. It was difficult to keep track of the timing on this one, as the author jumps back in forth from the 1400's to the 1900's. It has a lot of history in it and I learned a bit, but not one I would read again.Curtis Sittenfeld: American Wife: A Novel
I really enjoyed this book! It's a fictional book, but the lead character is based on Laura Bush and of course her pal, W. As you can guess, I didn't enjoy it because of my political leanings! Instead, I thought it was well written and an interesting peek into the life of a First Lady. And it examines the idea of how famous people give over their lives . . . such as, the public perception of you and your beliefs are not based on what you may or may not believe, but more on how the media interprets your beliefs. Definitely a good read! But it sure didn't sway me to the other side.Kate Jacobs: The Friday Night Knitting Club
I really enjoyed this one. It took quite awhile to establish the characters, but once the author did, I really enjoyed the story. It's worth the read!Garth Stein: The Art of Racing in the Rain
Odd, but interesting. Dog lovers will enjoy this book, that is written from the perspective of a dog. It makes you wonder how much a dog can think and observe and take in.Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture
I decided to skip this one until now, because I assumed it would be much like every other advice book. Here's how to live the perfect life. . . blah, blah, blah. I was so wrong! He gives incredible advice, but instead of telling you to do it, he tells you how he did it and how it worked for him. After I read the book, I had to go online and and watch him deliver his last lecture. A wonderful book!Augusten Burroughs: Running with Scissors: A Memoir
Much like The Glass Castle. . . what a crazy childhood this guy had. He grew up with a mother who was bi-polar and lived a life that was so bizarre, it sounds like fiction. It's incredible that a child can come through somethign like that and be relatively normal.Cormac McCarthy: The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
HATED it! One of the few books I have ever put down without finishing it. Not sure why Oprah loved it? Several members of my book club really liked it, just not me!
ARCHIVES
July 10, 2009
July 09, 2009
4th of July
Joe's dad generally leads a 4th of July parade. . . last year he added the car in. Here are the pics from this year:
They had a water balloon fight -- which the kids (little and big) liked!
More pics tomorrow!
July 06, 2009
Cousins. . .
We had a great 4th of July weekend and the kids spent a ton of time with their McCarthy cousins -- Will and Dillon. Dillon decided that Leah is his best friend ever and wanted to be with her every second he was awake.
Jackson and Will spent most of their time together playing baseball, football and catch together. Auntie Anne took this picture of them. She loves that and had a buddy for the weekend.
The one that makes me laugh the most though is the three younger boys. Auntie Anne captured this moment too.
July 02, 2009
A rough week. . .
It has been a great summer so far. We're half way through with our summer and it's gone a little too fast for me this year. There are so many more things we're able to do, now that John and Owen are a year older. We've been to the library a lot, gone to the free weekly movie a few times, gone swimming, played in the sprinklers and spent an afternoon at the animal refuge not too far from us.
But this week things haven't been as fun. Monday, I took Leah and John to the eye doctor and found out that Johnny is fine, but Leah needs glasses. After that, we went to my brother's to swim and have dinner and John jumped into the deep end. . .with no type of floatation thing on. . . while everyone's backs were turned. He treaded water and got to the side and my niece grabbed his arm, while Jackson got my attention. The scary part is that he wasn't frightened at all. He thinks he can swim and thought he could swim to get his toy that went in the water. UGH!!! I didn't feel good Monday - Wednesday and turns out that I have strep throat. I don't remember having that before and none of the kids have had it -- nice. Then tonight, John wasn't watching where he was going and walked into an iron stair railing. He cut his scalp and after a trip the ER, he now has a staple in his scalp. Here he is at the ER -- they put numbing medicine on and wrapped it up. He wasn't too happy with that part. Amazingly though, he didn't cry when he got the staple put in. Here's to a healthier week next week!
July 01, 2009
At least a thousand times. . .
The weekend after Katie and Matt got engaged, Joe or I started singing this little tune at breakfast and then left the same song on Katie's voicemail. Well, since then, Johnny has done it at least a thousand times! Click on this link and see if it works!
June 28, 2009
Lawn-surfing!
We ended up with two boards after the beach and so I offered up a fun afternoon activity to the kids -- lawnsurfing!
Hours of fun!
June 25, 2009
Pool Fun!
Let's just say they are all a little bit CRAZY in the pool now! Leah is swimming underwater all around the edge of the pool now -- including the deep end. . . Jackson is now swimming underwater, but only in the shallow end and when their arm floaties go on, John and Owen think they are 6 too. They jump off the side, go under, pop up and are ready to go again. That isn't at all unusual for lots of kids, but for ours it is. Leah and Jackson were always very timid around the water and John and Owen, well. . . they aren't so much! It makes pool time much more fun -- but also much more difficult to keep an eye on all 4 who have less fear!
June 22, 2009
Father's Day and Anniversary
Sunday was a really nice day and Joe says it was his best one yet. We didn't do much in particular -- a special breakfast and some card games and a nice outside dinner. The kids all drew him pictures and we made him a little stepping stone with an airplane on it. He loved it all!
And on the heels of that. . .our wedding anniversary is June 23rd. Happy 8 years, buddy! Look at those faces -- it's been a great 8 years!
June 17, 2009
Back from a mini-vacation
This week we were supposed to be in Fort Lauderdale, spending a week at the beach with the McCarthys. But, Joe's job is questionable right now and so he wasn't able to take a week off. We had talked about going to the beach for the last month or so and telling the kids that we couldn't go was hard. Really hard. So, we came up with a back-up plan to tell them, when we broke the bad news. The closest beach to us is Hilton Head Island, SC (4 hours) so that was a logical place to go for a weekend mini-vacation. I didn't know, but my brother and his family were down there last week, so they invited me and the kids to come down early and spend time with them. Joe could only come for Saturday and Sunday. It was a nice break and the kids had lots of fun. They still wish they could go to Florida and play with McCarthy cousins, but they don't understand that you can't take a weekend trip with an 11-hour drive.
We had never been to Hilton Head since kids and we found out it was a great beach for kids. There are tidepools on the wide beaches and the kids spent hours just laying in the tidepools and digging in the sand for coquinas.
June 09, 2009
Splish, Splash!
We started off our first week of Summer Break with swim classes and all the kids did really well.
Who knew this would be the only of of our kids to love every second of learning to go underwater? The other three all had that fear of going underwater. Not this one!
This little fearless one below told me 10 minutes into the first day of class that his class was done. He said, "I done. My class done. Me no like to go underwater." He cried the first and second day and then just wet along with it. He didnt like it, but he did it. He even picked things up from the bottom of the pool.
Leah went to Level 2 of swimming this year. . . which includes jumping off the diving board and swimming the length of the pool. She did good too!
Then there's Jackson -- well, I joked last year that he would prefer to hover above the water. This was his 4th time taking the Level 1 class and on the second day, he just got over his fear. He spent the rest of the week going under constantly.
All in all, it was a successful week!
