Upside Sleeping

When he is tired Clark can fall asleep anytime, and anywhere.  Here he feel asleep upside down, and he stayed this way for one hour.  When he woke up he fell down because his foot fell asleep, it was so hard not to laugh.

The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol  by Dan Brown

✭✭✭✭✭ (out of 5 stars)

Dan Brown sure knows how to write one hell of a book.  Addictive, fast paced, compelling and smart.  I love getting lost in his stories.  This book followed Robert Langdon on another race against the clock, to save a friends life, but this time its through the streets of DC.  I loved the history and background of this story, it brought back back so many fond memories of my time in Washington DC.  True Dan Brown style there are a couple great twists that you will not see coming.  I was a little teeny tiny disappointed in the ending (I mean, even I could figure out what was gonna happen next), but it didn't ruin the book at all.

Not my favorite of his books (I loved Angels and Demons the most), or in my opinion his best, but a great read and a very good book.  And I think it will make a great movie as well, a nice little trilogy.

Rated: I don't know...I am tired of doing this whole rating thing.  Lots of violence, creepy like.  PG-13 I guess.

Recommended:  Yes.

Mommy's Little Couch Potato

I can't tell you how many times I have found Harry sitting on the couch like this.  Trying to push the buttons on the remote control to find Backyardigans, so serious (too bad it is the dvd remote control).  I love his face, and I love his guts.

A Little Examle

Yep! That is one of MY kids eating veggies!

I have always given my boys a variety of food to eat and choose from, letting them try new things.  With Clark, he choose to stick with the classic toddler food, hot dogs, french fries, cheese, and Ramen (which he has successfully been weened off of, and is now 14 days Ramen free).  I couldn't get Clark to eat a vegetable to save his life.  Once I remember giving him a bite of my sweet potatoes, only to have him promptly throw up...that's when I stop forcing him to eat veggies.  But little Harry is all about variety, he will try anything.  Broccoli is his favorite!  I was floored when he first ate it, one of my kids eating veggies...amazing.  Don't get me wrong, Harry will knock you down to get to a piece of pizza, but he eats his veggies too.  Good little brother, setting an example for his big brother.

Who wants to go swimming?

These days we have been spending almost all our free time outside.  As soon as the boys wake up and have their breakfast (and of-course watch a few of their favorite shows), we go straight outside.  We probably spend a good 3-4 hours outside everyday (you would think I would have a better tan by now, ha ha ha).  They chase the dog and the pig around, dig in the mud, sweep the sidewalks, and play in the pool.  And everyday without fail, as soon as I get the pool out, Clark gets naked!  (Then of -course little Harry has to get naked too.)  For the rest of the afternoon I have a couple of little nudist playing outside...poor little mosquito bites on their bum's and everything.  It is good our yard is secluded, and we don't live right in town.  Boys being boys!  I am so thankful that we have such good weather year around, and I can keep the boys outside all year...what in the world are they gonna do when we move?!?!

It is coming so fast.

I can't believe that in 13 short days Harry is going to turn 1 year old!  I feel like we just barely brought him home from the hospital, that he barely ate his first bite of real grown-up food, that he just took his first steps.  It all goes by so fast...

The Likenss

The Likeness  by Tana French

✭✭✭✭ (our of 5 stars)

I really really liked this book.  Much better than Tana's first novel, and an easier, smoother read.  She has a sharp and witty writing style, and I love the way she narrates the story.  In most books I usually get lost in all the descriptions and inner monologues, but not with this book...I loved Cassie and I wanted to know every detail of what was going on.  And a more satisfying ending than her disappointing In The Woods, to boot.

Cassie Maddox goes undercover to find her doppelgangers, Lexie, murderer.  Not only do Cassie and Lexie look unbelievably alike, they share a name, one Cassie Maddox had used early in another undercover operation.  Where did Lexie come from, who killed her, and why?  I loved the thought, no matter how improbable it was, of her just dropping back into this dead girls life, trying to figure out the clues, and having to convince four of Lexie's room mates while she was at it.  Great read!

Rated: pg-13 Lots of swears.

Recommended: Yep, if you like cop/mystery/whodunit/thrillers.

I will never forget.

I remember that morning eight years ago, just like it was yesterday.  Jason and I had just moved to Alexandria, Virginia 10 minutes outside of Washington DC.  We had only been in the area for a couple weeks.  Our tv wasn't hooked up, there were boxes everywhere, and we were still in those first getting to know you stages of marriage (we had only been married about 4 months).  Jason worked in the Honor Guard, and would often travel around DC doing various jobs, funerals, retirements, any type of military ceremony.  I was working at a pet store, Royal Pets.  It was like any normal day when I first got to work.  I cleaned out the puppy and kitten cages, fed the fish and the birds, and was just getting started on reorganizing the back cabinets.  My boss got a call from his wife saying the World Trade Center was hit.  Weird and sad, I didn't really know what to think, NYC was so far from me, and we really had no other information.  I just continued working, a little distracted, but working.  Another call, a second hit, they think it was planes.  Ok, now I am starting to worry a little, it didn't seem like an accident any longer.  We were looking around the shop for a spare tv to hook up.  Everyone was starting to panic a little.  Then I heard it...sirens, lots and lots of sirens, fire engines, police cars and ambulances.  The sound was deafening.  And then another call...the Pentagon was hit.  What happened next was so surreal.  I remember standing there, looking up at the tiny tv we hooked up and saying under my breath so softly I know no one heard me..."Jason works there, he was there yesterday...I wonder what he is doing today".  I just stood there, in shock.  Wondering.  Afraid.  Confused.  And all I could hear were those sirens, so many sirens.  Then, like nothing had happened I continued to clean, I cleaned like I never cleaned before.  Inside my head I was screaming, "where is Jason, what is going on, I want to go home"...but on the outside I was quiet and just cleaning.  It was probably one of the worst moments in my life.  A terrifying thirty minutes while I worked, wondering what happened.  Then like an answer to my prayers, my friend Angie came running into my work.  Our husbands worked together, she got a call and came to tell me they were fine and safe on base.  Everything was ok.  I started crying then, finally all the confusion and emotions I had been holding inside were flowing out of me.  We closed down shop, and I walked home.  That was the longest walk I ever took.  So much was going through my mind, but at least I knew my family was safe.  I had a billion messages when I got home.  I put on my brave face and called everyone back, "yes yes we are ok, Jason is at work, we will be fine".  I hooked up my tv, and just sat there and stared, the images are still burned in my mind, I felt like I could smell the smoke.  I went and looked out on my balcony, and I could see the smoke from the Pentagon.  And I cried again.  I cried for the people there, and rescuers, I cried because Jason wasn't there, I cried because I wanted to go home...planes were never falling out of the sky when I lived in Utah and I felt safe.  Safe.  It took a long time before I got that feeling back.  For months, almost a year afterwards whenever I heard a sirens outside my window my heart would stop.  I couldn't sleep very well at night.  Whenever a breaking news report would come on during my tv shows I would hold my breath.  It took a long time to get back to normal.  I was spared my husband that day, and I didn't know anyone who died, but I still felt like a little piece of me was taken away.  I grew up a lot that day.  I will never forget those faces that I saw on the news, I will never forget the people who lost their lives that day.  I will never forget.

Nick of Time

Nick of Time  by Ted Bell

✭✭✭

Time travel, pirates, and nazis.  This book has it all (maybe a little too much).  Fast paced and action packed, it is a must read for all  little boys out there, and I know Clark will love to read it someday.

This was Ted Bell's first novel, and the sequel to this book is coming out soon (if it is not already).  I enjoyed it for the fun factor, but I wasn't overly impressed.

Rated: PG

Recommended: Yeppers, especially if you have little boys who like to read.

Counting to 10!

Clark can FINALLY count to 10!  

You can even understand him, if he talks loud enough.  It makes me so happy I could cry.  He loves to count everything, toes, snacks, toys, cars...everything.  It is the cutest thing ever, and I am so proud of all the hard work he has been doing with his talking.  I wanted to post this little blog now, instead of waiting until I got the video of it...because he is a Little Mr. Stubborn Pants and getting a video of him doing what I want it going to take FOREVER.  Hip hip Hooray for Tuna!

It's just a little kibble, Mom.

Caught red handed, eating the cat food!

I don't know what it up with my kids lately, but I can't keep them away from the cat food.  I promise I feed them, and they have never tried to eat it before...but the last couple days I keep catching them snacking away.  

I still can't even figure out Harry got the lid off the container, it is a tight lid.  He loves to just stick his hands in it and dig for the best piece.  (I seriously think I just threw up a little.)

'See Mom it's good'....Clark trying to convince me that it is good, and it is okay that he climbed to the top of Gary's house to eat his food.  My crazy boys.  

Up a tree.

Clark finally learned how to get up in the tree by himself.  He has been working on it for a couple months, and always gave up when he would stub his toe or fall down.  He was so excited when he finally did it!  I sat up in it forever, jabbering about the leaves and ants he could see.  Where he was sitting was not very far off the ground, and he was still a little too timid to go any higher...but I know one of these days he is gonna climb to the top and I am gonna have to figure out how to get him down.

OH Happy Day!!!

Let the joyous news spread through out the land, September is here, SEPTEMBER IS HERE!

September is my favorite month of the year by far.  There are so many things I love about it.  I love that it is the end of summer, and beginning of fall.  You still have lots of nice warm days to finish off any of the summer things you didn't get to do, but the nights are a little cooler and maybe there is a cold breeze or two that lets you know that fall is right around the corner.  Sigh....I love fall.  When I was little I loved that it was time to go back to school, and see all my friends that I missed all summer.  There wasn't a better feeling than that first day of school, seeing how everyone changed during the summer, the nervous butterflies in your stomach as you looked for your secret crush, meeting up with all your friends.  And now that I'm not so little, I love that it is the season when all my tv shows come back on.  (Don't judge me, you know you are sick and tired of watching all the summer re-runs too...and tv this season is looking to be SO good!)  New shows are coming, hooray!!!  My dvr is going to be working overtime this year, overtime!  I don't even think I can explain to you how excited I am for the new shows to start...(again, please don't judge me).  This September is especially special to me, because my littlest Harry is going to turn 1 year old (and my Mom and Dad are coming down to celebrate, yay!).  Also, I get two new books out, that I have been REALLY looking forward to reading, Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon and the newest book by Dan Brown.  This month is going to be FANTASTIC!

I love September.