What Next???

I'm almost finished reading These Is My Words and I will be posting my review soon to add to my literary tour. Funny thing, thinking about that title always makes me sing Natasha Bettingfield in my head which is odd becuase I kind of don't like her. Anyway, I love the book but I'm having trouble deciding what to read next. So I thought I would just put it out there. After this one, I will have read two romances in like two weeks and I think I need to mix it up a little bit. Not to mention that I think my husband would enjoy me reading something less sappy for once. So here is what I'm thinking......

Into Thin Air by John Krakauer. This will make our next stop on the literary tour mount Everest. Should be thrilling, exciting and maybe a little dangerous! But most likely a little bit sad as well.

The Kite Runner by, Khaled Hosseini. By reading this one, we will make a stop in Afghanistan. We will experience friendship, war, fallen monarchies, being a refugee and kite flying (?). I'm very interested in reading this one and then maybe I'll see the movie adaptation.

The Patriots by, James Wesley Rawles. I don't know a lot about this book. It's about survivalist during an economic meltdown in the United States. This journey will take us from the midwest to Idaho and maybe a few places in between.

I'm really excited to read all of these books so I just can't decide and I'll be done with the other one really soon. So let me know what you all think. I'll post a poll on my side bar. First time I've ever done that.....

Picnic in the Park Tuesdays

Moving is a great excuse to start new traditions as a family. One of my favorites that we started as soon as we moved here is 'Picnic in the Park Tuesdays'. This is a tradition that was born out of the fact that my father in law works in the cannery every other tuesday so he can't be home for dinner. The plan is simple and fun. We find a park somewhere around Sandy (there are a million of them), take a picnic dinner and let the kids get their wiggles out. It's been really nice of the last few weeks when it's been too hot to go to the park during the day. When we get there are dinner time, everything is just starting to cool down to a pleasant temp. We've hit parks close to home, we went to a park that Carson would frequent when growing up and we even headed 'up the canyon' one week and made a fire to roast marshmallows for dinner. It has been a great way to come closer as a family and fun way to get to know our new home. It's also made dinner planning easier because it's super easy to plan a picnic meal!

These are pictures from Bywater Park near where Carson grew up.

Not only do the kids always have a great time, but we always end up with bonus performances by the kids. If there is any sort of hill at the park, it's usually the songs form Beauty and the Beast. So funny!

A Literary Tour-Beauford, North Carolina*

After I finally got my library card, I decided to take advantage of it and request a bunch of books at the library. The only problem, my literary knowledge doesn't go much further than Twilight, Harry Potter and Anita Stansfield LDS romance novels. Not much of a selection there, plus I've read most of those multiple times. So I went to facebook, asked for suggestions and got some great ones. I pretty much requested them all and ended up really far down on the waiting lists for almost all of them. So I wasn't expecting the text from the library on Monday night saying that there were six (6!) books waiting for me. They were A Walk to Remember, The Red Tent, The Secret Life of Bees, Into Thin Air, Water For Elephants, and These Is My Words. Hello! So that night I began my quest to become a little more familiar with something other than vampires, wizards and Australians.

Book #1 A Walk to Remember by, Nicholas Sparks

I had my reasons for choosing this book. First, every girl needs a little romance, right? Second, I love the movie! It's not the most masterful of cinematic works, but it's clean, realistic to a certain extent, and I think Shane West is super cute (plus I've always held a secret admiration for Many Moore...she's like the homely, four eyed, embarrassing step sister that nobody talks about when it comes to the Disney teen queens of the late 90's. She really made you root for her but you just couldn't admit it because she wasn't Brittany.) Anyway, I wanted to see how the book would measure up to a movie that I really like and always makes me cry......here goes.

I liked the book only okay. I felt that Nicholas Sparks kind of let the reader down with the amount of character development. In the movie you have a really clear understanding of why Landon Carter is such a rebel and while that it alluded to in the novel, the only thing he ever did wrong was loiter at the cemetery after hours. Really? It would have been better had he been portrayed as a greaser from the other side of the tracks, someone along the lines of John Milner or Fonzie. At least they got parking tickets and wore leather jackets. But no, Landon Carter just seemed like any other normal guy from 1958. Maybe not Ritchie Cunningham, but definitely Potsy Webber (I watched a lot of Nick a Nite growing up).

I was also disappointed with the quality of the writing. I know that is most people's complaint about Twilight, but Nicholas Sparks is supposed to be an accomplished writer and i would have expected more. In the first half of the book, he used the phrase 'If you know what I mean' (or some form of it) on every page and I'm not joking.

Then there was the climax which I think is the most important part of the story. If you haven't read it or seen the movie, I won't give a spoiler, just know that it's there. I feel that it happened way too late in the book and then there wasn't enough attention given to it. It was like BOOM! 20 pages later, the end.

However, there were some very good aspects of the book and I feel that i would be remiss if i left them out. I really do love the story, it has feel good moments and it will cause you to get a little emotional....but I cried more in the movie than the book. I love that it is clean in pretty much every aspect of the story and that is, of course, a huge plus. I also really loved the spiritual journey that all of the characters went on, but I would have loved more of that. It just falls into that whole climax thing that I was talking about before.

All in all, it was a quick easy read that did make me feel good when it was all said and done. I would recommend if you have nothing else to read or want something quick and easy.

*The book takes place in Beauford, North Carolina. Next up, Israel and Egypt for The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

** I will post about my future literary stops as soon as the book is finished and I've reconciled all of my feelings about it.

Post Edit-I'm canceling the trip to Israel and Egypt in favor of Arizona and These Is My Words by, Nancy E. Turner. For anyone who has read The Red Tent, I tried really hard to think it was a good book, but I ended up feeling conflicted by the subject matter so I stopped about 30 pages in. If you haven't read it, let me know if you want a more detailed description as to why I stopped reading it.

Baby Girl (not so much a baby anymore)

Salt Lake Temple Grounds, May 2010

We started calling Siobhan 'Baby Girl' when she was a tiny little peanut. The name has always stuck. We call Audrey Baby Girl every now and then, but the distinction really belongs to Siobhan.

She has always been an equal-opportunity thumb sucker although she's breaking the habit slowly but surely. She has never really had a preference for right or left.

While her thumb sucking has never determined by her dominant hand, she is most definitely a wouth paw. We tried to switch her from the left to right, but we realized after about a day that that was never going to happen.

What a Tom-boy she is. Every now and then she decides she wants to be a prissy young lady, but usually she's outside looking for worms or jumping/tumbling on something.

She has always been Miss Indepedant and i love that about her. It's just hard to reign in sometimes (most of the time).

When she was about 2 1/2, she wondered out of the back door, went throught he gate and ended up down the street before a constuction worker brough her home. That it the reason for extra locks that ended up getting installed on all doors leading outside on our house in Colorado.

She's a really good dancer and extremely coordinated, but I know that her true passion lies in tumbling.

Siobhan has always had trouble giving me a natural smile, but when I get it from her, it is so special!

She's going to be tall just like her daddy!

Cutie Pants Kid

Always the drama queen, this is what Audrey wore to her birthday dinner.

I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it."

~Audrey Hepburn

This quote from my second born's namesake could not sum up Audrey's personality any better.

This girl is so lovey dovey, I sometimes can't handle it.

The other night, both girls got their blankies taken away becuase they weren't going to sleep. Siobhan freaked out and Audrey consoled her saying, 'Siobhan, don't worry, we'll get out and get our blankies as soon as mommy goes upstairs.' I wanted so bad to be mad at her but it was so cute and sweet!

She prefers to wear her hair down and natural, but man, when I put it up, it highlights her sweet features in such a way that you would swear you were looking at a model for a baby mag.

When she was a month old, she spent 3 days in the hospital and I knew that we were dealing with fragile sweet spirit. I was right. She's tiny, dainty and very clumsy and can't go more than hour without hurting something....ahhh, but I love her for it!

You know the story about the blankets from a just a few sentances ago, she did the same thing when the battery died in Siobhan's princess flashlight. But instead, her solution was, 'Siobhan don't worry, we'll get you a new spotlight so we can get a new battery.'

She is the envy of all the boys her age. Over the weekend, we went to a restaurant that had a stationary ride on train. She sat down and the little boy next to her said, 'Wow, she really is a pretty girl!' He was 4 and she had camping hair. Girl's doing something right and I'm not sure if that is a good thing.

She can recite almost all of Beauty and the Beast. A girl after my own heart!

The Young Sir

Salt Lake, May 2010

There is something about Mr. Will that melts my heart.

I can't get over the joy (and energy) that he added to our family close to 18 months ago....has it been that long?

His sapphire blue eyes are constantly lit up. Always full of joy!

I love how his teeth look like a jack-o-lantern. This is all due to the fact that they are coming in REALLY slow and one of his bottom teeth is chipped.

When he walks, he reminds me of ET. Drunk ET.

He sleeps on his tummy every night with his bunda (bum) up in the air and his feet crossed underneath. So cute but it causes some serious diaper leakage almost everynight.

He can't talk yet aside from Mama, Dada, and Baba, but boy does he have a lot to say! I swear he was phontificating on the finer point of babydom the other day!

He recently became attached a blanket and I find it adorable. Everytime he sees it, he grabs it and cuddles down on the floor.

Kid can pound it with the best of them at mealtime!

Every now and then when he wants to be funny, he closes his eyes, tilts his head up and gives me the biggest, goofiest grin that he can manage!

He is destined for a career as a doorman. Don't ever leave a door open in his presence because he will take care of it....even if your leg, head, arm, or other sensitive body part are still in the doorway.

He may also be destined for a career in janitorial services given his fascination in toilet brushes and brooms. I don't really care if he becomes a janitor as long as it makes him happy!

When I spike his hair, sometimes he looks like a cockatoo.

He wants so bad to keep up with his big sisters, but i'm content to have his stay the way his is!

Solid as a rock!

He has elfin ears just like me but he has his daddy's eyebrows!

Long Time....

Despite rumors to the contrary (well, probably rumors that are only in my own head) i have not fallen off the blog face of the earth. Things have been so crazy and eventually, when you get that behind, its not totally fun to go back and attempt to catch up becuase then its super overwhelming! But I will try! I know my fans want the info on our family, so ove the next fews days, I keep checking back to hear all about our move, Carson's new job, the kiddos and all that entails, plus the pregnancy which I realized hasn't made it onto the blog yet. Stay tuned and keep checking for more on the following

Mr. Will appartently training for a future career...I'll let you decided what that career could be. It may or may not have to do with wearing a cowboy hat while shirtless.

Playing peek-a-boo in the house the night before we moved out.

Going to the carnival to celebrate Taylorsville days....say that five times fast!

A princess birthday party for a new little three year old!

Playing at the park...

Baking apple pie with Siobhan

Doing lots of cooking and enjoying it!

On a personal note....let me just give out a bit of advice....I already posted it on facebook, but I think it deserves some repeating. Never, under any circumstances, even if your life depends on it, never get your eyebrows threaded! I'm not a high maintenance beauty type of person. I don't pluck my eyebrows because it hurts and takes a long time and I don't spend the money to have them waxed becuase I just don't. I don't get my hair done, I don't wear make-up and I'm lucky if I end up wearing something even slightly stylish or fashionable on a regular day. I just don't take the time. But I felt that I need to start taking a more vested interest in my appearance so that the outside can reflect how I feel about myself on the inside. That's what made me decide on trying the theading while I was at the mall today. She said that it wouldn't take very long and it doesn't hurt very badly. She promised that it hurt less than waxing. I have gotten my brows waxed in the past so I know how bad it really does hurt. Let me just say that after this experience, not only would I take waxing over threading, but I would also take child birth over threading.....it hurt so bad, I was in tears! My eyebrows do look good, but it was totally not worth it!