Book Reviews

While on vacation I was able to read quite a few books and I enjoyed each and every one of them. Here are a few thoughts.

On the recommendation of my friend Emily, I started this series. I really enjoyed Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin so I grabbed the next 2 to take with me on vacation. Just the kind of fun quick reads that I needed. They are not a series but each book has the same characters in it, just one of them is spotlighted as the main character. Each of them are at different stages of their lives and I just loved them all for different reasons.

Ummm, LOVED it! (No surprise there). It was easily as captivating and overall wonderful as Twilight and New Moon. These are a series, so if you happen to be of the few people that haven't read them you really must, just start at the beginning.

So I was kind of skeptical when I began this book but after a few hundred pages I was into it. I am amazed that she was able to put out 7 books with equally intriguing twists and turns. Quite a fun read.

While I don't think I would have chose this book based on it's description, I had to read it for book club and really enjoyed it. It is a fantasy book in which 2 boys struggle with being pushed out of their childhoods too early. Gives you something to consider about our humanity and was a nice deviation from the above mentioned reads.

This was such a great book that was recommended to me by my niece, Lauren. I did fall in love with the characters and thoroughly enjoyed the writing. I am looking forward to reading more books by Shannon Hale.

Summer Cold

Those two words are definitely a contradiction in terms and yet I still have a HORRIBLE summer cold. It is kicking my butt! My only friends for the last week have been these two little items:

I have so many things to do and this is really putting a cramp in my style. I have been trying to will myself better but to no avail. Well until then my laundry, dishes and dust bunnies will wait.

First Day of School

So before I get into the vacation blogs, I thought I'd begin with the present day. Today Jackson started the 2nd grade and Kate began Kindergarten. Despite going to bed at midnight, they were all smiles and eager to get out the door for their first day. Our cute idea of pancakes and pictures were lost on them though. They couldn't wait to meet their teachers!

I have found that Jackson is most ready to talk about his day when he's going to sleep. Just before nodding off tonight he told me that his teacher called him something he'd never heard before. He giggled and said, "She called me "Mr. Talks-a-lot" and then she laughed". Let's hope that Mrs. Roseberry is still laughing in a week and that Jackson is talking less in class.

Kate is lucky to have Mrs. Law for kindergarten (the same teacher that Jackson had). Kate came home today with her "Super Kid" star and was so proud of her first day at school. Jackson and Kate saw each other in the hall and stopped to give each other a hug. How cute is that? I can't believe that I had 2 children in elementary school. Like Jackson said tonight, "it won't be long before we're going to be in college". I almost cried...

I'm Back!

Wow, that was quite a vacation! As soon as I can unearth my camera from the mountain of dirty laundry I'll get to blogging...

Bridge Jumping

Jumping Jackson

The cousins and Uncle Kurt went bridge jumping this afternoon. I was planning on going when the skies were sunny and warm but chickened out after things became gray and threatening. Boy am I sorry that I didn't go. It looked like a blast. If tomorrow is warm we are going to go again because everyone had such a good time. This time I'm not going to be left out either!

Uncle Kurt showed the kids how it was done by diving and tossing in a spread eagle jump once.

Matthew was a little daredevil. He jumped from the very top of the bridge once, did toe touches and even a flip!

Jackson was more cautious as this was his first time jumping but he did throw in an occasional cannonball. He had a blast playing with his cousin Matthew. Boy are those boys two peas in a pod.

Kate thought that they were all nuts and just played by the river. She did say as we left, that she would jump off with me tomorrow though. We'll see if she feels as brave when the time comes.

Thanks Mr. Turner

This morning we went for a leisurely drive and hike on Ted Turner's property in Big Sky, MT with hopes of seeing some wildlife. Let me say that it was ummmh...AWESOME. Even in Yellowstone, I have never seen so many buffalo in one place. The kids were enthralled by the animals and if the number of pictures taken is any indication of my excitement level, then mine was a 10! My pictures can't quite capture what we saw but here are a few glimpses.

Westward Bound

So in the early morning hours tomorrow, we'll be packing up for our 8am flight to Montana. I don't know how Jason arranged it this way but I am flying both ways with the kids and no husband! Good times....at least I only have one layover is SLC and a direct flight home. Could be worse (which incidentally is my motto as of late). We have many fun excursions planned in Montana and then we are driving to Utah where we'll meet Jason when he flys in for the week. We'll stay in Utah for the week and attend a family reunion as well as the usual Utah summer destinations. Then the kids and I'll drive back up to Montana for a few days before we fly home. Who bets that I'll be more exhausted at the end of the "vacation" than I am now?

Fun Project

Here is a really fun project that Jackson and I finished today. Aunt Shauna bought these for the kids to put together and last week Jackson put his Triceratops together and Tyren made a T-Rex. Kate opted to not put hers together and instead put the pieces in a ziploc baggie. Unfortunately, she threw away the directions. Well, this morning Jackson and I felt like a challenge so we tried to put her dinosaur together. We were pretty proud of ourselves for figuring out this puzzle.

'Da Braves

One of our favorite Atlanta summer destinations is Turner field where we watch the Braves baseball games. This spring and summer got away from us though and we just made it to our first game of the season on July 16th. One of the physicians that I work with couldn't go to the game so she gave us her tickets which were awesome! We usually buy the $6 seats, way up in the stadium and love every minute of it. For this game, however, we were behind the Braves dugout in row 26! Who knew how awesome that was going to be? Nice view, let me tell you.

I liken this experience to sitting in first class one time and then realizing how much better it is than coach. We know it's back to coach for us but we sure did enjoy this ride!

Kate likes watching the game.

Jackson likes the food but not when they lose.


I can't believe it, but he's been to at least a dozen games and had never seen them lose. Looking forward to the next game (and hoping they win)! :

Shauna is Awesome!

Top Ten Reasons Why Shauna is Awesome!
10. She laughs at all of our ridiculous jokes.
9. She doesn't mind getting messy and playing with the kids.
8. She always has a smile on her face.
7. She did ALL of my laundry.
6. She brought fun games and books for the kids to enjoy.
5. She left her 3 children at home to come help us out.
4. She brought Tyren so we could play with him too!
3. She decorated the house and helped the kids make my birthday special.
2. She worked out with me and didn't get mad when one day I didn't get up at 6:30.
1. She organized my scrapbook room! Hands down, this wins as my favorite b-day gift!

Just look at her amazing work! (I really should have taken a before picture because you have no idea what this room looked like, pre Shauna.) Now she may get embarrassed but I have to tell you how awesome my talented, scrapbooking sister-in-law is. When she decided to organize my scrapbooking things I am pretty sure that she had no idea what she was getting into but it didn't stop her once she started that major project. In a few days Shauna organized all of my papers, stickers, punches, scissors, mementos and she even managed to sort through and organize boxes of pictures dating back to high school. Now I have a clean, user friendly area where I can go to town. Thanks Shauna!

The BIG 33!

Happy Birthday to Us!

That's right, on Friday the 13th I turned the big 33. I had a great day with a few surprises (which is always fun on the birthday). Beautiful flowers, candy baskets, thoughtful phone calls, cake with friends and a night out was the perfect way to celebrate. We celebrated with Nate and Alli (who shares the same birthday as I do only 2 years younger, but we don't focus on that point) and Jason's sister, Shauna, who is here visiting.
So, Friday night a good friend of mine watched the kids, while we all went to Bones for a fantastic dinner. This restaurant was definitely a splurge but worth every penny. It's makes me laugh whenever I go to a place like this (you know the kind of restaurant where there is a team of 6 assigned to cater to your every need) because I think, "My life should always be like this". But then the night is over and the next weekend it is take out at Chipotle. Sigh...
After the above mentioned dining experience, we headed out for a movie. I know, I know, not the most original idea, but it has been months since we'd gone to a show, so it felt like a treat.
All in all, 33 feels pretty great so far.

More Summer Reading

The Stolen Child

Prep


So, I'm kind of in a reading frenzy. I can't wait until Harry Potter comes out next week (don't judge me) and Eclipse (Twilight/New Moon sequel) in August (again, no judgements please). So, I had to take on another few books in the interim. The Stolen Child is for book club next month and I've heard from a friend a good read. For fun I purchased Prep, based on a friends favorable suggestion. Since I just picked these up today I haven't gotten too far. Has anyone else read either of these books?

Friends

I just came across this quote and it touched me.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting, that another world is born." --Anais Nin

No matter where I have lived, or what stage of life I have been in, I have been blessed with the most wonderful friends. Each one has made me want to be a better person just by being themselves and has helped me to realize something about myself that probably couldn't have been realized without them. So to all of you friends, even those that don't blog :), please know that I love you and couldn't make it without you!

Crazy for Webkinz

Wow, my kids are CRAZY for Webkinz. I'm not sure if this is as big in every state but the kids in Georgia are all about Webkinz. Webkinz are these cute little stuffed animals that come with a code and then become your virtual pet when you log onto the Webkinz site. The children feed, exercise and take care of their pet. They can answer questions or play games to earn KinzCash and then use that cash to buy things to furnish their animals' rooms. Kate loves to take care of her virtual pet and Jackson is all about getting his bank account up to purchase stuff for his pet. It is a really fun diversion the kids have enjoyed this summer.
Jackson's Pet

Kate's Pet


Here is Jackson's WWS this week!
My Webkinz
I have a Webkinz named Wah Wah. My Webkinz is a Chihuahua stuffed animal. His birthday is December 22, 2006. There’s a Webkinz website that I love to play on, http://www.webkinz.com. I like to play at the clubhouse, Quizzy’s question corner and I like to feed my pet. Having a Webkinz is fun.
The End

Ava's Stats

I was cleaning up the office this morning (shocker I know) and came across Ava's 2 year "stats" from her well child visit. Jason and I have felt like she was tall for her age and based on her 2 year old numbers it seems that she is and will grow well past my height! They say that if you double the child's height at 2 years old, you will be within an inch of their adult height. Based on my calculations, she'll be 5'10". Maybe gymnastics aren't in her future? Here are the rest of the numbers -
Weight - 25 1/2 lbs 50th percentile
Length - 35 inches 80th percentile
Head - 19 cm 65th percentile

County Meet FINALS

Swim Season ENDS ;)


Well, now that the 4th is over I can give a brief update on the county finals. The Barracudas finished 2nd with a record of 5-1 for the dual meet season. They came in 8th for the county meet (out of 25 teams) and were pretty happy with that place. Jackson and his relay team did awesome finishing 6th in the medley relay and 8th in the freestyle relay. Jackson did very well too coming in 17th for both backstroke and butterfly in his age group. Nearly every other child in the race was 8 so Jackson did amazing considering it was his first year in this age bracket. He was more relaxed for this meet and had a great time swimming.
We decided to video tape the races and until I learn to post video, these few pictures will have to do. He and Kate certainly haven't had enough of swimming because they woke up this morning saying, "It's sunny! Can we go to the pool?" Maybe tomorrow, because Mom needs a break!

Best shot I could get from the balcony!


Jackson loves this shot of his backstroke start

4th of July Extravaganza

The Show


So this 4th of July was pretty much a marathon day of fun. Here was our day...
6:30 am - Leave for the Peachtree Road Race (which we began at 8:45am)
11:00 am - Jason's Tennis Round Robin and me at the pool with the kids for 3 hours
4:00 pm - Piedmont Park with 7 other families playing games for nearly 4 hours
8:00 pm - Return to our home for jumpin' on the trampoline followed by fireworks (thank you Jason and Matt for risking life and limb).
10:30 pm - Collapse into bed (not to wake up until 8:30 the next day!)

We had such a fantastic time at the park with everyone. A few favorite memories of my time were watching the kids do the water balloon toss, playing baseball (and getting my sunglasses broken from a good hit by Pete and not a good catch by me!), eating tons of yummy food, playing aerobie with Nate, watching the kids roll and tumble down the big hill, watching Ryan climb a tree to recover a foam rocket and watching the kids all so happy to be running around having a fantastic time. This was the kind of event that I wanted to take a mental picture of so that I could always remember the day. Of course I also took quite a few digital photos so that you could all see the fun too!

Most of the Crew


Balloon Toss


Rollin', rollin', rollin'


Jumping Fun

Peachtree Road Race

Pre-Race

The Peachtree Road Race is an annual 10K event in Atlanta on the 4th of July. It's claim to fame is that it's the largest 10K in the world with 55,000 registered participants (they estimate that the total is more like 70,000 with the unregistered runners). Last year I ran it with one of my best friends, Anne Hatch, and since she moved this year :( I was lucky enough to run it with one of my other favorite friends Clairon Palmer. It was a very warm day but not humid and we were blessed with an occassional breeze making the conditions tolerable for the race. We both had a great time and commented that this is such a great way to begin any holiday! Here are a few pictures of the winners!

The Coveted T-Shirt in XL? (For Jason of course)


Still Feeling Strong

County Swim Meet Prelims

Jackson particpated in the county swim meet preliminaries yesterday. That is quite a marathon event let me tell you. We got up at 6:30 in the morning and made it there by 7:30 for warm-ups. The meet started at 9:00 am and we rushed out of there at 2pm, the second Jackson hopped out of the water after his last race, so we could babysit for a friend.
Jackson had a great time and he kept busy swimming 5 races. They are as follows.
1st - Medley relay - Jackson did backstroke (For those non-swimmers 4 kids/4 strokes-back, breast, fly and free)
2nd - Freestyle relay - 4 kids all doing freestyle
3rd - Backstroke
4th - Butterfly
5th - 50 meter Freestyle
The best swimmer in their age group, Will M., wasn't able to swim the relay with them because he got osteomyelitis in his toe. This is kind of like the star quarterback breaking his arm before the big game as Will's freestyle is like 6 seconds faster than everyone else! So the boys were bummed but another little boy, Will. L, stepped up to help the team out. Those boys swam their little hearts out and placed 6th in the freestyle relay and 10th in the medley relay. Yea!!! The top 10 teams come back for the County Finals today so we'll be back with the crew.

Taking a picture of 4, seven and eight year old boys is like trying to catch the wind. John S., Will L, Jackson and Sam made up the 8-U relay team.

The top 20 finishers in the individual events come back for the finals as well and Jackson placed in the top 20 for both backstroke and butterfly, too. So it looks like he'll be swimming in 4 events today. Pretty darn great considering he moved up an age group this year and is competitive! He is pretty excited for this big day. We'll let you know how it plays out.

Getting Ready