Long time gone......

Wow, so it has been a long time since I posted on here! Our family has been very busy lately and also I have been a little bit lazy, so this post will be a catch up post as well as a bit of rambling.

First of all, we went on vacation to Disneyland this past month. We were gone for a week to Disneyland, and it was so much fun. The kiddos had a blast! Noah is of course wanting to ride every fast ride, but he was too short for most of them. Eli was not a big fan of the fast rides, and Josh is also not willing to ride the fast rides. So our plan is to spend time growing Noah and then go back. It would be totally cool if we did it regularly, so we hope to plan on something like that.

My sister and her family also had exciting news. They bought a farm on western Oregon that is spectacular! It makes me want to move near her and just grow things and raise kids. We will have to see about that!

Eli has started school! We decided that we didn't want to just send him off to school, but we also didn't really know about straight homeschool, so he stays home but is enrolled in public school that is online. He is sailing through Kindergarten and should be starting First grade soon. We always knew he was one smart cookie, but he has blown us away by how well he reads and also his math skills. What a cool kid.

Noah gets to hang out at home with Josh while Eli does school, and it seems that he is going to follow in his brother's footsteps. He is talking very well, as long as he doesn't get in a big hurry that is. He is always busy and into something, so I think we will have our hands full with that munchkin.

Ok, more to follow, and hopefully pictures as well. Just figured I would write a post to get back into it after a super long break.

A day at play

On Saturday we took a trip to the mountains to fish and play and roast hot dogs. We went to a place that I had wanted to go to for awhile, and it did not disappoint. It was gorgeous! Fishing was a bust as we kept getting our hooks caught, and also the boys just wanted to be in the river. So we ended up playing in the water for awhile, and also had a wonderful lunch of hot dogs and smores. Unfortunately Josh had his tooth pulled this week, so he didn't get to have smores with us. I guess that means we just have to do this again soon!

The Wake of Forgiveness

The Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart was a hard book for me to get through. I found the main character to be very harsh and unyielding, and the story was very difficult for me to follow. When I read the introduction, this book really appealed to me because I am a fan of historical fiction. This book really didn't do it for me, it was too sad and depressing.

Grade-D-

A copy of this book was given to me electronically by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

New haircut!

I got up the nerve to do something different with my hair. Boy is it different! I really love my new do!

Love on a Dime

The novel "Love on a Dime" by Cara Lynn James is about a woman that is secretly a novelist who writes dime novels about romance. She does this in secret because her well to do family would disapprove. Along the way she has feeling for an old flame, is proposed to by a new flame and faces blackmail regarding her career as a writer.

I really enjoyed this book. The lead character is very compassionate and serves her community in a shelter for woman even though her family doesn't entirely approve. She has to make several tough choices, and these events help draw the reader in as she works through these issues. Her friends in the novel are also interesting characters in that they help her to see what is going on in her love life when she begins thinking solely with her head.

The character of her old flame is also a big part of the book, and he is very interesting to follow as well. He is a poor boy that makes his fortune, and in the story he begins to see that money is not everything he thought it was.

I would recommend this book because it is a good solid story. It does have references to God throughout, but isn't overly religious.

Grade- B

A complimentary copy of this book was given to me for review from Thomas Nelson publishing.

Sleepy babies

Ah, how sweet. My little munchkins do sometimes settle down enough to catch on film. Most often they are running so fast I cannot capture them!

Chickens!

This is actually two sets of photos, one from several weeks ago and one set from yesterday. These chickens are growing so fast! Even when I am with them all the time, I still see that they are huge! I love how the one picture show all the fatties eating at the feeders and the soon to be laying hens are scratching on the ground!

My little photographer, Eli!

Eli got a camera for his 5th birthday. It was actually a nice camera, a definite upgrade from his kid's toy camera he had. When Josh's family was here to visit, Eli borrowed Uncle Joel's camera and ended up taking some good photos. So I figured I would encourage that skill. So here it is, Eli's best photos, Early 2010 edition.

Juliet

"Juliet" by Anne Fortier is a wonderful novel that re-tells the story of Romeo and Juliet with a twist. The story is about modern day Julie Jacobs who finds herself in Siena, Italy in the middle of an ancient family mystery. She finds her given name is Giulietta and she is related to the Juliet of the famous story. We follow both her story, and the ancient story that happened in real life before Shakespeare told the story we know.

I personally enjoy historical fiction, so this book was meant for me. It was a riveting tale set in both long ago times and modern times as well. There are quite a few twists in the plot that keep the reader going back for more. Julie is an interesting character that is brave and curious. She is put in many interesting positions and has to find her way out of several predicaments.

Anne Fortier is a great storyteller, and I will certainly read any forthcoming books by her!

Grade-A

I was provided a copy of this book to review by the publisher.

Hailey's War

"Hailey's War" by Jodi Compton was a surprising book to me. It is the story of Hailey Cain, a West Point washout seems to have something to prove. She has family in the music business and friends in LA gangs, and finds herself protecting a pregnant Mexican teenager. She is smart and savvy, but tends to find herself in tight spots frequently.

This book was one that I couldn't put down. It was a wonderful story told by a great storyteller. The characters have a certain depth that I don't find in many books. I really connected with all the characters, and was ultimately rooting for the home team by the end of the story.

It is a book that has plenty of twists in it, but I wouldn't qualify it as a thriller. That didn't make it any less of a good read in my eyes. I would certainly give this book a try!

Grade-A

I was provided a review copy of this book from the publisher.

My big boy!!

Well, it is official! Noah is such a big boy now. Over the weekend we have been working on potty training, and he will go in the potty almost by himself all day! Still working on number 2, but he is so amazing! Smart and funny, watch out world!

A political note

How excited is everyone that President Obama addressed the nation last night?! While I was unfortunately unable to watched his "prime time" address on television, but I did catch the recap on OPB radio. I just wanted to say a few words about what his address meant to me.

First of all, kudos Mr. President, for taking this hard stance on the oil spill! Or wait, didn't this thing happen 57 days before your speech? Like two months ago? How pertinent is your stance on doing what it takes after an unknown quantity of oil has already gushed into the gulf?! I mean come on, wouldn't it be slightly more sincere if you had started giving us your "battle plan" when this thing started? I guess you too busy to notice!

Secondly, Mr. President, I really like how this disaster is suddenly our fault as a nation because of our addiction to oil. And BP's fault. I am glad that this disaster is perfect opportunity to push your agenda! My personal opinion is that perhaps the blame could be better directed at the government agency in charge of regulating and overseeing the safety of these operations! And perhaps you could take some of the blame yourself, being as how you denied the help that was offered three days after the spill started by other countries to help start the clean-up! Why is it so important now, when it was not that big of a deal to you then?

I want you to know that I happen to agree that we need reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Don't let my family know, they disagree with me on this one. I just don't personally think it is appropriate to use this event as a way to point fingers, how helpful do you think that is!?

The Aquarium

The Aquarium was a lot of fun too! These are some neat pictures of jellyfish and us enjoying the place. I recommend it!

A day at the beach

Our next stop was the coast. We had rented a Yurt for 2 nights, and so we figured that we could take advantage of beautful Newport and also get some beach time in. Luckily it was nice the day we arrived, because after that we didn't get to see much of the beach. It was raining sideways for 2 of the 3 days we were there!

OMSI

On day two of our adventure, we decided to drive to nearby train station, then take the train and eventually the bus to OMSI. It was a blast! The train ride was so neat, it almost makes me want to move to the city....almost. We had to walk a little ways to OMSI and we passed the sign, cool photo there. To anyone that has not been to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), let me be the first to tell you that you are missing out!! I have always wanted to go but never ended up there in all my Portland travels. It has so much to do! There is a huge play room just for kids with an indoor sand box and a huge water area and so much else! Then the exhibits rock too, very hands on and educational. We had the best time, and there was even more!

Vacation!

Here we are on our trip to the zoo. It was the first stop on an action packed adventure vacation extravaganza! It was a little bit rainy that day, but warm and full of fun. We got to see all the animals, then we hopped on the max train and went downtown for some lunch at a street vendor. Yummy fish and chips and fish tacos! It was the first great day of the vacation, with more to follow....

Brotherly Love

My little munchkins are so darn cute!

Chicken Coop

This is a progress post on the chicken coop. They have the sides on already! So these pictures are already outdated....