Can you guess what we've been watching lately?

Reese just closed the screen door on her toe, resulting in a cut, some immediate Mommy First Aid, and the kind of drama I'm sure won't be over any time soon (she's still telling strangers about the time she stepped on a stick a year-and-a-half ago).

Amidst the wails of dressing her war wound, she mumbled something I didn't catch. I asked her to repeat it. Through sniffles she moaned,

"My foot," Sniff. "is cut," Sniff, sniff. "just like. . . Koh-lee-poh-keeeeeeee!"

The weeping began afresh.

Well. . .

Minus the rats. And the pouring blood. And the whole not being able to walk thing. . . yes, my dear. You two are practically separated at birth.

If you have yet to see The Other Side of Heaven (the mission story of Elder John Groberg) I highly recommend it.

It's spiritual and entertaining!

Literary Defibrillation- The Forum

I bet you all thought that you would never see this post, didn't you? Well here it is readers, and I mean that in every sense. It is time to discuss the books we read for the month of July that celebrate our freedom. Whether you read or not I hope you all had an excellent Independence Day, it is one of those rare occasions when, in our tumultuous country, we can reflect on the ideals and sacrifices that were made so that we can live our lives according to the dictates of our conscience.

Now to the forum...

Molly and I found that competing with each other to see who could finish their books first was excellent motivation this month. I read Washington's Crossing, while Molly read First Family.

Washington's Crossing was one of the most engaging books I've read in a long time. The book examines each party that was involved in the fight between the Continental Army and the Hessians/British Regulars. By delving into each group and the important figures within those groups Fischer (the author) makes Washington, Hamilton, and the militia, as well as the Howe Brothers, Lord Cornwallis, and the Hessians into very accessible, human characters, where they had generally been figureheads with distinct roles (Americans were the 'good guys' the British were the 'bad guys'). However, the author shows that each man had their own motivations for entering into the American Conflict, many of the British leaders were opposed to military action against the Americans, and many of the Americans vacillated in their devotion to the American cause. For me, I think the amazing thing about history is that amazing things were accomplished by ordinary people; people with flaws, who made mistakes, and saw that issues were not black and white but varying shades of grey. Hollywood and 'old-school history' makes us see things in terms of good and bad, and it makes those who changed the world seem like unattainable demigods, when in reality, they were as human as we were. If we rise to the occasions that face us and work to bring out the best part of ourselves we will still stumble and make some mistakes, but we will also become the kind of people who might change the world for the better.

That was my soapbox for the day. Feel free to borrow mine, or bring your own as we discuss these books.

One small note here:

2) We are starting a new blog (I know, it's a lot) but it's something we think is pretty important. The premise is that as a young family we are always looking for things to do together, and while we enjoy Disneyland, Chuck-E-Cheeze and the movies, we think there are alternatives to this kind of entertainment, Families Unplugged, which is the name of our new blog and will provide some ideas about what inexpensive, non-electronically based activities there are in the United States, as well as our experiences, and some cool historical information that might make your trip more interesting as well. So, if you are anxious to find something new to do with your family check us out, we should up and running by this weekend!

Look at Me- I'm 10 Months old today!

I'm almost a year old, and I think Mom's in shock. She keeps squishing me and saying how she can't believe how big I've gotten. It's probably because she's blown away by my stellar new set of skills. Ready for my resume?

I can now. . .

pull myself up on the furniture

army crawl faster than Mom can run after me,

and, when I'm in the mood, crawl on my hands and knees

walk when I can hold someone's fingers or my sweet walker

clap when I'm excited

wave at myself in the mirror

sign 'more' & 'all-done'.

And you know what else?

I have 4 new teeth and a killer smile. . .

. . . so I'm pretty sure I won't have any problems wooing the ladies!

Wink!

Check out my video!

Things Reese says that make me laugh against my will

She's a funny little bug, our Reese. And, unfortunately, her peak moments often coincide with Mommy saying 'no' or doling out a little punishment. Here are a few that made me have to bite my lip over the last few weeks. . .

"Reese, you're funny."

"Yeah, I know. . . Hey Mom! I'm so, so, so funny, huh?"

"Yep. You sure are. "

. . .

Wanting to watch a movie I already said 'no' to, she goes,

"Mom, I have an idea. You're Reesey, and I'm Mommy, ok?"

"Ok." I answered. This is one of her favorite games- usually at the grocery store when she makes me hold onto the side of the cart while she gets to push.

"You say 'can I watch this?' ok?" she held up the movie she wanted.

"Ok. Can I watch this?"

"Of course!"

Silence. Winning smile.

. . .

Me, at my wit's end at the end of our move with only a few hours to finish cleaning the old apartment, lost it and yelled at her to get moving and into the car- NOW! She took her sweet time climbing in, finally snapped her buckle and, after a few minutes of silent reflection, asked,

"Hey Mom? Well, . . . you're not a very nice person today, are you?"

. . .

Driving in the car, we see someone walking their dog and Reese calls from the backseat,

"Mom! Can we pet that dog?!"

"Not right now, Reesey."

"Ohhh, because that dog is so, so, so furious- huh Mom?"

Patriotic Plagiarism

Summer is a wickedly crazy thing. So much happens in such a small amount of time.

And thus begins the first of endless catch-up posts.

Here is our Fourth of July celebration. And I'll willingly admit that I totally stole each and every one of these pictures from my sister. But I'm a believer of sharing your talents- I'm just helping her out with the sharing part. ;)

As most of you know, the Fourth of July is big at our house. It happens to trump Christmas or any other holiday for my Ryan, and since the impressive firework shows ring in our anniversary I'm growing more fond of it as well.

This year we got together with my brother and his family and my sister and hers up in Park City and had a BLAST!

Oh the joy of Shay's blue cheese bacon burgers- and the maniacal skill that created them!

So much watermelon. . .

. . . so little time!

Cousin Love!

(We joked that all Reese needed was an inflatable giraffe around her middle and some huge flippers to make her ensemble complete. Lol!)

Bryson is SO much like his dad! I just look at him and I'm instantly transported back to my childhood with Shay, hiding under the bed as we crunched our way through 15 suckers in one sitting so that we didn't have to share.

It was a fabulous Fourth- thanks Shay and Uchi for hosting!

Happy Birthday America!

Literary Defibrillation- You're Bound to See Fireworks

Hello to all our readers, both faithful and sporadic. I'm sure you are all wondering the meaning behind this title 'literary defibrillation;' truthfully, we made it up! What it means is to jump-start and enliven our love of good books. Those of you that have read our blog in the past know that we began a book club at the beginning of this year and have maintained it with only marginal success. The fact of the matter is, the book club has been flat-lining for months and now we want to shock the life back into it (1.21 gigawatts anyone?). So we propose to start again from a new angle, a book forum rather than a book club. We will suggest a topic (use the topic or don't it's at your discretion) at the beginning of the month and anyone interested can find a book that interests them and give their opinions to the group at the end of the month. It's all up to you! Have a favorite book you haven't picked up in a while? Been meaning to swing by the local library for a few months? Finally fixed the coffee table and don't need that old book to level it out any more? What better time than the heat of the summer to crack open a good book, flip on the AC and wait out the heat.

That being said, we now come to our topic for July... any guesses?... AMERICA! See that was the reason for the fireworks... you get the idea. Anyway, find a book that screams GOD BLESS THIS COUNTRY AND ALL IT WAS FOUNDED ON!!! Despite the current cynical trend, we still live in a great nation where we are free to live, work, play, and worship as we please. Patriotism is not outdated and only needs a little fuel to reignite itself in our lives. So it is only fitting that during July, the time when we celebrate our independence, we take a good look at our past and how it will influence our future. READ ON!

At a loss? Need a hint? Here are a few of our favorites:

His Excellency by Joseph Ellis

First Family by Joseph Ellis

American Creation by Joseph Ellis

Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis

1776 by David McCullough

John Adams by David McCullough

Washington's Crossing by David Hackett Fischer

Washington the Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexner

Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose

To America by Stephen Ambrose

The Boston Tea Party by Benjamin Woods Labaree

The Glorious Cause by Robert Middlekauf

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (also an excellent film by Walt Disney)

The Patriot by Stephen Molstad (a novel based on the film)

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

The Prelude to Glory Series by Ron Carter

I Am America And So Can You! by Stephan Colbert

And go to see Captain America on July 22!

'The Friends'

Reese's imagination has gone into hyperdrive over the last few months and one of my favorite pastimes is to pretend to do something else while I listen to the dialogue between her toys. Whatever the melange of playthings- Strawberry Shortcake and Spiderman on an adventure with two zebras and a bobble-head mouse, or Buzz Lightyear sipping tea with pez dispenser Woody and a bald, naked cabbage patch baby- the group is the same. They're always 'the friends'.

Well, the other day as I listened to her animated banter something struck me. I'm not sure how I missed it in all those quiet, giggling moments of eavesdropping, but I did.

No matter who she plays with, one of 'the friends' is always named 'Mommy'.