The August Reading Rainbow!

Hello fellow bookworms!

Molly here to announce/invite you to join us in this month's Badger Bookclub pick. Honestly I've been itching all year to get my preferred genre in, and what with school starting in the near future, there couldn't be a better time. And so, for this month, let's read books from the

Young Adult section of your local library. My all-time favorite ever is this one:

It is an amazing story- one that I never tire of laughing and crying through (you know it's a good book when they happen simultaneously!),

and if you've never read it you simply MUST get a copy asap!

Seriously.

Since we're going with the Young Adult theme that means fairly short, easy reads. So let's see just how many each of us can tuck under his or her belt over the next few weeks.

We had a good time with the patriotic competition, and I'm feeling like spreading the love.

Any takers? :)

Whoever reads the most WINS!

(Can't guarantee prizes at this point, but bragging rights will definitely be included)

Here are a few of my favorites, if you need some inspiration before

whipping out your library card--

Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

The Harry Potter Series (obviously) by J. K. Rowling

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Authors I love--

Robin McKinley

Roald Dahl

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lemony Snicket

There are SO many greats out there, so if I left out some that you know (which I'm positive I did) please leave a comment to share with the rest of us!

Now get out there and find your inner child!

Happy Reading!!!

Tangled Up After 4 Fabulous Years!

I cannot believe that our little girl is four years old!

Like all parents, I'm standing here in shock, thinking of the little button with the boxer eyes that wept brokenheartedly in the delivery room.

She is such an amazing girl with a zest for life that has us convinced she's going to be an overwhelming success at whatever she puts her mind to. Incidentally, she also inherited the stubbornness, er. . . determination to make it happen.

She's a wonderful big sister, a sweetheart daughter, and a first-rate people charmer.

Oh how we love her!!

This year we decided that it was high time we threw a little party.

Correction. I realized that despite the years, I had yet to throw an all-out, themed birthday party and was smitten with the idea of it. Despite Reese getting all the presents, I'm pretty sure I had the most fun!

We initially had a few activities planned- pin the hair on Rapunzel, a frying pan toss at a Mother Gothel- but after a long day of preparations, eating, chatting, and opening presents was exactly what the doctor ordered.

We'll have to save the pan toss for Halloween.

So, without further ado, check out Reese's Disney's Tangled party. . .

the Food. . .

the Friends. . .

. . .the Fun!

Thank you SO much to everyone for travelling up- and to those who were here in spirit!

And, as always, thanks to Mese and Kyle who made it look A-mazing!

Our Snuggly Duckling Menu Included:

Five-Star Philly Steak Sandwiches on Ruffian Rolls

I've Got a Dream dip w/ Vladamir Veggies

Max's Favorite Apples

Love Connection Lemon Bars

Flynn's Island Fruit Skewers

Killer, Bruiser & the Gang Brownies

Atilla's Cupcakes

And to drink:

Flower Gleam and Glow Lemonade

A Tall Drink o' Water

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!