Abbi - April 2011

Hiding from mommy

Smiles after crying

Trip to the store with Daddy

My little Pippy Long Stocking!

Playing with mommy's make up

Running in the backyard!  (I love those chubby legs!)

Bubble Time!

Easter Sunday egg hunt

Watching the rain fall.  She would much rather be outside!

Dancing in the backyard

Book #25 - How to Be Lost

How to Be Lost
Amanda Eyre Ward

 
Blurb:Joseph and Isabelle Winters seem to have it all: a grand home in Holt, New York, a trio of radiant daughters, and a sense that they are safe in their affluent corner of America. But when five-year-old Ellie disappears, the fault lines within the family are exposed: Joseph, once a successful businessman, succumbs to his demons; Isabelle retreats into memories of her debutante days in Savannah; and Ellie s bereft sisters grow apart Madeline reluctantly stays home, while Caroline runs away.

Fifteen years later, Caroline, now a New Orleans cocktail waitress, sees a photograph of a woman in a magazine. Convinced that it is Ellie all grown up, Caroline embarks on a search for her missing sister. Armed with copies of the photo, an amateur detective guide, and a cooler of Dixie beer, Caroline travels through the New Mexico desert, the mountains of Colorado, and the smoky underworld of Montana, determined to salvage her broken family.(From Goodreads)

Opening Sentence: "The afternoon before, I planned how I would tell her."

Length: Medium - 290 pages

Notes: I almost stopped reading this book at the beginning. I have to warn first off that there is some bad language in this book. Which is almost why I stopped reading it. In the end, I'm glad I kept reading it, although I can't say that I totally loved the book. I loved the concept. And I love the message you get out of it at the end. But I wasn't totally drawn in by the writing, and some of the time I felt like I was just reading to get through it. This one was a middle of the road book for me.

Random quote: "When you are small, if you reach out, and nobody takes your hand, you stop reaching out, and reach inside, instead."

Recommend: maybe

Have you read this book? Share your feelings!

Thursday Afternoon

Now that the weather is turning nice outside, there is one place you will find Abbi every day - in the back yard.

Honestly - I don't know why I bother getting her dressed in the morning.  This is what she usually ends up looking like a few hours into the day.  Her skirt turned into a shirt and putting on a tutu.  She has 3 tutus right now, and I don't think there is a day that goes by that she doesn't spend at least some time in one of them.

A typical Thursday afternoon right now is spent in the backyard.  Today's activity?  Sidewalk chalk!

This is Abbi's first experience with sidewalk chalk, and I think she's hooked.  It's amazing how many hours of fun a $1 package of sidewalk chalk will buy you.

She was so funny to watch, because even though she can't really draw more than scribbles, she would tell me what she was drawing while she was drawing.  I think this girl is a born artist!!

Wordless Wednesday - Blue-Eyed Boy

Book #24 - The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner
James Dashner

 
Blurb: Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners -- venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.

Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, and does Thomas hold the key to finding a way out? (From Goodreads)

Opening Sentence: "He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air."

Length: Medium - 374 pages

Notes:  I felt that Matched lacked the action of The Hunger Games, but I felt like this book gave me that action that I was looking for.  I loved the story line of this book, and it was definitely a page turner that kept me reading - wanting to find out what happens next.  It is one of those books that totally leaves you hanging at the end, so I will be reading the next book in the series to find out what happens next.  I did get a little annoyed at the slang words the characters used, but that was only minor.  Can't wait to read the second book!

Random quote: "Such a display of death - how could it be considered a victory?"

Recommend: yes

Have you read this book? Share your feelings!

April Snow

If April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, what do April snowstorms bring?

Moments

I have been finding myself wanting to capture more of the every day moments in Abbi's life.  Moments running in the yard, coloring in her coloring books, playing with play doh.  The times when her hair is all crazy, her clothes don't match (or she's not wearing clothes at all!), when she has cookies all over her face.  Those real moments.

I have a feeling when I look back in 20 years, these are the moments I'm going to want to remember.  Sure, the outings and things out of the ordinary are fun to do, but I think that some of the real memories are just in the every day moments.

These are the moments I want to remember forever!

Easter 2011

We had such a great Easter this year!

The day started with finding Easter baskets when Abbi woke up.

I think she was the most excited about her new coloring book!

The Easter Bunny even brought Easton some treasures!

That afternoon, we got dressed up - Abbi and Easton in their Easter best - and headed to church to hear more about the Savior.  We had a missionary that just came home from his mission, so it was great to hear from him speaking about Easter.

Then it was time for eggs!  We headed down to Tami's house for the Easter festivities.  It was a cool, rainy day, but at least the rain held out while we did a few egg hunts.  Abbi loved looking for the eggs.  She wasn't half bad at it, either!

It's hard to believe how much she has grown over the last year.

This was Easter 2010 - she was just a baby!

We even were able to take a rare mother/daughter photo.  I really need to do this more often!

Little Easton slept most of the time, and when he was awake, he was a little fussy. Good thing I had family there to hold him! :) Bad thing is that I didn't even get a picture of my kids together in their Easter outfits (because I didn't want to wake up Easton). Oh well... Maybe next year!

It was a fun day, and I'm sure Abbi will be asking to hide eggs again tomorrow!

The Coloring of the Eggs

As Abbi is getting older, I find myself looking more and more forward to activities like coloring eggs.  I can't believe that just last year she was so little that she didn't even really understand what was going on!!

Although she was still too young to really be able to do everything, she definitely wanted to get in and get her hands dirty this year.  (Notice the yellow dye being spilled out of the mug in the picture above??)

But she was able to participate, telling us what color to color each egg.  But she definitely wanted to reach in and do things herself!

Easton just hung out in his swing - what a good baby he is!!

And Abbi even smiled for the camera!  She was super excited for the eggs to dry so that she could put on stickers.

She patiently waited and waited...

And then covered her egg with stickers!!

 

What a fun time!  Now just to wait until it's time for the Easter egg hunt!