A solid entry into the House of Night series...
It was nice to see the journeys Stark and Zoey went through, and that they weren't simple tasks.
Of course, it left me hanging for Book #8.
EIGHT.
Jeez louise.
Garden Spells is a sweet, enchanting read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wanted to keep on reading it. The mixture of magic and sisterhood just made me smile.
Two sisters, brought together after years apart, learn to apprec...
Short and sweet.
I don't think I've ever bookmarked a book I've read for myself before, and I found myself marking several passages in this one... and it was less than 45 e-book (nook) pages!
On September 1st, Harrison turned 2. 2. I still can't quite believe it. 2 years since his little spirit made our family complete. And to think we thought it was complete before he came along. Little did we know.
Right now he:
Cuts the middle right out of words: Pumpkin is "puh-in", candy is "cah-ee"
Calls Connor "bubba" - which is short for brother
Likes to ask me "doo-ey?" (what are you doing) 43983498754 times a day
Has beautiful blue eyes and curly blonde hair
Tries to make the sign of the cross when we say prayers at night (Fadder - Shon - HOE-WEEEE!!! - Peer-it - AYYYYYYYY - MEN!)
Loves his Hippo lovey and "bay-eeh cout" (baby scout) dog
Thinks Connor is the be-all end-all of cool
Knows just how to torture Connor and freak him out (I remember Tina knowing how to do this to me when we were little)
Calls his new daycare "new fwen" (new friends)
Will eat grapes, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple and apples till they're coming out of his ears
Says "pweeeeeee" for please (and kind of sounds like Roger Rabbit when he does)
Could watch Wall-E every. single. day. (and almost does)
Dances a lot
Is quite the daredevil... more so than Connor was, which scares me
Has had stitches above his left eye TWICE now (in the same exact spot)
Likes to have Jon take him to bed ("dah-ee take") but wants me to rock with him
Thinks it's funny to call Jon "Jon"
Still calls me "mama"
Gives orders twice "sit, mama, sit"
Loves his paw-paws and mah-mos (grandpas and grandmas)
Calls his little cousin will "Bay-ee Wiw" (baby will)
It's true... I own a video camera and a flip cam... but right now I have two videos shot on my cell phone. I actually keep my flip cam in my purse, ready for anything that might be fun to document. But let's face it, sometimes I have my phone IN HAND, and it's much easier to press record on what I'm holding, rather than rooting through my purse.
So tonight I have two very short videos I shot, with my blackberry, in the past week.
The first one is of Connor, the ham, singing along to Black Key's "Tighten Up":
The second is of Harrison, ordering me to EAT!! This is his new thing - he fancies himself the dictator of the table and orders everyone to eat at every. single. meal.
so they're not the best quality, but I'm glad I caught them on camera :)
This morning we caught Harrison lining up his Wonder Pets on the chair:
He then made sure they were all sitting up, started naming them (meen-meen, tuh, he can't - or won't - say Linny yet), and then started babbling to them.
Then he put them all on their backs and told them "nigh-nigh". If I were a faster woman, I would have been able to get some video of it - but alas, I'm molasses girl.
Oh dear me, has it really been since MARCH 7th that I posted a blog update?
Good. Night. Nurse. How am I supposed to get better at this? Maybe set a schedule? hmmmmmmm
Ok, to make it easier on myself, I decided to do a 10 on Tuesday post. 10 random thoughts for this day.
1. Harrison now says Hew-wo (hello), aw-wight (alright) and oh noooooo!! daily. It's adorable and I need to get it on video. Post haste.
2. His current obsession is Wall-E. This is his typical pose while it's on:
3. Jon's been battling a stomach bug. He feels somewhat better tonight. So what did he want for dinner? PIZZA. Go figure.
4. Connor's been battling allergies. This is our first experience with them... apparently it's one of the worst seasons for allergies - EVER. He's coughing and sneezy and the worst part - has big, puffy, itchy, red eyes. I took this photo with the camera on my laptop:
Poor pathetic mess. This was last Friday, after he took a shower to alleviate the itchiness in the eyes... the whole time he was in there, he fussed and whined "why did God invent allergies??". I have no idea, sweetie. He's taking zyrtec and has prescription eye drops - they seem to be working right now.
5. On a high note, Connor jumped on his two-wheeler Saturday night and just took off. This after a good amount of falling off and frustration the week before. He said to me before he hopped on - "Mom, I gotta try, because if I don't I'll never do it". Smart kid. And yet something else I need on video.
6. Yankee Candle brought back my favorite scent: Storm Watch. This makes me very happy.
7. The next Sookie Stackhouse book comes out in 2 weeks. This makes me very very happy.
8. I'm now 4 months in to the "new" job and it's safe to say I made the right choice. I'm very much loving it. The work, the people, everything. And guess what? I'm plenty busy.
9. We are working on planning a beach vacation with one of my favorite families and this makes me very very very happy.
10. If you're looking for a good cookbook with tasty, yet healthy meals, Jon and I wholeheartedly suggest: Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast - we've been using this cookbook since last summer and have not been disappointed by one recipe.
Ok! that's 10 on tuesday. I hope to be back soon. Like in days... not weeks.
Ok, it's been well over a month since I last blogged. Let's face it. Facebook and Twitter have taken the place of blogging. Which is sad, but true. I can share pictures and videos faster. I can choose to put something on facebook that I only want "approved" people to see, rather than slapping it out here on my blog, not knowing who's reading it. There's a comfort in that. But I do want to WRITE how I feel, what I'm experiencing, and I really can't do that on FB and Twitter... at least, not in a longer format... so here I am - blogging again. But seriously contemplating password protecting it. We shall see.
This weekend has been the loveliest weekend Central Ohio has seen in quite some time. Sun shining, snow melting, shoot - I didn't even wear a coat out yesterday! I'm looking forward to spring, and that's odd for me. I typically don't get too bent out of shape in winter. I think it comes from growing up in California and never really experiencing seasons. As an adult, I love to watch the changes between spring, summer, fall and winter... and I love each of them for their own unique reasons. But I find myself longing to throw open the windows, feel the breeze blow through my house and plant some flowers.
So while we're getting a little taste of spring, I thought I'd bring out some pictures from our last snow storm. We broke a snow record in Columbus this February.. I think we ended with around 25" for the month. Craziness.... I think I got out of TV just in time. So here are some pictures of the boys outside. Harrison's first real experience in the snow. And me behind the camera, not worrying if work is going to call and tell me to come in now and who knows when I'll be leaving.
Harrison had a tough time walking in the snow, but really loved it when Connor pulled him in the sled. I was going to do it, but Con really wanted to have some fun with Harry. So I took pictures :)
Jon
In other news, things are going well here. Jon's work schedule has changed for the year and now we share a weekend day off together. That's very nice. It's been a few years since we had a day off together... it's such a simple pleasure that many people take for granted. I don't think I ever will.
Connor
Connor is doing WONDERFULLY in school. His report card came home with him Friday and he got all 3s and 4s. A 3 means he's hitting his goals, a 4 means he's exceeding them. Where were his 4s? ALL IN THE SOCIAL SKILLS CATEGORY. Further proof he belongs to me.
Harrison
Harrison's big gash is healing. He has a red scar above his left eye, but it's fading. He's saying little words and phrases.
Yeah (and uh-yeah)
Up (which is usually "up up up!!" when he wants you to pick him up)
All Done (for when he's finished with a meal)
All Gone (for when he's eaten everything)
Mih-mih (Milk)
Wah-wah (Water)
Nah-Nah (Banana)
App-app (Apple) - why do babies do this app-app, wah-wah thing?
Mama
Dada
Bruh-Bruh (Brother - for Connor)
No no no or just "no"
nigh-nigh (night)
And a lot more I can't think of right now. I took this short video of him this morning. Last week I started singing "dumb dog" from Annie to Chance - because he was all about following me around the kitchen, waiting for a handout - when Harrison started repeating me.
He's a stinker. Still climbing everything he can, he has an obsession with balloons (boons!), is really starting to enjoy coloring and crayons and loves everything his big brother does... which is kind of annoying for Connor.
So that's it for now. The weather is beautiful. I've decided I'm going to run the Race for the Cure this year. My training starts today. I've never ever considered myself a runner... but I'm going to give it the old college try.
Since Harrison started growing out of that smushed-up-old-man-baby-face, we've seen so much of Jon in him. The blue eyes, the light hair (I know, Jon's hair is now gone, but when he was little, it was BLONDE), the stocky build... everyone comments when they see our family "Connor is all you, but Harrison? He's SO Jon". I always agree. He is. I see so much of Jon in him, past his looks and straight to his demeanor, too.
But last week, I snapped a picture of Harrison with my laptop and posted it on facebook. And that week happened to be "flash-back week" and my avatar was a collage of 4 pics of me as a child. And then I saw the connection:
oh yes. He's mine. Wingy, curly, bed-head and button-nose and big eyes. There's still plenty of Jon I see there - but I can now say he gets some of his looks from his mama :)
So two weeks ago tonight, we made our second trip to Children's Close to Home for a little "emergency". The last time was about 1.5 years ago, for Connor's broken arm. The reason this time? There you have it:
ouch... It was a typical Saturday night, much like this one, we were all winding down... the boys had been bathed, Jon and I were changing into our comfy clothes and I heard a thud. Then I heard Jon exclaim "OH GOSH, HARRISON!!" And I ran into our bedroom to hear the "wind up" cry coming from the baby... you know that cry? The one that starts low and slow and then builds to a frantic wail? Yup. That one.
Turns out Harrison was standing right next to Jon when he just fell. He wasn't even walking.... and when he came down, he hit our bed frame. Right on his brow bone.
I scooped him out of Jon's arms and as he turned his head, I heard Jon suck in his breath and I saw the blood start to flow... ick. We all got back into our street clothes, except for Harrison, and headed to Children's. Harrison was a champ. He got 4 stitches and cried "ma ma ma ma" during the process, it wasn't until they were done stitching him up did I turn around and see Connor. He was a mess. Blotchy face, tears streaming down his cheeks, he ran to me. "Mommy, is Harrison going to be ok?? I don't like to see him hurt". Bless his heart. That's when this cool, calm, in-control mom started to cry.
My baby bashes his head and bleeds profusely? Let's get him to the doc and get it fixed.
My six-year-old feels the anguish of seeing his beloved little brother in pain? This sensitive soul loses it.
Go figure.
So now we're two weeks post-crash and Harrison has no recollection of it. He's healing just fine. He's as daring as ever. He actually got himself over the baby gate at the top of the stairs and Jon caught him halfway down. He's now discovered the joys of spinning until he's dizzy. I thought he'd be more calm... more subdued than Connor. I was wrong.
And two weeks ago... As we were leaving Children's... Jon looked at me and said "I have no doubt this will not be our last trip to the ER with these boys". I know he's telling the truth. I just hope it's nothing more than a stitch or a cast.
