part 2

more pics from the south

he had to blow up the floaties just like mama

snacktime on the boat

then he promptly fell asleep

and stayed that way for about an hour :)

fun in the sun

The boys are both sleeping soundly and I'm about to head out to pick up our bags at the airport. The good news is that we arrived about 4 hrs earlier than we would have arrived by getting on an earlier flight home - what a huge blessing! Our bags didn't make the connection but that is a small price to pay for an early bedtime for my tired guys. We had a great trip to visit my family, and my brother Joe was even able to get off work to be there too. I might just have to register Ethan for swimming classes soon because he absolutely loved the water. No fear hopping off the side to mama as you can see in the last pic. He was blowing bubbles in the water and splashing away. He wouldn't leave the poolside on Sunday afternoon, and I was starting to worry that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast so around 3pm grandma brought some lunch to the pool and he ate without having to get out :) What a great trip!

favorite things

Ethan's never really had a comfort item, a blankie, never taken a paci, but lately he loves his halloween costume, haha!! He's wanted it in his crib several times, walks around with it, kisses it, lays it down on the floor and tells me "shhh" because the giraffe is sleeping, etc. It had been in his room for a day or so, kind of kicked under his crib so I brought it out and put it in our room. When he saw it laying on the floor today he laid down on top of it and gave it a hug. Then he spent some time cuddling it and reading his books.

book review - Desert Gift

Desert Gift by Sally John

Well, it was bound to happen - I wasn't too fond of this book. It's a lot easier for me to explain what I like about something than it is to say what I didn't. For me, this book just didn't click. The characters felt a little shallow, their trials fell a little flat and I didn't really resonate with what was going on in their lives.

The story is of Jill and Jack (haha, yes the book even pokes fun at the names), a "perfect couple" from most people's perspectives. Jill runs a national talk show on communication in marriage and has just written a book with many how-to's for the perfect marriage. She and Jack are about to go on a tour to promote the book when Jack announces that he wants a divorce. Jill leaves alone and begins her promo tour on her own while they delve into what went wrong individually.

Probably the major thing that bugged me in the book was the explanation for Jack's divorce request was that he was having a midlife crisis. Jack's midlife crisis was mentioned continually throughout the book as an explanation or excuse for his uncharacteristic behavior. I don't care if it is an actual phenomenon or not, sinful behavior is sinful behavior and just because a person's hit a certain age doesn't give them a reason to stop talking to their spouse. The real reasons for his desire for a divorce come to light and the characters begin to work through them but the constant mentioning of a midlife crisis got on my nerves.

Which brings me to another issue I had, there wasn't really any talk of sin but just of behavior that wasn't working for their marriage. They spent a lot of time talking about what wasn't working, that even though they were following all of Jill's "recipes for marriage" that they weren't really being truthful and that the way things were going wasn't working for them. Until the last few chapters really, they made mentions of wanting to change but it was based off of a desire to make their marriage work. The last few chapters had some nuggets of truth in them, but I felt like a lot of the book was more of a psychological look into marriage and not a Biblical study on the topic.

All in all, it was an easy book to read, some cute moments, and an intriguing plot line, but many things bugged me about it and if you want a story on broken marriages and what God has to do with that situation, I could think of several other books/movies to recommend.

mowing

Doesn't everyone wear swimming trunks and snow boots to mow their driveways?

book review - My Foolish Heart

My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren

As I was looking through the reading list for the program, I came across this one by Susan May Warren. I've never read any of her books before, so I read the short bio on the author and realized that she lives along the North Shore of Minnesota, and sets many of her books in fictional cities along the North Shore as well! I just vacationed up there this summer so I was excited to read a book that takes place in my new home state. I loved the town that we visited while on vacation, and I wouldn't be terribly surprised to know that she based the fictional town of Deep Haven there.

The book is about Issy Presley, a 20-something young woman who is doing her best to cope after a tragic car accident took the life of her mother in front of her eyes, and left her father, the beloved high-school football coach, paralyzed and living in the town's care center. One summer day a young man moves next door, Caleb Knight. He moves to Deep Haven with high hopes for the future of the struggling football program. Little does the town know though that their potential football coach is struggling to find a new life to lead after an accident in Iraq took his leg and many of those in his unit. Not too hard to see that a romance soon buds between Issy and Caleb as he helps her heal from her tragedy.

This book was very much a part "You've Got Mail" and a part "Facing the Giants". I definitely found myself giggling as the characters developed their relationship, it was a definitely cute read and story to follow. I enjoyed the sub-plots between the supporting characters equally as much as the main story line, if not even more and wanted to know more about their lives. I laughed at many of the Minnesota-isms in the book too. If you know people that live up here it seems pretty true to small-town Minnesota life, annual walleye festivals, love of high-school football, etc. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a classic boy meets girl, they drive each-other crazy at first, but you really know that they are bound to end up together story line :)

I took a short break from the reading list to read a few that were off the list but I've had on my hold list at the library for quite a while. If you're counting, this is my 4th review for Tyndale's Summer Reading program. I've got one more to read and review by the end of the month... do you think I can make it??

new boots

Ethan loves his new boots from his Aunt Laura :) I was trying to get a picture of them, and telling him that his Aunt Laura got them for him when I caught him on video saying this...

slide!

The "new" slide is providing us lots of inside entertainment on these hot summer days. I purchased the slide along with a sand and water table used and the side is in excellent condition. I am glad that we'll get plenty of use out of it, it even has an adjustable height, so when he's a big boy it will become an even taller slide! I just wish I could get a video of Ethan saying "slide". He just garbles his tongue, it's so funny. Today we were at the park and as we were leaving he waved and said bye bye to the slide, which sounded like "bah bah blehluleh". Cracked me up, so funny.

more elmo!

Ethan is always on the move lately. If he's awake, he's moving! The rare moment when he is still is usually when I let him watch elmo :) He's good for a few minutes that way anyway.

ice cream part 2

He's very serious about his sprinkles :)

first ice cream cone