My Attempt at Coordinating Photos

I didn't succeed at getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time, but here's Toby (with Tyler, Norah, and Carter) on his 4th birthday. And checking out the cookie monster cupcakes we made for him.

My Son's First Bike

Check it out!!!!!
He's so big--I can hardly believe he'll be 4 in less than 2 weeks!

My "Barking" Daughter

Norah can recognize dogs and says "woof." We're proud of the little things.

My first two picks for a summer read

OK, one night a few weeks ago I went through ALA's list of the top books of last year (young adult books specifically). If you're looking for a good listing of books check them out at ala.org. I put a number of the books on hold at my local library and have been pleasantly surprised by a few. You might not like these young adult "coming of age" types, but I bet there's something on that list for you.

One book I finished last week (came out last year): "Sweethearts" by Sara Zarr. I'd definitely pick it up at the library if you want a quick read. But it's not quite as light-hearted as the title might depict. There wasn't one character in the book that I didn't like (except the ones you're not supposed to like, obviously), and in fact, the step-father ended up being one of my favorite father-characters in all the books I've read this year.

The second book I'd recommend reading was the Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, for good reason. I finished it last night: "Jellicoe Road" by Melina Marchetta from 2006. A little bit of mystery, a tradgedy, a serial killer, some humor, all told through a tough, honest narrator with a lot of Australian lingo that mix into one great read. (Marchetta is Australian.) She'll keep you guessing until the end and the stories of the characters are going to be with me for a long time.

PS Have you read "The Hunger Games" yet? My favorite scene: when she yells "Peeta!" from the tree. You'll know when you've read it. What are you waiting for?

My Catch-Up Post....

Here's all the things I want to catch you up on (it seems like forever since I've posted and there's so much to talk about!).... So look for these posts coming to a blog near you:
My Son's first bike!
My Daughter can talk (sort of)!
My Summer Reading List (this might be a long post--I've been reading a lot lately)
My Summer Movie List (this one might not make it into a full post because the only movie on it would be "Star Trek"--go see it, it was great)
My Kids on Video (there's a lot of these, so I'll see what I can fit on here)
My Summer Family Vacations (Parts one and two are done, parts three and four haven't happened yet)
My New Favorite Music (I've come across a new singer that I like, and I've also been wearing out my new Joshua Radin CD)

Where to begin??? I'll see how many posts I can get done today. Why all the new posts today? It could have something to do with the fact that it's 70 degrees and sunny for the first time all week so I can throw the kids outside in the yard and I finally feel like I have energy to get something done...

My Son can conjugate verbs....

Well, I couldn't think of how else to describe what he did last night at dinner...

We've been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham" because Toby believes that he can sustain himself on hot dogs and peanut butter and honey sandwiches--oh yeah, and fruit snacks. We try to get him to eat something new every night (last night it was cole slaw: BJ and I were trying not to laugh as he spit out the food as soon as it touched his tongue; I tried not to think of the fact that I was the one who made the cole slaw...).

What does this all have to do with conjugating verbs? We repeat the line all the time about Sam-I-Am trying to get the other guy (does he have a name?) to just eat a bite.
Toby looks at BJ last night and says, "I will not try that Sam-You-Are!"