true boy tales: May 2009

Monday, May 25, 2009

Uncle Josh's Big 3-0

On Saturday we celebrated Jon's brother, Josh's 30th birthday. It was all the Colyer's along with our Aunt, Uncle and cousins from Kansas City. We had so much fun because it was a gorgeous day and it was the first time Nana and Poppy pulled out the kiddie pool. Even though it's so tiny for them this year, that didn't matter a bit. They played in that thing with buckets and toys for at least an hour. I was telling my mom that it was so fun for me because I think that's the longest Bennett has played outside in one spot without running away and me chasing him! It was an impromptu swim session so Bennett sported his birthday suit in honor of Uncle Josh. Caleb only wore his until his Mom and Dad came out and made him put on his undies :)
We finished the day with some awesome cheesecake and a good old game of Scattegories...we let the birthday boy win.

Monday, May 18, 2009

The Benefits of living in Johnston

Last night my parents came over to watch the Survivor Finale with me and Jon (one of my favorite nights of the year :). Bennett got to play with them for about 20 minutes before he went to bed. So this morning when he woke up, the first thing he said was, "Where's Grandad?" He continued to ask about them throughout the morning so I texted my mom to invite ourselves over for lunch. Definitely a win-win situation: I get to eat my mom's delicious leftovers, which are always in abundance in their fridge, and Bennett gets free entertainment until naptime. The best entertainment for toddler? Watching the garbage truck and wheelbarrow rides!

Monday, May 11, 2009

swinging and spraying

Jon hooked Bennett's swing up under our new deck. Its a perfect spot for it. He didn't last too long in it though. Maybe it'll get more use with the next baby :)

For some reason Bennett always sucks the water out of my spray bottle. He's done this for months and all of a sudden he realized yesterday what the lever was for and figured out how to spray it. So I took his shirt off and sent him out to the deck. He wasn't quite coordinated to hold it the correct way so he could only spray himself. He spent about 20 minutes spraying his face and into his mouth and had a blast.

Friday, May 8, 2009

New Babies!

No, not mine! The baby birds in a nest under our deck hatched. They're over my head so I had to hold the camera up to even see them. But they're so tiny and cute! Jon held Bennett up to see them. I'll have to take a picture in a week or so to see how they've grown.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Jon's sympathy bump

for the book lovers {my recent favorites}:

Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan: An incredibly haunting medical memoir. There's a lot of medical info to read through but I didn't find those parts boring and difficult to wade through. I thought she shared just enough. But if you like a book that's easy to read, this isn't it. I couldn't get this one out of my mind for a very long time. An unforgettable true story.
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes and What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty: I'm just going to lump these two together because they're in the same category. I'm calling them deep chick lit. A perfect summer book to get lost in. Read them. Both. I promise you from the bottom of my heart that you will LOVE them. (I liked them both way better than Where'd You Go, Bernadette.)
These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner: Most of my favorite books have a main character with a whole lotta grit. I wasn't quite sure about this one when I first started it but, oh, did it sweep me in and not let me go til the last page. I also love a book that makes me "emote out loud" as I like to think of it. This one had me smiling all the way through and crying my eyes out at the end. It follows a young girl through her life in the Arizona Territories in the late 1800's. A must read for anyone who likes Historical Fiction.
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. I LOVED this book. Its a very well researched historical fiction novel about a young girl kidnapped from her village in Africa and sold into slavery. It follows her through her whole life and the unbelievable heartache and trauma she lives through. I've been telling people I liked it as much as Unbroken but the main character is so much more endearing and has so much spunk.
Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison. I have a thing for modern day memoirs of utterly heartbreaking stories (Like Breaking Night and Blackbird). This is a Foster mother's first-hand account of the children she took in over the years and the unbelievable trauma they went through before they came to her.
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. I loved this lighthearted yet emotional story of a strong woman making the best of a hard life in the Southwest, beginning in the 1930's. I love her writing style--just cuts to the point of every story without too much "fluff" and yet tells it in a way that you can picture everything in vivid detail. Her memoir, The Glass Castle, is one of my all-time favorites, and this true-life novel about her grandmother didn't disappoint.
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Modern day fiction about a girl raised in Foster homes and her struggles throughout life. She learns about the Victorian Era language of flowers and that becomes a huge part of her life. I finished it in two days. An easy read but very emotional and moving.
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. The true story of a man's experience after Hurricane Katrina when he decided not to evacuate in order to look after several properties he owned. Quite an unbelievable story and so hard to believe this happened in the US only a few years ago.