true boy tales: Bennett highlights

Friday, September 2, 2011

Bennett highlights

Just a few pics of some highlights from Bennett's life lately:

This boy looooves to climb so we decided to give rock climbing a try at our local place, Climb Iowa. Its pretty expensive so we just paid for him to go up. He actually didn't like it as much as we thought he would. He went up a few times, but at about 8 feet he would get pretty scared and wouldn't go any higher. So we'll wait a while to try again and next time, one of us will climb up alongside him. It was fun to try though!

Bennett loves Disney's Cars now, so thanks to my friend Emily's post, we found Tow Mater downtown Des Moines (she explains where its located, if any of you locals want to check it out):

And the latest and greatest news in Bennett's life, he started preschool yesterday!! He's going 4 days a week in the afternoons. His new teachers are wonderful and I'm really excited for the year. He was already in the class with my good friend, Libby's, little boy, and then we showed up on the first day and another one of my very good friends, Julie V.'s, little boy is in his class too! I miss that girl so now we'll see each other almost every day :)

I used to absolutely dread fall because its just a precursor to our horrid winters, a foreshadowing of what's to come. But honestly the start of a school year makes it such an exciting time and so much easier to take! So I'm thankful that we have school now to look forward to and get us through the worst seasons in Iowa.

Dawson getting in on the picture action:

Finding his hook:

And the highlight of my life, I finished my very last day of work at America's Family Coaches last Friday and am officially a stay at home mom again. The best part about that--my wonderful mother-in-law will still be able to take the boys most Fridays so I'll have a day to get stuff done around the house! (So far I've spent my first afternoon in a quiet house blogging so this may be a regular occurrence as well :). But I've assured my husband that I will actually get some cleaning done so I better go make that happen!! ;)

1 comment:

EmilySeptember 3, 2011 at 5:55 AM
I know we don't have an REI near us, but you guys like to travel so I'm sure you're by one sometimes. If you buy a lifetime membership (only $20!) the whole fam can climb for free at any REI across the country anytime. Pretty sweet deal!
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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.