Friday, January 1, 2010
Books of 2009
Here are the books I read in 2009. I believe it is 10 less than last year but some were really long and I have a lot less reading time now that I'm chasing around an adventurous little munchkin. If you'd like to read my reviews or learn more about the book find me on goodreads.com. It's totally free and I love it because I can keep track of what I've read. Sometimes books are like movies for me and I'll read them and then forget that I've read them. Just typing that reminds me of when Julie picked Timeline by Crichton for book club and I ordered it and was terribly disappointed to recognize the cover and remember the story once I saw the book. Anyway, goodreads helps keep me organized and the voyeur in me loves seeing what other people find enjoyable reading. As you can see I read a couple more Everest books this year. As long as more Everest books come out I imagine I'll always have one on my list for the year.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Too much to catch up!
So I swore off blogging and reading blogs for the most part after my last entry in October. It just takes too much time out of my day because I'm not good at self discipline when it comes to reading and posting. I've really been trying to live in the moment with Katherine during the day while Carter is at school and aspiring to be a total clean freak and between those 2 things there's little time leftover. I'm usually an all or nothing type or person which means if I'm on facebook it's multiple checks a day or reading blogs it's whoops there goes an hour when I meant to just see what the latest update was. To be honest, it's also really emotional for me. I think I prefer to keep things on the surface for the most part because when I get emotional it's difficult to claw myself out of. Yes I cry at commercials and apparently it's genetic. Carter was hysterical today when watching a kids show a humane society commercial came on with the face of a poor dog and the words "why did they abandon me?" Why in the world is that okay to show during kids' shows?! It's not okay in my book. Carter was hysterical and now I'm stuck doing a pet toy drive eventually and he's donating money from his bank account to the utah county shelter and even after those ideas he's still been in tears off and on today. Back to the point! Sorry, I just got totally off track but that's what was on my mind. So this blog is just a very generic catch up for the people who I don't talk with often or whatever.
Halloween: Carter was an adorable skeleton and Katherine was the cutest bumblebee you've ever seen. Our neighborhood transforms into the Harry Potter Wizarding Community with houses such as Ollivanders Wands, Gringotts Bank, The Daily Prophet, The Apothecary, Platform 9 3/4 etc. My house is Umbridge's Office and I have a ton of fun dressing up as that hated character. It's great fun!
Thanksgiving: We had a positively LOVELY time in California at my childhood home. 24 guests which is probably the largest thanksgiving my small family has ever had. It was joy all around and I got to see my cherished friend Nancy and Carter's cherished friend Kevin. We miss them a lot and I love that we can be together after not seeing each other in over a year and it feels like we were never apart. It was very tough to say goodbye. The boys gave each other a hug and didn't want to let go. It was one of the toughest goodbyes because we all don't see each other enough. Nancy met Katherine for the first time and I was so excited about that! I'm sure it was hard for her to believe all the accounts of mischief I was telling her over the phone until she say Katherine in person. We enjoyed the incredible warm weather and I swear my kids practically spent all day outside as did I! We also checked out the La Brea tarpits which I had been meaning to take Carter to for awhile and he is still talking about them. Too cool! We got to see Steve's new house in Santa Clarita (very nice!) and spent some good quality time with the folks. :-) We came home with the car loaded down with presents and oranges off of one of my dad's citrus trees.
December: Where do I start? This month has been profoundly spiritual and miraculous (I'll expound another time) and I give great thanks to my Father in heaven for the miracles and amazing blessings he has given us. I look at my 2 incredible children and my wonderful husband and I am truly overcome with this sense that I don't deserve to have such amazing people in my life and that I am totally indebted to my Father for giving me such joy and blessings. On a temporal note; I am LOVING that Carter is on Christmas break. I love having him around, I love the funny things he says, I love how great he is to his sister, and I love our talks. He amazes me by his curiosity like giving me definitions of words from a dictionary because he wanted to look them up. The other day the word he looked up was "lame." Matt took him to the park and told him how to snowboard. Carter hopped right on the board and took off! It astounds me that he is good at whatever he tries. I tend to struggle when I'm learning something new and feel like I was very average at everything as a child and now but he seems to excel at whatever he does and that makes me so happy for him. He is a good example to me by his selflessness. He used his classroom store "money" to buy each person in our family a gift and nothing for himself. His patience with the baby is amazing and his love for her is so sweet. She's the first person he wants to hug in the morning and before bed, when he comes home from school, or anything he's wanting to play toys with her or hug her despite her pulling his hair or pushing his face away. Katherine is loving but she likes her personal space. It makes those times when she comes over and leans her head against him or us just more special.
Christmas: We had a nice time Christmas Eve at Matt's childhood home in Park City. His parents gave Carter 2 real aquatic frogs. He named them Joseph and Mary. We are hoping for a long life span given how sensitive Carter can be. In fact, Matt's mom made a joke about Katherine getting possibly getting coal and he went outside without a coat just to get away. He's very protective and everything a sister could ask for in a big brother. Katherine got a bitty baby (hooray) and she's very cute with it. She's also enjoying a little push around princess car. She is a sweet baby and I love that she is strong and determined, smart, and curious. Carter loves the frogs, has already made the cast of a mummy that takes 12 hours to dry and then he wraps and paints it, and loves the pin ball machine ($5 garage sale score!) and the Egyptian playmobil my mom spoiled him with. We had a nice Christmas Day at home, Matt and the kids stayed in the jammies all day and we ate turkey and chilled.
These last few months have been a bit of a growth opportunity for me as I struggle to understand what she needs and how I can improve as her mother. She amazes me with her strong emotions and I finally feel like I understand her and can empathize with her frustrations when she so desperately wants something and can't communicate it or doesn't understand why she can't have it. The phone has been our biggest power struggle. I am not kidding when I say I opened the front door to greet a utah county sheriff who said they'd received an abandoned 911 call from my location. I looked at Katherine in shock. 15 months old and already calling the sheriff. I love the differences between my childrens' personalities. It's incredible to see the variation, the nature vs. nurture in real life instead of text book, and while I go to bed absolutely exhausted every night I am happy and grateful to be given these opportunities. When I taught special education I used to tell exasperated home room teachers that there is a key to figuring out each child. Each key is different, finding the perfect balance, the right combination, that perfect key to unlocking that child was/is my goal and I love that Katherine and I are learning about each other and establishing a relationship that will last forever and I'm excited as each month brings new milestones reached and new experiences for us all. Sorry about the length of this post, there was too much to catch up on. If you made it this far give yourself a pat on the back. :-)
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