The Whole Truth

The Whole Truth by David Baldacci
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

David is probably one of my favorite authors of all time!  I really liked this new style of his.  It was shorter than his other novels and I didn't want it to end.  I really liked the story because it moved fast and didn't have any slow spots.  I enjoyed Katie James and her strong willed character.  She was a little "dumb" sometimes, but it wasn't awful.  I would recommend this book.  No sex and no swearing!


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Fear Factor

I am afraid...

1.  I hate snakes!  I can't stand looking at them or even thinking about them.  I won't walk by the snakes at the zoo.
When I was younger I remember my brother and I were out playing on our front porch.  We looked up and saw a giant python slithering across our front room window seal.  We ran in the house and told our mom.  She didn't believe it at first, but when she saw the snake in the window she couldn't believe it either.  My dad came home shortly after we discovered the snake.  The snake had slithered across the lawn.  My parents grabbed a shovel and then tried to chop the snake's head off.  I was so proud of my parents that they dared battle the big snake with just a shovel!

2.  I don't like giant spiders.  I don't like spiders no real rhyme or reason, just don't like them.

3.  I can't think of any other phobia's I have.  Spiders and snakes.  That's it!

What are you afraid of?

(Thanks Jill for giving me the fun idea for this post.)

Water For Elephants

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked up the book because I had a few friends say they liked the movie.  I don't like to watch a movie and then read the book.  So I refused to watch the movie until I read this book.  I have to say I really liked the book.  I bought the book on audible.com.  I enjoyed the voices they picked for the young and old Jacob.  It made the story a little more entertaining.

I really liked the story.  I have always been slightly intrigued by the people who worked on a circus.  I thought the story was interesting and enjoyed the plot.  I even liked the rivalry between Jacob and August.  I thought Sara did a really good job writing a realistic perspective from two males who are in love with the same woman.

I can't whole heartedly recommend this book because I thought the use of one particular curse word was a little over the top.  I found it completely unnecessary more than half the time.  There is a strip tease scene and a short sex scene, but I didn't find it terribly offensive. I liked this book overall, but will probably not read it again.


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10 Random Things

I just read a random post on a friend's blog. I love Jill because she always does the most random and fun things.  I thought I would copy her idea of posting 20 random things.  (Because it is a random list they are in no particular order.)

1.  I love going to the dentist.  I love the suction device and the hygienists always think I am funny because I get a little possessive over it.  I also love the feeling of my teeth being sparkly smooth and clean!

2.  I have always loved the color pink.  I had friends growing up that didn't like pink and so I pretended that I didn't like it either.  But, I really do!  (They also hated hearts and I pretended I thought they were lame too, but I like hearts and pink)

3.  I hate camping!  I mostly hate the smell of camp fire.  I hate smelling like smoke.  When I was in Young Women's my mom would have to pack all my stuff for me.  I would always not mention anything about camp hoping my mom would forget about it.

4.  I love to sing along to the radio! It is one of my favorite things to do and I do it at the top of my lungs!

5.  I competed in piano competitions all through high school.  I tried to keep it up after I graduated, but it wasn't easy.  I lived in 2 wards that never even knew I could play.

6.  My roommates Jill and Leslie were two of my favorite roommates.  I think about that year with the most fondest of memories.

7.  I love barbecue sauce.  I love BBQ pork, steak, and chicken.  It is also very good on a hamburger.

8.  I can't stand the smell of onions!  I hate how the smell gets on everything, but I use them all the time in my food.  I like the flavor.

9.  I love dark chocolate!  I can hardly eat milk chocolate any more.  I can only eat Reese's Peanut Butter cups and M&M's in milk chocolate.  That is it!  I can hardly drink chocolate milk any more.

10.  I can't go to sleep unless I do this whole hour long ritual.  It includes washing my face, brushing and flossing my teeth.  I have to read a book for about 15 minutes.  Usually it is my Book of Mormon, but sometimes I will read something else too.  I have to stretch my legs for at least 15 minutes, otherwise I get restless legs and can't sleep for hours.

11.  I can't hardly stand watching a movie or even a t.v. show with out doing something while I watch.  It can be crocheting, stretching my legs, or folding laundry.  I have to be doing something.

12.  I can't stand staying in my pajamas all day.  I have to get up, get dressed and do my hair.  I like to put my make-up on, but it is not always a must.  I don't remember ever being too sick to at least put a bra and a pair of pants on.

13.  I love going to church!  I don't like to miss a Sunday.  If I do I feel like my whole week is in a funk.  I really enjoy going to church.

14.  I used to have about 30 people's license plates memorized.  I stopped memorizing license plates when I was on a date with Kyle and we were getting a parking pass.  They asked for his license plate number and he didn't know it, but I did.  He thought it was creepy!  It was a really hard habit to break.

15.  I love to cuddle with Grant.  If I sometimes have a hard time falling asleep because of restless legs or Kyle is snoring I will go sleep with Grant.  I love to cuddle with him.

16.  I don't like things rubbing on my neck or arms.  This includes bracelets, scarves, long sleeve sweaters, and turtle necks. I love scarves and turtle necks on other people, but I can't stand wearing them.  I also don't wear long sleeve shirts except for coats and sweatshirts.  I think it is partly that I have long arms and so long sleeve shirts are always 3/4 length sleeves.  It bugs me.  I will sometimes buy long sleeve shirts and scarves because I think it is cute, but it usually just sits in my closet for ages.

17.  I can't hardly stand to watch The Little Mermaid.  I like her and I think she is a cute princess I just can't watch the movie since I became a Speech Language Pathologist.  It bugs me really bad that Arielle couldn't get Eric to kiss her in three days.  Seriously! She loses her voice but she should still be able to gesture, write, sign, or something!  It bugs me so bad!  I have decided that she has a language delay or maybe even Autism! HA HA!!!

18.  I love playing with Play Dough.  I love the smell! I also love how it is cool to the touch when you first pull it out of the container.

19.  I love family! I miss my family so much since we have moved out of state.  I love my parents, my siblings, cousins, and all of my in-laws!  I love family parties! I really missed all of our Christmas family parties this year.  Family isn't perfect and sometimes we can all get on each other's nerves, but I love them all any way!

20.  I love my mother-in-law's carmel popcorn.  It is so chewy and gooey!  I love that she always make a HUGE batch!  It is so tasty!

Pa is Sick

When Pa is Sick.

When Pa is sick, he's scared to death,

An' Ma an' us just holds our breath.

He crawls in bed and puffs an' grunts,

And does all kinds of crazy stunts.

He wants Doc Brown and mighty quick,

For when Pa's ill he's awful sick.

He gasps an' groans, and sorta sighs,

He talks so queer, and rolls his eyes.

Ma jumps an' runs and all of us,

And all the house is in a fuss.

And peach an' joy is mighty skeerce--

When Pa is sick it's something fierce.

When Ma is Sick

When Ma is sick, she pegs away;

She's quiet, though, not much to say.

She goes right on a-doin' things,

An' sometimes laughs, or even sings.

She says she don't feel extra well,

But then it's just a kind a spell.

She'll be all right tomorrow, sure,

A good old sleep will be the cure.

An' Pa he sniffs an' makes no kick,

For women folks is always sick.

An' Ma, she smiles, lets on she's glad,

When Ma is sick it ain't so bad.

I thought this poem was by Shel Silverstein, but it is not.  I grew up with my Mom and Aunt Carol reciting this poem all the time.  it is one of my favorite poems, and I bet you can't guess why.  I also bet you can't guess why I am posting this poem today. 

All Cuddled Up

Grant has been a little bit of a pill about falling asleep lately.  He won't fall asleep in his own bed.  He likes a light on.  He likes to be read a million stories.  He needs to get a drink of hot water and 5 minutes later a drink of cold water.  He wants to check on us to see what we are doing.  He complains we keep him up.  He drives. us. crazy!  I think part of it is being in this small apartment.  In our house we could put him to bed and then go downstairs. He wouldn't hear or see us.  He would just go to sleep.  It was nice and I miss those days! 

 

The other night I went to go check to see if Grant had fallen asleep yet when I found this:

 every single stuffed animal and blanket were on top of him.  I thought it was so cute.  All you could see was his little hand.  I just had to take a picture of it.  I love this boy! 

 (especially when he falls asleep quickly) 

Cousin Birthdays

I don't know if you know, or remember, but when I was pregnant with Grant my sister was also pregnant.  We actually had the same due date for more than half of our pregnancies.  It was so much fun!  I didn't care much for being pregnant, but it wasn't as bad when you had some one to commiserate with.  Our babies ended up being born 3 days apart.  

Now if being pregnant together wasn't enough fun raising two little darlings has been a total blast!  

In the past we have done joint birthday parties for the two cousins. This year it wasn't possible because we live so far away now.  However, Evy was able to come up with Granny to celebrate Grant's birthday.  I have missed me dear little niece and was so happy to see her.  It made Grant's birthday feel more like a real party.  Because let be honest, what 4 year old wants to celebrate their birthday with just their mom and dad.  

We got Evy this darling denim jacket.  (Yes it is white and yes we are the cool Aunt and Uncle!) We also couldn't resist the sparkle scarf and matching shirt.  

Her favorite part at ChuckE Cheese was a pony to ride.  She is so much like her Mom it isn't even funny!  Even the way she stands, walks, and talks reminds me a lot of my sister.  It was so much fun to have her here with us.

Evy and I had fun pounding the sharks!  We got the new high score of 33!  Go us!

A Big 4 Birthday Party!

 I think Grant's birthday has gotten more fun over the years.  He was totally into his birthday and has asked me almost every day since when his 5 year old birthday is coming.

For his birthday he really wanted to go to ChuckE Cheese!  He doesn't like pizza and so we pretty much just went for the games.  (More about birthday dinner later.)  Grant enjoyed all of the games and is actually pretty good at them.  We really thought he would like this monster truck ride, but he refused to get in it. When we talked Evy, his cousin, to ride in it with him he finally agreed.  I think he enjoyed himself...

He was laughing so hard that he bumped his head against the windshield.  Evy liked the ride, but lost interest after about 5 times.  Grant on the other hand rode the thing 8 times in a row before he decided he had enough.

Grant also really liked the air hockey game.  The table was a little smaller and easier for him to play.  The game goes until a player reaches 7 points.  Or if you are little it runs until the machine decides one player definitely should have scored 7 points.  We found this out when the kids played.

We had a lot of fun at ChuckE Cheese!  Everyone was hungry by the time we used up the tokens.  We told Grant we would take him out to eat for his birthday.  We listed off some of his favorite places and told him to pick.  He could pick any where he wanted and he chose Burger King!  We couldn't complain about the value, but we sort of wanted to go somewhere else.  Oh well! 

The funny thing is he never wants to play on the play land.  He doesn't really care for slides and is too cautious to climb the jungle gym part.  Since Evy was with us she wanted to play on the play land.  Grant decided he would try it out, probably mostly do to peer pressure.  Evy is a dare devil and climbed up the entire twisty slide.  Grant was proud of himself when he dared go down a slide that was as long as he was tall on his stomach and backwards.  We were so proud, let me tell you!

When we got home he opened his presents.  He got a lot of card and board games.  He is really into playing Uno and Memory.  Since I am usually the one that plays with him I decided he needed to get some new games.  I am really sick of Uno!

Evy was a sweet heart and let him open all of his presents all by himself.  He was a good birthday boy and actually didn't need help.  (In the past she has had to help him with his presents.)  

We were so lucky to have my mom be able to come up from Utah and celebrate with us.  It worked out because then Grandma Cindy could send her present up and not have to worry about mailing it! Good thing too, because Grant got a super cool coloring set from Grandma Cindy!

Grant was very excited about his birthday cake this year.  It did not mean he ate any, he was just excited to have a sing to him and blow out candles.  It was a great birthday party.  I can't believe this little man is already 4 years old!  It seems like just yesterday he was born.  

I Can't Hear You!

This post needs a little background information.
Grant has really never cared much for the Sesame Street Program.  He has liked the classic characters like Elmo, Ernie, Bert, Oscar, and Cookie Monster.  We have really like SesameStreet.com!

They have some fun games and videos.  If you haven't played on it before it is worth it.  I would suggest going on first and finding some activities you think your child would like and create a free "My Street" account.  Then you can get to all of your favorites quickly.

Grant loved Elmo when he was about one year old.  Then he started liking Elmo.  The older he gets the more characters he likes.  He has started liking Ernie and Bert.  He finds their interactions funny.

One of Grant's favorite videos is when Ernie puts a banana in his ear.  Bert comes along and gets really frustrated because Ernie can't hear him.  Here is the link to the Banana in Your Ear video.  (It is only 38 seconds.) Once you watch the video then you will understand the current joke at our house.  Any time someone doesn't respond to a command or question we ask if they have a banana in their ear.

Now to the post...

Yesterday, we went to the store and got a few groceries including some bananas.  When we got home I asked Grant a number of times what he would like for dinner.  I had given him a couple of choices, but he wouldn't decide.  While I was unloading the I turned around and with my back towards Grant I asked him again, "what do you want for dinner Grant?" He responds, "what mom?"
I turn around and see...

He starts laughing and says, "mom I can't hear you because I have a banana in my ear."  

I love this boy! He has such a great since of humor.  It is so much fun watching his little mind work and grow.  

The Dummy Line

The Dummy Line by Bobby Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wish I could give this book 4.5 stars!  I finished this book in record breaking speed because I couldn't put the thing down.
It is a little confusing at first because the author jumps right into the thick of the plot.  There are a few different angles of the story being told at once.  By the time you get into the 4th or 5th chapter every thing starts coming together.  The cool part is the whole book takes place over just a couple of hours.  The author puts a few small twists in the plot that really keeps the reader tuned in.  It was a great fun read.  No swearing and no explicit sex!  Three cheers for a clean adventure book!


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