May Days

It's been a busy month! Mother's Day weekend the girls got a swing set... They LOVE it!!!


Notice the hats and warm jackets that weekend? Well, it warmed up quickly after that and we have been enjoying the weather...

Biking...

Running...

And finding our way to the ice cream wagon for a treat...

We planted a garden...

And did some relaxing...

What a great month it's been!

Book Review--Eat, Pray, Love

Ok, first a disclaimer: these reviews are my personal opinion only, based on my feelings. I don't have an English degree. I don't know what formula an author should follow. I only know what I like and what I don't.

I loved this book. Beyond love. It is the most meaningful book to come into my life in a very long time. I've talked to many people who have read this book and not everyone loves it. Some people just think it is boring. Some really dislike it (from what I'm told, it seems readers get very frustrated with Liz). I have a theory about why people like it or don't. I think it depends a lot on the reader's experiences and personal beliefs about, well, a lot of stuff (love, relationships, depression, religion, sadness, and the idea of "finding oneself"). And I think that is always true of art, we view it through the lenses of our life.

This book had me hooked from the first two sentences. Literally, the first two sentences. I read them and thought "oh my God, this woman is me!" There are some HUGE differences between me and the author. But it is eerie how many times in this book I thought "this woman is me!" It was excessively eerie to read things I had thought myself, like she had somehow read my mind and stolen my thoughts to put them into her book. A lot of these things I believed were unique to me. It was particularly meaningful to me to read things articulated so well which I had only felt but had been unable to put into words.

The author's humor also hooked me. I laughed out loud throughout the book. And, given what I've said above, because I connected with so much of what she wrote, I was often laughing at myself. Five big, fat stars out of five stars.

I'm very interested to know what others have thought of this book, so share share share!!

As always, I will pass along any comments about how stupid it is for me to review the books I read to my friend who asked me to do this (you still know who you are...and I love you! :)

Book Reviews

A friend has asked me to review the books I have listed on the sidebar. Kind of funny, but ok, I'll do it. First off, I'm reviewing them based entirely on my opinion. I'll start with the latest two I've read.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society...I thought this book was delightful. I chuckled out loud while on the treadmill and I may name my next pet Juliet because I loved this saucy, independent, sweet character. There is history, romance, comedy and drama. Three out of five stars.

Bloody Jack...This is a young adult novel, written for 12-18 year olds. I chose it because I wanted something light and fun to read. It was. The main character, Mary/Jacky, pretends to be a boy and joins the crew of a ship. She is tough and sensitive. Fun reading, and I think the main plot conflict was resolved nicely. For its genre, three out of five stars.

I just started Eat, Pray, Love. It's been on my reading list forever. By the second page I started thinking this may be one of my favorite books of all time. I can't wait to read more!

There you are, my dear friend (you know who you are!). If this review stuff goes badly it is all your fault!

Walking With Dinosaurs

A couple weeks ago Elise and I went to see "Walking With Dinosaurs." WOW!!!! It is amazing! They are HUGE! And so lifelike! I highly recommend it!

Easter

I have some catching up to do on this site! We were home for Easter, went to church in the morning then had dinner here with aunt, uncle, and cousins. It was nice enough to have an Easter egg hunt outside without bundling up! This has been the nicest spring I remember.

We started the day with Easter baskets. What cool bunny girls!

Anja had to show me the chocolate bunny she was eating...

The egg hunt was a big hit...


Anja was learning to blow bubbles...

The kids LOVED silly string!

Science Girls

We made a visit to the Science Center in Bemidji a few weeks ago. Just to update, Elise still loves snakes and asked to hold every single one. By the end of our time there Anja also asked to hold one!

Aah, spring!

Yay! Spring has sprung!!! One thing I love about the climate up here is how quickly winter is over. One weeekend there was several inches of snow on the ground, and two weeks later we have 60 degree weather, short sleeves and sunshine! It makes everyone so much happier.