Book Review--The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

I really liked this book, one of the better ones I've read in a while. Edgar is a mute boy and this is the story of him, his parents and their life together. It is patterned after "Hamlet" (I didn't know this until after I'd finished it but when I found it out I thought "oh! That explains a lot!" ). It was hard to let this book rest, I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. Edgar really is a tragic figure, thrown into a situation he didn't create but that he has to maneuver within. I could see him making bad choices and wanted to say "no!" But he is a boy and a product of his experiences and a slave to his emotions. A really good book, five stars out of five (I know!! It really is that good!)

Book Review--Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

This is a Junior book, intended for grades 3-9, depending on the kid. I read it in preparation for a Kids' Book Club at the library that I lead. I really liked this book. It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter, but with Greek Gods. It was very enjoyable. For it's genre, four out of five stars.

Anja Updates

Oh, my sweet little Anja. She is a firecracker, this one! She will be three in the fall. For months I've been sitting her on the toilet and potty chair to try to start the potty training process. And for months she has willingly sat there, smiling the whole time, taking no action then saying "all done!" and hopping down. I didn't push it, figuring she would figure it out. And last Sunday, all of a sudden, she asked to sit on the potty and she peed!!! Every day since then she has peed right away in the morning, and before bed. I'm still not pushing the other times yet, I'm just so thrilled she's doing it at all! It just had to be her idea, I guess.

Elise Updates

I can't believe it is almost the 4th of July! When that rolls around I feel like the summer is on the downward slide.

Elise has had a busy summer. She loves soccer and scored a goal last week! She is also taking swimming lessons for the first time. She really loves swimming lessons. After the first day she came home and asked to go to bed at 6:00 because she wanted the day to be over so the next day would come and she could go to swimming lessons again!

We changed daycares in May, and it is really working out well. They transport the kids to summer activities, so Elise has been able to take tennis lessons as well. She is a busy girl and enjoys it all. Each night at bed time she asks "what are we doing after nap?" (meaning "what are we doing tomorrow?"). She likes to have something to look forward to.

SLC Trip: Day 5 Going Home

Day 5 we woke up, got packed up and drove to the airport. Fortunately the airport was not busy and everything through check-in went really smoothly. Unfortunately, my girls were really tired (I let them stay up too late the night before after the wedding, playing with their cousins). Anja was by far the worst. A two year-old who is tired is not a good fit with an airplane ride. She squirmed, whined, tried to run up and down the aisle, and cried any time I didn't let her do what she wanted to do. Oh, did I mention she has a temper and also hit me when she got mad when I told her "no"? We were about half way through our 3 hour flight. I was holding a squirming Anja on my lap because she kept trying to crawl under my legs to escape into the aisle. Elise was crying because she wanted to sit on my lap but couldn't because I was restraining Anja. It was at this time a man sitting kitty-corner behind me leaned forward and said "Ma'am? Could your children be suffering from painful ear pressure due to the altitude?" I turned to him, trying to restrain Anja as she pulled my hair and hit my face and screamed "LET ME GO!!!" And with all the self-control I could muster (which was not much, I admit) I said "No, they suffer from being over-tired. They suffer from being small children confined in an small space." I saw the wounded look on the man's face and I felt a little bad, so with my best faked smile on my face I said "but thank you anyway." And then the man said (can you believe he is continuing with this?) "I just thought, maybe if they chewed on some gum that might help." Yeah, buddy, that's just what I need, to give my two year old some gum. Then I wouldn't have to worry about her hands in my hair, because I'D HAVE GUM IN MY HAIR!!!!!! Oh my GOD, unless you are asking if you can help me by entertaining one of my children and therefore making my life easier, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

Anyway, we did make it home. Very glad we went!

Trip to SLC: Day 4

Day 4 was Saturday, the day of the wedding. The ceremony started at 10:00 am, we had to be there at 9:00. When I woke Elise up that morning I said in an excited voice "Hey! Today is the wedding! You get to wear your pretty dress! Are you excited?!" She let out a big sigh and said "I guess." I started to get worried that she was going to be shy, or complain about doing her hair pretty. I was afraid for the answer, but I asked anyway"what's wrong?" She let out another big sigh and said "It's just so much work! Throwing those flowers." I couldn't help but laugh. I managed to get up her and her sister, and it was a little stressful getting them dressed and their hair done (Elise hates doing anything with her hair), but we made it.

Anja was supposed to walk in next to Elise, and in practice did just fine. With the ceremony, however, Anja balked. She clung to me in the hallway and would start to fuss and cry whenever I tried to get her to stand next to Elise. Nothing I said or did would get her off of me to walk in. I was panicking, then I finally realized it wasn't going to happen. I told Elise to just go. As Elise took her first step toward the center aisle Anja hopped down and walked in with her. Whew! She still had her pacifier, but at least she was in! Both girls stood beautifully during the ceremony.Elise always gets embarrassed when people kiss...

Immediately after the ceremony the photographer wanted to take the large group joint family photo. There are at least 30 people on the Roden side, and Aaron's bride also comes from a large family, so there must have been 60 people in this photo. Of course the photographer wanted it just right and worked to get everyone in the right spot. One of the first people he placed were the flower girls, right in front of the bride and groom. After quite a while of standing, waiting for the photographer to get all of us in the right spots, I looked over at Elise and she was crying, I could tell she just couldn't take all of it anymore. I walked over and scooped up her and Anja (there was no way Anja was going to stand there without her sister!). I walked over to an empty spot next to Jason's sister, asked a brother for a chair and plopped down with one girl on each knee. When the photographer came over to me I said "we are going to sit here." I got both girls calmed down while the photographer got the rest of the people situated. He started snapping pictures, then came over and yanked Anja's pacifier out of her mouth. I thought "oh, boy, here we go." But she didn't do anything, I think she was so surprised. After a few snaps of the camera, Elise turned her whole body into me, turning her back to the camera. What was I going to do? I whispered in her ear "I will give you money if you look at the camera." And lickety-split, she was the perfect model! After that picture Elise asked me if I would give her a dollar whenever she looked and the camera and I said "No, but if you don't look at the camera I will take that one away" and whenever I wanted Anja to take the pacifier out of her mouth for a picture I just had to say "if you don't, that man will come and take it." Oh, playing on greed and fear. All in the line of duty!

After pictures there was food!!The cake was a big hit...By afternoon both girls were getting a little worn out...

It was a beautiful ceremony and we all had a great day!

Trip to SLC: Day 3

Our third day in Salt Lake, Friday, had us up early and headed to "This Is The Place Monument." It was a terrific park with tons of buildings from the pioneer days staffed with people in period costume. It also had a "train", Native American village, panning for gold, and tons of stuff. It easily could have been an all day adventure. We got there around 10:00 and left around 3:00 (good timing there, as it started to really rain as we were leaving). The girls and I went with Glen, Brittany, Jordan, Capri, and cousins Bridger and Sawyer.

The girls especially loved the farm yard

Pony rides

And Ice Cream