The Absence of Solitude

Loving

A small break in posts from the Texas trip to just document the things my children are really loving right now.

ETHAN

 
 
Ethan loves Pokemon and Bakugan. He has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of his new Nintendo DS game, Pokemon Black and White. It finally came in the mail yesterday and he wants to play it all the time. He is not too happy with the video games only on the weekend rule right now. Ethan and Shayne had many Bakugan battles while we were in Texas and he is constantly telling me how many G's each Bakugan has and how it uses those G powers. (Was that clear as mud? I bet it was because even though I just typed it, I really have no idea what it means. It's some kind of power rating.) When he talks Pokemon and Bakugan, it is like he is speaking a foreign language.

 

LAUREN

 
 
Lauren is loving books right now. We started reading the Little House on the Prairie series and she doesn't want me to stop. She has to find out what happens next. Yesterday at the library she found a few dvds of the show and is watching one right now. (I loved this series when I was little too, so I am so happy to see that she does too. I remember wanting to go over to a neighbor's house everyday after school just so I could watch the tv show since we didn't have cable. ;) She also loves the Ivy and Bean book series. Also while at the library, she was so excited that they finally had the seventh book available. It's a clever set of stories and I enjoy reading them to her. Ethan even likes to listen to them even though he tries to act like he is not interested.

 

SIMON

 
 
Simon loves cars, I Spy books and games, and a new book series we stumbled upon recently called Fly Guy. He dumps out the big bucket of cars nearly everyday and has lots of adventures with them around the house. He has started playing I Spy in the car while we are running errands, which is really fun for him. It always amazes me how good little kids are at finding the hidden objects in books. Sometimes he finds everything but still want to keep looking for items so we come up with more things to find. After going through all the I Spy books at the library we moved onto Where's Waldo. He likes them but not quite as much. Fly Guy books are for beginning readers but Simon thinks they are funny and has asked he if can have a pet fly too. He said he can be Si Guy then he and Fly Guy can be friends. Silly kid.

 

JILLIAN

 
 
Jillian has recently developed a love for baby dolls and helping with the laundry. I pulled out the play stroller and carrier and ever since she has carried a baby doll around with her. She says 'baby' over and over, throws the doll in the stroller and then starts to push it around the house (mostly into the walls). Jillian has also started 'helping' me with laundry. She wants to help put clothes in the washing machine, she pushes it into the dryer for me and then she wants to fold it (just pulling out pieces and setting it back down). I have to wait to put it away while she is asleep or otherwise occupied or she wants to help with that too and that means she pulls the piles of folded laundry onto the floor.

finally found them

Books that Ethan actually wants to read, that is. I have tried so many series with him hoping to find something that will peak his interest in reading more. He will read non-fiction all day long but I wanted to find some enjoyable fiction for him too. I finally found two series the last couple of weeks. He has read four books in about a week which is unheard of for him. The two series he can't get enough of are: Encyclopedia Brown which is a detective/mystery series and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series which he thinks are hilarious. He finished one of the Wimpy Kid books in a day and a half and its over 200 pages, granted some of it is kind of like a comic strip.

When Ethan would rather read than watch a movie, play outside, or play a video game or with his Legos, I know I am on to something!

 

diary of a worm

Ethan was reading Lauren a book this morning called Diary of Worm. They were reading while I was getting breakfast ready and I heard them start laughing and Ethan asked Allen if he heard that part he just read. He repeated it and the laughing started all over again.

Here is the page:

 

Pretty funny, indeed.

obsessive

This post is for all you ladies that love the Twilight series and sometimes think you just might be teetering on the edge of obsessive. Well, put your worries aside because my niece has nothing on you! Mind you she is only 17, though. And don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the series.

Around the holidays we were over at my sister-in-law's house playing games a lot. One night I went upstairs to check on the kids and peeked into my niece's room. I was in shock! I knew she loved Twilight but I guess I didn't realize how obsessed she had become with the books and especially the character of Edward. 

The following pictures are of her room:

                                        Three of the corners of the room.

                        

                      

                        

                        

            She has a few sets of the books. Some to read and some for keepsakes.

                        

                                     Her bulletin board and nightstand.

                        

I think she has seen the movie at least ten times, went to the Galleria (camped out all night) to meet several of the actors, has read every magazine that ever had any kind of blurb about the movie, has collector cards, a book bag, and several t-shirts.

See what I mean? I bet you feel a little better now knowing you are not this obsessed, right? The crazy thing is that two days later I was in her room and she had so many more posters up on the wall and had reorganized them by character. Each character had a section, basically she has Twilight wallpaper in her room. AWESOME!!!

To read my past post for today go HERE.

Tuesday's Tradition

Today's tradition is actually a new one our family is about to start. My friend, Heika, gave me the idea a few weeks ago and I thought it was fabulous.

For our reading time at night we will read books that have been made into a movie. We will read them as a family and then when we finish the book, we will have a pizza and movie night.

This is our list so far:

Charlotte's Web

Homeward Bound

Shiloh

Zathura

Babe

James and the Giant Peach 

Peter Pan

Hoot

Ella Enchanted

Harriet the Spy

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

How to Eat Fried Worms

The Secret Garden

Matilda

Jungle Book

My Friend Flicka

Black Beauty

We will start with one of these to lead into the Christmas season:

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

A Christmas Carol

And when the kids are a bit older we will read these:

Spiderwick Chronicles

Harry Potter

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Chronicles of Narnia

The Adventures of Huck Finn

Old Yeller

Where the Red Fern Grows

Bridge to Terabithia

We are going to start this after we finish the book we are reading right now, The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It was my favorite book in elementary school and so far the kids like it too.

Any other ideas for books that are also movies?

Books galore

In an effort to expand my mind (haha), I am trying to read more. I was always kind of at a loss for new books to read and I usually ask family members for suggestions. My sister introduced me to GoodReads. It is a site where you can post books you have read and rate them. You can also post books you are reading and want to read. It has been so beneficial to me because I can just look at books on others people's lists and get good ideas for new books. You can check out my book-list here.  I have stacks of books to be read and I can't wait! This picture is about half of the books that are waiting for me to read. I just have to pace myself because once I get caught up in a book everything else in my life gets put on the back burner and that's not so good when you have three kids and a house to take care of everyday. If anyone else has some book suggestions, let me know.

Mindless reading

I was just at Sam's and came across this book.  It is called "Stop Dressing Your Six Year Old Like a Skank." Nice, huh!?! With a title like that, you just can't help but to stop and pick it up.  Although, I think the title is a pretty true statement.  I mean just look around a grocery store or mall and you know what I am talking about.  (Hence the reason I shop mostly at Gymboree for my kids clothes. They don't look like they are 2 going on 20.)  Anyway, I decided to buy it because it looks like a fun and fast read.  I will let you know if it is any good....

Summer Reading

Well, I am back form the bookstore and picked up several new books to read.  I am really excited to get started.  I bought:

• The Time Traveller's Wife
• The Undomestic Goddess
• Quentins 
• Angels and Demons

Wow. That. Was. Good.

I just finished The Da Vinci Code.  It was a fantastic book!  I haven't read a book for pleasure in quite a while and I think that was a great one to start back with.   I stayed up until 2:30am last night reading it and found I kept turning the pages to read on, even though I was extremely tired.  I can't wait to see the movie now.  I think I might run out to the bookstore and get Dan Brown's other book, Angels and Demons.  I have heard it is supposed to be better than this one.  Anyone read it?