Sunday, August 30, 2009

Trendsetters

The girls should have been born in the 80s. They love to put their plastic rings all the way up their arms like bracelets. They also like to wear them on their feet, which I don't think happened in the 80s. However, I'm pretty sure it will catch on now. They are trendsetting babies. For example, when one of them realizes the bathroom door is open and feels it is necessary to splash in the toilet, the other one feels it is necessary to join her. When I take them outside and one of them decides she needs to eat bark, the other one decides it looks mighty good. When one of them squeals and then throws down her sippy cup on our brand-new hardwood floors, the other one thinks it is the best idea ever. You get the picture.

Friday, August 21, 2009

The Thief

I don't really like to commit to things. I had five official majors in college. I broke out in hives a couple days before Jared and I got married. Commitment is scary, and I usually avoid it. But I'm going to come right out and say this. I love The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. More importantly, I love the two books that come after. Series are tricky. Sometimes subsequent books disappoint. In this case, the second and third books get even better. This might be one of my favorite YA series of all time. (Notice the might... I can only commit so far.) When I found out she was writing another book in the series, I yelled "YIPEE"! Ok, I thought it, but still. If you happen to read the book and hate it, please don't tell me. I would still like you, but I would be forever suspicious of you. I'd think "S/He's nice, but I'm not so sure about his/her brain capacity."

Here's the review. Gen is a thief. He is, in fact, the Best. Thief. Ever. He'll even tell you so himself. Frequently. He spreads his own fame far and wide and promptly gets himself thrown into the king's prison. Luckily for Gen, the king's magus needs a thief to steal an artifact from a neighboring country. He gets Gen out of prison, and the adventure begins. I would tell you more, but it would ruin the story to know anything about the rest of it. It would even ruin the story to tell you my specific reactions to it, so I'll just repeat myself - I LOVED this book!

Ok, there's one caveat. There are sometimes stories within the story. I hate that unless the stories are directly relevant to the main plot or are short and sweet. These are somewhat relevant in that they give background info but are not always short, so I tended to skim. But that's a personal prejudice that many don't share. Oh and another caveat. The story unfolds slowly. You have to be a little patient. For me, it was worth it. Did I mention that I love this book?

Monday, August 3, 2009

Things We've Been Doing

Hi, this is Katie and Charlotte. We're posting pictures of things we've been doing lately.
We're prisoners. Aren't Mommy and Daddy mean?
We discovered Dad's laptop.
Katie finally started liking a pacifier now that Mommy doesn't want her sucking on one.
And Charley's been sleeping with a bear on her head.
We were going to post the picture of Charley being a Captain Naked Bum when she was wearing her towel on her head like a super-hero cape, but we think it's a little too risque for the internet. We also would have posted a picture of us getting into the toilet if Mommy hadn't been so mad that she didn't think to get the camera. Oh well. Maybe next time.