Final Book Review

Soooo, September was the last book I posted on. October was a failed attempt at Emma. Sorry Jane, it just wasn't cuttin' it for me. Maybe someday...

I did read a book in November. The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson. This one was captivating, but definitely too graphic for me. I won't be reading the sequels or watching the movies. This was a murder mystery book, and reminded me of the Agatha Christie book I read earlier this year. I forget names, but this man is attempting to solve a decades old murder and also dealing with his own issues of libel fraud. The girl with the tatoo is an odd one, who helps him solve the case. The language is bad. There is too much reference to sexual crimes on women; too disturbing for me. But it was a quick read for me because I was definitely drawn in to the plot. I think mystery is a genre I'll keep going back to.

As for December...I attempted Emma again, got bored again, and am now reading Two From Galilee by Marjorie Holmes. So far so good. It's a romance story of Mary and Joseph...and I'm a sucker for romance.

November

Oh man, November went too fast, and I have entirely too much to write about. Here it goes...
#1- The Big Move
We officially moved in with the in-laws over Halloween weekend. It had been months and months of waiting, so we finally just did it. Things are going really well. My inlaws are saints for letting us invade their home and inviting a bipolar two year old as well. She had a rough first week or two, and would often cry and ask to go to Maddie's house. It broke my heart. (she now refers to this as her home).

#2- Maddie's New Sleeping Habits
She also has had to adjust to a twin bed, rather than her crib. She wakes up most every night and climbs into bed with us. It's hard to be strict on this, because I don't want her crying and waking up everyone, so we always let her in. I am a little sad about the change in bedtime routine. Before, it was: read books in chair, sing and rock in the chair, then into her crib and out I would go. Now she wants to read books in bed, and when books are done she wants her music on (not Mom's beautiful, melodic singing voice) and she's become a back stratching Nazi. We have to lay in bed with her until she falls asleep. She will not fall asleep on her own. More than once, I have fallen asleep with her and woken to her still grasping my hair. I love this kid.

#3- Thanksgiving
We had a big scare the day before Thanksgiving. My mom called me from Show Low hospital and said she was at the ER, they found some "space" in her brain on the MRI and they were emergency flying her to Banney Baywood. I majorly panicked and thought she was dying or something, so it was a pretty lousy day for me. I went to the hospital and was there when the neurologist came in. I felt much better after he left because he didn't seem too concerned. We waited all day and some of the next morning for her to get in for an MRI and MRA. (Why they flew her in such a hurry to make her wait, I don't know) Everything is fine, she's fine, I'm far happier. They got released from the hospital and arrived to the Lewis' just in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

#4- Harry Potter was awesome! Thank you Casey for doing a midnight showing with your wife.

#5- Here's an adorable pic of Maddie post bathtime.

Happy Halloween From the Lewis'

I was so excited when our Bunko group did a couples costume theme this month! Both Casey and I are big fans of Halloween, so it was great fun for us. And to answer your question, no we did not get our costumes from The Office, but I am excited to see how Pam's and Jim's costumes turned out.

Miss Maddie had been really excited about Halloween this year. She LOVED all the spooky decorations, the Halloween books from the library and daily themed crafts. Seriously, everyday she would ask to make Halloween decorations. In the very beginning of Halloween mania, she decided she wanted to be Belle. So me, being the over-excited mother, raced to Joann's to buy all the necessary items to make her a Belle dress. A few weeks later she changed her mind and wanted to be Backpack (from Dora). Then it was Buzz, then a happy witch, then a cuckoo (mystery)...everyday it was something new, but never Belle. Then Halloween arrives. We were so excited to go to our church's block party and see all the cute kids in their costumes and play fun games. Casey and I tagteamed Maddie and wrestled her Belle dress on her. Really, we wrestled her down. She went CUH-RAZY. Crying, screaming, tearing at her dress. We caved, took off the dress, and gave her the stink eye for about an hour for making us miss the block party. In steps Grandma who was able to get her in the dress and in smiles for trunk or treating.

After that, the night was pretty smooth. She was so sweet as she stepped up to each trunk and very quietly said, "trick or treat...thank you." I love this girl. But I think the highlight for Maddie was handing out candy to the trick or treaters. Each time the doorbell rang, she would squeal and dash to the door. I think we had a pretty great October and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Fall Farm Fotos

We made our 2nd annual trip to Mother Nature Farm this year; this time in daylight...waaay more fun. Maddie was in fine form; easily provoked into hearty laughter with each new task. She loved feeding animals, loved the hay maze, loved the playhouse, loved decorating her pumpkin and EVEN loved taking pictures. My favorite part: the 5 day old piglets. I could never raise a piglet to later slaughter or sale for slaughter. They are ADORABLE! I think the whole family had a great time watching the excitement of Maddie. Happy Fall!

Playmates

Maddie is so lucky to leave close to all her cousins (all three of them). She especially loves playing with Nikolas, who she strives very hard to be like. Maddie can tumble with the best of them, and loves to wrestle and roll with her cousin. Poor Raheem sometimes has to endure her fits of excitement; he's a good sport and even attempts to play back, but is usually a little rough with his nipping when he's excited. Maddie is such a good blend of girlie girl and tomboy. She loves her princess gear and fancy shoes, but she also loves Batman and rough housing. I hope she keeps a good balance throughout life; there's much to be enjoyed on both sides.

Girls Night Out

This past weekend 7 friends and I packed into a Honda Pilot and drove 1 and a half hours to escape reality for about 20 hours. We enjoyed eating out, eating in, playing games, chatting and laughing the night away. We woke far too early for mother's trying to escape reality. I was the last riser at an awful 7:30 am. But that just meant we got to enjoy the cool morning and beautiful view for that much longer. I love great friends and enjoyed my time away from mothering duties, even for a short time. I'm sure any longer and I would have wished to be home sooner to my family.

Happy birthday Bekah! Farewell Jill! It was a great night!

Maddie

We took an evening trip to the park and I realized how much my daughter has grown. We haven't been to the park much this summer; I think it has something to do with the blazing heat. So my memory of park trips are from the beginning of the year, when Maddie was just a little thing. She has lost any hesitation for fully enjoying the playground equipment. She thinks she can crawl up any climbing apparatus, without Mom's assistance of course. She loves to hang from monkey bars, and is always yelling "a big one!" when I'm pushing her on the swings.

She is very much into books; which I love! She will sit in her bedroom and "read" through them one by one. She has become more independent in her playing and can entertain herself without Mom. Too many times she says, "No Mom. No following!"

She's the cutest little singer, especially when she doesn't realize I'm listening. I'm amazed at how much she recalls from my singing to her at night. She has picked up on a few of my key phrases as well, "Just a minute!" (which I say way too often to her). And the other day we were at Fiesta Mall, she was in the ice cream truck, I was ordering my hot dog from her when she asked, "Do you want a Diet Dr. Pepper?" Um, too many drive through McDonald's trips for Mom. I'm surprised she didn't ask me if I wanted light ice.

She is so funny about naming herself and her parents after movie characters. Among her alter egos are Nemo, McQueen, Hogarth, Birthday Bear, Gus, Pablo, Boots...I can't keep track of them all. But the amazing thing is, she can! Plus all of our corresponding names. By us I mean me, Casey and Raheem. She sometimes includes other family members as well.

When did my daughter outgrow her toddler-ness!?

The Art of Racing in the Rain

This is a story told through the perspective of Enzo, a dog. When choosing this book, I thought, "Oh it's from a dog's perspective, there won't be any language or bad scenes, dogs won't think that way." Nope, still had the language. But despite that aspect, I still ended up enjoying it. I cried on several occasions, fretted on many others and had a few giggles here and there (but very few.)
Enzo's owner, Denny, is a race car driver, and Enzo shares his love for the "sport." It's the story of Denny's struggles with his wife and daughter, and Enzo's readiness to become a human. If you're looking for a happy, uplifting, cheerful book; this isn't what you're looking for.

Naptime

There are two bad words in our house: "dinnertime" and "naptime." Lately Maddie has been beyond stubborn when it comes to her naps, and she has learned she can climb out of her crib, so my attempts are pretty fruitless. I usually resort to lying with her on the couch until she falls asleep, but today she wouldn't even do that. I put on a movie for myself and continued to ask her to come lay down by me. She would smile, then retreat to play under her table. She sang made up songs. I heard words here and there about things she had done recently. She played with her fork like it was a doll. She tried to eat popcorn kernels she found on the floor. She asked for her McQueen pillow and eventually...fell asleep. I love this stubborn girl.

August Reading

I've been waiting so long for this book to come out. If you haven't read the Hunger Games series, do it! And it's fabulous that all three are out now (that's the entire series), because you can just read them one right after another. I didn't reread Catching Fire before Mockinjay, and I found myself confused on a few happenings and characters. It's a series I will definitely reread and definitely own as soon as possible. It's the story of Katniss, a seventeen year old girl, who participates in the Hunger Games. The Capitol is the head of Panem. Panem is made up of 13 districts. The Capitol is evil and controls the districts. The Hunger Games is an annual fight to the death, among children from each district. There's your general summary.
I will say this; I did like Mockingjay a lot. When I first closed the book; I didn't love it, but after contemplation, I feel quite satisfied with how it all ended. I hope to discuss more with others who've read it. Thank you Suzanne Collins. Bring on the movie!

Maddie's New Favorite Book

On more than one occasion I have caught these two enjoying crib time together. Maddie thinks it's absolutely wonderful when Dad plays inside her crib with her. As do I. She has a new favorite book. Where the Wild Things Are. It's the cutest thing to watch her "read" it. She knows the jist of every page and has memorized quite a few lines. My favorite is when she says, "I eat you up!" in her most growly voice. My hopes are high that this little one will be a bookworm, and I envision a bookshelf filled with well worn books for her to enjoy.

Romance

I can see myself becoming one of those women who lounge around all day reading romance novels. I took on the task of sampling romance for the month of July, and accomplished that task in less than a week. I even went and got another romance novel for July since I had so much time left in the month, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name or author of the book, but it doesn't matter because I didn't like it much.
I'll be honest, I was a little scared to read romance; I didn't want to feel like I was reading super trashy stuff. But I found this website called All About Romance which gives a rating system for romance novels. The first book I read was "warm" on their charts and the second book was "subtle". Their system isn't too accurate because I felt like the second book was more "detailed" than the first one I read. So if you're interested in reading a romance, but a little nervous, you can try their rating system. I'd stick with "kisses" if you don't want any of that stuff in your book, because it will be in the rest. After reading a "subtle" book, I can't imagine what a "burning" novel is like.
On to the book, Almost Heaven, I really liked it. It had a Pride and Prejudice feel to it and was set in the same time period and location. The main character is a beautiful girl who had many suitors, but after a run in with one man, lost all respect and prospects in society. I found myself reading until 2 am some nights, and that rarely happens with me. It's by no means an intelligent read, and does have a few scenes that made me giggle and roll my eyes, but it's a fun fast read. I will definitely be turning to romance when I want to be quickly entertained in the future.

Vegas

We have come to the conclusion that Vegas is not the place for a Lewis vacation; at least not at this point in our lives (being poor and having a two year old). I think we got off to a bad start. Our very first stop as we pulled into town was going to the M&M store on the strip. Trying to navigate that place with a stroller is beyond frustrating, as was most places we went. When we made our way back to the car our tire was completely flat. Thank goodness Casey was so fast in changing it because it was sooo hot in that parking garage. We ended up having to buy a new tire, which was not in our budget for the trip. I got to meet up with one of my best friends, Jodie, and her two kids, so that was a definite bonus. Friday was the wedding so I was occupied from 9 am till about 7 pm with wedding stuff. Tasha and Derek had the wedding at Mandalay Bay, and it was so nice. I was a bridesmaid and Maddie was a flower girl. We ended up walking down the aisle together because, as anyone who knows Maddie knows, she is quite shy and quite attached to her mother. I led her to Casey then walked to my spot up front. Five seconds later she begins her wail; this is just as Tasha is supposed to be entering, so Maddie runs to me and the only way I get her to stop is to tell her, "Tasha is coming!" in my most excited voice. This gets her to stop because she knows that Tasha is wearing a beautiful dress, and if there's one thing Maddie enjoys, it's a beautiful dress.
Casey and I did get a night out, thanks to my mom for taking Maddie. We had huge plans of staying out super late and riding the rides at the Stratosphere, but when it came down to it, we're just old and cheap. We ate dinner, gambled away $20, watched the Volcano at Mirage then headed home at midnight. I would say the highlights for me were: the wedding (of course), seeing Jodie and fam, the creme brule at dinner, my cute scarf I bought at H&M and watching the volcano in Casey's arms.

June- Horror

I'm a bit behind on my post; as it's mid July and I've already finished my July book as well. But for the month of June my genre was horror and I chose The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Although this book didn't keep me awake at night with fear of ghosts or killers, it was enjoyable. It's the story of a doctor who assembles a small group of people to stay at a house known to be haunted. He chooses people who have had past supernatural experiences to help his experiment. We are focused mainly on one girl and the affect the house on her. I think there could have been more to this book; maybe more detail or explanation to the happenings and the cause of the house's distress. There are two movies made from this book and I'd love to see both of them.
I've already read my July book, which was the genre romance. I'm going to start another romance to see if I can finish by the end of the month. Happy reading!

There Doesn't Seem to be Anyone Around

As I was driving back from a long journey to Phoenix, somewhat irked by the fact that I was making an hour journey to deliver diapers, I scanned my twelve preset radio stations, and backtracked immediately after passing an unpassable tune. Bohemian Rhapsody. Anyone who's anyone knows it by heart, and my inner diva was let loose. My passenger Raheem was startled by the fluctuating volumes coming from my mouth and was doing the cute-dog-head-tilt on a loop. I then scanned my stations again, and to my ultimate enjoyment, Beastie Boys! I think I was on a bit of a high because my body just had to move to the beats; it was Beastie Boys after all. I have to admit, it's been a long time since I've let loose in the car. I guess continuosly listening to the Wiggles or Princess Storybook has completely overtaken my music listening experience in the car. It was nice to be alone.

And then my mind began to wander to other times I've enjoyed the feeling of being all alone. In high school I used to take my bike out for late night cruises. I'd make a loop from my house, around to Auto Center, then cruise down Main Street. I loved being alone, cruising down the middle of the road without a car or person in sight, in the middle of the night.

Then I remembered a time in Flagstaff when I was going to school. Again, it was late at night, I went for a jog (not safe, I know) and it started to snow. No wind, no noise, just gently falling snowflakes in the night. I stopped my jog and began to stroll enjoying all I could of the moment.

I thought it funny that these moments have always stuck with me, but I hope I never forget them. They were times when I had clear thoughts and was able to understand that life is wonderful and I was so grateful for my time here to enjoy it.

A Good Day

Loading up on parade candy...



Dancing by Aunt Teena...


Sparkler spinning...


First time watching fireworks...


Celebrating Grandpa's birthday...


All make for a fabulous Fourth of July. Happy Independence Day to all!

Our Summer Checklist

I was inspired by another blog, which I can't find at the moment, to create a summer checklist. I tried to keep our checklist reasonable in hopes that we can accomplish everything on the list. I'll be honest; I think I'm the most excited to see Toy Story in the family. I wonder how long it will take to get to the dollar theaters???

What's on your to do list this summer

The Two Best Dads

I apologize for the first picture; it's the only one I have of my dad saved on my computer. The second is just adorable. Casey received a card from Maddie today which listed her favorite things to do with Dad. Toe nail painting ranked very high. Happy Father's Day to all those hard working men in the world; especially my dad and my husband. I love you guys!

2010 Family Shoot

Family fun! I've been wanting to get some family photos done since Maddie turned 2, so I coaxed my sister into coming out and snapping a few for us. Didn't she do great for a total non-professional? Especially since Maddie was not a cooperative poser, but who expects a 2 year old to be? I'm happy we got a few with her smiling and looking at the camera for a few shots. I just wish she would have cooperated in a couple of my favorite locations. The grass shot is definitely the one going in the frame. It fits our family perfectly. I'm still planning to take Maddie out for some single shots. Any suggestions for a good location?

The Cuteness that is Maddie

Above is a full display of adorable outfits Maddie received for her birthday. The Minnie Mouse dress is by far her favorite outfit ever! You'll see her sporting it anytime she gets a chance. I love little girls. I will admit; I'm not a huge fan of her very opinionated wardrobe choices. If it's not a dress or doesn't have some sort of cartoon character displayed, she doesn't want to wear it. We fight too often over my pleas to get her to wear her cute board shorts or new tank top etc. I have a strong feeling this is only the beginning of many more battles as she grows older. Are there any training programs available?

May Book

So I'm embarrassed to admit that I had no clue that Agatha Christie was a mystery writer. I've heard her name a lot, but in my mind I assumed she wrote of the hardships of prairie life. (I have no idea where this idea came into my mind; I think the name Agatha threw me). So when I typed in "best mystery novels" in google, I was surprised to see her name EVERYWHERE. I went to the library and chose this book at random; Five Little Pigs. It's a story of a detective trying to solve a 20 year old murder mystery. He interviews the 5 people who were there when the murder occurred. It was a fun read; reminded me of my Mary Higgins Clark days. Gotta love mystery.

Next month I'm going to attempt to read a horror. I've read Dracula, Frankenstein, Hyde and Jekyll and the Invisible Man. I don't know if those are considered horror, but I'm going to attempt something a little more modern. Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is my current choice, so if you'd like to read along, please feel free.