Bookworm (disambiguation)

My new online friend (Lady Mary of the Lists - I just made that up) has challenged me and all other bibliophiles to compose a reading list for the summer, so here is mine in all it's humble glory. Please note the following:

1. This list does not include the textbooks I will have to read for the two classes I am taking this summer.

2. These books were chosen, in part, because of what is, and is NOT available at our little library here.

3. I LOVE our bookclub discussions here.

4. There is never enough time to read....not even in the summer.

"A Girl of the Limberlost" by Gene Stratton-Porter (for book club)

"Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy (book club)

"The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows (book club)

"Blood Work" by Michael Connelly

"Jinx" by Meg Cabot

"World Without End" by Ken Follett

"Farenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

"The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Katie Di Camillo, Bagram Ibatoulline

"Fairest" by Gail Carson Levine

"Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret" and

"Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want" by Obert Skye

What will you be reading this summer?

I Forgot to Blog

I forgot to blog. My nephew sent us his Flat Stanley project, so Alex and I took a two hour walk one day and got a bunch of pictures of our neighborhood. Here are some without Stanley.

I forgot to blog. This was a particularly bad day last month.

You can see how yellow the sky is, and that's the yellow dust we get here every year. It blows in from the deserts of China and Mongolia, and it's so yucky. It can affect you like bad allergies, give you pink eye, etc. On bad days like this they keep the kids inside for recess. On really bad days they advise people to stay inside. Sometimes you'll see a thin film of yellow dust on the cars and everything outside. I got a really bad cough that stayed with me for a while. Nastiness.

I forgot to blog. JT's class got to make some pottery at school before Spring Break. They had some professionals come in, with a pottery wheel, and "help" each of the children create their own piece of pottery. I wasn't able to be there, but one of the other mom's took some cute pictures of JT.

Now, I'm looking at that last picture there, and I'm wondering how he came home with this It doesn't really look anything like what he was working on. But he assured me that he was the one who put all the squiggly lines in it (which I believe, because that is exactly something JT would do). Plus, on the other side it says "I love Mom". You can't ask for anything better than that:)

Does anybody know where my Two-Year-Old Went?

Alex turned three years old this week. 1...2...3 When you count it out, it doesn't seem like much - but IT IS!

For example:

A three year old isn't a baby any more.

A three year old is like a terrible two, but with additional intelligence, experience, and talents.

A three year old has to be potty trained.

A three year old can talk more.

I can tell already - three is going to be quite the ride.

We celebrated three with Burger King and Ding Dongs.

Three year olds have the hang of blowing out the candles.

I tried to think of a present that met the following criteria:

Something that has no small pieces that can be put in the mouth and/or scattered throughout the house.

Something near indestructable.

Something that he won't mind sharing with his siblings.

Something that doesn't require batteries.

Something that doesn't make annoying noises.

Something that I don't have to "help" him with.

This is what I came up with.

I like Step 2. Hey, isn't that kind of like an advertisement? Shouldn't I get paid for that?

The other present Alex got for his birthday was not from me, but a blankety-blank Culicidae. My Alex is allergic to mosquito bites, and the ones around his head tend to swell up the most. On his birthday, he got one on his ear.

You can see the difference in size, even though the picture is sideways for some stupid reason that I am unable to figure out. And her it is from behind.

It actually got a little worse after I took this picture, and it was bright red. Don't worry, a day later and it's looking much better. It didn't ruin his special day.

What can I say about Alex? He's crazy. He--Is--CRAZY! In a totally adorable, endearing, drive-me-up-the-wall kind of a way. We are constantly shaking our heads in disbelief at the crazy that he comes up with. I seriously can't get enough of him....and sometimes I can:) My three older kids are in school now, and it has been so much fun with just the two of us at home. When he's around the other kids, his crazy usually escalates by a billion, so it's nice to have the mellowed out side of him all to myself. I love you Alex. I love you and all your crazy....times a trillion gazillion.

No, is the answer

If you forgot the question, see previous post;)

Tu lip or not Tu lip

Spring has arrived in Seoul, and how glorious it is. The weather has been so much nicer. You can actually go biking, or walking, or whatever and just enjoy being outside. The sun isn't always out (we still get so much smog and cloudy weather), but sometimes it peaks out, and Alex can chase his shadow. And blossoms everywhere. Can there ever be too many blossoms? No, is the answer. The streets are lined with them here,and they smell heavenly. Magnolia trees, cherry blossoms, etc. They have quite a few cherry blossom festivals throughout the country every year. We didn't get to any, but maybe next year. We decided to have our own festival....okay, we decided to take a little "nature" walk for FHE, and enjoy the weather - overcast, but still nice. We walked around the Korean National Museum

Which is right next to the base, and about 5-10 min. from our house. Same place I got all the great pictures of the fall foliage. We had no idea how big the grounds are there.

I think we walked around for about an hour, taking pictures of everything. It was a lot of fun.
Please to enjoy.

Happy Spring to all, and to all a good......Spring.

Aggravatingly Cute.....and Aggravating

I can't keep up with the two year old. He'll actually be three at the end of this month, but I don't believe it - he's just too good at being two. Just this morning Alex spilled a glass of coke all over the couch and all over my laptop that was on the couch. Then he ate a whole carton of strawberries that he snuck out of the fridge. Then he tried to climb into the oven and dumped a bunch of chocolate inside. That all happened before lunch time. Of course then Joe put him in his church clothes, with his cute tie, and his cute cowboy boots, and he's lookin' so dang cute that I am FORCED to kiss his big cheeks and tickle his neck 'till he's laughing that most wonderful laugh of his. It's almost enough cuteness to make you forget the other stuff....sometimes.

Yesterday I found these

One in the hall, one in the living room, one in the kitchen - all still fresh. Does anybody else's kids do this? One or two bites. Seriously.

Didn't I JUST write a post about his shenanigans? Yes, I did. I can't keep up.

Here is the toy bin in the toy room.

Did you notice how it's empty? The toys are on the floor, of course. I mean, why in the heck would you think that they'd be in the toy bin? Alex very methodically dumps out each bin, one at a time. His purpose is not to play with the toys that he dumps out. His purpose is simply to dump them out. Then he moves on to other things. You understand, I know you do.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you about the grossest thing EVER. We were at church, after all the meetings, waiting for Joe to do the tithing. Alex found gum on the floor - not ours. We scraped it up (luckily it wasn't too smashed into the carpet yet), and I put it in a piece of paper, folded it, and stuck it in my church bag. Ten minutes later Cora comes running over with said piece of paper. It was empty, of course. Alex ate it. Shudder. I can't keep up. Do I really even want to try?:)

Yesterday was our secular Easter, so to speak. We colored some eggs.

Poor Joe hates eggs, so he is kind of a Scrooge when it comes to the secular part of Easter. The smell, the shells, the eating of them. It's all too much:)

We also made sugar cookies

and frosted them

and decorated them

and ate them

Madelyn had several outfits for the day (as she does every day). Here was her striped one.

Stripes and stripes - they match.

And I had to buy some of these

I like to open the package and let them get stale - they should be good in a few days.

Today was the REAL Easter. They day we focus on our Savior, His sacrifice for us, and His resurrection. It was a good day. It always is. After this mornings mishaps with Alex, and then some good lessons and testimonies at church, I couldn't help but be reminded about how imperfect I am, how many mistakes I make. I'm like a two year old. I still have so much to learn. Does the Lord ever think, I can't keep up with her? No. He is infinitely patient with me. Infinitely loving. I need to be more like that. And really that's what it's all about - learning to become more like Jesus Christ - one two-year-old step at a time.

HAPPY EASTER!