The Clone Wars

I've been trying to get Tim to start his own blog. He claims that he has nothing interesting to say. That didn't stop me and frankly millions of other people from starting one and anyway he has the weirdest experiences using public transit that I think would be funny to read about. He even has captured a few pictures for me with his cell phone. But since he doesn't have a blog it is incumbent upon me to report the best thing that has happened to Gage all summer! In case you missed it George Lucas has made yet another Star Wars movie called The Clone Wars. It is animated and covers the events between episodes 2 and 3. I know you were all wondering about this piece of Star Wars history. When we went and saw Kung Foo Panda they had this huge poster for The Clone Wars and Gage was totally mesmerized by it. We promised him then that he could see it opening night and he has been faithfully counting down on the calendar.

He and Tim went and saw it last night. At random times yesterday Gage would say how "exciged" he was to see it and I asked him if he was going to dress up. Of course he was! When it was about time to go I asked Gage if he needed help with his costume and Tim was all embarrassed and was whispering to me, "he's going to dress up?" I was disgusted and said, "If I can take him grocery shopping in a costume you can take him to a Star Wars movie dressed as Anakin!" I thought he looked great and even Ebenezer Tim agreed....after it was over.

When they got home Gage was on information over load. He had so much he wanted to tell me and his mind was working a mile a minute. From what I caught in between Gage throwing himself on the couch, wielding his lightsaber, and running down the hall it was good movie with lots of action and cute new girl Jedi named Asohka. Ebenezer said that the costume was a huge hit and made Gage the most popular kid in the theater. Gage loved being with his dad alone and staying up late. Way to go Ebenezer!

As for me and Luke. We stayed home and Luke spent the entire time chasing me around with a squirt bottle and laughing when he sprayed himself in the face.

An Inconvient Review

My friend Kathy and I started a book review blog called BookWorm Nation. Last week I read An Inconvenient Book by Glenn Beck. If you are interested in my review check it out at www.bookwormnation.blogspot.com. Kathy reads like 100 books a week and has great taste so if you need a book idea she's the one to ask. I just try to keep up with her.

How Did That Happen?

Luke went to nursery for the first time today. How can that be? Didn't I just have him. Tim was lonely and was talking of trying to take over our friend Shantell's baby. I looked through the peep hole a few times and he was just sitting on the teacher's lap...missing us of course. :) He was ecstatic to see us. Sad day for this mama.

My Summer is Getting Better

This post is kindof a brain drain for me so I can remember what my kids are doing and will probably bore you.

Kids are so adaptable and I guess I am too because we have adjusted to having Tim gone so much. Not that we don't miss him I just don't feel as desperate as I did at the beginning of the summer. We've spent some Family Home Evenings at his office and had some with him over the phone and that has been nice and he hasn't worked on the weekends for a couple of weeks and that always re-fills my tank.

The boys are changing so much and some changes have caught me off guard. They used to be so kind to each other but the sibling rivalry has really kicked in the last couple of weeks. Nothing is more desirable or more wanted then when the other has it. That includes me and means that if you were to drop by my house you would see me swinging with not only Gage on my lap but Luke as well. Gage said it best when he said, "it's a good thing you aren't fat." because I swear I could see the bar bending. They know what buttons to push to make the other one upset and they seem to love to do it. Take for instance, Luke hates it when Gage holds onto his highchair and so the second I turn my back he will do it with a wicked grin. Luke loves to turn the TV off while Gage is watching it and he laughs and runs away which makes it really hard for me to discipline him. Luke is too cute for his own good. He can get out of most things with a smile and jibberish. They seem against each other all day until I say it is time to get ready for bed and then they are all giggles and running away from me together. I really can't win and to be honest it wears me out. The thing with boys though is one second Gage is trying to drown Luke in the tub and the next second they have their heads together laughing over something. I think it is really me that just needs to let it go.

Like I said Luke is about as cherubic as it comes. He is excited about everything. He is in a constant state of chatter and for the life of me I can't understand most of it. I figured out today that the problem is that he is trying to say complicated sentences, because he can say many single words very clearly. Today at the park what I thought was jibberish my dad pointed out was really, "Where did Gage go?" Luke was so pleased that my Dad understood him unlike his loser mom. Luke is progressing much faster than Gage did. I guess just because he can watch Gage. He scorns most toys appropriate for his age in favor of the nerf gun that weights as much as he does. To be honest anything can be a gun and he makes awesome gun sounds. One benefit of him watching Gage is in the potty training area because I caught Luke trying to pee today in the toilet. He was fully clothed of course but he had the swayed back like boys get and was grabbing his front saying, "pee pee." Most days I just sit back exhausted as the boys run circles around me wondering how I got two boys that are so cute and aggravating at the same time.

Gage has also changed quite a bit this summer. He is gaining more self confidence and I'm so happy about it. Today for the first time I saw him take back his toy from a larger boy at the playground and actually Gage was rather rude about it. I know I may be the only mother who gives her son a thumbs up and a nod of approval after such behavior but I'm so tired of Gage getting pushed around because he is kind. I want him to be kind but not to put up with other's crap the rest of his life. Earlier in the summer Gage had two weeks of swimming lessons that went badly. I was worried and hoped that swimming could be a good experience for him. It was taking prayer and coaxing to get him to go each day. I put him in two more weeks of swimming lessons and to use a dumb term he really blossomed. He jumped into the deep end several times and was able to swim a good distance to get to his teacher he also floated on his back by himself. It was so hard to push him but I don't want him to be ruled by fear like I have been for most of my life. He ended up really enjoying his lessons and swimming in general and it felt like a turning point for him.

We've been keeping busy by being with friends, going to the park, shopping, and being with family. I even baked my own whole wheat bread made from wheat from my food storage. Go me! We spent a night at a cabin with Tim's family and Gage was so excited to run around in the woods, go on a ATV and play with his older cousins and be with his cousin from Texas. I don't have any pics of this particular outing so you will have to take my word for it. My brother's family came to visit from the mid-west and Gage adored his kids and it was so nice to meet my newest sweetest nephew. I am learning to focus on the positive and right now that is working for me.

Hideous Waste of My Precious Time

Spoiler Alert - If you have not read Breaking Dawn then you read the following post at your own risk. However if you want to save yourself feeling nauseated and furious then skip the book and read this post instead.




I once made a grave mistake in my reading career. I checked out a seemingly innocent book called Mr Darcy Takes a Wife. It was a continuation, by another author, of the beloved classic Pride and Prejudice. It is one of the few books that I flung back to the library after only 10 pages. The reason you may ask? Because the tension and anticipation of their intimate relationship is better than the actual intimate relationship. Because courting kisses are better than married kisses. I really have no desire to think of Elizabeth Bennett in the throws of childbirth! I learned an important lesson from Mr Darcy Takes a Wife. The difference between a good author and a crap author is a good author knows when to end a book...that leaves Stephanie Meyer hanging out there in the crap quadrant. Sadly I didn't fling Breaking Dawn in the Garbage where it belongs after the first 100 pages.

I was so nervous for Breaking Dawn to come out because I had enjoyed the series and I really didn't see where a whole other book could take the story. At the end of Eclipse we knew the following. Bella had chosen Edward, she was going to marry him, she had broken Jacob's heart, and would become a vamp. The fact of the matter is this. The Twilight series should have been a trilogy. To me the series could have been summed up nicely in a good epilogue. I'll go one step further....Breaking Dawn could have been a small pamphlet if you took all the good parts and put them together. Instead, Stephanie Meyer decided to ride the gravy train to a couple more million and turned out the drivel she called Breaking Dawn. The red pawn on the cover represents the millions of stupid people (me included) who stayed up late Friday night and lined her pockets with more money.

Bella and Edward got married early on in the book. Which translates BORING to me! I'm married...while I love it...it's not the makings for an exciting book. Then Bella gets pregnant with a half vamp half human child. Are you freaking kidding me Stephanie? Again, I have kids....I love them dearly but excitement it does not make. By the time the spawn was chewing it's way out of Bella I was done. Nothing could redeem this book. Alice was MIA for much of the book as was Edward actually. How she dragged it out to 754 pages is beyond me. Even what should have been the exciting part, when the Volturi came, was used and boring. Stephanie must have thought to herself...I could make this really interesting and let the Cullens and friends (stupid again) kick some Volturi butt, but instead I'm going to turn the vamps into freedom fighters who settle the fight with TALKING!!! I'll tell you why she did this. It's so she can milk another series of books out of this but only in Jacob's or some other characters perspective. I actually liked that Jacob imprinted, even on Bella's daughter, because it brought symmetry to their relationship again. That is the one nice thing I can think of to say...however she could have made me equally as happy if he had imprinted on someone else.

There are not words in the English language to describe my disappointment with this book. I need a brain cleansing.