Booking Through Thursday - Worse?

Here is this weeks question from Booking Through Thursday:

Which is worse?

Finding a book you love and then hating everything else you try by that author, or
Reading a completely disappointing book by an author that you love?

Personally I think that both scenarios are equally disappointing. I have been through both but believe it or not will continue to read those authors books.

For having a book that is completely disappointing by an author that I love I usually find that just because there is one disappointing book by that author that they are not all like that. There is always bound to be a bad apple in the bunch. Not always but sometimes.

As for finding the one book that I love but hating everything else by a particular author...I just count myself lucky that I found one that I loved and hope that one day I'll find another one by them.

Not to mention that just because I don't like that particular book/author doesn't mean some one else won't find it great. It's all objective.

To see other answers to this question please click on the icon above. Join in or leave your comments on these questions.

You Capture - Joy

Here in Texas this week is the dreaded TAKS testing at schools. Sam this past weekend and on Monday was just terrified about taking his Math TAKS test on Tuesday. He even cried to sleep Monday night and begged me not to take him to school on Tuesday. Once I reminded him that it wouldn't do any good to miss it because he would just have to take it later in a make-up test day he resigned to go ahead and go. I prayed and prayed and prayed for him all day long. Once he came home he was all smiles! I couldn't believe it. The teachers had taken a few kids from each class that they thought would do better testing with just 4 kids each in a room and having lots of breaks to help them with their testing. Sam was one of those kids picked! I was thrilled to hear that. Sam himself said that it made it so much better and that he felt that he did a good job. He already passed the Reading TAKS test last month and now we're just in the waiting period now to find out how he did with this one. To help him celebrate that he was done taking it (or at least I hope he's done taking it--if they don't pass they have to re-take it) we took him out to dinner and then I took him to the park afterwards. It was just after 8:00 at night and the sun was setting behind a cloudy sky. But it made for such great pictures. While he was swinging I sat down on the ground really close and captured him as he swung by. Then it was off to the jungle gym area where he had fun jumping off of them. You can see the pure joy in his face as he played. So I decided to use these photos for this weeks You Capture picture. If you'd like to see more head on over there! Or better yet...post your picture of Joy! We'd love to see them.

In this last photo Sam was jumping off of a rock climbing wall and I got this great photo!

Amazing Giveaway

You have got to check out the giveaway that I ♥ Faces is doing today! Click here to go enter.

I ♥ Faces - Reflection

This week at I ♥ Faces the "assignment" was Reflection. With grey skies and rain most of this past week I didn't get much time outside to get the picture taken the way I wanted to. So today I had Sam look into a mirror. This is the mirror above our mantel and it just so happens that there is a picture of him there with his cousins that they had taken recently. Forgot that it was there until I started looking at the pictures that I took for this. Love the look on his face.

Head on over to I ♥ Faces to see the other participants! They are all great!

Ten On Tuesday

On this weeks 10 on Tuesday we are asked to give 10 words people would use to describe you. One would think that this would be an easy list to do. But once you sit down to make the list you realize that it's not that easy.

Here is my 10 Words People Would Use to Describe Me:

1) Creative

2) Friendly

3) Happy

4) Caring

5) Worry-wort

6) Silly

7) Serious

8) Quiet

9) Helpful

10) Kind

Make your list and see what you come up with. Or better yet...join us! Click on the icon above.

PhotoHunt - Protect(ion)

This weeks theme for Photo Hunt was Protect(ion). If you'd like to play along or would just like to see what every one else came up with click the icon above. Have fun!

The first thing that came to my mind was church.

The second thing that came to my mind was seat belts. I love this picture because of the look on Sam face. "Whatcha' doing Mom?" is what that face is saying to me.

Cedar Ridge Preserve

I've been meaning to write about last Saturday all week but I just never got around to it. Last weekend Sam and I were supposed to be camping at the Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose TX, with the scouts. But there were terrible thunderstorms on Thursday evening and all day Friday. So it was cancelled. Sam and I were not to happy that we didn't get to go. On Saturday once the misty rain that was still in the air left the area we got into the car and went to the Cedar Ridge Preserve to hike. We had a ton of fun and I loved watching Sam observe all the nature around him. We went to three of their areas, the Butterfly Garden, Little Bluestem Trail and the Bluebonnet Trail. Oh and somewhere in there we took a wrong turn, doubled back and also took part of the Mulberry Trail. These trails were "ranked" wheelchair accessible, easy and moderate. There are even easy-moderate, moderate-difficult and difficult trails. The Bluebonnet Trail that we took was rated moderate and I must tell you that we were worn out after we were done. My definition of moderate sure didn't meet theirs. But the part I remember most is the smile on Sam's face as we did it. We will go back. Maybe even tomorrow if the weather holds out. Don't know which trail we'll do next but we'll do a different one for sure. Of course, I took my camera and took a ton of pictures. I put together a slide show of some of them (see below) and I also wanted to share with you just a handful of my favorites. Remember that you can click on the pictures to see them bigger.

This is just one of many beautiful poppies that we saw in the Butterfly Gardens.

Sam loved and I can't state it loud enough for you....LOVED....looking at the snails. Since we had so much rain there were snails everywhere. At one point, once we started on the moderate trail, I had to remind him that he had to watch where he was going instead of trying not to step on the snails.

I loved the fact that I was able to capture the rain drops on the flowers that we saw in the Butterfly Gardens. The smell of these roses were heavenly.

When we got off the right trail we rain into a lot of sticky mud. At one point our shoes had so much mud on them we both felt like we had 5-10 pound weights on our feet. This picture was taken after we had stomped off some of the mud. And in case you are wondering...yes, my 9 year old son has bigger feet than I.

Towards the end of the last trail that we were on we found this tree. I love the way that it bends and twists.

You Capture - Letters

This weeks assignment on You Capture was 'Letters'. For a person that loves to read the first thing that popped into my head was books.

Sam loves to go to the library. This time he couldn't wait until we got home to start reading. He sat right down at the table this week in the library and started reading. When it was time to go he carried his books out to the car and started reading again. Love that boy!

Most of these books here belonged to my Grandfather. He was a Methodist pastor and I cherish these books.

I'm sure everyone has one of these. Maybe not a library card but a card none the less hanging on your key chain that has words/letters on it.

This is my current reading stack. Again...lots of words/letters.......Then I thought, nah, that's to obvious.

How about the signs we see all over the place.

Nope, to obvious again.

Maybe a cross stitch that I have sitting next to some books on a bookshelf that has words/letters on it?

Still, to obvious.

How about on the items that we wear?

Here you can see the letters ck on the side of my friends sunglasses. Thanks Rachel!

How about the obscure?

Here are some tiles on the table at Chili's. If you look hard enough you can see the letter 'e' on the first one and the letter 'x' in the second one.

Nope...these are all still there out in the open for everyone to see.

How about the fact that we can recycle our letters?

Not to mention that there are letters all over the outside of it.

Nope. I wanted to think more outside the box this week.

Here is a picture of some hand bells that I play quite often. In fact several times I week I'm practicing with them. Yes, they have letters on them.

But it's not these that I really wanted to share with you this week.

It's this....music notes. Did you know that each music note is actually a letter. So every time you listen to music, any kind of music, you're listening to letters also. How cool is that!

Would you like to see more? Click here:

Looking At The Sky On Friday

This week I've been so busy doing a little bit of this and that. You know those weeks where you find yourself running so much that you meet yourself as you're heading out the door yet again. I did take lots of photos this week but I don't think a one of them was of the sky. I went to take a picture this morning but the sky is completely gray. So I dug into my archives yet again and found this one.

If you'd like to see more Looking At The Sky On Friday photos then click on the link!

I Won The 2009 Spring Photo Contest

I can't begin to thank all of my wonderful readers enough. You are all the best! Then there are all of my friends and family that I emailed. You guys rock! You all pulled through, went over to vote for my photo and now I am happy to announce that I am the winner! If you want to see the announcement you can Check it out here.

I ♥ Faces - Self Portrait

Over at I ♥ Faces this week the "assignment" is: Self Portrait. In this self portrait you must take the photo and you must be holding the camera when you take it (you can’t use a tripod or anything else to hold the camera for you.) This wasn't an easy assignment for me because I really don't like to have my picture taken. But I did it anyway.

Be sure to check out the other entries at the official blog for I ♥ Faces!

UPDATE: I've decided to enter a photograph into the Kids category too. I was helping Sam with his homework and I saw that I had the camera on the table. I reached over to it and started taking pictures. Of course by now it's hot so my hair is pulled back into a ponytail the make-up is gone and I look tired but I was having fun. By the end Sam had had enough of the camera so I leaned over to kiss him and took one more. You can see by the look in his eyes that this is not what he wanted to be doing. It's a dorky picture but it's a good one as it captured the moment so well.

Ten On Tuesday

This weeks Ten on Tuesday is 10 Underrated Movies. Since I lately most of the movies I've been watching are children's/family movies I really had to think about these movies. Not in any particular order...just the order that I thought of them:

10 Underrated Movies:

1. Office Space
2. The Lake House
3. Practical Magic
4. Mystic Pizza
5. Sweet November
6. Bewitched
7. Peggy Sue Got Married
8. So I Married An Axe Murderer
9. Galaxy Quest
10. Igor

Okay that was much harder than I thought it would be. So what are yours? Would you like to participate? Head on over to here.

Vote 4 Yours Truly!!!

As you have probably seen above and from another post just yesterday I've entered a photograph of Sam into a photo contest. I would be just tickled pink if you would take a few moments of your time to go on over and vote for me!

PhotoHunt - Purple

This weeks PhotoHunt theme was a hard one for me. I did take quite a few pictures this week of the theme but once I reviewed them all this morning I ended up picking a photo from my archives. This is a cross stitch that I did of a Purple Halloween Hat.

After going on the nature walk/hike with Sam I realized how many pictures I had taken of purple flowers. So here are some more.

If you'd like to see more go to the home of PhotoHunt! Or better yet...submit your own! I'd love to see them!

Photo Contest

Write From Karen is holding her quarterly photo contest. I've decided to enter. This quarters theme is: SPRING / GREEN / FLOWER / FRESH / GROWTH / RAIN / EASTER. If you would like to enter you still have a few hours left to do so, just click on the banner above. Nothing like entering at the last minute! Voting begins today after 5:00 central time and don't worry...I'll be sure to remind you to go and vote for me!

The picture I chose was taken the day before Easter with Sam lying in a field of Bluebonnets. This was our first time ever going to do this and it is big tradition here in TX. I think we might just have to keep doing this. He's so photogenic and is a natural at it. I actually took this photo when he didn't realize I was. I think those are the best photos.

You Capture - Rustic

I know what you are all going to say, "Gee, Kim, another photo challenge? How many are you going to participate in?" My answer? "As many as I want to, so there!" I can't tell you how I got there or recognize the blog that pointed me there because I was just surfing blogs and came across this one. I Should Be Folding Laundry has a new photo meme called "You Capture" and it's to get you up and going with your camera. Go here to learn more about it. This weeks "assignment" is Rustic. Since I just found this weekly assignment and the fact that there are Thunderstorms outside I went to my archives because as soon as I read it I knew exactly the photos I wanted to use. I recently took them and haven't had the chance to share them here.

Next weeks assignment is "Letters". I see so many different ways to take this so check back next week to see what I come up with. Or better yet, join in!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Have you seen it yet? Have you? Have you? Well, have you? I tell you that I can't wait to see this one! Now to wait until July!

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Looking At The Sky On Friday

I was hurrying trying to get from one obligation to the next last night and was in a frazzled rush when I really looked at the sky (and yes the road) while I was driving and this is what I saw. I saw the beautiful sky with the sun setting behind the clouds. I saw a road with no other cars on it where there are usually quite a lot. Then I thought that it's okay to slow down and enjoy the moment that was put here in front of me. I reached over to my purse and grabbed my camera and took this photograph while I was driving so that I could not only share it with you but also be able to look back on it when life seems to be going by fast.

If you'd like to see more Looking At The Sky On Friday photos then click on the link!

Booking Through Thursday - Windfall

It's Thursday so it's time for Booking Through Thursday. Here is the question:

Yesterday, April 15th, was Tax Day here in the U.S., which means lots of lucky people will get refunds of over-paid taxes.

Whether you’re one of them or not, what would you spend an unexpected windfall on? Say … $50? How about $500?

(And, this is a reading meme, so by rights the answer should be book-related, but hey, feel free to go wild and splurge on anything you like.)

Answer:

Well if I stick to the reading meme then I guess I would purchase a whole bunch of books for the whole family. The ones that we have been waiting and waiting to get. Might even get myself a good book light as I have misplaced my last one. I would also like to purchase books for the library so that every one can enjoy them.

Now, if I wasn't sticking the the reading meme I would still probably purchase some books but I would also purchase some supplies for knitting, cross stitching and crafting in general! I would also purchase supplies for my business. I would definitely also purchase some much needed clothes for myself.

What would you buy? Click on the link or icon above and participate or just see what everyone else would buy!

I ♥ Faces - Easter/Spring

To me this photo screams Spring in Texas. We took Sam out to see the Bluebonnets for the first time since we moved here. We missed taking him last year so we made sure to take him this year. Be sure to check out the other entries at the official blog for I ♥ Faces!

Ten On Tuesday

This weeks Ten on Tuesday is 10 Signs That You're Getting Older and after yesterday I can soooo relate to this one. The really sad thing about this list is that it was very easy to come up with 10!

Here's my 10 Signs That You're Getting Older:

1) Days like yesterday (you can read about it here if you haven't already) make me wonder if being 41 and having a 9 year old and contemplating the idea of adopting a younger sibling makes me wonder if I can handle it. But I know that I can.
2) I can't stand going to the mall unless it's during the week while all the kids are at school.
3) I need reading glasses.
4) When my son asks to listen to the oldies station and I realize that these were the songs that I grew up with in high school.
5) More grey hairs.
6) I'm tired and ready to go to bed by 9:00 but still don't make it until 10:00 because my son is still awake.
7) It's much harder to lose weight.
8) You hear yourself sounding like your parents and you said you would never say that when you grew up. Well guess what...you do!
9) Your child looks at you crazy when you talk about times before the DVR, 100s of channels on the TV, cassette tapes, gas prices that weren't near a $1 and so on.
10) The aches and pains in my body and the fact that it takes longer to get over being sick.

I could probably keep going on with this list but it's Ten on Tuesday not One Hundred on Tuesday. So what are yours? Would you like to participate? Head on over to here.

Mood

Ever have one of those days where the littlest thing(s) can just ruin your day even if your day started off great? I'm in one of those days today.

I woke up around 1:15 a.m., 3:00 a.m., 4:17 a.m., 5:30 a.m., to let our Senior Citizen dog Leo outside or to direct him to his water dish. (All nights are not like this.) Andy's alarm went off around 6:30 I think and it woke me up yet again. Then after he left for work I started to drift back to sleep when I hear the cats and that wakes me back up. They just wanted some attention and loving. Okay fine. I give them attention as it seems to be calming me back down and then I realize that I'm awake.

Sam wasn't awake at this point so I decided to stay in bed and watch some morning news and then remember that I could also take this time to watch the rest of a show that I had recorded. Of course, as soon as I turned it on Sam walks in and wants to snuggle. Okay fine. Can't really resist that. Then I tell him it's time for us to get up an he gets really angry at me and everything around him. I tell him that he can go back to his room while he gets his emotions "in check". Peace in my room again.

Next the cats remind me, in that oh not so subtle way that they have, that it's time to feed them. Okay fine. Get the dogs outside and then feed the cats. Sam is now in a better mood and now wants breakfast but can't seem to make up his mind about what he wants. Meantime my stomach starts to rumble. When will I eat? Who knows! It amazed me that we were only at breakfast and not much later in the day as it seemed like it should be closer to dinner. I was already exhausted.

Since Sam had the day off from school I had looked the day before at the TV Guide to see if there were any movies on that we hadn't seen yet or just haven't seen in awhile. Yes! There were 3! Once I got dinner, no breakfast going for all of us I turned on one of those movies and then turned on my computer to check emails and a couple of sites. Found out that I had Internet service but no email service. Same provider for both so I checked into it. Called them and they said that they would get it fixed. Great!

Next up? Laundry. I started some more laundry as it seems lately it's very ongoing. I did have it to where I was just doing it once if not twice a week. (I really need to get back into doing that again.) Ended up only getting the load that was in the washer into the dryer because Sam started up with our younger dog, Max. When he does this he plays with him to where Max thinks it's okay to play rough. Max starts growling and Sam starts to get louder and then Max gets even louder and so on. Then it usually comes to a crying halt when Max bites down hard on Sam. Sam gets mad and starts to blame every one and every thing around him. I try, and I do stress the try, to calm him down and explain to him yet again that it's really him that causes all of this. Okay...take a deep breath. We're only to around 10:00 in the morning.

This is when I realize that I'm not having the best of days and that my mood isn't the greatest any more either. I looked outside and saw this:
It seemed to go with my mood quite well. There wasn't any rain in the forecast so it had to be my mood hanging over our neighborhood. Or at least at that moment in time it sure felt like it.

Time to check to see if my email is working yet. Nope. Another call into their lovely and oh so helpful call center. Yes, now I'm getting sarcastic. They said that the last person didn't get it done and that they would. Great!

By now Sam is hollering for a snack. It's then that I remembered that I had forgotten to give him his medicine. Oops. That might explain him bouncing off the walls this morning. Give him his medicine and a snack and then just sort of stand there in the kitchen wondering what I was planning on doing next. Oh yeah, let the barking dogs in because I had forgotten to feed them their breakfast. Couldn't blame them. Of course when I let them in I had forgotten that it had rained most of Saturday night into Sunday morning and they were wet and muddy. Not that my kitchen floor is currently clean but it was the fact that I had very wet muddy dogs tracking mud all over the floor. Quick! Grab a towel and get them dried and then wipe up the floor.

Let's jump ahead about an hour to lunch time. Sam asked around 11:30 or so if he could have lunch. "Sure!" I said, "What do you want?" Now if you know Sam you'll know that this can be a very loaded question. He hemmed and hawed about it for 15 minutes or so until he finally decided. Got it fixed and ready all the while realizing that I need to start loading the dishwasher because quite honestly I hadn't done much of that for the past few days. (I was a bit busy! LOL) So I unloaded what few dishes were left in the dishwasher and tried to start loading it back up. Note the "try" in the last sentence.

Nope....wait....another crisis! Sam and Max are at it again. I know I've left a few times out in here so far but this was a good one. Max this time left a mark on Sam's wrist. Sam said that it felt like his wrist was broken and that it was bleeding every where. Take a look. Nothing but a raised line on his wrist. No broken bones not even broken skin. I tell Sam again that it's because of the way that you're playing with him. I feel like I'm the one broken...a broken record that is.

What was I doing? Oh yeah...dishes. Wait! Spilled drink on aisle 9! As in my 9 year old boy!!!! Get it cleaned up. Have I had lunch yet? I really can't remember so I get a small snack.

While having my small snack I remembered that I hadn't checked the email yet. Crossing my
fingers that it's now up and running I'm met with disappointment yet again. Another phone call. All the while I'm keeping a very nice conversation going with them and I'm very happy with myself for not getting mad. They say that this time they will FOR SURE get it fixed. Great?

Back to the kitchen. No, wait, Sam's movie is over. Go to the living room and start another movie. Now, back to the kitchen. Why oh why did I let these dishes sit without at least rinsing them off? Start loading the dishwasher. Wow, I can't believe it...I'm actually getting something accomplished with out any interruptions! Wait...take that back. Sam and Max start up again. I throw the dog outside and send Sam to his room yet again. Peace in my house once more. What was I doing?

Oh no! I've got to get some ironing done for Andy so that he has something to wear for work the rest of this week. Go into my bedroom get the iron plugged in so that it can get started heating up. Sam comes into my room to apologize (yet again) for what he was doing wrong. Okay. Back to the living room with Sam and start his movie back up for him. Back to the ironing. I get one, count them, one pair of pants done before Sam is hollering for a snack and the dog is barking outside. Gee am I ever going to finish one task?

Jumping ahead just a little bit. Andy comes home and I'm in the kitchen trying to finish loading the dishwasher, Sam's watching a movie and I'm also trying to re-boot our cable (again). Sam and Max are starting up again and at this point I feel my blood starting to boil and I can't take it any more. I yell at the top of my lungs, "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Gee the house got quiet. "BOTH OF YOU" (Sam and Max) "STOP IT!" "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!". I don't speak to them again. Just quietly go back to the dishwasher. I am going to get that thing loaded. Andy comes out of our bedroom and goes to his office. I go in there and apologize for my outburst and fill him in, briefly, on our day so far. Now you need to know that it's only mid-afternoon at this point in time. Oh yeah, the email still isn't up and running.

This time I call the tech desk. I get a great gentleman who not only helps me, fixes the problem with me still on the phone but also while I'm on the phone called the customer support team and tells them how it wasn't fixed right the first few times and that there was really no reason I had to go through what I went through. YEAH! One point for me! :)

Andy goes to lay down to take a small nap as he has more work to do that will take him out of the house until after 11:00 tonight. I pretty much threaten Sam to be quiet and tell him that daddy is going to take a nap and that I'll start his third movie for him. I sit down for a few moments and check my email, surf for just a bit on the Internet and then I finally finish the dishwasher and get it running.

It's about 3:30 now and I go and finally put my contacts in, get myself presentable to go out into public, get Sam presentable and off we go to his 4:30 Art Therapy Group session. I HAVE A WHOLE HOUR OF PEACE AND QUIET TO READ MY BOOK! This was probably the best hour all day long!

Back home after 6:15 or was it closer to 6:30? His appointments are in downtown Ft Worth and when you're trying to come home after 5:30 it's going to take a bit of time. Get dinner on the table after yet another breakdown from Sam over what's for dinner. Sam and I eat dinner and then I say, "Hey, want to go to the library?" His eyes lit up my mood immediately got better! He got the books that he wants to return and we get ready to leave. I look out my back door and this is what I see:

The sky and my mood are now back together again. We had a good time at the library and I wasn't the one to blame for when we had to leave. It was the librarian that flicked the lights on and off. I was preparing myself for "the argument" that I thought was coming but no, I was proved wrong! He got his books and headed up to the counter. He read part of one of his books to me on the way home. Once back home it was back to feeding the cats, get the dogs outside, get Sam ready for bed after some more reading and drawing time. So that was my "moody" day. I may have left out some bits and pieces here and there but I think you get the idea.

PhotoHunt - Triangle

While looking through my photos on my computer I realized that I really didn't have any "triangle" photos. So I went searching through the house. I didn't realize how hard it would be to find a triangle! It really was. I looked on my mantel and saw a star that Sam had made in one of his Sunday School classes. I then remembered that the earrings that I am wearing are also stars. But I only photographed one of them. If you'd like to see more go to the home of PhotoHunt! Or better yet...submit your own! I'd love to see them!

Looking At The Sky On Friday

When we lived in Louisiana there were a ton of trees in our neighborhood and I loved to watch the summer storm clouds rise above the trees into the blue sky.

Like to see more photos? Go to Looking At The Sky On Friday. Or better yet, submit your own!

Booking Through Thursday

It's Thursday and time for Booking Through Thursday. If you'd like to see more answers to this weeks question then head on over!

Here’s the question:

Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…

1) Are you currently reading more than one book?

Yes I am.

2) If so, how many books are you currently reading?

I am currently reading 2 books. I'm reading Eldest and I'm re-reading The Art of Prayer: A Simple Guide to Conversation with God for my Sunday School lessons.

3) Is this normal for you?

Generally it is but I really do prefer to read just one at a time.

4) Where do you keep your current reads?

My Sunday School book is generally kept in the living room as a reminder to get it read. I keep trying to read it before Saturday night but so far I'm not getting it done until right before bed on Saturday night.

Eldest is either on my night stand or in the living room where I read it while my son watches his TV shows. He likes for me to be in the room with him but I've seen his shows so many times that I just can't force myself to watch some of them again for the millionth time so I read.

How about you?

Spring Break - Silver Dollar City

I'm finally getting around to posting some more pictures from our trip to Springfield, MO, over Spring Break. We went to Silver Dollar City while we were there. It was on Friday which was the day after their opening day. It was chilly but we all kept warm and had a great time. My mom was able to get off of work which we were all very thankful for. Sam so enjoys going there and now he's starting to get into all of the history part of Silver Dollar City. If you'd like to learn more about Silver Dollar City go here and here. Now on to the photos:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Knitting For Your Health

I now have a medical reason to knit! Woo Hoo! Check this out:


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Meet Logan

Since this is Holy Week I've been trying to think of something to write. Nothing was coming to mind until I received an email from a friend in our chancel choir at church. I will warn you...get tissues or just be prepared for the tears to come. What this little boy has to say is just what I wanted to say to you but just couldn't find the right words. The video is maybe 2 minutes long so it won't take much of your time.

Ten On Tuesday

This weeks '10' is: 10 Least Liked Foods. I have to tell you that I had a hard time coming up with 10 as I really do like food. I like trying new foods too. I really wish I could get my son to try more foods as he's pretty picky in what he'll try. Now if he's with some one else and I'm not around he'll more than likely eat what they put out in front of him with no questions asked. So at least I'm doing something right. :)

Here's my 10:

10 Least Liked Foods:

1) Anchovies
2) Lima Beans (By themselves I don't like them at all. If they are in a casserole I'm okay with them)
3) Anything that is so Hot (not temperature) that the flavor isn't there...just the hot.
4) Plain cooked oatmeal
5) Malt-O-Meal
6) Plain grits
7) Soy Milk
8) Liver
9) Any over cooked vegetables. Veggies weren't meant to be mush.
10) Okay...can't do 10. Can't think of anything else. Oh well I guess 9 will just have to do.

Want to see more? Visit the home of 10 On Tueseday !

PhotoHunt - Stripes

Yes, I'm running way behind in getting up my Photo Hunt photo this week (I guess that would actually be for last week.) The theme was 'Stripes' this time around and when I was up in Springfield MO, with Sam over Spring break I was looking for items that I could photograph that would fit the description of 'stripes'. While at the zoo my dad and I found quite a few but there is one that I really like. Mainly because it's out of the box so to speak.

This is a picture of a wooden bench at the Dickerson Park Zoo. I love the perspective and how you can see stripes in the fence in the background as well as the wooden walkway below. If you'd like to go visit more photos please visit the home of Photo Hunt.

Looking At The Sky On Friday

It's time for my second Looking at the Sky on Friday submission. I didn't get around to take a picture today but I actually have quite a bunch of sky photos to choose from. So here it is:
No, this picture is not upside-down. We were at Cedar Hill State Park one afternoon an I found a big flat rock to lean back on. I looked up and this is what I saw. I took quite a few pictures looking straight up from that rock but I think this is one of my favorites. If you'd like to see more sky photos follow the link above.

Spring Reading Thing 2009 & Booking Through Thursday

I am finally getting around to getting together the books I want to read for the Spring Reading Thing 2009. I also found a new (or at least new to me) meme today about books! How cool is that! So, I'm going to combine them both here today.

I'll start with the meme. It's called Booking Through Thursday. If you'd like to see more answers to this weeks question then head on over! This weeks question is actually a series or questions about the library.

How often do you use your public library and how do you use it?
I go at least once a month if not more often. We (our family) use it to check out books for general reading and movies to watch. Sometimes we even get books on tapes for long car rides.

Has the coffeehouse/bookstore replaced the library?
Sometimes I do but I don't think that they will completely take over the library. Especially right now with the economy. Not everyone can afford to go out and purchase that must read book when you can find it at your local library.

Did you go to the library as a child?
Yes! Loved going as a child.

Do you have any particular memories of the library?
My memories of the library go back to my childhood. There was one library that in my memory was very big but I'm sure that as an adult if I ever went back I would see that it really wasn't. Anyway, I loved going to the children's library. It was downstairs and there were so many books to choose from! I really don't remember any particular reading program but I do remember that they had them. The children's librarians were just wonderful. They would always help you if you needed help and they never talked down to you. They also knew where all the cool books were. All I know is that I loved that children's library.

Do you like sleek, modern, active libraries or the older, darker, quiet, cozy libraries?
As long as they have a great selection of books and are helpful I really don't care which one I'm in. I love both kinds.

Now on to the Spring Reading Thing 2009: Let's Read! Right now there are over 200 participants an I'm enjoying going to every single one of their lists and seeing what other books out there I want to add to mine. :) If you love reading and books in general join up or at least make yourself a list of books that you would like to finish reading by June 30th. I know that I will probably not finish my whole list but it sure is nice to have one. So here are my books in no particular order:

1. Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood
2. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
3. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
5. The Art of Prayer by Timothy Jones - re-reading this one for our Sunday School class
6. Summerland by Michal Chabon
7. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
8. Eldest by Christopher Paolini - currently reading

Spring Break - Zoo

Finally, as promised, here are some pictures from Spring Break. Yes, I know that it was two weeks ago but life has been going on here.

While we were in Springfield, MO, my dad took Sam and I to the Dickerson Park Zoo. We had a wonderful day and it was great that we got to take our time going through the zoo. Unlike if we had stayed home and gone to the Fort Worth Zoo. On Wednesday during Spring Break here it was half-price day. Two things that happen together that I will avoid if possible...half-price day and kids off from school during Spring Break. The Fort Worth Zoo reported that during that week of Spring Break they had a record setting week of 118,000 visitors. On Wednesday alone they had 25,139! So, yes, I am very happy that I got to spend the day at a great zoo that had a nice quiet day.

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