Book Review: Ella Enchanted

Gail Carson Levine

rating: 2 of 5 stars

My ward book club is reading this for May. It wasn't really on my list of books I wanted to read, but since we read it for book club, I decided I'd read it. It was about what I expected, cute, fairly humorous, mildly entertaining, easy to read, no depth, and not thought provoking whatsoever. I read it in about 4 hours. It's something I really would have enjoyed when I was in about 6th grade, and that's who I would recommend it to. It's different from the movie, but I wouldn't say one is any better than the other.

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Photo Shoot

Today we were supposed to go and meet some friends at the duck pond, but her little boy was semi sick, and I was just a little concerned about Ivan getting it, so we decided to postpone for later in the week. Well, I thought we'd be stuck in the house all day, blah. Then out of the blue, my mom called and said she was on her way down to visit. She couldn't stand not seeing her darling grandsons for one day longer. I was thrilled! So we decided it was time to go have Ivan's 6 week photos done. He isn't very happy in some of these, but I still think he's cute. The top one is my very favorite.

We also found Lincoln some new sandles and my mom bought him these adorable sun glasses. Then we went up to campus and took Aaron lunch. So it turned into a pretty fun day after all. :)

Some Random Stuff

The weather has been beautiful the last couple of days and we've been very grateful to get out of our house. We have a nice little grass area that's fenced in behind our apartment complex where the kids can go to play. The last few days I've been taking Lincoln and Ivan out there. Lincoln plays and Ivan is really good to just sleep in his car seat. He's five weeks old in this picture. He looks so peaceful. When we are outside and the weather's nice and lots of kids from the complex are playing together and the moms are sitting on the picnic bench chatting, life seems so good. I forget about being couped up in the house, and not getting any sleep, and Aaron having to start school again in a few days. That's why I love spring so much I guess, it's easy just to go outside and see the buds on the trees and the green grass and feel the light breeze and just be content with life for a moment.

Here are Ivan and I in our house yesterday, getting ready for the BBQ we planned to have with our home teachers and their families. The weather got over cast and kind f windy, but we went to the park and had the BBQ anyways, because we are desperate for the spring season to be here and to stay, and thought maybe if we started engaging in weather appropiate activities we might help things along a little. :) We had a nice time visiting with the families and watching the little kids play on the playground. Both of the families have little girls so Lincoln was a bit out numbered, but he didn't seem to mind too much. It's interesting to me the difference between boys and girls, even at such a young age. They just play differently. Watching the kids play and noticing this reality, kind of made me think about how God really did make us each to be gender specific, our spirits are either male or female, and then we come to this Earth that way, and we have certain roles to fulfill and we are prepared to fulfill them. It was just kind of a cool ah-ha moment that clicked in my mind.

Excited About Book Club

Last night was great because I got out of the house without either of my children for two whole hours! Yay. It was a much needed break to help me be a good mom. I have been pumping a little bit this week after Ivan gets done eating so that I would have enough to leave behind for one feeding so that Aaron could feed him and I wouldn't have to come rushing home. Where did I go for my two hours of freedom? Our ward Book Club. Ya, I'm a nerd, get over it. I love book club.

The meeting last night was a get-together to plan all the books we are going to read each month for the whole next year. So basically the plan was that you come with a few books that you like, and you present them to everyone, tell them what they are about, why they're good, etc. And after everyone has presented their books the group votes on which ones are in for the year. It sounds simple, but it's not. I bet by the time everyone was done presenting (some people presented like 20 books, I just did 3 and thought that was fair, I wish everyone would have been limited to like 5 or something it would have made the process easier, oh well.) there were probably about 200 books to choose from, then they stuck them into categories (i.e. fantasy, non-fiction, Christmas, children's, literary fiction, etc.) until there were 12 categories and then we voted in each category for what we wanted to read. But some categories were huge and had a lot of books people really wanted to read, and some were small and didn't really have any books anyone wanted to read, but for some reason we had to stick to the categories, which didn't make sense to me. If no one wanted to read any of the books in a particular category, then why bother with it, just pick something from the other category where there were multiple books of interest. But whatever, I wasn't in charge.

Anyways, when it did finally come to a close after much debate and lots of talking and chatting and eating and trying to get people not to recommend anymore books after the initial recommendation period, we came out with some I'm really excited to read, some I've already read, and some I'm not all that thrilled to read, but that's ok. Here is the list, as well as I can remember it.

Ella Enchanted
A Thomas Jefferson Education
1776
The Zoo Keepers Wife
Short Stories by Edgar Allen Poe
The Portrait of Dorian Grey
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Phantom of the Opera
Skipping Christmas
A Stranger for Christmas
The Little Prince
The Last Lecture


And that's all I can remember right now, but there are at least three more (we did 14 months worth). So I've got some good reading to look forward to this year. Yay. Not to mention my own private list of things that I want to read. I guess I know what I'll be doing while Aaron does his homework all summer long. :)

What do papasan boxes, diaper boxes, duct tape, scissors, and Lincoln have in common?

You can't leave Aaron alone in the room with them!

Here is Lincoln in his fort/house that Aaron built for him. Notice the lovely brick work around the door.

Aaron also built shelves on the inside for Lincoln to set things on.

And here is Lincoln cleaning his new house.

This is what the big boys do while Ivan and I do this:

So much for not co-sleeping ;)

One Month Old

Well, Ivan is a month old today. With all the sleep I've been getting (not much) it kind of feels like it's been one continuous day. But we love our little Ivan and we wouldn't trade him for all the sleep in the world. (And to be perfectly honest, Lincoln has contributed a lot to the non-sleeping factor, don't know what the deal is, but he gets up almost as often as Ivan at night these days.)

Ivan keeps amazing me at how much he is his own little person. I knew, and tried to prepare myself right from the beginning that he would be different than Lincoln, so it's not really surprizing that he is so much different than Lincoln was, but really just amazing. For example, Ivan was bigger than Lincoln, and is still bigger than Lincoln was at one month old, but Ivan seems smaller because his face is long and skinny whereas Lincoln's was round and chubby. Ivan has outgrown most of his newborn size clothes. Lincoln did that pretty quickly too, but Lincoln grew out of them around the waist because he was shaped like a ball, Ivan is growing out of them length wise because he's got a long body. Ivan likes to be swaddled, Lincoln really didnt. Ivan likes the binkie and will take it almost always, Lincoln never took a binkie. (Well, he takes them away from Ivan all the time now, but that's different.) Lincoln started cooing a lot and being a regular little chatter-box by this time (as much as a one month old can anyway), and Ivan doesn't coo very much at all. I've only heard him a few times. He seems more quiet and observant. So it will be interesting to continue to watch his personality develope and see if he turns out to be anything like Lincoln at all.

They are similar in one way, they were both calm, peaceful babies. Neither cried a lot, only when they needed something. So I got off pretty easy, yet again. I'm sure I'm really in for it when I have my third one. I'll have to name him Jackson :) (haha just kidding Juice!)

Also this last week Ivan's umbilical cord stub dried up and fell off, so we were able to give him his first bath in the baby tub. He liked it a ton better than the sponge baths we were giving him previously. And he's doing a lot better with his diaper changes, he doesn't cry through the whole thing anymore, and usually he can even have one without any crying at all. Definite improvement.

Another good improvement this week, Lincoln is getting a lot better about being soft with Ivan. I can actually leave Ivan in his chair and Lincoln will usually (but not always) leave him alone. That's nice. Maybe eventually I'll be able to leave them in the same room alone together without worrying that one of them will be dead when I get back. :)

Book Review: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

by Betty Smith

rating: 4 of 5 stars

I inherited this book from my grandma's book shelf, and picked it up to read without knowing a single thing about it, except that somewhere I'd heard someone say it was supposed to be good.

It's a coming-of-age story about a girl named Francie Nolan who lives in poverty in Brooklyn, NY in the early 1900s. Right from the first page I fell in love with the way the author uses words. She constructs sentences beautifully without being too flowery. She describes things so that you can picture them perfectly in your mind without over-doing it. Here is an excerpt from the first page: "The one tree in Francie's yard was neither a pine nor a hemlock. It had pointed leaves which grew along green switches which radiated from the bough and made a tree which looke like a lot of opened green umbrellas. Some people called it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed fell, it made a tree which struggled to reach the sky. It grew in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement. It grew lushly, but only in the tenement districts.
You took a walk on a Sunday afternoon and came to a nice neighborhood, very refined. You saw a small one of these trees through the iron gate leading to someone's yard and you knew that soon that section of Brooklyn would get to be a tenement district. The tree knew. It came there first. Afterwards, poor foreigners seeped in and the quiet old brown stone houses were hacked up into flats, feather beds were pushed out on the windowsills to air and the Tree of Heaven flourished. That was the kind of tree it was. It liked poor people.
That was the kind of tree in Francie's yard. Its umbrellas curled over, around and under her third-floor fire escape. An eleven-year-old girl sitting on the fire escape could imagine that she was living in a tree. That's waht Francie imagined every Saturday afternoon in summer."

I love the way the author uses this tree all throughout the book as a metaphor for things/people growing out of nothing to become something, even when no one else really wants them to.

I love the way the author portrays the "American Dream" not as something that happens instantaniously, but as something that happens over a long period of time, with each generation getting a little closer and a little closer. How parents work hard, knowing they probably won't improve their status, but with the hope that they can make it a little better for their kids. And those kids in turn try to make it just a little better for their kids, and so on. It seems more realistic to me that the whole rags to riches bit.

I identify really well with the way Francie looks back at certain moments of her childhood and remembers what she learned and knows that she is who she is now because of those moments. I think all of us do that in one way or another whether we realize it or not.

I like they way the author portrayed family as a very important aspect of life. I also like how she portrayed people has good, even though they had some serious faults. That's really how we should look at people. And really, I loved how the author did the characters in this book, I thought they all were done really well and seemed like they could be real people. Mostly this book is a book about people and how they are with each other and with themselves. There isn't a whole lot of action in the book, but mostly reflection, and reflection of people, why they are the way they are. I really like it. The book didn't feel slow moving to me even though there wasn't a whole lot of suspense in it.

I would definitly recommend this book to anyone interested. There are some swear words in there, mostly in the dialect of the people. And there is mention of sex, but no graphic details. I think this book is well written, makes a good point, and is enjoyable to read.

Easter 2009

Easter morning 2009, an unsuspecting Lincoln walks into the living room to find a basket awaiting him on the couch. The first thing he reaches for are the matchbox cars. These were supposed to be hidden inside of the plastic eggs instead of candy, but oops, I didn't buy big enough plastic eggs. I'll know better next year I guess.

The second thing Linc goes for is the bunny book that Grandma Swan stuck in there for him. Don't ask me why, but in order to read it Lincoln has to squat down and rest his head on the ground and look at it that way. In this picture he's coming up for air, and to turn the page.

Then he goes for the stuffed bunny. He's very excited about this (he helped me pick it out). Ivan got one just like it only brown.

After he's searched through the basket, the egg hunt begins. It didn't take too long to teach him how to find the eggs, but once Linc discovered there was candy inside we couldn't convince him to put the eggs in his basket. At first he'd open the eggs and all the candy would fall on the floor. After a couple of those, he got smart, and he'd only open the egg a tiny crack, and then he'd stick his mouth over the crack in order to get all the candy in his mouth before it could fall on the floor. Chocolate for breakfast...no big deal, it's Easter right? (Now you see why I was so upset about the cars not fitting into the eggs.)

And he's Ivan, chillin' inside of his Easter basket. Ok, so we didn't get Ivan an Easter basket, instead he got a little chair that vibrate and has fun toys hanging down from it. He also got the brown stuffed bunny mentioned earlier.

Here's Lincoln (yes, wearing his new swimming suit over his jammies) helping Ivan play with the toys on his new chair.

Lincoln also got some bubble in his Easter basket. We thought this picture was cool because it looks like Linc's head is inside the bubble.

We drove up to Hooper in the afternoon to have Easter dinner with the family. Every year my mom and Kerry do a big Easter egg hunt, and since there are only three grandkids, the oldest being Lincoln, all the big kids get to participate as well. Here's Lincoln getting ready for Papa to sound the alert for the hunt to start. Since Linc can't really compete with the big kids, he got his own special triangle in the grass where he could hunt all on his own.

My bros, Jackson and Tanner.

Aaron finds an egg in the tree.

Lincoln the pro egg finder.

Gramma Tam and Ivan stayed on the deck for the hunt.

We had a great time in Hooper. Thanks Mom and Kerry for dinner. It was so good to see all the family that was there. Bryan & Emily & Penny, and Kyle we missed you guys!

Penelope's B-day and Coloring Eggs

Today was my niece Penelope's first birthday. Happy Birthday Penny! We had a hard time trying to decided what to get a one year old girl for a birthday present, since all we have are boys. You wouldn't think it would be that hard, but it was. We decided, finally, that all kids love balls, so we got Penny a big purple bouncy ball. Lincoln was pretty disappointed that it wasn't his. But I think Penny will really like it, especially when she gets a little bigger. (Right now it's about as big as she is.)

We went to Penny's party at her Grandma and Grandpa White's house. For lunch we had polish dogs and sauerkraut. YUM! But Ivan didn't really like it later in the day. :( Emily also made these really yummy cupcakes with homemade icing and strawberries on top. They were delicious. It was fun to watch Penny smear her frosting all over her. Somehow I didn't get a picture of it though.

While Penny was opening her presents, Lincoln had fun playing with the toys she'd already opened. Especially her school bus, and her wooden cars. Penny was a good sport about it though. Lincoln also had fun trying to play the kazoo, and riding the bouncing horse. We had a lot of fun watching him. His face cracks me up in this picture.

After the party, Gramma Tam and Papa Kerry and Uncle Tanner came back to our house and helped us color Easter eggs. Lincoln had the important job of coloring on the eggs with crayons while everyone else dyed them. I thought this was a brilliant idea on my part, because then he still got to help and be in on the action, but he didn't have to go near the dye. Here is a picture of Papa Kerry helping Lincoln color on the eggs, since he's not a real big fan of eggs. And another picture of Aaron, Tanner, and Gramma Tam dying the eggs.

The eggs turned out lovely, and (more importantly) we made it through three dozen eggs without spilling any of the dye. That is an accomplishment. Much to Kerry's dismay, Mom and Kerry took the eggs back with them to Hooper, where there will be a giant egg hunt tomorrow with all the kids who are coming up. It should be a blast. Happy Birthday Penny and Happy Easter (tomorrow) everyone!

Book Review: The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read a few books about WWII and people hiding Jews, and concentration camps, and it's a subject I find very intriguing. This book is by far the best book I've ever read on the subject. It's a true story about a 50 year old woman in Holland who runs the underground in her city to help hide Jews and other people the Nazis were looking for. She gets caught, and she and her sister are sent to jail and then to several concentration camps.

I know the description sounds awful, and there were a lot of horrible things going on at that time, but this is one of the most uplifting books I've ever read. She has an amazing faith in God, and uses the Bible to not only help her through her hard time, but all the other women in the camp as well.

I would recommend this book to anyone. The details of the concentration camps are detailed enough that you get an idea of what's going on, without being so gruesome as some WWII books. She focuses on the positive things and on her faith in her God. It's a great read.

Three Weeks Old

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to this past week.


Lincoln and Ivan and I spend a lot of time on the couch.


Lincoln has been learning to help out around the house.



Aaron and Ivan. We're all pretty tired around here these days. :)


Lincoln entertaining himself.



My two cute boys.



Ivan and the binkie.



Wild sleeper!


This last week Aaron's parents stayed with us. It was really wonderful to see them, and we really appreciated all their help. We've also seen a lot of Aaron's older brother Ryan, he came over for dinner a lot. We love having family visit us.

Lincoln holding Ivan for the first time. It was a little scary, but Linc did good.

Ivan Erastus Swan, three weeks old.

"Wait a tick, I'm single again!"

Ok, not really, but tonight it kind of felt like it. Aaron's mom and dad are staying with us, and tonight they offered to watch both of the boys so that Aaron and I could sneak out for a little bite to eat. Aaron chose to take me to J Dogs, a little hot dog stand on the south east side of campus. They make polish dogs with tons of toppings and a "special sauce". It's a favorite college student eating establishment, and famous at BYU. Neither of us had ever eaten there and it's been our goal to do so at least once before we leave Provo. While we were standing in line for our food, we both commented that it was kind of funny that here we were, kidless and wedding ringless(Aaron's wedding ring is currently in the shop being resized, and I haven't been wearing mine because I'm usually home all day and washing my hands a bazillion times) at a popular college hang out, and how we probably looked like we were just young and dating. We fit right in with everyone else that was there, haha! The good news is Aaron and I are still dating, even if we are married and have two kids to our name. :)

After J Dogs, we had a little bit of time before we had to be back to feed Ivan. We decided to go to Pier 1. Aaron's parents bought us a papasan chair base for a baby gift, and I wanted to go pick it out. So we did. We found one we really liked, and we even managed to get it in the car. I had to sit underneath it in the back seat, but it was well worth it...I love my new chair! Here are a few pics of us in the car with the chair.

A Trip Out of the House

Today was a wonderful day, I got to get out of the house! Aaron's been working on his senior project this semester and today they were having a big event to present it. Aaron's mom, Debbie, and I loaded up both boys and headed up to campus with them. And we survived! Aaron's group has been working on an Airborne Telemetry and Data Recovery project. I won't be able to explain it in very great detail because it goes way over my head, but basically they take the signal the airplane sends out and they change it back from an FM signal (like the radio station) and then change it again into binary data. Then they display it in a form that can be understood like a picture showing the heading and location of the airplane. Aaron and his team had to write a program that did all that stuff. I thought their poster looked great, and I am proud of Aaron for being so smart. :)

After we looked at Aaron's project, we all went out for ice cream! Yay! It occurred to us that this was Lincoln's very first ice cream cone. He's had ice cream before, but never on a cone of his own. How the child made it to 20 months old without ever having his ice cream cone I have no idea, but never the less, we decided to get a picture to document the occasion.

And here's Ivan and I after our adventures to the outside world. He's pretty sacked out, and I look like I'm not far from it myself. Haha. Anyways, it was nice to get out of the house today.