Back to school....

Well, summertime has officially ended and we are back in school mode.  The kids are both in great classes with wonderful teachers.  They are also in class with their buddies.  One of Rman's best friends moved away this year so that has been a little bit of an adjustment but his other best friend is in his class so that's a big help!  Princess got all her buddies in class so all is well there.

First day of second grade

First day of 4th grade

I started a new job as well.  I'm the speech pathologist at Fort Supply schools and I'm loving it!  I was off for 10 years staying home with my babies but it's like riding a bike--you just hop back on and take off. 



Livin' the Life

Ahhh, vacation.  I love to travel and can hardly get back from one trip before I am planning and scoping out our next destination.  Back in February we decided we wanted to go to Colorado for our summer vacation.  Steven's parents stay in Buena Vista for July and August and his mom is always begging us to come visit them so we made that a target destination.  We found a cabin in nearby Alpine and reserved it for August.

Steven loves to camp and would spend our whole vacation backpacking in the wilderness if I would agree.  I do not agree.  But since marriage is supposed to be about compromise, I agreed to camp four nights.  We were going to camp near Buena Vista but found out they had a burn ban on, meaning no campfires.  So instead, we headed to Platoro, Colorado for the adventure.  Never heard of it you say?  That's because it has a population of 300 and is closed in the winter.  Seriously---the forest service makes everyone leave unless you apply for a special permit to stay.

We left early in the morning.  It took all day to get to Platoro and was raining when we arrived.  Because we didn't know where we were camping, we spent several hours driving around.  As the sun continued to set, I decided that we were getting a cabin for the evening.  It was too late to try to set up.  We found a vacancy at some hunting cabins that were decorated circa 1963.  When Steven laid in our bed, it made a HUGE crater and I had to sleep on the very edge to keep from rolling into him all night.  However, it did have running water and a toilet so I wasn't going to complain.....too much.

 The next day we found a campsite and got everything set up. We spent the next few days fishing, Jeeping, and hiking.  Steven took us on what he said was a very beginners hike.  Seemed pretty extreme to me.  Lots of uphill.  We started at around 10,000 ft and hiked to 12,500.  It was all above treeline, which isn't my favorite but Steven liked it.  I was proud of the kids and I for making it.  I was trucking it because I was so afraid we were going to be rained on.  It was a beautiful day though. 

The next day we packed up the camp.  It took us 3 hours.  I don't know about you but that is NOT my idea of a vacation!  I told him it sure seemed like a lot of work for a vacation.  He said if we didn't have to bring the kitchen sink it wouldn't take so long.  Smart aleck!    I had agreed to camp 4 nights but was so glad we had to get a cabin the first night.  Three nights was just about all I could take of that!

We drove to our cabin in Alpine and I immediately hit the shower!  We spent one day touring Mt. Princeton and one day in Breckenridge at the Summer Fun Park.  We had a great time riding the roller coaster and the mountain slide--probably my two favorite things we did at the Fun Park.  It did give me skiing fever though!              

  The last day was spent just hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.  The kids played in the Arkansas River, built dams, and looked for cool rocks.  A very laid-back enjoyable day!

It was a great vacation but might just be my last camping excursion.  We'll see.  The kids love it so maybe I'll do it again but it will be a couple of years.  By then I might be too old!

Plug:  I wanted to take one camera lens that would let me shoot close-up and far away without having to change.  I priced that lens at $600.  Whoa!  Luckily I found an awesome place to rent the lens for the bargain price of around $80 including all shipping charges and insurance called ATS rentals.  They even sent a lens hood for the camera.  The lens arrived the day before we left, complete with a return shipping label.  I used it our entire vacation and shipped it back the day after we returned.  So easy!   If you're ever in the market to rent camera or video equipment, I highly recommend them!  I will certainly use them again.

Already???

Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of getting married and being a mother.  Although I had other aspirations and dreams, that was one of the first and foremost in my mind.  I went to college, met Steven, and got married.  Because of school, we waited seven years before we had a baby.  I felt I had waited forever for this precious little bundle!

Finally, the day came for my sweet Rman to arrive.  It was a bumpy road but we both made it.  I was in heaven! 

Fast forward 10 years and I now have a half grown boy (that I can't really call a little boy anymore).  The time has gone by so fast and though there have been hard times, regrets, and a couple of hospital visits, he's been just as wonderful as I thought he would be. 

He's smart, funny, talkative (very!), creative, stubborn, laid back, and more.  I can't believe I only have 9 more years with him.  I'll cherish every one!

Book Review: The Hypnotist

From the Amazon page:

In the frigid clime of Tumba, Sweden, a gruesome triple homicide attracts the interest of Detective Inspector Joona Linna, who demands to investigate the murders. The killer is still at large, and there’s only one surviving witness—the boy whose family was killed before his eyes. Whoever committed the crimes wanted this boy to die: he’s suffered more than one hundred knife wounds and lapsed into a state of shock. Desperate for information, Linna sees only one option: hypnotism. He enlists Dr. Erik Maria Bark to mesmerize the boy, hoping to discover the killer through his eyes.

 

It’s the sort of work that Bark has sworn he would never do again—ethically dubious and psychically scarring. When he breaks his promise and hypnotizes the victim, a long and terrifying chain of events begins to unfurl.

 

An international sensation, The Hypnotist is set to appear in thirty-seven countries, and it has landed at the top of bestseller lists wherever it’s been published—in France, Holland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark. Now it’s America’s turn. Combining the addictive power of the Stieg Larsson trilogy with the storytelling drive of The Silence of the Lambs, this adrenaline-drenched thriller is spellbinding from its very first page.

I began this book with high hopes.  The premise was good, the action grabbed me right away.  However, as the book went on, the plot line became more convoluted.  It's as if the authors (a man-woman duo who write under the pen name Lars Keplar) couldn't decide which plot line to develop and which to use as a red herring.  I found it to distract from the book as a whole and the main plot line.

I also found several of the plot items not very believable, even from a fiction point of view. 

Even with the faults, I still gave it a three-star rating (I am contemplating changing it to a 2 1/2 star rating!)  After such a great beginning, it was a little bit of a disappointment though.

We are the champions....

After enduring two season of soccer with nary a win, Princess finally found a winning team in softball.  Hooray!  She had an excellent team with fun girls, awesome parents, and great coaches. 

It was so fun to watch the girls progress this year.  The whole team got better in their batting and their defense.  Princess has always been able to throw it pretty well (although we need to work on that form a little bit!) and hit but with help from Ken Miller, her batting made tons of improvement this year.  Towards the end of the season, she was getting a hit at every bat.

Our team also had an awesome pitcher--Steven.  He really did a great job (if I do say so myself!).

We ended the season in 2nd place in the league.  Then we ended up winning the league tournament.  It was so much fun and the girls (and their parents--including me!) were so excited. 

We won!

Celebrating at Big Dans

Awesome season girls!

Book Review: 360 Degrees Longitude

I read this book as part of my local book club.  It was not a book I probably would have chosen off the shelf and to be honest, when I first heard what it was about, I didn't think I would like it.  But I gave it a read anyway and was wrong--I really liked it.

This is the story of the Higham family--John, his wife, September, and their two children, Katrina and Jordan.  The kids were 11 and 8 at the beginning of the book, respectively.  The book follows their year-long journey traveling around the world, a trip they had planned and saved for over 10 years.

They began their journey in Iceland, traveling on to Europe, Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America.  As much as possible, the Highams tried to travel as locals and either camped or stayed in hostels at most places they visited.  Along the way, they met unforeseen obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes dangerous situations. 

The story is told from the perspective of John, with occasional excerpts from the travel journals of Katrina and Jordan.  John is very witty and I found myself giggling throughout the book at his observations and comments.  His writing style alone made the book worth reading.  Although not the most "formal" or cohesive of writers, he was very entertaining.

One of the neatest aspects of the book was the ability to follow their travels on Google Earth.  You followed the link and were able to read extras as well as see pictures of the different places they visited.  I stayed up until midnight last night just looking at their photos on Google!

Like any good book, this one made me think.  First of all, I thought they were a little crazy to take an 8 year old and 11 year old on a year-long trip around the world!  But then I thought about all the instances of poverty he discussed.  It's easy to dwell on what we don't have, when compared to most of the world's population, we in the United States are extremely wealthy.  At one point in the book, he said the tourists in the poor African countries spend in one day what is often a years worth of wages to the locals.  That's hard to imagine. 

There are certain places in the world (such as Switzerland, Czech Republic) that I have always wanted to visit.  The book reinforced my wish to visit those places.  There are other places that I do not wish to visit (China) and the book confirmed those feelings.  It also made me add a few places to my list of locations I would like to visit someday (the Incan trail in Peru). 

I admire the Highams for their travels and for leaving behind all the activities that seem to be beneficial (Little League, church, PTO, etc.) but instead sometimes seem to eat away at time together as a family.  I wish I could be that adventurous but don't think I could camp that long or stay in some of the places they stayed in!

I really enjoyed this book and am glad it was recommended.

Summer

Whoever coined the term "the lazy days of summer" sure wasn't living my life!  So far the summer has been fast, furious, and one thing after another. 

The Thursday after returning from Oklahoma City for Memorial  Day, I got word that my grandfather, Pop, had been killed in a farming accident.  I spent the next week and a half in Sentinel.  It was a very draining time, both emotionally, mentally, and physically.  It is still hard to believe that he's gone.  However, I have peace knowing he's with his Father in Heaven and that one day I will see him again.  But as the song "When I Get Where I'm Going" says, when I get to Heaven, I'll tell him "....how much I've missed him every minute since he left..."

The next week after I got home was VBS at our church.  We had a great week and the music (which I co-lead) was terrific.  However, it was very tiring and the afternoons were spent playing catch-up for all the things I got behind on while in Sentinel.  This week I am getting my house clean and organized so hopefully the rest of the summer I can enjoy and not have 5000 things to do. (I know, good luck with that!)

One enjoyable summer activity has been Kinley's softball team.  They have done very well and Kinley has improved so much.  The last two games, she's even gotten homeruns.  I just wish they wouldn't make the tournament last so long.  I think she's getting a little ready for it to be over and I don't want her to burn out. 

Reese is supposed to leave for church camp today but was sick all day yesterday.  He's not up yet so hopefully he'll be better when he wakes up.  I hope so!

I hope everyone is having a great summer!