recapping the recapable

Well, hello.
We're still alive here, even though my complete and total lack of interesting in blogging right now might lead you to think otherwise. Part of it is that I've been really, really bad about taking photos lately, so I don't feel like I can blog. Why blog if you have no photos to share? Exactly.

This past weekend, the darling Easter Bunny stopped at our house with a few fun goodies for a very sweet little boy. I'm going to let YOU guess who insisted on the large foam mace. Yeah, not me. We had a lot of fun shopping for the basket this year, but always tend to buy toys that are "too old" for our little almost 2 year-old. Remind me to discuss that later in the post. Thanks. Liam was pretty pleased with the Kinder Surprise that I stuck in there. If you are not lucky enough to know the greatness of a Kinder Egg (yes, that's what I call them still) I'm very sorry. It's a thin shell of milk chocolate on the outside, and white chocolate on the inside and the egg contains a plastic capsule with a small toy of some sort. My brother and I were introduced to them when we moved to Norway (like, right off the bat someone showed us. While we were still in our rental. REALLY early.) and loved them for the 5 years we were there, and then reconnected with them in Australia. Sadly, they're not legal in the States because the capsule and toy don't meet safety standards. Yes, America, you are missing out. My dad has been bringing Kinder Eggs back for me, my brother and now Liam since he moved over to Qatar 3.5 years ago. Great treat for an Easter basket.

I digress.

When we went shopping for the basket, we took along Liam's Christmas present from my Uncle and we added to his collection of Playskool's Wheel Pals. He is so obsessed with these toys. We've got so many animals, I have a hard time keeping track of whether or not I've found them all at the end of the day. I have stopped putting them away because they're one of the first things he drags out in the morning. They now reside under the coffee table and Liam is thrilled with the arrangement. The little blue egg was a special one for Easter and he's completely attached to it. The egg goes in the shower with us, and goes to bed with Liam every single night.

I digress. Again.

Easter Sunday was wonderful. How could it not be? We headed to the 11 o'clock service at church. It's not my favorite, I prefer the 8:30, but we didn't feel like rushing that morning since Liam would have a basket to open and I was a little intimidated at having a whole new head of hair to figure out how to style. More on that later too. Liam looked very handsome in his Janie & Jack outfit his Grandpa Roger bought him. I used his white and green get-up as a jumping off point for the rest of the family. Zach was not amused, but we had numerous people tell us how cute we were in our matching white and green outfits. I am completely bonkers for my Easter dress, so you can expect to see it on this blog numerous times in the future. Of course, my handsome little bugger got dressed Easter morning in his WHITE sweater and then promptly went and laid all over Jethro. Jethro, who is big and black and sheds on anything just by looking at it. Oh well. Boys will be boys. They were so cute, anyway. Poor Jebbers has done a lot of laying around lately because his poor bubba feet have been bothering him. Giving Liam ample opportunity to wallow all over his big, pathetic self. What do you do?

After the 11 o'clock service, we met up with my mom and brother and Zach's mom and dad at P.F. Chang's in Sugar Land. Yeah. I know. Chinese on Easter Sunday is not exactly the first thing I'd think of, but it was hard to get reservations around the area, and my FIL was in the mood for it now that he's able to taste more of his food. We were happy to oblige with a trip to one of our favorite places-- one that DOESN'T have a horrendously unhealthy menu. Thank you.

After lunch we headed home and did baskets with Grandma and Grandpa Clark. Liam discovered the chocolate truffle eggs from Williams Sonoma that his Great Grandmother Kennedy put in his basket and it's been love ever since. He's a big chocaholic. It's probably going to be a problem in the future. You can bet this kid didn't take a nap on Sunday, nor did he go to bed at a reasonable hour. Way, way, way too much sugar in his little body.
But it's not very often, so it's okay, right?

Liam has changed a lot lately, he's becoming very kid-like. He finds all sorts of new and crazy ways to entertain himself and using his Anywhere Chair from PBKids is just the beginning of it. He cracks me up! Also, Auntie Ashley! I love this shirt to bits and pieces, and not because of what it says, but because of the back! Too cute. He wears it all. the. time.

He has become very enthusiastic about "his corner" of the living room. I never show many pictures from inside our house, and not because I'm ashamed, or I haven't decorated... I just don't. But. I thought it'd be fun to share Liam's little corner and when I asked him to show me his toys, this was the result. Kid cracks me up. 

That's what's been going on here lately. I'm going to get in gear and write another post tomorrow, hopefully, recapping LENT (thank heavens for making me DO something!) and Liam's upcoming birthday, but right now? I'm tired. I also have the WONDERFUL people from our WONDERFUL HOA coming out tomorrow to GENEROUSLY assess the severity of our issues with our cable company who they so INTELLIGENTLY forced us into a contract with. I'm so THRILLED to have to deal with this, I cannot even tell you. SO. Yes. It'll be... special. Keep your fingers crossed they actually are CONSIDERATE and listen to their residents. I know. I'm not holding my breath either.

recently read

I've been reading a lot lately-- mainly because it's cold out and when it's cold, all I want to do is hunker down with a good book. And my Kindle makes everything SO. MUCH. EASIER.

I started The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells a little big after Christmas, and just never really had the time to finish it. I'm a big, big fan of Wells' work-- you've probably read The Time Machine, or The Island of Doctor Moreau? Anyway, this one didn't disappoint. When I first told Zach I was reading it, he was incredulous as to why I'd have even the least bit of interest in it, but that was because he thought I meant Invisible Man instead.

Haha, BIG difference!

I'd recommend this to anyone who appreciates a well written Science Fiction novel-- after all, Wells is the 'Father of Science Fiction.' It's really, really good. I've got War of the Worlds and The Island of Doctor Moreau on my Kindle in waiting.

The first novel I finished this year was Who Censored Roger Rabbit? I had been wanting to read this book for a while, since I love the Disney movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit that is loosely based on this novel. It's certainly not a kiddy book, at all. In fact, I would say it's anything but. The themes are definitely for the more mature reader, and the way that Gary Wolf deals with the social commentary is extremely clever. I'd jump at the chance to annotate this in a lit class- I think you could find a hundred different things to talk about that would lead to a thousand more.

WCRR? deals with much more complex issues and a much deeper case than you would expect if you've seen the film. The story itself is an intricate murder mystery, featuring perpetually drunk Private Detective Eddie Valiant, and the doppelganger of the late Roger Rabbit, who pushes Eddie to solve the crime before he falls apart roughly two days after Roger proper created him. Of course, Jessica Rabbit is featured, as is Baby Herman.

It was much better written, much more cleverly planned and much more elegantly executed than I expected this novel to be. Highly entertaining, really smart and to my mind, unpredictable.

I ran across Who P-p-p-plugged Roger Rabbit? after searching for a Kindle copy of the aforementioned WCRR? I was unaware that there was a second novel, and if you've read (or have any idea of the plot) the first novel, you'd be pretty aware that there isn't any room for a sequel of any kind. And yet, here it is.

WPRR? is written more as a tie in to the film, rather than a sequel to the first novel. It deals more heavily with actual players in Hollywood, actual films, actors and producers. Through the course of the novel, we encounter Vivien Leigh, Carole Lombard, David Selznick and Clark Gable-- who actually plays a pretty big role in the story. Jessica and Roger's marital problems are again an issue in this novel, but I will say, their ending is much happier.

I found it really entertaining, despite the fact that the novel is without a doubt much cruder and not as well written as the first. I even finished this one faster than the first, and I think my borderline obsessive love of classic films really egged me on. They mention classics like The Thin Man and Gone with the Wind (a driving force behind the novel, truly!) and includes things like Gable's marriage to Lombard. I liked the old Hollywood history that was woven into the story, and liked that while the story was a bit goofy at points (I found again perpetually drunk Eddie's sudden insights a bit hard to believe) it was enjoyable.

I wouldn't recommend this one to everyone- I've already told Zach he should read the first, but maybe not the second. He's not got my interest in 1930's-esque Hollywood, so I don't think there'd be a lot in the story to keep him reading. But worth a read, in my book! Ah ah ah.



And THAT is what I've finished so far in 2011. I'm about 40% of the way through Water for Elephants right now. I had a hard time getting INTO the book- I really don't like old Jacob at all, and since he's heavily featured at the beginning of the book, it took me a little pushing to get into the story. Once we get into the story with Jacob and the circus, though, I've found it a lot easier to read.

I still really don't care for the author's method of laying out the novel at all, her writing is a bit choppy for my taste and I don't care for some of the literary devices she's used, but in general, at least now I've found it readable.



{all images from amazon.com}