Concentration

We know that Landon is seriously concentrating on something when he sticks his tongue out. He often does this when he is sorting things, building towers of blocks, and coloring. Tonight for FHE we had a picture for the kids to color. Landon was totally focused on the task at hand!

Allie's look of concentration is a little less intense.

Landon Speaks

And boy is it cute! For some reason every time we ask him to say Dad he says "Mama". It's really funny. We also love his quacking sound. Take a look:

That's what little brothers do

Allie has a new favorite phrase: "That's what little brothers do." She says it whenever Landon does something that irritates her. For example, the other day she accidentally left her purse and a pen on the table resulting in this unfortunate piece of artwork:

I thought that she was going to flip out but instead she just sighed and said "that's what little brothers do". Later that night she was asking me how many more little brothers we were going to be able to adopt. I probed a little, certain that she was expressing frustration about her brother's newly acquired habit of destroying her prized possessions. To my surprise she said she wants a lot of little brothers because they are "just so cute even when they do what little brothers do best". I am thankful that she sees Landon's antics for what they are...a little brother doing what little brothers do. I know. I have one.

TAG

It's been a while since I've been tagged. (And I don't think I ended up participating the last couple of times I was tagged...sorry) This time I thought I'd do it. I'm not going to tag anyone at the end, but if you want to play go for it!

8 TV shows that I like to watch
(Should this be hard? As I stated to my family recently, I need to watch more tv! I pretty much had to include any show I've watched in the last year.)
1-The news
2-The Office
3-48 Hours Mystery
4-John & Kate Plus Eight
5-Samantha Who
6-The Amazing Race
7-
8-

8 Things that happened yesterday
1-Landon slept in until 6:45!!! Yay!
2-I made chocolate chip banana bread
3-I cleaned out my portion of our home office.
4-I checked out the new health food store in our neck of the woods, Sunflower Market, and got some great deals on fresh produce.
5-I hung out with my Sister-in-law JaNae and made plans to conquer the world.
6-I fulfilled my calling by attending Activity Days--I still can't get over this twice a month calling. Crazy, but the good kind of crazy!
7-I expressed a great amount of distress at Eric's new idea for a career. Let's just say it involves way more school than I have any interest in being a part of. I think he got the picture.
8-I finished reading New Moon.

8 favorite places to eat
1-Lisa's (or anywhere she brings her baked goods)
2-Cafe Rio
3-Cabo Grill
4-PF Chang's
5-Red Lobster
6-Outback
7-Cheesecake Factory
8-Anywhere on the island of Maui

8 things I am looking forward to
1-The start of campaigning for the 2012 election
2-The holidays
3-Finishing up our adoption paperwork
4-Next year's tax return...new carpet!!!
5-Getting an insulin pump
6-Warmer weather
7-Eric's graduation
8-Our adults only vacation with the Toone family

8 things I wish for
1-Happy, well-adjusted children
2-Yearly vacations to Maui
3-A new car
4-Picture perfect health for all who are near and dear to me
5-A horse for Eric to ride all he wants after he graduates
6-Financial security for everyone
7-Less stress for all my extended family members
8-A long, healthy life

Dandelion Wine

You didn't really believe that I ran out of things to say...did you?!? Anyone who truly knows me knows that that will probably never happen.

Tonight I attended my monthly book club meeting where we discussed this book:

I really liked this book. I have to be honest and say that the title didn't really grab my attention (dandelion's are weeds afterall) but I was hooked almost as soon as I began reading. The book is really a collection of small stories about a young boy and his adventures in a small town one summer. Bradbury is a very descriptive writer and uses great metaphors. As I read through this book I thought a lot about people I know and love who are similar to characters in the book. Here are two quick examples:

*Colonel Freeleigh reminded me of Grandpa Hudson. The boys call him the living time machine because he seems to have seen and experienced everything.

*Miss Fern and Miss Roberts (two elderly women) made me think of Grandma Hudson and her friend/partner in crime Colleen. They have this contraption called the green machine that they ride around town in and they cause a lot of trouble.

Dandelion Wine is a uniquely written book that I really enjoyed reading.

I have been accused

of neglecting my blog. Maybe I've just run out of things to say?