Book Review: The Secret Garden

I watched this movie a LONG time ago and thought I'd read the book. You can definitely tell a difference in writing style from present-day authors and authors in the late 1800s and early 1900s. If this story was rewritten by a contemporary author, I imagine it would be pretty different. Having said that, this book actually makes me want to start a garden. I know I have a brown thumb and everything I touch dies, but it all sounds so beautiful that I'd like to give it a try. This wasn't my favorite book that I've read. It's just kind of...well...boring. That sounds awful and I hate saying it because the author spent time and energy writing it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I like twists and interconnectedness among characters (aka Charles Dickens or JK Rowling). If you're an old soul you might like this.

A Few Random Thoughts On and About Easter

There isn't really a cohesive way to organize this, it's just some things I've been thinking about or reading about.

• I always think about what Mary must have felt like when she was watching her son being mocked, beaten, stripped, nailed, and pierced. Before I had a son myself it was painful. Now it's agonizing and almost impossible to think about. Even when I consider it, I NEVER picture those things happening to Kaleb. As much as I love Kaleb, it's a human, imperfect love. Jesus wasn't only Mary's son, He was God's son, too. Since God IS love, He had a perfect love towards his son. How much more agonizing was it for God, love itself, to watch His only son die?


• I read some facts about crucifixion on a blog today. Most of it I had already heard or known, but something new stood out to me. It said that, even though most pictures don't show it, most crucifixion victims didn't wear a loin cloth during the process. They were stripped naked. That meant that if they had to use the bathroom, they had to do it out in the open for everyone to see and mock. That would be so humiliating. I know it's a small thing compared to being stripped and nailed to a cross, but it's something else that Jesus may have had to go through.


• The angels guarding Jesus's body were the only beings to have the priviledge of witnessing Jesus actually bursting through the gates of death and coming back to life. How amazing that must have been! On a similar note, I believe all of Heaven, God, the angels, Moses, etc, were weeping with sadness while watching Jesus die. I also believe that there was never such a celebration as when he rose from the dead.


• I'd never read it before, but in Matthew it says that, after Christ arose, other godly people also arose from the dead and spread the Good Word.


• On a lighter note, I've picked out some of the traditions I want to start for Easter. I want to have an Easter basket for each child (obviously) but also do a basket for Eric and myself. I make his, he makes mine. We've been doing the Easter basket thing after nap time and I really like it because it makes the whole morning about Jesus. I want to make an Easter bunny cake or Easter egg cupcakes on Easter week (maybe alternating between them). I want to buy new clothes for each Easter Sunday and I want the kid(s) to know that we get new clothes because Christ arose a new person on Easter. I want to do the Easter story with Easter eggs (12 days, each egg representing something different about the Easter story). Most importantly, I want to make sure that the focus of Easter for our family is JESUS. If the kid(s) ever lose the meaning of the celebration because of bunnies, eggs, and chocolate, we're cutting those things out!

Kaleb Update

How cute is this baby? I love that he has blue eyes like his daddy and me. And those apple cheeks. I just can't get enough of him and I'm filled with pride everytime I pick him up from daycare or nursery and the workers tell me how awesome he is. I love how he says "hey" and "bye" to everyone. As Eric says, he can break anyone. The toughest looking dudes could be sitting by us in a restaurant and Kaleb will tell them "hey" and smile and wave and they just melt.

Kaleb has learned to say a few new things. He can say "cheese!" when he's taking a picture (as above). He says "dropped it" when he drops something on the ground. He can let us know that he wants yogurt (dodot), juice, Ohs, puzzles, books, and to jump. And he can tell us the sounds that a lion, tiger, snake, horse, cat, dog, fish (fish face), sometimes chicken, and car make. Plus he can point to his nose, eyes, mouth, hair, teeth, tongue, ears, belly button, toes, fingers, and chin. I'm really beginning to see that he is comprehending what we're saying and he's imitating what we're saying a lot more.

Along with that, I can really see his personality developing. Let me just say that he's going to be very independent...and he's going to have a temper. I told him to put his blocks in his room today and he looked at me, shook his head, and "uh uh." Then I gave him the mommy look and he gave it right back to me! What a stinker! Eric told him not to tear something up (he's in a tearing phase where he's ripped apart board books, tears any type of paper, and has even torn apart some of his cardboard blocks) and he looked at him and did it anyway. Eric popped him and told him no then Kaleb pouted his lip, looked around, picked up a drum stick, and threw it at Eric's head. Needless to say he was in big trouble for it. I'm not sure if punishment is working sometimes, but we're consistent with it and now when we say no he at least pauses to consider if it's worth it.

He isn't one of those babies that freaks out when we leave him in the nursery. He says bye bye and he shuts the door. But then he still runs and squeals mommy when I come back to get him. He's very attached to me (he's started sitting at my feet and wrapping his arms around my leg when I do the dishes) but he also knows that when we leave him, we'll come back. I really couldn't ask for a better baby and I feel so blessed. Let's just hope the next one (no, I'm not pregnant) will be just a sweet.

Another Busy Saturday

Another busy Saturday in the books. Kaleb woke up around 7 and Eric got up with him. I laid in bed til about 8:15. Once Kaleb gets up, sleep is impossible so laying is about my only option. We had an Easter Egg Hunt at church at 10:30 so we got ready, made a Wal Mart list, and went to Sonic and Hardees for breakfast. We had about an hour so we went to WalMart toget a gift for a birthday party we were going to that afternoon and to buy a new camera so we could continue to document Kaleb's life. We picked something out for Camden and chose a few things for Kaleb's Easter basket (although we'll have to go back and get them when we don't have Kaleb with us). We went to the camera section and finally picked out one we liked, but they didn't have any and they're supposed to get some in tonight so we'll go get it tomorrow. My mom gave us $200 because they were tired of not seeing new pics of Kaleb I would imagine. We were a little later getting to the Easter Egg Hunt because of the Wal Mart trip, but we got there just in time to start hunting. Kaleb couldn't have cared less about those eggs. He was all about playing on the playground...especially the slides. He "hunted" for about thirty minutes then we went into the gym to have cupcakes and juice. Those blue cupcakes from Wal Mart really stain, you know?

Camden's birthday party was at 12 so we had time to wash him up a little bit, relax about 10 minutes, then head over there. I was a little nervous that he would be really grouchy from being up so long, but he did a good job being sweet. He shared the toys and was really agreeable. He got a little sleepy about 1:00 so we headed out. He fell asleep in the car even though it was only a 5 -10 minute drive. He napped for about an hour and a half and I did the same.

We got up and went to Wal Mart to do the shopping for the month, came home, put up the groceries and Eric watched Kaleb play outside while I started the beef tips over rice. It turned out pretty good actually, except it needed a little salt. We went for a short (because it was kinda chilly) walk at the hospital, came home, give Kaleb a bath, and let himplay for about 30 minutes while we watched a rerun of My Life as Liz. Now we're watching Se7en - well, Eric's watching and I'm turning my eyes away every few minutes. I have to say that I'm exhausted from today's festivities. Hopefully I'll be able to finish my book this week, write the review, and start a new one.

Top 5 Favorite Shows Right Now

1. My Life as Liz - This is a super funny show on MTV and believe it or not it's not trashy at all.


2. The Office - I didn't think I would like it at first, but now I look forward to it each week.


3. Modern Family - Hilarious! I think Cam is my favorite.


4. How I Met Your Mother - Oldie, but new to us. I still haven't seen all of the episodes in order so it gets a little confusing.


5. Glee - I used to like it alot, but now it's getting really trashy. If they don't clean up I'm going to stop watching. Maybe.

This post was a lot longer and went into a more detailed description, but then it got deleted somehow so you get the short version.

Fun, Busy Day

Yesterday was an exhausting day, but it was really fun, too. We got up around 8 and Kaleb sat with me on the couch and ate his "pretty ohs" (fruit loops) and drank his apple juice. My parents came to town a little before 10 and we headed over to the Whistlestop Festival in beautiful downtown Waynesboro. At first it was the typical walk around the circle of tents type of day, but once we got our food and drinks we headed over to the inflatible jumpy area. Happy bought Kaleb an arm band and we put him in one of the jumps. That boy LOVES to jump. It took him a little while to get the hang of it, but after about 45 minutes of jumping he was smiling and red-faced. A few times he wanted us to give him his juice through the little spots on the side and would be really unhappy when we wouldn't/couldn't. Towards the end you could tell he was getting sleepy because he would lay down on the jump like he was going to sleep. It was so odd to see my "baby" jumping around in a big boy jump. I also took him down one of those tall inflatable slides and he loved it! I didn't get to see his face, but they told me that he was pleased as punch (as they say). After we dragged him out of the jumpy house screaming and crying he took a nap at the house with my parents while Eric and I went to Meridian to get haircuts and a gift for Will's first birthday party. We met them all at my Aunt Sybby's house for Will's birthday and had a good time watching Will and Kaleb walk around and play. Kaleb played with Will's toys before he ever got a chance to, and we're definitely going to have to get him a wagon to pull around. Amelia came home with us and spent the night instead of driving all the way back to her house. I like when she comes to visit because she makes me laugh. School starts back tomorrow and then it's 7 busy weeks before summer.

School Happenings and Goings On

Spring Break started off not very breaky. I went up to the school Saturday and did some school work. It was very productive and how I'd like to start off my Spring Break. I spent about an hour and a half up there and I printed off the monthly calendars for next year and wrote out each letter per week, created the screener that we'll hopefully use next week at Kindergarten registration, typed out a detailed breakdown of the Language Arts curriculum, and got the calendars ready for April and May. I spent Tuesday afternoon at school, too with Lee and we mapped out the rest of April's math lessons. Next we have to figure out Language Arts. I feel really good about making sure everything is covered by the end of the year. I'm also really excited about meeting the new bunch of kids for next year. I always get a renewed sense of hope at registration because I better my teaching each year and want to try out some new things. We have 7 weeks until Kindergarten Graduation. We're going to be praciting for graduation everyday from now until the big day. Hopefully the kids won't get burnt out.