Family Photo

Last fall we had another family photo taken. It's still not on our wall but I love how it turned out.

There He Goes

Ty decided he was ready to ride a bike. It took Bryan two minutes and Ty was off. Now all he wants to do is ride his bike all day!

Dreams of Gods and Monsters

"And as for myths, some are made up, nothing but fantasy. But some myths are true. Some have already been lived. And in the drift of time, eternal and entire, some haven't...Some myths are prophecy."

Several years ago I heard of a book called, 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone.' It got great reviews and so I checked it out from the library. Usually, I page through an unknown book to see if I'll like it. Kind of like how I read the end of a book first. It doesn't ruin it for me but instead I get excited to read it. Well, with this book I paged through and decided it wasn't for me. I'm sure I had a pile of books to get through and it just seemed weird. I took it back without reading even the first page. Fast forward a year or two and I just kept hearing great things about this series and so I finally read not only 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' but 'Days of Blood and Starlight.' Well written, creative, fantasy, desperate, heart wrenching and breaking, loving, sacrifice, forgiving and revenge, and on and on the word list goes to describe this series. And that was before the final book of 'Dreams of Gods and Monsters'. The last book is over 600 pages long and yet I enjoyed EVERY page of it. When you think it's over and still have 150 pages to go you think you'd get bored but Laini Taylor just keeps bringing in more twists to the story. The last book follows Akiva (the angel) and Karou (the human who was once Chimera) and their struggles to regain their world while saving Earth. Don't let that description scare you away. Go on their journey with them. I did and I'm having that feeling of it not wanting to end. I don't want to start another book because I want to live with these characters in my head for just a little while longer. "It was not a happy ending, but a happy middle--at last, after so many fraught beginnings." And now--I better get back to real life.

Just Because

I love this picture of Ty. I had nothing else to blog today and so decided to put this one up. I love the blue shirt with his blue eyes. He is almost done with kindergarten and will be on to first grade in a couple of months! One funny thing about Ty is he is very fast to say I'm sorry but unfortunately he sometimes does things he KNOWS he shouldn't and then thinks the I'm sorry makes up for it. We're working on what I'm sorry really means. Love him!

If you're looking for something to read...

The last two books I read were both YA and I thought they were fairly well done. The first is from Shannon Hale and is called 'Dangerous.' It is quite different from her popular 'Goose Girl' and 'The Princess Academy'. It is somewhat of a science fiction book. I liked it because it seemed like an everyday girl meets boy and it was believable. But then technology, aliens, and powers came into play. It was a good light read. The second book was my favorite of the two. Of course that may be because I just finished it last night. It's called 'The Winner's Curse' by Marie Rutkoski. Set on some alternate world where the Empire (not Star Wars) has taken over half the known planet. One country has been conquered and are now in slavery to the Empire. The daughter of a general must choose between marriage and military. But then she buys a slave and all sorts of plots and fun things happen. The biggest bummer is that it came out last month and so the next one in the trilogy is a year away! Both have lead female characters and I have to admit there is nothing new or startling about the plots or characters. Still, I liked them.

Here I Am

Although I don't spend the time on the blog like I used to--I don't even check my friends blogs anymore--I've decided to not give up. I am not great about keeping a journal and so this is really a family history for me. So in photos here is a brief synopsis of whats happened the last 10 months. T-ball, trek, Ty starting Kindergarten, summer fun with family, painting, picnics with the fire pit, winning the GFL, Principal Pride award, Christmas, and more sports. This year is nearly half over so let's hope I do a better job of keeping up! They are in no particular order since I am having issues with Blogger. It is one of the reasons I haven't updated for so long. Every time I try I get so frustrated!

Champion

Over the last year I have concluded several YA series. On the most part I have been somewhat disappointed by a great majority of them. It often seems like the author came up with a great idea and the first book was great. But then it's as if they don't know how to finish it. It's happened again and again. It's very discouraging. Now, I'm not saying it's easy to write a book. I know it's not. It takes a ton of work. I do get that. It doesn't meant I can't recognize when a story suffers from the first to the last. I just finished a series that did not do this. The first book is called Legend, then Prodigy, and the last was Champion. The first was great, the second was still kind of a middle filler book but ended with a great cliff hanger. The third wrapped it all up--but not perfectly neatly. It was believable. The author, Marie Lu, took her idea and went with it. The story was messy, heartbreaking at times, and full of character redemption. It ended with hope and encouragement even through there was also sacrifice and trials. I loved the way this book ended. It left me feeling happy and content. I didn't want to start another book for a few days because I just wanted to bask in the ending and possibilities before the characters I had just left. Not all books can do that and it makes me doubly grateful for the ones that can.