Team Tuttle

cake and fake camping, he's five!

2014-07-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

Hulking, smashing he came crashing.

Bronson is F I V E.
I've known and loved this boy for over 5 years.
It's a lot to take in but it feels ok right now.
When he turned 3 I was a straight up mess. Ever since then it's been easier and easier because he understands what a birthday is and he's so excited to get older. Who am I to Grinch on that parade?

Happy birthday Bronson boy!! We love you! (Especially when you keep the smashing to a minimum.) Have the best year ever, this is gonna be a HUGE one!

Utah 2014!

2014-07-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

4th of July smooches

We had THE best time in Utah this year.

Highlights include:

- Kneaders & Tucanos
- The dollar movie
- Volleyball at the cabin
- Iceberg shakes
- Getting my roots done (gotta keep it fresh fresh)
- Bluebell ice cream
- late night card playing and family time
- thrift shopping my brains out
- Bronson's "fake birthday party"
- The kids playing with their cousins

10 days wasn't long enough and we can't wait to go back!

free at last, free at last! kind of.

2014-07-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

Fancy Ev // Casual Ev. In all her 18 month, nursery going glory.

Everly just hit the nursery milestone!!! It's like a giant weight off my shoulders to only have to chase her around for an hour at church. It's a long hour but still, feeling good!

Ev is probably the cutest 18 month old girl I've ever met. She says "yeah" and "dog dog" plenty, wants me to hold her all day, climbs everything, naps ok, sleeps great at night, runs faster than anyone should, could color for hours, smiles the brightest and makes more messes than the rest of team Tuttle combined.

We love her. We love nursery. Match made in heaven.

She Reads// Things A Little Bird Told Me (Confessions of The Creative Mind)

2014-06-16T10:42:00.005-07:00

Short version: Read this ^ and now.

Longer version: Here's a big, huge secret (not): I love Twitter and have been tweeting my brains out since November 2010. I'm 12.3K tweets deep at this point and there's no end in sight. I have to admit, I was totally one of those, "Why would I want to see status updates about people eating sandwiches?!" before I got my own account. So cute. Twitter is so much freaking more than that and reading its birth story in this book was so exciting and interesting. Even though I knew the ending (spoiler: Twitter makes it big) learning about Biz Stone and how he and Jack Dorsey came up with the concept for Twitter during a 2 week hackathon, and then stuck by it for years, was uplifting and inspirational.

I loved reading about Biz in high school. His no homework policy was one of my favorite anecdotes and it felt pretty familiar because guess what? Topher Tutt himself exercised a very similar policy when he was in high school (and it might've taken him through college as well ... but that's his story to tell). Biz was so engaging and I loved reading his thoughts on the inherent goodness of others, advice on giving to charities and on living simply. And hello, the way he talked about his wife was the best.

I could really go on for days here but mostly what I'm getting at is: You don't have to use or even know what Twitter is (but it's literally 2014, how does anyone not know what Twitter is and what it can be used to accomplish?!) to get a lot from this book.

Feel like I have to mention, all fangirling aside, obviously sometimes Twitter can be a negative space. Its tone is set by us, the users, and sometimes we're a snarky, drama filled bunch. But I've seen the goodness of others manifested there time and time again, and I'm grateful for the friendships I've strengthened and the causes I've been able to support through it.

Twitter bird (who's supposedly named Larry?), long may you fly.

(PS: I haven't seen The Fail Whale in forever!!)

email: meredithtutt@gmail.com
twitter: @meredithtutt
instagram: @meredithtutt

last day of preschool!

2014-06-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

So Bronson wrapped up his first school experience a few months ago. Back in August I was so nervous about him getting older and going out into the big bad world of preschool, we had a great experience at his school though!

Here are some of the highlights:

- He eventually developed an interest in writing and drawing! This is the biggest deal to me. I love seeing him write his name, draw The Hulk and hold a pencil the right way.
- He (and I) got to go on a few field trips that were fun and interesting (special mention: the pet store and the pumpkin patch)
- He made a lot of new friends.
- He got to take the class "pet" (a wooden duck named ... something with a J. We can't remember.) home and practice responsibility.
- He got to attend some fun holiday parties.
- He learned more about taking turns and using his imagination,.
- He got to invite me, Ev and Toph to family night and was so proud to show off his school.

I'm glad he went to preschool but I'm still not sold on kindergarten. THE STRUGGLE.

She Reads// Spring Reading

2014-06-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

I browsed SkyMall on my trip to UT. That was educational.

///

Spring's been gone and replaced by the sweatiest time of the year for a while now.

It's time to tally up what I read when it was under 100 degrees out:

How to Love (I ripped through this in about 3 hours and really enjoyed it. I don't actually know why because it has all the elements I usually pass on? I think it was the way the sequence of events were revealed, it kept me hooked to the last word.)

Counting By Sevens (Holy moly, this book took me weeks to finish. I kept meaning to just quit and return it to the library, but I liked the characters and story just enough to hold onto it. Overall, I'm glad I persevered. I don't know why I never could just hunker down and get into it though.)

The Art of Wishing (Another fast read I surprised myself by liking. The genie element was interesting and for once it wasn't an overly sexed up YA book #oldlady. Or maybe this falls more into the teen category? I'm not sure officially what the differences between the two are, but if teen books are less graphic and not full of misleading lies cited as "realism" and "humor," I like them more.)

Minding Frankie (Here I gave audio books another shot ... no go. I had some driving coming up so I downloaded this and listened and listened and listened and listened only to finally admit defeat, check it out, and finish it myself. I just don't like being read to. Never have.)

Wedding Night (Sophie Kinsella! You betrayed me! This book sucked. The end. Ok, not the end: so it started out fine, funny even! but it became way too rambly and got so redundant about halfway through. Huge sadface.)

The Illustrated Mum (I loved this! If you want a short, easy, but also heavy read, I'd go for this one.)

Lean In (Too many thoughts. This book deserves its own post but I feel like so many people have hashed it out already I'll just keep it to my journal and spouting random ideas and stats at Toph. Overall: I'm SO glad I read this. I didn't love or agree with it all, but it made me think about so many things I hadn't before.)

Julie and Julia (Again, glad I read it but what the heck even? I wanted Meryl to come save me from Julie the whole time.)

Muggie Maggie (Some delightfully simple Beverly Cleary to cleanse my palate after the harshness of Julie.)

The Beginning of Everything (Everyone in the world told me this was a fantastic book ... My takeaway: if you took out every penis joke/reference, it would've been a lot shorter. #thatswhatshesaid.)

///

Now onto summer reading! I'm using this list and am so excited to try out some new genres and authors.

the living room! & this concludes the tour

2014-05-16T11:36:00.003-07:00

I kept waiting for the perfect mix of good lighting, uncharacteristic cleanliness, both kids playing happily elsewhere, yadayada before taking pictures of our living room. I finally realized those stars were not going to align on their own so I pushed the piles of Legos aside, put Ev down for a nap, made B play at the table (instead of on the pink cabinet ... ) and snappity snap.

This is the room we live in 24/7. I cut out sewing projects on the floor, we build forts, watch the internet, snack, read books, pull out the couch bed for movie nights, make huge messes, entertain friends and family; we live the crap out of this room. And, despite my best efforts, the carpet shows it (I hate carpet!!).

Anyway, here we go:

It's the same old story as all our other places: re-do, thrift, dumpster dive, DIY, use sheets as curtains, etc. My favorite parts of this space are the giant rug I made by sewing 8 small (and cheap!) rag rugs together, the pink cabinet I found by the dumpster next to B's preschool, and all the art and photos on the walls.

I was drawn to crazy colors (always) and limited by budget (duh), but I like how this little apartment came together. Just throwing this out into the universe though: I'M READY FOR A HOUSE. With a tiny yard, a washer/dryer, two toilets (!!), and less carpeting. These are my demands.

the state of the union 7

2014-05-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

So, 7 years. It snuck up on us. I was in charge this year and let's just say: Toph did a much better job last year. :/
We had a really nice time hanging out together without the kids (we had a babysitter for 5 hours!!) and I had all this great stuff planned but it fell through so oops/dang it/I suck.
We just keep saying, "We're going to Hawaii for our 10th, it's gonna happen!" and boy do I hope so! We've never really been on a romantic trip (before or after kids) (except our honeymoon I guess but shoot. That doesn't count.) and Hawaii has been calling my name forever.
Only three more years!

(I CANNOT BELIEVE WE'RE SO CLOSE TO 10. OY.)

Easter 2014

2014-04-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

It was a lot harder to get a family Easter picture this year than it was last year. Good thing we take a new one every other week (according to Topher) or I'd be real bummed with what we managed to capture this go round.

Happy Easter! We hung out with family, hunted for eggs, talked of Christ, rejoiced in Christ and we ate until we wanted to die (strawberry shortcake, worth it). Then we visited the cemetery to talk about how death isn't the end. Irony.

Easter is always such a good idea.

conference weekend

2014-04-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here's what General Conference weekend looked like for us with an almost 5 year old and an Everly

(I think she's 15 months ... )

Ev's into everything. She especially adores putting on and then rapidly removing clothes.

Bronson could play Legos for years and years and never look up.

Except for every three seconds when he has to show everyone what he's building and talk non stop about it.

I made and consumed lots and lots of cinnamon rolls.

First pony!!! She was really into it.

Such a cuddly cozy weekend.

Pretty sure if there were Conference Weekend pics from when I was a kid
they'd look pretty similar minus the cinnamon rolls and hugging.

NO TOUCHING!

Mini trip: Berkeley!

2014-03-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

Another work conference for the tax lawyer in our fam took us to Berkeley(/technically Oakland too, I think?)!

We stayed: at The Claremont. THE most gorgeous place around. When we pulled up I had to double check that we were actually allowed to be there. It looked like a castle but more friendly than that. And fancier. Also, hello! Berkeley is gorgeous. I'd never been before and color me impressed.

We ate: at Pizzahhh (we always get pizza when we go somewhere new and this didn't disappoint, so good!) and King Yen Restaurant (again, a solid choice). I love reading Yelp reviews and I cannot lie.

We played: at the hotel pool(s!!). Seriously this hotel was amazing and their pools were so fun for the kids. It wasn't that warm out yet but everything was heated and my kids don't care about weather. Bronson would've spent the whole trip in the pool but watching Ev near water lost its appeal for me a lot faster than that. I kinda hate taking kids to the pool by myself. Grinchmom.

I had way too many adult meltdowns on this trip because so many things went wrong (parking issues, car trouble, weather stuff, GPS fails, etc.) but I'm fairly sure that the kids had a blast in spite of it all. Most importantly, Ev slept like a champ in her bathroom suite so that was fantastic.

I told Toph I refuse to go on any more of these work trips but let's keep it real, I'll cave at the first mention of out of town pizza and hotel TV. Whatevs.

day in the life (that happened to be Valentine's)

2014-03-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

7:30ish: Ev's awake and wants to claw my face off, remove my earrings, pull all my hair out or eat breakfast asap. I choose to throw some food and books her way so I can get up and ready.

8:30-9:30ish: Bronson's up thanks to Ev and they play in their room for a hot minute while I get his breakfast together and straighten up the apartment a little bit.

I made him a special heart breakfast! Because love and Valentine's day and mom guilt.
He loved it so much he said, "Next time just cut everything into square shapes."

9:30-11:00ish Bronson plays Legos and watches some Lego YouTube reviews, while Ev waddles around pausing every so often for a photo op. She also naps somewhere in here.

11:00-1:00ish We have a friend over to play and it's glorious! All the kids are busy AND happy together. I get to juice up some produce that deserves it, make Toph a little Valentine's gift, and make up a dessert recipe (that turned out really great! wish I'd written it down). I feed the kids some non Valentinesy lunch too.

1:30-4:30ish: I pack up the kids and we walk to the gym only to find out the child care isn't open on Friday afternoons (log that away for future reference) so it's back home. There's more Legos (I got B a new small set for Valentine's), chocolate chip eating, another short nap and general mayhem until Toph's home.

5:00-7:00 Ev goes down for some quiet time in her bed (with books and toys), Bronson gets a show, Toph catches up on some sportball basket throw, and I hit the gym alone.

Toph's forever Valentine right there^

7:00-11:00ish: We don't have a sitter this year so we're attempting a nice dinner at home sort of sans kids. The plan is to get the kids fed, pajama-ed and off to their room for bed or playing. I shower the gym away and then get going on the plan!

[pretend there's a nice picture of Topher and me right here]

///

Basically, we ended up having a really delish candlelit dinner (courtesy of Toph!) that was interrupted a hundred times by B and Ev. They didn't both fall asleep until after 11 so ... yay.

Happy Valentine's day!

She Reads// Winter Reading

2014-03-01T13:19:00.004-08:00

I was trying to get a picture of the toilet but we got in the way.

Way back in November, when my fall reading list wrapped up, the end of February seemed years away. And yet, hello March! I still miss Christmas.

Here's what I read during December, January and February:

Harriet the Spy (I'm not sure how many times I've read this now. What a weird little book. I love it. The movie came out when I was 9 and I checked out that orange Nickelodeon VHS copy from our library more than a few times. The book was written in 1964 but I think they did a pretty good job pulling the story into the '90s for the movie. My favorite character is Golly, obviously.)

Steelheart (Toph picked this one for us to read together and I actually liked it a lot more than I thought I would . So the writing was pretty hokey, it read like something aspiring to go straight to theaters, but the story was really interesting. It sparked a fun book club discussion and we're both excited for the next book in the series to come out.)

The Middlesteins (This was my first real attempt at an audiobook. When I saw that it was supposed to take 6 hours of listening to finish I wasn't sure how I'd fit that in, but it actually went really quickly. I listened to it all in about three days, who knew there was so much dead air in my day to day? I listened while walking to the gym, cooking dinner, cutting up fabric for quilts, driving to the store, on the elliptical and sometimes at night right before bed. I could give or take the actual book, although I did like how it was told from each character's perspectives, but it was nice to use the Overdrive app for once.)

My Most Excellent Year (This one just missed all the marks for me. It felt too young (and not in a nice or nostalgic way) there were so many cliches, it was confusing because the characters went by like 3 names apiece; I just wasn't into it. If it hadn't been for the brief Julie Andrews bit near the end it would've all been a waste for me.)

45 pounds (more of less) (I liked this one! I don't hate everything! Nothing too deep involved but it was a nice, quick, feel good read.)

When You Reach Me (Seriously just had to Google this because I had no recollection of it at all. Blush blush. Now I remember. So I listened to this one too, and I'm not sure if it's because I didn't really know the plot of A Wrinkle in Time beforehand, or because I did listen to it, but I just never really got into it. All the reviews on Goodreads raved over it and claimed "the twist" was just amaze but I was like, "Ok yeah, I see that what you did there. The end." I might've liked it better had I read it myself.)

Why We Broke Up (Pure hatred. From the moment I picked it up I was over it. I'm still mad at myself for reading the whole thing, honestly. It's not just that the characters were all idiots (they were) or that the story itself was ridiculous (it was) but the actual physical book was so dang heavy! It was an angry arm workout just to lift it. I've written pages in my head about this book and how stupid it was but every one's lucky because I'll keep the finer points to myself.)

I'll Be There (Ok so even though this turned into a crazy episode of I shouldn't Be Alive about halfway through, the overall thing was enjoyable. It was kind of like a reversed version of Eleanor and Park with less angst and more dumpster diving? I liked it.)

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie (A well written, funny, tear jerker that took about an hour to read. Go for it.)

The Catcher in the Rye (I expected to loathe this. I really did. I didn't love it but i didn't hate it either. Yeah, Holden got on my nerves eventually and I kept waiting for the ball to drop plot wise, but overall I'm glad I finally read it because you just never know about those books they force you to read in HS. I mean, some are truly duds and others are gems camouflaged in over analyzing or forcing meaning for some writing assignment. This one landed somewhere in between for me, much closer to dud than gem, but I did take some notes and a few quotes jumped off the page at me.)

The History of Love (Now this one I excepted to love. I really did. But. I don't know. I loved how everything was intertwined in the end and how the story unfolded through each character, but it just all seemed kind of ... over done? I'm not sure. I just kept imagining how I'd describe it to someone and I felt really dumb. Like it was trying too hard? (And I just finished it this morning so it's pretty fresh.) I always feel kind of jerky when I don't like certain books but I think it's ok too. There are so many books I absolutely love, I have to balance it out with a few that aren't my favorites.)

///

I'm heading to the library today without Bronze and Ev and I might never come home.

Happy spring!

blink blink

2014-01-19T22:52:00.000-08:00

I keep hearing that second and third (etc.) babies grow up even faster than firsts and yeah, I believe it. Everly's full time walking, completely weaned (favorite gross word) and sleeping through the night again (:):)!)!!). I feel like it took 27 years to get to this point with Bronson. I mean, his babyhood zoomed by but because I was constantly like, "What is even happening right now?" it also crawled along.

I LOVE when my kids don't nurse anymore. In some ways it's harder because I actually have to remember to pack them snacks and feed them meals, but in every single other way it's easier for me. It helps them sleep more at night, they stop biting me, I can wear whatever I want, no more leaking everywhere or pumping gallons of milk, making them little meals is adorable; and on and on.

I really do feel like I blinked and here she is, this little toddling child. But no, we had a really great run with our tiny Ev and now I'm getting pretty excited for first (real) words and maybe some hair growing? No pressure.

Eat it. Eat the food.

2014-01-16T16:29:00.001-08:00

I took pics of the kitchen and dining room today because a) they were both clean and b) maybe I'll leave them alone now? They're simple and sparse but done. We don't need to get any more settled here, all energy vibes must be directed towards finding a house to rent. On this side of town. That's cheap and has no carpet but does have a washer and dryer .... No sweat.

Here we go:

I've been perusing Pinterest in search of REAL apartment kitchen decor ideas. Not condo kitchens where you're allowed to majorly alter things (cabinet color, spacial layout, etc.) or privately owned spaces that are small but you're rich and your landlord loves you so you can change everything. I mean a run of the mill, every kitchen in the complex matches (oak cabinets, generic linoleum, old appliances), work-with-what-you-got, try to cook here and not feel sad, types of spaces.

I couldn't find much so I went back to my old stand by: contact paper. A much as I love stark white, calm, empty, "grown up" (?) decor, I always come back to bright colors and patterns everywhere so contact paper polka dots happened. I really love them. Probably the best thing is Nap D over my stove for cooking inspiration though.

If I could change this space freals I'd go with: white upper cabinets and a bright color on the lowers (with a lean towards aqua or hot pink). A new light fixture and new cabinet door pulls (technically I could change both now but time + money, not gonna happen). I'd paint the room white and add a small backsplash. Add new counter tops (preferably butcher block) and a deep farm sink (in white) and boom. Roasted.

Dream a little dream.

54 months old

2014-01-14T13:44:00.000-08:00

Bronson is 4 and a half years old today.

It's stupid to say, "I remember when he was just 4 and a half HOURS old!!" because obviously I do. And 4 and a half days, weeks, and months. Because that's what moms do. We remember. And we forget. It's all very confusing.

Bronson and I haven't been getting along the greatest lately. He's feisty, opinionated and irrational. Cue me being very similar and things get tricky.

Bronson, if you're reading this (I hope you take a look someday), kindly remember how often I switched the arms on your "mini figs" for you, and how I read you every Lion King book you could find.

I love you, you're a good self. :)

The Little Lady turned one. Tiny food!!

2014-01-03T11:11:00.001-08:00

Everly Virginia is one! Officially. No lie. Tears for days, happy and nostalgic.

We love this little girl so very much and decided to celebrate her big day with mini food, tiny balloons, family, pink everywhere! and dancing.

Everly is a very happy, always on the go, not afraid of strangers, booty shaking sweetheart and we're pretty thrilled to have her around.

Happy happy first birthday baby girl!

best of 2013!

2014-01-01T10:13:00.003-08:00

2013 where you at? I'll never get used to this whole time thing.

Whatevs, here's our collective bests from the past year:

Toph's favorites:

-Everly joining our family!

-Starting his job and being the head of the Sunshine Committee (aka party planning committee. HA.)

-Building our desk together

-Getting new cell phones (Nexus 4 what what!)

Bronson's favorites:

-Building his Lego collection

-Having a little sister to blame things on

-Going to primary

-Making lots of new friends at church and school

Everly's favorites:

-Milk

-Being the best newborn in the world!

-But then being all, "Psyche! I'll never sleep through the night again." at 7 months.

-Learning to walk at 9 months

-Being a dancing queen booty shaker

-Having like no teeth ever

My favorites:

-Everly's birth!! The year really peaked for me on January 2nd.

-Watching Bronson and Ev together
-Seeing Toph so happy in his line of work

-Going to AZ for Camol's weddang

-4th of July in UT

-Buying a DivaCup (you knew it was coming!!)

I could really go on and on because 2013 has been a fantastic year for us and I'm very grateful!

Fingers crossed 2014 keeps it up, happy new year!

Christmas this year was much better than last.

2013-12-30T15:47:00.001-08:00

So last week this little thing called Christmas happened ... SO SAD IT'S ALL OVER!!! :'(

I feel like this year was maybe the best Christmas ever ever?

Here's a recap for posterity:

We always start with stockings and they're always my favorite part.

I love reading the note Toph writes and puts in my stocking every year. Cheesy. Gag. Love.

Bronson wasn't sick or crazy cranky this year so that made everything much more festive.

And of course it was Ev's first Christmas and she was a cheesy grinning delight.

Kids make Christmas so freaking awesome!

Breakfast pizza + cookies, you're my bffs.

We hid this present til the end to make Bronson think Santa had forgotten his one true wish (best parents).

When Bronze opened it and realized he was the newest owner of The Hulk Helicarrier Breakout Set, all excitement broke loose.

I'm in denial that it's almost 2014 (I'm really gonna try to stop writing 2012 on everything this year), almost Ev's birthday, and almost time for me to figure out what the heck I want to focus on this year. I love setting goals and the fresh start of a new year, but I'm really good at opening presents, hanging out with family, and eating all the junk food so I'm definitely sad to see all of that go for now.

Christmas Eve 2013

2013-12-30T15:19:00.001-08:00

I took this picture at 4am when I snuck out of bed too excited to sleep.

I thought maybe Santa really had come and put more presents under our tree?

Still not used to being a grown up.

I kept trying to force Christmas eve traditions on us that would last through the ages of our familial existence because this was our first ever Just Us Christmas! but in the end we just rolled with it and everything was the best.
Matching homemade pajama pants for the kids, a smorgasbord of whatever I felt like making for dinner, Toph reading the Grinch, all of us watching A Charlie Brown Christmas on the fold out couch, both kids in bed by 8 so Toph and I could finish wrapping presents and re-watch all The Office Christmas episodes; ahhhh! It was a really, really nice night.

We went to Oakland to see the lights and I was 'meh' but it was incredible!

2013-12-15T23:42:00.000-08:00

We piled a bunch of people into our van and drove an hour+ to Oakland to check out the Christmas lights and programs going on at the temple. It was the best! Not too cold, a doughnut and hot chocolate tailgate at the end, an amazing view; really and truly I'm so glad we went.

We've been doing some fun but really low key Christmas celebrating at home and this sort of seemed like a trek. Although Ev was kind of a monster (teething? weaning? all of the above??) and Bronson had to be talked down from swimming in the fountain (more than once), it's all good. The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. And having doughnuts on hand.

Ward Christmas Party 2013!!

2013-12-15T23:29:00.000-08:00

Party!!
Everly walked her tiny self all over the cultural hall and Bronson ran wild with his buddies. Plus: Santa, tri tip and cheesecake so all in all, definitely a night worth donning my crazy Christmas vest for.
I really can't comprehend that a year has gone by since the last ward Christmas party. Does not compute. We've had a really great year but I think having a January baby has sped time up even more. All of her milestones made the year rush past as we've just tried to keep up. I'd say, "Time! Slooow down please!" (which is super effective) but I'm really ready for little miss crazycakes to go to nursery and sleep deprived beggars can't be choosers so let's go.

the Creche Festival always delivers

2013-12-15T23:15:00.002-08:00

The crew that decorates for the Creche Festival deserves their own HGTV show because that cultural hall was gorgeous! No small feat.
I always love perusing so many unique yet unified nativity sets, and Everly had a great time frolicking in her swishy, silver dress this year.
Bronson was also in attendance but declined to be photographed. So let it be written.

Our room was clean!! So pictures to prove it.

2013-12-05T17:29:00.001-08:00

We built a desk over Thanksgiving break (my parents have a garage, a Home Depot nearby, and power tools. LUXE.)!! Toph's pretty amazing; first a table and now a desk. Someday we'll build our own Disneyland, I'm sure of it. So we built the desk and I finally got around to painting our dresser (I painted it inside over carpet with both kids around and nothing horrible happened. How?) and we rearranged everything and now I just really like our room.

Also, the giant picture over the computer is Toph's childhood scout troop at camp. Every time I saw that pic on FB it made me laugh really freaking hard, I had to have it blown up as wall bedazzlement. So many good choices.

She reads// Fall Reading

2013-12-05T17:05:00.001-08:00

Feeling pretty good about myself now.

Fall is over. Basically. I mean, the weather in CA is whatever (except when it's freezing like it's been lately then it's not whatever it's WHATEVER) so who's to say what makes fall officially over? But yeah, it's over. December is upon us.

So here's what I read from September to November:

Where She Went (Glad I read it to sum up the first book but I thought If I Stay was better. Much.)

Someday, Someday Maybe (Oh Lauren Graham, where you lead, I will follow! Except no because I tried Parenthood and it didn't take ... Anyway, I liked this book because I could feel her voice in the writing. I didn't like this book because it just wasn't my favorite story. I enjoyed large parts of it but it was a bit of a meanderer and not in the best way.)

Life of Pi (Ok, ok, ok. Yes. This book. I loved it, and it scared me, and it helped me love the movie even more, and it made me want to barf. So yes. I loved it.)

The Book Thief (Can all books be this amazing? Obviously not but please, writers of the world! Turn more paper into stories like this! Toph read it too and agreed that it was a real gem. His exact words.)

The Saturday Boy (This was a kids book that dealt with a big topic: the death of a parent. It was good but I wasn't the target audience for it and it didn't become my new favey fave or anything. I picked it up because I'm trying to read more books that Bronson might eventually read. I'd be cool with him reading this and it could lead to some good discussion.)

We Sinners (This one was short but packed a punch. I get that the focus was on leaving the church and how that changed the family dynamic, but I was actually more intrigued with the religion they were leaving. Also the last chapter was a big, "Whaa?" for me.)

The Happiness Project (This got me real revved up to change my life! I couldn't sop talking about the book with everyone! But then I got to month 9 and I was just kinda over it? I finished it up and was overwhelmed by all the money she ended up spending on organization, binding books, photos, collections, etc. I liked it and got a few good quotes and tips out of it, but honestly I just got really sick of hearing about her blog. Oops.)

Tell the Wolves I'm Home (I'm so not hip. This book was super strange to me and made me depressed. It was a fast read and I wanted to know what happened to everyone but it was just such a downer. I'm not deep enough to like downers! Hunger Games, I'm stink eyeing you.)

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket (Another book I picked up from the kids section. The trailer for this on YouTube is adorbs, btw. So basically this is another "I like myself the way I am!" story. All well and good, a nice message, a simple read and some humor thrown in as well.)

The Wednesday Wars (Took me halfway in to really, really get into it but by the end, oh man. I really liked it.)

Half Magic (Another short, fun read. I'm pretty sure I read this as a kid already but it was a fun refresher.)

The Willoughbys (So maybe I read a lot of short books this time? Woah. Yeah so this one was short and meant for kids as well. I liked it. It was a bit Roald Dahl-esque and just a fun read.)

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (I usually love these books but this time I was so anxious the whole time! I just wanted Bex to stop shopping!!! Glad I stuck with it though because the very last few pages were worth it.)

///

And now it's winter and who knows if any books shall cross my path until January because there's just so much food to eat and so many Christmas movies to watch.