The Book Thief

I recently finished The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. It was over 500 pages, but so good that even after 500 pages I still wanted more. I couldn't put it down.

It's the story of a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. So it's one of those great, but tragic books. The first few chapters were a little confusing and dreadfully sad, but after that it perked up a bit. That is to say I wasn't crying every time I picked up the book. Death was the narrator of the story, which was very clever, and probably my favorite thing about the book.

I also appreciated that this book was about ordinary people living in Germany during the war. All my other war books are about Jews in hiding, Jews in camps, members of the resistance in occupied countries, Allied forces, etc. Germans lived, suffered, died, and showed compassion during the war as well.

Great read - 4 stars.

Ice Cream Run

Hooray for more visitors...my cousins, Pam and Kim, came to visit last weekend. We were crazy kids and teenagers together, and then roommates in college, where I like to think we were more mature, but probably not. I'll spare you all pictures from the past, but only because I don't have any scanned in.

One night we drove an absurd distance to a Marsh that just started carrying Graeter's ice cream.
If you've not lived in Ohio (or near enough to drive there to get it), it's the best ice cream there is. And worth the drive to a shady part of town late at night.

More on Kitty

Kitty is a smiley baby, but for some reason it's hard to capture it on camera. Here's our best shot at that cute smile so far.

And yes, she is already going places. Rolling over from tummy to back and back to tummy. She still gets her arm caught underneath her and screeches for a rescue.

And this is her resigned look. We get this look a lot.

Boo call's Kitty's Bumbo chair the bum-bum chair.

New Dress

Boo talks a lot at home. In fact, I would say it's pretty non-stop. If she can't think of a new sentence or phrase to say, she just repeats the last thing she said until something new comes to mind.

Her new favorite thing to say is "Holy Cow, Mom!" One of those phrases I never even realized I was saying, until I started hearing it parroted back to me. She always tacks a name on after "Holy Cow"..."Holy Cow, Dad!" or "Holy Cow, Kitty!" . Yesterday she did something that she thought was particularly impressive, so she came out with "Holy Cow, Boo!", and then revised "Holy Cow, Me!"

I'm trying convince her to dress up as a doctor for Halloween (we got her a really cute doctor jacket and kit for her birthday). But she keeps insisting on Cinderella. Those Disney princesses sink in their teeth and don't let go.

About a year ago...

This morning I was remembering this episode and giggling to myself.

Three months old

Kitty is three months old. I affectionately call her 'Chubs'. She rolled over for the first few times the other day. If she gets in a position where she can't roll over or squirm around, she squeals and screeches. It's like we have our very own Nazgul. Which I always wanted.

She's a doll, we just love her.

Me & Boo

First Day of School

Boo started preschool last week. She loves her class and always comes home with a craft. I've already gotten in trouble by sending her in clicky shoes instead of tennis shoes. At least they weren't flip flops.

First Colts game

We're ready for a great season!

Except we miss Tony Dungee.

Children's Museum

We visited the Children's Museum (featured as a Jeopardy clue this past year - the largest children's museum in the country) with my parents while they were here. I love our museum, and the kids had a great time. We visited some exhibits other than playscape for a change. We almost didn't make it past the dancing lights on the floor. They were too much fun to chase.
But then we visited the dinosaurs.

And the Egyptian exhibits. I love that they have so many Egyptian exhibits for the kids while the King Tut exhibit is here. This is the tomb slide. Weird, but hey, it's a slide.
Boo was really looking forward to the merry-go-round. She talked about it all morning. And when we went upstairs to ride it, she could hardly stand it until we got on. She picked out her animal, sat on it, and the minute the gate was closed to start the ride, she dissolved into hysterics. Sobbing, clinging to me, covering her ears with her hands. I was so relieved when the ride ended and we started to get off. Hysterics were renewed because she wanted to ride it again. Seriously? Okay, maybe she just needed to warm up. So we get a new animal. And she sobs and screams through another ride. And begs to go again. By ride #5 there is no more sobbing, just clinging. And by the sixth (and final) ride, she is enjoying herself enormously. Huge smile, waving as she passes by, "Look grandma, no hands!"

Kitty

Kitty is getting so big and chubby, I just love it. She survived the two month well visit and the vaccinations that go along with it.

There's more to the fair

There is more to the fair than just food.

Boo got to pet a cow.

And we enjoyed Little Hands on the Farm again this year.

It was really hard to move on from the pink tractor.

We almost had a fair disaster after Little Hands on the Farm. She chugged a carton of milk from the general store, and then we headed to the FFA pavilion. On the way I bought a Lemon Shake Up, and offered some to Boo as she loves lemonade. I forgot that she had it, and that she has no self control when it comes to lemonade. When I remembered to take it back, it was just about gone. We got to the FFA pavilion playground when she covered her mouth with both hands and started to scream something about her stomach. Nice. I ran her outside and held her over the garbage can for awhile (didn't we both love that fair food angle). Fortunately there was no puking, and now I know milk and lemon shake ups don't mix.

Her favorite this year was feeding the goats. Which surprised me to no end. This girl does not like to get dirty, and is suspicious of new things getting too close to her. But she loved it.
We finished off the day with a visit to the arts pavilion. Boo loved looking at the quilts. (Btw, my aunt won Best In Show at her county fair for her quilt). The photos were striking. I could have spent a lot longer there, but a three year old only lasts for so long.

I'm already looking forward to next year. You'll come back for that, right Dad?