All Sharks are named Bruce

Our boy loves all things related to sharks. He first discovered them on Nemo with "Bruce the shark". It started last summer, but that's ALL he talks about now. It's a love/hate relationship. Some days he'll say, "They're gonna eat me!" and freak out and refuse to play with his shark toys. Other days, he colors sharks, pretends to eat us, etc. Guess he's had bad dreams. Don't blame him--I dreamed 6 of my teeth fell out last night. :)

A drew these sharks for him in the bathtub. Z always requests "lots of teef and a triangle fin".

I never could get the crayon to come off the grout in some spots, even after using magic eraser. Any tips?

I discovered a shark swimsuit for him and he had to try it on as soon as he woke up. Don't you love that cowlick in front?

Daddy is so creative--can you find Bruce the shark, the snake, the turtle, and Horatio the Hippo?

Swimming Lessons

Aubrey's been taking swimming lessons. She is in LOVE with the water. We are so excited to have such awesome pool access this summer!

The race!

So, the 10k is over--and I made it through! It was a ton of fun--which seriously surprised me. I'd been so nervous all week, but once the big day arrived I was full of energy and ready to get it over with.

Sarah and I ran it together. It helps immensely doing it with a friend. I won't tell you my time, but I was happy with it. Just running the race was enough. I sprinted at the end--I was so high on those endorphins, I guess--and paid for it dearly that day with sore knees.

These pictures are sooo lovely, I know! But here's the proof! :)

Before the race. We got to the race just as it began because of taking this picture!

After the race. I was snorting like a pig since it was the Flying Pig Marathon. :)

Notice my medal. (I'm not proud or anything.)

Story help

These are rough drafts of a story I'm working on. Please read this if you have time. Let me know which opening draws you in best, and which one seems more suitable for age 9-12. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
P.S. I won't be posting much cuz I'm trying to use up my time before we go on vacation (in less than 2 weeks).

DRAFT 1:
The kittens were frisky…and black. I shuddered. I’d been dreaming of a white, puffy one I’d name Cloudy.
“Mom, don’t black cats bring bad luck?” I asked.
“No, sweetie. That’s just a myth,” my mom said. I wasn’t so sure. But then one kitten caught my eye. It had gray streaks mixed in with the black. Swiping at the others with its tiny paws, it kept squeaking out adorable meows. Surely it couldn’t bring bad luck. It was too cute.
I tenderly picked it up. She was as soft as a pillow, with big green eyes that reminded me of the moon.
“This is the one!” I said. “Let’s name her Midnight.”
Now, four years later, I was leaving the vet’s office, tears streaming down my cheeks. Would I ever see Midnight again? I wondered.

DRAFT 2:
I looked into the basket and shuddered. I’d been dreaming of a white, puffy kitten I’d name Cloudy. Instead, there were nothing but balls of black kittens with bright-green eyeballs staring up at me. But one kitten caught my eye. It had gray streaks mixed in with the black fur. Swiping at the others with its tiny pink paws, it kept squeaking out adorable meows.
I tenderly picked it up. She was as soft as a pillow, with big green eyes that reminded me of a full moon. Surely the phrase “black cats bring bad luck” couldn’t be referring to this kitten. It was just too cute.
“This is the one!” I said. “Let’s name her Midnight.”
As I thought of that day four years earlier, tears streamed down my face. Walking out of the vet’s office, I wondered, Would I ever see Midnight again?

Book Club

I got behind...here's the books we've been reading.

March

April

May

I just finished the first book of the Twilight series...so far, so good. Now for A Thousand Splendid Suns!
And I just added a shelfari bookshelf on the right of my blog, so you can always know what books I'm readin'. Also, if you aren't a part of Goodreads, join! It's a fun site where you can rate what books you're reading and see what your friends are reading.
Books are a fun addiction.

Back again...

It's incredible how fast the time goes. I haven't had much time on the computer this week, and I've been trying to limit it anyway. Once I get the cleaning done (which is so hard for me sometimes!), the computer becomes a fun reward. This last week has been a blur, but I tried to take a few pictures along the way.

Saturday and Sunday Doug's grandma and her partner Arlyne came for a surprise visit. All the way from California. It was short and sweet, and the grandkids loved them.

Aubrey sharing her money with Great-Grandma Tingley

Zach bonding

Zach and Arlyne

I've been working a lot at the gym. Here's some photos of life there. It's amazing how exhausted you can get after taking care of 30+ kids for a few hours. The other moms there are such good friends though, and it's so nice to have a social life. Plus, I can't complain about extra money!

Also, I've been making a few gifts for Mothers day. I'll post pictures later--in case they're reading this. Have a happy weekend!

Book Club

February's book

I've "joined" a book club and I love it! I haven't been reading books since I've had children really, so it's a wonderful hobby to have rediscovered. My Sister's Keeper is what I'm working on now. It is very controversial, and makes me realize how amazing my family is.

January's book

Wow. Life of Pi was incredible. I'm not one for blood and guts, but reading how a boy named Pi stays alive on a boat in the ocean--with only a tiger for company--is intriguing. The beginning was a bit slow, and the ending wasn't my favorite, but the middle made up for it. Yann Martell is a very descriptive writer.

Are those Twilight books really THAT good? I'm not sure I want to take the plunge into vampire-world.

Writing

I've been doing this course for a year or so. I'm on the 7th of 10 assignments. It's been a fun yet challenging hobby. Now that there are two kids and only one computer, it's been harder for me to find the time to write, and I'm getting down to the nitty-gritty stuff. For this assignment I'm editing one of my past non-fiction articles to fit a specific magazine. Then, if the article is polished enough, I can send it to editors in the hopes of becoming published. I finally decided on Cricket. Of course, eventually I'll just start sending my articles to lots of publishers, but not until I feel like they're good enough. Someday I'll be able to post that I've been published--that's one of my goals for this year. It's been taking all my free time lately so I won't be blogging much for a while...and now you know why!