five on Friday

I feel a whole lotta' wah-wah on my own blog, which means I need to amp it up on my creativity with finding fun things to blog about. Unfortunately for now, you will have to suffer through yet another post about the random and mainly mundane things happening in my life right now.

Without further ado, I give you....five on friday.

1. I need some advice because I'm kind of stumped. I have been asked to give a 20 minute little blurb about photography at an upcoming church activity. The activity is based on "documenting life" and will focus on journaling, photography, and blogging-three very good ways to document life for sure! What do people really want to know about photography? Any ideas??

2. Within the past month, here are the books I've read, or are currently reading:

I loooooooooved this book. It was gritty, hard to believe on many accounts, and triumphant. It follows the real-life story of the author, Jeannette Walls, whose father and mother run from the law and live less-than-poor lives. The children endure countless homes, and situations that left me speechless. Her mother makes for unbelievable dialogue, her father-a drunk, and siblings who are scratching to find a place to call home once and for all. I read this probably within a couple of days. I could not put it down.
I probably would've never picked up this book had it not been for the book club I'm a part of. This book is set in England in modern time, yet it reads as if they are in the 1800's. It's crazy how much my mind wanted me to think the tower in which Balthazar Jones lived was fantasy, and from years and years ago. And then the author would bring up Harry Potter, or something else relevant in today's world, and it would confuse me a bit! I liked it, wouldn't say it was my favorite, but it was definitely quirky, funny, and totally English.
I liked this book as well. It follows the lives of two friends living in England, whose lives collide and then fall apart, and collide all over again. What I found so intriguing about the book was the way it flowed. Each story that was told was from the same day of the year. Every July 15th, a new story was told, about their lives and what they had been through together, as well as apart. The ending wasn't my favorite. This is a book club book once again, and I'm very anxious to see what other people thought of it!
Probably one of my favorite books ever. Mainly because it was a fascinating way to learn more about Michelangelo, as well as the Medici family, and other famous sculptors and painters of the time. I got about 400 pages into this book before leaving for my trip to Italy last August, and then I just never picked it up again until now. I loved how it followed Michelangelo from a young age, and how it showed his failures before his ultimate achievements. Seeing his sculptures in Italy was about the best icing on any cake. Period.
This is the book I'm currently reading. I'm always intrigued by Malcolm Gladwell. I'm only about 25 pages into the book right now, but I'm really enjoying it and all of the insights Gladwell gives. He makes me think, and I like books that make me peek up from behind the book and question the world around me.

3. Our yard is getting two blueberry bushes this Spring. Why two? Because they have to cross hibernate! And why am I so excited about this? Because it's blueberries, and they'll be delicious for me and the kids!

4. Sean and I were obsessed with BYU's basketball team this year. Like, obsessed. Luckily, Sean and I have a common love for sports in general, so this was really fun for us to watch together. We even got to see them play in Buffalo earlier this year. Sean has a legitimate man-crush on Jimmer Fredette, and I found him so fun to watch. He did so much for the team, and he carried us to the sweet 16 this year before getting beat by Florida. It was a sad, sad, sad game to watch. so frustrating, so sad. We deserved to win on so many levels, but in the end, we didn't.

5. Eliza finally said "Mommy." Yes, finally. She currently says cheese, dog, kitty cat, ball, uh-oh, teeth, mouth, no, daddy, IZ, hide, baba, food, bubbles, night-night, all done, baby, bird, and dance. This was the ONE WORD she would not say until three days ago, and she knew exactly what she was doing to my innards by not saying my name. Every time I, or anyone else would try and get her to say mama, she would turn her head away from the conversation, or say something like, "Dada!" AND SHE WOULD LAUGH IN MY FACE! Oh, that little pip of a girl!! So the other night while rocking her before bed, I asked, "Eliza, can you say mama?" totally thinking it would be yet another failed attempt. But she looked up at me and finally said, "Mama."

I can't end this post without a few pictures from this past week. We looved having Jane with us all last week. They played so hard that by the time she left on Sunday, Isaac was nearly in a coma from exhaustion. The weather was beautiful for the most part, so we played outside for hours and hours, visited playgrounds, went to the museum and library, as well as many fun places!

I call this bikin' it, ghetto style in our bike cart:

NOT ONE...


NOT TWO...


BUT THREE KIDS in the cart all at the same time. Oh yes, we know how to roll...




This is what happens when you try and get Eliza OUT of the cart


A bag of boats for $2.50 at Walgreens, a filled-up kitchen sink, brushes and soap made for a lovely way to end the day for these two. They looooooved this.