where she went

source

When BlogHer and Penguin Publishing sent me Where She Went and I saw that it was the second book in a series I just had to check with the library to get If I Stay and read it first.  It was a decent book (and a very short read), but I was anxious to finish it as it wasn't as all-consuming as some of the more recent books I'd read.

The first book was narrated by a high school senior named Mia and the second in the series was narrated by her boyfriend Adam from the first book.  The change in perspective and the fact that this second book takes place several years in the future is refreshing.  I also liked the second book better in that it switched back and forth between present time and flashbacks at chapter changes.  I don't want to spoil anything about the book so I won't say much more except to say that it's hard to read a book when the simple fact that it has a sequel gives away the dramatic ending (yet in a way it really doesn't give away the ending which also makes it easy to want to quickly start in on the second book).

Check out the Book Club over at BlogHer to see what everyone else is saying about Where She Went.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. 

the shape of things

Josh was being his usual weekday morning whiny self on the way to yesterday.  He asked for more milk right as we got into the car.  I told him that he had finished his milk and that he could get some more when he got to school.  He screamed, "I don't like square milks! I like circle milks!"

laugh much?

Help! I need a joke to put in Julianna's lunch box tomorrow.  Know any good ones?

the things my kids say

Josh calls Lucky Charms "Chunky Charms" and the first time it took me a good two minutes and asking at least ten times to figure out what he was saying.

He also says, "Mom, your legs are SKAT-chee!" and it takes him about ten seconds to get the last word out as he carefully tries to pronounce it.

And of course, there's still his set of "hunk beds." I've mentioned this before, but I just might die of sadness when he stops saying that.

Julianna, out of the blue in the car this weekend declared, "I know what I want to do this summer! I want to lay on the beach and eat watermelon!"

And another day recently in the car I told Julianna that it was a wonder she had any friends with the way she talked to people.  She replied very seriously, "Chillax, Mom!  I have tons of friends!"

These are things I want to remember.

going creek-stomping

At Salem Lake

links i love

• Information about the awesome places The Hunger Games was filmed.
• Why can't some place around here do this?  It sounds AWESOME! Basically it's a running club where you meet once a week at a restaurant/pub and go run with a group.  Then you get rewards (running gear and food/beer discounts) based on your number of runs with the group.  Marvelous idea!

• This recipe, found on Pinterest, is delish. I will definitely make it again soon.
• This site and these kids... it's heart-wrenching to think some days that I've had such a bad day and my kids are being such brats and then remember these kids with cancer and thank God that my child isn't throwing up from chemo or fighting me about going back to the hospital for a scan.
• Julianna will be attending this camp this summer.  She is very excited which I find perplexing because she always talks about how she isn't good at throwing or catching or doing activities without getting hurt. But I gave her the choice of several camps and that's the one she chose.  I think it's going to be a good one too!
• Another cool find from Pinterest: I'm going to try to do this sometime this weekend.
• Congratulations, Lucy!

Can you give me another link to love this week?



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butterflies

One of the things Julianna had been asking for for quite a while was a butterfly garden and then I saw a Groupon for one and bought it immediately.  The problem was that it was the middle of the winter and you can't order butterflies and expect them to survive in the middle of the winter.  So I waited and ordered them for her birthday.

When they came we eagerly opened the package and watched the teensy little caterpillars (or as she used to say, cater-pitters) crawl around the cup.

We kept them for a little over a week, checking on them every day.

Most of the time multiple times a day.

On Easter Sunday morning they started building their cocoons.  Before long there were four chrysallids hanging from the top of the cup.  We thought the one last caterpillar was dead.  (The instructions said they guaranteed 3 of the 5 would survive.)

We were wrong.  He was just a late bloomer and he got his act together a couple of days later.  Then we pinned the tissue paper from the top of the cup inside of the net butterfly cage as directed.  They hung out there for a while, working some magic behind the scenes.

After another 9 days (this Tuesday) we came home from school to find a butterfly had "hatched" from it's chrysallis.  When we woke up Wednesday morning the second one had come out.

Jonathan mixed up some sugar water (as the instructions said to do) and placed it on the center of a rose we cut from the yard and stuck it down in the bottom of the butterfly habitat.

We decided to take them to Julianna's class and the teacher had already OK'd it.  Wednesday morning on the way to school the third came out.  Mind you, it's less than five minutes up the street to her school and Josh, Jules, and I saw the entire butterfly birth on our way.  Josh called Jonathan excitedly after it happened.

At school that day Julianna said the fourth butterfly hatched and after lunch the kids in her Kindergarten class set those four butterflies free.  The following day the last one hatched (I feel funny writing "hatch" but I don't know the proper term) and they set him free as well.

It's been well worth the $10 plus $5 shipping to share this experience with my kids.  The timing was absolutely perfect for both Julianna's birthday and for Easter and I got to have a couple of good conversations at bedtime with Jules about the similarities between a butterfly's transformation and the death and resurrection of Christ.  Perhaps we'll do it again in a few years.

Have you ever ordered any live animals or insects?

There's a local butterfly farm near us, but we've never visited.  Have you ever gone to such a place?  I've always thought it was kind of expensive since it costs about $7/person.  Is it worth it?