my girls and summer fun

    For the month of August, we signed our girls up for swimming lessons. For me, I just wanted them to be comfortable in the water and learn the basic skills so they wouldn't be afraid.  My oldest did a lot better than I expected. She can now float on her back, put her head underwater, and knows the basic strokes. The little one prefers to stay on the steps and will now go down to her chin in the water, but refuses to put her head under to blow bubble. hahaha. She's hilarious. Next year we'll start them earlier in the summer, they do miss going to swimming lessons and playing in the water.

   If you look closely, you'll see the little one down below in pink holding a hula-hoop with her coach. Both my girls have been in gymnastics and loving every minute. We'll see how far they go with this class. So far so good!

Book Review: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

  With all my posts about movie reviews, I've neglected to post reviews on the books that I read. I love to read, and I really should be putting these reviews on my blog for my fellow book lovers. If you're interested in seeing the books I've read/reviewed, send me an invite on Goodreads.com.  Great website to find new books to read, see what your friends are reading, and keep a log on what you've read.  Now about 90% of the books I read come from the library. love love love my library. I may post a few more book reviews on my favorite books from the summer, but for now, here's the lastest book review.

Last night I finished the book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. by James Ford

Highly Recommend Reading.

   The book is based in Seattle during WWII when the Japanese were being rounded up and sent to internment camps on suspicion of being spies for the enemy.  The main character is Henry Lee, a young chinese boy who wears an "I am Chinese" button given by his father so they will not confuse him for Japanese.  The novel jumps times, from when Henry is a 12 yr old boy going to a prestigous white private school on scholarship, to a man in his 50's who has just lost his wife to cancer.

   The young boy Henry finds a best friend at school in a young American-Japanese girl named Keiko Okabe.  Their friendship is tested in more than one way, and the hardest is when her family is swept away in the evacuations of  Japantown. 

   The book actually opens ands starts with Henry as an adult, walking past the old boarded up Panama Hotel, where the new owners have uncovered a treasure in the basement. They discovered many old trunks that belonged to some of the Japanese families that were evacuated.  Henry is convinced that the parasole they were showing belonged to his old friend Keiko and the story starts. 

My sisters both read this book and highly recommended that I read it as well. I'm so glad I did, the story is sweet, sad, and tries to portray the hardships during that time. The friendship between Henry and Keiko is one of commitment and enduring hope. Loved it.

Latest Movie Reviews

   Last week, I was lucky enough to see the movie Inception with some friends at the IMAX.  Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, and Michael Caine....to just name a few. I don't know how else to describe this movie other than a dream within a dream...within a dream..and sometimes within a dream. :) The main plot is around a group of thieves that can access your dreams and steal your safest, most blocked information--extracting the information. But in order for DiCaprio to get what he wants most in the world, he needs to try something different. His boss needs him to plant a seed of information to give the dreamer an idea. 

   I should have written this review last Tuesday when my thoughts were more fresh in my mind. Even though the movie was a little trippy, I really enjoyed the action scenes, visually it was amazing, the idea of being in a dream, and creating the worlds in a dream. Definitely enjoyed this one. 7.5/10 stars

  Last night I took my oldest to see Despicable Me.  I honestly didn't know anything about this movie, other than my daughter really wanted to see it, so we had a mommy/daughter date.  Pleasantly surprised.  The main idea centers around the evil villain Gru, who adopts/uses 3 orphaned girls as pawns in his ultimate plan to steal the shrinkerator from another villain so he can continue with his plan to steal the moon! But as these girls are immersed into his life, he starts to become attached and a different kind of villain.  The end of the movie was my favorite part, very heart-warming.  The story was creative and fun for kids, and the little yellow minions (look like twinkies) will make them laugh throughout the movie.  6/10 stars

Loving this Stormy Weather!

  Before I get to the amazing weather we had today, I wanted to share a couple picture of my daughter on her big girl bike! This is her reward for being potty trained! yay!!

  There is a story behind finding the bike, and then ending up with a princess bike--maybe another day.  In the end she couldn't be happier, and loves to ride with her sister.

  Now to one of favorite subjects...the weather. Today has been one of my favorite weather days all summer. We have had off/on again thunderstorms/lightning, heavy to light rain, and even good sized hailstorms.  My girls and I have spent most of today outside watching, loving, and listening to the rain...not to mention the wonderful smell.  Here are some of the picture from today.

 

  Above kinda shows you the blue skies puffy white clouds to the left, and then one of the thunderstorms rolling in on the right. Love afternoon showers and thunderstorms!! Just beautiful.

  You know when you hear something and it's out of place? That's what happened before the hail storm. The storm had passed, the sky was partially clear, but then I heard popping on the roofs in the circle above us and then I knew something was coming.  My girls rushed in the garage just before we were hammered with hail. The picture above is our neighbor collecting it in a bowl. Really amazing storm.  I was worried about my brother in laws car. :)

 

  I took a picture of some of the hail I found in my yard.  They were the biggest pieces that I could find before they melted away. 

  Lastly, I tired to take a picture of the pouring rain after the hail storm.  You can barely see the rain streaking to the ground and bouncing in a splash. At least this picture does not show how hard the rain poured during one of the storms.  During the whole day, while I was listening to the rain, I was reading a good book. Between storms, my girls rode their bikes and played with friends. Just a great day.

I LOVE the RAIN!

Beautiful rainbow before the sun went down.

Sunset Picture

The other night I looked out my back window

 and saw the most beautfiul clouds at sunset.

Wanted to share. :)

Nicky's visit!

Friends come and go, but there are a few that always stick around no matter what. :)  I don't know about you, but I have some great friends, friends that have been around since before high school. Most of us don't see each other very often (we try a couple times a year), but when we do it is as if no time has past. Love those kinds of friends.  As in life, change happens...many of our friends have moved away.  BUT when they come back into town, we really do try to get together just to catch up and say hi before they are off again. 

Last night, one of my old friends was able to come over and catch up for the night! She has been on many adventures all over the world.  For the last few years, she has been teaching 3rd grade in the Netherlands.  I'm so glad we caught her while she was in town...briefly. On Monday, Nicky and her cute little family start a new adventure in Hawaii to work/live for a while.  Wish her family the best! 

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie

While I was looking for a new oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe to make, I came across this recipe.  No-bake cookie? really? wonder what that tastes like....and since I had all the ingredients on hand, I gave it a try.  Basically, if you LOVE chocolate, not allergic to peanut butter, and mix it all in oatmeal, you will love this cookie. Great for a quick sugar high. ;)

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie

1/2 C Butter

2 C Sugar

1/2 C Milk

4 TB Cocoa Powder

1/2 C Peanut Butter

3 1/2 C Oatmeal

2 tsp Vanilla

1- Add the first 4 ingredients into a  medium saucepan.

2- Bring to a roiling boil for 1 minute.

3- Remove from heat.

4- Stir in the next 3 ingredients.

5- Drop by the TB onto wax paper, and let cool completely.

Day at the Zoo

Time to share a fun trip with my girls.

The Zoo!

  First, why did I go to the zoo at the end of July?! That was my first thought while I was walking around the park pulling my girls in their wagon.  I was hoping for another cool day, chance of rain, but sadly it was up to 95 and not a cloud in the sky. ah well, this was for my girls.  Sadly, with all the heat, 99.9% of the animals were hiding in the shade, taking naps, and just staying out of the sun, which equals seeing very little wildlife.

  My favorite part of taking my girls to the zoo is how excited they get when they see the animals. The both LOVED the baby elephant Zuri, and I even took them into the stinky bug house--i usually avoid this exhibit, but my girls insisted. My youngest loved the porcupine, and my big girl wanted to see the crocodiles.

   There was one bittersweet moment in my hot sweat drenched day, and that was when I arrived at the bear exhibit.  Usually this is my favorite part of the zoo, I love the bears. This time, the zoo has temporarily closed the bears exhibit with a sign that promises a new and improved exhibit in 2 years! yay!! They "say" that when it opens they will have a walk down water feature where you can watch the sea lions, otters (love love love), and the possibility of a POLAR BEAR...oh how I've missed you.  So even though the bears are away for now, I have something to look forward to in 2 years.

   My girls are so cute. They love this egg shell in the park. AND they had to go on the train ride, which we did first to get it out of the way (not my favorite part of the zoo). My favorite part of the day? standing in front of the oscillating fan rigged with water mist. I could have stood there allll day. 

movie music

My friend inspired me for this post (Ash, your post on facebook prompted this!)


When you are watching a movie trailer, or at the end of a movie, do certain songs just grab your attention? Lately, these are the 2 songs that I could listen to over and over again. You could say they left an impression.


This song is from the Legend of the Guardians, or what I like to call the owl movie. :) This trailer has been shown at most of the movies I have seen recently. The graphics for the movie look amazing, but honestly, I want to see this movie because they used this song in the trailer! The power of sound. ;)  Here is the music video. AND below that is the trailer for the actual movie....if you were curious.

30 second to Mars, Kings and Queens. Music video

Legend of the Guardians:The Owls of Ga'Hoole Trailer



You may remember my post on how much I enjoyed watching Prince of Persia. At the end of the movie, when the credit role, this song is being played. When I first heard the song, it took me awhile to realize it was Alanis Morissete singing! This is a really beautiful song if you haven't heard it.

I Remain, Alanis Morissete, Prince of Persia Soundtrack


**Lastly, this is more for me. :) This clip isn't from a movie or anything, just a small piece of a song--just the piano part. Piano music (well most music) is therapeutic.  Matt Bellamy is a phenomenal pianist (and guitarist). I love to hear him play in his songs(lead to muse..Amy, stop rolling your eyes). This piece is part of the Exogenesis Symphony part 2. Like I said, this is only the piano, no other instruments or voice in this clip. I am a crazy Muse fan, it's true. The first part is my favorite, watching his hands move on the keys so flawlessly, it is beautiful.

Matt Bellamy, piano only for Exogenesis Symphony part 2

Movie Salt Review

  Did not know what to expect when I saw the movie Salt.  Maybe it was the name of the movie? Unless you saw the trailer, you wouldn't know that it's supposed to be an action/thriller. When I was looking online, I read in an article somewhere that originally this role was written for Tom Cruise, who backed out, so they rewrote it as a female lead for Angelina Jolie.  How neat is that?  And to tell you the truth, after seeing this movie, she nailed the role.

  I love these kinds of movies.  Jolie plays a CIA opertaive named Evelyn Salt. When she is interviewing a walk-in, he claims that she is a Russian spy and that she is going to kill the Russian president. Salt is then proclaimed a fugitive when she runs, but from the beginning she proclaims her innocence..or is she??? Some have compared the movie to the Bourne Series. Salt is a good show, not great like the Bourne series, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie with my friend. 7/10 stars