6

I sometimes wonder why I am on Facebook, but then it throws memories at me. 

Rebekah turning 2. 

I remember this birthday well. We had moved in about 10 months ago and still had unpacking to do, as you can see from the boxes behind Rebekah. Oh my heavens she looks so little! And I remember thinking how big she was! I just want to pick her up and snuggle her.

I remember that birthday: she was very excited for cake but could hardly stay awake. She was still in need of naps although she had been fighting them for some time. But she made it through cake and presents.

Then Facebook reminded me of this:

That's only a 2 years difference. To me it looks like she is twice the size! I honestly don't remember much about this birthday. We were out in Utah for the last part of October and Rebekah asked to have her birthday there so she could celebrate with her cousins. I remember she got pretty sick and was throwing up a lot and yet managed to rally enough to enjoy a mini cupcake with her cousins. Back in Indy we had cake and a few presents with grammy (who was in Florida during her 3rd birthday and had (really has) not heard the end of it).

Skip to this.

Six. Really? How is she possibly 6?! The whole "don't blink" thing is true people. How have I had this cute little snuggly girl as part of my life for 6 years? But more importantly, how did I ever live without her?

Sure she is 6 going on 16 (that teenage attitude is sure coming out early) and yes, she is spoiled and always wants her way, but she is also so tender hearted and so kind and generous. She is always thinking of others and cannot see another person having a problem without wanting to help. She is also such an intelligent girl!

At this point in her life she is very into princesses. At one point I called her a princess to which she replied, "I'm not really a princess. But I am a princess in Heavenly Father's eyes." You're a princess in my eyes too my beautiful little girl.

Morning After

Big birthday + Sunday time change = Monday morning sleepiness. 

Birthday

Rebekah woke me up with, "I still look and sound the same, but I'm six. One day I'll be taller than you and I'll be 7!"  I have to admit I rubbed my eyes and looked at the clock before I talked myself into replying.

Then we went down and opened the presents my mother sent to her: a princess bike helmet and an Ariel swim cover.

Rebekah informed me she was very excited to see how I decorated the door. This year has been rough and my mind was out of ideas but at 11 pm the night before I came up with this:

Then we pulled daddy out of bed and went for birthday donuts.

Yum!

Then we went to buy her a much needed bigger bike. I thought this was too big but the sales man said they don't even sale the 18 inch will. And so she went from a tiny 16 inch to a massive 20. So crazy to see my little baby on such a big bike! (Which, by the way, drives way faster than the 16 inch wheel. Seriously faster. We road bikes a few days later and she was speeding down the sidewalk swerving and giggling the whole way. I about had a heart attack!)

Then we had a quick lunch at Subway and took several selfies while we were waiting for our sandwiches.

The rule was big birthdays 5, 8, 12, and 16. Everything else is a one person affair. However, with the impeding move I broke down and let her invite two friends. We all went to UPaint and painted some pottery.

Rebekah's is the one with the RW on it.

Then of course we had presents.

And cupcakes.

And even got a picture of us together!

Love these silly girls.

Then we raced home and partied with grammy, who brought the birthday balloons.

And pizza. A lot of pizza.

There were presents. Including these m&m's. Wish she got that excited about the much more expensive bike we just bought....

Loved the shirt with reversible sequins.

And of course humored me with my pathetic attempt with the cake.

Which actually looked okay on the inside.

Then we chilled with coloring and other such activities.

My favorite was hide the princess dolls. This is Don saying, "I don't have it," when he actually is hiding Snow White under his leg. Go figure.

Much love was shown for grammy.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired just writing about it! Way too much in one day. But apparently that's just how we roll. Happy birthday Rebekah!

Goodbye Grandma

My grandma Barney passed away on November 1st. Turns out it was her and grandpa's anniversary. It is good to think about her reunited with grandpa on their special day.

I have no pictures of them - nothing digital that is, but my cousins posted some and I took these from her post. 

I love that picture of my grandparents in the top right corner - grandpa and that leather jacket. I remember moments about my grandparents. My grandma was very tender hearted. My grandpa was not the easiest to get to know but I always remember wanting to please him. One day I when they were visiting he commented on a picture I had on my wall and I promptly went to the store and bought it for him. After that grandpa was a little more open towards me and when we would visit he would sometimes sitting by me and tell me stories of his childhood. Such a remarkable man. I need to make sure their story is written down so my little girl and my nieces and nephews will know them. 

My beautiful grandmother. 

It was so hard for her to here be without grandpa. 

This is my mom and her mother. This was after grandma started living with mom.

This is my aunt Jackie and grandma, after grandma went back to California.

It was difficult at the end. I am so grateful for aunt Jackie and her kids who helped grandma though her last days. 

October Books

Interesting book about a family (the father in said family was American diplomate to Germany) who lived in Germany during the rise of Hitler. Not as well written as some of his others, but still good.

Stories of the innocent on death row. The author suggests it is too easy to put the poor, uneducated people through the justice system unfairly simply because they cannot afford good representation. Rough stories but pretty well written, however lots of the same ideas over and over again.

This was my first Dostoyevsky. I started The Brothers Karamazov but struggled through the first 100 pages and went to a "lighter" work. This was still hard to follow and difficult to get the general meaning of what Dostoyevsky is saying. It helps to know his background and what was going on in his time period - i.e. social unrest and revolutionary thoughts. A good story though.

No thank you. Got about 50 pages into it and I couldn't take it any more. Painfully predictable and way too cliche. Here's hoping the person who recommended this to me neither reads this blog or asks me how I enjoyed the book.

What took me so long to read this?! Such a well written book about a subject matter and person dear to my heart. Highly recommend.

Was hoping this would be like unto The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Not so much. However, it is eye opening to read about other peoples life and realize just how spoiled I've been. It's also important to remember how each person is coming from such a different place than you and are carrying burdens you know nothing about. 

Someone recommended this to me. I looked at it, said no way, and went on with life. Then two more people recommended it and I gave in. Glad I did. Although somewhat predictable it was fun, different, interesting and even left me wanting more.

I was hoping this would give me more information about Russia during this time period but it was really about espionage and all the amazing craziness that goes with it. I'm going to need to read more to see if I believe everything the author says, but I will say I was heartbroken by the betrayal in the end. 

In my quest for lighter reading I ran across this. Turns out it was not really lighter because of its "real life" applications. It was probably one of the most true reflections of the interactions in marriage I have read. I had great empathy as I read this - from both Harriet's and Calvin's side. Very recommendable. (*Notice on the top cover "proper romance" - I had to look up what this meant. Basically it's a romance novel without the sex scenes. Good to know.)

Not sure how I felt about this one. True story about a rich girl from USA (California) and a poor boy from Africa and how money makes everything great. Moral: every rich person needs to sponsor a poor person and everything will be okay...? Hmmm... not sure I totally buy into that. And is American really always the answer? And the excess of the American family (and main character) promoted in the book - not to mention the life the American main character lived was almost sickening at times. I'm assuming the author wants the reader to say "cool!" but it was almost too much. However, it's an interesting story with the whole "true" factor.

Someone suggested this and it seemed interesting even though it rated on the lower side with Goodreads. I figured they made a move out of it, how bad could it be? Honestly, I don't know how they made a movie out of this book. It probably is based on the main "hidden figures" and then they just went from there. It was dry and emotionally distant and so poorly organized / written. Considering the book's topic was about people you would think it would be the opposite.  Maybe just watch the movie.

This was good. A young Italian boy and his experience with WWII. Well written. It's a novel but it's also based on a true account. Very recommendable.

I saw this a while ago and chose to pass by because of lower ratings on Goodreads. My aunt recently suggested it and I decided to give it a chance. Glad I did. An account of a runaway slave, her motivation, and life during and after. Wow. Highly recommendable. 

I have not posted any books for Rebekah lately. We are at an interesting place with reading right now: the picture books are not enough but the chapter books don't have enough pictures. Another problem I am having is Rebekah's princess fascination. And so we've been reading a lot (understatement) of princess books. She likes the big princess collections like: 

...and I've been reading lots of these. A lot. Gonna loose my mine - isn't there anything else - lots of these. I suppose they are cute stories but nothing exciting. And don't get me on the whole merchandizing aspect. UGH! 

However, I've found a few (one of which I'm very excited about but I found it November 1st so you'll have to wait till next month). 

Cute story about a tom-boy girl. Rebekah semi liked / tolerated it since we have read our way through all the princess sections at both libraries we attend. 

But seriously, stay tuned for next month... Oh what the heck, I'm WAY to excited! I'll share it now. Presenting:

Now this I can get behind! She's a princess but also she fights goat eating monsters on the side. NICE! And Rebekah loved it too! It's the perfect amount of pictures and fun - a great transition to chapter books.