Malana had a Birthday shout Hooray!!!

 Malana turned four this month.  My little girl is growing up so fast!  I can't believe how fast time flies!
This year all that she wanted was zhu zhu pets and littlest pet shops, so that's what she got!  Although her favorite show is Scooby Doo and that was the requested cake this year.  We went from princess castle to Scooby Doo, cute!

I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to work on the cake this year (we had a women's retreat the same weekend) but it still turned out pretty cute.  The cake itself was pretty dry and somewhat like eating sawdust.  I don't know what happened I have used the recipe before and it was delicious.  Oh well, she liked it anyway.

some fun facts about Malana:

Favorite color:  blue and red
Favorite show: Scooby doo meets Batman and Robin (she is a bit of a tom boy :))
Favorite food:  bread with butter and jam
Favorite toy:  petshops
Favorite book:  Reading about princess'

Malana's little personality shines through a little more as she gets bigger,  she loves to play with cousins, grandma's house, other kids (as long as tehy are not trying to play with her toys), she likes to sing in primary, she loves watching shows, helping mommy,  she can be a bit shy at times, she is stubborn, independent, she will do anything for a piece of candy, has a temper, and SHE LOVES TO TALK!  As grandpa Leonard said after she rode with him to the dump : "she talked all the way there and all the way back, does she ever shut up?"  We love every bit of her good and not so great, we are so glad that she is a part of our family.

Book Review week two!

Book Review week 2:

This book was really good.  There was a good mix of action, story-telling and romance.  Normally I don’t like romance but this one had enough action in it that it kept my interest.  I couldn’t help but fall in love with the characters especially Sarah and Jack.  When I read the description of the book, as a diary of a girl in the Arizona territories in the 1800’s my first thought was that it was going to be boring.  The author really keeps you on your toes wondering what is going to come next and turning the pages before you have read the last sentence on the previous page.

 This book represents one of my guilty pleasures, I like to put on a tough act, like I don’t like all of the girly romance type of stuff a.k.a chick flicks etc… but the truth of the matter is that I HATE books and movies where the entire plot is based on miscommunications and non-communications, which %95 percent of “chick flick” (and books) are.  I do like to read a novel or watch a movie with non-sluty romance in it, usually alone so that I  don’t have to put on the mask, I can let myself smile, let out a belly laugh or cry uninhibited for one of the characters.  This book made me do all of the above and I loved it.  

SPOILER!!!!!

I fell in love with Jack!!!  He is such a manly man, not like the whiney boys in books these day.  If you read the book I promise that you will fall in love with him too!  It made me so mad in the book when she married her first husband instead of Jack, but I was thrilled when they finally got together.  I was so sad when he dies at the end… but I was glad to learn that there is a second book!  I am in the process of reading it right now. 

END OF SPOILER!!!!!

If you are looking for a book that is easy and fast to read, I highly recommend this one.  Some of the parts can be depressing and even a little gruesome so be prepared for that, but overall the feeling of the book is happy!  

loss and floss!

Malana had her first trip to the dentist this week!  She did so amazingly awesome!  I was really impressed!  She tends to clam up and be shy in uncertain situations, so I was worried that she wouldn't even let them look in her mouth.  She hopped right up on the chair opened wide when they asked, let them clean, floss and give her fluoride without a peep of crying.  The only part where she was tentative was when they put the great big cameras next to her cheek to take x-rays but she did so, so good!  She was thrilled at the goody bag that they gave her as you can tell by the pictures.  She asked me today when she gets to go back to the dentist - success!

Unfortunately her next visit to the dentist is going to come sooner than I would like.  She chipped her front tooth about a year and a half ago, and it has slowly been deteriorating since.  The dentist said that the tooth was dead, but that the decay can affect the permanent tooth coming in, so it has to go! She is scheduled to have it pulled on the 16th, hopefully she will still like the dentist after that appointment. Although the dentist isn't very nice to my pocket book, $150 just for the cleaning and check-up and another $90 for the tooth to be pulled -yikes!  Did you know that they charge $30 to put that foamy fluoride on their teeth? I think I will be opting out of that next time, and go buy some fluoride toothpaste!

(she insisted on being in the picture!)

I'm somewhat embarrassed to be posting this, but I am proud of myself, so I am posting it anyway!  I have lost about 15 to 20 pounds in the last few months.  I've always put it off before because I was just going to get pregnant again.  Far to much of my life has been put on hold "waiting" to get pregnant again, I'm ready to take back control!  It is a work in progress, I still want to lose another five pounds, but mostly just the spare tire that won't leave my stomach area!  Next area that has been put on hold - being the mom I want to be, no more energy wasted on waiting for the next baby and more emphasis on playing with and making life fun with Malana!

Book review week one!

         Our life here at the Hull household has gotten kind of CRAZY in the last week.  Travis is working his regular 40 hour job plus he is doing counseling for his work, plus he is making pottery like a mad man, AND he is training for a new/second job (long story). Now that school is in session (since he works primarily with kids) his hours are CRAZY! Most nights he works until at least 8:00 and sometimes much later as well as Saturdays, he may even have to start working Sunday's just to get all of his hours in.  Poor guy, he works so hard so that I can stay home, I don't know how I got so lucky to marry such an amazing guy!


       So that being said, I will have a lot of evenings by myself after Malana goes to bed, so I decided that I am going to try and write a book review a week (since I will have lots of time to read too!).  Some of them will be books I just read, some will be books I am currently reading and some will be books I read long ago.


Disclaimer: I was not an English Major, I am not a literary genius, I just love to read, so take it with a grain of salt!


My book this week is actually a series (probably one that most of you have read)  The Hunger Games Series! Don't worry I will warn you if there is a spoiler.   If you want to know more about what the books are about go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games  or here http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/works.htm

Author: Suzanne Collins

Genre: young adult, science fiction, adventure

Hunger Games (book one):



5 stars!

Amazing, Amazing, Amazing!  Not only is it fast paced, but it keeps your attention and makes you think about  the world around you.  It is an easy read and although it is slightly morbid it will make you laugh, cry, cheer and cringe.  I can't think of anything bad to say about it.  I read it again right after I put it down which is saying alot because most books I don't ever read again.

Catching Fire (book two):


4 stars!

This book started out slow but picked up pace and had me hooked by the end.  I didn't want it to end, I wanted to know what happened next.  Other than it somewhat copying the first book in format, I loved this one too.  It made me fall in love with the characters, in a way only a great author can do.

Mocking Jay (book 3):



3 Stars.


I was disappointed in the last book of this trilogy, I am not sure that there is an ending that I would have been satisfied with.  The best part of the book was the epilogue.  It really seemed to me like she needed to take an extra year and polish the book.  Many of the parts seemed rushed, and other parts seemed confusing.  It was also a gloomier book than the other two.  It seemed to be missing the irony, connections and a-ha! moments that the other books had.  The more that I thought about it the more I agreed with the way the book ended, but I think that she could have done a much better job if she would have taken a little more time in polishing it.

If you have read them, let me know what you think!

Next weeks book:
     These is my words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881 - 1901
  Author:  Nancy Turner
Genre: fiction, western, romance, adventure



Teaser:

From School Library Journal

YA-This novel in diary format parallels the early history of the Arizona Territories as Sarah and her family travel from the New Mexico Territory and settle down to carve out a new life on a ranch near Tucson in the 1880s. Sarah's diary, based on the author's family memoirs, is a heartwarming and heartbreaking fictional account of a vibrant and gifted young woman. Sarah starts out as an illiterate, fiery 17 year old. Eventually, her writing becomes as smooth and polished as Sarah herself as she becomes a tenacious, literate, and loving wife and mother. A treasure trove of discovered books becomes the source of her self-education. Turner describes the trip in such detail that one has a sense of having traveled with Sarah, experiencing all of its heartache and sadness, its backbreaking exertion and struggles, its danger and adventure, its gentle and lighter moments. Life in the new country brings the constant fear of Indian raids and the threat and reality of floods, fire, and rattlesnakes; bandits; rough men, and pretentious women all have an effect on the protagonist but her strong marriage makes the effort worthwhile. Sarah centers her world around her home and family but maintains an independent spirit that keeps her whole and alive throughout her many trials and heartaches. This is a beautifully written book that quickly captures readers' attention and holds it tightly and emotionally until the end.




Enjoy your week, and let me know what you are reading, or if there is a book you think I should read and review!