Entertainment

For your viewing pleasure, I now present The Haley Family Players:



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Next folder - Kentucky and North Carolina Trip June 2005:

Book Review: The Hummingbird's Daughter

Since we aren't running around doing a million things every day anymore (read: summer is over :-( I might have time to do a few book reviews on books I have read lately. We'll see how THAT goes.
Anyway, just finished The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea. We read this for my mom's group book club. We met on Saturday to discuss it, and, well, only one out of the group had finished it. Two of us had started it (I was next closest with about halfway), and another hadn't read it all (we're a very casual book club, reading and/or finishing the book are not requirements to come to our get-togethers :-) I don't know where the rest of the readers were who didn't attend.
The story starts off pretty slowly, with not much indication of where it is going (I have gotten better about not reading the jacket covers - if someone recommends a book to me, especially for a book club, I can read it without knowing details). The setting (mexican dessert) is pretty depressing, as are the people living there. I was wondering if I could get through a whole book (a large book, too!) of this. Also, as the story is set in Mexico, there is a good deal of Spanish interjected throughout the text. I don't speak ANY Spanish, nor do I really read any, beyond the common knowledge words. So at first this was challenging to me, and made the going even more slow. The thing I like about reading, is that I can get immersed in a story, as well as a language. After a while of reading this, the words no longer seemed as foreign, and their meanings came to me within a few words or at least by the end of the paragraph. I actually only had to look up a few words during the whole book. Or if I never really knew what the word meant, I could feel what it meant, and that was all I needed. The author also occasionally would write a translation in the next sentence, just for the readers, and that never affected the flow.
SO somewhere in the middle of the book the story got interesting to me. And then somewhere just past the middle of the book, I got to where I couldn't put it down. Must...know...what...happens...next.... type of story. And while the story of a religious figure/saint would not normally appeal to me, this one did.
This story motivated me to research a bit on the geography and history of Mexico (I know NOTHING of this region, how can this have happened?) and now I will probably pick up the biography of Teresita by William Curry Holden. (The Hummingbird's Daughter was a fictionalized version of her story.) I'd like to know more.

This is probably the longest review I will write (for a while, anyway), since I just finished the book and it is still very fresh in my mind.

This week

This week started off with a visit after school to Baskin Robbins for a school fundraiser. There aren't too many of these around here, my kids had no idea what it was. "Is this the ice cream they dip in chocolate? Do they mix-in m&ms here?" Really, no idea. Both kids drew very cute ice cream pics the next day, I can't find Elise's (whoops, I'll keep looking!) but here is Owen's:

Edited to add:

And here is Elise's: Also this week, Elise had the priviledge of bringing home Chester, the class "mascot". (Since our school no longer allows live animals in the classrooms, due to allergies. :-( And Chester's little brother. Her homework was to take or draw some pictures of what she did with Chester, and then write a little story about it in the class book. They explored the garden together: Tuesday I dragged the kids to pottery lab with me, while I played. (No new items to show yet!)

Wednesday was a late start day at school, so we all slept in very late (love that morning cuddling time!) and then we hung out at the park after school with friends, til 7:30! Gotta get as many of those in as you can, before it starts getting too dark.

Thursday Elise had another ballet class. Next week they both start up gymnastics, as well.

Friday, I attended a just great LLL meeting, reminding me why I keep doing this :-) and then went to to an Indian restuarant for dinner with friends from my earliest parenting days, my attachment parenting group. Just the moms this time, as our kids are plenty old enough to hang without us :-) It was yummy - need to do THAT more often, too.

Saturday, book club in the morning (some day I will post a review on the books I have read lately!) and then berry picking in the afternoon. Same moms (with families) as Friday, and last weekend, plus a few more families. It was super sunny, and a beautiful day in the upper 70's. Most of my pics got washed out by the sun, unfortunately.

It's too sunny to look at the camera!!!!!

Yummy berries..... (not enough though - we'll have to go back in a few weeks to make a batch of jam).

Beautiful flowers - Berry Patch Farm is such a lovely family- run organic farm, with you-pick strawberries, raspberries, flowers, and basil.

Here is our "bounty" from this week: John brought home a bushel of peaches (not all are shown here, obviously!!!) from Colorado's west slope, raspberries, basil (pesto coming up!!!), cilantro, garlic, and hot peppers from Berry Patch Farm. Much more to be harvested from our own garden, maybe today. :-)

Here's a video of the kids surpising me with a box. I had a feeling they were up to something ;-p

Next folder - May 2005: Hiking with friends, Meyer Ranch and Reynolds Park.

Photos Photos Everywhere!

If you think I put a lot of photos on my blog, you should see how many I take that are NOT used on the blog. I take at least 20 (more like 50 or more) pics for every one I like enough toput on my blog.
So, what brought this comment on? I just uploaded MANY photos to my Kodak Gallery. If you would like to see more photos of our life, please let me know (comments or email me) if you would like an invitation to view my gallery. I tried to send you an invitation if I had pics of your kids in the albums :-) I uploaded 7 groups of photos.
Feel free to NOT browse my photos, of course. It can be a big time sucker.

No old albums this time, on account of all the other pics I have subjected you all to.......

PS - news today - Ollie is at the Animal Hospital having a tooth and abcess removed. Our regular vet (mobile, with the motor home office) is out of town. We're hoping it is nothing more than an abcess. Anxiously awaiting a phone call....

Edited to add - Ollie is home now, and resting. The first thing he wanted to do when he got home was EAT! He's on abx and pain killers, and he'll be on soft food for 3 weeks, but we're just glad he's home.

Teapot saga....

IS OVER.

No obvious problems, it came through all the firing with flying colors (literally, isn't it beautiful?)

Here's what else I made this past month:

Here they are all together:

Next folder - May 2005:
Dressed for the snow!

Big flower!

Cupcakes, Cars, Cuddling, Closing, Carnivals, Climbing

Here's what happen last week in our world:

Made cupcakes just for fun, invited friends over the next day for a "party".

My crazy husband and his cars - really, just don't ask!I do like how the paint is like a mirror for the trees and sky.

Cuddling in gear left from the camping trip with our favorite friends:

Enjoying our school carnival:

My yoga studio closed this week. Friday we had a release ceremony - it was lovely. Time to reevaluate where I want to go with this.

Playing dress-up at the Longmont Historical Museum with old friends.

Teachable moments? Learning from the past, the "message shack" from old days. Our kids to get to try it out.

Climbing, of course. Exploring with same friends at Golden Ponds Open Space in Longmont.

We have wonderful neighbors, but I noticed last night feeling like we we at DIA:

Next Folder - Apil 2005:

Elise's First Haircut

Building an igloo

Playing in the creek