Star Wars and Oragami...

The Star Wars bug has hit Jack and hit him hard it has!! It started with the anticipation of the premiere of the movie and Jack discovering the book series "Origami Star Wars ."

So Jack has been origamiing his fingers off!! Here are a few of his origami creations that he learned in the books. 

Han Solo and Chewie

 (take the picture yet, mom?)

Emperor Palapetine

He used tin foil for the lightening that comes out of his fingers.

 Jabba the Hut

Ew. That tongue.

The movie was finally released on Thursday, December 17. Our elf, Henry, happened to be visiting at this time and made an entrance on the Millennium Falcon bringing Christmas ornaments and a Galaxy Mix of Jelly Belly jelly beans!

That night it was off to the movie! The boys wore their Star Wars tees. There were a few people dressed up as Star Wars characters, which added to the fun of the night!

 I sat beside Jack and his excitement was contagious! He cheered and clapped along with the crowd!! It was so much fun!!

The next morning, we found Henry had crash landed the Millennium Falcon in our Christmas tree!

Can you spot Henry? He went into the tree head first. Princess Leia and Yoda are also in this picture.   (Leia is by his left hand Yoda it hanging by the end of Henry's foot.)

C3PO and R2D2 also crashed with Henry. 

We all gave the movie a BIG thumbs up and are planning on going back to see it for a second time. Are there holes in the movie, why of course, but they may be answered in future movies or "back stories" as Jack calls them! It is a fun movie adventure!! 
Go, you should!!

It's Not Easy...

I thought it would be a good idea to take a few photos on Christmas Eve of the four of us before everyone arrived. My subjects, once again, were not very cooperative.

I asked everyone to gather on the couch for a family photo. 
Thank you Jason for joining us.

Jason sat up nice and straight! I mentioned that, and soon...

 Sam sat up nice and straight! Jack, aren't you going to sit straight?

That really wasn't the sitting straight we were talking about, Jack!

Nice side profile, Jason. Really? Just look at the camera, please!

As you can see, Jason is now done with taking pictures.

Finally a good one!

Wait...JACK!!!!!

Books of 2015...

I am taking a quick look back at the books I read in 2015. Quick, meaning, no authors or pictures of the books, though I do believe both are important, I just don't want to take two hours to copy and paste book covers!! A majority of the books have been reviewed in more detail on my blog, except for the book I do not remember any details! Oops!!

The book are rated from 1-4 stars. Four being the best! :)

one * = I wouldn't recommend the book

two ** = It was fine.Could pass it up.

three *** = I really liked it.

Four **** = Loved it! Read it!!

So without further ado...here are the books I read in 2015!

1. Natchez Burning * (absolutely ties NOTHING up in the end due to having a squeal. But, really, you can't leave a guy with a gun on a hill with killers coming after him and not let you know what happens!! The book seriously just ends.)

2. Mannequin Girl * (boring)

3. The Storied Life of AJ Fickery **** (A book store owner finding love when he least expected it)

4.Revival (Stephen King) ***

5. A Small Indiscretion *** (EEK! I can't remember this book!)

6. The Nightingale **** (WWII from the point of view of two women)

7. The Book of Unknown Americans **** (what it is like to be an 
    immigrant into the USA. You feel for these characters.)

8.  Sold **** (haunting)

9.  The Girl on the Train **** (Alfred Hitchcock..takes a while to 
     get going, but then, WOW!)

10. The Haunting of Sunshine Girl ** YA (predictable and not  
       scary)

11. Tell the Wolves I'm Home **** (LOVED this story. Cried!!)

12. We Were Liars *** YA (big twist)

13. Secret Wisdom of the Earth **** (Amazing!! A coming of    
      age story in the Appalachian Mountains)

14. You **** (Creepy stalker,  but so good!!)

15. The Rosie Project **** (finding love)

16. The Luckiest Girl in the World *** (Good story about trying 
       to remake yourself to distance yourself from a horrible 
       situation)

17. Code Zero* (Zombie Book. Character gets out of every single 
      situation without a scratch.)

18. Prisoner b-3692**** YA (A young boy goes from 
      concentration camp to concentration camp)

19. Where They Found Her *** (A murder of a baby from three 
      different perspectives that are actually all intertwined)

20. Eeny Meeny *** (Two people left in a sealed place, with a  
      gun. Only one can leave when they kill the other person.)

I am proud of myself for reading 20 books this year and will try to read another 20 this year along with rating them after reading!! This year I am also going to write down the first sentence of every book I read. I don't know why, but I love first sentences of books!! Oh, and their smell. I won't read a smelly book. 
Happy Reading!!

A Favorite Quote...

I am one that takes everything personally and how people treat me is how they feel about me. I REALLY need to work on that and basically, get it over it!!

This quote came along just at the right time...

It really spoke to me and I love it!!

Do you have a favorite quote that spoke to you just at the right time? 

I love quotes and sayings, so I've decided to share a quote or two of my 100s (that I have taken a screen shot from instagram) each week! Some are serious, like the one above and some are silly! Maybe one will speak to you!

Hope you enjoy!!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone!

I am writing this on the eve of going back to school, schedules and routines. Yea and Yuck.  (I can hear Sam practicing his Spanish speech in the background...which he must have memorized for Monday morning. Nothing like starting at 5:00 on Sunday night!)

We had a wonderful winter break. 

(Doesn't everyone say this when you ask them?)

Here are ten things we did over break:

1. Jack decided to stick an eraser on the bottom of his chin (over and over) and gave himself little hickies.  (Proud mom moment.)

 

2. Sam organized a successful shoe and sock drive at school and we dropped the donations at our local clothing exchange.

3. We cheered on the Iowa State Cyclones when they took on UNI in the Wells Fargo Winter Classic. Bummer they lost.

 As you can see, Sam's (and Jason's) legs are so long, they didn't have much room in their seats! It makes me jealous. I had no issues with my legs having enough room. Nice face Jack.

Jason and Jack made and appearance on TV during the game!! Jack must of just had a bad play on his video game!

4. Jack spent alot of his time making stop motion movies. This one is about the Ewoks in Star Wars. 

5. We celebrated Christmas. 

 

Jack waiting at the window for everyone to arrive. 

The boys scored some new ISU basketball hats!

Sam was a photo bomber.

And then helped Grandpa up because he didn't have his hard hat with him! 

(wink wink)

My sister with the boys.

My parents with the boys.

6. Jack tried out his new Go-Pro as Jason pulled him on the ranger around the yard. He also worked on stuffing his school scrapbook and built Legos! And wore his robe every day.

7.We hung out in our comfy clothes, read books (Jack and I) and napped...alot. Even Jason who NEVER naps, was caught napping! It was soooo nice just to hang low!

 Favorite hang out pants!

8.One of our favorite times of the year...Cousin Christmas!! 

The boys both got bows and arrows this year. Fun times.

Family picture! 

(Jason's sister has on the glasses...with the blonde hair. heehee) Sam 's head was a little reflective. 

 

9. We watched movies and lots of football and played games.  We played a new game "Ticket to Ride," played cards, played Yahtzee and Jack taught us how to play bunko!

10. This last weekend, Jack and I cleaned out, organized and dusted his bedroom. We also moved a desk into his room which he absolutely loves! Jason and Sam replaced a toilet and cleaned out the garage! Phew!!

I discovered that this is very true!!

But Jack would be 1% complaining, he's good to go once he gets going BECAUSE he is 99% playing!!

PS: I bought my favorite time of the year candy: Valentine Candy!! Oh...and I decided I should start to work out more often, after I eat three bags of candy! (who doesn't say that one, too!)

PSS: Sam was around for break,but most of his days were spent playing basketball in the morning until noon or sleeping until 11:00 when I woke him up. Then when he got home from BB or up from sleeping, he would go to a friend's house. Oh, those teenage years!!

I did catch him one morning outside shooting his new bow and arrow. I think it's him...I hadn't seen him for awhile. He sure has grown... (wink wink)

Here's to a new year and new resolutions. I just wish I could keep the intent I have on these first few days in January all year long!!

Cheers!!