some of our favorite books...

most days, you can find elijah and me curled up on the couch (or on his bed) reading. we go through lots and lots of books in this house and try to visit our local library weekly. i was just thinking today about the books i was reading elijah last year ('trying to remember' is more accurate) and wanted to record some of our recent favorites. in no particular order:

"fletcher and the falling leaves" and "fletcher and the springtime blossoms"

by julia rawlinson

illustrated by tiphanie beeke

it's a rare treat when we find books that both elijah and i enjoy. these are two that were found at the library...i think we've checked them out at least three times. they're situated quite close to the curious george books so inevitably, if we go home with one of those, we most likely will bring one (or both) of these home too. it's probably about time i added them to our own library, i guess. they are beautifully illustrated with wonderful prose...i can't wait until the winter and summer stories join the collection.  

 

"curious george" (the original) by h.a. rey

speaking of curious george, elijah loves this little story too. while he likes any and all stories about this adventurous monkey, nine times out of ten, he will choose the original book over all the others. i'm not quite sure why...but i find it interesting. i think it's great that this book was published in the 1940s and it's still read and cherished today...

"hansel and diesel" by david gordon

this is an updated version of the old fairytale, hansel and gretel...except in this story, the protagonists are trucks out looking for fuel in the junkyard instead of children out looking for food in the forest. elijah loves it...and got a copy of his own for christmas. the author has also written "the three little rigs" and "the ugly truckling" that we keep meaning to check out from the library but haven't yet. someday soon...

"smash crash" by david shannon, loren long, david gordon and jon scieszka

co-authored by david gordon (of hansel and diesel fame), this is a perennial favorite. there is a whole series of these books out, but this one is elijah's favorite, no question. thank you baba for this wonderful addition to our library (it was a present for his second birthday from my mom)!

and what about me? well...i've got quite the stack going. included in the bedside pile are:

   "the sweetness at the bottom of the pie" by alan bradley (a mystery...might be on my 2010 favorites list)

   "at home in mitford" by jan karon (a reread that i just can't put down!)

   "a homemade life" by molly wizenburg (haven't started this one yet but looking forward to it!)

   "animal, vegetable, miracle" by barbara kingsolver (started this but put it down in favor of "sweetness"...will pick it up again soon...it's good!)

   "walking on water: reflections on faith and art" by madeleine l'engle (my all-time favorite author)

what are you reading these days?

kylie is one!

kylie is a firecracker. one look at her hair will tell you that. but regardless of her fire-tinted locks, she is one awesome kid. here she is at one! we were so blessed to get a sunny afternoon; it's been raining non-stop (literally) all week.

on this day in history...

i am sure that there are many notable and historical events that happened on 22 january. someone probably discovered this...someone invented that. maybe a celebrity died...or got married. perhaps a nation went to war, or one was founded. i am sure that some significant events have happened on this day. however, though it will never appear in any history books, in wikipedia.com or in any celebrity gossip rag, a life-changing affair took place in stockton, california at four o'clock on a saturday afternoon, 22 january 2005. john and i were married! it hardly seems possible that our wonderful ceremony was five years ago...it seems so many lifetimes ago but also, just yesterday. it was an amazing day, one that i'm excited to celebrate for years and years and years to come.

here's some moments from our day:

elijah at the movies.

so. i took elijah to his first movie at the theater last friday. we met some good friends there to see "the princess and the frog". (as an aside, john wasn't thrilled that his son's first cinema experience involved a "girly" movie...but oh well.) on our way to the theater, i explained to elijah what was going to happen and described the big screen and the comfy seats and the concession stand. he did just fine during the show (though he was a bit nervous about the bad guy and his minions), i'm fairly certain his favorite part of the whole ordeal was the candy.

e and ducky getting ready to go inside...

apparently, the best time to go to a movie is on a friday afternoon. there was NO ONE there...we were the only ones in the theater!

the crew (minus me and alyssa): (from l to r) elijah, payton, kim and anna

e and his favorite babysitter, alyssa!

top of the morning to ye...

i took these of lucy kate this morning. love it when she wakes up happy and smiley! love my baby girl.

my big three year old...

i've been meaning to do a post like this for a while...
i call them memory posts...because they help me remember all the precious little tidbits of life that seem to get sucked into the neverland of my brain.
so...this memory post is about elijah man. my little dude.
he's three now.
crazy.
he is such a BIG boy.
every day, he amazes me...and i love that.
yesterday, he said the word "earth" correctly. and while that may not sound like much to most, his utterance of that little word stopped my tedious scrubbing of the kitchen floor. i looked at him, and asked him to say it again. he said, "what? earth?" just like that. not "erff", which is how it's been said since that word entered his vocabulary, but "earTH". i am proud of him, yes, but also a little sad. it's another fragment of my baby boy that has been whisked away by that dreadful process of growing up. speaking of talking, he is a chatterbox! he's always going on about something...usually, the latest truck he needs for his collection. i'll do my best to remember his sweet, little voice during his sullen, teenage years...

he's tall for his age. a characteristic that i know he will outgrow, considering his heritage. but for now, he's tall and skinny. he still has yet to hit the 30 pound mark. 29.3 pounds at his checkup in december. i always said he was an active little guy, and he is, but lately, he can be found playing quietly in the playroom with his trucks. he pops his head out every 15 minutes or so, just to check that all is still well, but he'll play in there as long as i let him really. an interesting shift from six months ago when he had to be entertained most of the day. though, if someone is available to play with him, he is more than happy to have some company!

a few of his favorites:
  - curious george. books or the television show...he doesn't care. he just loves that monkey. we went to the library the other day and without any guidance from me, he marched himself and lucy (in the stroller) ahead of me over to the exact section where the curious george books are stashed. he pulled out a couple and i could hear his little voice telling his sister, "look 'ucy! it's curious george! this one is the one that he goes to park with the dump truck..." and on and on and on...
  - trucks, trucks and more trucks. lately, he can't get enough of his mac trucks (from the movie "cars"...he has three and is always telling me that he needs a blue one.). he also loves construction vehicles and tractors. and though dirt bikes and motorcycles have been left to collect a bit of dust in favor of four wheeled vehicles, i have a feeling they won't remain in their bin forever.
  - his ducky. he still drags that blue duck around with him everywhere. i wonder when he will outgrow him? that will be a sad day...
  - his buddy connor. i love that they get along SO well. they are fabulous friends. that is one playdate during which i don't ever have to worry about him or wear the referee hat. it's a good thing i like his mom so much!
  - asking "how come?". this is my lil man's version of "why?". most days it drives me crazy, but i really try to encourage his curiosity and to answer him as best i can.

i know there's more i could say about my elijah-man...and i will add it on here as i remember it. but for now...here's a few more pictures...

jenson family love...

after being rained out on our original session date, i was finally able to meet up with these three back in december. we had fun at the park while we grabbed some christmas present pictures! love these smiles...

scenes from daily life

some days i feel like this is all lu does...

*sigh*

better late than never...

this was our christmas picture for 2009. it was taken in january, however. i love that it is so typical of us:

in our cozies...

lucy flapping away...

elijah so serious with his ducky posed just so...

i'm not wearing an ounce of makeup...

john smiling in the midst of it all...

it's us. just the way we are.

and i love it.

here's the rest of our christmas pictures (these were from the actual day. i made elijah changed into his christmas jammies before i would let him go downstairs!):