Recent Happenings...

April 20-21

My mom and I went with some friends to an amazing event: TOFW

Or.. Time Out For Women.

{I didn't get any pictures of us while at the event...sorry}

But they did give us this adorable grey and pink bag.

All I can say is this, If you have an opportunity to go. Do it!

April 22

Happy Birthday Tim!

We were able to have a small celebratory dinner for our good friend Tim Schmidt. 

It was yummy with steak, twice backed potatoes, and cauliflower with cheese sauce.

....and....

We discovered something... Eithan may become a 'Pyro'.

He could not stop staring at those candles.

And as I look at this picture, I am realizing that he really is quite close. Ugh. 

I'm glad he didn't touch them.

April 23

Elder Winks {aka Drew Winks} Collin's little brother...

has let Collin borrow his motorcycle while he is gone on his mission to Brazil.

I think between Eithan and Collin, we have two very excited boys about this new toy.

It was really nice of Collin's Dad, Carter to bring it to us... 

he drove for 1 1/2 hours just so that Collin could use it!

Thank You Dad Winks!

And that's the recent happenings in the Winks family.

The Playground in Pictures

April 11th 2012

We thought that when he went to the car and tried to get in... that that meant it was time to go home.

As soon as we got into the car, though, he started screaming bloody murder.

In spite of the meltdown, it was time to go home.

He fell asleep 3 minutes before we arrived home.

Ah, such is life...

|| Books || March

April 10th 2012

I had so many books to read this last month!

It was crazy!

In the end, I was only able to get 4 done.

All were wonderful... and 3 were re-reads.

As you will see. 

The Great and the Terrible Vol. 3

The Second Sun

by Chris Stewart

Great. Suspenseful. Sad. Hard to put down. 

Couldn't believe I was only on the 3rd book in a 6 book series. I love these characters. I feel for them. I want to know what happens to them, and I am currently reading book 4. 

If any of you have still not read into this series, please do. It's amazing!

The Hunger Games Trilogy

by Suzanne Collins

I really was only going to re-read The Hunger Games because it was the book we were reading for our book club this last month... but once I got going, there was no putting them down! I have to admit that I appreciated them much more this second time around. I was able to enjoy the story more. I still am not a huge fan of how it all ended, but she definitely gets her point across as far as big government and where we could head if things get even more out of control than they are now. 

For those of you who may see these as barbaric, they are in a way, and they are meant to be that way. We as human beings can be cruel, and that is what she was trying to get across. The Colosseum was created for a reason... let's try not to forget that.

Children's Books

Art 

by Patrick McDonnell

The play on words in this book is simply precious! 

I love the pictures, I love the story, and I love little Art himself. 

I want to add this book to our library.

It's at the library... go borrow it... it is so dang cute.. it might even get your creative juices flowing!

{Erin... seriously... if you haven't read this book... you must. You'll love it!}

ish

by Peter H. Reynolds

A feel good book about being ok with the work you do.

I love the simplicity of the pictures. 

I appreciate the little sister who perseveres even when Ramon doesn't.

All in all, another great children's book.

Dogfish

by Gillian Shields

I simply adore the illustrations in this book. 

The little boy's head is sooo round, and the fish is so expressive.

Together, they create a fun pair who discover that wanting what you have isn't too bad after all.

The Dot

by Peter H. Reynolds

This is the same author as ish from up above.

It's another feel-good book about doing your best creating what you can create.

This little girl creates dots all over, and discovers that she enjoys it and that others can too!

Love the illustrations, love the story. 

I need to read more by this author.

There we go!

I really hope that posting some children's books is helping some of you.

Sometimes it's difficult to know what to read.. and then once you go to the library all you get is dumb stuff... ya know? So... I hope this inspires some of you to get back to the library and try again!

Sunglasses

April 5th 2012

Collin and I found these awesome sunglasses at Walmart the other day.

I knew that I had to have them for Eithan.

One of the amazing things about them is that they completely fold up.

Making them pretty much indestructible, 

which is great for a little munchkin who likes to destroy things.

***

The other day, I put those sunglasses on our little man, and then as we were driving around town... 

I turned around to see this...

He left the sunglasses on, and promptly unzipped my wallet and emptied all of its contents.

I didn't realize how much he had taken out until later I couldn't find my license.

{Maybe the wallet needs to be off limits now??}

But as you can see, he definitely knows which cards to go for first.

When we check out at the store, he gets the debit card out and tries to help me slide it,

then he tries to help me punch in my pin... and then becomes very angry once the whole process is complete. He loves those card machines.

So, I'm going to say that sunglasses are an 'in' thing now for the little man.

{smile}

Spring Might Be Here...??...

April 3rd 2012

I was taking Eithan on a walk the other day,

and I thought... Spring might actually be here..??..

With lovely flowers, some bird eggs, and warm weather... we were both enjoying being out together.

These yellow flowers were blooming everywhere, despite it still being chilly in the morning.

I decided that I had to have some of these in our yard when we have one.

This is my perspective.

A bundled baby boy, and a lovely Wrangler Stroller.

{It really is one of the best investments that's we've made.}

Eithan's perspective.

He loves going for a 'ride' in the stroller.

Though as soon as he saw me... he started doing this...

He can't stay still for too long.

So he turns around and tries to take control of the steering.

But he's just so cute while doing it.

Then near the end of our walk... we found these two eggs.

The mama bird was really distressed that we came this close to them.

She kept trying to distract us away from the eggs, but I was not to be distracted.

This is further evidence that Spring is finally coming.

All in all, it was a lovely day.. and we've had a couple more since then.

So, here's to hoping that it continues!