2008 Book Listing

January

The Good guy ¤ Dean Koontz **** ½
Blood Thirsty ¤ Marshall Karp *****
Beyond Reach ¤ Karin Slaughter *****
Monster ¤ Jonathan Kellerman *** ½
The Shotgun Rule ¤ Charlie Houston *** ½

February

Hard Case ¤ Dan Simmons *****
Half the Blood of Brooklyn¤ Charlie Houston **** ½
Hard Freeze ¤ Dan Simmons *****
See Jane Die ¤ Erica Spindler ****
Hard As Nails ¤ Dan Simmons *****

March

You’ve Been Warned ¤ James Patterson ** ½
Quickie ¤ James Patterson **
Killer Takes All ¤ Erica Spindler *** ½
The Other Boleyn Girl ¤ Philippa Gregory *****
Odd Mom Out ¤ Jane Porter **** ½
Water For Elephants ¤ Sara Gruen *****
Lemons Never Lie ¤ Richard Stark ***

April

The Other Mother ¤ Gwendolen Gross **** ½
Beautiful Lies ¤ Lisa Unger *****
Over Her Dead Body ¤ Kate White *** ½
Eat, Pray, Love ¤ Elizabeth Gilbert **** ½

May

Sliver of Truth ¤ Lisa Unger ****
Rose Madder ¤ Stephen King ****
Hide ¤ Lisa Gardner ****
Kill Me ¤ Stephen White **** ½
Play Dirty ¤ Sandra Brown ** ½
Twilight ¤ Stephanie Meyer *** ½
Black Out ¤ Lisa Unger ****

June

The Best Revenge ¤ Stephen White *** ½
The Ice Queen ¤ Alice Hoffman ****
The Sex Lives Of Cannibals ¤ J. Maarten Troost *****
Blinded ¤ Stephen White *** ½
Spades ¤ Michael Marshall Smith **** ½

July

Missing Persons ¤ Stephen White ***
Getting Stone with Savages ¤ J. Maarten Troost *****
New Moon ¤ Stephanie Meyer ***
Lethally Blonde ¤ Kate White *** ½

August

The Intruders ¤ Michael Marshall ****
Creation in Death ¤ J.D. Robb ***
Eclipse ¤ Stephanie Meyer *** ½
The Straw Men ¤ Michael Marshall ****
Breaking Dawn ¤ Stephanie Meyer *** ½

September

The Memory of Running ¤ Ron McLarty ****
7Th Heaven ¤ James Patterson ***
Double Cross ¤ James Patterson ***
The Spellman Files ¤ Lisa Lutz ****
The Winter of Frankie Machine ¤ Don Winslow ****
Duma Key ¤ Stephen King *****

October

Curse of the Spellmans ¤ Lisa Lutz *** ½
Strangers in Death ¤ J.D. Robb *** ½
Hold Tight ¤ Harlan Coben *** ½
Phantom Prey ¤ John Sandford ** ½

November

Certain Girls ¤ Jennifer Weiner ***
Remember Me ¤ Sophie Kinsella ***
Odd Hours ¤ Dean Koontz ** ½

December

Devil Bones ¤ Kathy Reichs *** ½
Heartsick ¤ Chelsea Cain *****
Bones ¤ Jonathan Kellerman *** ½
Sail ¤ James Patterson ** ½

59 total books which is down 8 from 2007. Now that the babies are down to one nap I never read while they are sleeping which would account for less books read this year. Back in the day of two naps I would read and drink my coffee during their first nap, nowadays I edit photos or work on business stuff while they sleep.

I bolded the books that I gave 5 stars (which wasn’t many) if anybody is interested in reading them. They (the 5 stars) were all fantastic books (in my opinion, I’m sure my husband would disagree). =) My goal for 2009: read better quality books. I see a lot of garbage on my list that I’m sure I could have lived without.

Dear Shenzie and Heaten,

Since your Mother is apparently a big, lazy loser I never got around to finishing your Two Years Two Months post. Ooops. Sorry guys, I’m sure you’ll forgive me if I give you an M&M or two. In fact, you’ll do anything for two M&M’s. Get dressed, stop fighting, eat one more bite, sit on the potty. M&M’s go a long way in our house. And before Daddy reads this and has a heart attack that OMG I’M GIVING YOU TOO MUCH CANDY, rest assured you only get 2 M&M’s every couple of days. Daddy thinks Mommy feeds you sugar all day, but as you well know, this is not the case (although you wish it was!).

As usual this month has brought on loads of new things. If I watch closely enough I might even be able to see you grow. You are still in the fighting stage. Hitting, pushing, biting, yelling, and stealing toys, are all the norm around here. Time outs have become much less effective since it seems one of you is always headed there or threatened to go there. Other than the constant struggle to keep my patience with your new found independence life with you both is amazing. You are both so sweet, loving, happy, funny, and wonderful. You learn new things daily and I am so thankful I am home to see it.

One of the funnest new things is the ouch kisses. If one of you gets hurt I can now make it better by giving it a kiss. You stop crying and life is good again. The funny thing is the one that didn’t get hurt starts play crying and saying they are hurt too in the same spot. So I then give them a kiss to make it better. This is a GREAT way to get more kisses from you. You will also kiss my ouchies away and since I am so clumsy I get lots of kisses.

Dear Shenzie Buggle,

Running! Standing! Spinning! Dancing! Jumping! Laughing! Playing! All of your favorite things!! You are a bundle of energy, always on the go. Everyday more and more of your silly personality shows itself. You are constantly doing things to make us laugh. Your newest thing is singing. You LOVE to dance and now you’ve added singing to the mix. We have little dance performances every morning where we belt our hearts out while dancing. Truth be told it is probably a VERY scary sight indeed.

On the flip side of making me laugh all of the time you are also constantly testing every single thing. ALL.DAY. LONG. You will swat right in front of my face over and over again almost like when I was little and I would put my finger right next to Uncle Daniel’s face and say “I’m not touching you, I’m not touching you”. Only I was older and understood what I was doing. It is scary that at 2 you are already producing this behavior. Grandma Jan just looks at me and laughs. Apparently you are a mini me and she has seen it all before.

You are very addicted to me and are still wary of strangers, especially men. In the store if a man looks at you or dares talk to you THE NERVE! you will glare at them or promptly burst into tears. You’re not old enough yet to use the “tear card”, but it works every time. The poor men (and women) don’t know what to do, they are so upset that they made this cute little girl cry.

New This Month:

You have added black, brown, and white to your colors (two years two months) At two years three months you pretty much know all of your colors
You can count to 3 and understand 1,2,3 (two years two months) At two years three months you can go to 10 with a little help
Nose kisses
Bribery - I can now bribe you with lollies, M&M’s, or other treats when we’re out and you get all crazy.

You still love all of the same things as last month:
I am moving HATS to slot #1
Puzzles
Purses
Chap stick
Moving including jumping, dancing, spinning, running, and kicking
Antagonizing Heaten
Pink and Purple
Walks in the wagon and stroller
Dead leaves
Repeating things a GAZILLION times
Bows, necklaces, bracelets

You don’t like:
Me singing - you tell me no
My wet hair
My hair left down - you want it pinned up all day

You are growing up to be such a fun, funny, happy, crazy little girl. I love you to bits and bites.

Love,
Mama

Dear Heaten,

My little cuddle buddy. You are such a sweet, smiling, cuddly boy. You are so sweet and loving to me, your Daddy, and many times now even your sister. It melts my heart when you give her love or pat her back when she is crying. My favorite thing is to tickle you or chase you around and hear your deep belly laugh. Without fail every time you laugh hard you get the hiccups. You still love to sit on Daddy’s lap and drink your milk. You love cuddle time and ask for lap all of the time. We are working on your talking and you are getting better, but can be pretty lazy when it comes to using your words. You love to hug and hold Shenzie’s hand and cry when she doesn’t want to play along.

You are not shy at all when it comes to new things or new people. You are very independent and love to “play” with the older kids at the park. You love to read, play in your kitchen, watch Elmo, and play outside with rocks.

New this month:
Counting with lots of help to 10
Talking more
Asking for “Me Me Me” meaning you want to go with me
No way. This is so cute, instead of saying no you always say No Way

You Love:
Tickles
Reading
Drawing/coloring
To copy what Shenzie is doing
Tool toys
Holding my hand and walking me places
Cousin Trever
Walks in the wagon and stroller
Milk
Hiking with Daddy
Playing in the snow
Elmo

You don’t like:
Trying new foods
Vegetables
Sharing
Eating with a fork by yourself
My singing or dancing

You are growing up so fast, I love to watch you learn new things. You are my big boy and I love you to bits and bites.

Love,
Mama

As the Years Pass Edition:

Once upon a time there was this GIGANTIC baby house (33 weeks):

Then POP! goodbye giant belly, hello tiny tots:

October 2006

And then they grew into little babies:

January 2007

February 2007

May 2007

And then they grew into little toddlers:

September 2007

November 2007

March 2008

And they grew into big kids:

July 2008

September 2008

December 31 2008

December 31 2008

I can’t wait to see the many changes of my big kids in 2009!!

Happy New Year!!!!

2008 was wonderful and I know 2009 is going to be even better!!!!

One of the best parts of the long holiday weekend was having Jeff home for 5 days.

We had a ton of fun hanging out with the babies. We had movie night with popcorn, m&m’s, and Finding Nemo.

We had date night (thank you Mom and Dad for watching the babies). We went to a movie (Yes Man), which was pretty funny and had some yummy PF Changs.

We took the babies sledding for the first time at Lee Canyon which was super fun. Who knew a mountain full of snow would be 45 degrees. Sweet!!!

Perfect end to a perfect weekend. Thank you baby for making it so wonderful!!

The big Christmas Eve Party at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

For days I had been hyping up the PARTY at Grandma’s house. Shenzie is a little sketchy of new situations and people so I had high hopes this would help her ease into the big family Christmas Eve party. We talked about all of their cousins, Aunties, Uncles, and maybe even Santa (who was a no show, mean old Santa!).

We talked about all of the yummy food we would eat,

the cookies we would decorate,

and the presents we would open.

Our (new) family tradition is pj’s for the Christmas Eve Party. I love this tradition!!!

We played the White Elephant game and once again I took home the greatest prize ever!! Sorry Kristy =)

The babies had a great time (so did Jeff and I). Yummy food and dessert, presents, family, fun….what more could you ask for!!

Christmas Morning!!!

Since it is also my birthday (best Christmas present my Mom ever got!!!!), I got to sleep in a bit. I’m sure this is the last year that will be possible since next year the babies will totally know whats going on and be awake at 5am ready to open presents. After my leisure lounge in bed I got up and we let the babies open the rest of their gifts.

By FAR Heaten’s favorite gift is his new computer. He hasn’t put that thing down since he got it. He LOVES his new computer! Of course Daddy is proud, computer geek that he is.

Shenzie really didn’t have a favorite. She loved all of her gifts, the new hat, bows, and bracelets from cousin Haylee, her computer, puzzles, books, play doh and all of her other goodies were equally liked.

Later that afternoon we made the drive to Pahrump to have dinner with our entire extended family (too bad none of them showed up). The weather was horrid and in the end I really wished we had stayed home. We drove 2 hours there in pouring rain and SUPER heavy winds and two hours home in the same conditions. There was even more snow falling. That’ll be the last time I ever tell Jeff that Vegas doesn’t feel like Christmas because it is always so warm in December.

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas and I know next year will be even better!!!

For more Christmas pictures you can visit here. *All of the pictures are a bit orange, sorry guys.

This year the babies finally started to understand (a little bit) the concept of giving gifts, receiving gifts, opening gifts, the tree, santa, and all of the rest. They “helped” me wrap presents, bake cookies, icing cookies, and eat cookies. YUM. We made Daddy some gifts and cards as well:

Shenzie’s is a tree and Heaten’s is a wreath for those of you who haven’t been schooled in the world of Children’s Art. =)

We started opening our presents a few days early since there were so many and I didn’t want them totally overwhelmed on Christmas morning. Their Grandma’s in Saskatchewan spoiled them crazy (like usual). The babies LOVE their new rolling backpacks as you can see. They drag them everywhere and Shenzie even sleeps with her new bear.

The puzzles and BIG book were also major hits this year. Thank you Grandma’s for everything!!!!!

Jeff took a few vacation days for the holidays so we spent Christmas Eve Morning together. We let The Crazies open a few presents including an Ice Cream Parlor for Play Doh. I don’t know who had more fun with this thing, the babies or me!!!

They made ice cream cones….boring.

I took play doh to another level!

I present Playdoh Bloody Mary complete with celery and pepper:

Cranberry Martini complete with olives:

And Jeff’s favorite, Rum and Coke:

Shenzie thought the Rum and Coke was pretty tasty (apparently we start drinking at a very young age at the Barr house). =)

After some cuddles and kisses under the tree we were ready for Part 2 of Christmas 2008.

Spinning Edition:

Team work!

Taking a little break for a little kiss

We hope you all have a Wonderfully Fantastic Christmas!!!

Dear Santa,

Last year we were too little to quite get the idea of Christmas and Santa. This year we know that we get presents and we love ripping the wrapping paper. We know who you are and we know you say “Ho, Ho, Ho”. We like you, but only from far away. Please do not get too close to us or we might scream (not kidding). We think you are a pretty cool dude and wanted to get you a little something to say thank you.

We proudly present our homemade peanut butter cookies:

What? You don’t like burnt cookies?!? Ok, Mr. Pickypants, how about some of our yummy Chocolate Cookie Bark:

What? You don’t like burnt chocolate?!? Sheesh, what does it take to please you? Ok, Mr. Super Pickypants, how about some of your super yummy candied pecans:

What? The bag is empty?!? Ut oh. Our Mommy made 3 pounds, after giving one pound away she had a HUGE bag full. She must have eaten an ENTIRE TWO POUNDS ALL BY HERSELF! Good thing it is her birthday tomorrow or she might be in BIG trouble!!

Well, we got nothin’. Oh wait, how about a super cute picture of us together:

What? Funny dude in a fuzzy pink hat and supergirl isn’t your thing? Since our Mom didn’t take a Christmas picture this year you’ll have to make do with some oldies, but goodies:

2006

2007

See ya next year, Bearded Fat Man!!!

Love,
Shenzie and Heaten