I am stoked!

My daughter just walked into the bathroom, lifted her little girl potty's lid (clearly telling us something), and then went peepees on the potty.

Ridiculous!

And, no, I'm not bragging. I'm telling Caleb and Rachel in Africa the updates on their niece. So there!

We took Sarah to Florida to visit our good friends Guy and Laura who live about an hour out of Orlando. Sarah got to experience her first:

(1) plane flight
(2) boat ride
(3) Atlantic ocean
(4) alligator sighting
(5) fort
(6) old folks village
(7) sea shells
(8) thunderstorm
(9) playing in the rain (not while there was lightning, of course)
(10) really humid and hot place (okay...some may argue against this citing birth canals, umbilical cords, amniotic fluid, and other things. Sure examples are purely ridiculous.)

















 



 

Avalon Norling is an awesome up-and-coming photographer. We highly recommend her. If you're interested in hiring her, let us know and we can put you in touch.

So, yeah. Sarah just took a dump in her little girl potty. TMI, I know. But I am super stoked for her! Who knew she could do that at 11 months.

“The two that are one will come either to save or to destroy the world.”

Nicholas Flamel believed it. The twins started to believe it. The problem is that now Dr. John Dee and all the rest of the Dark Elders believe it as well, and they will stop at nothing to capture the twins prophesied in the Book of Abraham.

Their plan:

(1) Kill the Alchemyst Nicholas Flamel.
(2) Kill the Sorceress Perenelle Flamel.
(3) Capture the twins of legend.
(4) Retrieve the stolen pages from the Codex.
(5) Summon the Dark Elders from the Shadowrealms
(6) Take over the world.

If only it were that easy. John Dee has spent the last 600+ years trying to catch the Flamels and has failed time after time. Now, his Dark Elder has given him one more chance. Or else! To help him, Dee has hired the powerful immortals Niccolo Machiavelli (famous author and art collector) and Billy the Kid (infamous gunfighter). The two of them have split up across the world to take on the Alchemyst and his wife.

Perenelle Flamel is still trapped on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, and as if having the deadly magic-sucking Sphinx hunting her down isn’t bad enough, Billy the Kid has arrived with reinforcements. However, the bad guys seem to have underestimated the Sorceress. She’s had a little time to recharge her powers, and she’s ready and waiting for whatever he brings her way. Too bad it’s the Crow Goddess and the Old Man in the Sea. They could be trouble. Especially if they unleash the bizarre army of monsters locked in the cells of Alcatraz Prison.

Nicholas Flamel has traveled to London with the twins. Both of them have had their powers awakened, and their gold and silver auras are the strongest and purest anyone has ever seen. Sophie has already been trained in both the Magic of the Wind and the Magic of Fire. Josh, however, is still powerless and a bit jealous of his sister. The goal is to have Gilgamesh the King train them in the Magic of Water. The only problem is, the last time Flamel and Gilgamesh talked, the King tried to kill him. All their hope lies in the crazed mind of the oldest being alive. And Machiavelli is hot on their trail. If Gilgamesh can’t help them, then they might be stuck without options. The Flamels are ageing faster with each day and desperately need to find the Book of Abraham the Mage or they’ll die.

So get ready for some entertaining reading. Michael Scott is a master of his genre. This third book of the hexology continues the thrilling romp through history’s myths and mysterious faces. (NOTE: If you’re like me, you’ll even end up Googling a few of these interesting characters.) King Arthur’s knights, ley gates, the four swords of power, the enigma of Stonehenge, time travel, Cernunnos the Archon, the Wild Hunt, and even William Shakespeare himself show up in this new installment of the bestselling series. Check out THE ALCHEMYST (book 1). Enjoy THE MAGICIAN (book 2). Then pick up THE SORCERESS (book 3). It would be a tough task to write a book that’s better than the first two, but they sure seem more riveting every time.

Coming in the future from Michael Scott . . . THE NECROMANCER (book 4), THE WARLOCK (book 5), and THE ENCHANTRESS (book 6).

If this book review was helpful, please vote for it at Amazon.
First published on www.TeenReads.com

The Playoffs aren’t so happy for the Orlando five today
The series three to one, with but one home game left to play
When Howard played his heart out and up-short he sadly came,
A sickly silence fell upon Orlando fans in shame.

They’ll still show up on Sunday, with the knowledge in their breast,
That they’re soon to finish up their year, poor losers like the rest.
They thought, if only Superman could just improve his aim –
We’d bet Epcot and Disney World, with Superman in the game.

But Courtney Lee was ugly, and played horrible each night,
No skills to guard the Mamba, who shone with radiant light.
Surely Rashard Lewis felt his star losing its shine,
And Turkoglu proved a failure when upon the freebie line.

Alston, Battie, Gortat, Jameer, all wished that they could play
As well as their competitors, the Lakers squad that day.
Purple and gold, their colors bold, could not be stopped at all,
Upon their path of legend into glory’s famous hall.

D. Fisher shot the lights out, and Bynum threw down the ball.
Walton’s passes with precision, moves of beauty by Gasol,
Odom’s rebounds, Sasha’s hustle, Farmar’s surge from off the bench
All would be so crucial when the Lakers finally clinched.

There was ease in Kobe’s manner as he stepped onto the court;
There was poise in Kobe’s shooting more than all the rest in sports.
And when, responding to the jeers, he knocked down another shot,
No heckler in the world could claim this year would be for naught.

Oh, somewhere in that wretched state of crocs and heat and loss,
A mascot runs across a court with patriarchal cross
They’re longing for a hero to save them from their drought
But there is no joy in Magicland, Orlando’s down and out.

Lakers in 5.

Mommy can sure be silly sometimes. Good thing Daddy is so level-headed and reasonable all the time.

In the last clip, I love how (1) she says book and (2) she completely ignores Mommy because she's reading books. Atta girl!

Uncle Caleb and Aunt Rachel,

We're bad family. Bad, bad, bad. We haven't posted videos for you in a long while. At least it seems that way. So here is a video of Sarah walking yesterday. Enjoy! She's getting so old.

From chapter 22 - Eyes That Look to the Sky

In his sideways vision, Akolo watched the old man go to the fire and stir the coals with a strange sort of spear. His hand gripped the spear through a small cage of wires. Both sides looked sharp all the way up to the tip, which was glowing redder than any stone he had ever seen.

"What is that?" asked Keoni.

" do not know what it is called," confessed the old man. "Many years ago, I found a man washed up on the shore. He had been dead many days. His clothes were odd, and he had this weapon attached to his waist. I figured there wasn’t any harm in taking it. It has proven quite useful."

The old man walked carefully toward Akolo with the spear. "The wounds must be closed or you will have another problem on your hands."

Akolo noticed Keoni’s bare feet begin to step back and forth nervously.

The old man seemed to notice too. "Keoni, could you break me off a couple smaller pieces of that driftwood."

Keoni retrieved them, and the old man had Akolo bite down hard on one.

"This is going to hurt," said the old man .

"I know," was Akolo's muffled reply.

The fire in his leg was instantaneous. His teeth clenched hard on the wood. His fingers clawed the stone. His eyes watched Keoni.

The youth’s eyes were wide with memory as the old man sautered wound after wound. The boy’s fingers moved unknowingly to his chest, to the wound that Akolo had caused. The thoughts distracted Akolo, but not enough to keep him from cringing with each new searing fire. It had been his fault. The boy had suffered because of him. Akolo had been thinking only his people, and the truth he realized now was that he hadn’t even really seen the Miru as people. They had been his oppressors, the rulers, the ones he loved to hate.

Now, as the youth handed him a new piece of driftwood, Akolo was forced to rethink it all.

As of January 18th:

21750 / 80,000 (27%)

As of February 2nd:

30200 / 80,000 (38%)

As of March 3rd:

35250 / 80,000 (44%)

As of April 1st:

45000 / 80,000 (56%)

As of May 29th:

50600 / 80,000 (63%)

I don't know why things feel like they're slowing down, but when I crunch the numbers, I'm averaging about 7% per month. That's pretty cool. 45-75 minutes per day and look what happens. Slow and steady wins the race, I guess.

Thank you for making your home here in our community!

We wanted to share some exciting news with you. The owners of your community understand that this economy has brought some difficulty to many of our residents. Because of this, the owners have decided that at this time the rent will only increase for those of you not experiencing difficulty. It is our belief that those of you who saved for a rainy day have a moral responsibility to help out the others in our community who spent their money on frivilous vacations and entertainment purchases or didn't bother to look for a job until their unemployment benefits ran out.

Please complete and return this short survey to determine if you are in need and return it to your managers.

This is your last chance to spend everything, borrow more than you have, and join those experiencing difficulty. If you do not, you will be asked repeatedly to shoulder the burden for those less fortunate than yourself.

As an added thank you, our partner company is offering a basic cleaning of your apartment's carpet for a one-time low offer. As we understand some of you are still hard at work, cleanings will be offered free of charge between the hours of 10am and 3pm. If you are interested, please see your manager to schedule a cleaning time that is convenient to you.

If the resident staff is unable to fulfill your needs, you can leave a message for the property supervisor at 714-GET-REAL. [NOTE: No one checks this voice mail. It only exists for your venting needs.]

Again, thank you for making your home with us in our community.

Best wishes from your Management Team!

These are some of the things that Sarah enjoys doing to pass the time:

• Taking all the DVDs off the shelf
• Removing clothes from the hamper
• Finding loose Cheerios on the floor
• Dancing to any music she can hear or any sound that has a semblance of a rhythm
• Reading books . . . but not letting us read them to her
• Pushing light furniture (ottoman, chairs, boxes, high chair) around the house
• Touching mommy and daddy's teeth
• Using her car seat box as a fort
• Kissing herself in the mirror
• Giving mommy belly zerberts
• Looking out the window
• Watching ceiling fans
• Climbing safety gates
• Pointing at lights and other things
• Playing peekaboo
• Burrying her face in the bean bag
• Watching dogs and hearing them bark
• Sitting on mommy and daddy's lap while they work at the computer
• Talking to Caleb and Rachel on Skype
• Being ninja

Signs she's used so far . . .

More
All Done
Eat
Milk
Please

Words she's said so far . . .

Dad
Hi
Book
Bush
Up
Down
Moo
Poop

Words she's used in context . . .

Dad
Book

She'd never done this before...falling asleep WHILE eating. We laughed quite a lot.

All right, so Sarah is starting to walk. It's pretty doggon fun, if you ask me. Not only that, but she's starting to understand what we're saying. And...I swear she's saying, "Dad." Oh yes, she is.

10. You're standing up so well!
9. We need to get you all cleaned off.
8. He's growing so fast!
7. No...that's dirty!
6. Did you make a mess again?
5. Uh oh...you're dribbling down your chin!
4. You got it all over the place!
3. Don't put that in your mouth!
2. Ow! Don't bite me or you won't get any.
1. All right...it's booby time!

So my wife has this thing...whenever I drop the word "crazy" or the phrase "you're crazy," her mind immediately goes back to elementary school to a playground rhyme she learned and has NEVER forgotten. Here's how a scene might go:

And that's how it goes when she says it out loud. Other times, I can see her playing through the whole rhyme in her mind, and I try to time it. I can tell by the look on her face, so I try to run through the rhyme with her and then I jump in outloud with "I hate snakes!" right on the money when she's thinking it. Then she realizes what her mind is doing and we both start laughing. This is one of the things I love about my wife.

Which brings me to today, and my wife's apparent healing. I did it again, brought up the "crazy punch line" and she didn't start doing the rhyme in her head or outloud!!! We both started yelling, "You're healed!"

Unfortunately, about 2 minutes later, after the focus on the conversation had faded, she caught herself saying the rhyme again.