Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Eclipse

Eclipse
(The Twilight Saga, Book 3)

by Stephenie Meyer

Published in 2007. 640 pages.

Amazon Link


Read my review of Twilight HERE and
New Moon HERE

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult (YA), Fantasy

My Overall Score: 4.75/5

What its about (taken from amazon.com): The legions of readers who are hooked on the romantic struggles of Bella and the vampire Edward will ecstatically devour this third installment of the story begun in Twilight, but it's unlikely to win over any newcomers. Jake, the werewolf met in New Moon, pursues Bella with renewed vigilance. However, when repercussions from an episode in Twilight place Bella in the mortal danger that series fans have come to expect, Jake and Edward forge an uneasy alliance. The plot patterns have begun to show here, but Meyer's other strengths remain intact. The supernatural elements accentuate the ordinary human dramas of growing up. Jake and Edward's competition for Bella feels particularly authentic, especially in their apparent desire to best each other as much as to win Bella. Once again the author presents teenage love as an almost inhuman force.

What I thought: Once again, a winner in my book! (pardon the pun...) Eclipse has a nice combination of both Edward and Jacob and can be summed up to Bella feeling torn between the two. So far, I liked Twilight best, this one would be my second fave of the series, and then New Moon would be last. I have one more to read to complete the saga, however I have a few books I want to read before then! These 600-700 page books take so long for me, I need to throw a few shorter ones in there to break it up a bit!

Why I read it & where I got it: It is the 3rd book in the four-book series I'm currently reading and I got it from amazon.com.

Date finished: January 19, 2009

Currently reading:
Say When by Elizabeth Berg

Blog sig Kim

Monday, January 26, 2009

New Year's (belated...sorry!)

Our New Year's celebration lasted about 5 days and including many stops to visit lots of family!! It was tons of fun (and exhausting!)

It all began on New Year's Eve when I packed up the girls (the car was FULL!) and headed up to PA for our mini-getaway! Unfortunately Tim was away again, so it was just the girls and I.

First, we got spoiled at our friend's Carl & Anita's house - they surprised me with my favorite wings and made yummy food for the girls. It was nice to spend time with them and play with my Ry-Guy!

Then it was off to my cousin Tommy's & his girlfriend Kim's house for more food & fun! Tommy's friend Adam was also there and we had a good time. The girls chased their puppy Nicky all over and he was wiped by the end of the night. We put the girls to bed around 9pm, but of course they played around so long - I brought them down to watch the ball drop at midnight!! That was a first for them and they really enjoyed it! Shortly after midnight, we were all fast asleep!




On New Year's Day, we packed up the car again and headed to my other cousin Karen's house. She made the most delicious breakfast/brunch I ever tasted. Oh.My.Word! We all devoured it! It was great to chat with Karen & Julio and of course the girls had a blast playing with their cousins. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, and our time together went too fast. We will definitely be planning a time when we can go spend a whole weekend with them soon!

Then it was back to Carl & Anita's for some MORE FOOD! My goodness, my belly was constantly full over this holiday! They had some other family there visiting as well and it is always enjoyable spending time with them. 'Little' Ryan isn't so little anymore and he talks up a storm - it's adorable! He knows all the girls names and he calls them 'My Girls'! The love is mutual :)


Sleeping peacefully...






Carl, Anita & their dog Cody:


The girls and I slept over on New Year's night. Then Tim took a Greyhound bus from Atlantic City to Pottstown on Friday Jan 2 (so we wouldn't have 2 cars up there). We ordered cheesesteaks from Ice House Deli (mmmm....) for lunch. Megan lost her first tooth at their house - eating an apple! It had been loose for so long, we were thankful it finally came out! And there were no tears - hurray! She is the first of the triplets to lose a tooth.

Next, it was time to visit Tim's brother Gary and his family! We left Carl & Anita's in the afternoon and arrived in Harrisburg in time for dinner (yep MORE FOOD!). We even enjoyed some yummy cheesecake for dessert!

We exchanged Christmas gifts with them since we didnt get to see them before the holiday. Ian was starting to get the hang of ripping them open by the end!



The guys and the kids played Wii all night. Beth & I went to see the movie Marley & Me. It was good - we had both read the book already and of course the movie never quite compares, but it was definitely worth it for a night out!


Gary was supposed to work Friday & Saturday nights, but he got called off because his nursing floor wasn't busy. It worked out perfectly because we got to have the whole weekend all together!

On Saturday we packed up the kids and headed over to Hershey's Chocolate World for their free tour and then some milkshakes & ice cream! (yep...MORE FOOD!) The girls loved it! They remembered seeing Jon & Kate plus 8 go there and thought it was so cool to be there also!













On the way home from Hershey Park, we stopped for dinner at a wing place. They were awesome! The girls even ate them and of course more full bellies!
Back at their house, Tim made some drinks for us and we played more Wii. Beth offered for me to do all of our laundry there which was a Super help - I got it all washed, dried and folded! And the tooth fairy found Megan all the way in Harrisburg!

Sunday, January 4th was our last day of the 'holiday'. Gary, Tim & Tyler got up early and went to a shooting range to enjoy some guy time. Tim's parents came to Gary & Beth's house to celebrate our belated Christmas. We had good food & more importantly drinks! I needed that to survive the afternoon...




Everyone piled on top of Tyler - poor kid was at the bottom of that!!



We were home by 7pm... got the girls to bed and prepared to head back to work/school the next day... WOW! It was a fun & busy holiday :) We are so blessed to have such wonderful family & friends!

Blog sig Kim

Manic Monday

Manic Monday #152

What gives you hope?
My children give me hope. They are a sign that life goes on. There is a future. And they raise my level of optimism about what is to come.


How often do you get your haircut? Describe your worst haircut.

I only get my haircut like every 2-3 months (if I'm lucky). My worst haircut was when I decided to go really short and I hated it. It wasn't the hairdresser's fault, I take all the blame. It was awful.


What's your most treasured piece of jewelry? Why?

My Pandora bracelet... It was a gift from Tim and the girls for Mother's Day last year. So far I have 9 charms on it - each was personally chosen for me with special meaning. It is expensive (which I usually don't like) but I wear it every day and I really do treasure it!

Blog sig Kim

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Sick again :(

I am sick of being sick. This is crazy. I was just at the doctor Christmas week for a sinus infection. Finished off those antibiotics and now... I'm sick again!??! What is up with this?

Thankfully my sinuses are clear, this time it's different. My throat is sore, glands swollen, bad headaches, achy all over, occasional nausea, almost feels like the flu. UGH.

I have never slept so much in a long time - thank god for Mom and Pops taking care of the girls for me. Nyquil is my current choice of ammo. Also gargling warm salt water. (and tried Orange soda- Korn!)... drinking OJ. Blah. I just hate being sick :(

Blog sig Kim

Monday, January 5, 2009

Christmas!

What a beautiful Christmas we had! Tim was away for pretty much the whole holiday season...we missed him like crazy, but we definitely made the best of it. My mom and pops were here and my brother Brian came down for a few days - so it was really nice :)

Christmas Eve, mom, Brian & I took the girls to church...





Kaitlyn wrote a letter to Santa and of course we set out cookies and milk!





The girls wanted to sleep together... so cozy!



Let's see if Santa came!!




We all got very spoiled! And these are a few of our favorite things :)










Tim made it home for a quick family pic before girls went to bed...




The adults opened our gifts after the girls went to bed:






We could not have asked for a better Christmas - so thankful! I wish we could have been with the rest of our family - and of course having Tim home more would have been nice. But hey, beggars cant be choosers, right?!! I hope you had a wonderfully merry Christmas as well!!

Blog sig Kim