Music Tuesday -- Sara Bareilles "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"

Another amazing acoustic find!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Quentin: 46 Weeks

Nom nom nom

Likes: All the food! Snuggles. Exploring independently. Playing with all of Arthur's toys. "Reading" books.

Not so sure about the top of the hill

Riding the gondolas at the zoo

Dislikes: Nap time. Being hungry. Not being allowed to climb all the things.

Park time

Someone loves the selfies

Sleeping: Random wake ups at night time, but he usually goes right back to sleep after finding his paci again. 

Brother play time

Arthur playing tiger attack

Eating: All the things! He really loves fruit right now, but will try just about anything. He tried a small piece of blackened salmon but definitely wasn't a huge fan of the spices.

A rare calm nap moment

Playing with the ball

Playing: Arthur is super excited that Q will now play with him. Their current game is tiger attack. Arthur "attacks" Q and Q dissolves into giggles. They also like to read together and play with cars. 

"Reading" his That's Not My Dragon book

Playtime at a friend's birthday party

Milestones: 

• Showing more opinions — Not really. 
• Starting to use utensils — Sorta. He has been playing with spoons but not really adapt at eating with it yet.
• Engaging in more interactive games — Most definitely!!!!

Selfie with mom at the party

Stealing Arthur's water

Out and About: We had a few activities this past week. We had our usual errands: grocery, library, and Target. We also hit the park in San Ramon and had picnic lunch while running errands. On Tuesday, we had our monthly zoo visit and rode the gondolas up the hill for the first time. Eventually there will be a ton more animal exhibits up there, but right now there's only a cafe. On Thursday we had a fun friend playdate and picnic at Seven Seas down in Sunnyvale. And on Saturday we attended a birthday party for one of Arthur's friends. They had a bounce house! Q didn't partake in that, but he did play with the babies and smashed some cake.

Climbing Benny!

Demolishing pancakes and yogurt

Next up on the TBR Pile:

Life Right Now #22

As I look outside my window: The sun is coming up over the hill. Loving the light this morning.

Right now I am: Enjoying my coffee attempting to plan our activities today.

On my bedside table: Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine (random library pick); Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

On my tv this week: More Supernatural S1 for J and I. I finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and it was great. We also watched a few movies throughout the week. 

Listening to: Lots of podcasts including Sorta Awesome, NPR Politics, NPR Up First, and NPR It's Been a Minute.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Maple Bourbon Pecan Chicken
• Tuesday -  Leftovers
• Wednesday - Fish and Chips
• Thursday - Sweet Potato Nachoes
• Friday - Tacos
• Saturday - Pizza Day
• Sunday - Cookout

On my to do list: Plugging away at my ridiculously long to do list. I really want to knock off a few more months of my blog fix this coming week.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Nothing right now
• Tuesday - Maybe a family activity
• Wednesday - OBM Playdate at our house
• Thursday - Chabot Space and Science Center
• Friday - Pool Party
• Saturday - Stamp Club
• Sunday - Cookout

What I am creating: I still need to finish the rest of stamp club's projects before Saturday. I also want to work on July's memory planner pages.

My simple pleasures: Pie, corn on the cob, iced tea, coffee -- yeah I've really got food on the brain right now.

Looking around the house: After a big clean on Friday, the house is looking pretty good. Time for maintenance. 

From the camera: Arthur's new game is fighting tiger attack. Q loves loves loves it!

Next up on the TBR pile:

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby

Title: We are Never Meeting in Real Life

Author: Samantha Irby

Publisher: Vintage Books 2017

Genre: Nonfiction 

Pages: 275

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Popsguar - Cat on Cover

With We Are Never Meeting in Real Life., “bitches gotta eat” blogger and comedian Samantha Irby turns the serio-comic essay into an art form. Whether talking about how her difficult childhood has led to a problem in making “adult” budgets, explaining why she should be the new Bachelorette—she's "35-ish, but could easily pass for 60-something"—detailing a disastrous pilgrimage-slash-romantic-vacation to Nashville to scatter her estranged father's ashes, sharing awkward sexual encounters, or dispensing advice on how to navigate friendships with former drinking buddies who are now suburban moms—hang in there for the Costco loot—she’s as deft at poking fun at the ghosts of her past self as she is at capturing powerful emotional truths.

Our book club book for August. And I must admit that my response to the collection was "meh." That is to say that I don't think it is a bad book. I enjoyed parts of the book, some of the essays, and yet I wasn't itching to pick it back up every time I put it down. At a different time, I may even enjoy the collection, but right now I just couldn't find myself caring that much.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Video Time

I love del Toro's crazy fantasy and this looks really good.

Super excited about Season 2

So excited for Season 3. Can't wait until they get on the Muntjack!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Title: The Turn of the Screw

Author: Henry James

Publisher: 1898

Genre: Classics

Pages: 327

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Read Your Book Shelf; Classic - Horror

A young governess is sent to a great country house to care for two orphaned children. To begin with Flora and Miles seem to be model pupils but gradually the governess starts to suspect that something is very wrong with them. As she sets out to uncover the corrupt secrets of the house she becomes more and more convinced that something evil is watching her.

A random classic from my bookshelves. Somehow I have never gotten around to reading this one. I dove in and am so glad I did. This is a fascinating novella of potential supernatural events. I loved the ambiguity in James' writing. The characters are interesting and the house as a character is fascinating. I especially loved the critical essays presented after the novella in my edition. It was nice to read some more academic reviews of this story. 

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Tuesday -- Fall Out Boy "Champion"

I'll admit that I still like Fall Out Boy...

Next up on the TBR pile:

Quentin: 44-45 weeks

Likes: Food, snuggles, playing with Arthur, anything that makes noise, being outside

Dislikes: Nap times (at least the going to sleep part), not being able to walk yet, loud noises

Sleeping: Q has been consistently napping! Most day I can get him to sleep about 1 1/2 hours at around 1pm or 2pm. This is so very exciting for me! 

Eating: Still enjoying all the foods. He especially loves fruit and crackers, but will eat just about anything I put in front of him. 

Playing: So much playing now! He really loves playing with Arthur. They usually play peek-a-boo, but they also started wrestling this week. He also likes playing with Arthur's vTech laptops and all the dinosaurs. 

Milestones: 

• Walking while holding onto our hands — Almost. He walks along furniture, but hasn't quite got balance figured out yet.
• Helping getting dressed — Nope
• Climbing — Most definitely
• Engaging in parallel play with age-mates — He hasn't been around any babies lately.
• Starting to speak specific words/variations of words — Nope, although he's babbling more.
• Venturing away from mom and dad and exploring — Yep. He loves to explore now.

Out and About: Lots more activities with the twins before they left. We went to Great America again (pics with Snoopy), and Seven Seas for a playdate. We also hosted a pool party and Q really enjoyed the water this time. 

Next up on the TBR Pile:

Life Right Now #21

As I look outside my window: It's dark... I'm writing this on Saturday night.

Right now I am: J and I are watching the remake of True Grit. I've never seen either. Very good.

On my bedside table: Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine, lots of comics...

On my tv this week: J and I have been watching old episodes of Q.I. and Supernatural, plus more current episodes of Full Frontal.

Listening to: Lots and lots of podcasts. I'm also caught up with the backlog of Sorta Awesome episodes, plus my usual NPR Politics and NPR Up First.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Beef and Guinesss Hand Pies (new to me recipe!)
• Tuesday - Pulled Pork Sandwiches
• Wednesday - Maple Bourbon Pecan Chicken (new to me recipe!)
• Thursday - Italian Noodle Soup
• Friday - Leftovers
• Saturday - Blackened Salmon
• Sunday - Pizza Day

On my to do list: Earlier this week I did another brain dump. Every couple of weeks, i need to do a brain dump to get all the crazy tasks out of my head so I can focus on one or two at a time. Pic is just the first page. I'm up to four pages so far...

Happening this week:

• Monday - Errands probably...
• Tuesday - Oakland Zoo Visit
• Wednesday - Pool day?
• Thursday - Seven Seas Playdate
• Friday - Home day
• Saturday - Arthur's friends' birthday party
• Sunday - Crop Day!

What I am creating: Working on my cards for August. I've got only a few done, but at least two of those are for August's stamp club.

My simple pleasures: Oreo ice cream, cooler nights, decorating my Happy Planner, fun fluffy historical romances.

Looking around the house: The upstairs is looking really good after my crazy cleaning from this week. The downstairs is just constantly in a state of upheaval. To be fair, we spend 90% of our waking hours downstairs, so it just gets used more. I am feeling like another toy purge is needed soon...

From the camera: Homemade French Bread and Sausage, Potato, and Spinach Soup from Friday's dinner. Ignore my messy stovetop.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Simply Unforgettable by Mary Balogh

Title: Simply Unforgettable (SImply #1)

Author: Mary Balogh

Publisher: Bantam Dell 2005

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 422

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Popsugar --Author from a country I haven't visited

New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh returns to the seductive world she knows so well–Regency England–in a new novel filled with her trademark wit, sensuality, and breathtaking storytelling. With this, the first in a dazzling new quartet of novels, Balogh invites us into a special world–a select academy for young ladies– a world of innocence and temptation. Drawing us into the lives of four women, teachers at Miss Martin’s School for Girls, Balogh introduces this novel’s marvelous heroine: music teacher Frances Allard–and the man who seduces her with a passion no woman could possibly forget.…

A little fluffy romance was exactly what I needed this week! I was a little wary of the story based on the first three chapters. Thankfully the characters and storyline improved quickly. I really came to love Lucius and Frances. They are such a great pair. And the side characters were amazing, especially the Earl and Amy. Definitely a good start to a series. I an't wait to start the next book...

Simply Quartet:

• #1 Simply Unforgettable
• #2 Simply Love
• #3 Simply Magic
• #4 Simply Perfect

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here is my randomness for the week:

• The house feels very empty this week...
• Feeling the itch to deep clean and declutter the house. I at least need to clean the downstairs before Saturday morning's brunch.
• Not feeling the collection of essays I'm reading. I'm thinking a fluffy romance might be just the thing.
• Need to make wacky cake this week
• I went a little crazy with the graphic novels at the library. Now I need to find time to read them.

Next up on the TBR pile:

August 2017 Life Goals

Let’s check in on July's goals and my progress.

• Check off 10 more items from our summer bucket list -- Success! We ended the summer strong with some more fun activities. The twins' favorite was our trip into San Francisco and visit to the Musee Mechanique. 
• Back to school shopping for twins -- Done! We got clothes and school supplies. All done!
• 6 months of blog fix (July - January 2016) --Over-achiever success! I finished the 6 months plus some.
• Read 3000 pages -- So close. I ended up reading 2944 pages for July. 
• Weekly self-care -- Big fat fail! This is so incredibly hard to schedule with the current work and kid situations.
• Big plan August - December -- Another fail. Instead I focused on July...

August's Goals:

• Read 3000 pages -- Hoping for another good reading month
• Fix all of 2014 -- I'm really hoping to get the entire blog fixed by the end of September, so I need to finish all of 2014 this month.
• Goodwill donation round-up -- Feeling the clutter is starting to take over the house. Need to do a purge.
• Plan Arthur and Quentin's birthday party -- It's not until October 7th, but I'm a huge overachiever and planner. I want to have my basic plan ready by the end of August.
• Plan our Halloween costumes -- We've decided on Star Trek, so now we have to work out the details. I think I've found my costume, but all the boys need to be outfitted.
• Plan weekly kid activities -- My goal is two big outings (not in CV), one local outing, and one craft/home activity. (Possibly carry this idea into September)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Tuesday -- Daniela Andrade "Crazy"

An interesting acoustic find...

Next up on the TBR pile: