Desmond got a jump start on the easter egg hunting this year and did not need any coaching. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

The idea of growing old has been on my mind a lot lately. It might have something to do with the 1st chapter of the new book I am reading “Water for Elephants” which starts out with the thought of old age, and how when you are in your twenty’s, you know exactly how old you are. You tell people “I am 23″ without skipping a beat, or “I am 27″ with no pause. However when you reach your thirty’s you have to pause for a split second, I am……I am…..32, I am 32 right?….yup 32 it is. It is so true! Is that a sign of the beginning of  the end?

So here I am. I am 32. I do not feel 32, age is just a number right? I know I have plenty of years a head of me, or at least I hope I do. I just can’t shake the idea that life is flying by faster then I want it to.

Look at that boy in the above picture, it is unbelievable that this is the same small baby boy from two years ago. Yes it has been two years. He talks, and wants and asks for things. He tells me I am funny, and wants to play, and show me things, and tell me about all sorts of things he sees each day. He can tell me who is who of Star Wars action figures, he likes to fly like Superman around the house, no really I am serious, he likes to fly arms out and wooosh around the house and jump as Superman would jump.

Each night before we go to bed he wants me to sing the “cockles and muscles” song. If you are Irish you will know what I am talking about right off, the song is actually called “Molly Malone” and its one of those songs that if you live or have been to a pub in Ireland for any amount of time you will hear it. It is actually been adopted as the national song. I sing this song to him every night now. I also have found that if he is very upset this song will instantly calm him. The last few times I have held Desmond in my arms and he is crying uncontrollably, I will start singing this song, and his entire body will instantly relax, and my heart and soul find peace with the entire world. There is no greater feeling in the world then calming your child with the sound of your own voice. I have found myself at times not wanting to lay him down in his bed, and want to just stand there forever and sing and hold him, because of all my short comings or failures or faults as a person, this is the one thing no one can ever take away from me, ever. This is what keeps me going, this is what will keep me young inside forever.

He really is my lucky charm. Love you buddy.

Desmond likes to jump! and boy can that boy jump!  Check out his awesomeness jumping for the camera last night. Ohh and guess what, this is post #501. Pretty crazy.

So it is my guess that this series will be the new Twilight. You wait and see, it will be. It has the makings of an excellent movie trilogy. I just hope they do no screw it up. Lionsgate films has already bought the rights, so the wheels are turning. The first book was good, it has its slow points. I got bored at times reading about “press tours” and interviews and what not. Of course none of this makes any sense if you have not read the book. The Hunger Games in a nutshell is this. Two kids from each of the 12 districts of  a fallen United States are pulled each year from the worst lottery drawing ever. If your name is called, you are thrown into a huge landscape of an arena, and it is fight to the death. Winner gets a hot meal and nice house for the rest of their lives. That’s the nutshell version. It goes much deeper then that and keeps the page turning for the most part, especially in the arena parts.

I will say this, this book made me hungry. The girl in the story “Katniss” kept talking about food, and man she made it sound so good, I wanted to eat after each chapter. I  am reading the 2nd book now “Catching Fire”. I am only a short bit into it, so I have yet to form an opinion, but I am starving. I give the book 4 stars out of five stars, it was a fun read and interesting concept of a story. Would love to see the movie version.

It snow’s like once a decade in Georgia. Plus if it snows at all, it either never sticks or just does not hang around. Well this year we got a rare treat of almost 4 inches, which is a lot for us! We headed to Atlanta which was our original plan for a valentine’s day baby sitting trade off with the easycheese family. So we headed north before the snow kicked in. We got a nice amount of snow, and was able to enjoy it with the Rutledge’s. Here are some photos from the day.

I picked this book up on a Thursday, and finished it that Sunday. I think that has to say something about how much I loved this book. I mean LOVED it. I could not put it down. I don’t think I have ever read a book so quickly. Probably one of the best stories I have ever read. The thing is though, the story is nothing knew, a broken hearted man, meets a little girl whose heart really is broken, in the medical sense. However she has more heart then anyone he has ever met. So he starts a journey of self recovery, while she starts a journey no child should ever have to make. As I was reading the pages of this book, I noticed many of the pages were blotched with water stains. It was then I realized they were old tears from previous readers.

* I will pause now while most of you are roll your eyes at me, I will continue in a moment.

Ok so yes this book had a lot of heart, and I think that is the point. Its all about the heart. I really loved how easy it was to read, and the flow of it all. I also like it took place in GA. That made the story feel that much closer, and real. I will be absolutely reading more books by Charles Martin. I would like to see what else he can come up with. However I will put him on hold for a while, because I was exhausted after reading it.