Summer Reading List

I've had some requests for my reading list, and basically there are series of books that I like and authors that I like and I just go to the library and check out whatever is available:

1. Anything by JoAnne Fluke
2. Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich
3. Alex Cross novels by James Patterson
4. The Woman's Murder Club novels by James Patterson
5. The latest Jennifer Weiner book (I can't think of the title)
6. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
7. Anything by Jodi Picoult
8. The Time Traveler's Wife (after seeing the movie trailer for this, I want to read the book)
9. Anything by Sophie Kinsella
10. Anything by Jane Greene
11. Anything by Mary Higgins Clark
12. The Alex Delaware novels by Jonathon Kellerman

Summer "To Do" List

Summer officially begins the end of June and ends the end of September, but my summer begins the last day of school and ends the first day of school. At the beginning of every summer, I always have a long list of projects I want to complete ("To Do" list) and books I want to read during my free time. I usually end up doing all the reading at the beginning of the summer and all the projects at the end of the summer (I'm a procrastinator). This summer started out like all the rest: with a short "To Do" list and a lengthy reading list. I'm proud to say that so far I've completed almost everything on my "To Do List":

1. Begin Logan's baby book (I don't intend to finish this until he is 1 year old, so it is an ongoing project).
2. Spend valuable time with my son, my husband, my family and my friends (see previous blog entries).
3. Read books on summer reading list.

So, enjoy this entry because there won't be any more blog entries for the next couple weeks...I have to spend every spare minute reading :)

Summer Fun with Family and Friends

So, I only have a couple weeks of "summer" left. It flew by, of course, but that's probably because we were having so much fun, right? The last few weeks were no exception. On July 24th, Jesse's parents and my dad and his girlfriend came to Bloomington to see Jesse's band perform at a biker rally. That same weekend many of Jesse's extended family members arrived in Bloomington for a mini-reunion and a class reunion. On Sunday afternoon we had the whole gang over to our house for a cookout. Jesse's extended family stayed in town for three more days after the cookout and it was so nice to visit with everyone. During that time Logan and I also made a trip to Decatur to visit Jesse’s mom’s side of the family and go swimming. After the Bowman clan dispersed, we decided to head up to the Chicago area to visit family and friends. We spent a total of 13 hours in the car "making the tour" throughout the Chicago area. We enjoyed seeing friends we haven't seen in months and spending time with Jesse's sister and her family. The next couple of weekends will continue to be busy with friends and family visiting and we will enjoy every minute of it.

The Blurklezurps performing at The Sons of Thunder event

Logan enjoyed seeing his daddy play the drums, but he mostly enjoyed playing with his daddy during the break!

Peggy, Dad, Logan and Art enjoying the music

Logan did some drumming of his own

The Bowman cookout

Swimming at Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's house

Logan, playing with his Great-Grandma Sims

The Bowmans "invaded" a Mexican restaurant and the youngsters entertained each other

Logan and his cousin, Ryder taking their first bath together (I'm sure there will be plenty more)

Logan with my good friend, Amy (By the way, congratulations to Amy and her husband...they are expecting a baby girl, their second child, in October)

Logan and Monique (another good friend)

Pray for the Gust Family

Here is the blog of a family whose newborn son is sick and in need of prayers. They are friends of a friend.

http://thegustfamily.blogspot.com/

Playlist

I recently added a playlist to our blog and I wanted to explain why I picked each song:

1. "Happy" by Ayiesha Woods: I often take Logan on walks around a lake near our home and I listen to my IPod as we walk. This is a song that I had forgotten was on my IPod and I just heard it the other day. It describes how I feel when we're on our walks: happy and truly blessed. I know that we are blessed because we follow Jesus and that's exactly what this song is about.

2. "Return to Pooh Corner" by Kenny Loggins: Jesse used to listen to this song when he was younger and now we often listen to it with Logan. It's a reminder that childhood is such a precious thing. Sometimes I'm in a hurry for Logan to start walking so I don't have to carry him, to start talking so that I know what he wants or to be potty trained so I don't have to change any more diapers, etc..., but this song reminds me to be happy in the moment.

3. "Blessed" by Martina McBride: First of all, I love Martina McBride. Not only do I love her voice, but I love the lyrics to most of her songs. She chooses to sing songs with very powerful lyrics. This song is about feeling truly blessed with all you have in life and that's exactly how I feel. I'm blessed with a happy and healthy son, a loving husband, a beautiful home, a stable job, wonderful friends, loving family members and eternal life. I couldn't ask for more!

4. "Steady As We Go" by Dave Matthews Band: When this song first came out, Jesse played it for me and I immediately loved it. Shortly after we listened to it together, he wrote steady as we go on a tiny chalkboard that hangs in our kitchen. It was up there for months and it reminded us that because we love each other we can make it through anything. We know there are going to be good times and bad times and steady as we go...

More songs to come...

Natural Consequences

As a teacher I love natural consequences and I've always known that as a mom I will rely on natural consequences to teach my child some valuable life lessons. At school, I frequently rely on natural consequences to teach important lessons. For example, "I'm sorry you don't like what is for lunch, I hope you don't get too hungry this afternoon" or, "That's too bad you forgot your coat, it's a little cold outside. I guess you won't forget it tomorrow." There are many other "teachable moments" that pop up throughout the school day and the natural consequences often work to drive home those important life lessons. So, while visiting the Brookfield Zoo with my sister-in-law and nephew I saw a perfect opportunity for my son to learn a valuable life lesson: dirt tastes bad. We visited the zoo on Tuesday and went into the play area (which is filled with many fun activities for kids). Most of the activities were not appropriate for our young ones, but we found an area that was created for infants to explore the Earth. We set the babies inside a sand box (which was mostly dirt) and let them play. I was expecting my child to stick a handful of dirt into his mouth immediately, but he just kept grabbing chunks and putting the dirt inside the bucket that was provided. Eventually a handful of dirt made it's way to his mouth. I was ready to intercept when my sister-in-law reminded that if he tasted it he probably wouldn't do it again because it would taste so bad (natural consequence, right?). I soon realized that it wasn't going to work when Logan started shoveling the dirt into his mouth...oops! Well, I was the one that learned the lesson that day...not everyone has the same taste. Overall, we enjoyed our very long day at the zoo. Logan and Ryder (my nephew) were the perfect age to take to a place like the zoo because they enjoyed sitting in their strollers and taking everything in. They took their naps in their strollers while we continued to look around and eat some lunch. I can't wait to go back there someday soon.

Logan, enjoying some yummy dirt!

The boys playing in the dirt

Looking at the sea lions


Nap time

I love sharing special days like this with my little guy!

Beautiful Baby Contest

Hey everyone! We need your help! Jesse and I have entered Logan into a beautiful baby contest. First prize is $5,000 and if we won we would put it into a savings account for Logan. Just double click on the link below and rate the babies on a scale from 1-10 (10 being the best). Logan's picture should be the first one that pops up for you and then you can stay on and vote for other babies or log off at that point (I think there are hundreds of babies that are entered, so you could spend all day on there). You can vote as many times as you want and everyday until July 30th...so get on and vote and help us out!!!

Thanks!
Erin and Jesse

http://beautifulbabies.trb.com/wgnamerica/babies_home_gallery,0,7517665,permalink.ugcphotogallery?u=erinbowman39