Another great read!

Look at me- I'm on a blogging roll!!

Back to the topic. I just finished reading The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. I adore it; I so love the main character, Flavia. She is brave, intelligent, witty, cunning, perceptive, loyal (and she's only eleven!), oh, I could go on and on. She's one of a kind. She is, for lack of a better word, memorable. (I have done her a great injustice by calling her plain old memorable, but I want you to choose your own words to describe her). Apparently I am not the only one singing this book's praises, check out these reviews:

“While Flavia de Luce is winning your heart, she may also be poisoning your tea. She is the most wickedly funny sleuth in years, brilliant, unpredictable, unflappable – and only eleven. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie offers the freshest new voice in mystery yet.” — CHARLES TODD

and

“The star of this is Flavia de Luce, an 11-year-old with a passion for chemistry, poison and revenge. This warm and funny novel begins when Flavia finds a dead body in her father’s cucumber patch. She uses her scientific knowledge to investigate the death and uncovers some dark secrets about her own family’s past. This is a clever, witty and totally gripping read with lots of surprises.” — ESSENTIALS Magazine, UK



The best news of all is that The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is the first in a Flavia de Luce series. I personally cannot wait for her next adventure!

The shirt says it all

Andy took Sam to the Braves game this afternoon. The kids were allowed to run the bases after the game. He loved it! So long, t-ball... hello Major Leagues!

PS. If you ever want to bribe my children, use Sprite. These fools will do anything for a Sprite! Andy bribed Sam with sips of it through the game so he would stay in his seat. And, embarrassingly enough, that is how I bribed Sam while potty training. His, ahem, "more difficult" accomplishments were rewarded with small amounts of Sprite. Hey man, don't knock it until you've tried it! Worked for us when nothing else would.

It has been nice knowing you, computer...

Lily knows some letters and just started showing some interest in the computer. Who am I kidding? She has been wanting to get those grubby hands on it for ages.
Anyway, we decided to let her try www.starfall.com (which I highly recommend if you are brave (foolish?) enough to let your child play with your computer). Sam started playing on it when he was about her age and learned a lot. She really seemed to like it.





Lily gets her first computer lesson from our own resident Geek Squad.

Tybee Time

Carol and Hazen took us on a fun trip to Tybee Island with a brief stop in Savannah on the way home. We had a great time. The kids swam like fish the WHOLE time. Sam hung out in the ocean looking for the Big Kahuna and Lily liked jumping off the side of the pool and climbing up the ladder over and over (and over....) again. She has no fear of the water which is kind of scary.
We got to see some old Savannah friends who came out to spend time with us on the beach. Good times!
We missed you, Katie and Jay!

It's true

You reap what you sow...


I'm so proud!

When Daddies do hair

It's been a long time...

since I've read a book that I absolutely adored and dreaded the fact that it would end. Until I read Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I will not tell you anything else about it because you just have to read it yourself. Don't let anyone tell you about it- just read it. I hope you love it as much as I do. Let me know what you think!!

Memorial Day Getaway

The kids and I hit the beach last weekend while Andy represented the Tuck family at a friend's wedding in Athens. Lots of noise and confusion and fun.
Thankfully, there is no sign of oil yet on the Florida coast. I hope I can say the same in the coming months.



Playing a little Nintendo DS during a break from the beach



Becca burying Evan in the sand



Peanut playing with her bucket



Claire, Will, and Sam



Mom and Dad toasting to how lucky they are to have so many of their children and grandchildren taking over their house!

Cho cho

Santa brought Sam this cool kit that allows you to watch caterpillars grow into butterflies. You buy the "habitat" (a two foot mesh container) and send in a code to request your caterpillars. The caterpillars come in the mail in little cups in which the eat, grow, and change into chrysalsis(es, i?). Then you transfer them into the mesh container and wait for them to become butterflies. Amazing! I loved it more than Sam did. It was so cool to see what a chrysalis looks like and watch the change from caterpillar to butterfly. If your little one loves bugs, they will love this activity.
I think Santa got it at www.insectlore.com or maybe just at Costco :)



PS. Cho cho is the Korean word for butterfly. I learned it from watching PBS Kids with Sam and Lily.




Releasing the butterflies from their habitat



Beautiful butterfly