Book Review: The Hunger Games trilogy

Due to the movie coming out, well, this week, I decided to go ahead and read the whole Hunger Games trilogy this past month.

Starting with the 1st book, I enjoyed it - it had me flipping the pages, staying up waaaay later than I should have most nights just to get to an acceptable stopping point. I did think it was very similar to Battle Royale though... similar premise, etc. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.

By the way, I was Team Gale the whole time.

Catching Fire, book 2... I liked it. Definitely didn't see the twist regarding the Quarter Quell coming at all! And WOW! What a twist that was!

Mockingjay... book 3... I think I'm with the majority when I say it was a bit of a letdown and a disappointment. Most of the book, instead of being shown the action we're either left with the main character on the sidelines or the main character goes unconscious as it starts to get good and we're left with a summarization of what happens - can you say cop out? Don't tell your reader what happens - show them! So annoying... then it's like the author starts offing characters left and right - some we've formed an attached to, however their deaths are so quick and rushed that we don't even have time for them to fully sink in which sucks cuz it feels like those characters deserved more. And then at the end, it's like the author forgot to inform us of what happened to some main characters that she went back after the fact and added in a line - yes, 1 - for a character that was pretty huge in the series. What is that?! I'm trying to keep spoilers out here, however, at one point it really did seem like she was going to end up with Haymitch there at the end, which would have been completely unexpected and a huge (not to mention awesome!) twist, but the author didn't decide to go that route (which I almost would have preferred).

So in short, I liked the 1st 2 books but was a bit disappointed with the 3rd as it had all this epic build up and then we were letdown.

I do plan on seeing the movies though, although I find it a bit hard to believe that the author claims she never heard of Battle Royale until she handed Hunger Games into her publisher... the premise of the books/movies are eerily similar, however The Hunger Games aren't quite as gory.

Have you read The Hunger Games trilogy? 

What did you think of them?

Phone Photo Fun Mondays - 03.19.12

  

 Last week Jay had a skin reaction to ranch dressing. Poor baby =(

 He had fun playing with Thomas' friend James while mommy took some pictures with the front facing camera.

It's been unseasonably warm this past week and this current week, so we've been playing outside quite a bit!

Swinging is his favorite!

 I let my sis color my hair during her beauty school's friends and family hours - I needed my greys colored, she needs hours towards her certification. It was a win-win for both of us!

More fun at a playground

Playing with the gravel in the backyard

 

 Playing in the backyard, showing off his flippy floppies

Playing in his hand-me-down sandbox - he played in it for over an hour!

 Daddy attempting to put Jay's new swing set together

Playing outside for a few hours tuckered him out!

He snuggled up on mommy

PSA: You've GOT to taste this!

Guys, we've found something AMAZEBALLS here! (and yes, I just used the word amazeballs).

Almost every Saturday night for the last few years has been Taco Bell night for dinner in our home - hubby usually works Saturday evenings, so we have a late dinner and he picks it up on his way home. It's cheapish, it's simple, and it's yummy. (Thursdays are usually lasagna night, Friday nights we usually go out, and Sunday night is usually pizza night - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I usually cook or we're on our own if I'm working).

 Anyways, last weekend, we just HAD to try these new babies:

And OMG is it good! 

I'm hooked. 

I ordered 2 for my meal this week instead of my usual regular hard shell tacos.

I'm looking forward to eating it again.

It's THAT good!

Go get one and try it if you haven't already.

That is all.

Jay's first allergy

Yesterday I had a few errands to run and since Jay needed to eat before we went out, I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I fixed him a plate of chicken nuggets, cut up, with a little bit of ranch dressing on them as we usually dip the chicken in ranch via a fork and putting it in his mouth. I figured, he's been doing great with finger foods and self-feeding lately so I gave him the plate and let him feed himself while I went to go get dressed. He seemed fine when I checked on him and went to go put my make-up on. All in all, it was roughly 5 minutes that he was alone, eating, and it's not like I was far away - I just in the next room.

Anyways, I get done, see his plate is empty and go to fetch him some applesauce when I notice see this rash all over his mouth, cheeks and part of his arm:

WTF?! The chicken nuggets were warm when I gave them to him, but nowhere near hot enough to give him a burn like that!

I sent this pic to my mom to get her thoughts and she said it could be an allergic reaction or some contact disease or something and to call his doctor. We've given him chicken nuggets with ranch dressing plenty of time - it's one of his regular lunch meals.

Anyways, I called his doctor's office and talked to one of the nurses. She said to hold off on giving him anymore ranch dressing for awhile and said to just monitor him for the rest of the day, see if the color on his face goes down any and that we could give him some Benadryl at bedtime. She said it sounded like an allergic reaction and that even though he's had it plenty of times before it could take awhile for an allergy to develop and show up. Mom pointed out too, that he's only had the ranch dressing given to him via a fork, straight into his mouth, no contact with his skin. I had let him feed himself with his hands, and he got it all over his mouth. Oddly though, it wasn't on his fingers... just 1 patch on his arm where he must have put it in the dressing.

He didn't seem to be in any pain though and it didn't seem to be affecting him at all. Fortunately the color went away within 30 minutes and he looked like his normal self again. I did get him the Benadryl though, gave him some before bed and got lucky that it made it him drowsy, as he conked out while drinking his bedtime bottle (the nurse said it would either make him tired, hyper or neither, so use at our own risk, lol...).

Phone Photo Fun Mondays - 03.12.12

This past week was the halfway point of my 10 straight days off work while they remodeled our store. We tried to keep occupied though during the week and went to the big shopping mall in the Chicago suburbs (Woodfield - where T-Mobile recorded their holiday flash mob video last winter) as my mom wanted me to get Jay's feet measured at Stride Rite and she wanted to look around for a mother of the bride dress for my sister's wedding.

Friday and Saturday were 12 hour work days for me, as we were spending the weekend resetting the floor of our store for our grand reopening on Monday (yesterday). We had to unpack all the hardware and count it and then process all 250 boxes of our summer inventory as they had stopped our shipment roughly 3 weeks ago.

And on Sunday was the bridal shower for my sister that I threw and hosted by myself (although my mom helped me financially as she didn't want me to half-ass it due to my own funds and she helped me make the food... and my aunt finally decided to help out last minute with centerpieces).

Here's pictures from my fun week:

Mom was trying on dresses so I took pics of Jay eating Goldfish crackers in his stroller.

 They had a nice sized Looney Toons playarea in the mall so after going to the stores I needed to visit, I took Jay over to it for a good 45 minutes or so while my mom finished up. He had SOOOO much fun! He had played the day before at the one our local mall has when we went mall-walking with my friend and her daughter who just turned 2, but it's much smaller than this one! And omg, he was soooo proud of himself, walking around by himself and exploring the play area like a big kid - I couldn't help but smile as I sat near the exit in case he tried to make an escape, watching him with the proud, smiley look on his face. He also made a little friend with a girl just a few months older than him - he started "pushing" her in various directions trying to get her to go where he wanted her! LOL... I saw it and went over to tell him we don't push people around, however the little girl's mom thought it was pretty funny!

Jay's "Loot" - He got a smaller (but perfect for our collection) Piglet, a Winnie the Pooh straw sippy cup which he hasn't quite figured out yet, a Tabby Kitty "small fry" friend from Build-A-Bear and his new Stride Rite sneakers.

In Stride Rite, we got his feet measured and they're a size 4, wide so she put him in a 4.5 shoe so he has some room in them still. Another mom came in with her little girl who was close to Jay's age, however she's not quite walking yet. She was drinking milk from a bottle though and Jay walked right up to her and pull the bottle off her! She had this look on her face, but it was kinda funny at how bold he was and I took it off him and gave it back to her. Then a few minutes later, as we're checking out, he walks up to her again and take the bottle off her again! Doh!

At Build-A-Bear he had a "Stranger Danger" freakout, as the older lady that works there was being all talkative to Jay, however my mom and I were standing behind the stroller, debating what animal to "build" and he couldn't see mommy or Grammie so he got very scared of the older lady and freaked out til she went "away", lol... We decided to just go with the "small fry" pre-built mini's this time (I wanted to get him the elephant but he picked out the kitty) thinking next time we go there next winter he'll be old enough to actually pick his own and build one.

I was laying on the couch during naptime and I look across the family room and see Tiger, on "her spot" on the loveseat, only laying like this, front over the back of the couch with paws in the air, lol... silly kitty!

 Jay showing off his Thomas ensemble for mommy (note - he's such a blinker!).

 I found a mantle clock!!!

Seriously though, I've been looking for a clock that I like for our mantle for awhile now and just randomly happened across this one when I wasn't even looking for it, at Target of all places, on the home decor clearance shelf! Couldn't pass that up! I also switched out the picture frame for one that I had bought previously but hadn't put to use yet as I figured it matched and balanced it out a bit. So glad to finally have that clock in the family room though - was a bit annoying having to dig out the phone or get up and go to the kitchen just to check what time it was.

And here's photos from my sis's bridal shower:

 I had my mom "steal" the collages from my sister's bedroom. And I had to get the "guest book" bridal puppy for people to sign as she had mentioned it in the store back when we were shopping for my bridal stuff. I also put together party favors there - each one had some colored M&Ms that matched her wedding colors (purple and malibu blue) as well as a calla lily bookmark (that's the flowers she's using).

 The cake, made by the people at the Sam's Club bakery.

 Food table - meatballs, tuna salad sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, cream cheese ribbon sandwiches, and veggie platter.

Cake and drink table - we served punch that mom made using my grandma's secret recipe she kept under lock and key.

Guests - we had a good turnout, a few people that RSVP'd didn't show, but oh well, we still had fun. We played a wedding word scramble, the What's in Your Purse game, and How Well Do You Know the Bride game.

 The soon-to-be newlyweds - 12 more days to go!

 Opening up the gifts - he joined us for the gift part of the shower, as he wanted to be part of that I guess...

And not shower-related, but here's Jay, getting into mommy's wallet. I had it out while doing some online shopping Sunday night and he came over, grabbed it up, and took off running across the room with it! Then he sat down and started rummaging through it, lol...

Sunday night after the shower, I called work to see if they were still working and needed me to come in. They said they were only going to be there for another hour or so, so no need to come over. It was in the 60s though and hubby and I decided to pop out the stroller and take a family walk. Unfortunately, the playground at the church a few blocks over is still under construction... so we decided to walk a mile or so up the road and to a nearby park. Jay busted out laughing every time a car drove by on the busy road (obviously we stayed up on the sidewalk) and he fell asleep on the walk back. We were out walking for about an hour though and it felt great! It's supposed to be in the upper 60s and low 70s the rest of this week so I'm hoping to get Jay to some playgrounds this week!

Some more firsts with Jay

We've had a few memorable firsts with Jay the last 2 days.

Sunday, well... he took his first tumble down the stairs.

My in-laws decided to drop in that afternoon and I noticed that our loveseat was covered in cat hair as Tiger's been shedding a lot lately so I vacuumed that up and then decided to use the Furminator to get some of the loose dead fur off her. She was sitting just on the other side of the gate so I opened it up to get her. I *thought* I closed it and latched it all the way...

While I'm grooming the cat on the kitchen floor (since it's easier to vacuum up), I notice Jay is playing by the gate like he always does (he LOVES throwing toys down the stairs for some reason). All of a sudden we hear a thud and Jay screaming!

Hubby, who was sitting on the couch in the family room just across from the kitchen, bolts up and is all "OH MY GOD! HE FELL DOWN THE STAIRS!" We both take off running down them, hubby ahead of me, beating me to Jay so I didn't even see how he landed. Hubby picked him up at the bottom of the stairs and he was moving okay, just screaming and crying because he was scared. We checked him over to make sure nothing was broken - hubby said from the way he was laying at the bottom of the stairs, it looked like he rolled which is a good thing.

Hubby freaked out at his sister, who had gone downstairs as soon as they got here, thinking she didn't latch the gate all the way, until I spoke up and said I was the last one to open the gate so it was likely my fault unless Jay finally figured out the latch himself. We monitored him the rest of the afternoon and he seemed like his normal self. He didn't seem to learn a lesson though as he was back playing by the gate in no time. I should probably work with him on learning how to properly go up and down stairs... he gets off the couch properly now and I've worked with him on that for awhile. My mother-in-law assured me that as long as he was crying and moving around that he's most likely fine, and that babies bones are flexible and they're made to take falls and bumps and still be okay. As hubby keeps reminding me, it'll be a miracle if he makes it to 18 with no stitches or broken bones.

I was still shaking and nervous and scared though - when I hear him playing by the gate I often I have scary thoughts of him falling down the stairs and breaking his neck or killing himself... and here he fell down the stairs. I usually take a glance at the latch when he's playing near the gate just to make sure it's secure... but this time, I had a squirmy cat in my hands and unless Jay figured out the latch himself, I must not have secured it. Talk about mommy guilt! At least he's okay though! Thanks for those of you who responded on Twitter and shared your stories of your kids falling down the steps and being perfectly fine!


Other 1sts...

Well, Monday we went mall-walking with my good friend and her daughter who'll be 2 next week and we decided before they had to go to let her and Jay go play in the "germ pit" as the moms who come into my store often refer to it (you know, the kiddie play areas they have in the mall). It was Jay's 1st time in there and he looked so proud of himself to be walking around amongst bigger kids all by himself. He tried to "escape" out the only exit/entrance twice though, making me chase after him.

And then a first of what I'm sure will not be the last time this happens...

He lost one of his shoes in the mall. These shoes I got from work on sale... they have like a bungee cord that you pull a clasp on to tighten them. He ALWAYS seems to get the darn things off though, but usually he's good about keeping them on in public. Well, after my friend and her daughter had to leave I decided to stick around and walk and window shop. As we're walking, I turn the stroller around and an elderly couple point out that Jay's missing a shoe and they said they thought they saw it on the other end of the mall "by the games." Thinking they were talking about the kiddie vehicle rides, I race back to where we were recently and look, but no luck. I went back into the last store we were in and look around, but again no luck. Then I'm thinking "games..." and as I'm looking on the ground in front of Gamestop I see it - his shoe sitting on top of a display. I went to put it back on him but he was fussing so I took his other one off and stuffed them under the stroller so we wouldn't have to go through that again. But yeah, I spent 10 minutes back tracking, looking for my kid's shoe in the middle of the mall.