the brains of the family

(this was taken about two and a half years ago, but you get the idear)

this is autzen. he's five years old and soaks up knowledge like you wouldn't believe. he reads at fifth grade level-but don't quote me on that. typically every sunday at the dinner table we are informed about an animal and any fact you want to know about it. 

yesterday while chattin' in the kitchen with lindsay and ryan and my mother-in-law, auzten says something along the lines of..

"hey grandma, did you know the cheetah is the fastest running cat?"

grandma: "really?"

ryan: "what about the fastest bird?"

auzten saying matter-a-factly: "a falcon."

ryan: "how about the fastest running bird?"

without missing a beat auzten says: "an ostrich."

i busted up laughing with amazement. this kid never ceases to surprise me. i thought he'd flounder a little bit..but it was as if on que..like someone said GO! and if he doesn't know the answer he will tell you, "you know...i don't know". and then go home and search through his books or go online to find the answer and then remember to inform you of his findings when he sees you next. this kid is the smartest five year old i know. he's smarter than me anyway. :)

bookaholic

over the last few weeks i've been doing A LOT of reading. and i'm here to blog about two series that i can't seem to get off my mind. 

#1 the hunger games

#2 the mortal instruments

i eat, sleep and dream the hunger games. it's the last thing i think of before i go to bed, i wake up several times in the night knowing i've been dreaming about it and it's the first thing on my mind when i wake up in the morning. it's like twilight all over again. haha..oh gosh. but its almost better. (dare i say it IS better?) i've even gotten ryan hooked on it(no, he won't read it himself, but her wants ME to read it to him every night before bed). the third one doesn't come out til august and i'm on the edge of my set waiting for it. it's just so good. it's controversial, romantic, action packed, heart-wrenching, riveting and any other cheesy/cliche word. READ it. i know you'll love it.

the other series is the mortal instruments. if i had seen it in a book store(from the cover alone)i wouldn't have picked it up, but ryan's aunt pam offered up a few books for our million hour trek to utah last week and among the books she let me borrow was the first book in this series. now..i may enjoy twilight, but i wouldn't say i'm a major fantasy book fan. but i thought well i enjoy myself some harry potter and narnia and lord of the rings films...so why not give this a try. from the first chapter i was pretty much hooked. as a disclaimer-it's totally fantasy with warlocks and werewolves and vampires and demons..you name it. but the love story completely gets in your mind. it was stated perfectly by stephenie meyer who said, 

"dear edward and jacob, i adore you both, but i'm spending the weekend with jace. sorry! love, stephenie."

the main heartthrob alone is reason to read the books. i finished the first book in two days. the next thing i knew i was in barnes and noble (while on the drive to utah) buying the next book. then on the way home i found myself in walmart buying the third book. i'm a complete sucker for series. i HAVE to know what happens. there's one more book left but it doesn't come out until march 2011..bummer yo. all i'm sayin is even if you're not a scifi/fantasy fan..this series is still worth while. 

both of these series are going to be made into movies which makes me so excited. i can't wait!

*stepping off bookworm soapbox*