BFFs

Each place I live I pick up a new BFF or two. Our jaunt in Chicago during our law school era brought us into contact with the wonderful Wrights! Not only did I find Denise (pronounced "Neesie" by Tyler as a child, thus my nickname for her) but Landon found Loren.

We first saw them at an Enrichment activity that we both arrived early to help with. Loren ahd just turned two and Landon was 21 months. From the moment they saw each other they were best buddies and always have been. They look alike, love to roughhouse, have similar temperments, and are both very smart. When they were little, if either got annoyed with the other, unlike other kids who start fighting, they would just walk to the other side of the room and start playing on their own. It was so funny to watch because they were like guys who need their "alone time".

Denise and I are great friends. We both love running together (especially along Lake Michigan with the Chicago cityscape as our view). We have had most of our kids within months of each other. She is ahead with 5 to my 4! Go Denise! Every time we decide to do something it is always an adventure. One of our highlights is when we were both pregnant (I was 6 monts and she was 8) and going on the train to downtown Chicago. We both had strollers and a little one in tow. The turnstile at the train was broken so we had to hoist our stollers over it, then do some kind of gymnastic move to hoist ourselves over it--PREGNANT! then carry the stroller and kids up a gazillion stairs. All while looking chic! :)As fate would have it they came to Houston (Pearland) for medical school ,and thankfully stayed for residency. So now we get to see them, though never as much as we want.

Our latest adventure was on Friday. We went to East End Park in Kingwood. Between her kids and mine we had 11 kids with us 9 yrs-old and under. The kids were playing in Lake Houston and Landon and Loren came running down the path. They had come within a foot of stepping on a full-grown cottonmouth (water mocassin). That makes two times Landon has had close encounters with poisonous snakes.---Thank you, angels! I owe you a few.

I'm Not a Paid Movie Critic-

I am not a paid movie critic--I promise, and I normally do not (and will not) continue to critique movies on a regular basis. Partly because that doesn't interest me as much as other stuff and because I don't watch a lot of movies.

But it is only fair to tout the good ones if I am going to bash the bad ones. We watched "Meet the Robinsons" during Priesthood Session on Sat. night.----GREAT MOVIE!

Great story line, funny, engaging, creative. With wonderful values: Family matters, it is okay to make mistakes, personal responsibility for our choices, forgiveness, the list goes on. It could have been a church movie.

Well done, Disney!

Static Electricity

Too bad we can't harness this energy and run our air conditioner

Monsters vs. Aliens

You know the scripture that tells that once you've been warned you should warn your neighbor? Consider this your warning! :)

Every time we finish reading the Book of Mormon the kids get to go see a movie at the theatre. I have suffered through two horrible movies since we decided on this family activity---Shark Boy and Lava Girl--biggest waste of time and money ever spent! And the latest, Monsters vs. Aliens.

I have issues with Dreamworks in general. I know that a lot of their movies are popular, but I think that they have too much "adult" content that gets passed as a G rating just because it is animated. To a kid, it is all the same--actually it means MORE to a kid when it is animated because they actually pay attention.

Monsters vs. Aliens is a pretty shallow movie, but my real beef with it is its use of the Lord's name over and over (once is bad enough), the feminization of men, and its nuances to homosexuality.

The premise of the movie is that the girl can be strong and independent without her soon-to-be-husband. But throughout the movie they show scene after scene of men being rescued by women, a girl coming on to a guy at "lovers lane" and the guy not wanting anything, etc.

The one guy who is "manly" is the General and he is made to look like a lunatic.

Some people think that it is okay for kids to watch this stuff because it "goes over their heads". I don't believe that. Kids are like sponges and pick up on everything. Everything they see influences them. Besides, I am not so worried about whether they catch things cognitively right now, as I am worried about offending their spirits.

I am personally boycotting Dreamworks from now on.

Fireproof

Great movie!!! Not the best acting throughout, but good enough. The story and message are spot on and very well done. And Kirk Cameron to boot!

Five stars for content.
Three stars for acting.

Apostle's Memorization Game

Here is a great idea to help your family/church kids learn the names of the apostles and their order of seniority. We did this in seminary today and we learned it in 15 minutes---never to be forgotten again.

I can't remember the name for this type of memorization technique, but you start with a number, give it a rhyme then make an association with the name of the apostle. Here is our list (some might not make sense because we personalized them for us).

1. Sun, Monson
2. Blue, Blue Bay Packer
3. Tree, Perry Tree
4. Score, Four score and Nelson years ago
5. Drive, Through the Oaks (The Oaks is the neighborhood our church is in)
6. Mix, Power Ballard (A power Ballad mix)
7. Heaven, Beam me up Scotty
8. Late, due to Hales
9. Spine, PerspEYRING
10. Hens, from Holland (They imagined the hens wearing little wooden clogs)
11. Leaven, UchtDOUGHorf (My personal favorite)
12. Shelves, CLean your shelves and make your BEDnar
13. Bean, ChriSTALKerson (play on Jack and the bean stalk---Christofferson)
14.Quarintine, Quarintine the Cook (imagined a diseased person making your food---gross)
15. TBA

Pretty fun and very effective!

FYI: 150 lb. Post-Surgery Mastiffs Don't Swim!

I should have listened to Jared. As he was leaving for bishopric meetings this morning I was busying myself getting six kids and a dog ready for a walk. He said to me, "Maybe you should leave Phoebe home. That is a lot to handle." I thought to myself, "Is he crazy? Does he have any idea what I do during the day? I do this every day! Going on a walk with six kids and a dog is my "leisure" time." Instead, I said something sweet like, "Oh, it is fine, I can handle it." :)

We went to the lake and fed the ducks. It was a crisp 50 degree morning. It was a beautiful site as 6 little angels frolicked and played with the ducks. Until....

Fire ants-- first! Anyone from the South knows about fire ants. They are the nastiest things you can get bit by. They sting like crazy as soon as they bite and burn like fire for days afterwards, not to mention the nice little pustules you get at each bite.

Tommy stepped in these little demons and was crying so I was frantically cleaning him and the stroller off where they infiltrated. It was necesarry that I let go of Phobe's leash in order to work fast enough to minimize the damage. Then....

Phoebe jumped in the lake after the ducks! Dumb dog. I was yelling for her to get back because I didn't want the children to witness a duck murder. By the time she finally decided to listen to me she was too deep to touch the bottom. Newsflash---0ne month post-surgery Mastiffs aren't great swimmers. She struggled and struggled to get to shore. It was futile. She began to sink. First her upper body went down, then her shoulders, and down to her little nose poking out of the water without any progression towards shore.

In comes mom to save the day! (again) Fully clothed, with neighbors watching I jumped into the lake and swam after my dog. Good thing she still had her leash on so that I could pull her more easily, because she was too deep for me to touch the bottom.

My friend, Natalie, upon seeing me walk home drenched (and cold) said that in the future I should remember that revelation for Phoebe comes through Jared and I should listen to him!

He gets the revelation, I get drenched!