Books and Movies
This song was mentioned several times in the book, so I thought I would include it with my review:
A glimpse into the life of the "Weird" Watsons from Flint, Michigan. Told from the perspective of the 10 year-old son, Kenny. Kenny tells us his experiences of dealing with his delinquent bullying brother Byron and his rule following, kind-hearted sister Joetta (Joey). Kenny's parents are finally pushed to follow through with the threat to take Byron to stay with his strict grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama. The family takes a trip to the South with the families old car, "The Brown Bomber" and momma's notebook laying out their itinerary in detail. Once in Alabama the children are introduced to the sultry nights and oppressive heat of the day... and the oppressive hatred that is punctuated by a bombing at the Sunday School.
The first several chapters describing the family and the actions of Byron and his bullying were off putting. The author doesn't let Byron become a one dimensional character. The incident with the bird shows a sad, but redeeming quality in Bryron. The book hit its stride once the Weird Watson's hit the road. I have traveled enough with road trips with my family and seen that clinched jaw and wild eyed star on my husband to get connected with the family. The part where Byron says, "No cars, no cow, but I counted yo' momma six times already." Then Kenny replies, "That's your momma too, stupid!" makes me think of several conversations among my kids in the car and at the breakfast table. Byron's character at the end is fully redeemed by helping Kenny through the aftermath of the bombing. I like that the characters are all a shade of gray.
The epilogue was a great addition to the book and one of my favorite parts said, "They are the people who believe that as long as one person is being treated unfairly, we all are. These are our heroes, and they still walk among us today."
Definitely give this book a read. This would offer a wonderful springboard to a family discussion on Civil Rights, bullying, road trips, and life in different parts of the country.
:::::::::::Shrek Forever After
I took Eve to see Shrek on Thursday afternoon to keep a promise I made last month. The message of the movie, to appreciate your life, was a great. The alternate reality was hilarious. The interaction between Rumplestiltskin and the witches was a hoot. Donkey and Puss were their crazy, reluctant, side-kick selves. The site gags with Puss sliding down the ropes was too funny. We had a great time singing too.
Here is a great site for finding all of the songs in the movie in order of their appearance.
I have enjoyed all of the soundtracks from the Shrek movies. I have this image in my head that somehow I went to school with the folks selecting the music because I enjoy them all so much. I thought this new song was amazing "Darling I Do" by Landon Pigg and Lucy Schwartz:
I'm one of those folks that sits and reads the credits to films and this song by Maxine Nightingale that I fondly remember from the late 70's was fun to sing along:
::::::::::Robin Hood:::::::
Last week, my mom and I got to use our free movie tickets to see Robin Hood. Michael and Aaron had gone earlier in the day and gave it a positive review. I already like Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe, so I was game to go to see the film. This telling of the Robin Hood story was well done. Russell Crowe plays Robin Longstride who makes a promise to Robert Loxley's sword to his father to make amends for taking it and going to battle. Reluctlantly Robin agrees, but has to make a minor stop to return the crown of the dead king first. When Robin gets to Nottingham he is asked by Loxley's father to pretend to his dead son, so that his daughter-in-law, Marian, will not lose the family estate.
Cate Blanchett as Marian is a strong woman (I love strong woman characters)who defends her family and land against the smarmy Sheriff of Nottingham played by Matthew McFadyen (who was made not dreamy like he was as Mr. Darcy for this film), then the forces led by the evil Godfrey. Russell Crowe has the presences in each film that he is given a leadership role to pull it off convincingly. I loved him in Master and Commander and in Gladiator too.
The fight sequences are many, but suprisingly, not gory. The bloodiest part of the film is in the credits and is done in life action with a watercolor overlay. Totally funky effect to have the credits using the watercolor. This is a quintessentially cool date movie. It has action, drama, romance, history and a plot (some movies never get around to the plot part...or good actors...). The scenery is magnificent, as well. Check this one out.
(Cake) Pop Goes the World
Michael and I are nursery leaders in our ward. We have 12 kids, usually, and they consist of kids who are potty training. I have taken on the duty of helping the little ones go potty and I come up with the art project ideas. Michael helps with crowd control, funny faces, singing in key, and making the art projects actually work. I have a fingerprint tile Aaron did back in 2002 and it hangs in the kitchen. I decided I wanted to have the kids in nursery make them for Mother's Day gifts a week in advance. I grabbed my
1.Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book
2. white 4.5 x 4.5 white tiles from Lowe's
3. acrylic paint
4. black Sharpie
5. wet wipes
6. Acrylic spray sealer
7. apron
8. 3x5 cards (to write down the page number and animal/animals the kids wanted)
9. and two additional people to help (Thanks, Deborah P., and Brother Howick)
10. felt for the backing
11. ribbon for hanging
12. liquid nails for interiors
Here is what the kids stamped with their fingers, then Michael sketched in what they wanted. I sealed them, cut the felt and glued the ribbon and felt to the back. It was a team effort.
I had the "brilliant" idea to use some paper bags and some construction paper to make puppets that looked like the moms for an additional Mother's Day craft. Michael cut out red construction paper lips and black paper became hair, along with yellow, and off white. The off white paper was colored brown by the kids. We had a few kids dissolve into sobs as they had to wait for lips to be glued, or the crayon they wanted. Michael rolls his eyes and perseveres with my impromptu ideas. He had to console one particular child because we didn't have purple construction paper for lips. He gets next week off, but I can't promise that after that I won't have another harebrained craft idea to pursue. Oh yeah...Father's Day is coming up. Toss any ideas my way.
::::::::::::Teacher Appreciation Week:
One of my favorite websites is Bakerella.com. Her cake pops are a total hoot. I decided to make the apple version for teacher gifts at the kids' elementary school
(This template is by 3 Paper Peonies)
Eve helped me make smiley faces for my mother-in-law, Sydney.
(This template is by Christine Newman)
Must go. Peace out, my friends!
Lordy, Lordy…Yes I’m 40!
A big thank you to my mom and Jim for inviting some awesome friends to partake in some tasty Mexican food, yummy cake and some good natured ribbing. I stole this photo from Jim's blog because I love my friend, Althea's, laugh. Hey, if any of you fly Delta she is one of the best flight attendants around. Another friend, Elizabeth, just moved back to Georgia and is working at Emory so look for great stuff there...but I hope you won't need the services. Suzanne and Jason are great neighbors to my mom and friends. Lani and Guy...thanks for the cool pinwheel (it is in the front yard) and Eve has claimed the balloons. Carol...thanks for the cute card! Charlene...thanks for driving Lani and me places when we were kids. Thank you mom and Jim for the cool presents and always helping with my kiddos. To my dear husband who went shopping with me for my 5th smoothie maker...you are a patient man! It was a truly fun day!
A torrential downpour to start the week. MMMmmm the smell of runoff in the morning!
Need an inexpensive adventure...try the library:
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Autonomatonophobia is the fear of ventriloquists' dummies, animatronic creatures or wax statues -- anything that falsely represents a sentient being.
I actually think ventriliquism is pretty cool, but that is as long as the ventriliquist and dummy are on television. I really liked Willie Tyler and Lester in the early 70s so my mom was so cool to get me a Lester doll. Lester stared at me all the time, so I put him in my toy box. I wasn't sure if that was good enough, so I put my bag full of Barbies on top of that. Still I wasn't sure if he might get out and kill me, so I wedged my Barbie airplane and any other firm items on top of the toy box just to be sure. I eventually donated Lester to someone with more sense. Some unknown person mind you, but probably with more sense. I also feared my wicker chair, the space under my bed and leaving my closet open. Rachel finds it amusing that I would hit my bed after a dead run and a leap to make sure nothing could grab me a night. I know I'm not alone in these fears because I saw Poltergeist and who ever wrote the script for that listened to my nightmares, or had the same ones. Clowns are evil, people! Do I realize these are unfounded...yes...do I still get creeped out...yes!
One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes is with Tele Savalas and Talking Tina:
http://whatafind-antiques-collectibles.blogspot.com/2009/01/eg-goldberger-willie-tyler-lester.html
So long Lester...I hope you are safely resting in a place far, far away!
Let’s Get Together…Yea, Yea, Yea!
Spring has sprung and an opportunity to get together with aunts and cousins. Michael and I took the kids down to my dad and Alice's house for Easter. Saturday, the girls helped me bake and decorate a cake for my sister, Tracy's, birthday, the kids hunted eggs, and my dad grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on the Big Green Egg.Here are Rachel and Haley's toes after a spring inspired pedicure:
Haley and Rachel made and decorated cupcakes for Easter:
They also decorated some hard boiled eggs:
Rachel and Haley hanging out:
Rachel and Haley help me make fondant decorations for Tracy's birthday cake:
Me coloring some fondant:
Rachel and Haley cut fondant to make decorative spheres:
Here are some fondant flowers drying:
Here is the strawberry and devil's food cake frosted with chocolate:
Here is Tracy's birthday cake:
Michael blows bubbles waiting for the kids to start hunting eggs:
Michael snuggles up to my dad:
Dad, you aren't uncomfortable...are you?
Aaron isn't hunting eggs, so he poses with a plate of chili. Noah, Haley, Rachel, Eve, and Tyler are ready to go:
Aaron gets whacked with a confetti egg:
Haley:
Rachel runs away from Aaron:
Tracy and Tyler with the cake:
Dig in:
Happy, slightly early, Birthday, Tracy! Happy Easter, everyone!
For My Favorite Skeptic…
Jessica Hagy has a brillant blog called Indexed. Here are just a few of her "Indexed" cards that remind me of my husband:
Nessie and I wish you a fabulous day!
For Sale?
That flair was posted because it made me laugh and I thought I should pass it on.
***Conversations with Noah:::
A brief history to put this conversation in perspective is that Aaron and Rachel were staying with their respective friends over the weekend. Setting: Sunday morning.
Noah: "Where is Aaron and Rachel?"
Michael: "We sold them."
Noah: "I thought you would have sold Aaron and Eve."
Michael: "Oh, we're going to sell you too, but we just haven't found a buyer yet."
Noah: " Well, I have a bid in to Ebay for some new parents."
These exchanges were quick and matter of fact. Being the bystander in this offered several minutes of laughter.
This morning the estrogen anomaly we call "Rachel" was having breakfast and I was putting butter on a blueberry bagel for her and I stated glibly that salted butter was food of the gods. She quickly said that the food of the gods was curly fries. I repeated my assurance that it was salted butter to wit she replied, "Don't try to reason with me. I've made up my mind."
:::::::::Working on a short video for scouts, so later, peeps!
