I Hate Sad Movies

I'm watching a movie (In the Land of Women) and I didn't realize it was going to be a sad movie. I was all excited to watch a cute little romantic chick flick. But NO! I actually cried!

CAUTION!!! I'M GOING TO SPOIL THE WHOLE MOVIE

I mean come on Meg Ryan's character has cancer and her husband cheated on her. I just can't deal with movies where the mom gets sick and the kids are all sad and crying and wondering if their mom will be there throughout the rest of their lives. I don't need that in my life-ever.

Then his former girlfriend, who dumped him at the beginning of the movie, wants to come back but when he calls she is totally "wasted." The girl across the street who you figured would end up with him but you don't want him to because she is in high school, finds her high school love and he is left with NOBODY. And then his grandma dies!

Why did I waste my last Netflix DVD on this stupid movie (I cancelled my subscription).

Okay, my rant about the movie is over. But I still HATE sad movies. I refuse to see them (if I can help it-stupid Netflix suggestion). Some of my least favorite movies:

1. Little Women - I still think Jo and Laurie (how do you spell his name?) should end up together and I despise little Amy.
2. My Life - I hate movies about parents dying and spouses/children being left behind.
3. Bridge to Terabithia - If only she came with them!
4. My Girl - Why do little girls have to die?
5. The movie I saw as a kid where the little girl takes her goldfish to school and then the dad comes upon an accident and sees the broken goldfish bowl...
6. Another movie I saw as a kid where the mom sings a hymn at night and then dies the next day and I think the boy comes home to an ambulance in his front yard or something like than. Then you hear the song I'll Build You A Rainbow. I have tried to block it out.
7. Cipher in the Snow. Can you get any sadder?

Alright, your turn. Add to my sad movies list.

Ben Babbles in Sentences

I'm so proud of myself for learning how to post a video so I couldn't resist posting this video of Benjamin doing what I call "babbling in sentences."

Grateful Sunday

There were many times this week when I really felt like I had nothing to be thankful for: Our house hasn't sold, I'm tired of keeping it spotless, Brad works too much, and on and on (I won't bore you with my pity party). So I guess I'm grateful that I have a chance to reflect on my week and think of the good that has happened.

• This week I'm grateful Emily has a caring, proactive teacher. We had a situation with another boy in her class on the bus. When I emailed Mrs. C. she immediately called to address the situation. The situation was minor but I'm glad that her teacher took the time and effort to address the problem with all the parties to ensure everything was okay. From my experience I know that not all teachers would take the steps that Mrs. C did for us.
• I'm grateful that we had five showings this week. We don't have any offers but at least people are looking. I feel a lot better knowing that at least it is being shown.
• I'm grateful Emily gave a talk in Primary today. She was so excited and practiced hard so she could give her talk without any help (I was forbidden by her to go in the front). She was a little nervous and forgot to show the pictures until the very end but I was pretty proud of her!
• I'm grateful everyone is healthy. Being healthy makes my life so much easier.

Emily Rides a Bike

Emily has learned how to ride a bike! Again! Last summer my dad taught her while we were visiting and she did really well. She rode around all night. The next day she wanted to show her cousins but she got nervous. For some reason she didn't want to ride again. When we came back to Minnesota we didn't take the training wheels off her little bike because we live on a hill and we were concerned that it wasn't a safe place to ride a bike until she was better at it.

Well, today was the most beautiful day we have had in probably 7 months! We came home from church and Emily asked Brad to take off the training wheels on her bike. While they were working on that I took my bike for a ride. When I came home Emily was riding all around the cul-de-sac like she had been doing it for years! She can start, stop, and turn all by herself with no problem! She is so proud of herself. Here is a short video of her riding.

The bike she is riding is too small for her but we want to wait until we move to buy a new one. We hate to buy one and then haul it across the country. So she will be cruising the cul-de-sac on her 12 inch Barbie bike until we move.

Daisy Meadows

I love books. I love to read. Reading is a need I have that must be satisfied just like eating and drinking. Before I had kids I worried that my children might not like to read. This really upset me. When Emily was just a little bitty baby and she wouldn't sit still to hear a story or look at a book, my fears resurfaced.

But I worried for nothing. My Emily LOVES to read. Since she was old enough, she loved to hear a story and look at books. When she was two I introduced her to books on tape. She was able to follow the beeps by herself. Now she spends more time than I would like listening to chapter books on tape.

I worried a lot about Emily learning to read. She learned her ABC's very quickly but she was very resistant to learning how to read. I decided not to push her and let her natural curiosity go at the pace she preferred. I have to admit it was frustrating that she was not reading because she had all the skills necessary to put the sounds together. I told her when you learn to read independently you will be so happy because then you will be able to read whenever and whatever you want. She still didn't want to do more than her 20 or so words she had learned. But I let it go and figured she would progress when she was ready.

Well, this year in kindergarten she took off. She finally had the motivation and drive. She is now doing excellent. She is the top reader in her class and we are so proud of her. For the past few months she has been staying up late at night reading books by herself. Every morning there is a stack of books in her bed. We have had to limit it to five.

But what I'm really excited about is that she just started to read "chapter books". We have been reading the Fairy books by Daisy Meadows (yes, Daisy Meadows-I didn't get it at first). Tonight as I was reading to her, we had to wait for Sam and I asked her to read to me. She read the whole page-no problem! I was astonished! She was so proud of herself. She said she wanted to read these before but she was afraid if she did I wouldn't read them to her any more. I assured her that I would always read to her (for the millionth time) but now she can read her favorite books anytime she wants.

So the reason I'm writing this post is not to brag by any means but to express my joy that my daughter is a reader. Just like I always wanted! As I'm writing this Emily is reading Inky the Indigo Fairy in her bed. Sam and Emily came in a few minutes ago to give me an update (she is reading out loud to Sam) on what is happening. Soon I'll have to go in and turn out the lights but for now I'm just glad Emily loves books. Emily loves to read!

Ben's Walking Progress

Emily was a very early walker. She took her first steps at 9 months 1 week. It didn't take long before she was walking everywhere. Sam started walking at 10 1/2 months and by 11 months he was walking exclusively.

But Ben has been a different story. He is now 1 year and almost 2 weeks but is still crawling. He can cruise along while holding onto the wall or furniture. He can push a walker toy with no problems, but he has no desire to walk.

This really bothered Brad for awhile. Mostly because from a doctor's point of view he should be walking by one year old. It hasn't bothered me because I can justify that he is just a heck of a lot fatter than Emily and Sam (he already weighs more than what they weighed at 2 years old or older). He is very content crawling. It definitely hasn't slowed him down; he plunders like a maniac.

But since the weather turned somewhat decent for Minnesota, Ben is dying to go outside and play. As soon as the door opens, he bolts for the door. The kids have to quickly shut it or he's out of the gates crawling at record speed. So why don't I let him out? Well, it really bothers me to see him crawl on the cement (he hates being on the grass). Why? I'll explain:

1. It ruins his cute little fake Robeez's shoes.
2. It makes his pants so dirty and dusty.
3. I'm afraid he is going to wear out the knees in his pants before he grows out of them.
4. I hate seeing his hands on the cement. I have this weird tactile phobia (I hate touching certain things) and to see his hands touching the cement really makes me want to wash my hands and smother them with lotion and file my nails. I know-it is crazy.

Call me strange and a freaky planner but one reason all my children have been born in the spring is because I figure they should learn to crawl and walk during the winter so by spring/summer they should be walkers. This makes summer time much more fun. The thought of a crawling baby at the beach or the park gives me heart palpation's? I figure if they are walking, there is less chance of sand, dirt, bugs, and/or rocks in their mouths.

So everyday Ben and I have walking practice. I hold him and try to get him to take a few steps towards Emily or I have him stand up against the couch and try to get him to come to me. He generally takes one step then falls toward me giggling. But today we were practicing in the kitchen and I stood him up against the dishwasher and had him walk toward me. It was the same as usual. But then I was holding him and he was facing the dishwasher and suddenly he took one, two, three, four and five little steps all so he could press the buttons on the dishwasher. Well, I of course cheered, hugged, and kissed him and made him do it again, and again, and again. Generally the buttons on the dishwasher are off limits but hey, if this is what gives him motivation then by all means walk and press away (I'm sure I'll regret that later).

Maybe he will be walking soon, but until then, I'll still cringe every time he crawls on the cement. Lotion anyone?

Bugs and Birds

Every Sunday I have Emily and Sam tell me two things they learned at church. Yesterday when I asked Sam what he learned, he replied, "I learned about bugs and birds." I thought this was an unusual reply. I asked him what he learned about bugs and birds in church. He said, "Well, I'll tell you a story." He proceeded to tell me the story about the early Utah pioneers whose crops were being eaten by crickets. The seagulls came and ate the crickets and saved the crops "so the people had food to eat."

So I guess he did learn about bugs and birds at church.