Bat Baby

Last night after his bath, I put Jacob in his Batman jammies. He was quite the entertainer in our house after that. Everyone had fun watching his cute little chubby legs running around. Fighting crime and plaque all in one day is a lot of work, especially when you're sometimes unstable on your feet!

A Must See Movie!

It's rare these days to find a clean movie that stands up for religious beliefs. I had put "Arranged" on our Netflix list because it sounded intriguing. Two New York City teachers, one an orthodox Jew and the other Muslim, befriend each other and share their experiences searching for a husband in their customary religious way. I was more than pleasantly surprised at the outcome of the movie and recommend it to everyone.

Watching it, I learned so much about Muslim and orthodox Jewish customs. How one goes about finding a mate and the immense pressure put on them to pick a spouse at the right time. Don't want to become an old maid at age 23! But I love how Rachel and Nashira stood by their beliefs, despite the criticism they received from the school principle. She sees these two talented, smart, beautiful girls and tells them it's a waste to give themselves over to marriage and children when they have such bright futures. Yet they stand firm in their convictions. At one point Rachel wears a good luck charm to help her ward off "the evil eye" and pick a husband, as the pressure is mounting and the choices are anything but enticing, when the principle confronts her about such silly superstitions. Rachel replies, "How is this any worse than getting drunk and sleeping around in an effort to find love?" So true!

The women persevere and both end up finding love in a perfect match. It brought me back to my days at BYU when they giggled together over Nashira's hopeful intended brushing his arm against hers and the implications. I remember doing the same thing when I was dating my husband, trying to read into ever body gesture and word, hoping it meant he liked me. You don't see that in movies anymore because no one is innocent. People just sleep together and then try to figure out if they are in love. Ugh. How refreshing to see it done right and to watch their sincere like towards their hopeful fiancees grow to love.

Not to mention the great perspective the movie gave about accepting people of different religions. Here we have a orthodox Jew and a Muslim becoming friends when they "should be" hating each other. The two characters did meet some opposition to their friendship, but they did not care what others thought. It was a good reminder to not look down upon those with different religious beliefs and to see past to the person within.

What a beautiful and refreshing movie. I loved how religion was treated with respect. I loved the morals promoted. I loved the friendship that was created and watching innocent love grow. A must see!

For Judy

If you want some good East coast food, go to Capriotti's. One just opened here in town by the new shopping center out by Costco. We had high hopes once we discovered the menu. Hot subs, cold sandwiches, and cheese steaks? Not to mention that is is an East Coast chain. Could it actually be that good? Let's just say that Marshall kept talking about his cheese steak all night. He was in heaven, claiming it was the closest to a Philly original. And my eggplant parmesan was divine. Perfectly cooked so it melted in your mouth with an amazing flavor. We will be going back here for sure. Judy, you have to check it out if you haven't!

Recent Study: The world is stupid

My life would be very unstable and unbalanced if I listened to everything I read in magazines. Science and society can't seem to make up their mind for long about what is good and bad for us. Did you hear that now beer is beneficial for diabetes? Who knew? Never in a million years would I have put those two together. The best I just recently read is how pornography is good for men. That's right, despite religious leaders warning us of the pitfalls and destructive nature of this beast, "science" (aka popular opinion) now states it is great for men.

You see, men are designed to be more easily aroused. A basic understanding of biology would show that this is necessary for the human population to survive. This also means that men tend to think about sex frequently. That's just how their bodies are designed. This new study says since men are more "sexual" in nature, pornography is good for them because it feeds that huge "need". So go ahead and let your man enjoy his magazines or movies, and feel free to join in, because it is all in the interest of his well-being, or so this study claims. Kiss that self control good-by!

Wow. You know, it's also human nature for my 5 year-old to whack her brother when she fights with him so should I stop teaching my kids not to hit? After all, wouldn't it just be better to let them beat the crud out of each other since it is in their psychological make-up to be physical? Or what about house training pets? It's their nature to just do their business wherever they want to so why not just let your home become your cat's litter box? I'd be raising the next generation of prison convicts and pet owners would lost their homes to their pets and be living in the back yard. The results wouldn't be so pretty if we applied this ridiculous philosophy to everything else.

Thank goodness for the Gospel and a living prophet of God on the earth today so we can avoid such stupid and dangerous pit-falls. I have seen so much destruction caused by addictions to pornography. Families torn apart, men left without reason or sense after allowing themselves to become slaves to such a wicked master, and the list goes on. What do we hear about, at least in passing, at every General and Stake Conference? What has destroyed lives across the world and has been named one of the most difficult addictions to kick? And yet the world says, and will continue to say, that it's good for us? Allowing the man in your life to fantasize about other women is beneficial for your relationship and family how? Teaching men and boys to objectify women will be better for us all? I must be living in opposite world because I just don't see the logic.! Oh, wait. There isn't any.

Ah yes, just another reason to be grateful that I know the truth and hold fast to it with all my might. Life is so much more simple when you know who to listen to and who to ignore.

It gets even better

I am not trying to cop out by posting a comic two days in a row. I just couldn't resist when I saw today's "Baby Blues". This has happened in our marriage and I am sure it has happened in your's. Hee hee!

Marshall can relate

I had to post today's comic of "Baby Blues" because I know Marshall can relate. I do this so often to him. I can have my own conversation for both of his and he still gets in trouble. Hee hee!

Planting

Today we did started planting in our little garden. As you can see, it was quite the exciting undertaking for everyone. All the kids got involved. I finally had to take Jacob inside when we watered the newly planted seeds because he wanted to play in the mud. He still got a bath after planting because he was filthy. Now we just have to be patient and hope it grows!

Valentine's Day should be every day

Happy Valentine's Day! I had so much fun with this holiday as a kid. Exchanging valentines at school, wearing red, and having our traditional Valentine's meal where my mom dyed the potatoes and applesauce red and made red Jell-o, red velvet cake, and red sugar cookies for dessert. (We take our holidays seriously.) It's still a fun holiday for me as an adult. I love to decorate for holidays! But Valentine's Day can also be annoying and sometimes ridiculous.

The front cover of all the local department store fliers have been identical for the past week or so with half of the page devoted to jewelry and the other portion showing lingerie. I find this highly amusing that men are expected to buy some bling and women are supposed to put on something sexy for their men. For one thing, I don't like anyone telling me how to celebrate my holidays. Fine jewelery is not something practical at this point in my life. Where would I wear my new diamond earrings and necklace? To the bathroom? That's the only place I could keep away from my sweet little one year old's grabby hands. And if I wear lingerie on V-Day, does that mean I can be a witch to my husband the rest of the year since I did my part for the holiday? Not to mention all the pressure put on men to "get it right". Don't mess up Valentine's Day or you are in the dog house. Forget what good you may do and how you show your love the other 364 days of the year. This is the only day that matters!

I have no problem celebrating Valentine's Day. I am all for being cute and romantic. But I do think this "celebration of love" (gag) should be a regular occurrence. You better not be saving up your little random acts of kindness, tender words, love notes, etc. only for this one day or else you will have one very love starved relationship. I think it's more meaningful when someone does something sweet when they are not told to and it is not expected of them. For instance, a few weeks ago my husband wrote "I love you" in the dirt on my van window. Way romantic you say, right? I do! How sweet to know he was thinking of me and wanting to write it. Or what about when he sings love songs to me while helping me clean. Totally priceless. The list could go on and on. We don't need a holiday to remind us to be nice and show love to each other, we already do that all the time. It's those little moments of thoughtfulness that feed a marriageand make a happy and healthy relationship.

Have fun on Valentine's Day! Wear red, eat chocolate, or do whatever it is you do. But remember that really loving and caring about someone is something you should show more than just once a year.

To give or not to give?

As I finished up shopping and was getting into my van with my five year old daughter, a man on a bicycle approached me. He looked as if he hadn't showered in days, with a thick coating of dirt and grime all over. He asked me for some spare change, claiming to need $6 more in order to get a hotel room. I had $9 left and gave it all to him. Then he told me "God bless" and went on his way, hopefully to the hotel.

I haven't had an experience like that in years and ended up reflecting on my philosophy class I took at Temple University. One day we had a heated debated on this very subject, offering money to someone on the street. Should you do it? Some were of the opinion that you shouldn't because you don't know what the person is going to use the money for. What if they are lying to you and end up using it to buy booze or drugs? What if you end up indirectly helping them feed their addictions? Are you just as bad as they are? It'd be better to give to a charity than to do a hand-out on the street because that way you know where your money is going.

Another group voiced that you should give money to the person on the street. Giving to a charity is great, but what about the man right in front of you? It is your choice to give him the money or not. By giving the money you are doing your part and your conscience is clear. And that is where your control of the situation ends. You have no power over what that person does with the money. But you've done your part. That person has the choice to buy a hot meal or hotel room or drugs, alcohol, etc. What the man does with the money is on his head, not on yours. So give.

I agree with the latter group. It did me no harm to give that man my $9 change. Obviously something compelled him to have the need to ask for the money. Judging by his looks, times were tough. If it was a scam, so be it. He can do with my money as he pleases. I hope he chooses to do something good and useful with it. But I know I did my part and my conscience is clear.

Sometimes I think we, as a society, think too much. It would do us good to have some more mercy and compassion towards our fellowman rather than immediately judging and condemning them.

Now He Cares

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being alone in the car and listening to NPR, which made me feel smart to be able to learn a thing or two about what is going on in the world. As chance would have it, I had the wonderful opportunity to listen to a voice on the radio that makes me cringe because the man behind it has yet to do any good and has far too much power. Yes, dear friends, it was the voice of our beloved President Obama.

Thankfully it was a re-cap of his latest speech concerning the economy. I was glad to not be forced to listen to his entire magical presentation of malarkey. What I did hear made me laugh out of the pure irony of it all. President Obama was talking about our national debt and how we were all "in it together" and needed to pull together to get through this time and make things right again. In other words, don't hate him for driving our nation deeper into debt and accept that the spending spree isn't over.

I had to laugh because I didn't know we were all in this together. Really? You mean I had a choice when the government was writing checks faster than the speed of light? How silly of me not to know that! It seemed more to me like someone just snuck into my house one night and decided to have a party with my bank account. Not literally, mind you, but we'll have to pay for the careless government spending some day. If not us, then our children. And now that times are still tough despite all the dollars spent, it's up to me and everyone else to be strong and pull through? Right, because we weren't doing that before. I don't think so. Perhaps Mr. President should have thought about us little people before handing out cash faster than the strip club card dispensers in Vegas. We've been suffering all along so don't pretend like you're one of us because your little plan failed and people hate you.

But since we are all in this together, maybe President Obama will let me use Air Force One to take my honey to a Broadway show this weekend for Valentine's Day. No prob, right?

Best Disneyland Trip

We're back and had the best Disneyland trip ever! It was our third time going and the best for smaller crowds. We had a blast!

We arrived to California on Wednesday afternoon and took the kids to the beach, which is only 25 minutes from Disneyland. They had never been to the beach and thought it was great. Everyone got soaked jumping in the waves. Jimmy did get knocked down by a wave and refused tog o near the water after that, but he still had fun playing in the sand and collecting shells. We headed to our hotel wet, sandy, and happy.

Thursday was our best day at Disneyland and California Adventure because there was no rain. We got to go on everything we wanted to in Disneyland and so were able to head over to California Adventure that afternoon. Jimmy got to get his picture with Lightening McQueen, which was like the coolest thing ever. We all went to bed tired and happy.

Friday we had a constant drizzle all day, but that didn't stop us. We donned our ponchos and still had a blast on all the rides. No big crowds again! We did go to see the "Aladdin" show, which was pretty awesome and entertaining. And we did the Princess Walk thanks to no lines. Anna got her picture taken with three princesses. She was very excited!

Saturday was our last day and it started out with rain, but then cleared up by the time we got to the park. We all had fun hitting our favorite rides one last time. Jimmy and Anna were big fans of the Tower of Terror, which was surprising. Rachel loved Pinocchio and we all loved the new Toy Story Carnival ride and Soarin' Over California. By noon we were ready to head for home.

Darci, our adopted Grandma from our ward, took Jacob while we were on vacation, so it made life so much easier by not having to deal with a baby/toddler. He had a great time being spoiled by her and her husband, but by the end he was wondering when, and if ever, we were coming back. I really missed him too and was very excited to be reunited with him on Saturday night.

Best Disneyland trip ever!
Sitting with Dad and a seagull after getting knocked down by a wave.
Running from the waves.
Teacups with Dad. Go Dad!
Rachel on King Arthur's Carousel.
Jimmy and Lightening McQueen. What is cooler than that?
Anna and Princess Tiana. She also got to take pictures with Belle and Ariel. Rachel and Jimmy were too shy.
Rain can't stop us from having fun!