February 9, 2014 ~ Olympics of Oz

Sometimes weekends are rough.  Stu works Sundays, so he’s not always available to distract, divert, entertain.  Sometimes the girls are extra needy, loud, annoying.  This weekend was one of those weekends.  We survived yesterday, barely.  Thank goodness for activities!

Today, I tried to keep them entertained.  They’re more fun when entertained.  I had Ashlin help me make brunch, well second breakfast for them and brunch for me.  She helped scramble the eggs.  Stu doesn’t like eggs much.  Then I had them do some hand-print hearts, and kept them busy with painting, a butterfly foam craft.  Unfortunately there were glue issues, and a lack of fine motor skills got in the way of finishing them.

We tried watching some of the Olympics, Teagan was interested in the speed skating, Ashlin wasn’t.  Neither was thrilled much with the snowboarding, though I think it’s crazy.  The cross-country skiing didn’t phase them at all.  But the ice dancing was a hit.  They started trying to ice skate in the family room.  We relegated them behind the couch, but they didn’t care.
http://instagram.com/p/kNEXUgnWiN/

Chicken!

They threw a beach ball over the cardboard house while I cooked dinner. I tried a new recipe and it turned out fantastic! (Pan roasted chicken!  With dijon rosemary onions and mashed potatoes! Yum!) Ashlin decided she didn’t want to eat any chicken, but she had three servings of the mashed potatoes. Teagan got a chicken leg – chicken on the bone – and went to town.

After dinner and baths was movie time!  With popcorn!  Teagan had mentioned something about the Wizard of Oz during the day, so we watched that.  Ashlin hasn’t seen it yet.  We got them settled in their chairs, popcorn and drinks and started the movie.  As usual, Ashlin started off very interested, curious as to what the story would be.  Teagan, the old hat who’s seen this movie at least four times, was a bit distracted, needing another stuffed animal, more popcorn.  Ashlin told us she knew about munchkins – damn day care! – but didn’t know the words.  She enjoyed the movie a bit, though did get distracted during the Emerald City and haunted woods scenes.

Teagan was glued to my side, once she finished her popcorn.  She said she was scared of the witch and the trees.  Fair enough, those trees are kinda creepy.  She ended up sitting next to me, almost in my lap for the rest of the movie.  We tried to make her feel better, even offered to stop the movie, but she powered through.  At bedtime, she did ask for another stuffed animal and a night light in her room.  We couldn’t give her another night light, she settled down.  Eventually.

They’re both upstairs, sleeping.  It’s quite down here except for the Olympics.  We survived.

January 18, 2014 ~ Frozen Tears

So, Frozen brings me to tears.  Well, not the entire movie, but two songs.  And hearing my daughter sing those songs.

I knew that the one made me teary, it did in the theater, with Ashlin on my lap.  But today, the other one did, and it was a surprise.  It’s not meant to make one cry, it’s meant to empower, to tell you it’s ok to leave everything and everyone behind and be yourself.  Maybe it was that Teagan was singing along, most of the words (she has the Frozen story cd), and was singing in a voice that was no longer a baby voice.  It was a little off-key, unpracticed, but a very sweet little voice.  A young girl voice.

She’s growing up.  Sniff.

*~*

Stu was half laughing at me today about it too.  He joked about reading the “I will always love you” or whatever book, the one that I can’t read aloud without something getting in my eye…  and then this.  Of course, both girls asked to hear the two songs over and over and over again. Laughing when Olaf is on the beach, when Ana does the tick-tock sound and follows the grandfather clock with her eyes. Again, Dada!  Again!

Then again.  I’m not the one humming them even though the girls are both in bed.

Ha!

Sniff.

September 27, 2013 ~ Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

Too excited to stand still

We took Teagan to see “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” today.  Her first movie in a movie theater! As young as 13 months or so, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” was able to pull her in.  She would stop dead and watch the movie every time it came on TV.  She would sit in Stu’s lap and watch the entire thing.  We decided to wait for this release to take her. Needless to say, she was a little excited, as you can see, and also a bit nervous.  She had no idea what to expect.

Stu and I picked her up after lunch at day care and told her we had a treat.  As we drove to the theater she asked all sorts of questions, why Ashlin wasn’t coming, what were we going to see, was she allowed to talk, dance, would there be a princess? She was excited as we walked in, barely able to stand still while we waited to buy the tickets.

She was so good.  We got her a popcorn – only a medium! – even though she wanted a large.  We joked that the bag would have been as tall as she was, a large is just too big!  Walking into the theater, she was a bit nervous, not really scared, as the sound was so loud.  She was speechless when she saw how big the screen was.  During the movie, there were times it was so loud, she’d put her hands over (or in) her ears.  And coming from a kid who rushes the stage for bagpipes, it says something to the volume in the theater.

Tickets! To a movie!

The movie was pretty good, especially for a sequel, and mostly appropriate for little kids.  It lagged a few times, and could have been trimed down a little.  And there were a few times that Teagan was scared by what was happening on the food island, but mostly, she loved the movie.  We all laughed at the foodimals – flamangos, eggplanatee, shrimpanzee, watermelophant.  Although at first Teagan was scared of both the tacodile and the cheespider.  I don’t like spiders much, and all the red eyes were a bit creepy, and french fries shouldn’t move like that.  I think Stu’s favorites were the butter frogs and the mosquitoasts.  So wonderful.  The berries and fruit cockatiels were sweet.

All in all, the movie was fun, surprising Teagan with a treat was fun.  She’s looking forward to seeing another one soon, maybe with her sister, maybe not..

popcorn almost as tall as she is

She wanted to bring the rest of the popcorn – just crumbs and kernels – into day care! Silly goose! There wasn’t enough to share :o

December 28, 2012

Stu and I went to the movies today.  We both had vacation days, the kids were in day care, so went to a matinee showing of The Hobbit.  It was a challenge to find a showing that started early enough for us to be able to pick the girls up on time.  It’s a very long film.  Surprisingly, no theaters had any morning showings.  The nearby 3D Imax didn’t have a showing that worked, but we had one 2D showing that did.    We had hoped to go see The Hobbit while we were at my parents for Christmas, but that didn’t work out.  Again, very long movie with no morning showings!

It was pretty good!  Long, with bits that weren’t in the book, but it was good.  An Unexpected Journey.  With dwarves singing.  Some of the “filler” bits were from other stories written by Tolkien, some weren’t.  Some made sense, some were foreshadowing for the Lord of the Rings, some were just nice.  Radagast with bird poo down the side of his face?  Well, that I don’t remember, but I do remember about him and birds.

There were some nice nods to the Lord of the Rings Trillogy in the Hobbit.  I’m looking forward to the next two installments, though I do need to study up on the dwarves.  I could only pull out three or four, though I can’t remember the name of the one in the hat. In the meantime, I may need to pull out my leather bound version, or maybe the unabridged audio…

December 15, 2012

Letters to Santa

The girls wrote letters to Santa today.  Thursday morning, waiting for her flu shot appointment, Teagan and I watched “The Year Without a Santa Claus.”  The picked up on the children sending letters to Santa, and when asked if she wanted to, she said she did.  We didn’t get a chance until today.

So, they colored pictures for Santa.  Teagan tried writing “Dear Santa” and what she wanted.  She asked me to spell out the words Dear Santa, and then she wanted to write her letter, I wasn’t allowed to help.

So, this is her letter.  As she formed each “letter,” she said the word she was writing.  “Dear Santa, can I have The  Princess and The Frog?  Teagan.”  She then drew a frog in the letter.

Dear Santa, Can I have a Princess and the Frog movie? Teagan

Princess and the Frog

While Teagan wrote and colored her letter to Santa, Ashlin did one too. Ashlin loves to color. And to paint.  There was no keeping her from the kitchen table when she saw the paper and crayons show up.  She didn’t have any pretensions of writing, she just colored, and loved coloring.

Ashlin writing her Santa letter

Dear Santa, by Ashlin

I’m not sure what’s in her letter. We do have a copy of the Princess and the Frog movie for Teagan, along with Charlotte’s Web, book and movie

December 4, 2012 ~ Wiggly Box

The Wicked Witch of The West, melting after being doused by Dorothy. From the first edition of The Wizard of Oz. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Somehow Teagan has fallen in love with the Wizard of Oz – or as she says, “Wiggly Box”.  I’m  not sure how, we haven’t pulled out my Anniversary Edition DVD, nor have we started reading chapter books to her at bedtime.  (I really want to start soon, though!  Chronicles of Narnia, Charlotte’s Web, Velveteen Rabbit are calling…)  She’s come home from day care talking about the mean witch who melts.  And about little people, but not like her, she’s a big girl.  She would start singing “Ding dong the witch is melted” or something along those lines.

After a bit of prodding and some pointed questions, we found out that one of her day care teachers shows them clips on her phone.  Not sure if I’m happy about this or not.  They should be teaching her about the difference between J and K, and that L, M, N and O are actually different letters, not one big mumble.  Maybe that there’s a number 15 and 16 and you don’t just go from 14 to 17 :)

Teagan has some very definite ideas about this movie.  The mean people (Witches Guard?) are the ones that poured the water on the Wicked Witch, and made her melted.  It wasn’t Dorothy! And the Statue Man cried, but threw fire.  Also, the witch in the beginning, Jenna, could melt, but she has a protective coat on him eyes and hands so she doesn’t melted.  Her pretty dress is armor against melting.  Oh, and she’s taller than the munchkins, because she’s a big girl, not a baby.

Well, there you have it.

We may try to watch the movie with her next weekend, if there’s time…  She was completely enthralled with the Grinch the other day.  According to her, him heart grew because him cried, and watered it.  When the Grinch makes his grumpy face in the beginning, she would get scared.  But not enough to not watch the rest, and not enough to not ask to see it again.  And again.  And again.

 

Ashlin could care less, though she will dance when the Whos sing. Also, she can say her name!  She proudly points to herself and says “Ahhhh-lin!”  My big girl.

June 19, 2012

“You an angel momma.” My preschooler greeted me at the door, followed by a big hug.  One of the best ways to come home after a day at work.  After the love and sweetness she quickly asked “Can I have one?”  She wanted one of the Angel Wings I had gotten for a treat and left on the counter in eyesight.  Even though she was home sick, she had eaten pretty well.  “Ok.  One,” as a put a small piece on a plate.  “At the table please.”  Compliance was almost a guarantee, for two minutes, as she was excited with her treat.  To keep her there, Stu needed to turn the movie off.  They were watching Peter Pan, with Teagan was following along with her Little Golden Book.

She was definitely feeling better.

Stu had been keeping me informed with little bits of their day, that she napped, cried before the nap that she didn’t want, went to the store, watched movies.

Turns out that she is not deaf, she does listen, and actually hear some of the stuff we tell her.  And she remembers it too.

Yesterday, after I picked her up from day care, we watched Booty and Beast, aka Beauty & the Beast.  The first scene with the Beast always – still – scares her a bit, and she snuggled up.  I said something, a throw away line about how he was ugly on the outside and the inside.  A bit later, during Gaston’s song, she said “him not nice.”  “No, sweetie, he’s pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside, like the Beast, but the Beast learns what’s important, which is being pretty on the inside, and that breaks the witches spell, and makes him pretty on the outside too.”  I really hadn’t thought she heard the conversation, let alone understand it.

Stu and she were watching Booty and Beast today, and she tells him that “him look like a man, but him beast too.”   Reading that update made my heart sing.  So happy.  She’s such a sweet girl.

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April 10, 2012

Maleficent To Hit Theatres on March 14, 2014 | Mom Spark™ – A Blog for Moms.

I hadn’t heard about this before.  This is either an absolutely horrible idea, or horribly wonderful.  Maleficent has always been my favorite villainess.  Well, once I realized that she wasn’t real and couldn’t eat me.  Even then, there was always that little nagging corner of my mind that thought she could be hiding just behind the rock in forest that surrounded our house.  Once I realized how cool she was, I coveted the watch Disney made with her on it.  I didn’t want the Cinderella one I was given as much I wanted, needed, the one with Maleficent.

She always creeped me out.  Her entrance into the royal chamber at Princess Aurora’s birth, her exit.  Her transformation into a dragon in the middle of the thorn forest used to give me nightmares.  It wasn’t too hard to imagine her coming out of our forest.  Because of course Prince Phillip didn’t actually kill her.  He only wounded her.  She crept off to that big rock to hide under and heal.

I’ll have to keep an eye out for more on this movie…  Right now, I’m just not sure.

January 25, 2012

Sick Baby

Ashlin got sent home sick today.  She was running between 101.4° and 102°F and was lethargic.  not her usual cheerful and smiley self.  She fell asleep in my arms after we got her home – all she wanted to do was snuggle.

I do wish she wasn’t such a hair puller, and that she didn’t seem to prefer mine.  She’s always twirled, or pulled, her hair as she falls asleep.  Swaddled, she couldn’t reach, but now that she’s no longer swaddled, she can do it again.  Sometimes she’ll pinch a bit instead, or will get distracted with my necklace.  Her hands just always seem to move until she falls asleep.

Anyway.  Her temperature went down with Tylenol, and she’s been sleeping for the most part since we got home.  Awoke once for a feed, and once to be laid back down (she was standing up in the crib in her sleep).  Hopefully, the rest of the night will play out in similar fashion, without the standing, and she’ll wake up smiling and happy without any snot.

Teagan was running a bit of a temp tonight.  I do hope she doesn’t get it.

~~

I have to say, the pop-up video thing that AMC is doing with Superman Returns tonight is very annoying.  Informative, but annoying.  I’d probably appreciate it more if I had already seen the movie.  But I’ve only seen pieces of it, never all of it in a row.  It’s been fun so far.

PS.  The opening credits made me giggle, they’re just like the ones from the first movies.

August 3, 2011

OMG!  They’re remaking the movie that terrified me as a kid.  The movie that haunted me, that gave me nightmares well into my 20’s, and also my 30’s, if i’m brutally honest.

It also started my need to watch other horror  movies, to see as many as I could.  Home, alone.  To read them.  To be stronger than I felt.  To not be scared.

This movie that had me jumping at shadows.  The movie that had me sleeping with my hands (and feet) under the covers for years.  You know.  If your hands are even the tiniest bit exposed from under the protection of the blanket, they get you.  If the sheets aren’t tight, they could get in.  I thought they would come get me.  And drag me into the fireplace.

I still don’t like loose sheets.  They need to be nice and tight and tucked in.  No drafts.  No way for little demonic creatures to get in.

I never remembered the name of this movie, I don’t think I ever knew it.  The scene that haunted me the most was the bathroom scene.  By the vicious little creatures attacking the wife, with a razor, using pin-like things as swords.  They were definitely not the Borrowers.

Disembodied voices calling out, from seemingly everywhere and nowhere.  Voices that make you look over your shoulder as you sit in a room.

I’m not sure if I’m happy they’re doing a remake, or terrified.  But because of the trailer I saw last night, I now know what the movie is called.  It’s called Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.

Although I didn’t know it, it was a made for TV movie.  It always seemed to be on TV growing up – the ABC evening movie on Saturdays, (or was it Sundays?) and sometimes the afternoon matinee.  I know at least one babysitter let me watch it.  Once, I snuck down and watched TV late at night after the rest of the house was asleep, and this movie was on.  (This was when we actually had a TV).  Watching this movie was a regret.  Almost every single time.  Still.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  That and some movie with a voodoo doll.

I don’t know if I’ll go see the remake.  It may not be a good idea.  To be fair, it looks like Guellermo del Toro has made it super creepy, even if he changed it a bit.  But he got the voice right.

For years, I didn’t live in a house with a fireplace.

This house has a fireplace.