movies

I've watched some interesting movies on FX over the last few days. They're movies I've wanted to see but haven't till now. One was "Crash," which is set in LA and dialogues interracial tensions. I really enjoyed it. It left me with alot to think about. This movie says what most people are thinking and few are saying, in my opinion. It makes me think of Barak Obama's speech on race. We haven't come as far as we'd like to think. Between watching this movie and reading "Pride and Prejudice" and "A New Earth," I've been thinking about judgements and assumptions I make. Why do I do that? It's easy to assume you know everything about a person by looking at them, when that's completely incorrect. I have *no* idea how good or bad a person is by looking at them. We all have struggles. Not to be cliche, but you really can't judged a person till you've walked a mile in their shoes. And I've only ever walked in my own.

The other movie I watched was "Black Hawk Down." This is a war movie done a few years ago about an Army unit that performs a mission in Somalia that goes horribly wrong. Levi saw a few days ago that it was going to be on and said he wanted to watch it - heard it was good. He was gone last night, but I had nothing to do and decided to watch it. Had I known the premise beforehand, I probably wouldn't have. Levi was in the Army Reserves for 7 years and just got out 6 months ago. We were incredibly lucky in that he was never in combat. But I can barely watch anything about soldiers now without becoming very emotional. This movie was not the one for me! Every time someone got hurt, I saw Levi and thought about all the families having to cope without their husband and father. I know that we are fighting for a reason in Iraq and elsewhere, but I can only comprehend the fighting in terms of the families left behind. Anyone in the military (at least the ones I know) will tell you we need to stay till the job is finished, however long it takes. But I just don't want anyone to lose their husband, their father. Their mother! There are so many women fighting now....my heart aches for their children. I can't even write this now without crying.

There is so much hate in this world. Between nations and between neighbors. I'm so ready for it to end! It's ridiculous! Can't we all just get along?! :o) Seriously.

On a lighter note, I saw two movies last week that I loved. Nice, light-hearted shows. "Juno" and "Be Kind Rewind." Juno is all everyone's said it is. Funny and feel-good. Be Kind Rewind is **hilarious. ** I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. I had to get a tissue to wipe the tears from my eyes. Then it got to the point that everything was funny and I was snorting trying to hold in the laughter because no one else was cracking up like me. It may well be the best buck fifty I've spent in the last year. I highly, highly recommend this one. Especially since it's at the dollar theaters.

Exactly what I needed

I know I'm a week late on this, but I really wanted to have a link for this post. I used to be so great at taking notes for General Conference. Every talk had at least a few lines I'd jot down. Not so much since having kids. Especially since I just sit in my pj's and watch conference at home while I try to entertain the kids elsewhere for 4 hours. I almost wish we lived somewhere that we had to go to the stake senter to watch conference. It'd be a lot easier to pay attention, that's for sure. Levi and I could take turns and at least see half of Conference uninterrupted. But I digress.

On to the real purpose of this post - Elder Ballard's talk. It was addressed to young mothers. He speaks of the often difficult, thankless job young mothers perform. It was just so great for me to hear that acknowledged by a man! I often commiserate with other "young moms" and it's great to give and receive that empathy. But it almost meant more to have a father acknowledge all the work mothers do. Motherhood is also full of frequent highs - seeing your kids share, hearing them say "thank you" without prompting or sing "I am a child of God," getting spontaneous hugs...but sometimes it's hard to remember those admist the tantrums, "accidents," and endless messes. Elder Ballard talks about all this. He suggests learning to live in the moment. Take time to savor and make a memory of those sweet moments.

He offers advice to the moms, the dads, the kids, and the Church leaders on how to take some of the stress out of the lives of young mothers. The suggestion I loved the most was when he said moms need to take time out to cultivate their interests and gifts. I had organized an Enrichment activity specifically for that purpose. (A few hours on a Saturday to bring a project to work on, chat with other sisters, and eat donuts.) But I was having trouble deciding whether or not it was a good idea to design a meeting with the specific purpose of getting the sisters out of the house and away from their families for a time. =o) Elder Ballard's talk answered my question! I knew that he would absolutely okay our Enrichment activity. It's *healthy* to get away every now and replenish yourself. "Water cannot be drawn from an empty well," he says.

Bottom line, this talk was exactly what I needed to hear. Please take a few minutes to read it. It may be what you need, too. Motherhood is next to divinity. You are nurturing not only your own children, but God's children. He wants to help you. He wants you to know that you are appreciated! That what you do MATTERS.

"I affirm my profound belief that God's greatest creation is womanhood. I also believe that there is no greater good in all the world than motherhood," James E. Faust.

Best friends

For quite a while, Max thought he was higher up in the family chain than Eric. But he's finally getting the picture. Eric isn't afraid any more and rarely gets nipped at. He loves playing with Max and trying to "train" him like Daddy does.



I'm so glad that these two have each other. They play so well together. I sincerely hope they will stay close all their lives.

A greater friend I've seldom known
than the one I call Brother-
yes, even my own.

-Anita Schiller

winter's like dwight schrute

It refuses to let GO!!!

It was so frustrating to wake up to this yesterday! Easter was nearly a month ago! Seriously. But...it was still beautiful. And it didn't even stick. It was in the upper forties by noon and we actually played at the park for a little bit. It always takes me by surprise when it snows because I never watch the news and find out what the forecast is going to be. I thought that would be okay by mid-April, but I guess I was wrong.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK

I don't follow sports at all, but I gotta show some homestate pride! GO KU!!!! NCAA National Champions!! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!

Quick vent

I just need to vent real quickly. It's turned into one of those days. I had a dental appt. this morning and got three fillings, so both sides of my mouth are sore and numb. (Shouldn't it just be one or the other?) But even that wasn't too bad. Kiera watched my kids at the last minute -THANK YOU!- so I got some kid-free time. I even set up the dental assistant with a friend of Levi's! I went to Sam's and Wal-mart to finish some grocery shopping, then got a pizza and met Levi for lunch. The kids just ran around throwing empty water jugs at one another, making accoustics I'm sure the entire office enjoyed. Eric kept pushing the water spigot, getting water everywhere, and Isaac spilled his water all over himself. I took an extra 20 minutes going home, trying to get Isaac to go to sleep. He didn't. Eric did, which didn't surprise me, but he woke up when we pulled in the driveway. I unbuckled Isaac, asked him to go in the house, and got a sleepy Eric out and put him in his crib to finish his nap. I go back outside to unload the groceries, and Isaac has let the dog out of the backyard, which is saturated in mud thanks to the SNOW we got. urgh. Before I can process all this, Isaac and Max have run in the house. I get Max into the bathroom to get all the mud off his paws, legs, and underside. I shoo Isaac out so he won't want to take a bath with Max. Once Max is clean, I open the door and see Eric's door wide open. (!) Isaac heard that he was awake and wanted him up. Of course there's no going to sleep now.

Okay, I've been home for 20 minutes and I've GOT to start the dishes. I need stuff to cook dinner on and every dish is dirty. Except my pasta pot, which makes me think of the potatosgI got for potato salad for Levi's lunch tomorrow. Once that's done, I start to move the mountain of dishes. I have to stop every couple of dishes because I hear the kids yelling at Max. He's on the couch, pulling at their clothes, trying to eat their snacks, taking their blankets, etc. He finally follows me into the kitchen and lays at my feet while I do the dishes. I get everything rinsed and start to load it when Isaac says, "Mom! I pee pee and poo poo!" "Great! Go to the potty....." then I see that he's already done it in his pants. -grr- Clean him up, get as much out of his pants as I can, and realized that he did this LAST night, too, so I better wash it all. (What's up with the sudden regression? I suspect it's common and won't last long. I hope.) Load the washer and smell my potatos that are boiling over. And the dishwasher still isn't loaded. I only started an hour ago.....I don't know what I thought it'd be done. And here I am typing to the mindless void.

-sigh- I feel a little better now. At least I have good music on. (Thanks heavens for My 99.5) And American Idol's on tonight. Maybe I can make it through this day after all. Alright, back to the dishes.