A Little of This and a Little of That

Last night I sprayed shaving cream on the wall of our bathtub and let the kids play away while they took a bath. Darrin thought it looked gross in the tub but they enjoyed it. So today I thought we'd do it again but this time on pans at the table. It lasted all of about 3 minutes. Mostly they wanted their hands washed. As you can see, I was VERY generous with the amount I gave them which left me quite a mess to clean up :). Here's Annabelle who enjoyed it for maybe 3 or 4 minutes longer than Bennett did. Next time we do this, it will be outside, in the warm weather, with a pool or sprinkler nearby. My silly kids love to splash in puddles and play in mud...not sure what was so bad about shaving cream.

They did however really enjoy this gak that Mark and Carol brought for them last night. It stretches and oozes and makes very little mess. It can stick to clothing but I think it comes right out...we'll have to see.

On to other things. I've watched two movies recently that were quite good. Carol called last week Sunday and asked if I wanted to go to Slumdog Millionaire. It was the first movie I've seen in a theater since What Happens in Vegas.

The last movie I saw before that one in a theater was Friday Night Lights.

We were living in NC at the time. Anyway, the movie was great. It started off in a way that made me wonder where the movie was heading and if I was going to like it. But it really was good. It made me appreciate where I live!

Last night Darrin and I rented Changling. Wow. It was tough to watch but also very good. The fact that it was based on a true story made it even more difficult. In addition, having a little boy made the reality of it that much more horrifying. Darrin knows I can't watch sad movies late at night...he pays the price. We didn't know it was going to be like that though, so I went upstairs crying and insisting that I needed to do something happy before I tried falling asleep. I thought I would check some blogs I read regularly. I went on the Busscher blog who lost their daughter to a drowning this past summer. She was only 2 weeks younger than Annabelle. She is expecting again and had been having some uplifting blog posts lately. Well, her newest one was of her daughter's headstone that was just put in and how difficult it was to see your child's name written on a grave marker. So I cried a little harder and switched blogs to Kelly's Corner. She had a baby that wasn't expected to make it, but pulled through. Her blog is always fun and has lots of cute pictures of the baby. This time it had a link to a blog of a mother of a five year old son and a soon to be born baby girl. In February, her 31 year old husband began experiencing a few strange symptoms. He was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, which in most cases is curable, but her husband died ten days later. Argh. I called it quits and went to bed crying. I tried watching some of Napolean Dynamite but didn't find it funny. Oh well. I know better. It was much too late for a movie like that and I was much too tired.

I've been into reading more than tv lately. Here are 3 books I've read in the last few months or so and for no particular reason other than I saw them recommended somewhere or I knew others who read them and thought they were good.

Kabul Beauty School-A memoir of a woman from Holland who opened a beauty school in Kabul to try to help the women there make money and become more independent. It was very good and also made me appreciate living in a place that is safe for our family. I was disappointed however, when trying to find an image to put on the blog, I read that there is some controversy about the accuracy and truthfulness of it.

Another Place at the Table-A memoir about a family who began doing foster care when they signed up for classes in order to begin the adoption process for a little girl who was in the mother's Head Start class. The agency just kept calling even though their intentions were originally to just adopt their daughter. They became foster parents of the year. I read this in one night. It was good and easy reading.

And finally, I just finished Start Your Family: Inspiration for Having Babies- The book didn't really apply to our family but it was talked about frequently on a blog I read regularly. Here's the link.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

This woman is a mother of 4 under 4 and she is a "famous" blogger who talks about being a wife and mother and all that comes with it. The point of the book is that society gives so many reasons to wait until the "perfect" time to have kids or makes you question if bringing kids into this world is a good idea at all. This book gives reasons why having kids is a good idea and emphasizes that if you're looking for the "perfect" time, you might end up waiting too long.

The next book I plan on reading is one my mom brought for me the other day called, The Heart of a Mother: True Stories of Inspiration and Encouragement

I'll let you know what I think. Right now I'm enjoying listening to my precious daughter sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider in her crib...she's supposed to be napping. She often sings herself to sleep...so precious. I. LOVE. MY. KIDS.