Good Parenting

Did you watch all those montages during the Olympics that show the athletes on skies by age 3 or skating in competition by age 4? Well we have got Max started down the right path.

I especially like the sucker in his hand. Nice touch.

Studio Ghibli

I remember as a teenager watching an episode of Siskel and Ebert where they were reviewing a Japanese cartoon movie called "Kiki's Delivery Service." They raved and raved about this movie, calling it one of the best movies of the year, and I was like, "anime? like Sailor Moon? I think I'll pass." Fast forward a few years later to college. Watching the academy awards, this pretty looking movie called, "Spirited Away" won best animated picture over Lilio and Stitch, which I loved, so I decided to rent it. It was amazing. Beautiful! Interesting! Funny! Exciting! Totally deserved an Oscar. So delighted by this film I looked to see if the studio had done any others, and I learned that Studio Ghibli had also made Kiki's Delivery Service as well as some others. Jeff and I quickly rented all the Studio Ghibli movies we could get our hands on. Each movie was wonderful. How foolish I was to dismiss them as weird anime. These movies remind me very much of the old classic Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. They have the stunning hand drawn animation, the symphonic scored music and clever plots of the older gems. They also have the voice over of famous celebrities like Kirsten Dunst, Cate Blanchet, Liam Neeson, Billy Crystal, Christian Bale, and many others. I post this now because we have just received our copy of the latest masterpiece Ponyo (B+). A dazzling new take on the Little Mermaid. Stop what you are doing and run to your Redbox now to get this movie. Max has already watched it twice in less then 24 hours. Even Mae is a fan. Others to check out:

(My personal grade)

Spirited Away (A)

A tale of a young girl who get stuck in a strange world where she must work hard to free her parents from a spell. This one is a bit more bizarre then the others, but just lovely.

Howl's Moving Castle (A+++)

This is my favorite, and one of my favorite movies of all time. It is the story of a young lady who must free herself from a spell that has aged her to an old woman.

My Neighbor Totoro (A)

The story of two sisters, (one named Mae) who move to a new house and discover fun new neighbors. This one is particularly good for younger children

Princess Mononoke (C)

This is probably my least favorite. It is defiantly for much older children/teenagers. It deals with the battle between Forest creatures and a mining company

Nausica (B)

Available at the Bella Vista Library. This one is good. For older children but not as violent as Mononoke. It is the story of a post apocalyptic society that must find a way to survive in a harsh environment. I like the heroine.

Castle in the Sky (B)

A young boy and girl must race against pirates and foreign agents to find a castle in the sky. Super cute.

Kiki's Delivery Service (B+)

The perfect antidote to too much Barbie movies. Kiki is a teenage witch who must set up in a new town to become her own person. She starts a delivery service with her broom stick and has fun adventures while discovering her own self confidence.

I really recommend you try these movies. The are really good family fun.

Toy Story

Max really had no interest in toys. He would play with them briefly at times, but he really prefer ed to run around, climb on stuff, and be with others. Mae is totally different. She adores toys. She loves to spend time batting at toys that hang from her play mat and pulling on the birds of her bouncy chair. Yesterday we pulled out Max's Jumparoo. Seriously, she could spend all day in there if I let her. I took her out last night to feed her some cereal and sat her in the bouncy chair right next to the jumparoo. Throughout the entire meal she looked over at the Jumparoo with longing in her eyes. This is not only super cute, and convenient, but now I don't feel like I have wasted money on these toys.

Pink on Thursday

Thanks to Mae I now believe there is no such thing as too pink! Took some pictures of the kids just for the heck of it. Max is such a good big brother to Mae. He is always making sure I know when she is crying. He takes her things that she needs, toys, pacifiers, blankets. Mae is growing so big. She loves playing with toys and loves to tug on her dad's beard.

Clone Wars

Not that there was any doubt, but it is pretty obvious whose kids Max and Mae are.

Max Steven

Mae Maureen

Emily Jeanne

Sons and Sisters

Sometimes having a son is way better then having a sister. As the youngest of three, when I was allowed to play with Suzanne and Krista, I was usually relegated to to role of Boy or Villian. Never was I allowed to be the princess, (Suzanne)or even Sidekick (Krista.) Well, that has all changed. With Max I am number one! Max informed me this morning that he was Obi Won Kenobi. I asked if Mae was Princess Leia, and he said no. I then asked if Claudia, (his main squeeze,) was Leia. He thought about it and quickly decided that No she wasn't either. "You Mama, you are Princess Leia!" VICTORY AT LAST! Sons are great.

Also it should be noted that Jeff is Anakin Skywalker and Mae is R2D2.

Spiritual Block

I am suffering from a spiritual block. It is like a writers block but instead of not being able to write, I am not able to compose a talk for next Sunday. I have never had such a hard time with giving a talk. For the past week and a half I have been struggling with absolutely no success or inspiration. Giving talks is not my favorite thing to do, but I have always found the experience to be deep and rewarding in the end. This time I am stressed to almost collapse. I am not sure why I am having such a difficult time. I have tried everything, (including not worrying about it,) and it almost feels like something is physically blocking my brain from working. So...any thoughts on 2 Nephi 31:20. Yeah, I know right? It's like the whole purpose of life and the Gospel in one scripture. What more is there to say. Maybe I should just get up there and read the scripture and bear my testimony (It may come to that!) So everyone in my ward who reads my blog can now look forward to this Sunday in a "Lets see what kind of train wreck Emily's talk will be," way. Special shout out to Katie G. who reads my blog and whose husband gave me the assignment in the first place (Not that I blame him, not at all, and I am so not going to start my talk with an ultra lame story of how "I avoided his call" or one of the other moronic things so many people say to make themselves feel witty in a cheap attempt to pander to the audience's dislike of giving talks. Those so Must Go!) But shout out none the less in a maybe they should prepare and add a really long rest hymn.