FAM BAM - PENGUIN STYLE

We got the idea from family camp to have a family night (aka FAM BAM) that revolves around a theme and go ALL OUT!!!

We gave them clues a few days before so they could start guessing what the theme would be.

Clue#1     BLACK & WHITE
Clue#2     DANCING
Clue#3     FISH
Clue #4     ANTARCTICA

By clue #4 which was given this morning, they had it!  :)

Crafting....

 Eating shrimp & sushi....

Watching Happy Feet & Mr. Popper's Penguins....

Making a snowflake cake....

Prayers & Jerry McGuire

One of my favorite stories in God's Word is in Exodus 33, when Moses would go into the tent of meeting and speak with God "face to face, as a man speaks with his friend". (vs.11)  I would like to learn to pray as Moses did.  Verse 13 says that Moses said to the Lord, "If you are pleased with me, teach me Your ways, so I may know You and continue to find favor with You."  What a great prayer to say daily!!  I can also pray this prayer over my husband and kids...."Lord, if you are pleased with [Brad], teach [him] Your ways, so [he] may know You and continue to find favor with You."

What an amazing reply from God to this prayer in verse 14!  "My Presence (Yes Presence is capitalized, indicating it's someone's name, not just a common noun, but a Proper Noun.  Who was the expression of God's Presence?  John 1:1  And Who said He will always be with us? Matthew 28:20) shall go with you and I will give you rest."  Deuteronomy 12:10

SHOW ME YOUR GLORY!  Another prayer I want to learn to pray daily!  I want Your goodness to pass by in front of me, Lord.  I want to see Your glory!  Hide me in the cleft of the rock, so I can see Your awesome power and glory.  SHOW ME YOUR GLORY!  (Said with the enthusiasm of Cuba Gooding Jr. in Jerry McGuire)

Life is Beautiful

We are studying the Holocaust this week. This is a great scene from my favorite movie of all time, showing how this Dad turned the concentration camp into a game to protect his son.

Guido: [being shipped to a concentration camp] You've never ridden on a train, have you? They're fantastic! Everybody stands up, close together, and there are no seats!

Giosué Orefice: There aren't any seats?
Guido: Seats? On a train? It's obvious you've never ridden one before! No, everybody's packed in, standing up. Look at this line to get on! Hey, we've got tickets, save room for us!

Giosué Orefice: [narrating as an adult] This is my story. This is the sacrifice my father made. This was his gift to me.

Fiddler on the roof - Tradition

Deb

We were just having a Deb kinda day.

Toy Story Family History

When Luke was a toddler, his favorite movie that he wanted to watch a thousand times a day (on the now ancient VHS) was Toy Story. It came out in 1996, the year we got married.

On Christmas Eve 1999, while living in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Toy Story 2 came out and we took our almost 2 year old to his very first movie in the theater.

Right now as I type, our 2 year old Moriah, is next to me watching one of the DVDs she wants to watch a thousand times a day, Toy Story 2. This afternoon after her nap, we'll take her to her very first movie in the theater....

It's a family tradition.

Another favorite book...

Goes to the MOVIES....

Luke is SO excited!!!

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief NEW Trailer #3

Sappy chick-flicks I love....

Here are a few of my favorite Romantic Comedies perfect for watching over the holidays:

The Family Man

The Holiday

Love Actually

When Harry Met Sally

An Affair to Remember

You've Got Mail (Yes I think Meg Ryan is adorable)

Serendipity

and just saw and loved...The Proposal

Comm.Un.I.Ca.Tion.

Starting in about jr.high, I used to LOVE filling in personal address books. I most likely had pink ones with pretty flowers and a divider for each letter of a last name. I could fill in my friend or family member's name, address, & phone number. That worked as far as I knew.

Then the world got all complicated on us.

Now I find myself wishing there were a way to get everyone to have ONE thing, and stick with it! I know, I'm old, but I just get confused lately.... Should we communicate via email or phone, facebook or blog comments, and do they text or just call, or is this a landline? To help you communicate with me, here's my list....

I text, but accept calls.

I text when it's not urgent or too complicated of a message. (Don't completely know the language, but I'm learning. With texting, it seems that grammar/spelling laziness is encouraged. So I'm learning to be lazy. Yikes.)

I check my email, and respond asap, from my phone and computer. (This is my favorite/preferred use of communication methods. Although, texting is coming in at a close 2nd lately.)

I check facebook a few times a day, from my computer, and sometimes my phone.

I don't fax and never have.

I don't twitter, but read my husband's.

I blog and read other blogs occasionally, especially those I subscribe to in my sweet little, time-efficient "Google Reader" on my igoogle homepage.

This reminds me of a line from a movie....Drew Barrymore's character in He's Just Not That Into You is talking about how guys break up with girls these days.

“I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It’s exhausting.”

Yes, it is.

Family Night

Tonight we are having an "ICE AGE" family night! Kids are laying on pallets in front of the TV and we're having an ICE AGE marathon, the AC is turned down and I made Lemon-Ice Chillers. So easy, ya'll! Make some lemonade (or kool-aid any flavor), pour in blender with lots of ice and voila---ICE CHILLERS! Yes, we could've just watched a movie and drank some lemonade, but see how much fun it is to do a THEME night?! My friend Michelle just did a similar family night in the theme of Christmas, and another church-planter/pastor's wife Susanne does them ALL the time! She's very imaginitive, so if you need some creative ideas, head over to her blog.

As you can see, Moriah really likes sissy's chiller better than what's in her sippy cup!

He did this for me

The PASSION of CHRIST

he's just not that into you

I loved the honesty and vulnerability in this movie and it brought me in until I was emotionally involved. I love when a movie does that. The characters were adorable. It made me want to kiss my husband, several times during the movie....and if I wasn't anti-PDA, I just might have. Go see it, whether you're married or not. It's the "When Harry Met Sally" of 2009 and will remind you a bit of the main theme in "Hitch". Very smart and very cute.
 

Caspian Review

Prince Caspian was, visually a beautiful movie. (It was filmed in Prague and Poland.) Other than a few scenes where I wanted to jump up and cheer because of the symbolism, knowing my Father fights the battle for me, this movie was not nearly as good as the book. This review said, in much more eloquence than I ever could, a lot of what I was thinking quite often throughout the movie and much more....a good read if you have the time. Luke of course enjoyed all of the battle scenes, but that made me wonder if a 10-year-old boy hadn't written the screenplay, having avoided so many of the wonderful little details and surprises in the book. This also made me wonder if Disney had even read the book and led to many questions. Mostly my questions began with "Why?". Why add so many awkward, shallow lines that were intended to be funny, but not? Why did we not see more of Prince Caspian's love for Narnia because of the stories from his nurse and his professor? (The nurse was never even mentioned and there another sweet surprise omitted.) Why was Peter fighting at the beginning? Why did Peter and Caspian's characters seem jealous of each other? Why the weak, thrown in love story between Caspian and Susan?
...From the cover story of World Magazine
"With the nationwide opening of Prince Caspian this weekend, Chronicles of Narnia fans were expecting another film true to C.S. Lewis' original version. But WORLD's Meghan Basham says Caspian's creators have made bold departures. In addition to reordering events, amping up the action, and trimming the story to fit it into a two-hour format, entirely new plot lines are introduced and two primary characters are significantly altered."
So many Why's and What in the world's that I can't say I liked this version and yet here are the basic principles I took away, having read the book and knowing C.S. Lewis knew the one true God, personally:

• To believe or not to believe is not the question. What will you do with that belief? That is the question.
• When you haven't spent time with God (at all or in a while), it's much harder to see Him when He's showing you the way.
  
• When we call on Jesus, He speaks to His Father for us and the Father comes in with a fury to wash away the enemy.

Coming on My Birthday...

I really just wanted a countdown to my birthday, so you'd know how much time you have to get me a present! :)

Not to be outdone....

Has anyone noticed that my dear husband has now become the king of the blogging world? He learned everything he knows from me, by the way. I'm not feeling the love, though, since I added that nifty little Amazon Wish List there on your left. Yes, I know it was his birthday, but what the heck? Hasn't anyone been dying to buy me something??? Alright, I'll be patient. MAY 16, that's all I'm gonna say.

So, he's put on his blog the cool Bond car, like that's the most exciting part of the movie. Here is the real reason to go see it, girls.
He grows on you, he really does. But of course, he's not NEARLY as sexy as my husband! Kisses, honey!

Mom's Movie Review

The Nativity Story:
We took both kids, knowing it was PG but with some violence. We talked about it with them and explained that it was actors portraying the story, just like when we do the Passion Play. Since Grace had seen (and been in) the P.P., we thought it would be okay. She got a little bored, and was probably a bit too young, but she enjoyed her skittles, so all was well.
Be warned: There is some blood, and darkness with loud trampling of soldiers on horses which resulted in covering eyes and ears, (Brad's okay now--j/k.) and the births are realistically full of screaming, oh yes--the circumcision of the baby was especially alarming to Luke! yikes.
Luke wrote (and illustrated) a book today called "The Nativity" and it was amazing how much he had comprehended after watching the movie. It's been great to have a picture in our minds of the story since we will be hearing it often throughout this month.

This is what I learned anew from the story:

1) God can use anyone to bring about His miracles.
2) It takes courage to carry out His will.
3) God takes care of even the smallest details when it comes to protecting and caring for His child.
4) The journey, though sometimes long and difficult, is worth it in the end....when you believe.

Nativity

Go see the new movie, "The Nativity Story". It's beautiful. It's a picture of God's love. Watch how God protects His child in every detail, in every step of the journey. I was reminded again of how God's plan has been known to Him since before time began and that trusting Him will bring the greatest blessings of all.

Merry CHRISTmas.

A Fall Friday Night at Home

Carved a pumpkin
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Watched "The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" with my little pumpkins
Enjoyed Starbucks coffee, delivered with love by my husband

...and it's actually 55 right now, so I don't have to turn the AC on to drink it.
Perfect.

Becoming Yoda

I've recently had a next generation experience that's made me feel like wise old Yoda, which consequently also comes with feeling really, really old.

I've been teaching voice now for about 12 years and one of my favorite students from years back has now graduated with a vocal performance degree and is starting her own studio just down the road. I'm so proud. I remember having her as a 9th grader back when Luke was a baby and now she's married....(to the boy I told her would be perfect for her....soooo glad she listened to her teacher!!!! -attach song here: Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match.) Now she's starting out, even auditioned at Ft.Worth opera, like I did when I first moved here, and I'm so proud to have been a part of her life. You know how I love to give advice, and here's a youngun' even asking for it!

YODA-isms:

"Yoda a teacher is."
"Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."
"Always in motion is the future."
"Always two there are, no more, no less: a master and an apprentice."
"When 900 years you reach, look as good, you will not."
"Help you I can, yes."
"May the force be with you."