Mommy Brain

Thank you for all your kind words about our financial situation. We’re hanging in there, crunching numbers, and trying not to be too stressed. Of course, it doesn’t help when the orthodontist calls to let me know it’s time to put Natalie’s lower braces on, with a payment of $650. This is, of course, on top of the $137 we pay every month. But their billing office was gracious, and will let us put the payment off until we receive our tax refund in February or March, and they will go ahead and put the braces on. And he also said that when she gets her braces off in 2009, she’ll be done for life with orthodontia. This is good news, because at first we weren’t sure if she might still need further work as a teen.

Our day is full – play date this afternoon, Noah’s birthday party this evening. He turned 9 on Tuesday! I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted his birth story, so after I check my archives you may see one go up. Feel free to skip it if you’re not into all that female stuff, I just want a record of each birth on here for posterity.

I do have a few links for your weekend surfing:

~John Piper tells it like it is about the so-called prosperity gospel.

~Any creative minds in your house? AreYouGame.com is having a contest for anyone who wants to invent their own board game.

~In Harry Potter news: the Telegraph ran an interview with the actors who play Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Cho Chang. Amazon is holding a contest for kids – write a 300-word essay about your favorite Harry Potter character, and win mid-night delivery of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and a prize package full of Harry memorabilia. Age groups for the contest are 6-8, 9-12, and 13-17. And if that isn’t enough Harry for you, Infuze has posted some new photos from the upcoming Order of the Phoenix movie. Helena Bonham Carter looks like pure evil as Bellatrix Lestrange.

~If you’re looking for a good read, check out my inventory page at Half.com.

Well, that’s it for this week. Have a great weekend, everyone!

(Best of Casper:Volumes 1 & 2 were provided to me by Special Ops Media for the purpose of review.)

It sure seems like the DVD industry is going retro these days! First there was Gerald McBoing! Boing!, then Mr. Magoo. Now here come’s Casper, the Friendly Ghost. It’s so great to see how many of these old cartoon shows hold up in today’s world and with today’s kids. I wonder if we’ll be able to say the same about Spongebob and Jimmy Neutron?

My kids have been truly enjoying watching these Casper DVDs – and I love listening to them while they watch because of all the giggles and belly-laughs that ensue. These DVDs release on June 26th, but you can pre-order them now from Amazon. They only run $8.99 a piece, or you can buy both and save a buck, I think. Not too high a price for a piece of nostalgia.

Life is full of ups and downs, isn’t it? The past couple of weeks have included several ups and downs – sometimes in the same day!

We finished our school year and the kids took their state-mandated standardized tests. They all scored at grade level on mathematics and far above grade level on reading and written expression. I was so happy with their scores – I always feel like I am the one being tested, and yet I have no control over how they do!

Our pet hamster, Lucy, died, and later that day we attended Noah’s friend’s birthday party.

On Tuesday, the kids had their chicken pox vaccinations, and then I took them out for ice cream. At the same appointment, I told our doctor about some symtpoms I’ve been experiencing, and he ordered blood work to check my thyroid, liver, kidneys, and pancreas. I’m still waiting for results and trying not to worry.

That same day, Kevin came home from work with half of his face swollen from an infected tooth. So Thursday we headed down to Spokane for a root canal re-treatment. It went extremely well – and we got a bill for $500 out of it. That’s just the part that the insurance won’t cover. After the appointment, we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese’s and let them play for two hours.

Friday, Kevin’s tooth was feeling much better. Then his boss called him into his office and told him that they were making some cuts and Kevin’s hours were being cut back. We lost $600 a month of our income. Super ouch.

Of course, our first response was complete and utter panic. We’ve recovered from that, and are crunching numbers and looking at options. I am doing some freelance writing that will help a little, and I’ll be selling some of my books. Sob. I may do some day care later in the summer, too – we’ll have to see.

Saturday, there was a letter from our mortgage company in the mail. They had done their annual review of how much they were collecting for property taxes and homeowner’s insurance and are lowering our payment $17 a month. Not a huge cut, but the cool part is that there was too much being held in our escrow account, and they sent a check for $130. Now I know that doesn’t even come close to making up for the income we’re losing, but I think it was God’s way of saying, “See? I told you not to worry! You never know what will happen, and I have everything under control.”

Saturday night I took the boys to the rodeo. We had considered cancelling and saving the money, but we had already promised them and Natalie was getting to go with a friend’s family. I didn’t want to disappoint them. We had an absolute ball! I haven’t been to a rodeo in a really long time, and the boys were enthralled.

Sunday, we celebrated Father’s Day with my parents. Today was Noah’s birthday – he turned 9. We’re having his party Friday night at the park.

Like I said: ups and downs. I am so glad that God is in control.

River Rising by Athol Dickson is one of those books that defies description. It is sold under the heading “Christian fiction,” but could just as easily be considered “literary thriller” or “magical realism.”

Hale Poser comes to Pilotville, Louisiana to look for his roots. He doesn’t know who his people are; he was found floating in a pirogue in the swamp and was raised in an orphanage. After growing up and becoming chaplain at the same boys’ home, he finds a clue that leads him to Pilotville.

Pilotville is unique for the south in 1927. Blacks and whites work together and do business with each other without much animosity. The only thing they don’t do is worship together.

Hale is a mystery to the townspeople. He’s a minister, yet willing to work as a janitor at the Negro infirmary. He says things that upset people, implying that maybe they’re not doing enough to foster community between the races. He also appears to perform miracles.

When a newborn baby disappears, Hale is determined to return her to her parents. His digging brings up something he didn’t expect – a pattern of child disappearances dating back decades. He keeps searching, and what he finds is shocking and heartbreaking.

Athol Dickson has accomplished quite a feat with this book – not only is it a page-turner with a well-developed plot, but the characters are fully flesh and blood and the writing is brilliant and descriptive.

At first he glanced up from time to time, quickly, so as not to let the riders see. Observing the lay of the land, he saw fields of cotton spreading out half a mile or more in every direction and bounded all around by the long levees. But he lost interest in reconnaissance soon enough. He had forgotten how difficult it was to pick cotton, or maybe he had blocked the memory from his mind. He had forgotten the sharp pricks of the burrs as they fought you for the cotton bolls, the burning of the bull nettles lurking down among the lower branches, and the stinging green spiders that left hard little knots below the surface of your skin. He had forgotten the deep indentation that the tow sack strap carved in your shoulder by midmorning, an aching furrow that soon would become a callus, and the way the inside of your wrist would bleed from brushing across the side of your trousers when passing the cotton back a thousand times a day, as well as the merciless weight of the sack you dragged behind. Also the bitter irony that the more you picked the heavier it got, and yet the way to get your pay – or in this case the way to just survive – was to weigh down that sack as fast as possible.

In spite of all this misery, he fought the impulse to escape. Just as some were fishers of men, so some were pickers of them, and Hale Poser knew in his aching bones there was holy work to do here. Fire spread through his muscles but he resolved to ignore it, to concentrate instead on the way one person started singing softly over there a ways, and another nearby picker took up the song, and one by one new voices joined in as the richness of it slowly spread across the field until all the slaves were singing near and far. Although some were not so good, they all did their best; and the others, oh my goodness, some voices were just so masterful – blending sweet like honey and molasses and rising up like thunder and falling down like rain and flowing as a cooling breeze across the cotton field.

When I reached the last few chapters of River Rising, I couldn’t stop reading and I couldn’t stop crying.

5 out of five stars

With no further ado, the winners of the Winnie the Pooh DVDs are…

(drum roll, please)…

…Monica

…Heidi

…aBookworm!

Congratulations! Watch your e-mail box for a message from me.

(Miss Potter was provided to me by Special Ops Media for the purpose of review.)

Some of the movies I’ve been sent to review have made perfect “Girls’ Night” movies. Friday night I headed to Michelle’s with my copy of Miss Potter, she provided the dark chocolate and red wine, and we watched a delightful movie.

Miss Potter is based on the life of Beatrix Potter, children’s author and artist of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” “Jemima Puddleduck,” and “Benjamin Bunny” – among many others. Beatrix was raised in London by aristocratic parents who sheltered her from the rest of the world. Her childhood was influenced by the summers her family spent at the Lake District, where Beatrix would sketch the animals she encountered.

As a grown woman of 32, Beatrix is considered an “old maid” and has decided that she shall not marry. She puts her drawings and childhood stories into a book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” and meets with two brothers who own a publishing house. The brothers agree to publish her book, but only so they can foist the project off on their younger brother Norman, who they are sure will fail.

What ensues is magic. Norman cares passionately about Miss Potter’s book, and it becomes a huge success. They continue to make books together – and they fall in love. Her mother, who hates it when Beatrix brings “trades people” into the house (they bring in dirt), is horrified.

I won’t tell you any more of the plot, because I want you to see this movie. It is a love story, a story of a young woman becoming her own person, and an imaginative fairy tale. The scenery of the Lake District in Britain is reason enough to watch the film. Throw in brilliant performances by Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, and Emily Watson, mix in the beautiful watercolors of Potter herself, and you have a perfect film.

For fellow Monarch of the Glen fans, there’s also a treat: Lloyd Owen, who plays Archie’s brother Paul on Monarch, also appears in the film.

It is rated PG for brief mild language, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was.

It turns out I will be receiving two more copies of the Winnie the Pooh DVD – so don’t forget to leave your comment on the post below by Sunday night. There will be three winners!

I saw this at Scribbit, and thought it would be fun to do my own version – and I will (try really, really hard to) keep my answers to one per category. Warning – some of these answers will probably contain spoilers, but none of them are really new movies.

1. Best romantic comedy: Sleepless in Seattle. It’s a little strange for a romantic comedy in that the couple doesn’t meet until the end, but it’s still brilliant. You can’t beat Tom Hanks asking Rob Reiner, “Do I have a cute butt?” Or the scene where Tom Hanks tells his son “Have you seen Fatal Attraction? I have, and it scared the sh*t out of me!” And when they first see each other across traffic – eyes locked – and then she disappears? Sigh.

2. Hardest cry: Definitely Sophie’s Choice. I do not recommend that mothers watch that film. I was stupid enough to watch it while I was pregnant with Natalie. Kevin was out running errands and came home to find me a sobbing, incoherent wreck on the couch. I had to turn it off for about an hour after the scene where she makes her choice. When I finally finished it, I could not blame her one bit for deciding to end her life.

3. Best “heist” movie: Ocean’s Eleven. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia – all in the same movie. Need I say more?

4. Best action movie: The Fugitive. A little harder to keep this category to one choice.

5. Most inspirational movie: Cinderella Man and Rudy with Sean Astin. Yes, that’s two – but I couldn’t choose between them. I know there are a lot of movies that are more socially inspirational – like Schindler’s List and all those “teacher makes a difference” films, but for personal inspiration, you can’t beat James Braddock and Rudy. When Braddock walks into the welfare department and repays his benefits…what integrity! The boxing scenes make me cringe, but I adore that movie. And what character can beat Sean Astin’s Rudy for heart? Well, probably Samwise Gamgee…

6. Best mystery: Dead Again with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. They were so perfect in that movie! One of my favorites of all time.

7. Funniest movie: The movie that makes me laugh every single time I watch it is Dennis the Menace. When Dennis switches Mr. Wilson’s nasal spray with mouth wash, and his mouth wash with pinesol – that moose call of a scream and then he douses his head in the toilet – I’m laughing just thinking about it.

8. Best animated movie:I’m going old-school with this one: Lady and the Tramp. Love, love, love it – and so do my kids.

9. Scariest movie: I’m not big on scary movies, so I don’t watch most of them. I did go through a stupid phase in high school and college, and watched a bunch that still give me the creeps. I guess I would say Hellraiser. I went over to my boyfriend’s to watch a movie and asked him to please, please not pick something scary. Hellraiser was his choice. That relationship didn’t last long, needless to say.

10. Best romance: I don’t care that the A&E production of Pride & Prejudice is technically a mini-series. It can’t be beaten.

11. Best fantasy: Ladyhawke with Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Matthew Broderick. Beautiful love story, great fantasy elements. When we were kids and had our first VCR, we rented this over and over again.

12. Best musical: Okay, this is a really hard one to pick just one title. I’m going back and forth between two…all right, I’ll say White Christmas. Classic comedy with Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney’s lush voice, and that last scene where all the soldiers march in singing, “We’ll follow the old man…” I cry every time.

13. Best sci-fi: Okay, I have to choose two. For great action-adventure sci-fi with a fabulous cast, I choose Indenpendence Day. (Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch.) For intellectually creepy sci-fi with a cool faith message, I choose Signs. Plus it has Joaquin Phoenix, who is one of the best young actors around right now.

14. Best classic (pre-1980): Two again: for drama, It’s a Wonderful Life. For comedy, Bringing Up Baby.

So, what do you think? Agree with my choices? Completely disagree? Be sure and tell me in the comments – or do your own list at your site!

Special Ops Media has been gracious to provide me with a copy of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Friendship Edition on DVD for giveaway! This is the classic Winnie the Pooh and has been digitally restored and remastered. It includes the animated shorts Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! (1974), and Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983). The DVD is also packed with bonus features.

This was the first cartoon on video that we bought for Natalie when she was small, and it quickly became her favorite. There have been many other Pooh movies since, but this remains the classic.

If you want to enter the giveaway, please leave a comment before Sunday 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. (US readers only, please.) I’ll draw a name Monday morning and send the DVD off to the winner. Good luck!

(Bridge to Terabithia was provided to me for the purpose of review.)

After being completely disgusted with the movie version of Eragon, I was very hesitant about the movie version of Bridge to Terabithia. I recently read the book aloud to Natalie, so I knew having the book so fresh in my mind would color what I thought of the movie.

I am very glad to say that I was completely thrilled with the movie. The director followed the story almost exactly and the minor things that were changed mattered nothing to the story. I still think that the previews that were shown on TV were very deceiving, though. The previews made it seem like another hard-core fantasy movie, akin to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. That’s not the case.

Bridge tells the story of Jess Aarons, a 12-year-old boy growing up in a poor family. Jess has four sisters and a father and mother so weighed down by financial concerns that they’re unable to be affectionate to Jess. He escapes through his art, drawing page after page of whatever his imagination conjures up.

Then Leslie Burke moves to town. Leslie is unlike anyone Jess has ever known, and they become fast friends. One afternoon, by swinging across a stream with a rope, Leslie and Jess find a place just for themselves, a place where they can let their imaginations take them out of their lives and be truly free. They name the place Terabithia.

Spoiler warning: Don’t read any farther if you don’t want to know how the movie ends!

Jess has never known a friend like Leslie, and she teaches him how to rise above his circumstances. When they are in Terabithia, anything is possible: giant trolls, monster squirrels, and fairies. Unfortunately, even Terabithia is not impervious to the tragedies of real life.

One Saturday, while Jess is off visiting an art museum with his music teacher – a once in a lifetime kind of trip – Leslie tries to cross to Terabithia by herself. The rope breaks, Leslie hits her head, and drowns. Jess is overcome with guilt. He had thought of inviting Leslie to go to the museum, but had wanted the experience to himself.

Katherine Paterson wrote the book Bridge to Terabithia after her son’s best friend died the summer they both turned eight. She mentions in the special features that she was left to try to make sense of something for her son that made no sense at all. Jess is left trying to do the same. His father, finally able to show Jess some love during his time of grief, explains to Jess that Leslie will remain alive in the special things she brought to his life. He introduces his sister Maybelle to Terabithia, and finds someone else to share his imagination with.

I was most impressed with the fact that the scene where Leslie accompanies Jess’s family to church was left in the movie. Leslie finds something interesting and beautiful in the story of Jesus, which she had never heard before.

I recommend this movie, with one reservation. Noah and I both sobbed through the last half-hour. If your kids aren’t old enough to deal with a story of loss and grief, you might want to wait. But I also think that this movie is a realistic introduction to what it is like to lose someone you love.