Mommy Brain

(iCarly: Season 2, Volume 1 was provided to me by Special Ops Media for the purpose of review.)

Get ready for more iCarly hilarity with brand-new web segments, special guest star appearances, and exciting episodes from Season 2, including iCarly’s first web award nomination and the kiss that shocked the world!

This 2-disc set includes the following episodes:

1. iStage An Intervention
2. iOwe You
3. iHurt Lewbert
4. iGo to Japan – the first iCarly TV movie
5. iPie
6. iChristmas
7. iKiss
8. iGive Away a Car
9. iRocked the Vote
10. iMeet Fred

Natalie’s review: This TV show is awesome! This volume has 11 great episodes of Carly, Sam, and Freddie that get funnier every time! This show is a great laugh for any age. All the characters are great and funny and I hope that all of you try this show out.

iCarly: Season 2, Vol. 1 is available now on DVD. The DVD special features include: The Making of “iGo to Japan” and behind-the-scenes extras.

(Bedknobs and Broomsticks was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

Experience the extraordinary animation, enchanting music and Academy Award-winning special effects (1971: Best Effects, Special Visual Effects) of Disney’s beloved classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks – now fully restored and remastered in this Enchanted Musical Edition with dazzling new bonus features!

Hold on tight for a magical, musical, fun-filled journey! When young Charlie, Carrie, and Paul move to a small village during World War II, they discover their host, Miss Price (Angela Lansbury), is an apprentice witch! Although her early attempts at magic create hilarious results, she successfully casts a traveling spell on an ordinary bedknob, and they fly to the fantastic, animated Isle of Naboombu to find a powerful spell that will save England!

All-new fun is brewing in this Enchanted Musical Edition, including “The Wizards of Special Effects” feature. Also starring David Tomlinson (Mary Poppins) and Roddy McDowall, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a heartwarming adventure your family will love sharing again and again!

I missed out on Bedknobs and Broomsticks growing up – my parents went through a phase where all things witch-related were off limits. I’ve seen pieces of it here and there through the years, though – and had so much fun watching it with my kids! Of course, the idea of a flying bed that could take you anywhere you wanted – even into a cartoon world – was a huge hit with the boys.

This is the perfect movie for family movie night – although the kids did think a couple of the dance sequences went on a bit long. Modern kids with shorter attention spans, I guess.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks is available now on DVD. The DVD special features include a featurette on the special effects and a music video.

Patrick Swayze, 1952-2009

I recently loved this post at Musings of a Housewife and it got me to thinking. I have a couple of book blogging friends who have said things like, “I can’t believe you homeschool and read all those books and blog, too!” One even said, “You’re a goddess!” – which made me snort my coffee all over my laptop screen.

So, yes, I do homeschool my four kids. And I read a lot. I occasionally do freelance writing – though not so much lately. I daycare my friend’s daughter after school. And I blog about books, movies, TV, homeschooling, etc; read other blogs; participate in Twitter and Facebook. I recently started going to the gym three or four times a week.

But, here’s what I don’t do:

I don’t cook gourmet homemade meals. I do cook mostly from scratch, but it’s very simple food, and Kevin grills a lot.

I don’t garden or do any yard work whatsoever.

I don’t can fruits and vegetables.

I don’t bake bread.

I don’t iron. I purposely buy clothing for my family that doesn’t require ironing.

I don’t keep my house spotless. If we’re having company – it’s clean enough. Spotless, not a chance. Up until this past summer, the house was cleaner in the summer – but this summer, I spent most of our free time at the park or pool with the kids. Deep cleaning did not get done.

I don’t scrapbook.

I don’t craft. I used to crochet, but haven’t had time lately.

I don’t volunteer.

I don’t attend women’s Bible study any more.

I don’t have a clean bedroom.

I don’t feel guilty (anymore) about the things I don’t do. Actually, that’s not true – every once in a while, when my mom or a particularly gifted homemaker friend of mine comes over, I may feel a teeny bit guilty and even try to deflect it by making excuses. But for the most part, I don’t feel guilty anymore.

When my kids are grown, I don’t think they’re going to say, “Geez, my mom wasn’t a very good housekeeper.” or “I wish my mom had baked more bread or canned more vegetables or kept a scrapbook.” I think they’re going to remember that I loved to be with them so much that I kept them with me every day. I think (hope) they’re going to remember all the books we read aloud together – laughing and crying over them. I think they’re going to remember how much fun we had learning together. And then it (the messy house, the store bought veggies and bread, the lack of pet, the lack of a second income) will all be worth it.

(This post is part of the 2,996 project, a memorial for the victims of 9/11.)

Lynn Catherine Goodchild was a passenger on United Flight 175, the plane that crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. She was traveling with her boyfriend, Shawn Nassaney, who also was killed.

Ms. Goodchild was beloved by her family and friends, who have created a memorial web site where people can leave their thoughts and memories of her.

Lynn Goodchild was a victim on September 11th. She was a person, with family left behind. It has been eight years, and time seems to dull our remembrance of the horror of that day. We think of the victims in terms of numbers. But they all had names, families, and people to mourn them.

(I’m re-posting this memorial from 2006. I was assigned Mr. Moroney’s name for the 2,996 project, a memorial for the victims of 9/11.)

Dennis G. Moroney of Eastchester, New York was 39 on September 11, 2001. He was working at the WTC as Senior Vice President of Cantor Fitzgerald when the twin towers came down.

Mr. Moroney grew up in Freehold, New Jersey with his parents, Thomas and Joan Moroney, and his six brothers. He graduated Manhattan College in 1984 and became a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald in 1998.

More important than his resume, however, is the family he left behind: his wife of 16 years, Nancy, and his children, Elizabeth and Timothy.

In 2002, Nancy spoke of her husband. The things that stand out in her mind are his sweetness, his charm, and his sense of humor.

Mr. Moroney loved to run and could often be seen jogging around his neighborhood. He also enjoyed golf and swimming, and coached Eastchester Youth Soccer’s crew team.

(Disney Nature: Earth was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

On Disney Blu-ray, Earth is an absolutely stunning example of cinematic storytelling with its crisply detailed images and theater-quality sound.

An epic story of adventure, starring some of the most magnificent and courageous creatures alive, awaits you in Earth. Disney Nature brings you a remarkable story of three animal families on a journey across our planet – polar bears, elephants and humpback whales. Filmed with spectacular clarity and beauty, Earth is both majestic and intimate as it captures rare footage of nature’s wildest and most elusive animals. From the landmark Disney Nature collection, Earth is an astonishing and heartwarming film filled with adventure, suspense and humor that will take your breath away – especially in Blu-ray High Definition.

The kids and I enjoyed watching this DVD very much – the photography is beautiful and breath-taking. At times the sheer magnitude of nature – the number of birds in a flock, the height of a waterfall, the endlessness of the desert – simply astounded me as we watched. James Earl Jones’ voice is the perfect match for the grandeur of this film.

Noah’s review: This is a very good nature movie. I completely love animals, so this was a good movie for kids who love animals.

Jonathan’s review: It’s an inspiring movie. It’s really cool how the birds make a clicking noise to communicate and how they try to attract a mate by looking like a big face.

Disney Nature: Earth is available now on DVD. The DVD special features include filmmaker annotations and a making-of featurette.

Well, we made it through our first week back to homeschooling – it went well, we are all still speaking to each other, so far, so good. Natalie is getting used to her bigger load – she’s in junior high now – and will start her weekly babysitting gig next week. (It’s hard to believe that the baby girl I used to take to Bible Study nursery, where a homeschooled teenager would babysit her, is now the homeschooled (almost) teenager doing the babysitting!)

I only have a couple minutes before I’m heading to the gym. Fun way to spend Friday night, right? Actually, I love the gym on Friday nights – it’s so empty and quiet.

I just finished reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner – if you like science fiction, dystopian fiction, YA fiction – actually, if you just love a mind-blowingly good story that keeps you turning the pages, you should definitely read it. It’s being released on October 13th. I was lucky enough to be sent an ARC for review – my review will be up at Books and Movies in the next couple of days.

~ A Life in Pages: Send a man to the grocery store – this video is a bit long, but so funny.

~ Mommy Brain was linked to from the Rural Health Blog, as part of the Get Fit Colville program.

~ Scribbit: Should children have allowances? Some good thoughts here.

~ A Life in Pages: Funny wedding moment – another fun video.

~ Moomin Light: For Star Wars fans – this guy is incredibly talented.

~ Don’t forget to enter my Ginger Kids giveaway – it’s a great tool for teaching cooking and geography!

At Books and Movies:

~ My ever-expanding list of must-reads
~ Literary Road Trip: Author Michael Harmon
~ Whatcha Watchin’? Wednesday: Scrubs, Season 8
~ Book Review: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
~ Book Review: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
~ My Life According to Literature Meme
~ Favorite classics (so far)
~ Literary Road Trip: Author Meghan Nuttall Sayres
~ Book Review: Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff
~ Whatcha Watchin’? Wednesday: Psych
~ Found in the pages of Bookmarks Magazine, September/October 2009 Issue
~ Book Review: Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
~ Monday’s Movie Review: Stop-Loss

For this week’s meeting, we didn’t have a planned speaker or agenda, which turned out to be a good thing, because it gave all of us a chance to talk and get to know each other better. It’s a bigger group than they’ve had in past years, and it’s taking a while to learn each other’s names, let alone anything else about each other.

The workouts are going well. In case you’re interested, this is what I’ve been doing. (Feel free to skip this part.)

Weights – three times a week:
Abdominal crunch machine – 50 lbs. – 3 sets of 14 (I started with 3 sets of 10.)
Leg press – 100 lbs. – 3 sets of 10 (I started with 3 sets of 10 at 80 lbs.)
Pull down – 50 lbs. – 3 sets of 12 (I started with 3 sets of 10 at 40 lbs.)
Shoulder press – 30 lbs. – 3 sets of 13 (This one kicks my butt. Or shoulders.)
Chest press – 30 lbs. – 3 sets of 14 (I started with 3 sets of 10.)

Cardio – three times a week:
Either 10 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes on the treadmill, or 20 minutes on the bike.

Weight lost this week: 0.4 lbs.

Biggest accomplishment: Three full days at the fair – no fair food consumed.