Friday, July 31, 2009

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Ryan has been waiting for this movie FOREVER! It's by his favorite director, Wes Anderson. After seeing this trailer, he's even MORE excited.

Movie Trailer:


Movie Info:
Release Date: November 13, 2009
MPAA Rating: PG
Starring: Owen Wilson, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray.
Directed by: Wes Anderson.

Making the Movie:

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Alice in Wonderland

I can't wait to see this. I just hope it's not lame like Willy Wonka was....

My little helper

Our yard is looking pretty pathetic as we've had to shut off the sprinklers in order to put in the new window wells etc. With all the heat the last few weeks our poor grass has turned from a lovey shade of green to a crunchy burnt yellow. Ryan has done his best to water it in the evening when he can. Berlin as decided that this is the perfect time to help, cool down, and have a little fun at the same time.


Despite the fact that the lawn has died, the weeds (damn morning glory) are greener and more lush than ever. ARGH! It makes me so mad!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Our house is a very very old house

Last week kicked off the start of our basement remodel. Needless to say the house is a mess and we are living amongst boxes & tubs in our living room & dining room as we had to move all boxes/furniture/etc upstairs. Here are photos from before the remodel (most were taken when we moved in back in September 08). Notice the pee-stained carpet? That's thanks to the renters who apparently let their 2 big dogs have run of the house. And the beautiful paint jobs in the green paneled room, minty bathroom, armageddon room and italian room are also courtesy of the renters (painted only a couple years ago apparently).



Here are photos after week 1 of the remodel. Notice the mold, the water (still very wet and we have NO clue where it's coming from), the asbestos tape on ALL the ducting/vents, the water stains on the concrete foundation walls (oh and lots - I do mean lots - of dead mice, but I don't have pictures of those cause that's just sick!). Yeah, we are SOOOO lucky that we get to deal with this. I guess that's the price we pay for liking old homes with character. We're hoping that by digging bigger window wells (there weren't any before), removing all sprinkler pipes from the perimeter of the home, and by burying our raingutter under the lawn and across the yard, that it will solve the leaking water in the storage room problem. Here's to hoping right?



Thursday, July 2, 2009

Glitter Toes

Over the past 2 years I have secretly envied all the mothers who have little girls that allow them to paint their toe-nails. Seriously. Whenever I saw cute little girls running around the park, at the lake, or aroud town with sparkly toes & sandals, I would turn a pale shade of green. I have been dreaming for the day when Berlin would allow me to paint her little piggies all the colors of the rainbow. Well my friends, that day has come ATLAST!

For the past few months we've been reading the My Princess Essentials book
before bed. We pretend to put on jewels, apply makeup, comb our hair, put on a dress & shoes, and paint our toes & fingernails. Apparently it caught on because while we were at Walmart yesterday I took her down the aisle with the nail polish and I told her that she could pick out any color she wanted and we would paint her toesies after dinner. She freaked out and after much deliberation she chose a salmon pink (it took all I had to not try and sway her to a different color. I wanted this to be her special toe glitter). She held it all thru dinner and as soon as we were done, she was ready. I was amazed at how still she sat while we painted her toes AND fingernails. Here she is in all her salmony pink glory.


The fingernails only lasted about 30 minutes. As she was drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, she decided that pickin' it off was more fun. (She must be like me - I hate colored polish on my fingernails). But the toes are still lookin' good this morning, and I am so happy to have a little girl that FINALLY likes her little piggies to be painted. They are so freakin' cute!

Book Review - Pope Joan

This book was very interesting. It's the story of a young girl with a lust & passion for learning (during the ninth century - dark ages) and thus disguises herself as a boy/man in order to obtain that education. Her journey eventually takes her to the top office in the Catholic Church - Pope.

It's not a biography, but a story based on the controversial idea that for a short period of time there was a female Pope (in disquise of course) heading the Catholic Church in Rome. The Catholic Church denies that Pope Joan (aka John Anglicus) ever existed, however there are numerous (like 500) historical documents verifying & recording that she did exist. Most of the events & even characters in the story are historically accurate; it's mostly the life of Joan that's considered historical fiction.

Whether it's true or not, I don't know, but I don't care. I really enjoyed this book and to be honest loved her story, struggles, triumphs, heartaches & all. It made me appreciate the opportunities that we as women have in this day and age to do and be whatever we choose for ourselves. I cannot imagine how awful life would be not being allowed to read, write or even understand basic number/counting systems. The story also made me reflect on my own religious beliefs and made me just a little more grateful for my own testimony and personal relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.