March 31, 2009 by Amy Jo.

Speaking of movies…

We took the kids to see their first movie on the big screen this weekend!  On Sunday we went to see an 11 am showing of “Hotel for Dogs”.  The kids were familiar with many of the dogs from the McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys we’d collected several weeks ago.

We snuck in popcorn for Allison, but Carter got a kid’s “tray” with popcorn, a small icee, and skittles.  Allison was engrossed by the movie for pretty much the whole time.  Carter (a.k.a Mr. Wiggles) made it through the whole show…barely.

Jim and I enjoyed the show…  I think it had been 3 years since we’d been to a movie theater!!

A good time was had by all!

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March 31, 2009 by Amy Jo.

At the Pioneer Days parade a week ago, Jim and the kids were standing next to a family with ….uh… rather vocal children.  The young girl kept talking to Jim about all kinds of toys and such.  And when a Native American Indian came down the parade route the school-age boy said:

BOY AT PARADE:  How’d they catch an Indian?!

JAMES:  They didn’t catch her.  I think she’s just visiting.

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March 28, 2009 by Amy Jo.

We’re full of movie references lately…

Have you seen the movie Silkwood?  It’s an old one about a woman who works in a factory where they use radioactive materials.  She gets contaminated by the radiation and they take her to be showered and scrubbed down.  She screams the whole time.

After Carter’s bath this morning…

DADDY SAID:  It was Silkwood again.

Carter would really like baths if he didn’t have to get washed in any way, shape or form.

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P.S.  Being a Nuclear Engineer, I have to add my own commentary on the movie… 

First of all, in the event of skin contamination by radiation, they do not scrub you down until your skin is red.  They would actually use tape to try and remove the contamination or they will use gentle washing with water.  Vigorous scrubbing can grind the contamination into your skin and make it more difficult to remove.

Second of all, in the movie Silkwood, at one point they bring a birthday cake into the radiation lab and have a little party.  What??!!  Are they crazy?  You don’t eat in a chemistry lab let alone a radiation lab! 

Lastly, when visiting the contaminated areas of a Nuclear Power plant, always bring a change of clothes…  People have been known to inadvertently sit in contamination and then you have to leave your undies behind…  They are very strict…no radiation can leave the power plant.

OK, jumping down from my soap box now….

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March 28, 2009 by Amy Jo.

Have you seen the movie Finding Nemo?  Remember the blue fish named Dory?  She suffered from short term memory loss.

Yesterday, when Jim and I were talking about something we’d forgotten…

ALLISON SAID:  This family is like Dory!

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March 26, 2009 by Amy Jo.

It’s 7:20 am.  I’ve been up for about 40 minutes.  In that time I have…

• kissed my husband good-bye
• greeted a waking child
• poured two sippie cups of OJ
• changed a wet morning diaper
• dressed one child
• made a breakfast of apple sauce and graham crackers for one child
• cleaned up
• listened to the morning wake-up whines of a 4 year old
• rescued a stuffed toy from under the bed
• listened to car toys that are louder than the news I was trying to watch on TV
• changed a poopy diaper
• cut the tag off of a stuffed toy before someone had a meltdown over it
• made a breakfast of poptarts for another child

What I really wanted to be doing?  Sipping my coffee in peace and quiet.

The army can’t hold a candle to the life of a Mommy.  Mommies do way more before 8 am than most people do all day!

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March 25, 2009 by Amy Jo.

The kids had chicken and edamame for dinner.  They LOVE edamame!  This was the first time I’ve made it at home…which pretty much involved cutting open a bag, putting them a dish, adding salt water, and starting the microwave.  I also had to stir it halfway through…

Anyway, the edamame was a big hit and was met with variations of the following running commentary:

CARTER:  I got one out!  Dares one more in dare.  One two in dare!
ALLISON in her best big sister know-it-all-voice):  Ter, they all have two and the big ones have three beans.
CARTER:  Oh.  Uh-oh.  One pop out. 

(Carter hops down to pick a bean up off the floor…eats it…then he goes to Allison’s side of the table and eats the beans on the floor under her chair.)

ALLISON:  Hey!  He’s eating the beans I was going to get when I was done!

(Carter climbs back up to his seat and continues shelling and eating beans.)

CARTER:  Oooo-oooo!  Dare one!  Two more in dare!

I took it all as compliments on my amazing microwave cooking skills.  …And then I called daddy to have him bring home three more bags of edamame for future dinners! 

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March 25, 2009 by Amy Jo.

We’ve had a couple of very busy weekends in a row…  The weekend before last, on Friday night, we were going to McDonald’s for a family dinner (Yes, with two small kids, McDonald’s is an exciting family night out!) when low and behold, in the parking lot behind McD’s was a small carnival!  Way cool!

Carter had never been on any amusement rides other than a carousel…  So he and Allison rode the helicopters and they both went down the Super-Slide with Daddy.  (Mommy doesn’t ride the Super-Slide.  Too scary!)

Here are the pictures we snapped with a cell phone!

Allison and Carter in a Police Helicopter.

A happy Carter!

Blurry Carter waving as he wooshed by…

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March 24, 2009 by Amy Jo.

CARTER:  Poking Pine!

TRANSLATION:  Porcupine.

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March 21, 2009 by Amy Jo.

Daddy and Carter were doing some vacuuming yesterday…

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March 21, 2009 by Amy Jo.

from Allison
(I tied the ribbon on.)

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