Easily scratched, inconvenient, expensive. I hate DVDs. Who thought of this anyway? Yeah, let's make the MOST fragile movie ever, so that when it gets scratched, people just have to spend another $20 and buy it again! Pure genius. How they sold it to us is beyond me. And how about the 20 minutes of commercials they have before you can even get to the show? I can't just put it in and let it play automatically. I have to sit and wait for the menu. What a pain.
We resisted the temptation to jump on the bandwagon for years. Mostly because it wasn't a priority and we aren't too particular. Then finally, when Elise was a baby, we bought a DVD player and a DVD here and there. One day I got the great idea to put all of our DVDs into one portable case. The very next day Jared put the case on the roof of the car while loading the car, and drove to work. DVD case fell off. He drove back five minutes later to find that someone had already taken them.
I did the math and realized we had just lost over $350. Probably more. And I thought about all the things I could have spent that money on instead. It was so annoying, that over the next few years, we did not to buy DVDs unless we absolutely loved the show, or it was practically free.
About four years later, Miles turned two, and LOVED DVDs. He was completely obsessed. I'd hide them on the top shelf in the laundry room. He'd rig up a way to climb up and get them. My mom and I even joked that we should hang them from the ceiling and put a videocamera in place to watch how he figures out to get them. He was very persistant, and DVDs are no match for a two year old. As a result there went Monsters Inc, Toy Story, The Incredibles, Nemo, and Spiderman, among others. Another couple hundred dollars down the drain, (and I was thinking about the new couch I could have had)
That was it for me. I thought about it and realized that my kids don't care about digital or HDTV. They don't care about the sound either. They are happiest watching movies on our 9 inch portable TV/Video that we can set up in their Playhut, or even in the backyard--that wonderfully indestructable TV has lasted us through FOUR portable DVD players (another conspiracy ;). I am happy not to worry about scratching, or getting the darn thing to play.
And since everyone else on the planet now wants the DVD version of all their old movies there are a lot of great VHS shows at the DI for $1. My kids can load them in themselves. They can rewind and push play in two simple buttons. There are no menus to read, or surfaces to scratch. Heck, at $1, I just donate when I don't want to store them anymore. No late fees ever, and nothing to store. And the kids are very excited to see which ones the DI will have. The other day, we picked up the Star Wars trilogy and the Emporer's New Groove.
Maybe some day we'll spring for a Blue Ray, but for now, between my VHS and Redbox, I think we're doing pretty well.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Monet's Super Secret Spy Birthday Party
Monet really wanted to invite some boys from her class to her birthday party, so she decided a spy party would sound cool to boys and girls. We had so much fun with this theme.
We sent out little manila folders with red decoders inviting the agents to the "rendezvous." I laminated some red cellophane and printed the party details in light blue with a red confetti fill. It turned out really fun.
We sent out little manila folders with red decoders inviting the agents to the "rendezvous." I laminated some red cellophane and printed the party details in light blue with a red confetti fill. It turned out really fun.
Here is Monet posing for her Secret Agent ID.
The kids had a disguise relay and really enjoyed their wacky costumes.
Decoding the clues that led to the hidden bomb
Here they are diffusing the bomb (baseball pinata spray painted black)
And here is the doughnut eating contest that my kids always love. Such a mess, but such fun!
Calling all Superheroes!
Miles had a great Superheroes birthday party. His birthday was at the end of January, but with our anniversary, Valentine's Day, and all of my busy stuff happening, I pushed back his party to the same time as Monet's. I figured the 2 birthdays in one day worked pretty well last year, we may as well do it again.
Miles now insists that he is 5 years old since he had a birthday a few months ago, and another one in March. I thought it was pretty hilarious, because no matter how many times I explained that we were just celebrating his birthday, he still didn't really get it. He thinks he's five.
These boys were so cute. We had my twin brothers come over too, and we had a big sleepover in the Batcave. Elise and Monet were dressed up as the Catwoman and Mystique and happily obliged to be chased with silly string "webs."
Barefoot and HAPPY
We got a couple nice days this week while the kids have spring break. So we figured we'd better make the most of them.This was a glorious day at the Gardens. I love this huge hill--and the kids love to roll down the grass. In the summer, we catch frogs here and feed the fish. It is a great place for a picnic. For years we never even realized what it actually was. The admission was a little pricey, and we just didn't know how cool it was. Then one year we finally went on my birthday. It was amazing, and ever since we've been hooked. The kids love it.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Do you need Net Nanny too?
A few weeks ago Monet was calling to me, "Mom, there is a picture of a naked lady on the computer!" My heart sank. Great. I knew we should have installed that filter after we had to reformat my computer. We've had talks about pornography, and even have the little Safety Kids Protect their Minds CD. We generally keep an internet filter on all the computers at home. We just downloaded Net Nanny last week and it has great reviews.
Thankfully, this is the picture she was talking about. :)
I have an iGoogle homepage with the "art of the day" and this little piece is on there quite frequently. I really don't get how this one is such a masterpiece. Personally, I prefer Van Gogh, Klimt and Monet.
Thankfully, this is the picture she was talking about. :)
I have an iGoogle homepage with the "art of the day" and this little piece is on there quite frequently. I really don't get how this one is such a masterpiece. Personally, I prefer Van Gogh, Klimt and Monet.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Scary Little Toy
So Miles came running downstairs the other day with this:
Jared put him up to it. It is a little prank they picked up at Chuckee Cheese. Good thing he wasn't crying and there was no blood! I would have been freaking out.
Jared put him up to it. It is a little prank they picked up at Chuckee Cheese. Good thing he wasn't crying and there was no blood! I would have been freaking out.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Rocky's got nothin on Simone
Remember that scene from Rocky where he gulps down raw eggs? Well, here is Simone with her favorite concoction. She prefers then unblended so she can go straight for the yolk.
It isn't unusual for her to fix herself her favorite snack if someone happens to leave the eggs sitting out on the counter.
So today as I was doing some work on the computer, she was in the kitchen fixing herself a lunch of raw eggs. Some of them cracked on the ground, so she dutifully wiped them up. And here she is all set to go. I can't believe she actually likes to eat them raw. After I got over my revulsion, I snapped a quick picture and then cooked them for her--she wouldn't touch them.
Hopefully with her prior episodes, she's built up a resistance to Salmonella.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
The Flu Vaccine
Three years ago Miles developed a serious bleeding disorder from his MMR vaccine that caused me to rethink my stance on some vaccines. Anyway, here are a couple of videos that I thought were interesting. The first one is just funny. I had a good laugh when my sister sent it to me a few years back when we were in the midst of this.
I thought it was very interesting that cases of pediatric flu deaths went up after the Flu vaccine was introduced. I think a possible reason for that is because when there is a vaccine for a disease, there is a big incentive to make the disease seem really scary so people will buy the vaccine. All the scary statistics for something we never feared all of a sudden get reworked, inflated and thrown into the media limelight in order to pressure people to get the vaccine, and eventually to get the vaccine mandated. Not too long ago, Chicken Pox was just a normal disease we all got. Now, because of all the marketing and hype, it is something that many parents fear. Merck alone earned $4,278,000,000 from vaccine sales in just 2007. There is a lot of marketing going on, and a lot of it is in the form of newspaper articles, commercials, etc. You can see evidence of that in the new HPV vaccine. Nowhere in any of the marketing does it tell you that HPV is an STD, so if there is a real concern that your 10 year old could get an STD, go ahead and get it. But we are going to opt out of that one too. It will likely be mandatory in a few years, it already is in some states. It angers me that I have to pay to get exemptions for my kids to not get vaccinations for things like Chicken Pox, and STD's like Hep B and possibly HPV. I do not have Hep B, and there is no reason that my tiny baby should be required to recieve a potentially damaging vaccination for a disease that is caused by STD's and drug use, something we are not at risk for.
The part that disturbs me the most about vaccines is that while the scary disease statistics get thrown around all day long, the statistics of kids who do develop a reaction are not accurate. I found that out the hard way when I actually looked at the hard research and statistics to how those numbers were arrived at. Miles's disorder is rare, but not nearly as rare as the CDC is telling parents. And the worst part is that there is no reliable tracking going on at all so we don't really know what kinds of reactions that kids are having. Many times, doctors dismiss a parents claim that the child's health issue is even connected. That happened to me even though Miles's disorder is listed as a possible side effect on the package insert and on the governments own vaccine injury table. Even with that information, I had to be very proactive to get it reported. Another concern I have is there is no long term research on vaccines. If Miles acquired an autoimmune disorder three weeks after his immunization (the expected time duration that ITP manifests) could Vaccines be causing other autoimmune diseases that haven't been studied?
Anyway, I could go on and on about this. In fact, I did type up his story once, and it is a novel. In short, do your research. Don't bury your head in the sand like I did.
Here is Miles with the spontaneous bruises that cropped up after he develope ITP from his MMR immunization. His platelet levels were so low that blood would leak out under his skin from minor things like me picking him up, or holding his legs while I changed his diaper. He looked like he'd been abused and it was very sad for me to look at him like that. Medical expenses to treat this were over 20K. He had blood draws every few days to monitor his platelet count. I was told to watch him and take him into the ER for an MRI if he bumped his head because they were worried about him getting a brain bleed. He was 13 months. So bumping his head just comes with the territory at that age and I was pretty much a basketcase.
Anyway, I know there are lots of worse things out there and we are so happy that his ITP went away after a couple of months. It was just a really hard time, and a good learning experience for me.
I thought it was very interesting that cases of pediatric flu deaths went up after the Flu vaccine was introduced. I think a possible reason for that is because when there is a vaccine for a disease, there is a big incentive to make the disease seem really scary so people will buy the vaccine. All the scary statistics for something we never feared all of a sudden get reworked, inflated and thrown into the media limelight in order to pressure people to get the vaccine, and eventually to get the vaccine mandated. Not too long ago, Chicken Pox was just a normal disease we all got. Now, because of all the marketing and hype, it is something that many parents fear. Merck alone earned $4,278,000,000 from vaccine sales in just 2007. There is a lot of marketing going on, and a lot of it is in the form of newspaper articles, commercials, etc. You can see evidence of that in the new HPV vaccine. Nowhere in any of the marketing does it tell you that HPV is an STD, so if there is a real concern that your 10 year old could get an STD, go ahead and get it. But we are going to opt out of that one too. It will likely be mandatory in a few years, it already is in some states. It angers me that I have to pay to get exemptions for my kids to not get vaccinations for things like Chicken Pox, and STD's like Hep B and possibly HPV. I do not have Hep B, and there is no reason that my tiny baby should be required to recieve a potentially damaging vaccination for a disease that is caused by STD's and drug use, something we are not at risk for.
The part that disturbs me the most about vaccines is that while the scary disease statistics get thrown around all day long, the statistics of kids who do develop a reaction are not accurate. I found that out the hard way when I actually looked at the hard research and statistics to how those numbers were arrived at. Miles's disorder is rare, but not nearly as rare as the CDC is telling parents. And the worst part is that there is no reliable tracking going on at all so we don't really know what kinds of reactions that kids are having. Many times, doctors dismiss a parents claim that the child's health issue is even connected. That happened to me even though Miles's disorder is listed as a possible side effect on the package insert and on the governments own vaccine injury table. Even with that information, I had to be very proactive to get it reported. Another concern I have is there is no long term research on vaccines. If Miles acquired an autoimmune disorder three weeks after his immunization (the expected time duration that ITP manifests) could Vaccines be causing other autoimmune diseases that haven't been studied?
Anyway, I could go on and on about this. In fact, I did type up his story once, and it is a novel. In short, do your research. Don't bury your head in the sand like I did.
Here is Miles with the spontaneous bruises that cropped up after he develope ITP from his MMR immunization. His platelet levels were so low that blood would leak out under his skin from minor things like me picking him up, or holding his legs while I changed his diaper. He looked like he'd been abused and it was very sad for me to look at him like that. Medical expenses to treat this were over 20K. He had blood draws every few days to monitor his platelet count. I was told to watch him and take him into the ER for an MRI if he bumped his head because they were worried about him getting a brain bleed. He was 13 months. So bumping his head just comes with the territory at that age and I was pretty much a basketcase.
Anyway, I know there are lots of worse things out there and we are so happy that his ITP went away after a couple of months. It was just a really hard time, and a good learning experience for me.
Fortunately, he really enjoyed his stay at Primary Children's as you can see.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
The Bachelor=My Worst Nightmare
A house full of girls who are all vying for attention from the same guy, watching him date and make out with all those other women, and then having him publically break up with you while the whole world watches you cry?
Just watching it puts knots in my stomach. I can only imagine how poorly I would do on the bachelor. I’ve never been the kind of girl who could work the flirting thing. Thankfully Jared flirted enough for the both of us and it took all the pressure off me; which is how I like it. And luckily we had Kelli (his sister and my best friend) to pass the message along that I liked him too. All that resulted in our first kiss on the lifeguard station in Newport Beach--I thought I was leaning in, but he insists that I made him do all the work. Ah well, I've certainly made up for that. ; )
In Kindergarten, I did not partake in chasing boys, or being chased. I was one of the G-Force (remember the cartoon?). There were four of us, two girls, two boys. We were the rescuers and we rescued the kids who were getting chased. My ineptitude in the flirt department was obvious even then.
My first experience with mobs of girls chasing boys was at EFY. It was a lot like kindergarten. At the dances, a song would start, and all the girls would start making their claims. Seconds later, it seemed that every guy in the whole place was snatched up. I didn’t have too much preference and was way too proud to start mobbing all the cute boys for my chance to slow dance. So I’d linger for a little while then generally get asked to dance by some poor soul who didn’t make the cut. One time, I felt bad for a kinda awkward guy and asked him to dance. I regretted it later when he was clutching my back so hard I felt like yelling at him “bible width apart you sicko!” Anyway you look at it, those dances were pretty awful.
Then there were the dorms at BYU, my second experience with man-crazed Mormon women. My roommates were great at cozying up to the Family Home Evening guys and the Home Teachers. One of them would drawl out her fake southern accent “would ya’ll like a piece of PIE?” And I think I wanted to puke right then and there. I lasted one semester in Heritage Halls before moving off campus. I should have given it another semester, because I had a lot of fun despite the annoying roommates and their obsession with offering baked goods to every man that passed our dorm.
My last experience with this type of behavior before Jared rescued me from the dating scene was in Russia. I was among 15 American girls teaching English there for five months. After about month number 4, we were desperate for some cute boys. Who better than the American missionaries? Playing baseball on their P-day was something to look forward to. I laugh now when I think of the herd of girls all surrounding Elder Dove on the bus. There is just something about a guy who speaks English and can understand you. I for one did not participate in the fawning over Elder Dove. I think I wanted to, but just couldn’t get past the competition part--well and that little fact that he was a missionary. And though he was a really nice guy and cute too, none of the girls were nearly so enamored by him when there were so many other English speaking guys to choose from.
Which is how I picture the bachelor is. Once these people get out of the contest environment and are not so focused on preventing their pride from being shattered in front of millions of viewers, you get into the real world, and suddenly, that Bachelor guy isn’t so great after all.
I have at least one daughter who may end up a lot like me. Unable to flirt. But there is something great about that. We tend to attract the guys who like a little challenge and are persistant and confident. So, I guess it all works out in the end.
Just watching it puts knots in my stomach. I can only imagine how poorly I would do on the bachelor. I’ve never been the kind of girl who could work the flirting thing. Thankfully Jared flirted enough for the both of us and it took all the pressure off me; which is how I like it. And luckily we had Kelli (his sister and my best friend) to pass the message along that I liked him too. All that resulted in our first kiss on the lifeguard station in Newport Beach--I thought I was leaning in, but he insists that I made him do all the work. Ah well, I've certainly made up for that. ; )
In Kindergarten, I did not partake in chasing boys, or being chased. I was one of the G-Force (remember the cartoon?). There were four of us, two girls, two boys. We were the rescuers and we rescued the kids who were getting chased. My ineptitude in the flirt department was obvious even then.
My first experience with mobs of girls chasing boys was at EFY. It was a lot like kindergarten. At the dances, a song would start, and all the girls would start making their claims. Seconds later, it seemed that every guy in the whole place was snatched up. I didn’t have too much preference and was way too proud to start mobbing all the cute boys for my chance to slow dance. So I’d linger for a little while then generally get asked to dance by some poor soul who didn’t make the cut. One time, I felt bad for a kinda awkward guy and asked him to dance. I regretted it later when he was clutching my back so hard I felt like yelling at him “bible width apart you sicko!” Anyway you look at it, those dances were pretty awful.
Then there were the dorms at BYU, my second experience with man-crazed Mormon women. My roommates were great at cozying up to the Family Home Evening guys and the Home Teachers. One of them would drawl out her fake southern accent “would ya’ll like a piece of PIE?” And I think I wanted to puke right then and there. I lasted one semester in Heritage Halls before moving off campus. I should have given it another semester, because I had a lot of fun despite the annoying roommates and their obsession with offering baked goods to every man that passed our dorm.
My last experience with this type of behavior before Jared rescued me from the dating scene was in Russia. I was among 15 American girls teaching English there for five months. After about month number 4, we were desperate for some cute boys. Who better than the American missionaries? Playing baseball on their P-day was something to look forward to. I laugh now when I think of the herd of girls all surrounding Elder Dove on the bus. There is just something about a guy who speaks English and can understand you. I for one did not participate in the fawning over Elder Dove. I think I wanted to, but just couldn’t get past the competition part--well and that little fact that he was a missionary. And though he was a really nice guy and cute too, none of the girls were nearly so enamored by him when there were so many other English speaking guys to choose from.
Which is how I picture the bachelor is. Once these people get out of the contest environment and are not so focused on preventing their pride from being shattered in front of millions of viewers, you get into the real world, and suddenly, that Bachelor guy isn’t so great after all.
I have at least one daughter who may end up a lot like me. Unable to flirt. But there is something great about that. We tend to attract the guys who like a little challenge and are persistant and confident. So, I guess it all works out in the end.
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