Oscars Night

We love the Oscars around here. It started out that I loved the Oscars and would watch them every year (I view it as my Super Bowl) and Adrian would be on the computer or doing something else. Then a few years ago we discovered online Oscar ballots and ever since then it has become a friendly competition (friendlyish, but it wouldn't be a right without some smack talking and banter) between Adrian and I to see who can get the most categories right. It's awesomely fun! This year we let the kids fill out their own ballots, though none of them actually watched the show since it goes too late. They were super excited this morning to see how they did. The results: I got 13 right, Ben 8, Adrian 5, Sophie 5, and Nina 5. Didn't Ben do well!:)

As for the show itself, I was super excited that Colin Firth won best actor. Yay! His speech was very nice and self deprecatingly cute. Love that guy! And can I just say that I was over the top excited that Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails fame, won for best musical score for The Social Network. That's amazing! Seeing Trent Reznor in a tux looking well groomed and normal was awesome. I used to sketch crazy looking early 90's Trent on my notebooks in high school. It's nice to know we've all grown up including Trent and that he is a soundtrack composer now.

Then for the rest of the show. Hmm. I think there was a ton of cringe worthy moments, a lot more than normal. Kirk Douglas for one. The best supporting actress and the F bomb for another. And  as excited as I was to see Anne Hathaway and James Franco host the Oscars I just didn't think they worked very well together. Did anyone else notice that James seemed super stiff/distant and never seemed to even look at his co-host?? Their timing was a little off too. But then again they are actors and not comedians so I guess I should cut them some slack. Trying to be funny on live TV must difficult. I do miss the days of Billy Crystal and Steve Martin; they made it seem effortless. Even with all the awkwardness I still had a good time watching it and I don't think it hurt my enjoyment that I won our little ballot competition.:)

Our Valentine's Day

I know this is more than a week overdue, but we had a very fun Valentine's day. We had our traditional Valentine's breakfast together; this year it was caramel pull-aparts with orange juice. And I gave everyone a book, candy, and Valentine. Adrian got a book of math riddles (and he loved it, oh how I love my geeky man), Sophie got The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, Ben got The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and Nina got an Angelina Ballerina book. I got myself this copy of Jane Eyre - how cool is that?! Happy Valentine's day to me! Fun morning. Then when the kids got home from school and Adrian got home from work we had spaghetti and meatballs, which had also become a tradition I think because I really loved Lady and The Tramp when I was little. And after dinner we all went to Gnomeo and Juliet. The kids loved it. I think it was cute and entertaining, but must admit that the story of Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending just isn't right. But of course I wouldn't take my kids to a movie with a double suicide at the end... So Gnomeo and Juliet fit the bill for a fun Valentine's family movie night.

Just to add a little Ghost of Valentine's Past tidbit, for our first Valentine's day together I got Adrian a really nice copy of the tragedies of William Shakespeare thinking it was a super romantic gift - mostly because of how much I love Romeo and Juliet. Adrian thought it was super weird, not being a big Romeo and Juliet fan himself, but he still loved me so it all worked out.:)

False Positives

Yesterday was a weird day. It was great, but weird. Sophie had her long awaited appointment with an allergist. We wanted a second opinion on her food allergies from a specialist. We are very very glad we got this second opinion because they did the skin test and the results were negative. Negative. No allergies to eggs, peanuts, or fish. The blood test her pediatrician ordered apparently had false positives. Can you imagine if we hadn't gotten a second opinion?? False positives suck. Now, the only way to know for sure is for us to add back into her diet, slowly and one at a time: eggs, peanuts, and fish (not that she ever ate fish really, but I plan on giving her Caesar salad dressing with anchovies in it later). Last night we had Belgian waffles to start it off and this morning she was not sick. Yay. Big fluffy breakfast for dinner waffles!! She is looking forward to some scrambled eggs this weekend. She is happy. I am happy. This is awesome.

But, the thing that's really frustratingly weird is that now we still don't know what is or was wrong with Sophie. We stopped eggs, peanuts and fish and she got better. So of course we thought that's what it was. But now it's still the mystery illness that her doctors can't figure out. The allergist did say that you can develop food sensitivities after you've had a bad stomach flu and that's what might have set it all off. Let's hope it was that and she's all done with being sick. As we start giving her these foods I'm going to have my mental fingers crossed that the tummy troubles will have gone away too. Wish us luck!

Happy Valentine's Day

Romeo and Juliet by Jennie Harbour, c. somewhere around 1920

Happy Valentine's Day!! I hope you have a wonderful day with those you love!

I'm breaking from my Pre-Raphaelite Valentine's tradition and instead am bringing you this gorgeous illustration of Romeo and Juliet by Jennie Harbour, an early 20th century illustrator who worked for the Tucks Postcard Co. I saw it whilst searching for a Pre-Raphaelite images (even though it's not Pre-Raphaelite) and just couldn't pass it up. It's too pretty!! And perfect for Valentine's Day! This was an oil painting that was made into a print, especially for postcards. Can you imagine that kind of work being put into a modern postcard?? I love it's oh so lovely Art Nouveau style. The decoration and composition is just so curvy and organic. That's gorgeous Art Nouveau for you! And it's such a sensitive portrayal of this intimate scene were Juliet is saying good-bye to her new husband at dawn before he is exiled to Mantua, the last time they will see each other alive (well Romeo sees Juliet when she is alive, but he thinks she's dead...you know what I meant :)). This was probably produced somewhere before and near 1920, but it's super hard to get information on Jennie Harbour. She kind of fell off the map after working for Tucks for a few years. It was a hard world to be a female artist in the early 20th century. You can count the popular/successful female artists from the late 19th and early 20th centuries on one hand. But my goodness she was talented. If you googled her you'd be amazed at how beautiful and original her illustrations are. So there you go. Hope you like the image and I hope you have a wonderful day of love!

Mourning the Loss of Breakfast for Dinner

January has been a crazy month. Our ward split and though I am still primary secretary there has been a lot of work to do - organizing classes, getting new teachers their binders, meetings, and updating so many Excel lists... Really busy. But in the midst of this we've gotten some life altering news that has over shadowed all that busy-ness. Sophie has been diagnosed with multiple food allergies. Just before Christmas she started feeling really ill frequently. We took her to the doctor twice and they thought it was just junky holiday food that was making her sick. But then it persisted after the holidays were over and her doctor decided to do further tests. The testing process took a couple weeks and resulted in us figuring out she is allergic to eggs, peanuts, and fish. It has been a shock. How does an 11 year old suddenly become allergic to a bunch of food she's been eating since she was a toddler?? Isn't it crazy?! Shocking but also so darn sad. Sophie misses peanut butter and scrambled eggs and all manner of her favorite treats and candies. It's hard.

Of course we are very glad to know why she has been so sick and she has been feeling much better, but we are all in a weird kind of mourning. I find myself scrolling through my food blog trying to figure out how to make our favorite foods egg & peanut free and feeling depressed by the pictures of my favorite desserts that I can't make for FHE anymore. The loss of our Wednesday night breakfast-for-dinner favorites has been the saddest. We all love crepes, hootenannies, breakfast casseroles, waffles, quiche, pancakes, omelets, scrambled eggs, muffins... Eggs are so very yummy! There are some alternatives like biscuits and sausage gravy or eggless pancakes... Not as fun. It's a learning curve, figuring out how to get as excited about eggless, peanutless meals and treats. We can still have eggs in the house, Sophie just can't eat them, but of course we aren't going to all eat big fluffy pancakes or peanut butter cups in front of her. We aren't going to be mean. So, we are all going to be seriously cutting down on foods that Sophie is allergic to. Isn't it sad?? I feel sad. I'm sure I'll get over it and it will just be a part of our life, but I'm going to allow myself to be sad about the loss of breakfast for dinner; my strawberry crepes deserve that. I have a feeling IHOP will become a favorite date night spot for me and Adrian.

2010 Book List

Happy New Year!! I'm excited to tell you about the books I read in 2010. Many I really liked! I meant to read more classics. Oh well. I got a couple in like Murder on the Orient Express (twice - I really liked it!) and The Catcher in the Rye (read right after J D Salinger died). In 2011 I want to read another classic I haven't gotten to. Maybe Gone With the Wind or East of Eden. We'll see. Here's my list and of course I couldn't help adding my two cents on each book.

1. The Help by Kathryn Stocket - I liked this one. It was good for a book club discussion. I must say though that this point in history is not my favorite time to read about - segregation and civil rights. It's just so painful and hard. It felt like some characters were caricatures, Hilly for one, but overall it was a good read.
2. The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale - I did not like it. I'm sorry. It was fun in parts, so very very sad in others, but I felt manipulated by the ending. I think she ended it the way she did to make a point that men and women can be "just friends" without any other feelings involved. I do think that men and women can be friends, don't get me wrong, but I don't think you should be pinky-swearing kind of BFFs with another man when you are married. Call me old fashioned. I wouldn't like it if my husband had a female BFF and I don't think he would like it the other way around either. And then there was that part where she flew across the country to comfort her BFF when he split with his wife. That crossed some lines. Okay so this book was thought provoking at least, so I guess I can say it was worth reading.
   
3. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene - I loved this book as a 13?14? year old. And now it just doesn't have the same hold for me. It's an okay book, but not one I will read and reread as an adult like I did as a teenager.
   
4. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - Great! I really really liked it and want to read more Agatha Christie's now.
   
5. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery -I read it with Sophie and it was lovely. I had forgotten how much I love Anne.
   
6. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - It was fun. It felt copy-catish and was not as wonderful by any means as Harry Potter, but good. Sophie has read the whole series and loves them. I'm just glad she is still into fantasy and we haven't had to deal with Twilight yet.:)
7. Return to Honor by L. J. Elmore - This was written by my friend's mother's friend and I read it for a book club. It was a different perspective on WWII. Can't say that I loved it, but it was thought provoking.
   
8. The Catcher In the Rye by J. D. Salinger - Oh how can I even review this one. This is my favorite book. The first time I read it, my junior year in high school, I so identified with Holden. A book, a character had never spoken to me like that before. I got to discuss this book this year with my friends' online book group. It was fantastic to talk about Holden with other people. Please don't think I'm crazy or naughty for loving this book. It has bad language. Yes. But there is so much more to it. It's an amazingly deep read if you give it a chance.
   
9. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt - Good. It is a great way to introduce the subject of "would you really want to live forever?" to kids. It's a children's book and reads like one, but it was a good read even for an adult.
   
10. Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella - Yep, read this one again for hilarious fluff. A wintertime tradition.
11. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
12. Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella -
    
13. Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom - Really good. I like Albom's style. So easy to read. I loved his Rabi. Can you believe I still haven't read Tuesdays with Morrie? Maybe this year.
14. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe - I wish I would have read this in the fall. Perfect Halloween book. Connie, the main character, bugged me every now and then and there was A LOT of suspension of disbelief, but I liked it.
    
15. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford - One of those books that helps you understand a period in history you might not have. It's a puppy love sort of story between a Chinese American boy and a Japanese American girl and what happens when they are split up because the girl has to go with her family to a Japanese internment camp. I thought the romance was probably a little too intense for 12? 13? year olds (I can't remember how old they were), but it was sweet and poignant in parts.
16. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - Bring on the fluff. Oh so fun. Total Twilight knock off, but this time with witches and from the boy's perspective. You need a little fluff now and then.
17. Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery - Read this one with Sophie too and it was, again, lovely.
    
18. Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner - I read this for a book club and it was interesting. Not the kind of book I would choose on my own, but wow there was some stuff in there I'd never thought of. Levitt and Dubner are certainly out of the box kind of thinkers.
19. Diary of an Honest Mum by Jools Oliver - Jools Oliver as in celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's wife. It is the story of their journey through infertility and the first couple years with their first 2 children. A couple years ago I saw Jools Oliver on the Today Show talking about this book and I thought hey that would be fun to read. And it was fun to read. Though it would have been funner to read when my babies were babies. It felt a little irrelevant to my life now, I'm past the point of making my own organic baby food, sadly.
20. The Short 2nd Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer - Cool beans. I liked it. Not enough Edward. Of course. But there was that little snipit at the end with Edward reading her thoughts and Edward talking to Jane. So hey, Edward! It was nice to be back in that world even if it was the much more violent side of Forks.
21. This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer - This was the sequel to Life As We Knew It and though I liked it, I didn't like it as much as the first one. I didn't like the ending. I didn't like the euthanasia part. The story didn't warrant it, but other than that it was good.
22. The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman - Whoa, Poland in WWII! I had no idea about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. That was really interesting to read about. I thought this book was a little slow, but so informative and thought provoking. The joke the German soldiers played on this poor woman - wow that was unforgivable. Such pain and heartache.
23. Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins - I already reviewed this book in a post right after I read it, but in summary I really liked it. A lot. I like that it wasn't all tied up neatly. I liked the ending. I was terrorized by parts, but it's great and I highly recommend the whole series!
24. Scrambled Eggs At Midnight by Brad Barkley - Okay this was also a very good young adult fiction book. It's about a girl living a nomadic kind of life with her mother going from Renaissance Faire to Renaissance Faire. She meets a boy who lives with his parents at a Christian fat camp. It is super funny in parts. It is told from both the girl's and the boy's point of view which would normally bug me, but it was alright. I liked the sarcastic humor and the feeling of the book. Both these kids are just trying to find a loving home where they matter and feel loved. It was very sweet and surprisingly had a couple of recipes in it. A weird, but welcome bonus.:)
    
25. The Silence of God by Gale Sears - Slow and not as interesting as it sounds. It's the story of a Mormon family in the scenes leading up to and in the wake of the Russian Revolution. It sounds exciting, but it wasn't really. I wish it was better and I could tell you this is a great LDS historical fiction, but alas...
26. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - Again. Fun!
27. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - Mock me not. I love my escapes to Forks.
28. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling - I love Harry. He is such a great character. I had forgotten how awesome this book is. I did tear up a couple of times when I read it this time which I didn't the first time around. I think I was so focused on finishing it the first time I didn't get into the story as much as I did this time. It was great to reread right before seeing the movie. How can I wait till July for part 2??
    
29. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - Another "out of the box thinking" book club read. It is about the power of snap decisions, of gut feelings and how they are usually correct. Loved how it started with some fun art history stuff and I also thought the Coke vs. Pepsi part was really cool. Interesting stuff.
    
30. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - I am pretty darn sure I read this in 7th grade, but I had forgotten most of it. It was a nice non-Crucible yet still witch trial story, set in 17th century Connecticut. I like that it gave you the feeling of the times, but wasn't the downer that it could have been. Perfect for young readers (Sophie read it in school too). Kit is a nice refreshing character to place in this time period. BTW, I don't think I would have survived this period in history - the work, the social structure, the powerlessness of women combined with all superstition. Can you imagine how hard life must have been?
    
31. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory - I had not read any Philippa Gregory before this and I really like her writing. I read it for an upcoming book club and I'm looking forward to discussing it. I think it's a lot more fiction than historical fiction, but I was intrigued by the character of Elizabeth Woodville. And the time period of The War of the Roses was really interesting. This book has made me want to read more Philippa Gregory - hence book #33.:)
32. Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella - Yay for another Shopaholic! In truth it was a little been there done that. Just saying. It particularly felt a little like Shopaholic Ties the Knot. But it made me laugh. Really hard. Bex is a hoot and though Luke (her husband) is a horrible workaholic he is also dreamy. And their child Minnie is hilarious. I say keep the Shopaholics coming Sophie Kinsella!
    
33. The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory - This is like the dark sad version of The White Queen focusing on the life of Henry VII's mother Margaret Beaufort. The bare facts of her life are awful - married at 12, baby at 13, widowed, married, widowed, and married again. Plotting the whole time, maliciously at times, to get her only son on the throne. Intriguing nasty stuff. I didn't like it as much as The White Queen because this woman's life was not nice, but I still want to read more Philippa Gregory. These books are fluffy yet contain just enough fact to make them a little meaty at the same time. Nice.

So that's it. I think my favorites, aside from the obvious (i.e. Catcher in the Rye, Twilight, and Harry Potter) are: Mocking Jay, Murder on the Orient Express, and The White Queen. Right now I'm starting off my 2011 readings right with Wuthering Heights and after that maybe another Philippa Gregory. Happy new year readings to you!

Christmasing

Christmas Eve. The kids were so into dressing up and acting out the Christmas story this year. Nina was an angel and a wise man. Ben was Joseph, a shepherd, and a wise man. Sophie was Mary and a wise man. I was Herod's scribe and the costumer. Adrian was the narrator, Herod, and a donkey (Adrian gets stuck with the most interesting parts every year!:)). I love this picture we got of our 3 wise men.

Right before the bedlam of the picture below.

This is after the Christmas bomb dropped in our family room.

Christmas picnic by the tree. My favorite tradition.

Finishing our Christmas puzzle.

After all that we went to Gulliver's Travels, which was hilarious. We had a great day and I'm so glad I got to spend it with my favorite people in all the world. Merry Christmas!