Once a lovestory, always a lovestory

My good neighbor suggested, as I am an avid reader, that I post reviews of the books I read. And so I shall.

STARDUST

by Neil Gaiman

Tristran Thorn is in love. His love for Victoria Forester drives him, not only to wish on a falling star, but to embark on a grand adventure to find that star. Upon his successful return, the star will redeem for him, a kiss from Victoria and possibly a "happily ever after" with her.

What Tristran doesn't realize is that he is no ordinary, love-struck boy from the city of Wall. The mother he never knew is from Faerie, on the other side of the wall for which his city is named. Once he passes through the wall and enters this land of Faerie himself, the magical part of his heritage begins to become dominant and strange and wonderous adventures ensue. Tristran is ready for adventure and willing to do almost anything to return the star to Victoria. Its easy to relate to him, who is an unlikely and unassuming protagonist and is often just as surprised and entertained by the magic that surrounds him as we are.

With a little help from an unlikely travel companion, Tristran finds his star, who is spunky, self-assured and one we immediatley care about as a seemingly lost orphan, injured and fallen from the only home she's known. We soon discover Tristran is not the only one in search of such a prize. This particular star also holds the key to the throne of Stormhold, as well as a heart that beats strong with the promise of extended youth for a weathered witch.

But who will find the star first? And once found, who will be able to keep possession of it? There are some adventures to be had, but much of the potential for what I would term as "good fantasy adventure" is cut short by way of magic that carries Tristran through and above such opportunity. Unfortunately this prevents some much needed character development, even for some of the more minor characters. The author seems to have had the outline for an epic of sorts and just glossed over it. Mildly dissappointing.

As for the love story -- it is put on hold throughout most of the story to make way for adventure, and is adequately revivied in the return to Wall, in which all parties are rendered happy and, with a few clever surprises, loose ends are neatly tied for a satisfying conclusion to both a fun adventure and unexpected love story.

*** warning for ultra sensitive readers - there is some sensuality, mostly in the beginning. Nothing too offensive but surprised me a little. I would read it yourself before giving it to a teen or pre-teen.

Goldilocks was a princess...

...wasn't she?

Well, in Millie's version she's a princess, so there.

This video is for mom and dad. Enjoy!

This is Camille's Joyschool group. We were learning about creativity and imagination. They had a lot of fun acting out the Goldilocks story.

On being a princess

From "A Little Princess" (1995 movie) (clip starting about 6:00, but all of its great if you want to watch it)

Miss Minchin: Don't tell me you still fancy yourself a princess? Child, look around you! Or better yet, look in the mirror.

Sara Crewe: I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags. Even if they aren't pretty or smart or young. They're still princesses. All of us. Didn't your father ever tell you that? Didn't he?

Camille went to a princess party today. Which was a perfectly wonderful and normal activity for her day. You see, Camille already knows she's princess. She knows it because her father tells her she is and she believes him, without question. She is a princess. We all are.

I asked the party organizer if she needed to come in her princess attire. Naturally, she already has several dresses in her wardrobe. She wears them on occassion around the house. But we were informed that a skirt would be provided.

This is how she looked when she came home.

For the rest of the day, she twirls and talks in a high voice. She sits with her knees close together, her toes tucked under her chair and her hands folded delicately in her lap. She always has at least one hand holding up her skirt, quite often both, as she waltzes, not walks, through rooms.

She was at the opposite end of the hallway as her daddy was walking out the door on church business. She took a step back, pulling her skirt around her dainty body, skirt clutched in one hand, her other hand grasping her heart. "Father!" she gasps in an airy and distraught voice, "Don't leave me!" Then rushes to embrace him.

Boxers or Briefs?

or as we say around our house: Aaronics or Melchezidiks?
(haha mormon humor)


Rachel loves wearing other peoples' shoes. Apparently she also loves wearing their underwear as well. Specifically, Parker's. She put them on all by herself. She was quite pleased with herself.

Isn't she adorable?

Today, I found her with a left-over bowl of popcorn. I took the bowl from her and saw that it was empty. I put my hand under her mouth and she spit out a handful of kernels.


so I'm sitting here contemplating writing about spring break. But I just don't feel like it. So I'm not going to do it. The problem is, I enjoy writing, when I feel like writing. Unfortunately, it seems as though my creative self has decided to take a vacation. I haven't been able to find her since, oh, about March. The thing is, I hope that what I write is fun to read and my readers come away feeling rewarded for having read what I've written. Rewarded is not the right word, and its not enlightened either, maybe just happy or tickled or satisfied. (Argh, where is that creative self when you need her? She's the one that find the right words for me. She also types better than I do. The backspace key is getting tons of TLC about now! Talk about typos...) You see, I'm not interested in merely writing a travel log. If I'm going to record the happenings of my family, I at least want it to be entertaining or interesting or fun (take your pick) for you to read. and I'm just not feeling the creative juices flowing through my veins lately. So i'm rambling and I don't feel like putting forth the effort to relay our spring break festivities in a way that's entertaining enough to share. I'm completely uninspired so I'm not going to do it. I'll just sit here and wait for miss creativity to come bouncing back, hopefully soon.


OUR PSRING BREAK - (by uninspired me)
We did have fun. We went to Tracy Aviary. Fun. Swimming at the Legacy Center. Fun. Caught in the snowstorm. Kind of fun. McDonalds, multiple times. Double fun. Clean house day. not fun. stay at home/movei day. Fun. Rode Trax to downtown Salt Lake, Beehive house, J.S. Memorial Bldg, J.S. movie, picnic lunch, Child of God exhibit, wrong trax train took us on unplanned trip to UofU stadium, realized we were nearing hell-fire and brimstone country, quickly backtracked, got on correct trax train and made it home for dinner. Exhausted fun. Wheeler Farm. Fun. And back to school tomorrow.
Whew! I need a nap!

























Yep, that pretty much sums it up. If I begin to feel creative again, I shall expound on the list and add pictures.

one project down- a gajillion more to go

I like to make a video montage - year in review type of thing- every year.



Here is Jan-June 2008 - for those of you who would be interested.

(That would probably be my mom and dad,



I hope)

Easter

We made our traditional (second year) homemade, going green, easter baskets out of recycled milk jugs. The kids had a lot of fun. Especially Rachel, which surprised me. Her fine motor skills are coming along quite nicely. She was very particular about where the stickers went and if they weren't in the right spot, she'd move them until it looked right to her. She did a great job.

We had our annual cul-de-sac easter hunt Saturday morning. Rain. Its always raining and if its not, its soggy. But we braved the weather and had a great time.

And now, for the barrage of pictures:

Fun with friends:

Hunting for eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's:

Hunting for baskets in our own yard:

Yep, that's how I feel today

But what emotion IS it?

I might surprise you.

What emotion does this picture say to you?

The proper way...

to eat a cinnamon roll.Eat the frosting off the top and hollow out the middle. Its kind of like just eating the top of a muffin. Its the best part.