The Suisse Family Robinson

We went to Avatar last week and I absolutely loved it. Possibly the best movie I've seen since the new Star Trek. Here are a few reasons why I liked it.

1. It was beautiful. My favorite color is blue so I loved watching a world full of blue and purple hues. Loved the plants that collapsed when touched and all the ground cover that glowed if you walked on it. Even the weird black creatures were strangely beautiful.

2. I am really into Native Americans. When I was an adolescent my girl scout troop went to see the outdoor drama "Tecumseh" and we also went behind the scenes. For years afterwards I would read everything I could get my hands on about Native Americans. Tecumseh continues to be one of my heroes. Avatar definitely had Native American influence, albeit some of the romanticized ideals but Native American nonetheless. I loved the Tecumseh-like story when Jake Sully united the clans. *tear*.

3. I love good special effects. "Nuff said.

So, another movie that I need on DVD. Special Edition, of course.

We were given the Happy 101 by our friend, Susette. We will list 10 things that make us happy and then tag a few blogs to give the Happy 101. They MUST, and I say MUST, list 10 things that make them happy and then pass it on. So here goes in descending order.

10- Star Trek
9- Vacations anywhere
8- Chocolate
7- When Reed puts away his clothes without me asking :)
6- Playing Settlers of Catan with family
5- Going to Rita's (Can't wait for Summer!)
4- Getting great deals on anything
3- Going to the temple
2- Music. Especially when Lara sings with me.
1- Lara and Vivi. Face it, they are cute!

We tag the following blogs:
Aaron and Marly
Brown and Serve
Monkey Business
ryan+sam
Nabbey
The Bowman Family
A Work in Progress

Happy Thoughts!

I had surgery yesterday. I'm not going into detail but if you want to know what I had removed you can go here. The reason I'm blogging about the surgery is that while I was waiting to go into pre-op I was watching a news show. The big news story, besides Haiti, was Heidi Montag's 10 cosmetic surgeries in one day. First of all, why something so superficial would be mentioned in the same minute as such a catastrophe in Haiti is beyond my understanding. Second, after going through just one surgery and undergoing the recovery right now I would like to know why in the world would somebody voluntarily choose to have 10 stupid surgeries done in one day???? The newsperson mentioned that this must be a form of self hatred and, since she is obviously troubled, instead of seeing a plastic surgeon for help she should see a psychologist. Bingo! Maybe she's addicted to the pain pills... I haven't had to take perscription pain killers yet but I only had 1 surgery. She had 10.

All right, on to something that makes sense. Vivi is cute. She has learned to walk and it's her chosen way to get around. I was going to post a video but I've tried all day and it won't load. So I'll have Reed work on it and post it later.

She is also developing her musical skills just like her big sister Lara. Here Vivi is singing with her Daddy. :)

I've been really bad at posting these lately but, hey, it's a new year and there's time to improve!

The one huge difference for me between one child and two is the amount of laundry I get to do every week. Oh... my... gosh. I used to be able to get away with only doing laundry once every week and a halfish. Now, I have to do it every 2 days!!!! Anyways, at least I know that my clothes are getting good treatment from my laundry detergent.

Did you know that most laundry detergents actually burn your clothes? Because of all the caustic chemicals that are used in regular detergents, the fibers are broken down and actually disintegrate. If you tried to hold some Tide powder in your hand for more than 5 minutes, it would actually start burning your skin. Yuck. MelaPower contains naturally derived ingredients and is pH-neutral making it very gentle on clothes. MelaPower is also 2x concentrated so instead of paying for extra water, I'm only paying for detergent! And, mmmmmm, it smells nice- fresh scent or unscented (which still smells clean).