"The Croods" A Family Adventure

Join the Croods for the first prehistoric road trip.

Popcorn? Check. Drink? Check. 3-D glasses? Check. Eva is ready for the movie to start.  

Even Lucy's ready. But is Stephen ready to hold a wiggly baby the whole time? 

Here we are at the screening of DreamWorks' new movie "The Croods." We loved the movie! I would describe it as a total family adventure. The show is packed with adventure and creative prehistoric creatures (I loved the feathered flying turtle, my girls like the walking land whale). It all takes place in a spectacular prehistoric world. Quite a sight to behold.

The theme of the movie for me was family unity. The Croods are definitely a caveman family whose survival is dependent upon each member of the family. From baby to grandma to rebellious teenage daughter to overprotective father, each member has it's important place. There were some tender moments that had my eyes watering. Like the "hug" scene with the daughter and dad. Oh, that was sweet.

Despite the name "Croods," the movie is not at all crude, something I REALLY appreciate. No bad words, no potty humor. Just good old clean adventurous fun. It's a great family film.

Over dinner we found ourselves quoting the movie. Here are some of our favorite lines:
"Release the baby!"
"Uh, I don't have a brain."
"I call it hug. It rhymes with Grug."
"Hi Guyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy..........!"
"Dun, dun, dun.........."

These probably make no sense, until you see the movie. So, I guess you better see the movie. Take the whole family. They'll enjoy it.

As a side note and to support my opinion that it's a great family film, the CEO of DreamWorks Jeffrey Katzenberg shared this story with the company and I thought it was nice and worth sharing as well. After a screening of The Croods for mommy bloggers in New York City, a teenage girl approached one of the movie directors who was hosting the screening and motioned that she wanted to say something to him. He went over to her and she simply said, "thank you for helping me understand my dad."

Here are some good clips from the movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoEBWrnZJrk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi1r55txkA8

A Bloody Mess

Mallory smacked the top of her head on a metal bar at a kids' indoor playground. Mallory, Eva and her friends came screaming to me that she hit her head. Blood was oozing everywhere. Her head and face were covered in it. I can't really remember all that happened next. All I could think about was trying to keep calm and put pressure on her head. There was so much blood I couldn't tell where the cut was. It took a while of cleaning before I could find the spot. Luckily it wasn't very big and the bleeding seemed to be stopping. The direct pressure and the ice seemed to be working. But it was a bloody mess. Her hair and my arms were red with blood. It was quite traumatic for both of us.

Luckily, my friend and her kids just happened to be there that afternoon, too. She was a big help with my other kids and my sanity.

An aftershot of her almost all cleaned up. 

I headed down to the emergency room and planned to meet Stephen there. But since the bleeding had stopped and the cut was only about a 1/4" long we opted for performing the "surgery" ourselves in the Safeway parking lot with super glue. 

The super glue seems to be holding and her spirits are up. I hope this never happens again. Never, ever, ever. 

Love Everyone. Period.

As I get older and "wiser" and my life and the world get more busy and complicated I find that truly the most important thing to strive for in life is love. I guess that is what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have been telling us all along. 

Mark 12:30: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

But loving is a hard commandment to follow. I wish I could just simply love first and not judge someone and try to determine if they are "worthy" of my love. 

I can think of two different times when I met someone and right off the bat I decided I liked them and even told them right then that I liked them. I think there is power in that. Deciding from the beginning that I liked them settled it in my mind that they were my friend. I didn't have to go through the process of meeting, getting to know them, and then judging them to determine if we had enough similarities and common interests to deem them "worthy" of my friendship. I just choose to like them. In both of these cases I still consider that person my friend. I need to always make the decision to just love first. Maybe that's why we have the phrase "love at first sight."

To quote one of my favorite books, "I guess I don't know why I like you really... I guess I just like you because I like you." -I Like You, by Sandol Stoddard Warburg. 

Happy Valentine's Day!
Love Your Friend, 
                              Jeana 

P.S. I think the best movie love story is from "Up." I can't watch it without crying. 

Our Little Fireball is 5

Eva is our strawberry blond. And with that little bit of red comes a whole lot of fire and spiciness. She is packed with personality and energy. She is sweet one moment, but it only lasts a moment, and then she is exploding with fiery anger. She is a handful. And as of today she is officially a whole handful (5). 

A very common Eva glare. I see this look too often. 

Playing with Lucy. 

These two truly are best friends. 

Eva loving Lucy. 

Most afternoons she can be found wearing her princess dress and speaking with a French accent. 

Here she is with her preschool/church buddy. 

Today at preschool we celebrated her B-day. 

She's a beauty. You got to love her. 

Current Gulity Pleasures

I make this weekly. I don't want to admit how many times weekly. I call it brownie in a bowl. It's super easy. All the ingredients are already in your fridge or pantry. It only takes a tablespoon, a microwave safe bowl/mug and a microwave. I got the recipe from my mother-in-law, who got the recipe from her son, who got the recipe from his wife, who is the woman who has all the most delicious recipes.

The recipe:
4 T flour
3 T sugar
1 T cocoa
3 T milk
3 T oil
3 T chocolate chips
vanilla

Spoon all the ingredients into the bowl/mug. Mix them up. Add chocolate chips once the other ingredients are well mixed. Microwave for 2-3 minutes. ENJOY!

It's easy, it's not messy, it's warm and chocolaty and it's yours and you don't have to share

I usually make it late at night while watching my other guilty pleasure Studio C. Have you seen it? You should. It's funny. It's a comedy sketch show on BYU TV. We watch it online. 

This clip is especially great. 

ENJOY!

I Heart the Moon

The girls love Lucy

 Last week I took my girls once again to Half Moon Bay and the tide pools at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. Before going to the beach we stopped in town to take some photos. I saw these cute signs my last time at Half Moon Bay and knew they would make for some great shots.

 While I was taking this picture an older gentelman with a charming accent approached me to tell me he painted the signs and he did it for the children. What a nice man. I am sure glad he made these charming signs and displayed them for all to see and enjoy. It reminded me of the value of art and beautiful things. They bring so much joy to life.

Mally drawing "Mally" in the sand.

 Speaking of joy... I find so much joy at the beach. We met some friends at the tide pools. I planned this trip to be at the tide pools during low tide. It was ingredible. The tide was so low that the rocks and tide pools went out a long way. We saw crabs, fish, shells, and sea lions. Too bad I didn't take any pictures of them and too bad that the rain called our outing short. The kids didn't seem to mind the rain, but eventually we were too wet and cold. So, home we went. We spent the rest of the afternoon wearing cozy clothes, watching movies, drinking hot cocoa and trying to get warm again.

It was a good day.

Why I love this place

I love living here because on a lazy afternoon you can jump in the car and within 30 minutes be at beach. It's awesome. We went to Half Moon Bay and spend a sunny afternoon in warm 60 degree weather. Our sweaters and sweatshirts were not needed. Loved it. 

I gave the camera to Mally. This is me and Lucy from her perspective. 

Cute sleeping Lucy.