Hidden Figures

My family and I recently went to see "Hidden Figures" which is based on the untold true story of three women who overcame racial and gender barriers at NASA.

Elijah (10) said when we left the theater:

 "That was a movie I could really relate to!"  :)

When I asked him what he found he could relate to most about the movie he said he liked how the women stood up for what they believed in.  What a great source of inspiration this should be for all of us -- to stand up for what's right and make a difference in our world.

Check out History vs Hollywood (after you've seen the movie of course!) for a comparison of the movie and real life.  Katherine Johnson -- the main character in the movie -- is currently 98 years old and says of the movie: "It sounded good...  It sounded very, very accurate."

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Kids are my Favourite People -- Automatic Doors

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

"Diary of a Jackwagon" by Tim Hawkins with John Drive

If you've ever seen any comedy videos of Tim Hawkins you'll be able to hear his voice as you read the book "Diary of a Jackwagon".  In fact you might not be able to stop hearing his voice after you set the book down -- particularly if you're seen any videos of his comedic songs.

Speaking of, I'm still super sad about what Tim did to "Dust in the Wind" -- to the point where I have to run out of the room with my ears plugged shouting "LA LA LA LA" whenever my husband plays it (over and over again).

But, I was willing to forgive my husband and Tim and give the comedic book, "Diary of a Jackwagon", a chance.
 

As with all comedy, some of you are bound to be offended by some of this book.  The rest of you will be offended by other parts of the book.  We can't all be offended by the same jokes after all.

Themes in the book include marriage, parenting, parents, homeschooling, food -- pretty much a bit of everything.

Here are some gems of wisdom offered throughout the book:

"In most arguments between a man and a woman, the man feels like he's on the same page.  He just doesn't know how to read."

"Whenever I want to be left alone, I go to the mall and hold a clipboard."

And finally, Tim says that there are three truths that have emerged in his life:
     1.  Be kind.
     2.  Embrace failure
     3.

(You'll have to read the book for the third one.  I can't spoil the whole thing.)

If you like Tim Hawkin's comedy, or comedy in general, and you aren't the type to wallow in unforgiveness if he happens to offend you -- you should check out this book.  If you haven't before, you should check Tim Hawkins out on DVD or youtube -- that way you'll have his voice echoing in your head as you read.

If you can only do one or the other -- watch Tim performing -- half the comedy is in the words and half is in the visual and audible delivery.  It might actually be 1/3, 1/3, 1/3, but I don't know the exact formula.

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers http://booklookbloggers.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Blissful Encounters with a Watermelon Beetle

I love bugs (in the wild that is) -- especially unique and unusual bugs.  I am the type of mom who encourages her kids to stop and smell the flowers and while we're at it -- to stop and notice bugs.

But, at summer camp in BC, Canada (I think it was 1994), I had a bug encounter that nearly turned me off of bugs forever.  All of us counselors were hanging out the night before the kids arrived, relaxing and enjoying the cool summer air when I noticed a massive beetle type bug with a back patterned like a watermelon.  

I picked the bug up and showed it to the other counselors.  No one had ever seen a bug like it before.

And then, after sufficient ooohing and awwwing, I was ready to set the bug free...

But the bug would not leave my hand.  I wiggled my hand ever so slightly in that "Go on now" gesture that all bugs are supposed to know and understand, but still it would not leave my hand.

We'd become good friends, watermelon beetle and I.  Clearly he was not ready to move on.  As I attempted to gently pick the bug up off my hand, he stabbed his feet into my hand.  Stabbed!  

"AAAAAAHHHH" I screamed in agony. 

I could not remove the bug from my hand.  A friend grabbed hold of the bug to take a try, but still the bug would not let go of his death grip on my hand and instead stabbed his razor like feet further into my hand.  

I spent the next half hour laughing hysterically and crying and screaming randomly as my friend tried everything to remove this bug's death grip on my hand. 

My friend would pry with a stick like a lever and the bug would stab me with his feet.  They took turns alternating back and forth.  Finally my friend and the stick launched the bug to who-knows-where and I was freed.

I had an awesome picture of me holding the bug with a huge smile on my face (pre-torture), but I can't find it...  The picture proves that ignorance is bliss, but only momentarily blissful...  

If you have a bug story of your own that you would like to share check out 5 Minutes for Mom and enter to win one of two $500 Walmart Gift Cards.

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Leave it to Grandma

My Grandma and I were talking on the phone the other day.  A story about my Grandpa as a kid reminded me of an episode from "Leave it to Beaver" so I thought I'd tell her about it.

Me:  "That story reminds me of "Leave it to Beaver"."

Grandma:  "That cute kid with the hair?"

Me:  "Uh, I guess so..."

Grandma:  "What's his first name?"

Me:  "Theodore."

Grandma:  "No, that's not it..."

Me:  "...  His brother's name is Wally ..."

Grandma:  "No, that's not it either..."

Me:  "Umm...."  (long pause)


Grandma: "He sings..."

Me:  "Oh...  ...  Wait -- do you mean Justin Bieber?!?!"

Grandma:  "Yeah, that's it -- Justin Bieber!"

Clearly the generation gap works in reverse too.


~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Things They Say -- Volcano Edition

 Elijah, full of childlike honesty, said to me as I put the finishing touches on Desiree's fairy cake:

"I hope no one thinks it's a fairy coming out of a volcano!"

Yes, Elijah...  I hope not...

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

The Cow, Mary and Baby Button Baby Jesus -- Wordless Wednesday

Elijah (4) felt "Joy to the World" wasn't being sung joyfully enough and so he leaned in towards the mic and sang "Let every heart prepare him ROOM" ... and then they moved the mic away from him.  Sufficient joyfulness had been reached.

Desiree (7) did great as Mary.  She had been worried about memorizing lines, but I told her all she had to do was look lovingly at the baby.

And then ... her comedic timing alarm "rang".  At the end of the pageant, Desiree stood to bow and made sure that Baby Button Baby Jesus took a few bows too.

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Things They Say -- King of the Castle Edition

Elijah (4) to Desiree (6) during a fight:


"You think you're the best in the whole world.  
Well -- you're not.  
Mom and Dad ar.....  God is.  
God is the King of the Castle and you are the dirty rascal."


~ Chelsey ~

Bringing Home Worms -- Thankfulness

One Thousand Gifts continued...

11. Elijah's Mike Wazowski (from Monster's Inc) impersonation when trying to get his sister out of bed. Yelling at her "WORK OUT THAT FLAB THAT'S HANGING OVER THE BED!" Of course he doesn't know what flab is and so sort of garbled his way through that part of the quote, but aside from that the impersonation was great...

12. Watching Elijah and Desiree play with the pet snails they found in our yard -- naming them, racing them, swinging them on the swing.... If you click on this picture you can see the snails as they approach the finish line.


13. Me teaching Elijah that it's okay to pick up worms. He rescued a big one from the wet street and carried it home to our garden.
Bringing home snails -- No. Bringing home worms -- Yes.


14. Explaining "Amelia Bedelia" books to Desiree as she reads them -- especially the part about getting the bread to rise...

15. Doing a favour for someone when I haven't had opportunities to lately: walking Desiree's classmate and her brother to school while their mom is out of town. Desiree pretending that she and Mia are sisters as they run down the sidewalk on the way to school together.


16. Watching "Dreamer" for Friday Family Sleepover night. The kids loved it (even though it wasn't a cartoon! lol...) and my husband and I enjoyed it too. Elijah(4) describes his favourite part: "Did you know that the girl actually was helping the family by taking popsicles and helping the dad's horse by feeding it?"


17. Chocolate covered almonds that my husband bought unexpectedly. Expected chocolate is great, but unexpected chocolate is always better.

~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Joy in Jesus' Return -- from a Kid's Point of View

This Good Friday I gave Desiree and Elijah a toy Jesus and a children's book about some of the miracles of Jesus. After we acted out some of the miracles, we acted out his death. Then we wrapped Jesus up in cloth (toilet paper), buried him in a "tomb" in our front yard and covered it with a rock. The plan was to check the tomb on Sunday and (spoiler) Jesus wouldn't be there!

But, a few hours later at bedtime here is the conversation Elijah (newly 4), Desiree (6) and I had.

Elijah: "Can we go get Jesus now?"

Me: "Remember Jesus was in the tomb for three days?"

Elijah: "But, I want to take Jesus to bed with me..."

Desiree: "You know that Jesus is always with us, right?"

Elijah: "But I want the toy Jesus."

Me: "You don't want to wait three days?"

Elijah: "It's time -- I counted -- 1, 2, 3!"

Me: "Oh... but three days is longer than just counting to three."

Elijah: "1, 2, 3 ... 4, 5... Let's go get Jesus!"

What could I do? I couldn't withhold Jesus from my son for the sake of an object lesson. So we went back outside in the dark and dug in the tomb. Thankfully I'd had the foresight to remove Jesus as soon as he was buried just in case something like this happened. There in the dirt was the "cloth", but no Jesus. Elijah said "Maybe we need to dig deeper?" All of a sudden Jesus appeared out of no where (as if from my pocket).

I don't know if Elijah completely understood the object lesson, but he sure was glad to get his Jesus toy back. And isn't joy in Jesus' return what Easter is all about?


~❀~ Chelsey ~❀~

Great Pets!

Desiree (5) said to me today:

"Slugs make great pets -- they're free and they're sticky."

Well, you can't argue with that. (Okay -- you could argue with the greatness part, but she's right about the rest!). She and Elijah (3) have a bucket that they've filled with sticks, leaves and flowers to house the slugs they find. Each morning they find that their slug has left his home via the ramp they've provided and so they go in search of a new one. No slugs have been harmed (or named ironically). And while the slugs don't shed there is the matter of that slim they leave behind... I guess greatness is subjective.