Movie Ratings, Book Ratings..

These two things don't mean the same thing. A movie rating tells you how age appropriate a movie is, whereas a book rating tells you if it's good or not. Why are there no ratings on books, an indicator, perhaps that identifies profanities or sexual imagery? I would like that to change. I personally would like to have a symbol on each book that has "adult" content, and referring to what specific adult content that is. Too many books for an outside source to label them all, libraries don't even read every book they have, so it'd have to be the publisher. Are they going to comply? No. Government policies could make them, but my MR. says that we shouldn't have any more government involvement than necessary or they take too much, and I agree. The only option left? Third party, and this means no markings on books. OK, fine so I'll have to look up reviews on books online. I have a way of checking to see if a movie has more content than I want to see by looking up on the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) under the Parent's Guide. I am so thankful for that link!!!

So what brings this all to my mind? My babysitter lent me a book...and it was inappropriate for me, let alone a 13 year old. (of course this is just my opinion, but had I known what was in it, I would not have read it) The next book I'd heard good (no details) things about was the Wicked series...I picked it up from a young acquaintance of mine...16. Within a chapter or two I was reading about a man with two sets of genitals and how he put them to use. I almost never don't finish a book, even if it's bad, but I didn't finish that one. The answer I've found...is right here on the web. Two sites:

1) commonsensemedia.org (not just books, but all media)

2) factsonfiction.org

Neither is perfect, though they are better than nothing. They both are good in some aspects, but not all. I think I may start reviewing books for these sites. I can't volunteer outside my home much because of little boys, but I can do this! In the long run, though, I may not be worrying about this as much ...I have three boys and boys just don't read book after book like girls do.

whew..

No pictures... so I might be a boring blogger. This update may be a little jumbled mix of thoughts... We had a very busy thanksgiving. All kinds of family and friends stopped through, we were packed in here! Good part about that was that others helped out in the kitchen! James got to try out snowboarding with them, but didn't get too good at it because he banged up his knee. He is currently trying to get in shape...so he doesn't get massacred in a few weeks for his physical fitness test. We are packing up and moving out on Dec. 16th, so we've been doing all of the things to get ready for that...and there's a lot to do. I made up a list of at least 20 places (bills, etc) we need to alert of our address change!!! and, the bigger the family gets, the more things we seem to find to pack. A certain song comes to mind..."Momma, I'm coming hoooome." Texas here we come! (temporarily at least)

Last night I had my final voice/piano recital here... ) : I will miss my wonderful students! Since I have stopped eating dairy, wheat, and soy, I have rapidly been losing my baby weight, and Micah has been feeling lots better. Last but not least........We bought a new tv. Between the two of us, we have not purchased a television. EVER. not even when we were teenagers. LOL, But we did buy a Wii, so we were playing it on a donated 8, maybe 10 inch screen. Now we can play on our 32 inch flatscreen! Anybody wanna try to beat us on Mariokart? Give us a call!

Micah has been on reflux medicine and it's working, he's not spitting up so much. But he's still been having some pains. So after a week, I took him to the pediatrician today. I've been off of milk, but apparently now I need to take out dairy, soy, AND wheat. Flour? How am I going to live without bread? I am whining a little, but I hope this helps Micah feel better. He's such a happy boy when he's not in pain, it's very clear when he is and like any mother, my heart hurts when he does. I did ask if there's an alternative, and there is. Very expensive(and therefore not preferred) formula that is hypoallergenic. ....not to mention that Micah won't drink from a bottle anymore, even if it is Mommy's milk. This time around, nursing is tough. Good thing I love my little chubby boy!

Lucas and Cobin are so excited...next week their only cousin is coming for a visit! We can't wait to see some family again. ( :

Here is a sweet pic of Micah in his monkey costume....I just couldn't wait to snap some pics of him in it.

A few days ago I was preparing dinner. Lucas was "helping" me by passing me things. When I told him that cutting the onions makes me cry, he was bothered by it and said "Don't cry Momma." When I didn't stop, he said "You know what?" and then he proceeded to make up a joke (that wasn't really funny) to get me to stop crying. He is so empathetic for a three year. His birthday is tuesday but we'll be celebrating it tomorrow. I'm actually baking his cake now that the boys are down....smells good!

I gave my first solo attempt at canning the other day with crabapple jelly. Lucas helped me clean and sort them. It turned out good, though it had bubbles in it. I'm gonna make another attempt soon.

Sunday Micah received his baby blessing at church and we managed to get a couple family pics, our first as a family of 5! He barely fit into his 0-3 month outfit, he's getting chubby so quick. I love chubby baby cheeks, they are perfect for mother's kisses!

Life has kinda revolved around getting our groove back with a third baby... It's tough!! But things are going well. Micah hasn't been feeling well this past week and has kept us from getting much sleep (unlike the first two weeks of his life.) We'll be taking him to the doctor monday to see what can be done. I did make the most of a necessary clothing change from excessive spit up by getting a few good pictures. Here's my favorite. The big bros were playing distractively nearby though and so I couldn't get him to look at me. I love my boys!

Introducing Micah

Here is Micah. We weren't expecting him to show until tuesday, which is when the induction was scheduled...both the other boys waited until the induction. There was a baby shower at 7 friday night, and that's when we went up to the hospital! Bummer, I missed out on the cake and ice cream... I hadn't realized I was in labor, and he'd been pretty sleepy, so we went in to make sure everything was ok and ended up staying. When I was at a 6 the doc gave me a little pitocin to speed things up, and by 12:20 saturday morning he arrived. He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and was 22 inches long. Everything went great!

Proud Papa!The next day a visitor took our photo, after very little rest.This was right after he got cleaned up, I still had the shakes.
Micah's first bathAunt Jackie has been helping out with our big brothers. We were lucky she came early!The boys meeting their new baby brother and so excited!

Summer

About time for an update, I woke up at 5 am and couldn't sleep any more, and it's about to get a lot busier around here with baby number three. The boys and I took another trip to Texas and had lots of fun doing whatever we wanted! They got to spend lots of time with their cousin. Here is one of those attempts at a cute matching picture with shirts granny bought in Hawaii... This was the best one!

Superhero costume time, each with their own idea of showing off their muscles.We got to see a friend of mine and her little boy James.One of the days we were there we crammed in lots of fun stuff: firehouse, trinity park, and botanical gardens with granny.
One of the weekends we got to go camping in Pappy's trailer. Lucas liked being inside where it was cooler.And this one, Pappy was trying to get a Monkey See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and here's what we got:

I have been avoiding all photos, as most people do when they aren't feeling photogenic, but I have pre deliver pictures with the other pregnancies, so I let daddy take one of me last night. I have been having lots of contractions, but nothing regular enough. If I don't deliver by next tuesday, I have an appointment with the hospital for an induction. 6 Days!!!

Cobin's Birthday Bash

We went to Texas for our family vacation and had lots of fun. I need to put up pictures from that trip, but I have been seriously lazy on the blog. But I will put up some pictures I had to download before I left ...of Cobin's 4th birthday party. We did it at a water park across the street from Grandmas. I made a special safari Diego cake for him. Good thing it was supposed to be a mountain, cause that thing was messy and leaning a little bit.... The important thing is that he loved it.

SLC Trip and Ganache Cake

The youth at our church had a three day weekend (thanks to a teacher work day) so we had planned out a trip to Salt Lake City. It was involved but such a great idea and it went without hitch. We drove out friday night and spent saturday touring temple square and visited the Oquirrh (sp?) temple. We went to church and had a picnic/bbq on Sunday and went home on monday.

Here is a picture of a beautiful sculpture of Jesus Christ:

It was really a fun weekend. I came home and have been having the itch to learn a new trade: cake decorating. I'm more of an ice cream person, but there are so many cool things you can do with a cake! I then came up with a list of three cake types I wanted to make and had my brother pick which I should start with, and he picked the chocolate ganache cake. I got the idea from a fellow blog, but I don't seem to be able to copy the link today. Here it is as my novice attempt at smooth. Almost looks like a blob, but I did neglect one important step and nearly dropped the whole cake because of it. It tasted fabulous though.And here it is with some really homeade looking swirls. I'll need to practice on those.

My Boys

We've always thought that we might like four children. We still don't know 100% but are leaning that way still. I've said I wouldn't have two children 16 months apart like C and L were, however, as they get older and play like the friends they are, I think I might like to provide the next to with the chance to have the same cameraderie (assuming I can plan it, ha!). At the park or playing with toys, they are always playing together. They do have their arguments like most siblings, but I am such a happy mom to see them reading together, building block towers together, or having matchbox car races. They are such a joy to me!

Found out the Gender!

I went to the doctor today to find out how the baby was measuring. Big, of course, like all of my babies, but everything looks good as far as development. I love the profile pictures like this one (Of course the baby was laying crooked):
This one though, I'd like to see something different:I am grateful like any mother to have a healthy baby. However, I am taking the rest of the day to be mopey..... I'll be in a good mood by tomorrow and start to think about names for our baby boy #3!

This morning I for sure felt the baby moving around. It's so exciting! I know that when I'm further along it will be not as exciting, but for now I'll just enjoy it. I will find out the sex of the baby (hopefully) March 31st and I can't wait! I don't know how some people do. We are riding out a sort of blizzard here and J is out driving in it. Makes me kind of nervous, but he's a great driver. Except when he speeds through curves with me in the car...

Before this snowstorm hit, we enjoyed several snowless days and played at parks. The boys had so much energy, at one point I dropkicked a soccer ball and they took turns retrieving it and dribbling it back to me. One day they won't think that's as cool, but they burned off a bunch of pent up energy that way! And next week is spring break here. Doesn't mean much for me with my kids still at home, but I have a week free of voice lessons, J isn't teaching thursday night, and YWs was cancelled! Woohoo! A whole week of deciding what I want to do with my family during the evenings!

This past saturday we went to the Family Fun Fair. The boys really had a blast. Here's Lucas in the firetruck:

And Cobin with the astronaut. (Lucas wouldn't even wave at him, much less go near him)Neither of the boys really wanted to do much petting, but they liked seeing the animals we read about in books and hearing the real sounds they make rather than mom's immitations.And here again is Lucas. His first love is anything balloon related...second is playing with bubbles.
I have been messing with the background on the blog. I'm trying to come up with something I like, but I still don't really know what I'm doing.... and tonight must not be my night. My photobucket links weren't working....so when I was ready to give up, I headed over to thecutestblogontheblock.com and their webpage wouldn't pull up. So I was stuck with reverting to my original template. I'm only giving up for tonight, I'm sure I'll try again when I'm tired of looking at the blandness of the original template... Maybe this stuff isn't for me.

Valentines eve James and I went out to dinner and a movie. I've been trading voice lessons for babysitting...and it sure does come in handy! Tomorrow I'm going skiing using that trade. I'm kinda nervous to go on the real mountains of colorado when I've only ever been twice on the manmade Hidden Valley of St. Louis. My friend is "making" me wear a helmet so I should come out safe. I just hope I don't fall on my butt too many times!

New Family Members

We got a new family member, our first pet. He's a blue male beta fish and Cobin decided he should be named Beta Fish. Real original....I hope soon he gets the concept of naming things a little better. We will be adding another member to our family this august. A new baby! I'm a little nervous about having more children than adults in our family, but others seem to manage well, we can figure it out too.

We had a quiet Christmas at home. Here's a Christmas morning shot of Cobin and his Thomas the Train and track. One of the days around Christmas James took the boys out and created a slide. There were even stairs carved out of the snow for them to get back up it. So the boys went down the slide over and over again while James tried to work on another snowman.

And we celebrated James's 29th birthday with a special cake his mom used to make. I tried my best to recreate it, it has pureed cherry pie filling between the chocolate cake layers with whipping cream as the icing. Delicious!