Chef Megan

My birthday was earlier this week.  Megan has been taking a Culinary class in high school this year and decided she was cooking dinner on my birthday.  She was sneaky!  She gave Emily a list of ingredients she needed and Emily went to shopping without me. I was banned from the fridge for the day.

That evening, I was banned from the kitchen while Megan did all the cooking.  Emily was at work, so Heather and I watched a movie while Megan cooked.

Here is the finished product:

Pan-seared, caramelized chicken with a cream sauce

Homemade vinaigrette dressing over greens

I made garlic bread

 

Dinner was delicious!  I think she should cook more often.

 

Emily's boss is one of the guys in my program at school. She came home from work and had this picture of the district manager and her store manager.

Santa Jim and Elf Kyle

Doctor Who Meets Harry Potter

Our family has recently discovered the BBC television series Doctor Who.  We have enjoyed watching the show about a time traveling alien and his companions.

Our new obsession is touching aspects of our daily lives.  The girls quote things the Doctor says.  We created a DIY card for our Apples to Apples game about the TARDIS, the Doctor's time machine.

In seminary this morning, one of Emily's friends created a paper TARDIS.  He did a pretty good job!

While waiting for their ride from seminary to school, the kids remembered that Harry Potter used portkeys to travel from one place to another.  For you non-Harry Potter fans, portkeys are ordinary items that are enchanted to allow nearly instant travel over long distances. All you have to do is touch it and the portkey will take you to the new destination.  What better portkey (travel device) than a TARDIS (time machine)???   They hoped it would take them to school.....

I hear it didn't work very well.  Perhaps they need more practice casting enchantments?  Or maybe you have to ride IN the TARDIS before it works?

Quidditch for Muggles

Hey, Harry Potter fans!  My school newspaper reported that Quidditch has become a real college sport.   There are over 300 teams worldwide.  Who knew??

Naturally, come modifications have been made due the fact that most of these Muggle students cannot fly.

- Three rings are set up at each end of a playing field.

- Every player must have a broom (or PVC pipe) between their legs at all times while on the field.

- The Keeper protects the rings (goals) and tries to stop the other team from scoring.

- The Chasers try to score points by throwing a Quaffle (volleyball) through the other team's rings.

- The Beaters throw Bludgers (dodge balls) at opponents.

- The Seeker tries to catch the Snitch (a cross country runner dressed in yellow with a tennis ball tied to their back). 

This truly co-ed game is being played all over the world and even has an annual Quidditch World Cup event.  Two of the universities in our state have teams.  The girls were excited so I think we will find their schedules and go see a game or two. 

I also found this clip from a 2008 television news report.  Enjoy!

The Final Chapter

My family are avid Harry Potter fans.  Naturally, with the final movie being released to theaters last weekend we had to go see it. 

The girls and their friends posing by the giant poster in the lobby

Heather and best friend Austin.  I think I caught Austin with a mouthful of popcorn.  Sorry, Austin!

Our family with our friends, Anne and Eddie.

Beauty and the Beast

Blog Challenge:

What is your favorite fairy tale and why?

From the first time I saw Beauty and the Beast, it was my favorite Disney movie.  Most fairy tales have perfect princesses and perfect princes.  I love the fact that the Beast is less than perfect.  He has an uncontrollable temper, bad manners, and a less-than-perfect appearance.  Yet there is something about him that has always charmed me.  I love watching him transform from a beast who thinks only of himself to a gentleman who tries to make others happy.  Who could resist a guy who can make that transistion?  Not me!  He is my all-time favorite fairy tale character.

We can learn some great lessons for life from this fairy tale: 

     -  Don't judge people by their appearance.....that isn't who they really are.

     -  Be nice to everyone....you never know who might be a magical enchantress in disguise!

     -  Respect boundaries you are given.....sometimes they are for your own protection.

     -  Not all men know the way to a woman's heart....."flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep."

     -  Stand up for yourself.....even when the other person is bigger and louder.

     -  Make sure the woman loves you and wants to marry you.....BEFORE you invite the entire town to the wedding reception.

     -  Believe in yourself even when others do not.....you might be a world-famous inventor or a princess one day!

     -  A good book is always good.....even the third or fourth time.

     -  Don't try to rush love.....it has its own timetable.

It's A Wonderful Life

Blog Challenge:

What is your favorite Christmas movie and why?

I saw "It's A Wonderful Life", starring Jimmy Stewart, for the first time my freshman year in college and it has been my favorite Christmas movie ever since.  George Bailey grew up in a small town but dreamed of doing something big, and his dreams began with leaving his hometown. 

However, for over a decade his dreams are repeatedly put on hold.  He watches his friends and even his younger brother leave town to chase their dreams and have exciting adventures, while he stays in his hometown and runs the family business.  One Christmas Eve a crisis occurs and George feels even more trapped and frustrated than ever.

At this pivotal moment in his life, George is visited by an angel who shows him what the world would have been like if he had never been born.  He is surprised to learn that he had a critical, positive influence on huge numbers of people and on the history of his little town. With this new knowledge, he stops focusing on his lost dreams and starts to see what a truly wonderful life he has had.

The American Film Institute has ranked "It's A Wondeful Life" number one on the list of most inspirational American films of all time, so I guess I am not the only who loves this movie.  I think everyone sometimes feels like maybe they have let at least some of their dreams slip away unfulfilled.  However, we need to remember that sometimes the Lord has different plans for us, grander plans than we could have dreamed on our own.  

My second favorite holiday movie is "Miracle on 34th Street."  It is another feel-good Christmas movie.

Pizza, Popcorn and Movies

Blog Challenge:

What is your favorite day of the week and why?

Fridays are the only day of the week when the girls don't have homework.  And I have to admit they aren't the only ones who are happy about that.  The girls are always so excited to be able to relax and put the week behind them.  For many years, I used to pick up pizza on Friday paydays (every other week).  We would all sit at the coffee table, eating pizza and watching a movie.  It was a much loved regular ritual.

We don't pick up pizza anymore, but we do still curl up under blankets and watch a movie most Friday nights that the girls are with me.  It is our way of relaxing and celebrating the end of the week. 

Megan cannot seem to watch a movie without a bowl of popcorn in her lap.  She and her sisters love to eat popcorn while they watch a movie.  (Mom isn't big on popcorn.)   As long as we have popcorn, the girls don't seem to miss the pizza. 

Fridays are my favorite days because it is so calm.  No rushing to get homework done.  No rush to get to a church or school activity.  It is a night we can just savor being together.  It is absolutely my favorite day!

Good Is Always Good

One of my favorite family memories took place a few years ago. We had some kind of family gathering at my parents’ home that included my sister’s family, too. At some point my mom turned on an Elvis Presley CD. Mom and Dad started dancing around the living room. Before long, EVERYONE was dancing around, the music had been turned up, and we were all singing along. It was so much fun! Good music is always good. The same can be said for a good movie or a good book. Some of my children’s all-time favorite movies were made before they were born and some of their all-time favorite picture books are the same ones I read as a child. If a movie or a book is good, it will always be good.

I recently started attending college again. I am taking an Introduction to Law class. One of the concepts we discussed involved this idea of good is always good. Natural laws are those that are universally accepted as being good. For example, everyone knows that it is good not to kill someone else, not to steal someone else’s property, and to have freedom from oppression. These laws use common sense and an inborn feeling of what is right and what is wrong. Unfortunately, sometimes people ignore this inborn moral compass so positive, or written, laws are created to remind everyone what is good. Positive laws usually have a consequence tied to them. People who obey natural and positive laws are generally happier than people who ignore them. They also have more freedoms than the people who disobey the laws and must face the consequences of their choices.

This concept was not new to me. I have heard it all my life as I have studied the gospel. Everyone is born with the Light of Christ to help us recognize what is good. Because some people ignore their internal moral compass, the Lord has written down His commandments, or rules, for us to follow. These commandments remind us what is good and often have consequences attached to them. People who disobey commandments often find their choices limited by the consequences of their decisions. They are often unhappy and frustrated with the direction their lives have taken. People who make good choices are generally happier.

The thing I also noticed is that natural laws and commandments that are good don’t change with time. Good is always good. It is always good to be free from slavery and oppression. It is always good to respect the property and lives of others. It is always good to be morally clean. It is always good to love and serve others. It is always good to pray and to study the scriptures. All of these things that were good 100 years ago, or a 1,000 years ago are still good today. Good is always good.

I love it when my school work makes sense in the real world!

Half-Blood Prince

Megan, Anne Holland, Heather, Emily, Eddie Holland

Our family loves Harry Potter. We have every book, every movie. We have games, we quote lines from the movies. We calendar the movie premiers months (or years) ahead. We even re-created a Quidditch game for Heather's birthday a few years back.

We have found a kindred spirit. My friend Anne loves Harry Potter every bit as much as we do....possibly more. When the latest Harry Potter movie came out in July, she asked us to go with her and her husband Eddie. The girls were SO excited!

The girls went to see the movie again with their dad this past weekend. And they are still excited about it.

The next Harry Potter movie will be released in November 2010. We can't wait!

Our family wearing Harry Potter glasses from Heather's birthday party
(old photo from several years ago)

Percy Jackson

One of our newly discovered book series is being made into a movie! Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightening Thief will be released in February 2010. We are very excited.

My nephew Austin read the book first. He asked me to read it because he wanted someone to discuss it with him. It involves some Greek mythology and my sister knows I love mythology stories. Austin called me DAILY until I finished the book. Heather read it after me, followed by Emily, Grandpa, and then all of Austin's brothers. His mother and some of our friends eventually read it, too.

There are now five books in the series, so we are hoping this will be like Harry Potter and all the books will be made into movies. Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter movies, is also directing The Lightening Thief. We hope he is as faithful to the book with this movie as he was with the Harry Potter movies.

From the book we learn that the ancient Greek gods are still alive and well and living in America. They are also still having children with mortals. The half-bloods, or demigods, have life pretty tough because monsters and other mean creatures are drawn to them. Most of them eventually find their way to Camp Half-Blood in New York, where they learn survival skills for the outside world. Like Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter series, Camp Half-Blood is protected. The monsters cannot get in without an invitation.

Percy finds out that he is a demigod after some nasty experiences at school. He heads to Camp Half-Blood, where he learns some other interesting facts. Zeus and the other Olympian gods reside above the Empire State Building in New York City. Hades has taken up residence beneath Los Angeles. If you want to enter the Underworld, you must travel to LA first. Percy doesn't really want to enter the Underworld, but he has to go there in order to clear his name. He is being accused of stealing something from Zeus....and Zeus is not someone you want to upset. Good thing he has a few friends who volunteer to travel with him.

Check out a summary of the book or the cast list for the movie. Maybe we'll see you at the theater in February.