So with all of the famous Mormons and Mormon related stuff in the media these days, I get more and more questions from my non Mormon friends about the church. This is a good thing and something I actually really enjoy, but there are days when I wish that I could broadcast my answers so that people who don't know a Mormon personally could be enlightened or disallusioned- whichever is necessary.
Today on FB a friend of mine posted this link to a Newsweek article on Mormons . It was actually a decent overview of the religion- or at least as decent as one can get in so few words. There are just a few things I would like to clarify:
1) The HBO show Big Love is not about Mormons. It is about members of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Thanks for the correction, Zack). The actual LDS Church, or people that you commonly refer to as Mormons, outlawed polygamy over 100 years ago. It was a practice done only by a few members of the church in the 1800s.
2) The Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon" is not put on by or sanctioned by the LDS church. It is used to poke fun at the church not to proselytize. This is not to say that it is all bad. I personally haven't seen it but I have LDS friends who have seen it and who really enjoyed it.
If you want to know what we believe, that Newsweek article did a good job of explaining a few things about us. Here is one more. Our 13th Article of Faith states:
"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul (yes, as in Paul from the New Testament)—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
To read the other 12, click here.
If you are confused about all of the misinformation about the church in the media go to http://www.lds.org/ or http://mormon.org/.- (Thanks for the suggestion, Sam.) You can read everything you want to about the church and actually get a comprehensive understanding for yourself.
Questions? Comment below.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Happy Birthday, James!
We have hit the busy season so most of my blog posts have not made it from my head to the computer. However, I could not miss this one.
My sweet Mr James just celebrated his 6th birthday! Hooray!
I took brownies into school on his actual birthday then he had a party a Chuck E Cheese with his friends from school the next day and a family party at home on Sunday. Lots of fun!
Here are some fun facts about James at age 6:
James still loves Lambies (he has 5 stuffed animal lambs: Lamby the White, Lamby the Lamb, Lamby the Sheep, Lamby the Small and Lamby the Big), strawberries (he will eat an entire carton in one sitting if you let him) and playing Xbox or Wii with his daddy and big brother. He also plays really well with his little brother Matthew- most of the time, anyway. He is in his last two weeks of Kindergarten and is reading up a storm and loves to demonstrate his counting and math skills. His favorite class is Music (so my kid!). He also likes to swim and play soccer and he finally thinks that riding bicycles is a fun thing to do. He loved his after school art classes. His favorite tv show is the cartoon "Avengers" and he loves Spiderman and Iron Man (in that order) the best. His most favorite movie ever is "How to Train Your Dragon." His best friends are Jacob S. and Michael R and of course, Gracie K.
Here are some fun photos of James over the last year:
Happy Birthday to my sweet neglected middle child. One of these days I promise you will get all of the attention you deserve! =)
My sweet Mr James just celebrated his 6th birthday! Hooray!
I took brownies into school on his actual birthday then he had a party a Chuck E Cheese with his friends from school the next day and a family party at home on Sunday. Lots of fun!
Here are some fun facts about James at age 6:
James still loves Lambies (he has 5 stuffed animal lambs: Lamby the White, Lamby the Lamb, Lamby the Sheep, Lamby the Small and Lamby the Big), strawberries (he will eat an entire carton in one sitting if you let him) and playing Xbox or Wii with his daddy and big brother. He also plays really well with his little brother Matthew- most of the time, anyway. He is in his last two weeks of Kindergarten and is reading up a storm and loves to demonstrate his counting and math skills. His favorite class is Music (so my kid!). He also likes to swim and play soccer and he finally thinks that riding bicycles is a fun thing to do. He loved his after school art classes. His favorite tv show is the cartoon "Avengers" and he loves Spiderman and Iron Man (in that order) the best. His most favorite movie ever is "How to Train Your Dragon." His best friends are Jacob S. and Michael R and of course, Gracie K.
Here are some fun photos of James over the last year:
Happy Birthday to my sweet neglected middle child. One of these days I promise you will get all of the attention you deserve! =)
Sunday, May 1, 2011
glowing recommendation
So we finally started doing some work on the inside of our house. First step: The Family Room.
I have hated the color in the family room since we bought the house almost three years ago. And since we spend most of our time in this room I thought it was time to address the problem. But in order to paint we have to agree on a color. Since that isn't going to happen anytime in the near future I decided to start with something else- like lighting.
You see, most of the rooms in our house do not have overhead lighting which is annoying to say the least and dangerous at times due to my childrens' propensity to throw toys and play soccer in the house. (We have had more than one flammable item land inside the lamp.) John and I agreed that some recess lighting in the family room would be perfect for our needs.
I started calling random contractors and electricians to get my recommended three estimates. The first guy to come by was John Marbach from John Marbach Electric. He talked me through several different possibilities for the layout of lighting as well as some accent lighting. Since I had no concept of what I actually wanted he looked around the room and offered several ideas. We settled on six high hats (two rows of three) and an accent light (eyeball style) over the fireplace complete with dimmer switches. John's price: $800.
I received two more quotes for the exact same work, one for $975 and another for $1000+. Not only were the other two quotes higher but I did not feel like the other guys were nearly as helpful and knowledgable as John was. Needless to say, we hired him for the job. I called him on a Thursday to set up a time to have the work done. He called me back on Saturday and scheduled to come Monday morning (as in two days later) to put the lights in.
John showed up promptly at 9:30 as he said he would. He installed the lighting on his own with as little damage to the ceiling as possible, moved furniture, cleaned up after himself and all in all did a very solid, professional job. And he was a nice guy!
After hearing horror stories from friends and neighbors about electricians who never showed up when they said they would or who took weeks or months to complete their work, I am wowed by the fact that this guy did just what he said he would promptly and efficiently. A professional with ethics- a rare breed! Seriously, if you live in the Philadelphia area and you need some electrical work done, this is the guy to call!
I have hated the color in the family room since we bought the house almost three years ago. And since we spend most of our time in this room I thought it was time to address the problem. But in order to paint we have to agree on a color. Since that isn't going to happen anytime in the near future I decided to start with something else- like lighting.
You see, most of the rooms in our house do not have overhead lighting which is annoying to say the least and dangerous at times due to my childrens' propensity to throw toys and play soccer in the house. (We have had more than one flammable item land inside the lamp.) John and I agreed that some recess lighting in the family room would be perfect for our needs.
I started calling random contractors and electricians to get my recommended three estimates. The first guy to come by was John Marbach from John Marbach Electric. He talked me through several different possibilities for the layout of lighting as well as some accent lighting. Since I had no concept of what I actually wanted he looked around the room and offered several ideas. We settled on six high hats (two rows of three) and an accent light (eyeball style) over the fireplace complete with dimmer switches. John's price: $800.
I received two more quotes for the exact same work, one for $975 and another for $1000+. Not only were the other two quotes higher but I did not feel like the other guys were nearly as helpful and knowledgable as John was. Needless to say, we hired him for the job. I called him on a Thursday to set up a time to have the work done. He called me back on Saturday and scheduled to come Monday morning (as in two days later) to put the lights in.
John showed up promptly at 9:30 as he said he would. He installed the lighting on his own with as little damage to the ceiling as possible, moved furniture, cleaned up after himself and all in all did a very solid, professional job. And he was a nice guy!
After hearing horror stories from friends and neighbors about electricians who never showed up when they said they would or who took weeks or months to complete their work, I am wowed by the fact that this guy did just what he said he would promptly and efficiently. A professional with ethics- a rare breed! Seriously, if you live in the Philadelphia area and you need some electrical work done, this is the guy to call!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Oh no!
James and Samuel LOVE their stuffed animals. They take their animals everywhere with them. The animals function as toys, playmates and security blankets. Since James is more than a little shy and was incredibly nervous riding the bus this year, we made a deal (the same deal I made with Samuel when he started kindergarten): he is allowed to take a stuffed animal with him to school every day as long as the animal stays in his backpack at all times while he is at school.
This deal has worked really well for James. Having a favorite animal with him gives James a little extra confidence and if he is sitting by himself on the bus he has something to keep him occupied. We have not had a single problem with this arrangement until last week. On Friday, the day before our week long spring break, James was distracted (one of his friends threw up on the bus) and he accidently left Cowie (the animal of choice for the day- a cow webkinz) on the bus. His regular bus driver, Mr Tony, (who normally says goodbye both to James and his animal) was not driving. I realized James was missing Cowie just as the bus drove off. I ran inside, grabbed my car keys, and we hopped into Homer, my trusty Honda Odyssey, to take up the pursuit. The problem is, at the end of our street there are three possible ways the bus could have turned. I guessed one way and we zoomed around the corner. No bus. I flipped a U-y and went down another street. No bus. At this point James had tears streaking down his cheeks. I tried another way. No bus. I pulled over to the side of the road, fished out my cell phone and called the school district transportation office. I quickly filled in the woman who answered. She was very sympathetic and promised that she would get Cowie off the bus herself as soon as it arrived back at the depot. About ten painful minutes later she called to let us know Cowie was safe and we could come to pick her up (yes, Cowie is a girl stuffed animal (I have no idea why)) anytime.
We picked Samuel up at his bus stop and headed off to rescue Cowie. James spent the brief car ride filling Samuel in on the drama.
The reunion between James and Cowie brought smiles all around. The people at the transportation office were so kind and the extra effort they made to save a beloved (inanimate) family member will never be forgotten- at least not by my sweet five year old.
This deal has worked really well for James. Having a favorite animal with him gives James a little extra confidence and if he is sitting by himself on the bus he has something to keep him occupied. We have not had a single problem with this arrangement until last week. On Friday, the day before our week long spring break, James was distracted (one of his friends threw up on the bus) and he accidently left Cowie (the animal of choice for the day- a cow webkinz) on the bus. His regular bus driver, Mr Tony, (who normally says goodbye both to James and his animal) was not driving. I realized James was missing Cowie just as the bus drove off. I ran inside, grabbed my car keys, and we hopped into Homer, my trusty Honda Odyssey, to take up the pursuit. The problem is, at the end of our street there are three possible ways the bus could have turned. I guessed one way and we zoomed around the corner. No bus. I flipped a U-y and went down another street. No bus. At this point James had tears streaking down his cheeks. I tried another way. No bus. I pulled over to the side of the road, fished out my cell phone and called the school district transportation office. I quickly filled in the woman who answered. She was very sympathetic and promised that she would get Cowie off the bus herself as soon as it arrived back at the depot. About ten painful minutes later she called to let us know Cowie was safe and we could come to pick her up (yes, Cowie is a girl stuffed animal (I have no idea why)) anytime.
We picked Samuel up at his bus stop and headed off to rescue Cowie. James spent the brief car ride filling Samuel in on the drama.
The reunion between James and Cowie brought smiles all around. The people at the transportation office were so kind and the extra effort they made to save a beloved (inanimate) family member will never be forgotten- at least not by my sweet five year old.
Monday, April 18, 2011
at least he's learning
So yesterday Matthew wanted some noodles. I put some on a plate and gave him a fork and sat him on a chair at the table. (He is refusing to sit in his booster seat because he does not like being strapped in.) He promptly dumped all of the noodles on the table, climbed off the chair, took his plate and fork over to the sink and tossed them in. Then he returned to the table and ate all of his noodles. I just stood there and cracked up. We have been working with Samuel and James on clearing their dishes after every meal without being asked. I guess Matthew has officially entered the "monkey see, monkey do" phase!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
How to Train Your Dragon
Have you seen "How to Train Your Dragon" yet? If not, stop reading this and go watch it now! This is my boys' current movie of choice- and no wonder, it is awesome! Seriously, go and buy it. Trust me it is worth it. This movie is genius. The characters are uniquely loveable in a very tough, Vikingish way despite their odd names: Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs and Ruffnut. The main character, Hiccup, is your typical, awkward kid who wants deperately to please his father, but he just can't. Astrid is a strong, axe wielding heroine who is faster and fiercer than most of her peers and who will not back down from a fight. But she has brains as well as brawn. (Hooray for a cartoon with a great female lead!) The script is full of hillarious one liners and wry charm. And the soundtrack, oh, the soundtrack is lovely! It was nominated for an oscar. I purchased it on iTunes because I just LOVE it! We must have watched the movie 10 times in the last week (Sam has been home sick from school) and I still can't get enough of the music-- or the movie or the dragons for that matter. Oh. My. Goodness. The dragons are amazing! They are all unique in size, shape and abilities and have their own personalities that clearly shine through. Toothless, the main dragon is fearsome and dangerous and just one of the sweetest creatures I have ever seen. I would seriously keep him for a pet.
So let's review: great movie, buy it now and go watch it (two or three times even). It will be well worth it. Oh and if anyone knows where I can find a pet Night Fury, let me know.
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