My mom and I took the kids to see How to Train Your Dragon yesterday. It’s a movie that we’ve been looking forward to seeing for a while now. First because we all love dragons, second because it just looked awesome. And it was. In its entirety.
The story was awesome and the moral was a really good one for my kiddos to see – just believe in yourself and that faith alone will bring you where you want to go. And yes, it’s an animated movie so it can’t show all the trials and tribulations people run across when following your heart’s path, but it didn’t spoon feed them a fairy tale either. It struck a nice balance, moral wise.
The animation was lovely. Especially in the dragons. They created all of these different dragons each with their own personalities and attack strategies. And yes, they were a bit goofy, because you know, they couldn’t very well create big scary dragons because it’s for kids. The dragons they had scared The Girl enough as it was. I’d hate to see what they would have come up with given more freedom to roam towards “realism.”
The main characters, Hiccup the Viking lad and Toothless the Night Fury dragon, were by far the best part about the whole movie. Hiccup is funny, sarcastic and smart. He’s also a pitiful physical specimen for a Viking. But still, awesome in spades. Toothless is of the most feared variety of dragon. He has this amazing lightening fire breath and is almost impossible to see at night. He’s so fast you can hardly see him. And, he has retractable teeth, hence his name. Also? He has the best facial expressions. And apparently a better understanding of human nature than most humans. If Hiccup teaches Toothless a bit about trust, then Toothless teaches Hiccup everything else.
The cherry on the top of the movie however, was getting to listen to Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson unveil their Scottish brogue in all of its glory for 90 minutes. I was in heaven; smiling at every rolled “r”.
The Boy gave it a resounding thumbs up. The dragons scared The Girl. I loved it.
Showing posts with label nana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nana. Show all posts
9/3/09
Fairy Godmother
My mom revealed herself as my own personal fairy godmother today. It was wholly unexpected and it made me cry.
The Boy’s 6th birthday is just over 3 weeks away and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do for his birthday. Or, to put a more painfully truthful point on it, I’ve been trying to figure out how to finagle money for a birthday party and a birthday present out of our completely debt consumed budget. As I’ve already told you, The Boy was promised a pair of guinea pigs for his birthday and that was to be his big present from us and my parents. But as our financial picture is worsening daily, I finally had to face up to the fact that we simply could not afford to do both. So in the interest of acknowledging my son’s new found grown-up-ed-ness, I asked him what he wanted more – the guinea pigs or a birthday party. And he asked for some time to think about it. I asked him about it last night as I was giving him a hugkiss good night, this is what he said to me, “I think I’ll choose the birthday party. Maybe I can get my own special pet for my birthday next year, maybe you’ll be able to afford it then.”
And I can honestly say that I’ve never felt like a more horrible mother than in that moment. That moment when I burdened my son with my adult money troubles. There was so much wrong with that I didn’t know what to do but cry and tell him I loved him more than anything, tuck him in and turn off his light.
So I was tearfully relating this story to my mother this morning and she gracefully, mercifully and wonderfully offered to pay for The Boy’s birthday party and his guinea pigs (if that’s what he really wants for his birthday). I know she did it to protect her grandson and make sure his birthday memories are fun and carefree for as long as possible. But with one stroke of her wand, she brought just a touch of magic back into my life as well.
The Boy’s 6th birthday is just over 3 weeks away and I’ve been trying to figure out what to do for his birthday. Or, to put a more painfully truthful point on it, I’ve been trying to figure out how to finagle money for a birthday party and a birthday present out of our completely debt consumed budget. As I’ve already told you, The Boy was promised a pair of guinea pigs for his birthday and that was to be his big present from us and my parents. But as our financial picture is worsening daily, I finally had to face up to the fact that we simply could not afford to do both. So in the interest of acknowledging my son’s new found grown-up-ed-ness, I asked him what he wanted more – the guinea pigs or a birthday party. And he asked for some time to think about it. I asked him about it last night as I was giving him a hugkiss good night, this is what he said to me, “I think I’ll choose the birthday party. Maybe I can get my own special pet for my birthday next year, maybe you’ll be able to afford it then.”
And I can honestly say that I’ve never felt like a more horrible mother than in that moment. That moment when I burdened my son with my adult money troubles. There was so much wrong with that I didn’t know what to do but cry and tell him I loved him more than anything, tuck him in and turn off his light.
So I was tearfully relating this story to my mother this morning and she gracefully, mercifully and wonderfully offered to pay for The Boy’s birthday party and his guinea pigs (if that’s what he really wants for his birthday). I know she did it to protect her grandson and make sure his birthday memories are fun and carefree for as long as possible. But with one stroke of her wand, she brought just a touch of magic back into my life as well.
5/24/09
Movie Day
My mom drove away with the kids today. It’s become somewhat of a tradition that they spend a week at the beginning of the summer and then another week at the end of the summer at Nana and Papa’s house. It gives me a break after school ends or right before it begins and it gives them some all-out playtime. My mom does her very best to spoil them rotten and they just really, really love it down there.
So we decided to have a movie day today. So we went to see Terminator: Salvation first and it was pretty incredible. I was a little wary of the director seeing as that his crowning glory was the Charlie’s Angels movies, but I have to admit that it was really pretty good. It was different that I expected it to be. The first three movies were by their nature almost completely John Connor centric. Save his mother, save him etc. And this one really gives more storyline to the machines. Which is interesting and a part of the story that we’ve not yet seen much of.
Then we decided to go have a drink and some munchies and chatted for a bit before going to see Star Trek. I saw it alone the weekend it came out, but have been wanting to see it again. And it was just as brilliant the second time around. Except for the very small baby the people sitting next to us decided to bring along and then get all huffy with when she wouldn’t sit still and be quiet. I mean she was probably 3 or 4 months old max. So that was irritating. Mostly because I just wanted to take her from them and go outside and play with her. Stupid people bringing babies to movies!
Now I have an entire child free week in front of me. And, admittedly, most of it is already planned. But it’s always nice to be able to set my own pace and schedule for the day. And it’s nice to have some peace and quiet. And by the end of the week, I’ll be hankering to smother my babies in kisses again.
So we decided to have a movie day today. So we went to see Terminator: Salvation first and it was pretty incredible. I was a little wary of the director seeing as that his crowning glory was the Charlie’s Angels movies, but I have to admit that it was really pretty good. It was different that I expected it to be. The first three movies were by their nature almost completely John Connor centric. Save his mother, save him etc. And this one really gives more storyline to the machines. Which is interesting and a part of the story that we’ve not yet seen much of.
Then we decided to go have a drink and some munchies and chatted for a bit before going to see Star Trek. I saw it alone the weekend it came out, but have been wanting to see it again. And it was just as brilliant the second time around. Except for the very small baby the people sitting next to us decided to bring along and then get all huffy with when she wouldn’t sit still and be quiet. I mean she was probably 3 or 4 months old max. So that was irritating. Mostly because I just wanted to take her from them and go outside and play with her. Stupid people bringing babies to movies!
Now I have an entire child free week in front of me. And, admittedly, most of it is already planned. But it’s always nice to be able to set my own pace and schedule for the day. And it’s nice to have some peace and quiet. And by the end of the week, I’ll be hankering to smother my babies in kisses again.
4/13/09
Sorry and Nana Love
Oh dear readers. I’m sorry. It finally happened. I didn’t write, nor did I post yesterday. As I was finally fading into sleep last night at almost midnight, the thought intruded upon the in between space of nearly asleep but still conscious and I almost sat bolt upright in bed, went downstairs and wrote. But instead I stayed in bed and allowed myself to succumb to the sleep that was rolling towards me. But I am sorry. And I do feel guilty. Seriously.
So here I am trying to decide if I should write just for today or yesterday too. And I’m watching my mom play catch in our family room with The Girl. And they are both just giggling and so completely enjoying the activity of learning from each other. I am almost having a hard time writing as I keep getting sucked into just watching them.
And now The Girl is jumping and jumping and jumping. She’s a jumping fiend. And she desperately wants her Nana to jump with her and my mom is trying to explain to an almost 3 year old how jumping isn’t really an option for her anymore, what with missing a leg and all. It’s a double-edged sword for my kids to have their Nana be an amputee. They’ve grown up with her and thus have zero fear of wheelchairs and the disabled in general, which is wonderful for their world view. They know their Nana is different, but don’t see her as lacking in any way. Her wheelchair has always been a toy and source of great fun for them both. But they also get truly disappointed when she can’t do things like jump up and down with them, because they just do not understand that only having one full leg holds her back from activities like that.
My mom is so wonderful with them. And they just flat adore her. She is such a grounding and playful force in their lives. She has to leave tomorrow, to go home, back to her busy, busy life. And that is so hard, for all of us. She doesn’t want to leave and we wish she could stay forever.
So here I am trying to decide if I should write just for today or yesterday too. And I’m watching my mom play catch in our family room with The Girl. And they are both just giggling and so completely enjoying the activity of learning from each other. I am almost having a hard time writing as I keep getting sucked into just watching them.
And now The Girl is jumping and jumping and jumping. She’s a jumping fiend. And she desperately wants her Nana to jump with her and my mom is trying to explain to an almost 3 year old how jumping isn’t really an option for her anymore, what with missing a leg and all. It’s a double-edged sword for my kids to have their Nana be an amputee. They’ve grown up with her and thus have zero fear of wheelchairs and the disabled in general, which is wonderful for their world view. They know their Nana is different, but don’t see her as lacking in any way. Her wheelchair has always been a toy and source of great fun for them both. But they also get truly disappointed when she can’t do things like jump up and down with them, because they just do not understand that only having one full leg holds her back from activities like that.
My mom is so wonderful with them. And they just flat adore her. She is such a grounding and playful force in their lives. She has to leave tomorrow, to go home, back to her busy, busy life. And that is so hard, for all of us. She doesn’t want to leave and we wish she could stay forever.