Last week the girls watched The Princess Bride for the first time. They both really enjoyed it, but when The Albino (or, as Lillie calls him, The White Guy) came on, Lillie Freaked. Out. She just went out of her tree. This was the most scared I'd seen her. I think maybe ever.

If you've seen the movie, the guy is not that scary. Why he struck a chord with her, I don't know.

The Wizard of Oz was probably the first movie that freaked me out. The witch was scary and the flying monkeys were freaky scary. David likes to tell the girls that The Wizard of Oz scares him. Not in the past tense - he says it scares him still. They think it's a great joke.

I also remember being really scared by The Shaggy D.A. I saw it when I was in kindergarten and the whole concept was scary. When I got a little older, I saw it again and didn't understand what was so scary about it.

The Stepford Wives was also very disturbing. I don't know how old I was when I saw it, but it played into all my kid fears.

I don't think my girls tell each other scary stories, but my sister and I did. The one that sticks in my mind was a story about a babysitter who kept hearing weird noises in the house. The owner had told her just to put her hand under the couch if anything scared her and if the dog licked her hand, she didn't need to worry. So, she kept putting her hand under the couch, and the dog kept licking her hand. The story culminates with her finding the dog chopped up in the bathtub and a note, "Humans can lick too." The story makes almost no sense, but to my young mind, it was unbelievably scary.

I read a lot of Stephen King books when I was in junior high. One of his short stories made me really freaked out about garbage disposals. When we first had one, it really bothered me. I still feel a little anxious whenever I run ours, but I'm getting over it.

What were some of your kid fears? What movies and stories scared you?

I'm going to be too busy to post this next week, so I'm taking an official break. I should be back here on the 30th or so.

Lillie lost a tooth yesterday. Today she lost something more.

I forgot to put the money under her pillow last night. When I realized it this morning, I tried to distract her with something while I went to exchange the tooth for a dollar bill. She caught me.

She asked why I was doing it, and I was honest with her. When she realized that there was no tooth fairy, she cried hard. I was a little surprised because she had asked some suspicious questions about Santa this year and I thought she was close to figuring out these games that parents play. But, she had completely believed in the tooth fairy.

She talked with David about it for a bit and then, easily, moved on.

I've been tagged by Amy for a 2 Meme. I actually did this same meme back in May, but then it was a 3 Meme. You can check it out here.

The only thing different is today I'm wearing these earrings:

to the young depressed, a bit of advice
Dreux Moreland

All of these adolescents jotting
Their names into self-proclaimed
Suicidal hagiographies
Will never learn

The glass is not half full
Nor half empty

There is no glass
Just the constant filling
The constant emptying.

From February to July, I took the time to write a little something about the books I read each month. I'm not sure why I stopped. I think partly because these posts are the most boring posts on my blog and partly because I just don't feel like I as much time to blog (one child is harder than two - at least when they are six or older).

I don't feel like I have much to blog about right now. I'm busy and happy with both girls home and it feels good to not be on the computer half the day. But, I thought it would be nice to review the books I have read since August.

August

Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster
The first time I read this book was in 1996. At the time I was reading a lot of books about simplicity and budgeting and being frugal. I even started to write a book on the subject, but it seemed like I was a year late to the game and I kept finding new books similar to the one I was writing.

I loved this book because it isn't just about living simply. It is about having a Christ-centered life and how simplicity follows from that (and how simplifying your life can bring you closer to Christ). I re-read it in August because I felt I needed that message again.

In July I read another book by Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline. I had read both books in '96 and when I read them before Freedom of Simplicity was the one that really resonated with me. While I enjoyed them both, this time Celebration of Discipline was the one that inspired the most change in me. When I read it ten years ago, the message seemed too extreme and too tough to tackle. This time it didn't.


Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Fabulous book. I hadn't read this since high school and thought it would be good to re-read. It was.

September

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I had a lot of recommendations to read this book. I really liked it, but I didn't love it. The writing was excellent, I cared about the characters, I liked the sense of Afghanistan that I got. I didn't like some of the obvious and/or convenient plot twists. Not sure it stood up to the hype, but it was a solidly good book.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
Another book that I read in high school and decided to re-read. Great book.

November

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
At night I would lie in bed and watch the show, how bees squeezed through the cracks of my bedroom wall and flew circles around the room, making that propeller sound, a high-pitched zzzzzz that hummed along my skin.

Fabulously written. I loved this story from magical beginning to lyrical end.

December

The Know-It-All by A. J. Jacobs
Really funny and sweet book. This book is written by a guy who decides to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. Each chapter is a letter of the alphabet. He shares funny stories about the stuff he learns about and his daily life.

I read the People's Alamanac Presents the 20th Century a couple of years ago, but that was 879 pages and the Encyclopedia is 33,000 pages.


Endurance by Alfred Lansing
The amazing voyage of a bunch of guys in the Antartic. This was a good book. It's one of those survival books that makes you glad that your socks are dry and your bed is warm.


The Book of Mormon
In August, the president of our church challenged us to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. I finished on 12/31/05 at 11:40 pm. I should've been done about a week earlier, but I totally and completely forgot about reading the whole week before Christmas.

I found a website, http://www.myheritage.com/ where you can upload your photo (just click on Beta Center) and it will tell you what celebrities you look like. I've talked about which celebrities I've been told I look like before and I'm pleased and surprised to tell you that neither Lara Jill Miller or Meryl Streep came up.

I know this isn't as much fun without my original photo, but I'm still posting.


Honestly, this surprises me. I look nothing like Andie MacDowell.


Well, until you compare me to Hugh Grant.


Or Christopher Reeve.


I wish this were true.


58% match to Angelina? I'll take it. Although, seriously, nothing like me.


Pearl Buck? That is cool.


Amelia Earhart is even cooler.


Bingo. He actually looks a bit like my dad. So, there probably is something there.


Then, I uploaded David's picture.


I can see that. David has better hair.


David's better looking. Especially this pretty boy picture.


So, we both look like Hugh Grant. Huh. His picture is more cutesy, though.


I don't get this, but it makes me laugh.


I had no idea Benny Goodman was so good looking. This picture looks quite a bit like one of David's grandfathers.


Hmm. I don't think so.



Anyway, try it for yourself. It's fun.

Here's our new puppy. He's the size of a large rat or a small hamster.

He is starting to get the potty training thing. Kind of. He did well last night, but had a few accidents today. He is quiet at night and that's the main thing I was worried about.

He's gotten used to our family and our house pretty quickly. He's cuddly and sweet and we're enjoying him a lot.