Special Sunday

Today we spent a lovely afternoon with Mark's sister, Sarah, and her family. So, they got to meet Elodie for the first time, and both she and Caleb saw ALL their cousins in the space of one week. Pretty impressive considering the distance between them all.
It's always great fun to get together, and since we don't get to see them often enough, it's lovely to get to know the kids a bit better in person and not just through their various blogs! Mark just loves getting into Uncle Mark mode, as you can see (of course, it's always him that doesn't know when to stop!)
Anna in particular was taken with Elodie- it's obvious she's a real baby person- just like her Mummy. In fact, between the two of them Elodie was very well cared for- I almost forgot I had her for a little while.
Mim and Adam came over for a bit to join in the fun too, then after tea we said goodbye to everybody, and now it's bath and bed (for all of us I think!)
Ahhh, Sundays should always be this fun...

Sandals and socks

I thought since we hadn't put a piccie up for a few days, I'd post this. Just coz it made me giggle. I don't really know why!

(I must acknowledge http://www.sandalandsoxer.co.uk for the photo)

Calling all Yummy Mummys!

Since a lot of Mums read our blog I thought it would be worthwhile to point you towards the site for CLIC's Yummy Mummy campaign week in September with ideas for things that families can do to raise money/awareness for this important charity. Dads please note- there is lots of Yummy Mummy merchandise that would make your partner feel yummy, and support Cancer/Leukemia sufferers too. Please check it out!

The Next Blog Game

Check out my googlewhack-style idea for meeting new people on http://nextbloggame.blogspot.com/. Also, suggest questions for me to ask!

Surefish

In our church housegroup this summer we're doing a series- put together by ChristianAid- called Act Justly. Whilst researching/ downloading the resources I came across this ethical, fundraising ISP. We may look into it once we have fulfilled our years contract with BT, and I thought it was worth spreading the word about it.

“It’s a good thing to have an open mind... just not so open your brains fall out.”

It really annoys me that the term UFO has come to mean 'alien spacecraft' - hello people, the U stands for UNIDENTIFIED! I just had to get that off my chest, I love all things alien etc. but I'm not gullible and I'm interested in research over hysteria. It must really irk genuine UFOlogists.

The gospel according to... Lego?!

Some of you might have seen this site before, but its definitely worth a second look! http://www.thebricktestament.com/

Sunday Fun

Rather than going down the traditional route of a weekly morning service, our church has a rolling program of events that is friendly to Christians and non-Christians of all ages. Once a month we have breakfast together in someone's home with a little bit of family-friendly worship and stuff, once a month we have CKC- a kids club open to anyone in Carterton, yesterday it was one of our regular 'family fun' afternoons. These have been pretty popular with our friends who aren't 'churched,' and some of the families whose kids come along to CKC. Even I always enjoy them!

There's usually a combination of table-top activities (e.g. Jenga, a quiz) and front-led team games or tournaments (such as yesterday's three-legged race) with a craft activity and toys for the kids. Plus free cake, and we end with some sort of presentation that has some spiritual content- yesterday was a puppet show of the parable of the lost sheep that had the whole room rapt! It was based on the Nick Butterworth re-telling that just happens to be from Caleb's favourite book, so there was a little audience participation from my son! (We all know it by heart.)

Yesterday's funfair theme was particularly fun, and I even remembered to take the camera, so I can post blurry evidence of the girls winning the tug-of-war (all 3 goes!)


Please note the text wrapped round the photos- it took me AGES!

Fun-filled (and I mean FILLED) day

Yesterday Anni, who lives in France, phoned and asked if we were busy today and if we might like some house guests for a few days. Without thinking, I said yes. As I write this we have 2 babies, 2 toddlers, 3 adults and Ben (I'm not sure that it's fair to categorise him as anything but himself) filling every cot and bed we own. I hope there's room for me when I get to bed! There's always the sofa I suppose...

So we've had all the family together today (a very rare occurance.) The Keanes got to meet Elodie for the first time- though I think Uncle Robin still had the most cuddles- and we all got to see how their girls are growing up. As is usual at family get-togethers (well, ours anyway) there was a lot of food, a lot of noise and a lot of giggling. Here are a few piccies:




Tomorrow I'll write about our church Fun Afternoon- and put up some pictures of that tug-of-war, but for now I'm too sleepy...

Ben's staying, Caleb's keeping him busy!

The return

Well, having felt bereft without the ability to blog for 10 days or so you would think I would have been right back to it as soon as we got the laptop back in working order. However, I have found myself without the time or the inspiration! But here are some things we did/ thought about during 'the great silence' to get you up to date with our lives:

We generally moaned a lot about not being able to search/ buy/ blog/ upload photos etc. in the absence of a computer; We failed to get Elodie to her first immunisations due to nasty summer colds all round; We spent a perfect afternoon in the garden with Nana & Grandad and Joy and Elias (ask Nana about Elias and the hosepipe and see if she can keep it together!); We devoted all naptimes and free evenings to watching Alias season 3 in its entirety- and got through it pretty quickly!; Caleb has became obsessed with the Veggie Tales re-telling of Daniel; I realised that it would be more realistic if I substituted 'God' or 'You' with Caleb/Elodie in a lot of worship songs (It can feel more like 'I live for Elodie alone, every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake...' at the moment!); We forgot to send birthday cards to Daniel and Simon Dillon even though we love them a lot; Elodie finally took notice of our efforts and spontaneously started to go with the routine- she's even sleeping in her cot for naps and during the evening, which she had resolutely refused to do before- yay!
Much to my horror, Mark and Caleb have started bumping heads and saying 'noggin' like the turtles from Finding Nemo; We read a questionable book called How Movies Helped Save My Soul and discussed it at great length, but that's probably a good subject for a whole post itself...

Since getting the laptop back I've... got myself up to date with everyone else's blogs- some of you have been remarkably reticent! I've been frantically ordering from all the catalogues' sales (I have so few post-baby clothes, and I'm too vain to make do until Elodie moves to formula milk and I can stop eating and feeling so much like a cow!) We've been googling for pictures of some of Caleb's favourite things- one of his favourite pastimes, we save them all and they make a great slide show for him on a rainy afternoon... I'm relieved to have the whole WWW at my disposal again to find resources for the series we're doing in housegroup over the summer...I've checked out Yahoo's hundred wierdest web sites, I leave you with one of my favourites: http://www.mapsu.org/ that's Mothers Against Peeing Standing Up- and it doesn't seem in the least bit tongue-in-cheek to me!

Minor miracles!

I was very surprised to hear that our computer had been delivered back to us when I got in this afternoon, just 5 days after being taken away (and 2 of those were the weekend). But obviously blessed. So we're back online! Won't write much now, as I have tons to re-install, but I will just say this for Nikki's benefit: we've finished. Dead drop at 8pm. Usual place.

Grr computers!

Well, you won't hear much from us for the next 2 weeks, because on Sunday night our hard drive died (I'm blogging from school). We were lucky in one way - it almost did it on Saturday, resurrected itself for 24 hours (enough time for me to backup our digital photos and my documents for school - but not 2 years' worth of video footage. We're so annoyed!), and then finally kicked the bucket in the early hours of Sunday morning. Thankfully our PC World coverplan will take care of it, but it takes a while. We keep thinking of all the things we could or need to do online, and getting more frustrated. Nothing we can do about it now though.

Snapshot review of two films: The Village - very disappointing fourth film from M Night Shyamalan (whose Signs we love, and whose previous 2 films, Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense, we can happily discuss and find things to admire about even if the 6th Sense freaked us out big time). The more you think about the plot, the more holes become apparent. And obviously there's a twist, so I can't say much more. It seems like an interesting twist at first, but gradually you realise that it's really quite silly and implausible.

The Stepford Wives (new version) - better than we thought it would be, with an update on the plot of the original 70s movie (a true and, I think, admirable call to equal rights between the genders), which I won't say much about for the benefit of those who have seen neither. And, for those people who have seen neither film, rent the original version. It's brilliant. This one works quite well as a comedy, but then gets very silly at the end when they tried to update it for a modern audience.

Question for comments: can altruism ever actually exist? That's what Heidi and I were discussing as we fell asleep last night. Thoughts please!

What an odd, terrible and brilliant day

Woke up yesterday looking forward to a day off (paternity leave juggled around), which I did enjoy, and opened presents from my family (thanks for the fudge, Mr Men smellies, money - spent already - CDs and Star Wars Lego from Caleb & Elodie). Didn't get dressed, had a nice, healthy-ish breakfast and then found out someone had bombed London.

Watched them say not much on the news for an hour, heard Tony Blair's first reaction (totally appropriate and right, in my opinion) and prayed with Heidi for those working in the emergency services, the victims & their families and the G8 leaders.

Went shopping in Swindon for new shoes for Caleb, and Heidi's present to me (Alias series 3), came home, had pizza, put a very tired boy in bed and prepared to lead housegroup. Disappointed at the low turnout for Jeremy Bray coming in specially from Didcot to talk about their church-planting experiences.

Went to bed with the realisation that some people will be calling it '7/7' from now on (and they are, I noticed in the online news this morning), and the fact that every birthday I have from now on I'll be reminded of the terrible events in London yesterday. That might sound a bit self-centred, for which I apologise - it must be awful for people whose birthday is 11th September.

Actually what angers me most about yesterday was the fact that the G8, poised and ready (I assume) to do good with regard to the world's poor and climate, will almost certainly have a different focus and be distracted by the bombs. I pray it carries on as planned.

Wow, we're getting through a lot of movies.

After an abortive attempt to watch The Right Stuff (dull first 20 mins about breaking the sound barrier and cocky pilots with whiny wives - didn't get any further), we stuck House of Flying Daggers in the machine on Tuesday night. That was a lot of fun. If you've seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon you've more or less seen this, except that the focus (in terms of action) was less on jumping and flying and more on doing amazing things with weapons. If you didn't like Crouching Tiger (as I seem to remember Ben and Dad didn't), for one thing you're crazy, and for another thing you won't engage with this probably. The plot revolves around the police unveiling an underground subversive group (the Flying Daggers of the title) and a girl playing with the affections of those around her, and there are several twists and turns, changes of allegiance and unexpected reveals, so I can't say much more without ruining it. But all that is a backdrop serving to highlight some beautiful fighting. And it really is visually and aurally beautiful - the sound was one of the main things we noticed. The only let-down was that several plot-lines and mysteries were left hanging in the air at the end, which was somewhat frustrating.

Then last night we gave Alien vs Predator a go (you can never say that our viewing choices aren't eclectic). Now, Heidi and I have a lot of respect for films in general. It is an unspoken rule, for the most part, that we don't talk while watching them (and I can get very annoyed with her if she does and I don't). We both talked all over AVP. That gives you a good idea of what it's like! It could have been worse, but it could have been a lot better as well. When the Alien and Predator first had a ruck, you couldn't see what was going on (apparently this could well be due to Fox chopping the film up for a lower age rating and increased teen market); none of the characters had enough time spent on them to make them worth caring about; it was basically predictable from beginning to end; the central conceit of how the two species get to Antarctica was only half-explained; it doesn't make much (well, any) sense bearing in mind the time frame of the other Alien movies, unless they have a sequel/prequel to Alien in the wings that puts a lot of things in motion; and finally, the tagline (which I had thought was quite a nice one) is in fact a lie. I've seen worse films, but not ones which have at least three great films behind them (Alien, Aliens and Predator).

Two more reviews

The Man Who Knew Too Much
An early Hitchcock (from 1934), about a family who get embroiled in an assassination plot when on holiday in Switzerland. Later remade by the man himself, and you can see why. This one isn't bad, but it doesn't have a huge amount to mark it out as exciting or interesting. The man of the title doesn't actually know a huge amount, and neither does the audience. In fact, I found myself lacking information to really engage fully with the whole movie. I didn't feel like I wasted the 72 minutes it took to watch it, but I can't say it changed my life either. Unlike, say, North by Northwest or Rear Window, two of my favourite Hitchcocks.

Belleville Rendez-vous
Well, I've never seen a film quite like this. This is an animated movie, but not necessarily for kids - parents should most definitely watch it first. Set in France and then a fictionalised New York (the Belleville of the title), the film follows a dedicated, intelligent, club-footed, pushy and practically mute Grandma as she tries to rescue her cyclist son when he gets kidnapped from the Tour de France. She is accompanied by her bloated dog, Bruno, who spends all his time dreaming about, and barking at, trains. You're probably already thinking that this is not your ordinary plot description, even for a French film. Oh, and it gets weirder. And then just when you think it's achieved its peak of weirdness, an old lady kisses a fridge. Not joking. But not wishing to put people off, the animation is fantastic (but very stylised - don't expect big Disney eyes) and the characters human enough to feel some sympathy and affection for them. The villains are suitably sinister as well. It has a good sense of humour, too, poking fun at both French and American eating habits, for one thing. Recommended, but with a note of caution: it wil not be what you expect!

Blue bands

We both wear the White Make Poverty History wristband and the ProLife one, which is blue. Does anyone know of another cause that is a blue band? I noticed Chris Martin (I think that's his name) from Coldplay was wearing a blue band, but I find it highly unlikely he would wear something as controversial/ un-liberal as a ProLife one. Any ideas?

30lb!

It's got to the Coldplay section of Live 8 (leave your name at www.live8live.com), which for me is dullness personified, so it's time to comment on the movie we watched last night.

"Supersize Me!" is a documentary feature looking at the effects of the fast food industry on America in general, and specifically, one person's health. Morgan Spurlock, director, takes it upon himself to eat nothing but McDonald's food for a month (morning, noon and night) and check the effects on his body. Alongside this, he looks at various aspects of the fast food industry, for example the way they advertise, appeal to kids and worm their way into schools. In fact, one of the most amazing sections was when he showed pictures of several well-known faces to a group of 5-year-olds. They could all identify Ronald McDonald, but only one could say which picture was George Washington. (Most bizarrely, one picture was held up - not in view of the camera - and the child guessed 'George W Bush?'. It was then revealed to be a picture of Jesus)

The director's girlfriend is a vegan chef, and can barely stand to watch him do his experiment. At the start, he is in perfect shape. By the end, his doctors find that he has pickled his liver, just like an alcoholic would. He gets sick straight after his first supersize meal, then depressed as the month goes on and finally addicted to the food he is eating. Not really wishing to reveal the end, but he does survive his ordeal; however, it took him 14 months afterwards to lose the weight he had gained. In total, he put 30lb of sugar into his body over the month - 1lb per day! Think about that next time you tuck into a Big Mac (I'm sure it won't stop me, by the way, but I certainly feel better informed).

Apparently a few weeks after the film premiered in the US, McD's took the supersize option off their menus. They said it was nothing to do with the movie at all.

Highly recommended.