A Christmas Carol

Can someone tell me when Disney went from this:

To this:

I took the kids to see A Christmas Carol in 3D on Sunday. The movie was good but was not at all what I expected. I grew up watching the sweet and cute version with Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge McDuck. This years version is not even close to sweet and cute. More like just a little scary. Trent had warned me there were a few scary parts. He had gone to see it with his friend on Friday night. Trent scares really easily so I just brushed it off. It's Disney. How scary could it possibly be? The movie wasn't too bad until Scrooge goes home and is trying to get into his house and then the ghosts come. I probably jumped out of my seat a couple times and there were a few times Kaela was curled up in a ball. I kept asking if she was okay and she kept saying yes. There was one part where I literally jumped and then said, "Oh my God!" Freaked me out!!! Trent jumped too and he knew it was coming. The story itself is a good one but for kids, I think it would be hard to get past the darkness of the movie and the two ghosts who were pretty creepy in order to fully understand the point of the movie. Maybe they wouldn't get it anyway. I'm going to try to find the Mickey version of this and have them watch it. The movie is a good movie and you should go see it. However, I recommend possibly watching it yourself before taking your kids to it. Depending on your child, they could quite possibly have nightmares from it. So, just sending a kind warning your way.

This is why I can't seem to get ahead on the cleaning..

This is what four girls managed to do yesterday.

And only one girl will be cleaning it up.

Trents room. I FREAKED out when I walked in there.

It looked much worse than this. He had eight

pairs of pants lying all over his floor against

the wall in that pile that looks small now.

The kids obviously have some MAJOR cleaning to do after school. Trent has been told several times about his room. I rarely go down to check it out so I only see it when it's a major disaster. Looks like I'm going to have to start checking it everyday.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Parent/Teacher Conference

Today was the day I dread....parent/teacher conference day. I don't know why I dread it but I do. Kaela's was first and as usual we got a good report. She's been forgetting to turn in her homework because she won't pack it up the night before but this problem is easily fixable. She got great grades and is a great student.

Trent's P/T conference went well also. First time since 3rd grade. He hit 3rd grade and just got in a slump or something. There was always something from he's not getting his work done to bad scores on tests. Now in 6th grade I'm being told he's a great student and is getting his work done and handed in ON TIME! WOW! AWESOME!! He has a 3.7 GPA and is going for a 4.0. Could I be any prouder? I think not. This is a totally different Trent...at least when it comes to school. I'm so happy I'm not having to look at C's or D's or even F's. I'm glad to finally see the grades that I have always known he was capable of getting. All A's and two B's this time around but he's going to work hard and get those up. I'm beaming right now :oD

This Is It

I went up to SLC to have lunch with some friends and then we went to see Michael Jacksons This Is It. There was a whopping 8 people in the theater. I really can't decide what I think of the man himself. I mean, if allegations are true, I am personally not a fan of him but I do enjoy his music. He was what I listened to growing up...along with New Kids On The Block. I still to this day remember our last night in California before we moved here when I was in 8th grade. We had gone up to a family friends house to say goodbye and to watch the *BRAND NEW* Michael Jackson video....Black Or White. This video was a big deal back then. The morphing of faces was technology at it's best in those days. When you look at what they do now with videos, the morphing is hardly impressive but back then, it was so cool! I will never forget that night...ever. It also happened to be the night the Bart Simpson also debuted his music video but anyway.....

The This Is It movie was interesting. It was all the video taken at rehearsals that was to be a part of Michaels personal library. It gave you an idea of what this concert was going to be and it looked like it was going to be spectacular!! It's too bad that we will never see the finished product. I kept saying throughout the whole thing, "How amazing would this have been if we could've seen the whole thing put together?" The man knew what he was doing and he was doing what he did best and that's being a performer. Think what you will about him but you cannot deny that he was an amazing performer. At 50 years old he kept up with his much younger dancers. This amazed me! He still moved like he was 20. The Thriller performance looked like it would have been a pretty cool performance. I have never said wow so many times throughout a movie. The amount of work and thought that was put into this production is just crazy and to not have anyone see the final product is just crappy but this is the next best thing I guess.

I would recommend seeing it. If you aren't a fan of the music and/or him, then I would say pass. Some of his songs I listen to now and hear his message. When I was younger, it was just a song. I never understood what Man In The Mirror was about til right after he died and I was really listening to the words. Its always been a favorite song of mine even when I was a kid. But now, it's a favorite song for a whole other reason.

RIP Michael...I know you are somewhere gettin your moonwalk on :o)

Peace....Love....and Sunshine

And people wonder why their kids are so lazy.

While walking around with the kids while they were trick or treating I was amazed at how many parents were in their cars and following their kids as they walked door to door. Are you kidding me? And then there were those who would park at one end of the block and make that round then go back to the car and drive to the next block and park. I was also surprised to see a parent asleep in their vehicle at the park. I'm assuming his kids were making the rounds and he decided this was the perfect opp to catch some z's. WOW! How times have changed. I can remember going trick or treating when I was Trent's age and living in SoCal. There was a big group of us who would go together. We would hit up our neighborhood, go home, empty out our bags and then walk over to the neighborhood that was next to us and get more candy. Kids lack enthusiasm these days. When I was younger, I would've stayed out all night as long as someones porch light was on and they were giving out free candy. I mean FREE CANDY!!! That's a kids dream right there and that dream only happens once a year. You would think these kids would want to take full advantage of it. Our kids didn't even get their bags halfway full. So, you know what that means...slim pickings for me and really that sucks. One of the best parts of being a parent is being able to go through the candy stash and take your favorites and them not even realize you have done so. It just amazes me how lazy kids are anymore and really why shouldn't they be. With all the technology and game systems we have these days, why would you go outside and play. Being outside was all I ever wanted to do as a kid. I wanted to be hanging out with the neighborhood kids and playing games in the street. Those were good times and really, I can't say that I would ever want to grow up during another time. I feel for the kids now and it sucks what they have to deal with. So, anyway, parents, for the love of God, set an example for your kids and let's not be THAT lazy. I made the walk with Kaela in high heeled boots. I'm sure you can do it in a pair of sweats and some sneakers.

Dude! Your super power is broken.

I went to Alco today and was waiting in line to return something when I noticed this tall, young looking guy standing in front of me...and staring at me. When I would look his way, he would keep staring. I mean, really staring. I looked away and then looked his way like three times and there he stood...not budging...and still staring. I think he thought he was invisible and I couldn't see him staring my way. Don't "normal" people look away when the person they are staring at looks at them? Don't get me wrong, the guy was pretty decent looking (For once. Seems like I get the attn of the not so good looking ones) so I really kinda didn't mind it. I was not looking like someone who should be stared at though. I was wearing a hat and no make up. Then again...maybe that is cause for staring. I was actually dressed and not running around in sweats like I usually do on a Sunday. Hey, don't judge me. It's not like I have church to attend anyway. The guy ended up going on his merry way and I took care of what I needed to. These are the times when I wish I did have a super power. And what super power you ask...mind reading!

Peace, Love & Sunshine

Happy Halloween!

This year Halloween was no different than any other year except for that our oldest child ditched us to go trick or treating with his friend. Lame! I mean, seriously, how can trick or treating with your friends be more fun than trick or treating with your parents? Aaaah..he's growing up. Anyway, we went trick or treating with Bill and Chrissy and their girls and one of Kinsey's friends this year. The girls were going full force. Running to every house. And then somewhere along the way they left their energy at someones house. We started at 6:00 PM and were done by 8:00 PM. Seriously, how lame is that?

As for Trent, his friend, him and his friends siblings went to a haunted house. Trent opted to stay in the car and wait for them. He couldn't even make it through a dark, inflatable dragon that made loud noises. I have to admit, I didn't object to taking the emergency exit. I know, pathetic. Apparently his friend came out of the haunted house scared and said Trent was lucky he didn't go because he probably would've peed himself. Nice.

After the whole trick or treating was done and over with Dalan and I rented a couple movies, one of them being Friday the 13th. He said he had never seen them before and wanted to rent it. So, okay. Let's do this! I hated every minute of that stupid movie and I also had nightmares...ALL NIGHT!!! In fact, I woke up at 6:30 AM and could not go back to bed and take advantage of that extra hour of sleep because of the nightmares. Sigh.


So, that was our Halloween. Nothing spectacular or great. Just doing the parent thing with the kids. Hope you all enjoyed your night. Below are a couple pictures. I didn't get one of Trent because like I said before, he was with his friend. His costume was basically his football uniform anyway.