Toy Story 3

My niece wrote from her mission in Argentina to ask about Toy Story 3 ... she said she has been seeing toys in store windows from the movie. So I did some detective work (googled it) and the experts (Wikpedia) say Toy Story 3 is slated for release on June 18, 2010. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen have been confirmed to return to the cast. It is supposed to be about Buzz and Woody when they get sent to a day care after Andy goes to college. Verrrrry interesting. Number 2 was so good, we'll see if number 3 is up to par. But it doesn't come out until 2010 ... the toy she saw must have been a fake. Shrek 3, by the way, is dumb. One movie to watch if you haven't yet is Star Dust. It is really cute and funny. Kind of like a fairy tale for grownups.

The winter is finally breaking a bit. The snow has melted off all the streets and today when we drove up to campus to pick Gabe up from preschool, Leo said, "Mommy, the colors are coming back!" The snow was beginning to melt off the grass, and he could see a peek of green underneath. Yay! It has been a long winter indoors, and I can't wait to open all the windows and smell that fresh air and go for walks and sit on grass, and most of all, kick the boys out into the backyard for a few hours.

Gabe hates being outside. How did that happen? Whose genes are those? I have set a rule for him that he has to go outside for 15 minutes every day, now that the weather is nicer. The first time we did this (on Monday), I set the timer, and sent him out. He stood in front of the door and stared at me. I so moved into the computer room. So he stood in front of the computer room window and stared at me. Finally, I told him that every time I saw him not having fun, I would add a minute to the timer. After I upped it a few times, he figured out that I was serious, and went to play in the snow. He started having so much fun, I didn't call him in when the timer rang. About a minute later, he screamed in the front door, "Isn't that enough fun YET?" I guess it was manufactured fun. Better than having him stare at me though the window, I guess.

Children's Play

My sister sent me this really interesting clip from NPR (National Public Radio) on why children need unstructured play for cognitive development.

Unstructured play is necessary, say the experts, to learn to self regulation. And self regulationis a better predictor of success in school than anything else they've measured ... even IQ. Lots of things detract from unstructured play ... you can guess some of them ... TV, computer games, even toys that don't demand creativity. They also warn against too many adult supervised activities at too young an age ... gymnastics, preschool. Anything that puts the child in activities where they don't have to set up their own rules, using something called their "inner voice" to plan how they would achieve the play.

Very interesting! I knew I was being a good mom when I kick my kids out into the backyard and lock the door!

Happy Happy Birthday Trieste Dear!

The BIG 30, look how far you have come! You were always so darn cute! I was a bit jealous, you somehow charmed everyone with so little effort, just that twinkle in your eye, and that crooked smile. I still am a bit jealous, you cutie! I love you, and am thinking about you today ... hoping you don't kill yourself on the slopes, mostly.

More on Cold Feet

We have a lot of snow on the ground, and freezing temperatures followed by slushy wet thaw, creating icy puddles everywhere during the day. A neighbor girl I occasionally babysit came over yesterday with cold, wet feet. She was wearing a pair of thin dress boots her mom got at a thrift store. Her mom is broke. I wanted to get her a pair of warm boots, and went on a search yesterday. I visited or called eight different stores, all of which were completely sold out of kids snow boots in Girls Size 3. Big 5 Sporting Goods had one pair left for $30, and they weren't that cute. I guess February after a snow storm is a bad time to be snow boot shopping.

I decided to try again to find boots in the morning, and hit the hay last night. Despite being quite tired, I couldn't fall asleep ... I kept thinking about Girl's Size 3 Boots. Girl's Size 3 Boots. Girl's Size 3 Boots. Girl's Size 3 Boots. Girl's Size 3 Boots! Finally around ll:30, I realized that my obsession with these boots was my issue, not my neighbor's situation. I HATE COLD FEET! Hate them with a deep and earnest sincerity. This thought process was exasperated by the fact that I just read a book about Earnest Shackleton's Doomed Expedition to the South Pole, in which he and a group of 40 men spent 497 days camping stranded on an ice flow and then a miserable outcropping of rock before they were rescued. They may have suffered malnutrition, fatigue, bad hygiene, and depression, but I worried most about their cold feet.

I must have bad circulation or something, because I remember dreading the walk to elementary school in Rexburg. It would begin with a bit of cold water seeping under my sock, progress to moderately cold, and then to feeling like each step was on a bed of nails, until my feet went numb. But that was only temporary relief, because when they began to warm up, they seared with red pain. Gabe may have the same affliction, because he cries every time we go outside.

The first year we were married, Jeff gave me an ice fishing pole for my birthday. I almost wanted to cry at the thought of going out on an icy lake for a few hours and sitting around a hole. How little did my husband know me!

Last year Jeff gave me really good snow boots for my Birthday. Waterproof, not slippery, fit well, furry on the inside. Nice looking. I really love them. It is amazing how much more I am willing to go outside just because I have good boots to wear.

Thus continues my quest today for the Girl's Size 3 Snow boots.

Cute Gabe, cute Leo.

Gabe asked me today if our heart had ears. I asked him what he meant. He said that his Sunday school teacher told him that his heart could tell him what to do, and that he should listen to it. "So, can I talk to it too?"

I explained that sometimes when people say heart, they mean feelings. "For instance," I said, "if I say that my heart is broken, I don't mean split in half."

"Mommy, you heart is broken?" asked Leo, "I fix it for you!"

"Oh, thank you Leo," I said, expecting a hug.

"But Mommy, I don't have a hammer!"

We got 10 new inches of snow yesterday, and had a great time building a sledding hill for the boys in the yard. I'm really appreciating the snow boots I got last year for my birthday. They help me avoid one of my BIGGEST dislikes, cold, wet feet. I wear them everywhere, to the store, to the library. Yesterday I wore them to church. The photo is a hat our friend Tom Ashton brought back from his mission in Ukraine. Looks warm, doesn't it? It is made out of rat hair, or something.

I'm looking for a good book to read, any suggestions?