Book Review--Pride & Prejudice

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

(Review written by Alicia not Eric)

I must admit, I am a woman very partial to chick flicks and sappy love stories, with plots of course. I’ve realized in the past year that this book and the A&E movie series based on it are my all-time favorites. I can read and watch this story over and over to see how true love helps to make a good man better while lust only results in emptiness and a never-ending search for something more. The book also shows that no matter who your parents are or how silly your family may be, you can still rise above it with some sense as Elizabeth Bennett does.

Easter in Ohio

Easter Dress and 30 second bonnet.

Happy Easter! We finally decided to splurge and buy Elizabeth something nice. Hey, since we only go to church twice a year Elizabeth better be wearing something nice (just kidding, we go every week). You'll notice that Elizabeth is happy in this picture, which is quite different than the rest of the week. A molar has been coming in on the bottom and she's been very fussy. She decided to start banging her head against anything and everything, although she prefers hard objects. That's part of the reason she has the bonnett on, so that children's services won't come after us because of all of the bruises. She has been much happier, however, since her tooth came in. Now it's just one little bonk and then the crying. For the most part we have our happy baby back. For more Easter pictures go here.

In other news, Alicia finally got a bike. Hers was stolen last year but it was a pretty cheap bike. We decided to go with something a little bit nicer and went to a real bike store. It's costlier but should last for a very long time. We hope to go on family bike rides this year since I got my bike and a trailer for Elizabeth last year. There are many bike trails in this area and come spring time the area is gorgeous.

Alicia has also been playing in an indoor soccer league, which I think she's been enjoying a lot. I went to a game and saw her score two goals, they were excellent shots. It was interesting seeing how all of the sudden the guys on the team started acknowledging her and passing to her. She was no longer viewed as a "necessary evil" like the other s on the team.

Sorry to bore with information about us, back to Elizabeth. She's getting more and more grown up. She now says "Uh oh" whenever she drops something. She is understanding more words. After eating we say, "do you want a cookie?" and she points to the cupboard with the cookies. She understands when it's time to leave the house and says "bye-bye." Hopefully she'll be speaking soon. And then she needs to start writing novels and making money for us so she can earn her keep.

Elizabeth's 15 Month Checkup

Elizabeth just went in for her 15 month checkup. She got the chicken pox vaccine (kids are so spoiled these days - I had to crawl on my knees because I had sores on my feet when I got the chicken pox...and it was uphill...both ways). She's been pretty fussy lately and the doctor said one of her molars might be coming in. But on to the big news, she was 33 inches tall and 22 lbs 4 ounces heavy. That translates to over 97th percentile in height and 50th percentile in weight. She's tall and skinny and she has me to thank for it!

Book Review--The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Alicia and I decided to start reading books to each other in the evening. It's a good way to spend some quality time together and encourages us to turn off the TV. Actually, we got the idea from our friends, the Poppletons. The first book we decided to read together was a book by Agatha Christie titled, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. This was the book that introduced the illustrious career of Hercule Poirot, an obsessive compulsive Belgian detective. Detective work has long been considered one of the fields in which obsessive compulsive disorder would be an advantage, but I can't accuse Agatha Christie of following the crowd since she may have come up with the idea (I haven't read any Sherlock Holmes so I can't say anything about him).

I've read a few Agatha Christie books before and thouroughly enjoyed them. I enjoy movies and books that have good plots, and by nature, most mysteries need to have good plots. I'm absolutely atrocious, however, at trying to figure out who did it. This book was no exception. I don't want to give too much away but let me just say that towards the end of the book I thought I was going to be disappointed, it seemed anti-climactic. But then she delivered in the end and the story ended up being very good. I enjoy Hercule Poirot, he's slightly arrogant but I think that makes him more interesting.

Briefly, the book is about a rich elderly woman who dies in the middle of the night. Accusations of poisoning are made, and everyone thinks they know who did it. She had recently remarried a younger gentleman who appears to be in it for the money. But it doesn't take long before evidence starts appearing on all the cast of characters. This book moved very fast, I was excited every night to read it. Furthermore, we had to keep a dictionary at the side of the bed to keep up with the new words (definitely some good SAT material there). If you're tired of John Grisham's books being flat and hit and miss, try books with real plot, read Agatha Christie. Although, I would recommend The Murder of Roger Ackroyd first, it's a classic. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is avaible free of charge at Project Gutenberg.

Book Review--Spoiled Rotten

Well, I’ve (Alicia) decided to write mini-reviews on the books I’ve read recently. I’m not an expert in literature or a master in writing but I thought I’d give my two bits, good or bad, for whoever wants to read it. Here goes nothing.

Spoiled Rotten: Today’s Children and How to Change Them
by Fred Gosman

I was led to this book by a reference in a general conference talk by Joe J. Christensen about greed, selfishness, and overindulgence (Ensign May 1999). I recommend the conference talk and also the book Spoiled Rotten. Fred Gosman isn’t a psychiatrist or any kind of Phd., just a parent and writer who wrote down his observations of how parents across the country are letting the kids run the house instead of the parents. This book is a quick read. The examples come straight out of when I was growing up in the late 80s and early 90s. Although Atari or Barbie’s may not be the fad now, the underlying concept is still alive—we spoil our children too much in this overindulgent society. While I read the book, I started getting mad at the parents who made the kids feel like the center of the universe with everything revolving around them and their wants. Children aren’t the center of the universe and they need to know that by something called discipline. Discipline isn’t just punishing but helping set boundaries and guidelines for our children to live by.
Gosman shows five ways that we can spoil our children:
1. Possessions
2. Not effectively disciplining for misbehavior
3. Mediocre effort is tolerated
4. Opinions unreasonably deferred to
5. Children not held responsible for actions

I hope you read this book so your child isn’t spoiled rotten and can contribute meaningfully to society instead of thinking that society owes them everything.

Surprise! It's an Elizabeth! 

Movie Review--The Work and The Glory

This past weekend Alicia and I saw The Work and the Glory. It is a movie made from the first volume of a popular book series (in Mormon circles) of the same title. It follows a fictional family (the Steeds) as they interact with real people and events during the beginning of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Overall I thought it was a pretty good movie. The acting was good, the story was good too. The movie was well done, but it lacked something. I think it just wasn't very powerful, not as much as the books at least. I really enjoyed the books (except for the last one) but they definitely pick up steam as time goes on. I felt that the conversion stories were toned down, it made the movie not as compelling as it could have been. But it is definitely better than some of the other "Mormon" movies out there (do NOT see The Book of Mormon Movie). I think that The Other Side of Heaven and Singles Ward are better but this is a movie I would be happy to have in my library.

Pigtails with an impish smile. 

A big hello

Well, we finally decided to take the plunge and join the numberless masses by creating a "blog." We thought this would be the best way to update our family on what's going on in our lives, since we're so far away from everyone. For now why don't you head on over here to take a look at some videos of Elizabeth.