I Love the Library

One of my favorite things to do with the kids I nanny for is go to the library. We go just about weekly and check out as many books as they want. Sometimes I'll have over 75 items checked out at once! When I first started perusing the children's section 5 years ago with Natalie I definitely gravitated towards books I loved as a kid. Strega Nona, by Tomie de Paola, Doctor De Soto, by William Steig, and Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst to name a few. Now that years have past I have so many new favorites that I keep a list of them so I can remember. Here are my most recent favorites:

Boo Boo Bird, by Jeremy Tankard

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, by Mo Willems (I love everything by this author)

I Lost My Kisses, by Trudie Trewin

Friday My Radio Flyer Flew, by Zachary Pullen

Pout Pout Fish, by Deborah Diesen

It Rained...

As I drove home from work today it was raining. I'm a little bummed that we didn't reach 30 days of straight sun, but at the same time it was nice to smell the Seattle rain. It was gross watching all the pollen run down my windows. A few sprinkles of rain might bode well for mine and Ben's allergies!

Natalie had a big day today, she graduated from Kindergarten. The celebration was very cute all the kids had blue caps and gowns to wear. They sang "What a Wonderful World," accompanied by their music teacher on the ukulele. All the kids got diplomas and roses, Andrew and William were pleased with the ice cream and cake reception afterwards! Natalie's dad was very thoughtful and got everyone Trophy cupcakes. Ben and I LOVE Trophy cupcakes!

Having a Trophy right down the street from us is not a good thing. Ben and I LOVE this place because they have such cute cupcakes and great original flavors. Lately my favorite flavor has been their Vanilla Vanilla. (Vanilla Cake and Frosting) I know it sounds boring, but the cake is so buttery and the frosting is so vanilla-y. It's the perfect combination! Here are the other flavors, what would you choose?

• Triple Chocolate
• Chocolate Vanilla
• Vanilla Vanilla
• Red Velvet
• Vanilla Chocolate
• Hummingbird (Banana Pineapple Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting)
• Lemon
• Snickerdoodle
• Snowball (Chocolate Cake with Coconut Frosting and Shaved Pink Coconut)
• Chocolate Graham Cracker (Chocolate Cake with Semi-Sweet Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust and Topped with Toasted Marshmallow)
• Carrot Cake
• Triple Coconut
• Cafe au Lait (Coffee flavored cake topped with Vanilla Frosting and Coffee Sprinkles)
• Peanut Butter and Jelly (Vanilla Cake filled with Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly)
• Chocolate Chip Mint
• Lemon Coconut
• Chai Cardamom
• Lemon Strawberry

100th Post (Thought I would point that out)

Well here I am sitting at home putting off studying for my Spanish final tomorrow when Mandy calls me and tells me to do a post. This whole month of June thing is proving to be harder than we thought. I'm figuring out that our life isn't all that exciting enough to constitute a blog with frequent posts but we will try.

I just finished re-watching all of the Seinfeld episodes on DVD. I have seen every episode numerous times but this time I decided to watch it all the way through and with the Spanish subtitles on to practice (two birds...). Before I started this "project" I read Steven Johnson's wonderful book Everything Bad is Good For You. Johnson makes the argument that today's popular culture can actually make you smarter because it is forcing your brain to follow multiple threads as well as following different social networks. Anyway, he says that if you pay attention while watching Seinfeld you can notice numerous times where there are recalls to previous episodes. So I was able to do that and brush up on my Spanish at the same time!

Close talker, low talker, shrinkage, yada yada yada, sponge worthy, serenity now..., there are many nuggets in this show that influenced our popular culture conversation over its 9 season run. I thought I would share with anyone who would listen, my 5 favorite Seinfeld episodes.

Ben's Top 5 Seinfeld Episodes

#5. The Race (Episode 96, Season 6): Jerry is forced to face the consequences of a lie he perpetrated about his speed that dates back to Jr. High School. He has George play along with a yarn that confirms his story. George decides to build himself up while he's helping Jerry, classic. Also, this episode is full of many Superman references that became a hallmark of the series.

(It's a little long but well worth it)

#4. The Yada Yada Yada (Episode 153, Season 8): It's not the obvious catchphrase that I love in this episode it's the side story involving Jerry and his dentist Tim Whatley. See Jerry is concerned that Whatley has only converted to Judaism for the jokes. This doesn't offend Jerry as a Jewish man, it offends him as a comedian.



#3. The Voice (Episode 158, Season 9): While Jerry is obsessed with a little voice he has been saying with his friends (long story) George is being pressured by his boss to quit his new job because they found out he was faking a disability (longer story). It's a battle of wits between George and Play Now.



#2. The Cadillac (Episode 124/125, Season 7): One name Marissa Tomei. As soon as George finds out that Marissa Tomei is into short, bald, bawdy men he immediately obsesses over the possibility of being with her. The only problem is George is engaged to marry Susan. So George makes many attempts to get her to call off the wedding, including picking up smoking. The best part of this episode is when George and Elaine sit down to come up with a lie to tell Susan. I couldn't find a video of it so here is the next best thing...




#1. The Apology (Episode 165, Season 9): Hands down my favorite episode and it is all because of George. He hears that the gangs mutual friend Jason Hanky is in AA and approaching the 9th step of the program, the one where you make amends. George is anxiously awaiting an apology from Hanky for a remark he made years earlier about George's rather large neck. Hanky won't apologize because he felt that his remark was more of a fact than an insult, this drives George nuts. There is also a funny side conversation involving Jerry and the fine line between good naked and bad naked. This episode is the entire crew at their neurotic best. I love it!



Oh and P.S. Mandy's favorite is absolutely episode 74 from Season 5: The Cigar Store Indian




OK now I really need to get back to studying for my finals...

A Quick Take

I couldn't help but think of Edith's house in Ballard

Well I just finished up Spring quarter at the UW and am starting Summer quarter next week. I have spent the year so far writing over 75 reviews of movies and books we have watched and read. I wanted a break for a week! However after seeing Pixar's latest gem Up I couldn't resist the urge to write a few words, I know my mother in law will appreciate it. By now most people know what it is about so I will just tell you what I thought.

Like most of the world I am a fan of the Pixar brand. With the exception of Cars I have seen all of their movies. In fact after first seeing Ratatouille I instantly entered it into my top 20 favorite movies. While leaving the Cinerama after seeing WALL-E I was already planning my next viewing. I would almost go as far as calling the Pixar brand perfect if it wasn't for this heartfelt article I read on NPR.org about the unfortunate lack of female leads in their movies (go ahead and read it, it's great).

What surprises me the most about Up is how uncommerical it is. It is not the easiest film to put through the Disney machine. I'm pretty sure this Fall we wont be seeing Up lunch boxes at Target and I can almost guarantee no one will be buying an Ed Asner costume this Halloween. The only marketable thing I can possibly see coming from this is a Disneyland attraction where we fly in a house that is being lifted by balloons. Up is a truly original film that doesn't rely on any gimmicks, instead it relies solely on great storytelling.

The first ten minutes of the film are some of the most tender moments I have ever seen in an animated movie. This has caused me to rethink how I approach animated movies. I think there is a tendency to write animated movies off as for the kids and below contemporary cinema (and let's face it, most of them are) but the emotions that I felt while watching the montage of Carl and Ellie's life together is as powerful as most dramas I have seen this year. For fear of overselling it I should just say, it's moving.

The rest of the film is a fun and exciting adventure that takes many detours along the way. Look for a truly inspired gag involving dogs collars that never gets old. We saw it in Real-D which was worth the extra couple of bucks. Instead of silly gags that show off the technology and take you out of the film, what we are treated to is another layer of the film. The best way to describe the experience would be to compare it to looking at a pop up children's book. We loved it!

For those of you who have seen Up and are craving some more balloon action I recommend you check out the 1956 short film The Red Balloon from France. It is the perfect companion to an already perfect film (and if you have kids with attention spans they will love it).

UP!

photo by: Natalie

I have seen so many blog posts and articles raving over the movie "Up" lately, here is one more to add to the pile! Ben and I saw the movie this weekend and loved it. We were able to see it in the theater and spent the extra 3 dollars a ticket to see it in 3D... or I think they're calling it "Real-D" now. :)

We saw the movie with Natalie and Jamie. Natalie and her mom sportin' the 3D glasses before the show!Watching a 3D movie with a kid is an experience in itself. There was a preview for an upcoming movie called "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," based on this book. In the book/movie it rains meatballs, so during the 3D preview meatballs were flying everywhere and Natalie yelled "That meatball almost hit me!"

The following pictures are taken by Natalie from our afternoon at the movies!I thought Ben kind of looked like the old man from "UP" in this picture! Sorry Ben!

24 Straight Days

Yesterday was our 24th Day of Sun in Seattle! Looks like we're in for at least 6 more! Will we reach 30 days?