New Moon

So I just finished the second book in the Twilight series. Thoughts:

*I am so team Jacob. I won't go into detail, but I like him so much more than Edward. I think Edward is an idiot. Too bad I already know Bella chooses him instead.
*I wish the author explained more about werewolves like she did with vampires in the first book. So many unanswered questions.
*I like Bella better in this book. She is more complex, interesting, and real.
*And the vampires return. I was liking the werewolf storyline better. Maybe I'm a little biased because I have a hot Native American husband. Nah, I would still like it better.
*The Volturi part was dumb.
*The ending was even dumber.
*Overall: More intriguing and well written than the first.

Twilight

In all these years, I've escaped reading and watching the Twilight series. My curiosity finally got the better of me and I decided to read Twilight. I finished it a week ago and now I am reading New Moon. I will post my thoughts on each book, so here is what I was thinking while reading the first:

*Not understanding the tree of knowledge reference and apple on the cover. Some help please?
*Is this all going to be high school, love-triangle drama? I feel so juvenile reading this. Why are so many women older than me obsessed?
*Edward isn't as romantic as everyone has made him out to be.
*We're on page a million and what and nothing's happened yet? On the other hand, I appreciate all the dialogue and the explanations of the vampire world. It's fascinating discovering the author's made-up world.
*Finally some action and suspense!
*The end is like a Law & Order: SVU episode but with vampires.
*Overall: Good book and very entertaining, but I don't get the huge cult following.

I like to watch movie versions of books immediately after reading the book to compare and contrast them, especially in a series when I'm likely to forget more details, but I don't know who has the movies. I'll have to figure that out soon.

I'll let you know what I'm thinking of New Moon once I finish it, but I will say that so far it is better than Twilight!

I Feel Loved

Thank you for all the sweet, encouraging replies! I got a little teary-eyed. I feel so loved and I love you all too!

I Feel Like a Loser

Last night was a Relief Society holiday exchange night. Everyone was invited to bring a holiday craft or recipe to share with others. Because I am in Nursery, I wasn't informed until this week, and therefore had limited time and resources to use. I had already searched online for easy ornament crafts and found some cute ones on Disney's Family Fun site. I decided to make one of the kid-friendly, cheap crafts for that night since there are so many kids in our ward--perfect family activity, I thought. I chose the retro ornament, or cardboard snowflake as I called it, because it was the only one I had all the supplies for.  Here is the photo from the site:

They're just cardboard tubes threaded on pipe cleaners. I only had plain white, not glittery, pipe cleaners, but I amped up the tubes by covering them in wintery paper. Mine doesn't even look like the photo above, though in my defense, I had to make it really fast! If I had had more time, I would have done multiple colors and evened out the spacing.




 I felt a little silly displaying my craft next to all the other fancy ones, but I tried not to think about it. The night was really fun. We started with talking about being grateful and shared family holiday traditions. Then we browsed the crafts and treats and took copies of the ones we liked. We chatted for a long time. Caden did great in the kids' class. He didn't cry for me; in fact, he didn't want to leave. When it was time to go, I got my craft and noticed the large stack of copies still there. I don't think anyone took a copy, except for me to use for future reference. I was very hurt. Yeah, it wasn't amazing, even for a kid craft, but I thought maybe someone would like it for their kids since it was so easy and cheap. I guess not.

I got home and started blogging about it to vent my feelings while Caden played in the bathtub. Then Justin got home as I started to wash Caden and asked me how it went. I leaned against the tub and burst into tears. Poor Justin handled it very well.

Sometimes I feel that the women (and even some men) in our church put too much value on sewing and crafting ability, making unskilled people like me feel inferior. I feel as if my worth is lower in their eyes because I can't do those things. (I wrote about it on my LDS blog a while ago.)

I try to do what I can and share it, but still feel silly because no one appreciates the attempt. That's why I love kid crafts so much. Kids don't care; they don't have expectations or pretentions. They can have fun making anything out of junk, which I'm good at (also blogged about that a couple years ago). That's not to say that I'm not trying to learn, just that I'm slow at it and can't create things on my own. For that reason, I didn't want to bring anything, but I decided that participating was more important. Kind of regret that now.

I feel silly too for feeling this way, but those feelings are very real. I'm not looking for sympathy or pity. Just want to remind you crafty girls to be patient with and understanding toward us artistically challenged women!

New PJs

Grandma Nishimoto got Caden six winter pajamas. They fit him perfectly and he looks adorable. He, however, is not too fond of them. He hasn't worn footsie pajamas since he was seven months old. He kept trying to take off the feet and got mad that they wouldn't come off. Haha. She also got him some fabric play food in a picnic basket, which he played with right away. (Sorry, the photo won't load.)

The Dreaded "N" Word

Caden has learned the dreaded n word: no. He doesn't say it like I do, sharp and clear one time. He mumbles it over and over: nononono. It's kind of funny. On a more polite note, he's learned to sign please, though it looks like he's scratching his chest. He's signing milk again too. Caden interested in feeding himself with the spoon. He mostly likes to play with the spoon, so I still have to help him feed himself, which he doesn't always like. Sleep is getting better. Caden's back in the crib for most of nap time and part of night time. We've stopped using cloth diapers because he kept taking them off. Sometimes he tells me he has to go potty, and he loves sitting on the big potty and unrolling the toilet paper!

Strange Things Are Happening

I, Mrs. Scrooge/Grinch, have not only been known to be humming, whistling, or singing Christmas songs lately, but also doing so before Thanksgiving! And I even baked last night. Someone might want to check the sky for flying pigs.

Secondhand

I love buying things secondhand. I found a great kitchen for Caden a couple weeks ago. And I did all his Christmas shopping secondhand. I've gotten him a gazillion books from the thrift store (best place to find board books in great condition and really cheap!) and some more books, wooden puzzles, a walker/rider, and a booster seat (ok, so that's not for Christmas) from Craigslist. The stuff from Craigslist totalled $18!

Babyhood is the perfect time to buy secondhand: babies outgrow things quickly, so things are hardly or never used; babies don't know or care that their things are used; and people are so desperate to get rid of their baby stuff that they sell it for cheap or give it to you for free! The only thing you have to be careful about is to make sure the stuff meets current safety standards.

I also love buying books for me and kitchen/household items secondhand. I only buy shoes if they're brand new and clothes if they're not faded, ripped, or stained. What do you like buying secondhand, if at all?

A Spook-tacular Weekend

After working during Halloween two years ago and missing the festivities last year, I was set on making the most of Halloween this year. Friday night was the ward party. There were games for the kids followed by trunk-or-treating. Caden did the cake walk and won a mini cupcake which he gobbled right up, minus the frosting.

He also did the fishing game and got a glow bracelet and the ball toss and got a pencil. The rest of the time he was just interested in stepping on and off the sidewalk to the grass. He thinks he's so cool because he can climb small steps.

Justin took him trunk or treating while I passed out candy; then we switched. There were no desserts at the party (seriously!) so we stopped for treats at the gas station afterwards and watched the rest of Harry Potter 4 at home.


Justin is Indiana Jones, I'm a witch, and Caden is a bat.



Saturday Caden and I went to a Halloween baby shower. It was too hot for him to wear his costume, but I wore mine. I was the only one besides the hostess and a couple little girls.

Monday we went to a sugar-free Halloween party; Justin met us there straight from work, so he didn't dress up. I helped with the games. The kids had a lot of fun. Caden got to taste apple cider and liked it. I made whole-wheat blueberry muffins that I actually liked (not a fan of blueberries).

The campus party started later than we thought, so we went there next. We took Caden trunk-or-treating again. The rest of the time he spent on the playground--you guessed it--stepping up and down the sidewalk to the sand. He loved the taste of cotton candy Justin gave him.

He had a lot of fun playing and was sad to leave. Overall, it was a great Halloween!