Jamie and Heidi wait for a sizzlin' steak... 

Mom Melin And Robyn order something good 

Last night we had a fun Family Home Evening Open house for our neighbors and some ward friends. We ate yummy food and let our kids play and had a good visit. We closed with Christmas songs and a prayer--very fun.

Here are cute Nicole, Kim, & Steph having some refreshments and chat... 

Here's the spread of snacks and drinks... 

Addie and Heidi wore their new matching sweats after church on Sunday

An Embarrassing Coincidence (for a Geek)

I live in Podunk, so I never got to see Napoleon Dynamite, which is all the rage with the kids, but I always wanted to BECAUSE I am a fan of Elvis Costello. One of my favorite Elvis albums is “Blood & Chocolate” on which he calls himself Napoleon Dynamite. There’s even a really beautiful track called “Poor Napoleon.” I thought it was very clever of somebody to name a movie after this obscure Elvis reference. Turns out, though, the writer didn’t even KNOW it was Elvis’ name back in 1986 or whenever “B&C” came out. And I am ever so disappointed. I now believe this movie is slightly less cool, and I believe the writer is a total dork because of this comment.

Here is the movie’s official statement on the coincidence:

This movie shares its title from the pseudonym of "Napoleon Dynamite" that singer/songwriter Elvis Costello credited himself as for his 1986 album,
'Blood and Chocolate' (narrating the album under the guise of the fictional
character). (12/8/03) Executive producer Jeremy Coon has written in to
clarify that "the name is not derived from Elvis Costello and that the film has nothing to do w/ him. We got the name from a real person the director met while in Chicago
several years ago which could be indirectly related to Costello, but we were not aware of the connection before we did the film."

And here is another review that echoes my sentiment (except I believe Jared Hess because [A] I used to go to BYU—I know the culture could sift out Elvis and [B] I know he’s very young):

No mention is made of Napoleon's name. Any Elvis Costello fan knows that in the
1980s he declared that he would no longer be known as Elvis Costello, but
instead as Napoleon Dynamite, under which name he released what may have been
his last great album, BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE. The producers have independently declared that they were unaware of that and chose the name without reference to
Elvis Costello. This is, of course, utterly absurd, about as believable as someone making a movie with the lead character named Anna Karenina but claiming
to be ignorant that Tolstoy had a character by that name.

Who doesn’t at least acknowledge that Costello is one of the granddaddies of coolness, even if they don’t like his style? Jerks, that’s who. And geeks. Give a granddaddy his propers!

Anywhoooo—I am looking forward to watching the DVD this week, despite the title debacle.

Oh, PS: Happy 30th Birthday to my sisters, Laura & Lisa tomorrow. Yay--now you're old like me!

Lunch with Lois

Today I took the girls thrifting and met Rich at the appliance store to order our kitchen appliances, then we all went to lunch at Adagio Italian Fare.

And who was sitting right next to us? Margot Kidder. Yep, Lois Lane. She ate her food and chatted with the waiter (somewhat boisterously) and saw her neighbors across the restaurant. As she was leaving she walked by us and said, "You have beautiful children." We smiled and thanked her.

Then she came back for something and as she passed, Heidi smiled at her. Margot/Lois stopped and said, "What a gorgeous happy baby!" I said, "She's showing off her new teeth," so Margot/Lois touched her chin to see the little teeth and sort of cooed at Heidi and said good bye.

So, yeah...Superman's girlfriend said my kids are beautiful. Livingston is a funny place.

I can hardly bear the cuteness of this picture. I let Heidi sit in the tub with Addie for the first time yesterday while blow dried my hair at the sink next to them (usually I just wash her and take her right out). They were both so delighted! The splashed each other and giggled and had so much fun. 

Bunyantas

I forgot to post this story 2 weeks ago when it happened, but it's so funny, it must be recorded.

We left Addie to play with her friends Gracie, Kelli, and George while we went to Home Depot. When we picked her up, I asked her what she did with the kids. She said, "Well...we jumped on the beds and then we played bunyantas" [say "bun-YAWN-tuz"].

"Bunyantas? What's that?" I asked.

"It's a fun game with aminals," she answered. I thought, hmmm--is it like Jumanji or something?

"What do you do with the animals?"

"It's jumping and you hit it with a stick and it has candies inside," Addie explained animatedly.

A lightbulb! "Oh...you mean pinatas? You played with a pinata!"

"Yeah, mom! I want a bunyanta at my birthday, okay? It's for parties."

At this point I could hardly control my laughter and I promised she could have a bunyanta at her birthday. George, Kelli and Gracie have pinatas for Thanksgiving because thier family eats Mexican food for their feast--how fun is that?

Anyway--there's another Addie-ism for ya--"bunyanta."

Mira! It's a Bunyanta!