I started this blog with one daughter, kept it up with the other, to spend time together doing something we enjoyed.
However, things change and people evolve. My daughters are older, busier, and not as interested in writing.
From now on this blog will be mostly mom with occasional contributions from my daughters and maybe even my husband.
Nothing else will change. We'll still focus on sharing fun places to go, fun things to do, and more, and we would  still love to hear your views too

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Tips for Tuesday - TV Shows: Full House & Raising Hope

Me - I recommend  Full House a show about a man whose wife dies and his brother-in-law and best friend move in to help him raise his three daughters. The show is very funny, dramatic and romantic all at that same time. Although there have not been any new episodes in over twenty years, the show is still enjoyable and it still appears in reruns on TV or is available on DVD. For more on Full House see our previous post on Full House.

Mom - I am recommending Raising Hope. It is a show about Burt and Virginia and Jimmy Chance raising Hope the child Jimmy had with a serial killer. Despite the serial killer aspect, the show is actually a comedy and is actually one of the funniest shows on television.  Typical Chance escapades have included when Hope was going to daycare with Dogs and began barking instead of talking and when Burt and Virginia were training a Seeing Eye Pig. You just never know what those Chances are going to do next and it is so much fun tuning in to find out. For more on Raising Hope. See our previous post Raising Hope vs. Up All Night.

Tune in tomorrow for another Talking Topic.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Rides

Me - Ride, wow! I like rides. I like rollercoasters and spinning rides. I am the complete opposite of my Mom. I like Ferris Wheels. I like rides where you go up and drop down. A lot of rides that I like are easy to throw up on. I have never thrown up on one though, but one time I almost threw up. I especially like the rides where you go up and they drop you down. My sister is sometimes afraid of rides except when she is with me. Even then, she is still sometimes afraid. When we went to Storybook Land, we went on a Ferris Wheel. When we went to the top, it was superduper shaky, and my sister got very scared. Also, when we went to Storybook Land, I was very surprised when my sister wanted to go on all the rides with me and liked them all except the Ferris Wheel. We went to Storybook Land in the nick of time because if we had gone earlier my sister wouldn't have been able to go on a lot of the rides because she would have been too small. Unlike my sister, I have always liked rides. When I was a baby we went to this amusement park. There was this haunted house. You sat on these seats which rocked back and forth really slowly. I loved it, but my older brother was terrified. He claimed he loved rides but hardly wanted to go on any. I couldn't wait to be big enough to go on all the rides, and I am glad that now I am older and I can pretty much go on any ride I want.

Mom- I have never been a big fan of rides. I don't like rollercoasters. I have been on a few in my life, but in general I don't like them. I like flumes though. It is kind of weird because they are actually a lot like rollercoasters but with water. I don't know maybe it is because of the water that I don't mind them much. Of course, they still run on tracks so if you fell out of a flume you would still be just as hurt as if you fell out of a rollercoaster. I don't like rides that go around really fast in a circle because they give me motion sickness. Of course, this describes most rides which is a big reason why I have never been a big fan of rides. I usually like carousels, but sometimes even they get me dizzy. I usually like Ferris Wheels except for this one we went on at a carnival. It had a door, but the door didn't even lock or latch. All you had to do was press down on it to open it. The whole time we were on the ride, I was terrified that the door was going to fly open, and we were going to fall out. I like train rides. They are usually nice and relaxing, and you get to see a lot of the park. My younger daughter was afraid of train rides when she was younger. I could never understand that, and it was even as if we ever sent her on a train ride without us. They even have a train ride in our mall now. I have never been on that one, and I actually find it kind of annoying. I mean it is annoying when you are trying to walk around the mall and get your shopping done and suddenly you have to get out of the way for a train. I also don't like other rides in malls, the ones you have to pay so your child can ride. They are always overpriced and they turn kids whiny and annoying begging for rides, and even if you  have the time and money for a ride one is never enough. Somehow you will never get out of there without having to listen to at least some whining. Our mall does have a nice carousel, but even that can be a problem sometimes when we don't have time to ride it. In general, I believe rides belong in amusement parks and not in malls. My favorite rides are  those cute little animatronic rides at Disney. Unfortunately, I haven't ever been able to take my girls there yet, but they are dying to go.

And that's our view. What is your favorite amusement park ride?

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Funny Friday - Do What I Say

Me -

When my sister was little and the Olympics was on, she got a pretend gold medal in school. She would put it around her neck, stand on the living room table and make us sing the National Anthem to her.

Mom -

When Melia was little. She would put her little Zoey chair on the couch and sit in it and make Daddy sit on the floor.


We welcome you to share your funny stories with us. Tune in Monday for another Talking Topic.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Duets

Me - Duets, wow maybe. Duets was not all that great of a show. No offense if you were on that show and you are reading this or if you liked the show. My Mom and sister and I watched Duets. We never got caught up on it until just before the last show. Whenever, we watched it my sister and I got bored out of our minds. In fact, all three of us were usually doing other things while we watched. When I was watching an episode of Wipeout, I saw who won the last episode of Duets so I already knew who won the show. When my Mom and Aurella and I watched the last episode, Quddus, the host of the show, was talking about how that was the end of the first season of Duets. I said we didn't know if there would be a second season. I don't think there will be, and if there is I am not going to watch. I did think the winner, J. Rome deserved to win. He was always on type of the charts, and he was very good.

Mom - My girls and I watched the first season of Duets. Well, at least the kept saying it was the first season, but frankly, I am not sure if there is going to be a second season. I mean the show was okay, but it was really nothing special. There are so many singing competitions out there, and on this one most of the voices were not all that great. It was more fun getting to hear John Legend, Robin Thicke, Jennifer Nettles, and Kelly Clarkson sing each week. It was fun seeing them pick out their duet partners at the beginning of the show. It was great to see the excitement of those who got chosen told they were picked. It was not so great seeing those who were not chosen get rejected. I felt so bad for them. I felt like that should have been done off camera. Week to week and contestant to contestant, things varied greatly. Some of the singers were good depending on the song. Others never really seemed to hit the right notes at all. Of course, the contestants being picked by bestselling recording artists has been done before and better by The Voice.  The unique twists to this show was that the artists actually had to sing with the contestants they picked. One or two of these duets, wasn't bad, but over all, there was nothing special about them. As far as I am concerned, the best duet the whole season (aside from when the recording artists sang with each other) happened after the voting was already done. It was the song from the Broadway show, Wicked, called For Good which was sung by Jennifer Nettles and John Glosson on the final show. All in all, the whole thing wasn't very exciting though. My girls and I  never watched it when it was on, we always recorded it to watch it later. Usually with shows like The Glee Project and Dancing With the Stars, we can't wait to watch each episode. With Duets, we never felt that great an urge to watch. Eventually, we just figured okay we might as well watch it. We got so far behind that we never really caught up until just before the last week. So if Duets, manages to last for another season, I am not so sure I will be watching it.

And that's our view. Do you like singing shows?

Tune in tomorrow for Funny Friday.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Madeline

Me - Hi. I love Madeline.  Recently, I started watching all my Madeline DVDs and tapes again. I used to watch them all the time. I love all the episodes I don't have a favorite, but the live action movie scares me. I especially like the one where there is a magic lamp and a talking flying carpet. Madeline has to take Pepito and his cousin comes also to find the magic lamp and save the littlest Genie. In the morning, only Madeline remembers. She thinks it must have been a dream until she finds the lamp under her bed. I like how every episode ends with the words "And that's all there is. There isn't any more." Lots of time, my Mom and my sister and I say it along as we are watching. I  love watching the episode where the go to the toy factory and Madeline gets put into a box and sent to a little girl. I also like another one where Madeline falls into the water and the dog, Genieve, rescues her. I have a toy Genieve dog. I also have a toy Madeline. I used to have two other Madeline dolls, but I don't have them any more. I even have a Madeline tea set. It is really nice, and it even has napkins, silverware, a table cloth and a nice box to put all the stuff in. I have  a Madeline jewelry box. I have three Madeline CDs.Once I was even Madeline for Halloween, I really love Madeline. Bye.*

*The above is a guest post by little sister, Aurella, as dictated to Mom.

Mom - A favorite book of mine from childhood is Madeline. My daughters also enjoyed Madeline. Aurella still loves it. We got her a big book of all the Madeline stories. There are also several newer stories. She has all of those as well except for the newest about Madeline and the White House. There were also movies  made of all the Madeline books as well as a long Madeline movie called My Fair Madeline and a live action version of Madeline. Aurella has all of those as well. There was even  a Madeline series on TV for a year or two. Aurella has every episode of the TV show too either on VHS, DVD or on the computer. At first episodes were only available on VHS. My best friend got Aurella  all the episodes that were available at that time. They later released full seasons of the show on I-Tunes as well as compilations of different episodes on DVDs so we were able to get the rest of the episodes. It was when Aurella first got the VHS tapes of the show that she really fell in love with it. She watched them over and over again. I didn't actually mind though because I like Madeline a lot better than a lot of those other kid shows that are out there, and I often enjoyed watching them with her. Aurella has also had three different Madeline dolls including a talking one, a Madeline tea set, and a  Madeline jewelry box. I like Madeline because the stories are cute, the songs are catchy, and she is a good role model for girls. She is not always well behaved, and she does get into trouble. However, she is good and fair and  kind and always treats others nicely. Aurella was even Madeline for Halloween when she was 3, and it was one of the cutest costumes she ever had.

And that's our view. Did you ever read any Madeline books?


Tune in Tuesday for Tips for Tuesday.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Funny Friday - Who's In Front?

Me -

When I was little and my Mom and I were waiting in the car while my Dad was in store or something I would always want to go sit in the front with my Mom but instead of asking if I could come sit in the front I would say "Can I go back front?"

Mom -

When my stepson was little he once asked me how many goalies there were on a hockey team. "Usually two",  I replied, "Like the Devils have Chris Terreri and Martin Brodeur. Chris Terreri is the backup goalie."

"And Martin is the front-up goalie." replied my stepson.


We welcome you to share your funny stories with us. Tune in Monday for another Says Me Says Mom discussion topic.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Libraries

Me - Libraries, wow! The library is my favorite place in the universe other than Barnes and Noble. Lately, I have been going there a lot and getting like 13 books each time. Then, it takes me forever to read them all even though I read a lot. I usually go to my Grandma's library. I like it better than our library. I know a lot of the librarians, and they are really friendly. Also, I know my way around better at my Grandma's library. I loves all kinds of book, but mostly fiction. I especially like realistic fiction and fantasy. I rarely read non-fiction except when I have to for school. When I was little, my Mom used to take me to storytime at the library. I used to go to the library a lot. Then, for a while we stopped going to the library that much until my sister, Aurella started going to storytime. When she was little we went to the library a lot again and took out lots of books. When she got too old for storytime we stopped going and didn't go for a really long time. Just recently,we have started to go to the library again. I'm glad. I love going to to the library and taking out lots of books.

Mom - As you may already know if you are regular reader of this blog, in our family we love books and are avid readers. Melia and I are always reading and very often we are even reading two, three or even four books at a time. Aurella is just learning to read, but she loves being read to. My husband likes to read too, but he doesn't read as much as he used to. Because of our love of reading, one of our favorite places is the library. When the girls were little I used to take them every week for storytime and/or arts and crafts. We always took out quite a few books at a time (and still do) because we read so much and go through books so quickly. My father is always teasing Aurella that she doesn't leave any books for the other kids. Lately, between winning books on blogs, obtaining books from the exchange book club, Paperback Swap, and  getting free kindle books from Amazon I have not borrowed many books for myself from the library. Besides, I hate having to worry about returning books, and we don't always have time to go to the library every week liked we used to. I may start borrowing more books now though because I can borrow books on kindle, get them automatically and have them returned automatically as well and never actually have to go to the library and/or worry about due dates. However, my girls still like to go to the library to get books. We go sometimes, but not as often as before because I worry about not getting the books  back on-time. Some libraries let you renew books on-line at least which is nice. Sometimes, I renew books on-line just because we don't have time to return them and not because we are not finished with them. Our library only lets us take out books for two weeks at a time. I prefer the library in my Mom's town where books are due after three weeks instead of two and most of the librarians are nicer. I took Melia to storytime at our library, but since the librarian we liked there transferred to another branch of the library further away, I took Aurella to my Mom's library for storytime and arts and crafts when she was little. I kind of miss going to storytime with my girls. It is just another sign of how much my girls are growing up and how quickly time passes.

And that's our view. Do you like going to the library?

Tune in Monday for another topic.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Tips for Tuesday - Theater: Wicked, Godspell, Xanadu, & Pippin

Me -  I'm recommending the shows; Wicked (even though it will never be the same without Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenowith especially Idina), Xanadu and Godspell which were shows that were as much fun to be in as to watch at least I've heard.

Mom - I would highly recommend the shows: Godspell, Xanadu and or  Pippin if you ever have the opportunity to see them. All three are lively shows with fun plots, good songs and lots of funny lines, and they are show which are equally as fun for the actors appearing in them as for the audiences watching them.

For more about Godspell read our previous post on the show.

And that's our view. Tune in Thursday for another Says Me Says Mom discussion topic.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Outside Activities

Me - Outside activities, wow! My Mom likes for my sister and her and I to go outside for an hour every day and have outside time, but we don't always do it. I like to hula hoop and, I am really good at it. One time I hula hooped for 10 minutes nonstop. I also like to jump rope. I was in a jumpathon at school. I like to ride my bike. I recently got a new bike. I sometimes ride my scooter. That is a little harder because there are a lot of cracks in the sidewalk. I like to take walks. I used to go to the playground at the school behind my house. Now, after 4 years at the same playground, I am bored with it. I like to go to the park. I love to go swimming. I like to go to the beach, but once when I was five I was standing in the water talking and got water in my mouth. After that, I didn't like going in the water at the beach, but now that I am older I would like to try it again. We don't go to the beach that much though. Sometimes, I like to just sit out on the front porch with my Mom and read a book or something. There are so many things I like to do outside.

Mom - I am not much of an outdoor person, but I am trying to be more of one. I definitely need to get more sun and more vitamin D.  It always seems like it is too hot or too cold or too wet or too snowy or too something. Days when the weather outside is just right are few and far between. I am not much of an athlete so I don't really play sports outside. I do like to take walks when the weather is nice. I like to have picnics on the lawn or at the park with my girls. When the girls were little, they took classes at one of our local community parks. We would go early and have a picnic before class. I miss those days. I like sitting out on the porch and watching my girls play out on the lawn. I like swimming, but I don't like walking to the pool in our neighborhood because it is usually so hot when we go. There are never any parking spaces near the pool so it is useless to take the car out besides the pool is just up the street. I am not crazy about the beach because I don't like sand. It just gets in everything and is so annoying. We go to the beach occasionally, but not that often I can't even remember the last time we went there. One thing I don't try to do is get a tan. I used to want to get a tan when I was younger, but now that I am older, and I know how bad the sun is for you I don't even bother with that. I just lather up with lots of sunblock. All in all though, I would say I am much more of an indoor person than an outdoor person, but I like I said I am working on spending more time outside.

And that's our view. Do you like to spend time outdoors?

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Brave

SPOILER ALERT. Do not read if you have not seen Brave and do not want to learn major plot points of the movie.

Me - Brave, wow! Brave is one of my favorite princess movies of all time although I thought it was pretty intense for a Disney movie. There was a vicious bear. There were shooting arrows and bear attacks. There were bear fights. These things scared my sister, Aurella. However, I found all that stuff really cool and interesting. I was glad that Disney finally added some scary parts.There other movies didn't scare me at all. Neither did this, but it was still scarier. I am reading the junior novel Disney Pixar Brave now which is based on the movie. I got it at Barnes and Noble, my favorite place in the universe other than the library. I liked the character of Merida. I thought she was very Brave and courageous. I thought it was funny that when her mother first turned into a bear she was trying to cover herself up like she still thought she was a person and she was naked. The triplets were really funny. I thought it was hilarious how they were stealing biscuits and stuff. When they turned into bears, they were adorable. I also thought it was really funny that when they triplets and their mother turned back into humans, the mother was naked so they covered her with a quilt, and the boys were naked so they ran over to their mother, and they all hugged. Even though, I liked this princess movie and some of the others, I wish that not  all Disney movies had to end with a happily ever after.


Mom - The other week we went to see the movie Brave. While I somewhat enjoyed the movie, it definitely wasn't one of my favorites. For the one thing, the plot seemed a little flimsy to me. When it was over, I couldn't help thinking, was that all there was to it? The characters seemed a bit one dimensional. Merida was strong willed and stubborn. At times, this made her an admirable character and at times not. Her mother was a typical pushy mother trying to get her daughter to bend to her will at least throughout most of the film. Her father although he was the king was not very kingly when it came to his wife. He pretty much went along with whatever his wife wanted and didn't try to stand up to her. Merida's little brothers were pretty much spoiled little brats although she herself helped to make them that way, and they loved her and were there for her when she needed them. They were also very indistinguishable from one another so there seemed to be no reason why there was three of them instead of one or two. There also was  nothing distinguishable about Merida's suitors from the other clans, and I couldn't even tell one from another except that they looked different than each other. I don't remember any of their names if they even had names. Unlike in many animated films, there were not even any memorable songs in this movie. In fact, I don't think there were any songs at all at least I don't remember any. Visually, the movie was beautiful, and when I think about it I particularly remember Merida's long red curly hair. Anyway, although I wasn't crazy about the movie nor was my husband, our daughter really enjoyed and since it is a kids movie I guess that was the important thing.

And that's our view. Have you seen Brave a and if so, what did you like or dislike about Brave?

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.


Friday, July 13, 2012

Funny Friday - Who Done It?

Me -

When my sister was about two years old she threw her stuffed Nemo down the stairs and said "Boots absolutely threw Nemo down the stairs."

Mom -

When Aurella was little she liked to blame things on invisible Dora. One day, we went to Grandma's house and Grandma gave Melia a bunch of plastic fruit a plastic cake cutter and a plastic tray. Later we went looking for all of it and couldn't find it. "Did you take it?" I asked Aurella. She shook her head no. "Did Dora take it?" I asked.

Aurella nodded. "I'll show you where it is." she said leading the way.

We welcome you to share your funny stories with us. Tune in Monday for another Says Me Says Mom discussion topic.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Katy Perry

Me - Katy Perry, wow! Katy Perry is my favorite singer. My Mom and I recently went to see the Katy Perry Part of Me movie. Aurella got very mad because she wanted to go too. I like a lot of Katy Perry's songs. Songs I love include Last Friday Night, California Gurls, Firework, Hot and Cold, I Kissed A Girl etc. I want to have all of Katy Perry's cds. Right now, I don't have any, but we have a lot of her songs on Glee cds. I am hoping I get her cds for the holidays. I think Ryan Murphy should invite Katie Perry to be on Glee. I want to go to a Katy Perry concert and dress weird so she or her sister will invite me on stage, and I can meet her. I love Katy Perry!

Mom - When Katy Perry came out with her first song, I Kissed A Girl, I didn't know too much about her and I didn't care too much about her. All I knew is that she seemed kind of strange. Then, they started singing a lot of her songs on Glee. My favorite was Firework, but I really liked all the Katy Perry songs they did on Glee. I also started to like some of her other songs. When the Katy Perry  movie, Part of Me, came out, we decided to go see it. I was luck enough to be invited to a preview of the movie so Melia and I went. I really liked it. It gave me a new respect for Katy Perry. She was not by any stretch of the imagination an overnight sensation. Her story is a good lesson in perseverance.It took her a lot of hard work to get where she is today. The movie is also a lot of fun. You get to hear her sing a lot of her songs and see a lot her crazy colorful costumes. What I enjoyed most about the movie is the way it showed how much Katy Perry cares about her fans, and the people who support her. When her marriage was breaking up and she was completely despondent, she still wouldn't cancel one of her concerts because she didn't want to disappoint her fans. I, for one, appreciate a celebrity who remembers that the fans are the ones who put them at the top, and the fans are the ones who keep them there. Especially after seeing the movie, I would definitely consider myself a fan of Katy Perry. Nevertheless, I still consider her a little bit strange sometimes especially the way she dresses although she does dress more normal than Lady Gaga, and she does look good in blue hair at least when it is styled in a normal looking hairstyle

And that's our view. Do you like Katy Perry and if so what is your favorite one of her songs?

Tune in Friday for Funny Friday.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Tips for Tuesday - Movies: Katy Perry Part of Me

Me - Hi. Today, just for you, I am recommending that you go to the movie, Katy Perry Part of Me. If you like Katy Perry, you will love it.

Mom - I am also recommending the Katy Perry movie, Katy Perry Part of Me. If you like Katy Perry, you will get to hear a lot of her songs and see a lot of her concert. You will also get a lot of insight in to why Katy Perry is the way she and how she became that way. You will learn about her strict religious upbringing. You will learn about her family. You will learn about her struggle to make it in the music business. You will learn about her relationship to Russell Brand and how hard she struggled to make it work, and how much the demise of her marriage effected her. Most importantly, you will learn about the kind of person Katy Perry is and how much she cares about her fans.

Tune in to our regular discussion post Thursday for more about Katy Perry.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Doctors

Me - Hello. I don't like to go to the doctor. I don't like getting shots. I always get really really scared and have to close my eyes. I like getting stickers at the doctor's office. I do love a TV show about a doctor. The show is called Doc McStuffins. She can cure her toys. She even can make them real so they can talk, and she can fix them when they get booboos. In the show, nobody knows that she can make the toys real so they don't know how she fixes them. Her main toys are Lamby, Stuffy, Chilly, Squeakers, Hermy and Hally. Doc McStuffins is my favorite show. She doesn't give out stickers, but she is such a great doctor that nobody cares they all love her. My old favorite show was Dora The Explorer. Now, I hate Dora more than anything. When I grow up  I want to be a vet and help animals like Doc McStuffins helps her toys. I want to be a vet because I really love animals. My favorite kind of animal is a dog especially puppies. I only don't like dogs that jump up. So I don't like real doctors, I do like doctor's on TV, and I do want to be a vet.*

*The above is a guest post by little sister, Aurella.

Mom - I hate going to the doctor. I practically have to be dragged there kicking and screaming. Once, I am there, I am not a bad patient, and I do what they ask of me. I just don't like to go to the doctor. I also don't like to take medication. When I am prescribed medication, I will take it. However, I am definitely not a person who self medicates. That can be a good thing because I don't have to worry about becoming addicted. However, it can also be a bad thing because if I have a stomachache or indigestion or any kind of ache, pain, or illness I will not take anything for it. I just suffer. Once in a while, my husband can get me to take some thing, but usually not. The only thing I do take any medication for is headaches because I have learned that they will not go away without taking anything. I cannot function properly or getting anything done with a headache. Sometimes, I get a lot of headaches. I get headaches from the heat. I get headaches from lack of sleep. I get headaches when I am hungry. I get headaches from PMS. I get too many headaches to let headaches go without treating them. I will take one thing for my headaches for a while. Then, I seem to build up an immunity to it, and it doesn't help as much. So, I keep having to change what I am taking for headaches. It is annoying. In fact, being sick and having to go to the doctor and/or take medicine at all is annoying. All in all, it is better to stay healthy.


And that's our view. How often do you go to the doctor?

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Funny Friday - Oh My Aching Feet!

Me -

I hurt my foot and then I stepped on something with that same foot. I said"Ow! My bad foot."
My sister, Aurella, said "I don't have a bad foot. Both my feet are good."

Mom -

When Aurella was 2, I was pushing her in her stroller. She held up her finger and said "My ankle hurts."


We welcome you to share your funny stories with us. Tune in Monday for another Says Me Says Mom discussion topic.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Picky Eaters

Me - Picky Eaters, wow! I am not a picky eater at all. Just joking. I am one of the most picky eaters I know beside my two cousins and my brother's friend. My older cousin likes pizza and hotdogs and not much else. He is not too skinny though because he eats a lot of what he likes. My younger cousin eats three things and drinks one thing. He eats pizza, mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. He only drinks water. That's one thing the two of us have in common, the fact that we are picky eaters. My brother's friend only eats pizza. At least that is the only thing I have ever seen him eat. Even me and my two cousin's eat more than that. I don't eat very much of anything. I am very skinny, but not too skinny. I used to like more foods, but then my personality completely changed as I previously wrote in our post on personalities, and I became picky. My Mom is picky too. She is not as picky as I am. She always says "I can't believe that you can't even find anything to eat in the house of a picky person." My sister's picky in her own little way. She eats most things, but she doesn't like meat. There are some things she refuses to try like ketchup and mustard except honey mustard. I always say things like "How can you not like ketchup? Everybody likes ketchup. I never met anybody who didn't like ketchup besides you." I keep trying to coax her to try it, but she won't. My parents tell me to just give up. I refuse to. Most kids are so mean these days that I worry someone will bully her if they find out she doesn't like ketchup since most people do. Who knows maybe by the time she starts first grade, they will be nicer than when I did. Her kindergarten class was much nicer than mine. When I was in kindergarten, we already had a bully in my class. In Aurella's kindergarten class everyone was nice. However, now we are getting off topic. Back to picky. Even though, I am picky, I don't want to be, and I hope someday I won't be anymore.

Mom - I have always been a picky eater. I do not deny that. Occassionally, I begin to like things I have not previously liked like Cheesecake. However, I do not generally start to hate things that I previously liked. I like enough things that there is enough of a variety of things that we can eat for meals in our house and there are enough of a variety of restaurants that we can go to. My husband is not a picky eater at all. He will eat almost anything. When my daughte's were little they were both really good eaters and ate whatever you gave them. My younger daughter is still a good eater. There are things she doesn't like, such as, most kinds of meat (including any kind of burgers) and ketchup. That makes it kind of hard because you can't just tell her to put some ketchup on her meat and eat it anyway. However, lately she has started putting honey mustard on most meats even ones I would never have thought of putting honey mustard on. My older daughter, on the other hand, has become pickier as she has gotten older. In fact, she is now pickier than me. As a result, meal times and going out to dinner have become much harder. I don't really understand. I know lots of people who are picky. I know lots of people who are even picker than I am. I have never seen my nephew eat anything but pizza, macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets, for instance. However, they have all been picky their whole lives as have I. I have never known anyone besides my daughter that became picky as she got older and started hating all these things she used to like to eat. It doesn't make sense to me.

And that's our view.  Are you or do you know anyone who is picky?

Tune in Monday for another topic.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Tips for Tuesday - Books: The Grimm Legacy & The Pub Across the Pond

Me -  Hi. Today,  just for you, I am recommending the book, The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman. It is a delightful story about kids who work at the repository with the Grimm Collection, a room full of magical objects from the Grimm brothers themselves. In this story, you will find heartwarming moments as well chilling goosebump moments.

Mom - Today I am recommending The Pub Across the Pond by Mary Carter, a surprisingly sweet and sentimental without being overly so story of an American woman who wins an Irish pub and the man whose family previously owned the pub and to whom she loses her heart.

Tune in Thursday for another new discussion topic.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Classic TV

Me - Classic TV, wow! As you all know, my favorite show in the world is Full House. To me, Full House is classic TV. Lately, I have been obssessed with even older TV shows than Full House. I have a notebook in it, I write down a bunch old shows that my parents used to watch. I look up to see if they are still on and find out the channel and write it down. When I go places with my family, we listen to CDs of old TV theme songs and I write down the names. Some of the old shows that my Mom used to watch that I watch now are The Brady Bunch, The Waltons, Three's Company, Cheers and more. Some of the shows my Dad introduced me to are Hogan's Heros, The Honeymooners, Love American Style, Green Acres and more. Some of the shows that both of my parents introduced me to The Partridge Family, That Girl, Friends and more. Although, now I watch and love a lot of old shows, Full House will always be my favorite.

Mom - Lately, my daughter has been in to classic TV. To her, all TV from before she was born is all just lumped together as classic TV. For me, there are different eras of classic TV. There is TV that was old even when I was a kid, such as, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Patty Duke Show and I Love Lucy. There are shows from when I was a kid, such as, The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. Shows from when I was already in high school and or college or beyond, such as Cheers, Friends, and even Full House. To my daughter, all old TV is classic TV, and therefore, it's worth watching. While it may be true that all old TV is classic TV, it is not true that all old TV is good TV. There were plenty of bad shows back then, no matter what particular decade you are talking about,just as there are now. Shows such as;  My Mother the Car, BJ and the Bear, Mr. Belevdere, and Caveman have had various times been considered one of the worst shows on television. However, I am sure you can find people who loved each and every one of those shows just as you can find people who loved and people who hated every other show that has every existed since the beginning of TV. So if being a classic is considered a good thing than what it all comes down to is this, what is or isn't classic TV is in the eye of the beholder.

And that's our view. What is your favorite classic TV show?

Tune in tomorrow for our new feature. Tips for Tuesday.