Movies

I don't know if my girls will love or hate movies from the 80s, but I thought I'd throw out a few pics of them "reinacting" scenes from some.  Here are their/my current top ten, in no particular order, plus a bonus.

I guess that means 11 in total, but ten with a bonus sounds better.

10 - Say Anything



In your eyes...

 9 - Top Gun


Requesting permission for a fly-by.

 8 - The Karate Kid


Wax on, wax off.


7 - Rocky


Yo!


6 - Big


Next, we play chopsticks.


5 - Adventures in Babysitting


Julia picked this movie, so I don't have a funny quote.

 4 - Footloose

3 - The Breakfast Club


Yep, I made heart shaped french toast for their birthday.

 2 - Pretty in Pink

Sometimes, you don't need a caption.

1 - The Great Outdoors

Nothing like spending time with family.

Bonus - The Goonies

There is a slide in the Goonies, and since I love this picture, I thought I'd stretch for the connection.

Any good ones I missed?

What does the future hold?

We've looked at what they could be independently, but what could they do together?



Tug of war champions



Synchronized swimmers



Dancers



Thumb wrestling enthusiasts

Track stars



Bobsledders



Veterinarians





Kentucky Derby attendees

 It doesn't really matter what they choose to do - as long as they:

Help each other out...

 

love each other...



keep each other's secrets...



pray for one another...



and are always there for each other...

I will be proud of them.

Linking up with Cheryl for Way Back When-esday.

Repetition is the mother of all learning

I believe the title to this post is an old Russian proverb, but I don't really know. 

I've heard it so many times it's stuck in my brain - thus proving the statement true.

In working with our girls to get them all learned up (don't worry, Mama will be teaching them English and grammar) we have utilized this strategy, but added our own twist. 

While we repeat everything constantly, we also add in sounds and actions as everyone learns best in a different fashion.  If I read an instruction manual (as awful as they are) I might understand how to assemble something.  On the other hand, if I just jump right in and try to assemble it I will more than likely know how to do it going forward. 

Since our children can't yet tell us how they learn best, we use varying techniques to teach them.

Here are a few examples:

This is a rocking horse and that is what we call it - or horse for short.

We also call him Howard - Howie for short.

Mama does the sign for horse - I haven't learned it yet.

We also make the neighing sound of a horse when they play with it.

At some point the little sponges understood all of those references and now, when we read a book with a horse in it, they will either go get Howie, neigh themselves, sign horse, or at the very least point to him.

I assume Howie is a "he"-- thankfully Howie is not anatmomically correct, so we just don't know.

They'll also take the horse magnet and make the same noises and gestures.

We have Phineas the Frog.  Phineas, thanks to this book, goes ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, hop, hop, hop with corresponding signs and sounds.

Another critter is Fido the dog.  Fido was an easy one since we have two real puppies, so the girls know all about canines.

We do this for non-animals as well.  They have Carla - the car.

Knowing the girls understand us is a wonderful feeling.  It also makes cleaning up before bed a lot easier. 

I can ask Brynne to put Howie back in his stall and she'll do it, giving his ear a squeeze as she goes, so he'll play some music to dance to while she works.

I can ask Hadley to park Carla next to Howie and she'll do that as well. 

We can do the same thing for Phineas, Fido, books, cars, cups, and blocks.  Actually, we can do it for almost every toy they have. 

It's so nice to have two cleaners - especially when neither of them is me. 

It might take them a little longer to pick up than it would for me, but when they work together they do pretty well. 

This also teaches them something I think is very important - to leave things the same as they were when you found them.

Raising hip children

I was not cool in high school or college. 

I was an athlete, so I was semi-popular, but far from cool.  I am pretty cool now - at least my wife and children think so - I think. 

Actually, I am far from cool. 

I have no fashion sense.  I think a navy shirt goes well with black pants.  My wife has to approve my wardrobe every morning to prevent me from embarrassing myself.  If she's not awake when I leave, I just use my one or two default outfits that I know will not draw any unnecessary attention.

I make stupid jokes that may or may not be "appropriate" given the situation.

I don't know or care much about cars, electronics, and popular shows/movies. 

I don't listen to new music or hang out at the trendy spots.

I can't dance (thank you Phil Collins) - unless you consider my white man's overbite move and the occasional robot as dancing.  Okay, so I also do the shopping cart, mow the lawn, and the running man for a laugh - but that's it.  I can't even do the electric slide - maybe that's not a bad thing.  Even slow dancing with my wife is awkward.  Size 15 shoes tend to crush anything they get near, so I don't pick them up to dance - they just slide.

My girls don't stand a chance to learn anything hip from me, so I count on Julia to do that.  With all that said, there is one cool thing I have taught Hadley. 

The fist bump.

We started with high fives, then moved on to low fives.  Next came the tens.  I really thought I had taken that as far as possible - until I gave her the fist bump. 

She looked quizzically at me (as if calling me her big, dork dad), clenched her fist, and bumped me back. 

I laughed. 
She laughed. 

We proceeded to fist bump that whole afternoon. 

Brynne has yet to do it - maybe she knows the fist bump was semi-cool last decade, but has since lost any cool status it ever had.  Maybe she is saving herself from being uncool.  She won't wear a cell phone on her hip in a little clip on carrier either, so it's possible she has already surpassed me in coolness. 

I don't do that and never have - just wanted to get that out there.  I didn't avoid it because I thought it was not a good look, but rather because I just didn't realize people were doing it until it was too late.  By the time I caught on to how awesome it looked, it was already outdated.

All I know is that Hadley and I are now working on going from the fist bump to jazz hands and we'll soon be working on secret handshakes. 

Once we have that mastered, we'll work on the Kid n' Play dance move. 



Perhaps I am cooler than I give myself credit for.