JENerally Informed: February 2014

8 Things We NEED to Bring Back from the 80's

A few days ago my children, whom I love, pointed out that I was born in a whole other century way back in the 1900's. These are the moments you realize that those beautiful children you have raised, fed, and clothed for years may not make it to adulthood! I told them that just because this was a "new" century didn't mean it was the best century. Why my century alone provided us with cars, non-rotary telephones, plane travel, antibiotics, immunizations, and personal computers. There are also things that we had that they will probably never get to experience. For the love of our children, these things NEED to be brought back!

8. The well-executed sax solo bridge. . .

Also, the Keytar!

It's amazing that despite the hair and music video aspects, 80's music really holds up well. A lot of great stars. A few of who even kept their star power in this "new" century, especially when you think of what constitutes a "star" nowadays.

A Last Word On Love

February seems like the month many of us focus on and think about love. My husband and I have never really been big Valentines Day sort of people. We of course make sure our kids have Valentines and do fun things for them to make the day special, but I have never really gotten into the whole "Here's your box of chocolates. Hope this shows just how much I love you....."

Love SHOULD be something we do and show others on a daily and continual basis, because frankly that is something our world needs more of. I have found some really wonderful stories about love that touched my heart and warmed my soul.

Like the math teacher who seemed like such a curmudgeon.

So What' s Good On Netflix?

My family is almost to the point that we watch more Netflix than regular Television. I can actually foresee a point that we could do away with satellite television altogether. The biggest hangup is probably the hubs sports programming.

That being said, there is a lot of good and bad on Netflix with a definite lack of newer movies to choose from. One place where the content shines, however is in their selection of television series. How wonderful is it to watch as many episodes as you want, when you want, without commercial interruption. Just be careful that your viewing doesn't descend into "binge watching."

One of my family's favorites was "Merlin." My 12 year and I watched this together although we watched it on live TV and had to mute through all of the really "great"/scary SyFy channel commercials. All of this is avoided now that the entire series is available on Netflix.

The show begins with a young Merlin just entering service at the palace and follows both he and Arthur as they grow up into their roles and responsibilities. Note: There are some scary episodes with magic and such, but for my Harry Potter devotee she took all of this is in stride.This series is definitely worth watching Also, though the characters tend to be younger, they tend to avoid the CW channel style angst.

So what are you watching on Netflix?

Everything Is Awesome

My 9 year old son Caleb doesn't just like LEGO he LOVES LEGO. He is especially fond of anything to do with LEGO Star Wars.

About 6 months ago I signed up to receive free copies of the LEGO magazine. Caleb loves it and devours each and every new edition of the magazine. Here is the link so you can sign-up to receive your own free copies of the magazine and become a LEGO Club member!

Don't Be THAT Guy

Welcome to Man-day, hosted by Jennifer's husband!

So, I'm going to go ahead and admit that I use Facebook, and although I am not constantly updating my status or looking to befriend everybody I ever met, I do find it interesting, especially as a study in social behavior.

One of the things that gives me a chuckle is how, every couple of weeks I receive a friend request from a lonely college coed/European fashion model. Seriously.

Well, maybe not so seriously. . .

Because if you stop and analyze it thoughtfully, these types of women are so bereft of friendship that they need to contact happily married fathers of four for friendship, because, evidently, they have no other prospects. That's a pretty likely scenario.

Making The Perfect Sugar Cookie

When I got married my mother in law gave me an amazing gift that has benefited my family for years. What may you ask can be a gift that keeps on giving for that long?

She gave me a cookbook and not just any cookbook, but a tried and true listing of recipes from women she knew personally who have used the recipes in the cookbook with their families for years. It is the only cookbook I own and is dog eared with multiple sticky/ food stains to attest to its favored position.

Today I will share with you my favorite sugar cookie recipe. It's a kid and adult favorite and is super simple. No multiple steps and all day prep. It is the ultimate cooking hack.

The Economics of Milk

The price of milk is going up!!!!!!!

Are Your Kids Crazy About Frozen?

Mine are!

Here's my kindergartener Rebekah posing with her Elsa doll, Olaf and her new Frozen microphone she got for her birthday.

We have a few days off for a holiday no one else celebrates, but people in Southern Arizona called Rodeo so I hit Pinterest for some cute crafts and fun ideas all focused on Frozen.

Here's a few of the items I found. You can check out my Pinterest Frozen board here or visit the links below.

Books Your 12 Year Old Daughter Will Want To Read

Enter stage left my beautiful, and seriously amazing, daughter Samantha. She is smart, kind, and beautiful inside and out.

She is also a serious reader and is always on the search for fun books which she devours relentlessly.

Since I have various stages of readers in my family and I know how I am ALWAYS searching for appropriate aged books for each of them, I thought I would start a series focused on what we are reading in the hopes of helping my friends find some good books for their own families. We would love any suggestions you have on books and we will continue posting some of the favorites my children come across.

Now Here's A Science Fair Project Winner

After just helping to finish off my 2 older children's Science Fair projects I saw this on the Winging It Facebook page and thought it was the best project I have ever seen.

I know for our family the 32 page syllabus with over 100 required bullet points, no joke, pretty much killed the love of the Science Fair in my children and killed a little bit of my soul as I literally dragged them along in order to complete the project.

Next year we are SO doing this.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Minivan.

-Note- My beautiful wife Jennifer has asked me to pitch in on her blog. I will do this every Monday which we will hereby title Man-day!!! We'll see just how long a leash she gives me.

Here is my first contribution. . .

There is a milestone that many father's don't achieve but those of us that do, recognize well. It is the point after you have your third child. You see, three children don't fit well into a normal car, and they can't even pretend to fit into a truck, at least not a truck that a man with three small kids can afford. It is at that point the dreaded word "Minivan" makes its first appearance.

Not one unmarried male has ever dreamed, or even considered, ever owning a minivan outside of needing one for business purposes. There could be many reason's for that, but I personally lay the blame on the excesses of the 60's and 70's that gave us this:

We have our father's sins to atone for.

(Note- not actually my father. ^)

Winter?

Snow is just COVERING the trees in Southern Arizona where I live. Oh wait, those are pear blossoms. My mistake. Enjoy the rest of winter, America. I will come visit you in the summer when hot doesn't even begin to describe it here.For now though, this weather can't be beat!

The Love Boat

Toot-Toot! The love boat is about to set sail.

This weekend is all about bringing out the love and many of you have spent weeks agonizing over the perfect gift to give to the special people in your life. Now some of us, um namely me, will pick up a pizza, put on some jammies and plan a night inside watching a movie.

So..... What's good at redbox?

A quick cursory glance tells me you are in luck as there are quite a few good pick-ups:

I Am Not One Dimensional

So for a very long time I have wanted to start up a blog, but with 4 children running amok in my house finding time to even go to the bathroom is difficult. So needless to say starting a blog got dumped further to the bottom of the bucket list. But that is all changing today.

HERE I AM WORLD AND WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG!