Paper Bridges » Silly stuff

When your five-year-old sneaks off with the camera

Monica Brand — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:25:12 +0000

You find all sorts of random, goofy pictures. SpongeBob Squarepants (she took 20 shots of the TV show); self portraits (9), the dog (2), a Chuck E. Cheese commercial (horror!) and a few images too dark to tell what it’s supposed to be. I love the obvious freedom and completely in-the-moment attitude. Lookit, me! I’m five!

I look and I love.

I might also be thinking: How the heck did she get away with playing with my not cheap camera for so long?

Curse you, Twitter.

You can’t make this stuff up

Monica Brand — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:13:10 +0000

Played the Book Game on Facebook the other day.

If you spend any amount of time goofing off in online circles, then you probably know how it goes. Grab the nearest book, no cheating going to dig out a title that you know will be good or make you look smarter, open to Page 56. Count down to Sentence No. 5.

Now the fun part: broadcast that sentence on your profile (Facebook, Twitter, where ever you normally express your thoughts.) Finish by laughing at all the random goofiness or wisdom coming from an author’s page. I imagine there has been a lot of stupid sentences shared due to the Book Game.

Normally I don’t share space on my computer desk with books. I have papers, pens, notebooks, newspapers, along with various clutter that makes me look like I’m a serious producer of quality content. I don’t read books at this desk, so no books to grab.

But while writing that blog post about Committed last week, a friend threw down a Book Game challenge, and – finally! – Committed snuggling in the mess on my desk.

Open book. Count down. Sentence No. 5.

Are you ready for what Ms. Gilbert has for us?

As Jesus taught: “If any man me to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:2).

Personally, I think Liz knows the Book Game and intentionally put that there, knowing someday it would be called upon to be written on many a Facebook profile or blog post. Wasn’t that nice of her?

Love it, love it.

***

The scripture verse is in the chapter on Marriage and History; Gilbert has a lot to say regarding the Church and marriage. Anyone else read it? Care to discuss? The comments are open for you.

Elizabeth Gilbert is brilliant!

Monica Brand — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:10:40 +0000

Elizabeth Gilbert lived in amazing places. Italy! India! Indonesia! And where does she choose to set up housekeeping with her new hubby ? Care to take a guess?

New Jersey. Ha. Take that nay-sayers. Not only is Gilbert planted in my Garden State, but she’s right here in my part of the Delaware Valley.

We’re practically neighbors. I could bump into her at the IGA or the coffee shop or she might come to my church. (Errr. She’s probably not coming to church) Hey, how cool is it that after exploring an exotic place like Southeast Asia, it’s my unassuming little patch of Earth that she decides to call home.

Brilliant choice of real estate investing, Liz. Welcome, welcome.

Today I finished Gilbert’s latest book, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage and this week I will be sharing my thoughts.

Have you read it? Do you plan on reading Committed?

Let’s discuss it together.

The 14 Days of Homeschool

Monica Brand — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:56:33 +0000

Heh heh heh. Love this. Sung to the “Twelve Days of Christmas” – this is the homeschool version. Enjoy!

Dinner with the fru-fru family

Monica Brand — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:52:11 +0000

Had dinner at a local casual restaurant last night. Casual as in they supply crayons and a kid’s menu with word puzzles. It could have been fast food and I would’ve been thrilled. Let’s hear an Amen for no cooking, no dishes to wash. The trade off is a public outing with the kids and since we were basicly housebound all day – except for the ten minutes they ran in the pouring rain – the kids were indoors lazy all day.Lots of pent up energy waiting to come out.

Great time to go to a sit down restaurant with no Play Place, right?

So all the energy started coming out in the car. The four and seven year old leading the charge. It came out in the restaurant over boneless chicken nibblets that we’re not spicy enough (boo). And it continued to cause me mild embarassment throughout their chicken fingers and ice cream dessert.

I had the Cowboy Burger, thanks for asking. Why does the bottom of the bun always fall apart? Had to finish it with knife and fork. How un-cowboyish. My British grandfather used to eat pizza with utentils. Odd, those proper British.

We sat in the bar area. I always feel a bit strange sitting four feet from all the bottles of alcohol and the folks drinking it, since we don’t drink (booze: no, various forms of caffeine drinks: yes). New flat screen TVs in the bar area too. Lots of ESPN. Monster trucks on one screen. Bike race on the set behind me. Baseball highlights on the TV over the bar. Some guy pitched a perfect game. Doc and I discussed what entails a “perfect game.” I said no hits, no man on base, foul balls are okay. Hubs said all strike outs. Uh, no. Love you, babe. Love your muscles, but it’s just wrong that I know more baseball than you do (thanks, Dad! thanks, big bro John!)

We survived dinner next to the bar without spilled drinks, no loud cries of “He punched me!” We are improving. Only had to tell the preschooler not to jump on the seat half dozen times.

Then in the car on the way home the fru-fru started. Or is it spelled froo-froo? I started with the first fru-fru comment. A huge house with a brick half wall, shrubbery, and decorations at the end of the driveway. Too much fuss. Too much fru-fru. Well, the Doc and the kids thought it hilarous. The rest of the drive home everything was fru-fru.

The fru-fru trees. Fru-fru church. Fru-fru deer. Fru-fru pond. And so it went.

I’m thinking it was the fru-fru sugar and fru-fru restaurant that sent us into the fru-fru laughter. But what do I know? I’m not even sure how to spell fru-fru.

Ride a roller coaster with me

Monica Brand — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:25:52 +0000

If you connect with me on Facebook, then you know last week the kids and I spent the day at my amusement park of choice, Hersheypark. My brother, sister and I spent many happy vacation hours racing from ride to ride at Hershey when we were kids, so I was more than ready to finally get one of my children on The Comet. It took coaxing – and the promise of a short wait in line – to get Peter to ride with me. This is the video evidence of his reaction. Ride with us and enjoy!

The Comet rollercoaster at Hersheypark, Hershey, PA from Monica Brand on Vimeo.

Vimeo picked up my little video to add to their Corkscrew Bootlegs channel. Check it out if you’re into watching people scream their way through roller coasters.

Why Vacation Bible School should last all summer

Monica Brand — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:03:33 +0000

That logo at the top of this post is our Vacation Bible School theme this year, “Crocodile Dock.” I’m not exactly sure what crocodiles have to do with Jesus and the Gospel, but I’m not complaining. I’m a huge fan of Vacation Bible School. In fact, I think VBS should last the entire summer.

(Somewhere there is a pastor shuddering at the thought of a bunch of kids tearing up his church for the summer. Ha.)

Without further ado, my reasons for all-summer VBS:

Why Vacation Bible School should last all summer (a partial list)

10. The snacks. Trail mix with M&Ms. Vanilla wafer cookies topped with strawberries and whipped cream. Homemade pizza bagels. All the food moms never have in the house because we’re too busy or scattered to think up interesting snacks. My kids compare snack experiences on the way home, that’s how much of a Big Deal the snacks are to them.

9. The games. Water balloon toss, parachute games, relays.

8. Being with your friends. Combine with No. 9 and it’s a win-win combination.

7. Hanging out with the teen helpers. The youth group’s finest; I love these young people. Full of energy and humor (that’s always helpful when working with children).

6. Being with church folk everyday.

5. Alive, Alert, Awake, Enthusiastic. If you don’t know what that is, you’re not going to the right VBS.

4. Crafts! Oh, how I love the crafts! Sand art, necklaces of multi-colored plastic beads, fake stained glass crosses. Give me more! More! I have crafts saved that I will never through away, each one a special memory. Love the crafts.

3. Bible memory verses and stories. My seven-year-old is now an expert on the plagues against Egypt and it’s Pharaoh. Every seven-year-old boy should have such Bible knowledge.

2. The room decorations. Can’t we drape the entire building in Crocodile Dock? How colorful the sanctuary would look!

And the number one reason to have VBS all summer -

1. The music. My children just spent the past hour rocking out to “Swamp Stomp”, my coffee table a stage to their dancing and singing, complete with hand motions. Long after the room decorations are packed away, the games forgotten and crafts lost or broken, it’s the music that will stay with them. I bet there are enough VBS themes available to have a new selection each week, each with it’s own soundtrack. How fun.

So there you go – I hope you get your kids to a Vacation Bible School this summer. Even if it only last for a week.

Seen and heard: Lucy just out of the bathtub

Monica Brand — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:08:26 +0000

Mommy is Mommy. Daddy is Daddy.

A sea serpent is a sea serpent.

Jesus is Jesus and God is God.

It’s amazing the things you learn on this blog, isn’t it?

True wisdom, that. Especially the bit about the sea serpent.

You can’t get anything past my four-year-old.

How mommy exercises without going to the gym

Monica Brand — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:48:26 +0000

See more Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.

How to survive in the orthodonist’s waiting room

Monica Brand — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:42:33 +0000

With your tend-to-antsy kids, while a sibling gets down to the business of teeth management.

Behold, the power of the bizarre. My tribe couldn’t get enough of this book.

What is it with the gross, weird and completely strange?

Oh, yeah.

They’re kids.