Movie Review... kinda...

The Hunger Games

Yes. I READ and WATCHED it.

Stop laughing... really I swear I did. 

Most of you who know me; know that I am NOT a reader. The reason for this is that I used to think "reading books for fun was for losers" Mainly because my sisters did this.

  (YES TIFFANY AND NICOLE I AM TALKING ABOUT YOU) 

In High School I read ONLY what was required and it killed me to be sitting there when I could be out running wild, or playing soccer or just overall wasting time with my friends. 

Why would I sit my happy butt inside and read a book??

Fast-forward a few SHORT years to me now~

I think I like reading.

I like sitting back letting the kids play while I read. First it started with Magazines; Cosmo, In Style, Parents... then my little sister got me into the Twilight Series. (shout out to SHARON!!) 

I distinctly remember telling her "Do you REALLY think I am going to enjoy a book about some gay vampire and boys that turn into ware wolves?" Of course she said "Yes I do!" She bothered me for MONTHS about this... finally I decided to start reading them. 

I was living at my in-laws house, Hailey was about 15 months old and I was pregnant with Landon. I really had nothing better to do so I started reading the first book. I could not put it down... 

LOVED IT!! Read ALL the books in the series!! 

The next person to introduce me to some good reading was my friend Lauren Baker. I am sure we were talking about nothing important and somehow she learned that I did not really like to read. She asked me if I had ever heard of Nicholas Sparks. I had not. She told me his books were AMAZING then told me most of his books become the blockbuster hits... Dear John was almost in the theaters; she told me I could borrow her books and  then we could go see the movie... my new favorite author... I like to call him... NICKO SPRKS! His ghetto name... 

(why do the people at the Library look at me like I am crazy when I ask if they have any Nicko Sprks books?? Oh that's right...)

And Last but not least ALL the people who told me to read the Hunger Games Series... my Mother, my Wednesday night walking buddies, and the person who convinced me it would not be a waste of time ~ My husband... Matto! (yes I shorten peoples names and put an "O" on the end for fun, you caught me!)

SO ONTO THE REVIEW...

(sorry I got a little sidetracked...)

You always hear people say "The book is ALWAYS better than the movie." I have to agree with the few books I have read that had a movie associated with them. I find the same to be true with this series as well.

Matt and I saw the movie last Friday Evening. I was telling my friend Debbie about Matt wanting to go see the movie. She told me she wanted to go see it as well with her husband so she and I decided to "kid swap" to get a date night out. (we watched her kids last night for her date night) We meet our friends the Cutts at the theater and I was so excited for the movie to start. I had just finished the first book a day earlier so it was FRESH in my mind. Amalia and Brent Cutts had not read the book, but after seeing the movie decided it was a must read!!

I am writing this review thinking you have already READ the book and WATCHED the movie...

LOVE the movie! The characters they picked for roles were great! I love reading a book without any pre-conceived notions about WHO or WHAT someone looked like. I loved the casting in this movie!

The places and things they presented in the film made the book come more to life for me. I was worried that my mind would have played weird tricks on me, but what I had imagined for most of the places described in the book is what they showed on the big screen. They left out little things here and there that I felt needed to be part of the story, but nothing that I felt would be too big of a deal. For instance, the movie shows Prim giving the Mocking jay pin to Katniss when she is going to leave for the games. In the book it was given to her by the mayors daughter Madge. Small different detail; would it make a difference?

Something PERSONALLY different for me... while reading the book I REALLY liked Peeta for Katniss. It never even crossed my mind that Gale "her friend" from back home was a love interest. While watching the movie they played up the love triangle like CRAZY! Constantly cutting to a shot of Gale when the games were being played and kisses exchanged...

I really liked how the book was from Katniss' view. She explained everything to us, and we were all on the same page. Watching the move without reading the book first could be a little confusing. I was hoping that the movie would have the same dialogue; possibly Katniss' thoughts being shared from time to time, but they did not do that. All the death scenes played out about the same, not too many differences. Just the end when Katniss, Peeta, and Cato were on the Cornucopia. In the book Cato was too tired from running from the mutations that he laid on the top catching his breath. In the movie he went for Peeta right away and the fight ended so much sooner than I had imagined from what the book told me. ALSO in the book both characters Katniss and Peeta put some of the berries in their mouth and had to spew them out and wash their mouths out in the lake. In the scene they did for the movie they just come close to putting the berries in their mouths. The book also shared what it took to get the tributes ready after the battle was over and the movie did not. 

Sorry to have just random ramblings about book vs. movie differences for a review... let me put it this way ~

The movie was over 2 hours long, I bet they wish they could have made it a little longer and put everything from the book in it, so I say overall I LOVED both! My FAVORITE line...

I recommend Reading them book, THEN seeing the movie ~ 

THEN I ask you to return to my blog and answer this question...

Are you Team Peeta or Team Gale??

Potty Boy...

I am sure one day Landon will not be happy with this picture...

Until that day comes...  ENJOY!!

(yes her is wearing a Green Lantern shirt AND Green Lantern underoos...
 no judging he is 3)

For F.H.E. we celebrated ONE WEEK of no Potty Accidents!

We went to the kids FAVORITE Place John's Incredible Pizza and had a GREAT time!!

What Potty Training Tips worked for me you ask???

 ~Having a nice little talk about how our bodies work and how every one goes pee and poop on the potty. ~Making sure to ask those that Landon knows well if they go poop on the potty. (thank you friends for helping me out) ~AND catching him one day starting to poop and running him to the potty to finish! 

~AND Hooperin' and Hollerin' about how happy I am that he went on the potty...

~AND calling Green Lantern (THANKS PRESTON for being our Green Lantern while Daddy was Snowboarding) and him telling Landon he is so happy when boys go poop on the potty!!

~AND Grandma offering a train ride and a snowboard for when he finally goes...

Yeah, alot of POOPY talk going on over here at the Birds!!

Announcement!!!

Announcement Announcement Annnnnnnounnnnnceeeement...

A Horrible death to die

A Horrible Death to DIE...

A Horrible Death to be TALKED to DEATH a Horrible Death to DIE...

Announcement Announcement Annnnnnounnnncccceemmmentttt!!!

(Sorry, FLASHBACK of Girls Camp Days...)

HA HA!
ANYWHO...
So ~You know that little adorable boy that lives in my house... Yes Landon... that one...

YESTERDAY and WEDNESDAY he went POOP on the potty.

I know I know... try to refrain yourself...
NO POOP IN THE UNDEROO'S you ask??
NO! NO POOP...
In fact yesterday Landon came up to me and said "I'm tootsing" and we ran to the potty where he nicely placed the poop in the right place...
I am trying not to get TOO excited because then i will JINX it but HELLO...

Light at the end of the potty training tunnel... 

I SEEEEEEE YOU!!!

AHHHHHH. Breath...

Now I am one step closer to being READY for baby numba three!!!

Fire Station Trip

Last Thursday Hailey's Preschool Class had a Field Trip planned to visit one of the Clovis Fire Stations. Hailey's teachers invited parents and siblings to attend if they would like. Not surprisingly ever since I mentioned it to Landon he had been SO excited to go!!

I was also watching Gannon at the time, he is one of Landon's friends from church. It was fun to see the kids enjoy the Fire Truck Tour.

 I think they really enjoyed being able to get up in the Fire Truck the best.

 I just love the picture with all the kids in front of the BIG TRUCK.

 We got to see the 3000 gallon water truck, the Fire Station bedroom, and kitchen...

 Then we went back outside to try on the Fire Suits.

Of course Landon was right on top of trying the suit on, Hailey came up and told me
"I don't want to do that at all!"

Then after the tour was over, the kids went to the nice grass out front and Celebrated Chance's 5th Birthday! (He is in our ward, Hailey says he is really nice to her)

Luckily Chance shared with everyone and Landon and Gannon got a cupcake too...

(The pictures above do not do the justice of the BLUE all over Landon's Face, I should have taken a picture of the Baby Wipe I used to clean up to show the utter destruction this boy did to that cupcake)

And for your viewing pleasure... Landon becoming a Fireman!!

Hailey being GREEN

on Tuesday Hailey and her Preschool Friends celebrated St. Patrick's Day...
The teachers let us know about this special day and said to have the kids wear Green if they would like.
So Monday Night we asked Hailey what she wanted to wear to School the next morning.

THIS is what she came up with...

Her Pink and Green Dress, Her brothers Green Lantern Cape, Mask, and Ring WITH rainbow socks and her flower sandals. She was also sporting some nice green panties with a kitty cat on them, but I decided not to show a picture of that... 

She wore the cape mask and ring to bed the night before and Landon LOVED it! 

Happy EARLY St. Patrick's Day to EVERYONE! 

LOVE, The Green Lantern Birds!!

Grandma Andersen and the GREEN LANTERN CAKE...

My mother has NO problem doing whatever her grandchildren want to do...
In my opinion she spoils the grand kids ROTTEN; but there are NO complaints here. My kids LOVE her and always ask when she is going to come to visit us on the train or when we are going to go to see her and Papa (and Sharon and Preston of course)
I was able to leave a day early to spend some time with my family before the Bird-Lamb Wedding. I left Thursday Night after I attended our Relief Society Meeting and got to my parents around 11 p.m. that night. The kids were asleep when we got there so I just put them on Sharon's Bed and hung out before we all fell asleep. The next morning the kids woke up SO happy to be at Grandma's House!!
We decided that we wanted Pancakes and Eggs; so Sharon and I were in the kitchen making that. The kids were in the front room with Grandma who was researching the Green Lantern for her ETSY shop... check it out... ANYWHO
She came across a Green Lantern cake and called Landon to show him. He BEAMED seeing this cake and decided then and there he needed a Green Lantern cake. He came in to tell me, and I told him "Sorry Baby, Mommy won't make a Green Lantern Cake." Grandma came in and let little Landon know SHE would help him make a Green Lantern Cake for sure...

So while we cooked Breakfast, Grandma and Landon started making dessert...

 My mom being the very resourceful person she is decided to just make the cake green... 

so she made her Pistachio Bunt Cake with Pistachio Frosting...

(As you can see Landon did not want me taking his picture above)

But he had NO problem taking the picture with the finished Product!! We had the cake for dessert that night and it was SOOOOO good! Luckily this will only be a cake we make at Grandma's house because I do not own a Bunt Cake Pan...

Thanks GRANDMA!! He is still talking about his Green Lantern Cake... YOU ARE THE BEST!!

Amanda & Cameron's Wedding ~

This last weekend was a Celebration for Matt's cousin Amanda Bird. You may remember her; she is the one that got us into DISNEYLAND for Free... so we LOVE her! (We loved her before, but REALLY loved her after) The first thing that crossed my mind when I hear she was getting married was my wedding. Almost 9 years ago now, I remember her and her sweet sister Melanie at my reception. They came up to me as I stood in the wedding line that went on forever and brought me snacks... I knew from that moment on that I would LOVE these girls!!
And I HAVE to tell you the engagement story. I was not there, so this is all second hand and third hand information; but whatever. Remember our trip to New York? That has almost been a year, but whatever... it was for the Bird Family Reunion. We heard rumors that Amanda and her boyfriend were quite exclusive and possibly he would be asking her to marry him. I was EXCITED for her but also upset because we were leaving to go home before we even got to meet the prospective future spouse...
Well after the official family reunion was over; some of the family continued to vacation and hit up a few historical sites... one being The Sacred Grove. Did I mention I was Mormon?? Ha ha! I am sure you all remember this; the Sacred Grove is a very special place for "Us Mormons". It is the place where our beloved first prophet Joseph Smith went to pray about which church to join. It is here that he received a personal visit from Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ not to join any of the churches on the earth at this time. Instead they began the restoration of our church with this 14 year old boy. Did you enjoy my little history lesson? If you would like more info; check out THIS LINK...  It is found in Palmyra, New York and it just beautiful.

Anyways... Cameron asked Amanda to marry him in the Sacred Grove and I think it is the neatest thing. My husband and I talked about this after and he said if he had that kind of opportunity he sure would have done the same! Obviously she said YES, and the rest is history...
So the Wedding was BEAUTIFUL. Us Mormons get married in Temples. This lovely couple was married in the Oakland Temple. I happen to LOVE this temple because it is the same place that Matt and I were married in. The Temple wedding is very special and sacred so I will not share that part with you, but I will tell you I could feel the love in the room as they agreed to become husband and wife.

 Here is Family waiting outside the temple after the Sealing to see the happy couple!!

 Once the Lamb's (yes she went from a BIRD to a LAMB) came out we went to the front of the temple for some family pictures...

 Landon enjoyed playing around the grounds and showing Great Grandpa Bird his Toy Story SWAG

 Hailey and Rylie enjoyed playing together, 

Hailey especially enjoyed Rylie sharing her beautiful flower bouquet with her...

 The Reception area was GORGEOUS!! The Brides Maids all had matching dresses in all the different colors you see above. They had beautiful draping on everything that would hold still and it was just beautiful! Amanda's mother Aunt Nadine did a WONDERFUL job!!

 We say at the Orange table because it was farther from the food the kids kept going to get. Landon and Hailey were in Heaven. They had fruit, veggies, crackers, spread, chicken, baby red potatoes, meatballs, sandwiches, candy, and cute little pudding glasses... there was more, but that was all that we ate and all I could remember. 

 Landon LOVED the cake. He would tell people walking by it about the Temple on top. And he was convinced the purple cake had tiny mickey mouse's on it (was he right anyone know) The happy couple cut the cake and exchanged pieces very nicely, then they had their first dance together then with parents...

THEN the party began. I am not sure if you could guess by the above pictures but my kids danced the night away!! The second the party music turned on Landon's shoulders started to dance and he could not control himself any longer... he headed for the dance floor and did not want to leave at all!! The first song came on and he went wild. We often have dance sessions at home, and this kid is a natural! He must have seen some break dancing movies recently because he was breaking it down near the end of the first song. Slowly a circle surrounded this little three year old and was clapping and laughing at his moves. I have to admit i was laughing so hard I cried... he was down doing some break dance moves and popped up on his knees and threw his hands in the air with peace signs... then shortly later Matt and I swear he was T-Bowing... NO JOKE... this little boy is a KICK! See the video at the bottom to get a gimps of the kids dancing skills.

It was truly a BEAUTIFUL wedding with an Adorable Couple!! 

One of the best weddings in a church i have ever been too! It comes VERY close to mine... :)

CONGRATS AMANDA AND CAMERON! 

We wish you a Lifetime of Happiness!! 

Landon breaking down to Party Rock Anthem...

Hailey and Landon dancing... they did not want to dance with Mommy and Daddy!!

Our New Addition...

I would like to announce...

The Newest Addition to the Bird Family...

Dun Dun Dun Dun DUNNNNNNNUUNNNNNNNNN....

Landon's New Loft Bed....

and Hailey's New Loft Bed....

What do you think?? 

HaHa... you thought I was announcing I was pregnant...

No, we just got Loft Beds for the kids. We have been looking for bunk beds for the kids for some time now. I posted on my FB status that I wanted nice hard real wood bunk beds for the kids and wondered where in our area we should go to check them out. One of our friends from our previous ward Bryce let us know he knew of a guy who was trying to get rid of some Loft Beds.

Matt gave the guy a call, and we waited for a response. A few days later I reminded Matt about the beds, and he called the guy again. They spoke for a while and he let us know they might not have the hardware and that they were in Madera (45 minute drive from our house) and have been sitting in an office for a while. Matt and I decided we were still interested, and we set up a time to go and pick them up.  

We figured WHY NOT? We'll save the money we were going to buy the kids bunk beds for something else. These are NICE sets and were PERFECT for our little ones. One trip to Lowe's and a few screws and stuff laying around and we were in business!! Hailey has her clothes organized in the drawers and LOVES her new bed. Landon on the other hand has nothing organized yet; he just enjoys going up and down the ladder and hiding in his bed when we play hide-n-go-seek! 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Bryce for letting us know about these beds. Thank you Bishop Dehmel for letting us borrow your trailer to pick them up, and a big old Thanks also to Mike Harden and my hubs for picking these suckers up and putting them together!! Glad we were able to help the guy out; needless to say we really think we are the ones who scored in the exchange!!~ 

Family Home Evening

Last Night for F.H.E. Matt planned a special lesson. He had taken notes Sunday in his class where they talked about Reading Scriptures and Saying Family Prayers. This is a usual part of our Bedtime Routine, so he decided we should make it a GAME for the kids. So he made this CHART...

The Chart is a visual thing the kids can look at when we are getting ready for bed. We decided on the bigger things we are trying to work on with the kids and we came up with 4 things we want to focus on. FIRST going potty; obviously because of the Potty Training we wanted this to be a part of the chart. SECOND brushing our teeth. We got some good advise from the "Dr. Teeth" for the kids dental hygiene and we want to make sure we keep up on that. THIRD reading our scriptures and possibly a story from the Library Books too. This is important to me because I remember reading the scriptures as a kid and learning about the special stories. And FOURTH saying our prayers. This sometimes in our married life has been a struggle for us. Matt is an early bird and I am a night owl... so our Family Prayers were few and far between. Luckily having kids has really helped us get back on track because it just became part of the routine. We all get on our knees and say our Family Prayer before bed. Some nights the kids don't want to cooperate, some nights ONE kids does not want to cooperate, some nights one parent is gone; but we know planting the seed is what we need to be doing.
We notice our family is more in harmony when we do the last two things on our chart especially.
We have decided that at the end of each month (4 week period) as long as we have not missed more than ONE DAY A WEEK we will go get ice cream at Mickey's FroYo Place we have yet to hit up. We hear good things about it; and hope to go REAL soon!!
The kids liked putting the stars up when they were done with the task and we are looking forward to SUCCESS with our Chart!!

Did you Miss Me??

Yeah YOU...
You know I have not done a Blog Post in a while (besides HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes) and I know you are just DYING to know why NOW I again went almost a week without a post... so...
My little sister Sharon came to help out with the kids. She was only going to be here the 2 days I needed her to watch the kids so Matt and I could go on a little get away trip; but she ended up staying for a WEEK! That is also why you did not hear much from me on FB... I get with my family and I just want to hang with them; getting on the computer is the LAST thing on my mind!! We got her an Amtrak ticket and fed her and spoiled her and she decided to stay!! We shopped and chilled at home; made dessert every night she was here and had a BLAST! LOVE YOU SHARON!~
On a totally opposite note I just wanted to mention that I have been going to Boot camp the last few weeks. I only missed ONE week this last month because I did not eat in time and did not want to throw up and get sick from the CRAZY workout!! MAN so I went this past Monday. We did a little warm up stuff then got into the HARD crap. We did 9 reps of 4 different things. 20 seconds on then a 10 second break then back on 9 times on a row. First was squats (I did 120) then push ups (I did 90) then sit ups (I did 75) then Jump Ups (I did 144). I felt sore after leaving and knew I would feel it the next day. It was not bad Tuesday, but WED was horrible! I woke up at 2 am because my arms were in so much pain. I took 2 ibuprofen hoping that would get me back to sleep and it did not work. In the morning I took viccodin (yes I drug myself up when I need to...) and that took the edge off but I was still SORE! My thighs are sore too, but because my arms are worse that is not bothering me as much... I could barley do everyday things... I am STILL sore today... mental note... do not kill yourself to get a crazy amount of push ups next time... and drink water... and yeah... sucks... hopefully i pays off in the long run...
So that is it! Glad to be home and enjoying my sad sore arms! :) And glad that today I can feed myself... haha!

Happy Birthday Preston!!

Or should I say HAPPY BIRTHDAY PREPON!!~~ (that is what Landon calls him)
Preston is my BABY BROTHER and he is my FAVORITE brother. (he is my only brother, but I am sure he would still be my favorite) He is a natural athlete and he is super smart! He is a SENIOR at Natomas High School and is currently enjoying his last Baseball Season. He recently learned that he was accepted at BYU-Idaho and is stoked to attend College. He just turned in his paperwork to become an Eagle Scout as well and to be completly Honest; we could not be more proud of this guy!!

Preston Bryan Andersen ~ Senior Picture

Dear Preston,

You are the BEST little (big) brother a sister could ever ask for. You are an amazing student and overall wonderful person. You are growing up SO fast, yet doing it SO well! You have accomplished so much in these last few years that it makes me smile when I think about you!
You are an amazing Uncle, always willing to help with the kids and play with them. And I know Matt enjoys having another brother to hang out with and have fun. Thank you for the joy you bring to my little bird family!!
You are the perfect example of what I want my little boy to look up to! Thank You for being polite, and respectful, and helpful. I hope my "loving ways of telling you how it is" has come across in the right way. I have seen you be a wonderful date and I hope the girls that you take out are treated that way.
I am excited for you to go away to get your Eagle Scout, go away to college, go on a mission and eventually get married. I love having you around and being around you. Thank you for choosing the right and being a good example to those around you.
You are a STUD and I love you more than you will ever know!~
LOVE ~ Melissa

(your FAVORITE sister of course! HAHA)