My mom defends Philip Pullman!

My mom and I are both Aries. We are cut from the same cloth in many, many ways. And this, among other things, has caused us to clash regularly and often. But one thing I have been and always will be in awe of is my mom's ability to articulate some deep wisdom. Recently, I got an email from her that included her response to one of her more religiously conservative friend's slam on the upcoming Golden Compass movie. I would include the whole thing her but I'm afraid some Lit student will steal it for an essay, its that good. :) Here's the highlights:

Pullman may indeed be an atheist. His novels, however, while they show organized religion in very negative ways, show that heroism, loyalty, and faithfulness are rewarded. I am not going to rush my little ones to see this movie although I do not think that it would injure them. But when they are old enough to read the books, I'd certainly encourage them to do so. And, we read the Narnia tales until our paperback copies wore out. God's truth is not so weak that it will fall when others speak differently and we can learn things from those other viewpoints.

I'm not sure this little snipet really does her whole argument justice, but it gives you a taste. The discussion reminded me of the quote at the end of Criminal Minds last week:
Fairy tales don't teach children that dragons exist. They already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales teach children that dragons can be slayed. -- G.K.Chesterton

Car Crash - Ouch!

Well T-Dad left for his "boys weekend" on Friday morning. So I was on kid-duty, solo all weekend. I picked the kids up on Friday evening and we went through the Hardees drive-thru for 2 cheeseburgers and an Orange Cream milkshake. Halfway home on Hwy 45, we were just minding our own business, a pick-up truck crashed into the driver's side while we passed the cross street Leverett Rd. We spun around and struck a hwy sign and came to a stop in the ditch. Fortunately, Bug (3 yr) and MealyWorm(1 yr) were buckled into their car seats securely and no one was injured. Milkshake everywhere! Crying kids. Very shaken up Mom. But everything was OK. I talked to the kids and they calmed down, I said "We just got "bumped", but we're okay". Bug was interested when I told him a policeman was going to come check on us. Fortunately, my neighbor happened to be driving by and stopped! He was sooooo wonderful. We got the carseats out of the mangled car and into his van. And he took the kids back to his house to play with his kids. And I stayed to wait for the tow trucks and finish up the police report. The other guys was issued a citation and was totally at fault. The weekend was definately "thrown off" a bit with all that. Fortunately, my awesome neighbors let me borrow their van for the weekend, since I still had no car. (T-Dad wasn't due back until Sunday evening) So the weekend shaped up okay and this morning I got the ball rolling on insurance adjustments, renting a car, etc. What a pain. But thank God, no one was hurt.

Healthy Kids

The kids are back in school today. MealyWorm(1 yr) has been home sick the last 2 days. But yesterday she did a complete turnaround after one of her naps...she woke up happy and active. Today is Wednesday - "Anything Can Happen" Day. From the book Enemy Mine.

Piano is Arriving!

We are getting a piano today! And the kids are both coughing and running a fever! So T-Dad is home with them this morning, awaiting the piano movers. And I will take the afternoon shift. T-Dad's Aunt and Uncle are giving us their piano because they are moving. We struggled with how we were going to get it from their house in the Chicago area to ours. We even rented a U-haul and tried to pick it up a month or so ago, but we weren't prepared for how heavy and delicate a piano is. For some reason we thought he and I would be able to lift it onto a 5x7 trailer (with our 2 toddlers running around) and drive it (45 mph) all the way home. Silly, silly us. So professional movers are delivering it today. I hope for a smooth move. :)