Where The Wild Things Are

This evening we went to see a movie. The choices were 'Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel', which just came out; or 'Astro Boy' or 'Where The Wild Things Are', which are playing at Vancouver Plaza 10, a second-run theater. Alex decided to watch the movie that had been out the longest, 'Where The Wild Things Are', because Alvin and the Chipmunks will be in theaters for a while.

I was disappointed in the film. It's a nice book, but there's not a whole lot of plot, so I knew that they were going to have to add storyline for the film. Because it was produced by Tom Hanks, I guess I was expecting magic. I thought the whole movie was way too deep for a young audience, confusing, and extremely depressing. Although the story was too confusing to get depressed over, the character's voices, the soundtrack, and even the character's faces and gaits were enough to depress everyone.

Snowfall & etc

We had a surprise snowfall this afternoon . . . it caught everybody by complete surprise. We got about an inch of snow over the course of a few hours – just enough to cover everything and build small snowmen out of. It has stopped snowing, but it is cold enough that the snow will stick around at least through morning.

Not long after the snow started, we went to see 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' at the second-run Regal Cinemas by Vancouver Mall. Alex has read the book, and he loved the movie; he says it was exactly like the book. Although there were several good gags, I was a little disappointed in the film.

After the movie we went to Grandma Kennedy's house where Alex played in the snow with Madeline and Everett. We then went grocery shopping, got a couple Red Box movies, and headed home.

We cooked spaghetti with homemade meatballs then retired to our bedrooms to watch the Red Box movies. Alex watched 'The Bee Movie' again. I believe he saw the movie in the theater, and has seen it since, but he does not seem to be bothered by re-watching movies.

Tiffany and I watched 'Julie & Julia'. Before watching, I already had a chip on my shoulder about this movie because I absolutely detest Meryl Streep. I can't really say why. It could be her activism. I am annoyed with entertainers who are also activists; Meryl Streep's activism, however, is not as political as some, and she does support some great causes. Perhaps it is just my perception of her as a snooty snob.

Despite this thing I have against Meryl Streep, she is an incredible actress, and in this film her portrayal of Julia Child was wonderful. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the film. It is the telling of two independent true stories – the first is the story of Julia Child learning to cook French food in post-war Paris, then writing her now-famous book. The second story is of Julie Powell, who cooked all 524 of Julia Child's recipes in one year and blogged about it. I can't put my finger on why I liked it so well, except that it does combine several of my favorite things . . . history, cooking, writing, food, eating, and – oh – did I say food?

I think Tiffany fell asleep a couple times during the movie.

Jake is enjoying another rare night indoors tonight. It's really not too cold for him out there, but he did look pitiful in the snow, begging to come in. Maybe I'm getting soft. Maybe he's just getting old. Anyway, he's warm.

Lost Arrow

Oh, I'm a baaa-aad father!

Alex received a bow and arrow set from Santa Claus for Christmas.  It is a youth-sized bow, but it is compound.  It can put a hole through both sides of a plastic bucket from 20 yards.  I have lectured Alex about not loosing any arrows because if he looses an arrow, it means he was shooting it somewhere he shouldn't have.  In fact, his only targets have been items placed on our berm (giving his target a huge backdrop).

A few minutes ago, I decided to shoot a quiver of arrows before bed.  I shot six arrows at a plastic bucket on the berm, and put one of the arrows through the bucket.  Another four arrows were buried in the ground within a foot of the bucket.  The sixth arrow, however, could not be found.  When I shot it, I heard it glance off the frozen ground and go further up the berm, into the shadows.  In the dark, I was not able to find it.

I had better make sure that I am up before Alex in the morning, and that I find that arrow at first light!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just finished baking for the cookie exchange tomorrow. Tiffany made several dozen chocolate-covered peanut butter balls, and I made five dozen giant chocolate chip cookies. This recipe makes about one dozen 6-inch cookies. Because they are so big, I could only bake four cookies at a time in the regular oven and two cookies at a time in the toaster oven.

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely

Alex’s 500 Piece Puzzle

Alex finished his first 500 piece puzzle tonight. We did a 100 piece puzzle a couple days ago, and Alex seemed to enjoy it . . . actually, I think he just enjoyed all of us doing something quietly in front of the fire together.

We stopped by Michael's to buy a 300 piece puzzle Thursday after school, but he liked the picture on this 500 piece puzzle better.

It took us two evenings to complete, and by the end, he was ready to be done with it . . . I think he's not going to want to do 500 pieces again for a while.

Alex’s Lost Tooth

Alex lost a tooth last night in bed. He is upset that he put it under his pillow in the middle of the night, but he didn't get money. The tooth fairy must have already made her rounds when he lost it.

Library Opening and Christmas Concert

When Tiffany and I picked Alex up from school today, we went straight to the new Cascade Park Library, next door to the Firstenburg Center, where they had their grand opening from 4 to 8. Tiffany and Alex were among the first few people in the building when they opened the doors; I was parking the car, so I was 5 minutes later.

We spent 20 minutes wandering through the library. It is a large, very open space with dozens of internet terminals, very nice reading areas (including one with very comfy chairs in front of a fireplace, looking out a window at a small wooded alcove). The library has self-checkout; I am not sure how this works, but it appears to be something similar to the self-checkout lines in the grocery stores. Today the library is well-stocked, with many of the books being brand-new. It is obvious that much time and effort went into staging.

One thing the library does not have is adequate parking.  Of course, parking was a nightmare for the grand opening.  It shares the Firstenburg Center parking lot, and no additional parking capacity was added with the addition of the library.  The Firstenburg parking lot has always had a questionable capacity, so I fear that the addition of the library may be too much for the lot to handle.

We saw Mayor Royce Pollard, who was going to give a speech sometime around 5:00, but Alex was too shy to approach him and shake his hand. Instead, we settled for just seeing him from 20 feet away.

Finally, we decided that we did not want to stick around for the speeches, refreshments, and entertainment so we left about 4:30.

After eating dinner, we were off again to the Battle Ground Community Band's final Christmas concert, at The Quarry Senior Living. We had a fair-sized audience and played well. Alex was well-behaved, possibly because he brought his Nintendo DS.