1. I took Zeeb and R to a friend’s birthday party at a movie theater this morning. What a cool way to do a party – 20 some odd friends (and their parents) with the theater all to ourselves. We saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I’d avoided this film because it’s PG and I’d read it was kind of dark. In truth it was probably over most of their heads – I’d say you’d need to be at least 12 to really get most of the humor and subtext. But it was a bunch of animals running around getting into trouble, so on that level the kids enjoyed it, I think. (There are a LOT of guns/shooting, so if you don’t like your kids watching that stuff, skip this one.)

2. My kids have a 4-day weekend type break because it’s the end of the semester. The teachers get Friday and Monday as “work days”. This seems to me a bit excessive, in my day the teachers did the grades as they went along and maybe got a half day of extra time to get them in. And that was before computers “simplified” everything. But hey, I’ll take a 4 day weekend in January whatever the reason.

3. I’ve been meaning to tell all my Cambodia-adoptive friends/readers about this book that R recently read that was really great. It’s from the Jack Stalwart series, which I had never heard of but is apparently really big in the U.K. The book is Secret Agent Jack Stalwart: Book 5: The Secret of the Sacred Temple: Cambodia. Amazon says the reading level is ages 9-12, but I’d say more like 7-10. Anyway, it’s a fun book sort of in the style of the Magic Tree House books only this boy is a Secret Agent and he goes on missions to rescue people around the world – this time, obviously, in Cambodia. R~ loved that it had a lot of information about Cambodia, including how to say some words/phrases in Cambodian. And she liked the character so much that now she wants to read all the Jack Stalwart books. Even if your child isn’t Cambodian, I totally recommend the book/series. (and be sure to check out the Jack Stalwart website which has a ton of games/info that relate to the books, including a page with an interactive map of Cambodia that I apparently can’t directly link to but is easy enough to find on the site.)

4. For about 18 hours this week it looked like there was a very good chance that Hubby was going to take a new position that would have required him to be away 3-4 days every week, for a year. I was strangely okay with this. He hasn’t been happy in his current position for a while and the new position was definitely a good career move and would have led to more good stuff. Also, I think I kind of knew in my gut it wasn’t really going to happen. So it was a little easier to be all supportive-like. In the end, two things happened. (1) Hubby prayed and felt God telling him it was more important to take care of himself than to push hard in his career. (2) It turned out they wanted someone who would be on site 5 days a week, which would only have been possible if we up and moved. No way, no how are we up and moving just 18 months after our last move. So that settled that.

5. Thanks to (1) above, I’m now worrying a little more about Hubby. Heart attacks are not altogether rare in his family and I wonder if God was giving him a little heads up if you will. Wii fit says he needs to work on his BMI and having a job in DC is not exactly stress free. It appears we are now at the age to start worrying about such things. Bummer.

6. Speaking of wii fit, I wrote a whole post ranting about it the other day. But I couldn’t come up with a suitable ending, so it’s still sitting in the drafts folder. Since that time, I did the “plus” bike riding game. Whoever programmed that thing has a twisted sense of humor. My poor Mii was bloodied and broken by the end of that ride – or would have been if there were any realism to the game. I ran into walls, off a huge cliff, ay yi yi, it was not pretty. And I’m quite certain I looked like a huge dork pretending to ride a bike by jogging on a balance board and holding a little controller in both my hands. And yet, I’ll probably go play it again this afternoon. But I’m totally locking the door because if my kids see me, I’ll never live it down.

7. You absolutely must, all of you (yes, that means YOU too) go read Rhonda’s latest two posts over at Breathing In, Breathing Out. Bykota House has had two new children added to their numbers in just the last two weeks. Both came from very heartbreaking circumstances and both are such incredible examples of what an amazing God we have. They are also reminders of how God is using Rhonda’s family and Bykota House in Cambodia. Of course more kids = more expenses too. Including some of the more unexpected variety. Rhonda just posted on FB that they are in need of a new washing machine because theirs broke (again) and is unfixable this time. (Imagine having 25-30 kids and NO washing machine!) The cost is around $160-$170 for a new one. Just thought I’d toss that out there, in case one of my readers would like to help them out.

And now I’m off to mop the kitchen floor. Oh what a glamorous life I lead! More Quick Takes here.