ME - Through my Daughters' Eyes

I saw these questions on a friend's blog and thought they would be fun to ask my girls. I asked them at different times so they wouldn't know what the other one said. The answers made me laugh!

1. What is something mom always says to you?

Joelle: No
Jillise: No

2. What makes mom happy?

Joelle: Uh, kisses
Jillise: Um, when I clean



3. What makes mom sad?

Joelle: When I don't do stuff when I don't clean.
Jillise: When I say no to her.



4. How does your mom make you laugh?

Joelle: Tickling my chin
Jillise: I don't know.


5. What was your mom like as a child?

Joelle: She was so little.
Jillise: I don't know much about that.



6. How old is your mom?

Joelle: Well... um... 25
Jillise: 33



7. How tall is your mom?

Joelle: As tall as a couch
Jillise: 4 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

Joelle: Play the piano

Jillise: Be on her computer

9. What does your mom do when you are not around?

Joelle: Do something and stuff and other stuff with Jaren.
Jillise: She goes shopping.



10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

Joelle: Talent. Like when she becomes a singer.
Jillise: Folding clothes.



11. What is your mom really good at?

Joelle: Cleaning.
Jillise: *giggling* Folding clothes



12. What is your mom not so good at?

Joelle: She's not good at making houses.
Jillise: I don't know



13. What does your mom do for her job?

Joelle: On the computer.
Jillise: Um, works for Sheila and email people all day



14. What is your mom’s favorite food?

Joelle: Mmmm... Mac and Cheese
Jillise: Salad



15. What makes you proud of your mom?

Joelle: When she loves me.
Jillise: She cares for me.



16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Joelle: Uh, there's a farm cartoon and I think you could be the girl with red hair and she wears glasses. You could be her.
Jillise: Um, Tweety on Baby Looney Tunes



17. What do you and your mom do together?

Joelle: Make cookies.
Jillise: Shop



18. How are you and your mom the same?

Joelle: We don't get cold sores and Daddy and Jillise get cold sores.
Jillise: Our hair colors are almost the same.



19. How are you and your mom different?

Joelle: Your hair is short and my hair is long and you have glasses and I don't and you are taller than me.
Jillise: You have glasses and I don't.



20. How do you know your mom loves you?

Joelle: She shows me by hugging and kissing at night time.
Jillise: (long pause) You hug me and kiss me?

Breaking Dawn

****DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK AND ARE PLANNING TO***

I have been waiting for this book all summer. I am not a total Twilight Freak, but I have enjoyed the stories and I was really excited to see how all of the characters and plot twists come together and how she wraps everything up. I picked up my book yesterday at 11:00. I had cleaned my house the day before, done my grocery shopping, and informed Brian that he was going to be a single parent so I could read all day. I finished at about 10:45 last night. Here is what I thought.

It started out SO well. Typical Bella, typical Edward. Alice made me giggle. The wedding was written beautifully. I was really loving where things were headed. Even the honeymoon I was okay with. Then it was like someone else took over the writing for the books. I think that readers knew that s.e.x. was going to be part of this book - in some way shape or form. Seeing as the book is geared toward teens and the author is LDS I figured that the issue would be dealt with tactfully and discreetly. I was wrong. While there was never anything explicit, I was shocked at how often it was brought up. And glamorized. Yes, they are married. No, the "act" was never described. But I don't think that teenage girls need to be reading about how Edward broke the headboard to pieces or about how fantastic Bella though it was. Again. And Again. Stephenie (the author) put a paragraph in there right after the honeymoon where Bella says she is so glad that she waited and made sure that Edward was "the one" and that she can't imagine sharing something so personal with just anyone. I was so happy to read that paragraph and figured that the topic was now done. But then it is talked about and glamorized so many more times throughout the book that I have to think that half the teenagers are going to jump the first guy they find just so they can experience what Bella did.

Next topic. THE WHOLE JACOB SECTION. Blech. I think that Stephenie went a bit "Host" on us here. It was not romantic. It was not pretty. It was disturbing and gross. So she gets pregnant. Super. Great. I don't have an issue with that. The child chewing her way out of the womb? Bella drinking blood to satisfy the baby? Gross. I felt like I was reading The Fly, not this sweet story about first loves. I though the descriptions were graphic and grating. There was a part in there where I thought to myself that if I was reading this book as a stand alone story without the other three, I would have quit reading and not finished it. It simply wasn't interesting or good.

Third. I *did* enjoy the descriptions of her as a new vampire. I thought she did a good job of letting us experience this new body with Bella.

Fourth. The "conflict" and "resolution." I found this to be a HUGE cop out. I loved Eclipse because the tension built and built and built. And there was a REAL climax. I seriously thought in this book that she was just sweeping up all of the loose ends and tying them all up into what she thought was a pretty little package. It left me saying, "What??????" That's IT???? Sheesh. Enter Sleeping Beauty, Snow While, and Disney. After all the disturbing, ugly, graphic scenes from earlier in the book, the Volturi just go, "You're right." And walk away? Ta-da??

Rosalie. I don't know if we were supposed to sympathize with her or not, but I found her really annoying.

And Jacob. Don't get me started. I didn't find it as revolting as some people that he imprinted with Nessie (and I HATE the name). I just found it a last ditch effort to try to make everyone happy. I didn't see anything wrong with him going off and finding himself and being single. Or finding that Leah was his soul mate. But Bella's daughter? Spare me.

So. I didn't hate the book. I just really didn't like parts of it. I am very disappointed in it. I am disappointed in Stephenie. I think she tried to bow too much to what all the rabid fans wanted. The result is all over the place. In my mind, the wedding should have been at the end of Eclipse, he should have turned her into a vampire that night, and they end by running off together into the woods to be blissfully happy. I think in my head, that's how it will be.

Rochelle wants a rewrite. A reviewer I found online says she hopes that this has been one big "Punked" and that the real book will come out next week. I wish it were so.

Bottom line? I feel cheated. I feel like Stephenie let us all down. Especially after I stood up for her to a friend who thought she wasn't a proper LDS writer after hearing about "the paragraph" in Eclipse that I didn't find any problem with. But now I find myself in that camp. Is it fair to hold Stephenie up to those expectations and morals when she isn't writing an "LDS" book? I think so. Especially since her faith has been such a huge part of who she is and has been brought up in most of her interviews. And because she KNEW who she was writing to. She knew that her audience was comprised of mothers, daughters, LDS people, and especially young girls. Even without the sex I think the images that some of the other scenes put in my head were things I didn't want there.

Enough said. I'm stepping off my pedestal and putting on my flame retardant suit. Fire away.