My Birthday

I thought I better blog about my wonderful birthday this year.

I was awoken, after a long lie in, by my two most favourite people, Andrew and Cara - Cara was wearing a hat that said 'Happy Birthday Mummy', it looked really cute, but it didn't seem like she wanted to wear it for very long.  She did keep saying 'Birthday Birthday' though.. how cute.  They brought with them, breakfast, for me to eat in bed, which Cara enjoyed helping me with.

Next, I passed a folder, the first page said:

Helen's Day of FUN

Birthday 2008

The next page was titled - THE DEEP, and there was lots of information about this fun place that we were going to explore together.. it looked like lots of fun!  After all of that information there was a colourful page, which said.. A present worth waiting for...

ROCK BAND

Love from Andrew, Cara and Joe xxx

WOW - that really is a present worth waiting for.  It actually arrived yesterday, and it is sooo much fun.  Drums, guitar and a microphone  :D  

I want to scan in the pictures that Andrew drew of us playing Rock Band, but that will have to be added in later.

I might write a seperate blog entry on our family blog for our day at The Deep, but here's a couple of photos for now...

Cara and I watching the sharks.

Cara eating her yoghurt, very posh, with her little finger in the air.

Me and Cara at the top of the building - what great views!

And last of all, this is me and my new friend Andrew the Hammer Head Shark  :D

When we got home, there were still more suprises.  Grandma Widdowson was coming over to babysit, while Andrew and I went out with other family to have pizza.  Thank you all for coming to celebrate my birthday with me.  Steve, Chris, Ben, Joe, Jean and Randy, and what yummy pizza it was!

My other exciting present, that I have now bought with birthday money that I had been given - thanks everyone!  Is Wii Fit, I've only just started using it, but I love it.  Thanks so much everyone!  What an amazing birthday I have had this year.

Life and Prime numbers

A quote from 'The curious incident of the dog in the night-time' by Mark Haddon. I've only just started reading this, but this part got me thinking... what does is he trying to get at exactly?

Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.

Are there really no rules for prime numbers? or do we just not know them? What about rules for life?

Our Star

Short video of our little star.

My beautiful not so baby girl

My beautiful not so baby girl
Originally uploaded by Hedgen

I can't believe Cara is a one year old. It's just crazy how quick that has all gone. She's changed so much. Look how cute she's got. She's even better in person, just so happy and fun.

I Love you Cara!

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

This evening Andrew and I were able to go and see this film at the Watershed. Thanks to Alex and Tamara who played with Cara. Andrew managed to get us free tickets to the preview.

This is a French, subtitled in English, film, based on the book. I have read the book, and really enjoyed it. The film, although different from the book in many details was amazing. It was filmed really well, the acting was great, and it was very moving.

It is amazing how people react to different situations. This man did so much despite having 'locked-in syndrome' and the people around him that helped him were amazing also. It is interesting how those friends and family around him acted with the situation too. How would I react if this happened to me? or someone I know? or love?

The Hoxton Hotel

The Hoxton Hotel
Originally uploaded by ExperienceLA

So, it seems that Andrew and I will be going to London again for our Anniversary. I managed to get a room for a £1 in the Hoxton Hotel, and for the following night for £29 pretty good for a 4 star hotel in the middle of London.

I heard about their £1 sales a while ago, but I forgot to even try last time. This time I set a reminder on my phone, and then set everything up so that I could be extra speedy. It took a while, as their servers were busy, but we got it!

How much do you know about the Internet?

Spanglish - Film review

A really great film. Not as funny as I thought it would be, but an interesting look at different families, and the way that different people parent, and are.

The Nativity Story - Film review

I had been wanting to watch this since I saw the trailers for it, and it lived up to my expectations. It was really well made, and made me think about how it may have really been for Mary and Joseph. It was such a touching moment when Jesus was born, and then when the Shepherds and wise men came to show their respects. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone.

Merry Christmas from the Munzer Family

Merry Christmas!

This is the first year that we’ve been a little family of three, so we thought it would be a good opportunity for us to write a letter to you, to let you know what’s been happening for us over the last twelve months. In January our family grew as we welcomed little Cara Louise into the world. Helen is loving being a stay-at-home Mum watching Cara learn and grow. Andrew has been occupied with the continuation of his degree in English Literature at Bristol University. During the summer break he found employment at the local hospital, doing clerking on the Mental Health Ward. The job was originally only offered as temporary work for 6 weeks, but it continued on until December.

This summer we joined the Munzer family senior for a week in St. Ives, a lovely seaside town in the very south-west corner of England. The Mediterranean climate and surfing locations made for lots of fun, and a memorable time all together before Andrew’s sister Hannah left for her mission in the Dublin, Ireland Mission in late August. She’ll be gone for eighteen months, but we stay in touch through regular emails.

Together with our friends Matthew and Rebeca Barwick-Barrett, Helen and Andrew both became Directors of our very own company this year, a web development start-up called ‘Bunz Media’. The projects are still in fairly early development, but Helen has been able to put her skills to use, doing lots of the skilled work on the websites. The launch of the first site will be expected in early 2008 – we’ll keep you informed!

In church Helen was called onto the Young Women’s Presidency, and has enjoyed working with a small number of young women in our little ward. Andrew has continued to serve on the Bishopric, striking fear into the hearts of his fellow ward-members by choosing the speaking assignments for Sunday meetings. Cara has provided endless entertainment for the entire ward, and has been very good in meetings. In November Helen’s mum Carol celebrated her sixtieth birthday, and Helen joined all her siblings in a visit to the London Temple. It was a wonderful occasion, to all be there together to show our gratitude to her, as an extended family.

The year to come promises to be an exciting one – the end of Andrew’s Undergraduate degree, and a move to a different location is likely. Who knows exactly where we’ll be in a year’s time? Wherever it is, we’ll keep you up to date, and hope to have even more adventures to report on, next December!

Thank you, most of all, for your friendship and love,
Love from,

Andrew, Helen and Cara xx

Laughter, the Best Medicine

Reader's Digest always have a section entitled, 'Laughter, the Best Medicine' and I think that the phrase is so true. What better for you than a good laugh. Also, see this Ensign article. Babies sure know how to laugh. We need to video Cara's laughter, but in the mean time, this is a few of my favorite baby laughs from YouTube.

Hope you had a laugh!

Philadelphia - Film review

Film about a guy who sues his firm for wrongful dismissal, due to having AIDS. A very emotional film, with lots to think about.

An American Tail - Film review

What a great movie. So many great songs! There Are No Cats in America... Somewhere Out There... and Never Say Never. What a great idea as well - to never say never. Is it always best to stay positive? In this film you can see how Fievel changes as soon as he meets some who have lost hope. His whole countenance and character change. Luckily for him his family was not far away. I love that this film is about family and about unity as a people also. What a great idea to have the mice get rid of the cats. At one point a mouse asks to the crowd of mice.. "are we mice or men?" to which they all shout "MICE!". Fantastic!

Tooth Extraction

At the weekend I started having toothache. By Sunday evening it was getting really bad, and so I tried to call an emergency dental centre. Our dentist out of hours number turned out to be NHS Direct, and the out of hours department was only open until 6 that evening, I called after 6.

The nurse advised painkillers, including a form of Ibuprofen that was not in tablet form. I find it hard to take tablets. Andrew went all across town to get me some, as everywhere near was closed.

On Monday the dentist said I could come along, and they'd slot me in when there was a gap. I waited for less than hour, and then was seen. I had an abscess. It would have been possible to have a root canal, but I decided to have the tooth pulled instead. It's right at the back anyway, and root canal does not always work - also the tooth pulled was one 20 minute appointment, and the root canal would be three 40 minute appointments.

So.. today my tooth was pulled. I have a big gap in the back of my mouth. I was quite nervous this morning, but it wasn't painful at all, I can feel it now, but the actual pulling was fine, and was sooo quick!

Note: I tried to search for a good tooth photo for the post, but couldn't find one. I did get to see mine, and it was much nicer looking than any I could see a photo of.

High School Musical 2 - Film review

OK, I admit, I watched High School Musical 2. It makes me happy. I love all the songs and dancing. I prefer High School Musical to it's sequel, but this one is still filled with lots of singing and dancing, and of course, has a happy ending.

Did you know there are Sing-Along and Dance-Along versions of this film?

Reign Over Me - Film review

This was a good movie, but not the best. There was a lot of swearing, so beware. Adam Sandler does a good job in this more serious of role. However, I thought that he would seem more different than his usual characters.

When people grieve differently, or even act differently to most, what should we do about that? Should we makae them conform to what we think is 'normal'? When should people be hospitalised for mental problems? Should the state get involved?

I think in this story Charlie did need help, from a friend, not from an institution. You'd think if people had a full-time job caring for people, then they would have more time than family/friends to devote to them, however they don't have the same capacity to love. I think we all just need to love each other more, and not judge each other. It's hard, but we need to try not to think as if we know what others are thinking - about us or about themselves.

Starter for 10 - Film review

It was great to see a film where I knew a lot of the scenery and places. It is set at Bristol University. I thought it was a good film, I wished it had more to do with University Challenge, but it was a good story.

At one point Rebecca points out to Brian that sometimes the people you care about the most, just don't care about you. I think sometimes this can be the case, and that is when we are probably most unhappy. Which is why it is so great when we have two-way relationships.

My favorite quote for a long time was from Moulin Rouge: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

Sliding Doors - Film review

This was released May 1998. I didn't remember a whole lot about the film, apart from the fact that I loved it. It is a thought provoking film. Small decisions, or even things that happen that we don't have control over can hugely affect our lives. In this case, where a little girl was stood on the stairs, or whether or not a mother stopped her child from getting in a strangers path.

So, small things can make big changes, and this is illustrated well, but will some things happen anyway? Will we always, no matter what meet a certain person, or end up doing a certain thing?

Mothers Who Know

I've read a lot of peoples comments on various blogs to do with Sister Becks talk. I enjoyed her talk at conference, but was quite distracted by Cara at the time, so when I first read the anti-blogs I really wanted to see the transcript of her talk, because I couldn't believe the things people were saying that she had said.

It turns out that I agree with everything that Sister Beck said in her talk, I can see how some may take what she said in the wrong way, but nothing she said went against church teachings in general. A lot of the main issues, I think, sprang from the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth and the fact that Sister Beck stated that housework, cleaning and cooking etc was a part of nurturing.

Our Stake RS just had an activity where we watched the RS Session of General Conference. This was the first time that I had seen the two new RS councilors. It was interesting to note that one of the councilors is a single woman, who has no children, as was Sister Dew a former RS president, whom I very much admired. Sister Beck is not saying that her counselor is bad for not having children, and not being married, she is just saying that we are commanded to do those things.

In YW today, we had a lesson on Celestial Marriage, in the lesson it spoke of the commandment to have children. (I wonder how those women who did not agree with Sister Becks attitude towards motherhood would teach this lesson?) One of the questions that was put to the YW was: Do you think you would be more selective in your dating if you had decided now that you would be married in the Temple? I said that I definitely had been more selective, which meant that the list actually wasn't that long. Someone else said something like, until you're desparate.. this lead me on to one of, I think, one the most important things we should be teaching our single members... Marriage and family is central to God's plan, but it is better to be single, than to marry the wrong person. I may have gone slightly off topic, seeing as most people don't have a problem with the idea of marriage.

I think this blog summed up Sister Becks real message best:

Whether you are a mother or not you should be desiring and preparing to be a mother, because you will keep forever those things you learn, and if you desire children and prepare to be a mother, you will be a mother, even if it’s not in this life.

Sister Beck was saying that we should value motherhood. Also, this blogger points out that:

She didn’t say that nurturing = housework. She is actually elevating the housework that you do to the level of “nurturing.” Like this: Nurturing = Homemaking. A part of homemaking is housework. Therefore, when you are doing housework, you are really nurturing your children.

I really want to be better at housework type things. I know that having the house tidy and cooking healthy yummy meals with make a great deal of difference to our family life, why not praise these great things. I want to enjoy doing them, but at the moment I'm still working on it, and also the world view, and mine to an extent, is that these things are trivial, they are not honored. I liked Sister Becks talk, but on a further look, I love it.

The article that got me thinking about this all again is here, it talks about this webpage, I agree with most (not all) of the statements they make, I just don't understand why it needs to be anti Sister Beck. For your reading perusal, should you want to read more, and there are LOADS of comments on most of these I with post more links to blogs on this topic. [1][2][3][4][5]

The Others - Film review

I had seen this film before, but couldn't really remember a lot about it. The twist is good, but probably was best for me the first time watching. It is really well filmed, but I have a lot of questions about the story. Also, I did find it quite slow, which isn't my favorite kind of film.

*** Don't read on if you haven't watched this film - SPOILER ***

Why does she kill them? Is her husband dead? Why did she see her daughter as an old lady? Why could only the girl see Victor? How come we could only sometimes hear the others, and see doors opening, surely they would have opened the curtains and doors more than we saw? Also, who took the curtains? Victors family? and why did they?