#dinos were monkey smart

[illllllllllllli]

The Songs of the Tyrannosaur

the songs of the tyrannosaur, agony howls the starving child for a mother missed, other dinos pick up the thread to howl too to care for the child to teach to play to count months by moon years by the leaf fall on the day spirit- same as she died they howl twice to carry song for the generations, like all mother goddess she is borne in sound, built in the forgot of the remembering

[notjuststardust]

One Piece Monster Trio +Law and Ace: What kind of dog breed would they be?

Monkey D. Luffy

American Pitbull Terrier

-In general terms american pitbull terriers are often misconstrued as something they aren't because people want to sugarcoat what their original purpose was, dog fighting.

-THIS IS LITERALLY LUFFY'S PLAQUE THROUGHOUT THE SERIES.

-DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE MEAN.

-Just means their inner goofball comes out when they are doing terrier things.

-LIKE LUFFY BEING A CAPTAIN.

-Though they're silly, loyal and more intelligent than people give them credit for, a purpose driven life with people that understand that insane drive and appreciate a velcro dog are best for these dogs (ahem, Zoro, ahem)

-LOVE TO EAT.

-Also their big gaping smile reminds me of Luffy too.

-Above pictured is Dino, a dog at my local shelter who has been looking for a home all his life. I have hung out with him and can vouch he is dog friendly, people friendly and an overall great pup. He is now with a foster home to care for his very specific allergy needs. I would take him home and rename him Luffy if I could, please check out his adoption page and share so he can find a good home!

New Bern, NC - American Pit Bull Terrier. Meet Dino a Pet for Adoption - AdoptaPet.com

Roronoa Zoro

-ANATOLIAN SHEPARD

-Yall thought I'd say pitbull.

-Absolutely not because Zoro has PRESENCE and that comes with a livestock guardian breed.

-These dogs are intense.

-Bred to take on wolves and coyotes and to be willing to die for their families.

-The Anatolian shepard specifically is a very quiet livestock guardian dog hence why I chose this over the great Pyrenees.

-ALSO THEY WERE SPECIFICALLY BRED FOR THIS COLOR TO STAND OUT TO SCARE THE WOLVES OFF AND I FEEL LIKE THATS SO ZORO.

-Though they're MASSIVE they have athleticism similar to big cats because they were originally bred for the fields of Turkey.

-Y'all can't tell me that the level of athleticism Zoro maintains while being built like a tank doesn't make this match.

-Good head on their shoulders to access threats and work well within their job and independently.

Vinsmoke Sanji

-Dachshund

-HEAR ME OUT

-I'M SERIOUS.

-Dachsunds are go getters, HOUNDS.

-They're independent, drivey and WILLFUL and like who they like.

-They're meant to work alongside terriers (Luffy) to trap the badgers so the terrier can take the threat out.

-Literally the goat of hound dogs.

-EXPLORERS.

-EVERYONE SEES THEM AS SOMETHING THEY'RE NOT.

-Distinguished little velcro dogs who will recklessly fight for their person despite the threat to themselves (SANJI'S SELFLESSNESS??)

-Not actually breed specific but literally every dachshund I have ever met has a love for women.

Trafalgar Law

-Siberian husky

-I'm going to get really specific and say a husky that pulls lead on the sled.

-These dogs will work themselves until they die.

-They're so stubborn that their drive and need to work literally has altered their metabolisms to adapt.

-Thats definetely what happened to Law's brain.

-ACTUALLY (Their metabolisms are biologically different than other breeds, able to practically slow and speed up at will)

-Not to mention they are meant to be working together at all times BUT are incredibly independent unless forced to work together.(LUFFY AND LAW).

-Smarter than you.

-Also, the markings on them just look so Law to me.

-Don't do well when they aren't working.

-Will easily fall back on anxious behaviors when separated from their jobs.

-Also, I can so imagine Law doing the quiet grumbling that these dogs do when they 'complain'.

Portgas D. Ace

-ROTTWEILER

-It is in their blood to be silly (not a fact, just speculation pls don't cite me for a college paper)

-Drive for food and play is high.

-Originally bred as herding dogs but due to unforseen circumstances of their size and perception were forced to become protectors of the families of sheep they herded (ACE WITH LUFFY AND SABO).

-THEIR SMILES ARE THE SAME.

-Smart but dumb.

-CLINGY. LITERALLY JUST CLINGY.

-Threat perception and self preservation is skewed just because of the herding breed in them so it can make them a little too brave sometimes.

-Originally bred to be a family herder and fated to be an independent guardian, close to work but far from family.

[ourlittledinosaur]

3 Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal

New Post has been published on https://www.ourlittledinosaur.com/3-family-friendly-ways-to-be-frugal/

3 Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal

Money, Money, Money!

Some say that money is the root of all evil. Well, actually the Bible says that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10) This simply means that money should not be our idol. It does not mean that we should never think about money or should never have money. In fact, the Bible encourages wisdom when handling our assets, and even talks about wealth as a good thing. It is wise to save money and even to invest it.

Invest? Are You Crazy? I’m in Debt and Living Paycheck to Paycheck!

Ok, so maybe you have some steps in between now and investing. That’s ok. The important thing is to get started! The most important aspect in my opinion is to GET OUT AND STAY OUT of debt. It is the black hole of a healthy financial lifestyle. Also, BUDGET. As Dave Ramsey says, “Every dollar has a name.” I highly recommend Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU). Not only does it outline simple steps for how to handle your money, but it is a great way for you and your spouse to get on board the same train…the mental train of thought that is!

Healthy Financial Habits are Good for Your Family

You may have heard that 50% of marriages end in divorce. Did you know that a high percentage of those divorces end due primarily to fights over money? Being unified as husband and wife (or Daddy and Mommy, as your kids see you) is so very important for the health of your family. Kids are smart and they see what you argue about. They worry about what you worry about. This Lil’ Dino Mommy tries really hard not to argue or fight with Lil’ Dino Daddy in front of our son…even if he is just a year old. You may be thinking, “Surely, at such a young age, he won’t know.” or “He won’t remember.” Perhaps not, and I hope you’re right about that because I’ve already failed in not losing my temper with my husband in front of him. But there are two reasons why I really want to keep working towards the “Don’t fight in front of your kids” rule.

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect. The behaviors and words we are used to doing and saying on a day to day basis are going to be what our kids see. It’s not like we can flip a switch and suddenly be a different person. Besides, in those moments of anger, we are told not to sin. Feeling angry in and of itself isn’t sinful. It’s how we handle that anger that makes a difference. I want to practice right now, today, the self-control I will need in the future. If my husband and I are in the habit of speaking kindly to one another and dealing with arguments at another time or place, then when push comes to shove (metaphorically, of course!), we will be able to do the same in the future. Besides, we should be dealing with one another kindly whether or not there are little eyes watching. Which brings me to…

Monkey See. Monkey Do. Who hasn’t heard this phrase? I’ll do you one better, who wasn’t told as a kid by some adult, (maybe not your parents, well…maybe them too), “Do as I say, not as I do”? And who, if you were a teenager, didn’t think, “Yeah right!” We are supposed to model for our children the correct ways to behave and to speak. A perfect example of this in my own life was a couple months ago. I was talking to my husband, frustrated about something, but not at him, and I threw down a pair of pants I was folding as I exclaimed about it. My son, 10 months old, said, “Argh!” and threw down his toy. Oh…hold up there Lil’ Dino Mommy, get it together because your BABY boy is watching you oh, so closely. Another example of this is eating healthy. I really want my children to have healthy eating habits. It is something I have really struggled with all my life and I don’t want them to struggle the same way. The BEST way for me to ensure this is to give them the knowledge on what healthy eating looks like AND model that knowledge in our day to day lives. Eating healthy has to be a lifestyle, not merely a New Year’s Resolution or a fad.

Getting to the Point

So, we all need to practice and model good habits for our kiddos. This includes how we handle our money! So here are # Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal! If you can’t do them all right away, don’t worry. Maybe just work on adding one to start. Whether you are in debt and trying to pinch pennies to get out, or trying to reallocate some funds into your current investments, these are all ways to rename some of those dollars. This was definitely a process for Lil’ Dino Daddy and me. I will share the crazy things we do even though some of you may think they are just TOO crazy. Some may not work for everyone, but maybe they all will work for someone.

3 Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal

Limit Eating Out. Cook More. This one is so tough for me, which is why it is first on the list. Feeding our family is mainly my responsibility. I want to do a good job for both the health of my family and the health of our bank account. Being a “Drive-Thru Sue” is so very easy for me to fall into. I do enjoy cooking, but let’s face it, it takes time, not to mention the clean up can seem like more work than it’s worth to prepare the meal. Now that I have a one year old toddler in tow, it is all the more difficult to find time to do what it takes to cook. However, this is the most frugal thing I can do. Since eating is something I can easily let get out of control, it is the first thing I have to address. So, for me, taking care of this has to come before a clean house, to include laundry. Here’s how I accomplish this…most weeks.

Meal Planning. Every week I sit down and write up a meal plan. This is a habit I learned from my mother-in-law after I was married and it has really helped us save money on food. How? Well, before I meal plan, I take a peek at what’s in my fridge, freezer, and pantry, and try to build meals around things I already have. Then I sit down and peruse my cookbooks if I’m feeling adventurous, or jot down a few meals that are staples in our home. As I make my meals, I make my…

Grocery List. This seems simple enough, but a well planned grocery list keeps me from buying things that aren’t ON the list. When I go to the store without a list, I end up buying more than I need, and usually waste more…because the two of us (plus little dino) simply can’t get through it all. If this is a pain point for you, I have a few friends that swear by the curbside pick up or grocery delivery options at our local grocery stores. Some stores do charge for this service, but if you find yourself spending less using this option than if you would have gone in, it’s definitely worth a try.

Prepare Meals Ahead. When I am cooking certain meals, I will sometimes double the recipe and save half in the freezer. Some good candidates for freezer meals are soups, chili, and casseroles, such as shepherd’s pie. I also tend to make more spaghetti sauce in relation to pasta or spaghetti squash, so I freeze half of this as well. (Bonus tip: For those who aren’t good at eating through all the produce in the fridge before it wilts or spoils, wash it and chop it when you buy it, and throw it in the freezer for another day! I do this with carrots, spinach, celery, peppers, and berries. I also buy bulk onions and garlic and just throw the whole bag in the freezer for when I need it.)

Eat Leftovers. I’m always shocked when I hear people say they don’t eat leftovers. I truly can’t imagine just throwing food away. Ok, so maybe some people are good at preparing just enough for that one meal. To that I say: I truly can’t imagine having to cook every night. Hahaha! But if you can, power to you. That’s awesome! If that is you, you are clearly way more organized than me and probably LOVE cooking way more than me as well.

Make Eating Out Special. If you are like me, eating out or ordering in, even at fast food places, can feel like a vacation from the kitchen. I enjoy not having to cook that night. I enjoy letting someone else feed me for a change, for goodness sake! My husband and I try to plan once a month to go somewhere we really enjoy and make a date out of it. (I must note that this last one is not recommended for those who are in debt. When my husband and I had debt, we did not eat out. Ever. We basically lived on rice, beans, and eggs, and at times, the kindness of others who might have us over for dinner.)

Old School House Rules. Take a look at that budget. Work on taking steps to lower your household expenses. What can you do to lower your electricity bill? Your water bill?

Turn off the lights and switch to LED. I used to get in such trouble as a child for keeping the lights on in a room I was no longer occupying. I still shudder in fear at the remembrance of the sound of my first and middle name being yelled by my mother if she found a vacant room with a light burning brightly. In fact, this habit has stuck so severely, that I have (more than once) turned the light off as I leave a room my husband is still occupying! Whoops! Sorry honey.

Another energy saving method we have employed is using a drying rack to dry our clothes instead of the dryer. The average person spends about $50/month by using the dryer. Drying racks or clothes lines are not only cheaper as it relates to electricity, but it also keeps your clothes from wearing out as quickly. We use drying racks because our subdivision’s HOA would not allow the use of a clothes line in the backyard. (Ridiculous! We will never buy a house under an HOA again!) However, since we moved to our apartment, the drying racks have allowed us to continue to dry clothes both inside and outside on the patio. (Thank goodness the complex doesn’t mind

If you own your own home and plan to live there for a while, look into things you can do to make your home more energy efficient. We had solar screens fitted to our windows and there was a significant difference in the amount of heat coming into our home during the summer. Living in South Texas, the heat can be brutal! We also had our insulation double checked and a radiant barrier installed. Once we have found our forever home, we will look into Solar panels.

Saving on the water bill doesn’t take too much imagination, but doesn’t take some discipline if you really want to make a dent. Turn the water off when you’re brushing your teeth, pay attention to how long your shower is running. If you are watering your grass or garden, make it count by watering early in the morning or late in the evening. Think dawn and/or dusk.

Replace Consumable Products with Reusable Products. This one was tough for our family in the beginning, but now it’s not a big deal at all. The most difficult thing to let go of was paper towels. We used them for everything from cleaning to napkins. So here’s what I did: I started cleaning the table and counters with my dish towels. I also bought a set of 12 cloth napkins – the kind you see at a nice-ish restaurant, and we use these at meal times rather than tearing off pre-perforated paper towels and passing them around the table like we used to do. I have also recently discovered a self-cleaning microfiber cloth which I really like. This has eliminated my need for chemical cleaners, so although the transition is slow-going, my home is on its way to chemical-free cleaning with these cloths and essential oil blends like Thieves.

This idea can be applied to other things as well. Consider the consumable products you use. What reusable products might you be able to replace them with? Here are a few more ideas: cloth diapers instead of disposable (do I dare mention the wipes?), maybe use reusable containers rather than plastic baggies when packing your lunch, and go ahead and use your flatware instead of buying paper plates. What’s a little more laundry and a few more dishes? – we all have to do them anyway!

There are so many ways to tweak lifestyle and habits alike in order to save money. For more ideas, visit this website. Now here’s a family dedicated to frugality. I love Mrs. Frugalwoods’ idea to put a slip of paper in your wallet to remind you of your bigger goals and dreams. If you’re us, when you go to spend money you see it and say, “Would I rather have pizza delivered or for my family to be closer to our goal of owning a farm?”

Our family wants to learn from you too! Please share YOUR frugal ideas in the comment section below.

Like this post? Help us and others by Sharing!

Share List

SGMB_URL = "/wp-content/plugins/social-media-pro/"; jQuery(".dropdownWrapper").hide(); SGMB_GOOGLE_ACOUNT = "UA-88059982-5"; jQuery(document).ready(function($)var widget = new SGMBWidget();widget.show("id":"1","title":"Share All","options":"currentUrl":"1","url":"","shareText":"I really enjoyed this, I think you will too!","fontSize":"20","betweenButtons":"1px","theme":"classic","sgmbButtonsPosition":"bottomCenter","socialTheme":"classic","icon":"default","buttonsPanelEffect":"No Effect","buttonsEffect":"tada","iconsEffect":"No Effect","buttons":"\"mewe\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"default-mewe\",\"stumbleupon\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"default-stumbleupon\",\"email\":\"label\":\"E-mail\",\"icon\":\"default-email\",\"linkedin\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"default-linkedin\",\"pinterest\":\"label\":\"Pin this\",\"icon\":\"default-pinterest\",\"tumblr\":\"label\":\"Post\",\"icon\":\"default-tumblr\",\"twitter\":\"label\":\"Tweet\",\"icon\":\"default-twitter\",\"via\":\"\",\"hashtags\":\"#parenthood\",\"twitterFollow\":\"twitterFollowShowCounts\":\"\",\"setLargeSizeForTwitterFollow\":\"on\",\"followUserName\":\"OurLilDinosaur\",\"facebook\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"default-facebook\"","roundButton":"","showLabels":"","showCounts":"on","showCenter":"on","showButtonsAsList":"","sgmbDropdownColor":"","sgmbDropdownLabelFontSize":"14","sgmbDropdownLabelColor":"","showButtonsOnEveryPost":"on","selectedOrExcluded":"","showButtonsOnEveryPage":"","textOnEveryPost":"Like this post? Help us and others by Sharing!","showButtonsOnCustomPost":"","textOnCustomPost":"","showButtonsOnMobileDirect":"on","showButtonsOnDesktopDirect":"on","sgmbSelectedPages":[""],"sgmbExcludedPosts":[""],"sgmbSelectedCustomPosts":[],"showButtonsInPopup":"","titleOfPopup":"Please share it!","descriptionOfPopup":"Go ahead and share our site if you liked it!","showPopupOnLoad":"","showPopupOnScroll":"","showPopupOnExit":"","openSecondsOfPopup":"","googleAnaliticsAccount":"UA-88059982-5","buttonOptions":"mewe":"label":"Share","icon":"default-mewe","stumbleupon":"label":"Share","icon":"default-stumbleupon","email":"label":"E-mail","icon":"default-email","linkedin":"label":"Share","icon":"default-linkedin","pinterest":"label":"Pin this","icon":"default-pinterest","tumblr":"label":"Post","icon":"default-tumblr","twitter":"label":"Tweet","icon":"default-twitter","via":"","hashtags":"#parenthood","twitterFollow":"twitterFollowShowCounts":"","setLargeSizeForTwitterFollow":"on","followUserName":"OurLilDinosaur","facebook":"label":"Share","icon":"default-facebook","button":["mewe","stumbleupon","email","linkedin","pinterest","tumblr","twitter","twitterFollow","facebook"], 4, '', '/wp-content/plugins/social-media-pro//img/no-image.png', '', ''); );

jQuery(".socialMediaOnEveryPost").addClass("sgmb-center")

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino Watches Anime (Nov 28)

Obviously, I’m not going to list the ongoing anime that I’ve still watching as that hasn’t changed much. I will put the ones that I recently completed though!

Recently Completed!

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e

I was going to put this in chronological order until I realized that I just wanted to get this piece of crap out of the way. Seriously, I regret watching this show. I HATE how it’s the highest rated out of all of them! It’s almost an 8/10! I gave it a 4! Here’s why:

This anime started out okay. I liked the sound of its premise. I liked the idea of teenage psychology being pushed but not as life-or-death but more of status. Because believe it or not, sometimes a person values their image and status more than their life. That plot was... kind of there? I don’t know. It was mostly boobs and ass. Those jiggle physics don’t stop here. They make sure to remind you that every character in this anime has large assets and asses every two seconds. 

The characters are probably the most deplorable part of this show. They were so bad. Seriously, we just took the worst parts of every trope and threw them together! The “I don’t talk to anyone. I don’t have any friends. I’m EDGY and don’t belong here. I’m this close to selling myself to Orochimaru for power”, the “cardboard houseplant that’s so monotone that it hurts”, the “double-sided dipstick that will take out a person’s intestines and use them as a jump rope”, and the “arrogant older brother who is way more accomplished than his sister”. We also have more assorted bastards, but those are the main ones. The characters ruined everything. Their interactions were so coarse, forced, hard to watch, and everything is executed so poorly that it made me wonder whether people rated this for ulterior motives or not. Everyone here is an asshole. 

Let’s look at the first three characters:

“cardboard houseplant that’s so monotone that it hurts” - Shoya Chiba isn’t even a bad voice actor. He does give me Hiroshi Kamiya vibes though (not a bad thing), but his voice acting in this show was hard to listen to because his expression didn’t change and neither did his voice. Seriously, over 12 episodes, he has that same expression. Someone threatened to harm him, and he’s still looking like a dead fish. I can’t describe how much worse it is to have a main character whose facial muscles don’t move. He has no personality.

“I don’t talk to anyone. I don’t have any friends. I’m EDGY and don’t belong here. I’m this close to selling myself to Orochimaru for power” - I like her design, but what else is going for her? How many times does she need to say, “I don’t need friends. I just want to move up in school.” Bitch, I get it. You can calm down. You keep doing things for other people but you say you don’t care? She arguably gets the most growth. Akari Kito voiced her and it was just like how any other person on earth would voice this character. 

“double-sided dipstick that will take out a person’s intestines and use them as a jump rope” - She’s exactly what she sounds like. She’s in that gif. She’s sweet and nice until you catch her being not that. Yurika Kubo did a pretty alright job voicing her. Nothing really to say here besides I hated her with a burning passion.

Music was alright. Animation was... Lerche standard. Nothing special. It looks nice until you are flashed so many times that you can’t tell what this show is even about anymore.

This is one of the worst shows I’ve watched in a while. It wastes a perfectly good premise and voice cast.

Kekkaishi

2006 was a good year for anime, and this probably got swept over because Code Geass took the fall season by storm. But this anime was genuinely good. I wanted a good shonen/comedy with action and this filled that void and more. I even read some of the manga before realizing that I just don’t like reading manga that much.

I genuinely like the cast of characters and find them amusing. I also like how they incorporate a stay-at-home dad who wears an apron and no one judges him because it’s what they see as normal. We have a female character whose not being sexualized every few seconds. Sunrise did cheat a little with other female characters though because the manga made their proportions okay while the anime decided to make them look more like a Barbie rather than a human. The animation was pretty okay too. For 52 episodes, it did some pretty okay stuff but with today’s technology, it’s probably not as “wow” as it was back in the day.

I’m just mad that they developed a character only to kill him a couple of episodes later. That’s sad. 

The soundtrack was pretty standard, but I was impressed by the fact that I liked the voice acting. I originally wasn’t as much of a fan of Hiroyuki Yoshino’s works because I found his voice annoying, but when he finds the right character (like Yoshimori or Eraser Mic), he works really well. It’s unfortunate that a lot of the main cast aren’t as prolific as they once were, but I guess that’s life.

No one was hurt in the making of that gif. 

I rated this a 9/10 because it was for pure enjoyment. I didn’t have this much fun watching an anime in a while. This is the anime that got me binge-watching again.

Nobunaga Concerto

This anime has a blaring problem. It’s not the story, it’s not the writing, it’s not the characters, and it’s not the music. It’s the art. Watch any clip and it will give some Berserk flashbacks.

The writing was pretty good too. The story was genuinely interesting, but in the end, it didn’t feel like it did enough. It didn’t cover enough. The dialogue and the incorporation of modern culture with the historic parts were smart. Saburou was really likeable and oddly adaptive. The characters around him (the historic ones) are pretty cut and dry. The music was pretty good too! The art and lack of adaptation are the only things truly holding this show back.

Mamoru Miyano plays the main character and obviously makes him charming and funny, Yuki Kaji plays Nobunaga Oda, and Nana Mizuki plays Oda’s betrothed. I actually didn’t know anything about Oda’s tale prior to this anime so don’t think that’s required. 

I rated it a 7/10

*Another important note is that they get suddenly racist in the last episode. A black guy appears, and people scream that it’s a monkey like they’ve never seen a darker-skinned human before. It was honestly disappointing.

Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

Okay, this anime surprised me because of how much I liked it. It wasn’t even anything special. They took the same JC Staff rom-com tropes and put them into another anime combined with some fairy tale lore. But this anime was so entertaining and charming with its cast that I genuinely didn’t hate any of the characters. There were a few moments that made me go, “okay, that’s a bit too much”, but a girl going around punching people with neko boxing gloves? That’s pretty cool. Ookami was a really funny character who I actually found a bit interesting which is weird for a story that’s supposed to be superficial and comedic. Ryoushi is practically a spitting image of my anxiety and personality but in a charming way? He has some cool moments. He’s almost a little like Zenitsu. Courageous when push comes to shove but he’s actually awake. Ringo was the innocent loli until she wasn’t because if you mess with her friend, she will poison you. Again, they made these references to regular rom-com anime and fairy tales that completely roll together nicely. JC Staff didn’t mess this one up, and as always, there’s a tsundere Rie Kugimiya role in there somewhere. 

Because I enjoyed it so much, I gave it a 9/10.

Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha

I literally finished this one an hour ago, read the last chapter of the manga, and went “what the heck?” Because... I enjoyed this, but I also didn’t? Bitter-sweetness at its best. Houko Kuwashima is a really underrated voice actress because she hasn’t taken that many big roles as of recent, but she has incredible range. The characters of this are incredibly plain, but I don’t mind that because they aren’t painful to watch unlike the first anime I mentioned (seriously, I watched the last three shows on this list to wash that bad anime out of my brain). Everyone in this anime seems to be perfect in one way or another because they don’t really wish ill on anyone. Not gonna lie, characters like that aren’t for everyone because “everyone is a scum at some point in their lives”. I definitely respect for the need of balance. The story is pretty simple and plain and so is the art. The music was nice and pleasant. Basically, it’s a palette-cleanser of an anime after watching some bad anime. It’s about developing middle school romance and this... “teenage” couple on the side. It’s about friendship! And discovering yourself, and yes, one character found out she was gay, and I was rooting for that character so hard only to find out that she didn’t get her conclusive ending. Everyone else gets some bullshit ending one way or another! This is published in the same publication as Bungou Stray Dogs, and I wouldn’t have been able to tell if I didn’t look it up. 

I rated this one an 8/10 because I enjoyed it still despite the ending being a little idealistic, sad, and far-fetched (seriously, someone becomes a god and gets their existence erased). 

[pjo-hoo-nextgen]

Got this wonderful ask!!!! Thank you @spacedadlovesdragons

Maria: Maria would probably have a bird as a pet. It seems counter intuitive considering the sky is Zeus’ domain but I also think Maria is he type of person who would totally get like a raven or hawk sort of by accident. She’d most likely rescue it and give it a ridiculous name. Also, birds are extremely intelligent animals but they also have attitudes.

Andy: He actively advocated to get a pet monkey for about three years. Jason insisted that was never going to happen.

Jaxon: If Jaxon were to have a pet he’d pick a dog. The only reason he hasn’t asked for a pet dog is because he’s afraid he’s too busy for the animal to give it proper attention. He also is concerned that either he’d die and the dog would be heart broken or the do would get hurt because of his demigod blood.

Sol: She actually has a bet bearded dragon named Dino. He likes to chill in the forge with her and surprisingly doesn’t mind the noise. He also has a sweet set up for his living space. She named him Dino because he thinks he’s a lot bigger than he actually is.

Eli: Eli would totally be the type of person to have a snake as a pet. It would freak people out but also because their personalities would mesh. Snakes are pretty smart but well reserved creatures. He’d most likely take it with him everywhere and the snake would help him judge people. On the other hand he’d be totally nerdy about showing it off to his friends.

Grey: A cat. He’d get a cat 100%. The cat would curl up in his lap while he reads or works and it would be the sweetest thing ever. Nico doesn’t get it much because he’s a hellhound/dog fan but he’d think it’s adorable.

Thia: She has two pets. She’s got the two doggies who are insanely protective. They are so sweet to her but will tear out throats if they have to. If she were to have a pet she’d probably seek out Sol to make a bronze dog so that Aurum and Argentum could have another playmate and a little baby of their own. (Also because symbolically the gold is like Reyna and silver is Thalia so bronze could be Thia!)

[kristipetersenschoonover]

I think this is hilarious. We’re being chased by a Tyrannosaurus and we look like we’re on a cruise.

I’m going to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, because nothing ruins an adventure like knowing every damn little thing about it beforehand (it’s really not an adventure if that’s the case). However, I’m going to include a couple of my favorite photos and share some details, so if you’re planning on visiting the Bronx Zoo’s Dinosaur Safari this summer and want to stay completely in the dark, I’d advise skipping the rest of this post (except scroll down to “A word on buying tickets.” That stuff you’ll want to know).

Hold my beer! I got this. Nathan and I were very excited to attend the Bronx Zoo’s Dinosaur Safari on the premiere weekend (Easter Sunday), despite the giant lines.

The Safari entrance is located at Fountain Circle, which is at the end of Astor Court (and I think was the zoo’s original entrance way back when it first opened). If you’re on the other side of the park—say down by Asia—the best way to go is hop on the zoo shuttle and get off at the stop near World of Birds and Tiger Mountain. It’s not far to walk from there.

If you’re wondering where this ride actually takes you and you’re a BZ geek like me, it goes back behind the Birds of Prey exhibit over service roads that aren’t open to the public.

This azhdarchid pterosaur greets visitors above the ride’s queue.

  Be aware that this is a popular attraction, and the lines may be very long. The nearest bathroom to the line is up at Madagascar off Astor Court. It might be worth visiting the restroom beforehand.

We joked about the hour and 45-minute wait being just like the lines at Walt Disney World.

Okay, so I’m a big kid, but I had no idea there was a technical name for fossilized dinosaur poop: Coprolite. Kinda cool.

Once you’re in line, you’ll be given a souvenir guidebook which catalogs the dinos, shares information about them, and compares them to modern-day creatures you can see elsewhere in the zoo. I thought this was a really neat feature.

Dinosaur Safari guests get tickets (great souvenirs; we got to keep ours) as well as a field guide which is packed with information about the dinosaurs you’ll meet on your journey.

There are staff members on hand to entertain small children, teaching them about adaptations and engaging them in a game of “Dino Says.” I don’t know if this is going to be available all the time or only on peak days, but it was a nice touch.

Before you board your vehicle, you can pose before a green-screen to have your photo taken (it will appear with a scary dinosaur backdrop). Your photo will be available to purchase at the end of your trip.

The ride vehicles are wagons pulled behind pick-up trucks. If you’ve done hay rides, then you’ve ridden in one of these before. And yes, there are vehicles that are fully handicap-accessible. If you’re concerned about how bumpy the ride is, don’t be. It’s actually pretty smooth, although there may be a jounce here and there. The vehicles go very slowly.

The pick-up truck that pulls the Dinosaur Safari ride vehicle.

The wagon for the ride is exactly the same type of wagon used for hayrides. There are benches on either side and a bench in the middle. The limit is 40 persons.

Our guide’s name was Rob, and he was really enthusiastic (I’m betting he loved dinosaurs as a kid). He cracked a few Jungle Cruise ride style jokes along the way, and it would’ve been fun to hear more.

Our Dinosaur Safari guide’s name was Rob. He was spirited and a lot of fun.

There is sweeping, Jurassic Park-esque music that plays just before you enter the trail, and it honestly does ramp up the excitement. Good call!

Uh-oh. One of the raptors was going to the Dinosaur Hospital. I guess he wasn’t feeling well that day.

The scenes you’ll see depicted are based on actual fossils that were found together. So although all the dinos are from different time periods, the tableaux that contain multiple animals are from the same time period and illustrate, according to the fossil record, scenes that actually happened.

Although we don’t know why they battled, paleontologists think that Tyrannosaurus Rex fought each other over territory and mates.

Another great thing about this ride is that we’re clearly beyond the land of the same old T-Rex and stegosaurus. Yes, those fellows make an appearance, but the tour features dinosaurs I’ve never heard of, like the kosmoceratops.

A couple of rapetosaurus (pronounced rah-PEE-toe-SORE-us), large herbivores, were victims of a hunting pack of carnivorous majungasaurus.

I liked this pentaceratops because the decorations on his crest reminded me of the design on a king cobra.

How cool are these kosmoceratops? Paleontologists believe that their horns weren’t structured soundly enough for defense, so they were probably only present for attracting mates.

These dinosaurs are cool. They move, they make noise, and your guide sheds light on what you’re looking at. They’re not Disney or Jurassic World: The Exhibition level, but they are certainly not cheap carnival either; far from it. They move pretty naturally and I didn’t see any mechanical jerking around. I could buy that these were real.

This is my new favorite dinosaur. The troodon was the creepiest of all of them in the ride, probably because they reminded me of monkeys, and I hate monkeys. But these guys fed on the eggs of large animals, like the maiasaura, which built mud nests like today’s flamingos.

The spinosaurus thrusting up out of the Bronx River was a scary sight! Spinosaurus were semi-aquatic. Definitely would make me think twice about swimming in a river.

The staff has done a wonderful job, also, with the vegetation in each scene: there are palms and exactly what you’d expect to see in that type of environment. If you have an imagination, it’s not a stretch to believe just for a moment that you’re actually looking into the past.

I loved the surreal aspect of this. Some of the dinosaurs’ positions were in areas where apartment buildings from outside the zoo served as a backdrop. It was crazy to see a dinosaur in front of a modern structure in the real world.

Against the backdrop of modern-day apartment buildings, this parasaurolophus looked surreal. Click below to hear this animal’s haunting call.

https://kristipetersenschoonover.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/parasaurolophus-call.mp3

Another great thing is that they are very close to the vehicle. You really get a sense of how large these animals actually were because of that, and, of course, it’s a great opportunity for video and photos, although honestly, don’t ride this thing and spend the whole time looking through a viewfinder. Really enjoy looking at it live and let yourself believe. It’s worth it.

You exit the ride vehicle at the Field Site. The area has large dinosaur bones, a dig site for kids, a cart with dinosaur-related souvenirs, a photo station (so you can take your photo with a T-Rex), and the counter to purchase the green-screen photo you took before you boarded the ride if you wish to do so.

Your journey lasts approximately ten minutes, give or take. Nathan and I waited in line nearly two hours for this (it was not only a weekend, it was a holiday, and we chose to be stupid and go right after lunch—when we were done at 3 p.m., the wait was down to about an hour), so of course, the ride felt short. I think a good amount of time to wait for this is about 30 to 40 minutes max. More than that, you may want to come back at a different time of day.

The gift card at the end of the ride was crammed with stuffed dinosaurs. I was tempted, but didn’t get one…I have so many stuffed animals I don’t know what to do with them all as it is!!

All in all, it was really cool, and I highly recommend it, especially for dinosaur freaks. I’ll go back and see it again, for sure!

Nathan clowns around with the T-Rex. Is that a smart idea?

A word on buying tickets

If you’re a non-member, the $6 attraction fee is included in the total experience ticket. You can also purchase them separately as an add-on to a base ticket if you know you won’t have time to visit all the plus-price experiences in the zoo that day.

However, if you are a member, this attraction is not included, which means your discounted $4 ticket still needs to be purchased. The member booth to purchase tickets is all the way up near the front of the line, but you can’t access it without waiting in line and getting to that point. The staff will ask you if you’re a member, and then pull your entire party right out of your hard-earned spot so you can purchase your tickets. When you are ushered back in line, several people have gone ahead of you, which is discouraging. This also pisses off several people who were behind you, because now they think you’re cutting the line.

Suggestions for members who want to visit:  A, purchase your $4 ticket online ahead of time. B, if you didn’t purchase online ahead of time and still need to buy tickets, don’t let them yank your entire party out of line. Choose one of you to purchase at the ticket booth; then, that person can catch up with you and you haven’t lost your place.

The Bronx Zoo’s Dinosaur Safari opened April 18 and runs through November 3, 2019. Admission to the attraction is $6 for non-members (although it is included if you purchase a “total attraction” ticket) and $4 for members (as noted above, buy them online ahead of time to avoid the mess of being pulled out of line).

Hope you’ll get a chance to visit!

A trip through time: The Bronx Zoo’s DINOSAUR SAFARI I’m going to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, because nothing ruins an adventure like knowing every damn little thing about it beforehand (it’s really not an adventure if that’s the case).

[ashleybenlove]

Partners

DNAmy and Drakken have a thing, Monique deals with Ron as a project partner, and Kim is partnered with Justine Flanner for that project. Justine is played by Dr. Mayim Bialik. Though at the time this episode aired, she had not earned her PhD yet. She did already have a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Hebrew & Jewish Studies at the time of this episode’s airing.  She played in the show Blossom and is currently on The Big Bang Theory.

The lady scientist is working on a genomic sequencer. Amy steals it. 

Drakken comes to steal it and Amy calls him “Mr. Forward” and looks him up and down. 

She asks if Drakken is a MD or dentist. Neither. He doesn’t have a degree!

Shego takes the DNA thing.

School! Kim wants to work with Monique on the science project. But. Ron. And Wade’s like “Remember your vow” that Kim would NEVER ever be partnered with Ron on the science project ever again. WADE EVEN PULLS OUT THE RECEIPTS. Actual video evidence of her saying this. 

Drakken’s attempting to work the genome sequencer and Shego’s like "TOO BAD YOU HAD TO TICK OFF THE ONE GENETICIST WHO’S TWISTED ENOUGH TO HELP YOU.”  

Drakken decides that he’ll charm Amy into doing his bidding. Shego just is like... she doesn’t say anything but she def has opinions. Drakken purrs.

Monique is trying to help Kim work up the courage to talk to Ron about the partners thing.

Ron butters Kim up by holding the door for her.

Barkin has assumed command of this class. Apparently the teacher of the class had a fungal experiment go horribly wrong. Barkin didn’t press for details.

Barkin is picking the teams. Which is fair. 

And yet, Bonnie is teamed with Brick. 

Monique is stuck with Ron! Ron is cool with this because “Monique maintains Kim-level gradeage”

Justine is building something that will create a small tear in the space time continuum. She’s in high school. 

AMY SLAMS THE DOOR IN DRAKKEN’S FACE. GOOD CALL.

And just before that Drakken was like “WATCH AND LEARN SHEGO.” Like, I think Shego is likely way better at picking up women (and men) than you are, Drakken. 

Drakken uses a fell from heaven, you’re an angel pick up line. IT WORKS.

And also Amy called Shego his girlfriend but Drakken denies this.

Justine is perfectly content on doing this whole project by herself, Kim literally only has to show up and smile on presentation day. This is not a bad deal. But Kim, HATES IT. KIM, IT’S AN EASY A. GET OVER IT.

Monique is already clashing with Ron. She tells him “I’m not Kim, I will not carry you” and Ron just... is like nah, I’m not helping. Ron, please don’t be a dick. 

Monique also calls him DUDEBOY. Urbandictionary has a top definition for dudebro that dates to end of 2006 and this ep came out in 2004. So proto-dudebro.

Ron doesn’t care but Monique does. Ugh.

“Flattery will get you everywhere!” “How about into your lab?” IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE CALLING IT?

Shego has to say that Drakken has game moments before he falls down the stairs.

This scene with James and his sons and them washing the car is so rando. Kim has the opportunity to complain about the fact that she doesn’t get to do anything on the project. She feels like Justine thinks she’s not smart. 

One of her brothers gets Kim wet. Kim’s hair is like wet and flat, nice job on that animators.

James suggests to Kim to use her connections to get a meetup with a scientist for Justine.

The twins attempt to get the soap on Kim but fail and James gets the soap on him. Whoops.

Amy is calling Drakken cutesy names and he wonders if that’s necessary. He puts up with it. But hates it.

Ron’s being an unbelievable asshole.

The way Shego says “Precious” is amazing. 

Meanie DNA.

Middleton Institute of Technology. I see what you did there.

She saved a satellite from orbit decay. Noice. Apparently a fraying tether line and a blown oxygen tank were involved. Holy shit. Also, isn’t this basically the plot of Gravity? (Good movie!)

Justine made breakthroughs in particle physics while she was in 8th grade.

Kim sees Drakken and co breaking into a room. 

Kim and Shego agree that the Drakken and Amy thing is very weird.

Excellent music during fight scene.

Drakken basically grabs Amy’s ass to give her a boost. 

Shego teases Drakken that he actually likes Amy. She’s having so much fun. I’m glad.

Monique and Kim are in a booth together and Ron’s in a different booth.

Shaking.

They do the water in glass reaction from Jurassic Park except with cheese.

Ron wonders if its an earthquake. He’s oddly calm about that. I mean, if it was me, I’d probably panic but I have never experienced one. They probably have. 

Yes Kim I agree. Hard to miss the giant dinosaur rampaging through Middleton. The dinosaur doesn’t look like a T-Rex at all. Looks more like Godzilla.

I’m pretty sure they used sounds from Jurassic Park or a Godzilla movie for the dinosaur sounds. It’s not like they can get the real thing considering they’ve been dead 66 million years.

The flying saucer thing that Drakken and co are riding crashes. Shego jumps out before crashing, Amy’s thrown from it when it crashes, and Drakken doesn’t leave the thing.

Distraction is needed. Ron’s on it. Monique makes a comment and he’s like not the time for sarcasm, “trust me, come on.” and grabs her wrist. Ron may not take school seriously but he takes world saving seriously.

Amy risks her life for Drakken and he’s now smitten.

I think Monique knows how to work with motors??? 

Justine’s project is the key.

The science is sound, Kim read all of Justine’s notes, but had to look up a lot of stuff. You could have asked Wade or your father??? But hey, independent study, Kim!

Monique looks very scared as she says “Come on, Kim.” But she’s looking up at a dino-thing’s maw.

Justine puts her hand on Kim’s just before they pull the lever on the project thingy.

The dino thing goes into the space time thingy.

Justine and Kim shake hands, Ron and Monique also shake hands.

Drakken wants to date Amy. But her heart belongs to another. Monkey Fist. Villain love triangle! 

Amy reveals here that she’s the one that did the radical genetic mutation on Monkey Fist’s hands and feet. 

Monique and Ron did baking soda volcano.

Barkin refuses to believe in Kim and Justine’s project. Dino is back. And Barkin’s like “POSSIBLE!” Like... you’re the one who didn’t believe her. Oh Barkin.

[megazeo]

As anyone who’s seen me previously speak on the subject already knows, I wasn’t really looking forward to the new Power Rangers movie. Ever since the first image of Elizabeth Banks’ Rita Repulsa was released, I “knew” the movie was doomed. Previous film adaptations that had redesigned its characters to such an extreme degree were The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Godzilla (1998), and X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Movies that were universally agreed to be horrible and insultingly unfaithful to their source material. It only got worse from there. Alpha 5 went from a cutesy robot to a terrifying little monkey-lizard. Goldar went from a main character to a silent, gold Godzilla. The Dino Zords somehow managed to look worse than the Michael Bay Dinobots.

To put it mildly, I was not looking forward to this.

But then the movie actually came out. Despite my initial concerns, I was hearing… good things about the movie? Literally everywhere I went, I heard how this was the movie Power Rangers fans had been waiting for, how it really did justice to the characters despite their redesigns, it was the best thing to come out of the franchise in years, and how it was just a good movie all around. In spite of myself, I started to get hopeful. Excited, even. After all, I didn’t want to dislike the movie. I didn’t want it to be bad. Maybe once I got past the awful redesigns, the movie actually was good. Yeah, Rita looked like some generic Syfy Channel villainess, but maybe she acted like Rita. I’d heard Elizabeth Banks was really hamming it up, and if anything describes Rita Repulsa, it’s hammy. So I put my opinions of the new designs aside. I already knew about them. They were no longer a surprise. I decided they were not going to ruin my enjoyment of the film. This wasn’t the same Power Rangers that I’d grown up with. This was new. I accepted that. I sat in the theater and soon Saban’s Power Rangers (2017) began.

I was stunned.

Out of all the complaints I could’ve had about this movie, I in no way expected it to be BORING.

CAST:

First off, let me say that the characters are well written and that the cast acts them very well. However, that being said, NONE of these characters - except for Billy and, to a slightly lesser degree, Trini - ARE LIKEABLE. Jason is an unhappy, rebellious teen… for some reason? His father wants him to do well in life, but he doesn’t seem to ever really venture into “overachieving asshole parent” territory, so I’m not entirely sure what Jason is rebelling unhappily against. Kimberly is legitimately a HORRIBLE person, spreading a classmate’s nude picture around school. Like, it’s nice that she feels bad about it later, but she’s still nevertheless a HORRIBLE person. And then she says “Serves you right!” when the girl almost gets killed by molten Goldar blood later in the movie because… Kimberly said she was sorry so I guess that makes the other girl a bitch now. Zack is literally just a loudmouth asshole, but I guess we’re supposed to like him/feel sorry for him because he has a sick mother? Billy, as I said before, is the most likeable member of the team, a kind soul who just wants the group to come together and be superheroes. I don’t know why he had to be on the spectrum, exactly. I’m not badmouthing it, or even saying I disliked it, really. It’s done really tastefully and never presented as a bad thing, which is great, it just kinda feels like “This ain’t the ‘90s anymore, yay relevance!” Like, why couldn’t he just be smart and unpopular? Is that not a thing anymore? Trini literally shows up well after everyone else has been fully established and her introduction totally reeks of afterthought, as if the screenwriters suddenly remembered “Oh, wait, there are five teenagers, aren’t there?” That said, once introduced, Trini does become a really interesting character with some actual motivation behind her “teenager with attitude"ness.

To sum up, despite some serious missteps, the Rangers are nevertheless fleshed out and acted well, turning them from the cardboard cutouts of the TV show to some well-rounded, flawed characters. So what was my problem with this story of angsty teenage drama, exactly? It never stopped. This movie was SO busy fleshing out the Rangers that it forgot to do anything Power Rangers-related until roughly the LAST TWENTY MINUTES OF THE MOVIE.

PLOT/PACING/EDITING:

The cliff-jumping scene lasts way too long. As do the “Wait, we all have powers!” scenes as they wake up the next morning after finding the Coins. There are at least three, possibly up to five, different instances of the Rangers standing in a circle, staring sadly at each other, saying “We don’t know each other very well, but we all have shitty lives, so maybe we should come together and be Power Rangers so we can finally have a family.” ALL IN COMPLETELY SEPARATE SCENES. And then we have what feels like twenty minutes of Zordon and Alpha training the Rangers, which is essentially just “Ow, being hit by rocks hurts” over and over. And then one of the Rangers finally succeeds in morphing, so Zordon gets pissed off and tells them all to GTFO…? Now don’t get me wrong, I understand why he gets angry - How can Billy have morphed without knowing how? Time is of the essence. But they should have worked up to Zordon getting to that point. Jason: “Billy just morphed!” Zordon: “What? That’s excellent! Finally, you Rangers are showing some progress! Billy, why don’t you go ahead and tell the others how you did it?” Billy: “…I don’t know how I did it.” Zordon: “…What?” Billy: “I don’t know how I morphed.” Zordon: “What do you mean, you don’t know how you morphed? How is that even possible?!” Billy: “I don’t know, it just happened!” Zordon: “That does it! We don’t have time for this!” This way, the movie shows him becoming understandably frustrated, instead of just blowing up like a temperamental asshole.

This movie drags its feet to an unbelievable level. The scene where the Rangers fight Rita on the docks? That should have happened 30 - 40 minutes into the movie, not right before the final fight of a 2+ hour film. And the fight is shrouded in darkness, reducing Rita and the Rangers to silhouettes, like this is some no-budget direct-to-video movie using darkness to hide its lack of budget. But hey, at least there’s that awesome rematch later where the Rangers fight Rita again after they get their powers, showing how strong they are as a fully powered team… What’s that? That never happens? ARE YOU SERIOUS? This is one of the most basic rules of superhero movies - the hero(es) and the villain(s) have to fight at some point! But hey, at least there’s the really awesome fight scene where the Rangers… fight the Putties. For about ninety seconds.

Let me repeat that: The Power Rangers appear for the first time with roughly twenty minutes of movie left, fight the Redshirts for about a minute and a half, and then the entire rest of the film is Zord action. If you’ve seen the trailers, you’ve pretty much seen all of the Rangers’ non-Zord screen time.

This is even worse than Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, which featured no fight between the Rangers and Ivan Ooze, but at least had that one good, long fight against the Oozemen at the construction site. Can you imagine if they made a Batman or Avengers movie where the costumed hero appeared for that short a time and only at the very end and never fought the main villain? People would flip their shit.

Also… We get the prologue with Zordon and Rita, then Jason’s introduction with the cow… And then the title? Shouldn’t that have been prologue, title, Jason? That’s such a weird choice.

TONE:

I get it. This isn’t the same kiddie TV show as before. This ain’t your Daddy’s Power Rangers. This is a big budget blockbuster with big boy special effects and biting teen angst!

But holy shit, this whole movie is just so grim and ugly and dark and depressing. There is no beacon of hope, visually or metaphorically. The teens are all awful people aside from Billy, Zordon is an asshole, Alpha is hideous, the Zords look just as ugly as the monsters they fight, the Power Rangers themselves are all dark and overly complicated and bio organic looking (like some sort of deformed love child of Iron Man and the Xenomorphs). The lesson the Rangers need to learn in order to unlock their suits is literally “Stop being assholes, both to each other and in general.” There are no friendly faces in a situation (and franchise) that badly calls out for one. Trini’s mother is psychotic in a scene that was presented as comedic in the trailer - She apparently had a urine sample cup ready and waiting at the dinner table, though thankfully, unlike Dawn of Justice, at least this one goes unfilled. Rita Repulsa, intergalactic sorceress and former Green Ranger, starts causing havoc, but instead of creating monsters and blowing up buildings and demanding that the people of Earth bow to her whim, SHE SPENDS THE FIRST THIRD OF THE FILM MURDERING HOBOS AND POLICEMEN.

THERE IS LITERALLY A NEWS REPORT ABOUT THE “GOLDEN SERIAL KILLER” PLAGUING ANGEL GROVE.

JESUS CHRIST, IS THIS STILL A FAMILY FILM?

This is one of the film’s biggest problems. There are some nice scenes, a few funny lines, and some cool special effects, but at no point does the film really feel fun.

“POWER RANGERS” STUFF:

Oddly, every time an actual name or term from the show was spoken, it brought me out of the movie in a similar fashion as when one of the original cast members cameoed in Ghostbusters (2016). “Putties.” “Alpha 5.” “Rita Repulsa.” “Angel Grove.” “Zeo Crystal.” Oh, right, I’m watching a movie about Power Rangers. I forgot.

And why are the Putties called “Putties?” In the show they’re called Putties because they’re made out of putty. Clay. Here, they’re dirt, rocks, and occasionally concrete. And why are the Putties such a big threat? They range from human sized to fifteen feet tall with six arms and shit. If they wanted some big monster-y things for the Rangers to beat up on why not throw in Eye Guy or King Sphinx or Pumpkin Rapper or something?

I feel like Zordon and Alpha’s voices should’ve been altered a bit. Zordon is a giant computer head whose voice fills the entire ship, so to hear Bryan Cranston’s normal voice come out of him was just weird. Similarly, Bill Hader’s untouched voice didn’t quite fit a tiny “cute” character like Alpha. I’m not saying make them quite as deep/high pitched as in the show, but a slight adjustment would have been nice.

The Power Coins are never shown up close, meaning we never see the dinosaur symbols on them, and so they literally just look like rocks with colored gel bits in the middle. They’re more Power Medallions than Coins.

“I’ll be back for the Crystal! Others will come for the Crystal!” Oh, God, please don’t tell me that every villain’s motivation now is just gonna be “I want the Zeo Crystal.”

I like how they got rid of Bulk and Skull, only to give Billy a bully anyway. Apparently having two bullies would’ve been confusing.

ZORDON, RITA, AND ALPHA:

I like how they go and give Zordon and Rita this big intertwined history - He was the Red Ranger, she was the Green. She betrayed their team and everything went to shit. A big deal was made about this leading up to the film. - and then absolutely none of it matters beyond the opening scene. There’s no “Anakin vs. Obi-Wan” dynamic at all. Zordon doesn’t seem sad about going up against his former teammate, Rita doesn’t have a moment of hesitation at any point, there’s no scene of Rita breaking into the Command Center and the two of them having bitter words with one another. Rita used to be the Green Ranger and… that’s it we’re done with that now.

Speaking of Rita being the Green Ranger (as opposed to simply her history with Zordon), that never really goes anywhere, either. Yeah, she uses the Dragon Coin to charge her wand, but that could’ve just been Rita doing her usual magic spell stuff. She didn’t need to be the Green Ranger for anything she does in the film. At no point does she do anything Green Ranger-y. She doesn’t attempt to summon the Dragonzord. She doesn’t fire an energy blast from her wand that has some cool dragon head effect at the tip of it. There’s no “Only a Power Ranger can access the Zeo Crystal,” which would be bad because Rita is one. This, combined with the lack of any actual interaction between her and Zordon as mentioned above, results in there being literally no reason for her to be the Green Ranger.

I mean, why does Rita not morph? There is never anything said at any point in the movie like she’s too weak to morph, or the Dragon Coin is damaged, or she lost her Morpher in the meteor blast (does this universe even have Morphers?), or she’s evolved past the need for Zordon’s silly Ranger suits, or anything like that. So why doesn’t she actually morph into the full Green Ranger at any point to fight the Rangers? “You’re so silly!” you may be thinking. “Not everything has to be packed into this one movie alone. That’s what the sequels are for!” Except, no, it’s not. If there was a film to actually explore and properly utilize the “Rita is the Green Ranger” plot, it was this one. In future movies, villain-wise, we’re gonna be introducing and dealing with Lord Zedd or King Mondo or whoever. Sure, Rita will probably still be around and team up with Zedd or something, but by then Tommy is going to be the Green Ranger (or Tammy, if the cast has their way). The time for “Green Ranger Rita” has passed.

I feel like Zordon and Alpha desperately needed a scene of their own. Every scene they’re in, they’re either instructing or yelling at or reacting to the Rangers, but they needed a moment to just be characters by themselves. Especially after Zordon loses his shit and the Rangers have their little campfire chat. Alpha: “Zordon, they… They’re trying, y'know? This is a huge thing we’re asking of them. They’re just kids.” Zordon: *sigh* “I know they are. I shouldn’t have yelled at them. I just… I don’t want what happened to my team to happen to them.”

Also, and I will totally chalk this one up to personal preference, but it felt weird with Alpha calling Zordon “Master.” Nothing wrong with it, necessarily, it just felt off to me.

Also also, the Rangers clearly need a strong emotional bond in order to unlock their suits, which Zordon hopes they achieve by punching hologram Putties…?

ALSO also also, was Rita not imprisoned? Like, in any fashion? Wasn’t there an image released of Rita (in her modern Green not-quite-a-Ranger suit) trapped in crystal or something? Wasn’t she sealed away along with the Power Coins? I thought the Rangers were supposed to free her or something. This leads into another issue…

The Rangers and Rita have nothing to do with each other. What I mean is, the Rangers mess around in the quarry and stumble upon the Power Coins by pure chance. Meanwhile, Rita is accidentally dredged up out of the ocean by some fishermen. The problem is… These are two completely unrelated events. The Rangers aren’t called to the Coins because Rita is nearing. Rita doesn’t wake up because the Power Coins are activated. They are literally just two things that coincidentally happen at the same time. What if the fishermen were fishing in a different area that day and the teens got the Power Coins for no reason? What if the teens decided to not hack into that crystal and pull out the Power Coins, but the fishermen still pulled Rita out of the ocean? These are both legitimately things that could have happened. There’s no predestined “The Coins found you because Rita is coming” or anything. The teens stumble upon the Coins and the fishermen stumble upon Rita.

And finally, the Megazord backhands Rita into outer space (which, I will admit, was hilarious and awesome). But then the Rangers just go about their day. They don’t say anything about her. Zordon and Alpha don’t say anything about her. Do they think she just disintegrated when the Megazord slapped her? They didn’t even recover the Dragon Coin, did they? Do they know where she is? Are they just assuming she’s going to be back at some point? For all they know, she’s somewhere on Earth, alive and active, raising an army of Goldars.

GOLDAR:

I will admit, this entire bit is simply “What I would’ve done instead,” but I feel like this one is worth mentioning.

There is literally no reason for Goldar to be reduced to a voiceless kaiju. They could have told the same story while keeping him much more akin to his television counterpart: Rita creates Goldar much earlier in the film, in the jewelry shop sequence. He’s the one that kills the police officer, not a Putty. Rita: “It’s good to see you again, old friend.” Goldar: “It is an honor to serve you once more, my Empress.” Later, when the Rangers arrive for the final battle, Rita simply makes Goldar grow. He still gets his ass beaten by the Megazord, but instead of dying, he merely shrinks back to human size. When Rita gets smacked into outer space, Goldar panics and follows, flying after her. This keeps Goldar faithful to his character while literally telling the exact same story the movie wanted to tell, and also keeping Goldar (one of the franchise’s main villains) alive for future appearances. They could’ve even used the same “chocolate fountain” design.

THE ZORDS:

But you know, as much as I dislike Rita and Goldar’s redesigns, they at least serve a purpose, story-wise. Rita has the skintight green suit because she used to be the Green Ranger. Goldar is a big messy blob kaiju because Rita hastily creates him out of molten gold. But the Megazord… The Megazord is quite possibly the most ugly, unappealing, least cool/awesome/badass-looking giant robot to ever be conceived in all of cinema history, from either the U.S. or Japan… And there is absolutely no reason for it. The Zords weren’t hastily thrown together by Alpha at the last minute. They weren’t in the middle of altering their appearance into dinosaurs and then got interrupted or lost interest or something. They just look like shit.

As far as the individual Dino Zords go, the Tyrannosaurus doesn’t look too bad. The Triceratops is okay, kind of. I can make out the horns occasionally. The Sabertooth Tiger and the Mastodon are always moving around so quickly that I can never make them out successfully. I can’t even really complain about the Mastodon’s eight spider legs because the damn thing was always jumping around so fast I couldn’t see the legs, I couldn’t see the trunk, I couldn’t see the tusks. For most of the movie it looked like Zack was piloting a big black aspirin. The Pterodactyl was just this big pink… thing in the sky. Did it even have a head?

And I’m sorry, but they’re way too small. Size wise, they’re essentially tanks on legs. They should not be smaller than a noticeable majority of the buildings around them (most of which are of the single story, small town, “mom and pop store” variety) and they should most certainly not be in danger of being overwhelmed by the Putties. Zords are supposed to be gigantic, not “kinda big.”

And then, in the middle of the climactic Zord fight, basically the moment the entire movie has been leading up to, the film suddenly gets massively, inexcusably, infuriatingly lazy. As bad as the Zords look, I was at least looking forward to seeing how they all come together. After all, looking at the Dino Zords, then at the Megazord, I honestly had no idea how they all came together and formed their various Megazord parts. Well, apparently, the filmmakers couldn’t figure it out, either. The Dino Zords fall into a hole, there’s a cloud of smoke and dust, and then the Megazord walks out of the cloud, fully formed. I was absolutely stunned at the complete and utter lack of giving a shit when it came to this sequence. Debatably one of the world’s most iconic combining robots AND IT DOESN’T COMBINE ONSCREEN? Can you imagine if you watched the first Transformers movie and Optimus Prime never transformed?! There’s a single extreme close up of some gears turning or something, but that’s it, and even that is mostly obscured by smoke and fire. Even Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie gave us a Megazord combination sequence and that thing barely had a better budget than an Asylum movie!

Also, this seems to be the first time Rita has ever seen a Megazord. But… it can’t be, right? Surely this can’t be the first time the Megazord has been formed. Surely Rita and Zordon know about Megazords.

“GO GO POWER RANGERS” AND THE SOUNDTRACK:

So, they use “Go Go Power Rangers” in the movie, which is awesome. The same version from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, even. While it was really cool in a Easter egg sort of way, there are two problems with this.

1) We don’t get anything else. There’s no new “Go Go Power Rangers 2017 Version.” They literally could not bother recording a new version of the franchise’s main theme for their big budget blockbuster feature film adaptation. They literally just used a twenty two year old track for about thirty seconds.

2) Does the movie play “Go Go Power Rangers,” the team’s triumphant, ass-kicking theme song, when the Rangers morph for the first time? When they fight the Putties? When they fight Goldar? When they form the Megazord? When they kill Goldar? When they bitchslap Rita into the stratosphere? No. We get it as the Zords run from Point A to Point B.

Thrilling.

What makes it even worse is that they play a rather awesome sounding orchestral version of the theme during the end credits, after the mid-credit sequence. This rendition would’ve been amazing to hear as the Megazord fights and slays Goldar.

In a slightly unrelated note: Power Rangers, particularly MMPR, is known for having a rockin’, kick ass soundtrack. This movie’s soundtrack is all sad, slow shit. WTF? I’m not saying it should’ve been filled with covers of “I Will Win” and “We Need A Hero,” but SOME rock songs would’ve been nice. Literally every song in the film sounded like its own sad, depressing cover version.

THINGS I DID LIKE:

The cast really does well with their roles. Jason interacting with Billy was done really well, as was Jason and Kimberly’s “Let’s just up and leave this shit hole town” scene.

I don’t know if it was intentional, but when the cow roars at Jason at the start, it’s the same sound effect the TV show used for the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord.

Alpha being Billy’s “training dummy” as he practiced fighting. It was a nice little moment that I could see happening with the original characters.

Trini and Kimberly’s little lunch training session at the diner. I ship it.

Zordon reciting the classic three rules of being Power Rangers to the teens. Honestly, it stuns me that they not only remembered them, but bothered using them.

Rita enjoying a donut as Goldar destroys the city.

The Rangers forming the Megazord for the first time… And then not knowing how to pilot it, so they fall over.

The Megazord bitchslapping Rita into outer space. That was classic stupid goofy MMPR.

THINGS I SHOULD’VE LIKED BUT DIDN’T:

The aforementioned use of “Go Go Power Rangers.” It was nice to hear, but it was way too little and most certainly not the wisest use of the theme if they could apparently only use it once.

“Make my monster grow!” Uhh… he’s already giant when she says that. He’s a permanently giant monster. The line makes no sense. “I’m at the corner of Mariner Bay and Reefside…” Again, I appreciate the Easter egg, but it was just so clunky with its reference-ness. Maybe if it had been said in a news report or something.

The cameos by Amy Jo Johnson and Jason David Frank. Not that they shouldn’t have made cameos, it just felt like it was left over from a different, more fun film. “Hey, look, it’s the original Tommy and Kimberly!” feels severely out of place when shoved into the middle of this grim and gritty teen drama. That’s actually a problem with a lot of the Power Rangers elements in this film - They feel out of place in their own movie.

The mid-credit sequence. Really? They’re planning five sequels to this shit and the best they can do is a green shirt? No hints or tease for Lord Zedd, Master Vile, the Machine Empire, Divatox, Dark Specter, the Dragonzord, the Thunder Zords, the Ninja Zords, Saba, the Alien Rangers, Ninjor, Lt. Stone, nothing? We’re not even really allowed to enjoy the Tommy tease because it’s immediately interrupted by “lol, Billy blew up his locker again.”

OTHER THINGS:

Joseph Kahn, Adi Shankar, and Jil Hardin should look into a plagiarism suit because the opening of this movie is almost verbatim the opening of POWER/RANGERS. It even has the exact same establishing shot of the Red Ranger’s helmet laying on the charred ground, with death and destruction happening in the background.

“Send the meteor to my coordinates!” Wait, what? Zordon and/or Alpha can cast Meteor? What is this meteor? What does it do? It can’t be Zordon’s ship/the Command Center, because he wouldn’t call that “the meteor,” he’d call it “my ship.” Zordon buries the Power Coins on his own, so it doesn’t help with that, either. I guess it just kinda knocks Rita into the sea? And maybe kills the dinosaurs? Good job? I freely admit that this is an oddly specific thing to focus on, but what was up with that slim, “independent film” title, shoved way off into the corner? Where was the big block letter logo with the lightning bolt in the middle, smack dab in the middle of the screen, optionally accompanied by an instrumental “Go Go Power Rangers” riff? The trailers got this right, why change it?

They actually used the idea of the Rangers’ helmets opening up and revealing their faces, a la Iron Man. This was an idea they originally had for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie back in 1995, but scrapped it because it looked stupid, deciding that their helmets should be, y’know, helmets. I don’t understand why they brought this idea back, as it doesn’t suddenly look better just because it’s 2017. Not to mention it allows the movie to do the “Can’t keep the stars’ faces covered for too long!” thing that always ruins climactic fights in superhero movies. It was so awkward and obvious whenever they’d state the Rangers’ full names. It was like the movie was making a point for everyone in the audience to know what their last names were. This wouldn’t be a problem except the only Ranger they don’t do this with is Trini (who clearly is not a “Kwan”) and it’s really noticeable. “JASON SCOTT!” “KIMBERLY HART!” “BILLY CRANSTON!” “ZACK TAYLOR!” “…and Trini.” The fact that Krispy Kreme was literally a plot point and central location in this film is beyond stupid. It was the level of product placement in a movie you’d expect to see from someone making fun of product placement in movies. Couldn’t the location of the Zeo Crystal have been the Youth Center? The Krispy Kreme could just be a business next door, or Ernie could’ve been doing a little promotional “Come buy Kripsy Kreme fruit smoothie donuts!” It kinda made me regret getting those PR donuts a little bit, truth be told. I thought it was just a fun little promotional thing, I didn’t realize Krispy Kreme had a supporting role in the film.

BOTTOM LINE:

Takes far, far too long for anything Power Rangers-related to happen. Yes, Zordon and Alpha are in the movie a lot, but they alone can’t carry the entire film.

No real sense of fun at any point.

The Power Rangers elements feel out of place in their own film.

The biggest problem with this movie is that the filmmakers had absolutely no sense of proportion, ratio, or balance. The teens and their characterization were great, but they took over the entire movie, while the actual Power Rangers elements were shoved into the corner and all but forgotten about until there was almost no time left to do anything with them. It was 85% teen angst and 15% Power Rangers when it needed to be 60% teen angst, 40% Power Rangers. Or, Heaven forbid, maybe even 50/50. It felt like the filmmakers were all “Shit, there are five more of these things coming. Let’s get all the characterization out of the way now so the sequels can be Power Rangers kung fu fun out the wazoo!” But that’s no way to make a film. What happens if something goes askew and this series goes the way of Divergent? What if the series is suddenly cancelled at some point and they never actually get around to what the hell the entire point of the franchise was? Even the MCU, which has movies planned until roughly 2055, still tells a complete story and gives their titular heroes plenty of time to shine in each individual film. This movie felt like a really good first draft that, while promising, was still in some serious need of going over and editing/rewriting. As it is, it feels like a Power Rangers film that has absolutely no interest in being a Power Rangers film.

[ourlittledinosaur]

3 Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal

New Post has been published on http://ourlittledinosaur.azurewebsites.net/3-family-friendly-ways-to-be-frugal/

3 Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal

Money, Money, Money!

Some say that money is the root of all evil. Well, actually the Bible says that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10) This simply means that money should not be our idol. It does not mean that we should never think about money or should never have money. In fact, the Bible encourages wisdom when handling our assets, and even talks about wealth as a good thing. It is wise to save money and even to invest it.

Invest? Are You Crazy? I’m in Debt and Living Paycheck to Paycheck!

Ok, so maybe you have some steps in between now and investing. That’s ok. The important thing is to get started! The most important aspect in my opinion is to GET OUT AND STAY OUT of debt. It is the black hole of a healthy financial lifestyle. Also, BUDGET. As Dave Ramsey says, “Every dollar has a name.” I highly recommend Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU). Not only does it outline simple steps for how to handle your money, but it is a great way for you and your spouse to get on board the same train…the mental train of thought that is!

Healthy Financial Habits are Good for Your Family

You may have heard that 50% of marriages end in divorce. Did you know that a high percentage of those divorces end due primarily to fights over money? Being unified as husband and wife (or Daddy and Mommy, as your kids see you) is so very important for the health of your family. Kids are smart and they see what you argue about. They worry about what you worry about. This Lil’ Dino Mommy tries really hard not to argue or fight with Lil’ Dino Daddy in front of our son…even if he is just a year old. You may be thinking, “Surely, at such a young age, he won’t know.” or “He won’t remember.” Perhaps not, and I hope you’re right about that because I’ve already failed in not losing my temper with my husband in front of him. But there are two reasons why I really want to keep working towards the “Don’t fight in front of your kids” rule.

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect. The behaviors and words we are used to doing and saying on a day to day basis are going to be what our kids see. It’s not like we can flip a switch and suddenly be a different person. Besides, in those moments of anger, we are told not to sin. Feeling angry in and of itself isn’t sinful. It’s how we handle that anger that makes a difference. I want to practice right now, today, the self-control I will need in the future. If my husband and I are in the habit of speaking kindly to one another and dealing with arguments at another time or place, then when push comes to shove (metaphorically, of course!), we will be able to do the same in the future. Besides, we should be dealing with one another kindly whether or not there are little eyes watching. Which brings me to…

Monkey See. Monkey Do. Who hasn’t heard this phrase? I’ll do you one better, who wasn’t told as a kid by some adult, (maybe not your parents, well…maybe them too), “Do as I say, not as I do”? And who, if you were a teenager, didn’t think, “Yeah right!” We are supposed to model for our children the correct ways to behave and to speak. A perfect example of this in my own life was a couple months ago. I was talking to my husband, frustrated about something, but not at him, and I threw down a pair of pants I was folding as I exclaimed about it. My son, 10 months old, said, “Argh!” and threw down his toy. Oh…hold up there Lil’ Dino Mommy, get it together because your BABY boy is watching you oh, so closely. Another example of this is eating healthy. I really want my children to have healthy eating habits. It is something I have really struggled with all my life and I don’t want them to struggle the same way. The BEST way for me to ensure this is to give them the knowledge on what healthy eating looks like AND model that knowledge in our day to day lives. Eating healthy has to be a lifestyle, not merely a New Year’s Resolution or a fad.

Getting to the Point

So, we all need to practice and model good habits for our kiddos. This includes how we handle our money! So here are # Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal! If you can’t do them all right away, don’t worry. Maybe just work on adding one to start. Whether you are in debt and trying to pinch pennies to get out, or trying to reallocate some funds into your current investments, these are all ways to rename some of those dollars. This was definitely a process for Lil’ Dino Daddy and me. I will share the crazy things we do even though some of you may think they are just TOO crazy. Some may not work for everyone, but maybe they all will work for someone.

3 Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal

Limit Eating Out. Cook More. This one is so tough for me, which is why it is first on the list. Feeding our family is mainly my responsibility. I want to do a good job for both the health of my family and the health of our bank account. Being a “Drive-Thru Sue” is so very easy for me to fall into. I do enjoy cooking, but let’s face it, it takes time, not to mention the clean up can seem like more work than it’s worth to prepare the meal. Now that I have a one year old toddler in tow, it is all the more difficult to find time to do what it takes to cook. However, this is the most frugal thing I can do. Since eating is something I can easily let get out of control, it is the first thing I have to address. So, for me, taking care of this has to come before a clean house, to include laundry. Here’s how I accomplish this…most weeks.

Meal Planning. Every week I sit down and write up a meal plan. This is a habit I learned from my mother-in-law after I was married and it has really helped us save money on food. How? Well, before I meal plan, I take a peek at what’s in my fridge, freezer, and pantry, and try to build meals around things I already have. Then I sit down and peruse my cookbooks if I’m feeling adventurous, or jot down a few meals that are staples in our home. As I make my meals, I make my…

Grocery List. This seems simple enough, but a well planned grocery list keeps me from buying things that aren’t ON the list. When I go to the store without a list, I end up buying more than I need, and usually waste more…because the two of us (plus little dino) simply can’t get through it all. If this is a pain point for you, I have a few friends that swear by the curbside pick up or grocery delivery options at our local grocery stores. Some stores do charge for this service, but if you find yourself spending less using this option than if you would have gone in, it’s definitely worth a try.

Prepare Meals Ahead. When I am cooking certain meals, I will sometimes double the recipe and save half in the freezer. Some good candidates for freezer meals are soups, chili, and casseroles, such as shepherd’s pie. I also tend to make more spaghetti sauce in relation to pasta or spaghetti squash, so I freeze half of this as well. (Bonus tip: For those who aren’t good at eating through all the produce in the fridge before it wilts or spoils, wash it and chop it when you buy it, and throw it in the freezer for another day! I do this with carrots, spinach, celery, peppers, and berries. I also buy bulk onions and garlic and just throw the whole bag in the freezer for when I need it.)

Eat Leftovers. I’m always shocked when I hear people say they don’t eat leftovers. I truly can’t imagine just throwing food away. Ok, so maybe some people are good at preparing just enough for that one meal. To that I say: I truly can’t imagine having to cook every night. Hahaha! But if you can, power to you. That’s awesome! If that is you, you are clearly way more organized than me and probably LOVE cooking way more than me as well.

Make Eating Out Special. If you are like me, eating out or ordering in, even at fast food places, can feel like a vacation from the kitchen. I enjoy not having to cook that night. I enjoy letting someone else feed me for a change, for goodness sake! My husband and I try to plan once a month to go somewhere we really enjoy and make a date out of it. (I must note that this last one is not recommended for those who are in debt. When my husband and I had debt, we did not eat out. Ever. We basically lived on rice, beans, and eggs, and at times, the kindness of others who might have us over for dinner.)

Old School House Rules. Take a look at that budget. Work on taking steps to lower your household expenses. What can you do to lower your electricity bill? Your water bill?

Turn off the lights and switch to LED. I used to get in such trouble as a child for keeping the lights on in a room I was no longer occupying. I still shudder in fear at the remembrance of the sound of my first and middle name being yelled by my mother if she found a vacant room with a light burning brightly. In fact, this habit has stuck so severely, that I have (more than once) turned the light off as I leave a room my husband is still occupying! Whoops! Sorry honey.

Another energy saving method we have employed is using a drying rack to dry our clothes instead of the dryer. The average person spends about $50/month by using the dryer. Drying racks or clothes lines are not only cheaper as it relates to electricity, but it also keeps your clothes from wearing out as quickly. We use drying racks because our subdivision’s HOA would not allow the use of a clothes line in the backyard. (Ridiculous! We will never buy a house under an HOA again!) However, since we moved to our apartment, the drying racks have allowed us to continue to dry clothes both inside and outside on the patio. (Thank goodness the complex doesn’t mind

If you own your own home and plan to live there for a while, look into things you can do to make your home more energy efficient. We had solar screens fitted to our windows and there was a significant difference in the amount of heat coming into our home during the summer. Living in South Texas, the heat can be brutal! We also had our insulation double checked and a radiant barrier installed. Once we have found our forever home, we will look into Solar panels.

Saving on the water bill doesn’t take too much imagination, but doesn’t take some discipline if you really want to make a dent. Turn the water off when you’re brushing your teeth, pay attention to how long your shower is running. If you are watering your grass or garden, make it count by watering early in the morning or late in the evening. Think dawn and/or dusk.

Replace Consumable Products with Reusable Products. This one was tough for our family in the beginning, but now it’s not a big deal at all. The most difficult thing to let go of was paper towels. We used them for everything from cleaning to napkins. So here’s what I did: I started cleaning the table and counters with my dish towels. I also bought a set of 12 cloth napkins – the kind you see at a nice-ish restaurant, and we use these at meal times rather than tearing off pre-perforated paper towels and passing them around the table like we used to do. I have also recently discovered a self-cleaning microfiber cloth which I really like. This has eliminated my need for chemical cleaners, so although the transition is slow-going, my home is on its way to chemical-free cleaning with these cloths and essential oil blends like Thieves.

This idea can be applied to other things as well. Consider the consumable products you use. What reusable products might you be able to replace them with? Here are a few more ideas: cloth diapers instead of disposable (do I dare mention the wipes?), maybe use reusable containers rather than plastic baggies when packing your lunch, and go ahead and use your flatware instead of buying paper plates. What’s a little more laundry and a few more dishes? – we all have to do them anyway!

There are so many ways to tweak lifestyle and habits alike in order to save money. For more ideas, visit this website. Now here’s a family dedicated to frugality. I love Mrs. Frugalwoods’ idea to put a slip of paper in your wallet to remind you of your bigger goals and dreams. If you’re us, when you go to spend money you see it and say, “Would I rather have pizza delivered or for my family to be closer to our goal of owning a farm?”

Our family wants to learn from you too! Please share YOUR frugal ideas in the comment section below.

Like this post? Help us and others by Sharing!

Share List

SGMB_URL = "/wp-content/plugins/social-media-pro/"; jQuery(".dropdownWrapper").hide(); SGMB_GOOGLE_ACOUNT = "UA-88059982-5"; jQuery(document).ready(function($)var widget = new SGMBWidget();widget.show("id":"2","title":"Share All","options":"currentUrl":"1","url":"","shareText":"I really enjoyed this, I think you will too!","fontSize":"20","betweenButtons":"1px","theme":"pen","sgmbButtonsPosition":"bottomCenter","socialTheme":"minima","icon":"pen","buttonsPanelEffect":"No Effect","buttonsEffect":"No Effect","iconsEffect":"No Effect","buttons":"\"facebook\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-facebook\",\"twitter\":\"label\":\"Tweet\",\"icon\":\"pen-twitter\",\"via\":\"\",\"hashtags\":\"\",\"googleplus\":\"label\":\"+1\",\"icon\":\"pen-googleplus\",\"linkedin\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-linkedin\",\"email\":\"label\":\"E-mail\",\"icon\":\"pen-email\",\"pinterest\":\"label\":\"Pin this\",\"icon\":\"pen-pinterest\",\"whatsapp\":\"label\":\"WhatsApp\",\"icon\":\"pen-whatsapp\",\"tumblr\":\"label\":\"Post\",\"icon\":\"pen-tumblr\",\"reddit\":\"label\":\"Reddit\",\"icon\":\"pen-reddit\",\"line\":\"label\":\"Line\",\"icon\":\"pen-line\",\"vk\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-vk\",\"stumbleupon\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-stumbleupon\",\"mewe\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-mewe\",\"fbLike\":\"fbLikeLayout\":\"\",\"fbLikeActionType\":\"\",\"fbLikeUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Our-Little-Dinosaur-582858138573920\\\/\",\"twitterFollow\":\"twitterFollowShowCounts\":\"\",\"setLargeSizeForTwitterFollow\":\"\",\"followUserName\":\"ourlildinosaur\"","roundButton":"","showLabels":"on","showCounts":"on","showCenter":"","showButtonsAsList":"","sgmbDropdownColor":"","sgmbDropdownLabelFontSize":"14","sgmbDropdownLabelColor":"","showButtonsOnEveryPost":"on","selectedOrExcluded":"","showButtonsOnEveryPage":"","textOnEveryPost":"Like this post? Help us and others by Sharing!","showButtonsOnCustomPost":"","textOnCustomPost":"","showButtonsOnMobileDirect":"on","showButtonsOnDesktopDirect":"on","sgmbSelectedPages":[""],"sgmbExcludedPosts":[""],"sgmbSelectedCustomPosts":[],"showButtonsInPopup":"","titleOfPopup":"Please share it!","descriptionOfPopup":"Go ahead and share our site if you liked it!","showPopupOnLoad":"","showPopupOnScroll":"","showPopupOnExit":"","openSecondsOfPopup":"","googleAnaliticsAccount":"UA-88059982-5","buttonOptions":"facebook":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-facebook","twitter":"label":"Tweet","icon":"pen-twitter","via":"","hashtags":"","googleplus":"label":"+1","icon":"pen-googleplus","linkedin":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-linkedin","email":"label":"E-mail","icon":"pen-email","pinterest":"label":"Pin this","icon":"pen-pinterest","whatsapp":"label":"WhatsApp","icon":"pen-whatsapp","tumblr":"label":"Post","icon":"pen-tumblr","reddit":"label":"Reddit","icon":"pen-reddit","line":"label":"Line","icon":"pen-line","vk":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-vk","stumbleupon":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-stumbleupon","mewe":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-mewe","fbLike":"fbLikeLayout":"","fbLikeActionType":"","fbLikeUrl":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Our-Little-Dinosaur-582858138573920\/","twitterFollow":"twitterFollowShowCounts":"","setLargeSizeForTwitterFollow":"","followUserName":"ourlildinosaur","button":["facebook","twitter","googleplus","linkedin","email","pinterest","whatsapp","tumblr","reddit","line","vk","stumbleupon","mewe","fbLike","twitterFollow"], 4, '', '/wp-content/plugins/social-media-pro//img/no-image.png', '', ''); );

jQuery(".socialMediaOnEveryPost").addClass("sgmb-center")

[ourlittledinosaur]

3 Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal

New Post has been published on http://ourlittledinosaur.com/3-family-friendly-ways-to-be-frugal/

3 Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal

Money, Money, Money!

Some say that money is the root of all evil. Well, actually the Bible says that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10) This simply means that money should not be our idol. It does not mean that we should never think about money or should never have money. In fact, the Bible encourages wisdom when handling our assets, and even talks about wealth as a good thing. It is wise to save money and even to invest it.

Invest? Are You Crazy? I’m in Debt and Living Paycheck to Paycheck!

Ok, so maybe you have some steps in between now and investing. That’s ok. The important thing is to get started! The most important aspect in my opinion is to GET OUT AND STAY OUT of debt. It is the black hole of a healthy financial lifestyle. Also, BUDGET. As Dave Ramsey says, “Every dollar has a name.” I highly recommend Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU). Not only does it outline simple steps for how to handle your money, but it is a great way for you and your spouse to get on board the same train…the mental train of thought that is!

Healthy Financial Habits are Good for Your Family

You may have heard that 50% of marriages end in divorce. Did you know that a high percentage of those divorces end due primarily to fights over money? Being unified as husband and wife (or Daddy and Mommy, as your kids see you) is so very important for the health of your family. Kids are smart and they see what you argue about. They worry about what you worry about. This Lil’ Dino Mommy tries really hard not to argue or fight with Lil’ Dino Daddy in front of our son…even if he is just a year old. You may be thinking, “Surely, at such a young age, he won’t know.” or “He won’t remember.” Perhaps not, and I hope you’re right about that because I’ve already failed in not losing my temper with my husband in front of him. But there are two reasons why I really want to keep working towards the “Don’t fight in front of your kids” rule.

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect. The behaviors and words we are used to doing and saying on a day to day basis are going to be what our kids see. It’s not like we can flip a switch and suddenly be a different person. Besides, in those moments of anger, we are told not to sin. Feeling angry in and of itself isn’t sinful. It’s how we handle that anger that makes a difference. I want to practice right now, today, the self-control I will need in the future. If my husband and I are in the habit of speaking kindly to one another and dealing with arguments at another time or place, then when push comes to shove (metaphorically, of course!), we will be able to do the same in the future. Besides, we should be dealing with one another kindly whether or not there are little eyes watching. Which brings me to…

Monkey See. Monkey Do. Who hasn’t heard this phrase? I’ll do you one better, who wasn’t told as a kid by some adult, (maybe not your parents, well…maybe them too), “Do as I say, not as I do”? And who, if you were a teenager, didn’t think, “Yeah right!” We are supposed to model for our children the correct ways to behave and to speak. A perfect example of this in my own life was a couple months ago. I was talking to my husband, frustrated about something, but not at him, and I threw down a pair of pants I was folding as I exclaimed about it. My son, 10 months old, said, “Argh!” and threw down his toy. Oh…hold up there Lil’ Dino Mommy, get it together because your BABY boy is watching you oh, so closely. Another example of this is eating healthy. I really want my children to have healthy eating habits. It is something I have really struggled with all my life and I don’t want them to struggle the same way. The BEST way for me to ensure this is to give them the knowledge on what healthy eating looks like AND model that knowledge in our day to day lives. Eating healthy has to be a lifestyle, not merely a New Year’s Resolution or a fad.

Getting to the Point

So, we all need to practice and model good habits for our kiddos. This includes how we handle our money! So here are # Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal! If you can’t do them all right away, don’t worry. Maybe just work on adding one to start. Whether you are in debt and trying to pinch pennies to get out, or trying to reallocate some funds into your current investments, these are all ways to rename some of those dollars. This was definitely a process for Lil’ Dino Daddy and me. I will share the crazy things we do even though some of you may think they are just TOO crazy. Some may not work for everyone, but maybe they all will work for someone.

3 Family Friendly Ways to be Frugal

Limit Eating Out. Cook More. This one is so tough for me, which is why it is first on the list. Feeding our family is mainly my responsibility. I want to do a good job for both the health of my family and the health of our bank account. Being a “Drive-Thru Sue” is so very easy for me to fall into. I do enjoy cooking, but let’s face it, it takes time, not to mention the clean up can seem like more work than it’s worth to prepare the meal. Now that I have a one year old toddler in tow, it is all the more difficult to find time to do what it takes to cook. However, this is the most frugal thing I can do. Since eating is something I can easily let get out of control, it is the first thing I have to address. So, for me, taking care of this has to come before a clean house, to include laundry. Here’s how I accomplish this…most weeks.

Meal Planning. Every week I sit down and write up a meal plan. This is a habit I learned from my mother-in-law after I was married and it has really helped us save money on food. How? Well, before I meal plan, I take a peek at what’s in my fridge, freezer, and pantry, and try to build meals around things I already have. Then I sit down and peruse my cookbooks if I’m feeling adventurous, or jot down a few meals that are staples in our home. As I make my meals, I make my…

Grocery List. This seems simple enough, but a well planned grocery list keeps me from buying things that aren’t ON the list. When I go to the store without a list, I end up buying more than I need, and usually waste more…because the two of us (plus little dino) simply can’t get through it all. If this is a pain point for you, I have a few friends that swear by the curbside pick up or grocery delivery options at our local grocery stores. Some stores do charge for this service, but if you find yourself spending less using this option than if you would have gone in, it’s definitely worth a try.

Prepare Meals Ahead. When I am cooking certain meals, I will sometimes double the recipe and save half in the freezer. Some good candidates for freezer meals are soups, chili, and casseroles, such as shepherd’s pie. I also tend to make more spaghetti sauce in relation to pasta or spaghetti squash, so I freeze half of this as well. (Bonus tip: For those who aren’t good at eating through all the produce in the fridge before it wilts or spoils, wash it and chop it when you buy it, and throw it in the freezer for another day! I do this with carrots, spinach, celery, peppers, and berries. I also buy bulk onions and garlic and just throw the whole bag in the freezer for when I need it.)

Eat Leftovers. I’m always shocked when I hear people say they don’t eat leftovers. I truly can’t imagine just throwing food away. Ok, so maybe some people are good at preparing just enough for that one meal. To that I say: I truly can’t imagine having to cook every night. Hahaha! But if you can, power to you. That’s awesome! If that is you, you are clearly way more organized than me and probably LOVE cooking way more than me as well.

Make Eating Out Special. If you are like me, eating out or ordering in, even at fast food places, can feel like a vacation from the kitchen. I enjoy not having to cook that night. I enjoy letting someone else feed me for a change, for goodness sake! My husband and I try to plan once a month to go somewhere we really enjoy and make a date out of it. (I must note that this last one is not recommended for those who are in debt. When my husband and I had debt, we did not eat out. Ever. We basically lived on rice, beans, and eggs, and at times, the kindness of others who might have us over for dinner.)

Old School House Rules. Take a look at that budget. Work on taking steps to lower your household expenses. What can you do to lower your electricity bill? Your water bill?

Turn off the lights and switch to LED. I used to get in such trouble as a child for keeping the lights on in a room I was no longer occupying. I still shudder in fear at the remembrance of the sound of my first and middle name being yelled by my mother if she found a vacant room with a light burning brightly. In fact, this habit has stuck so severely, that I have (more than once) turned the light off as I leave a room my husband is still occupying! Whoops! Sorry honey.

Another energy saving method we have employed is using a drying rack to dry our clothes instead of the dryer. The average person spends about $50/month by using the dryer. Drying racks or clothes lines are not only cheaper as it relates to electricity, but it also keeps your clothes from wearing out as quickly. We use drying racks because our subdivision’s HOA would not allow the use of a clothes line in the backyard. (Ridiculous! We will never buy a house under an HOA again!) However, since we moved to our apartment, the drying racks have allowed us to continue to dry clothes both inside and outside on the patio. (Thank goodness the complex doesn’t mind

If you own your own home and plan to live there for a while, look into things you can do to make your home more energy efficient. We had solar screens fitted to our windows and there was a significant difference in the amount of heat coming into our home during the summer. Living in South Texas, the heat can be brutal! We also had our insulation double checked and a radiant barrier installed. Once we have found our forever home, we will look into Solar panels.

Saving on the water bill doesn’t take too much imagination, but doesn’t take some discipline if you really want to make a dent. Turn the water off when you’re brushing your teeth, pay attention to how long your shower is running. If you are watering your grass or garden, make it count by watering early in the morning or late in the evening. Think dawn and/or dusk.

Replace Consumable Products with Reusable Products. This one was tough for our family in the beginning, but now it’s not a big deal at all. The most difficult thing to let go of was paper towels. We used them for everything from cleaning to napkins. So here’s what I did: I started cleaning the table and counters with my dish towels. I also bought a set of 12 cloth napkins – the kind you see at a nice-ish restaurant, and we use these at meal times rather than tearing off pre-perforated paper towels and passing them around the table like we used to do. I have also recently discovered a self-cleaning microfiber cloth which I really like. This has eliminated my need for chemical cleaners, so although the transition is slow-going, my home is on its way to chemical-free cleaning with these cloths and essential oil blends like Thieves.

This idea can be applied to other things as well. Consider the consumable products you use. What reusable products might you be able to replace them with? Here are a few more ideas: cloth diapers instead of disposable (do I dare mention the wipes?), maybe use reusable containers rather than plastic baggies when packing your lunch, and go ahead and use your flatware instead of buying paper plates. What’s a little more laundry and a few more dishes? – we all have to do them anyway!

There are so many ways to tweak lifestyle and habits alike in order to save money. For more ideas, visit this website. Now here’s a family dedicated to frugality. I love Mrs. Frugalwoods’ idea to put a slip of paper in your wallet to remind you of your bigger goals and dreams. If you’re us, when you go to spend money you see it and say, “Would I rather have pizza delivered or for my family to be closer to our goal of owning a farm?”

Our family wants to learn from you too! Please share YOUR frugal ideas in the comment section below.

Like this post? Help us and others by Sharing!

Share List

SGMB_URL = "http://ourlittledinosaur.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-pro/"; jQuery(".dropdownWrapper").hide(); SGMB_GOOGLE_ACOUNT = "UA-88059982-5"; jQuery(document).ready(function($)var widget = new SGMBWidget();widget.show("id":"1","title":"Share All","options":"currentUrl":"1","url":"","shareText":"I really enjoyed this, I think you will too!","fontSize":"20","betweenButtons":"1px","theme":"pen","sgmbButtonsPosition":"bottomCenter","socialTheme":"minima","icon":"pen","buttonsPanelEffect":"No Effect","buttonsEffect":"No Effect","iconsEffect":"No Effect","buttons":"\"facebook\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-facebook\",\"twitter\":\"label\":\"Tweet\",\"icon\":\"pen-twitter\",\"via\":\"\",\"hashtags\":\"\",\"googleplus\":\"label\":\"+1\",\"icon\":\"pen-googleplus\",\"linkedin\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-linkedin\",\"email\":\"label\":\"E-mail\",\"icon\":\"pen-email\",\"pinterest\":\"label\":\"Pin this\",\"icon\":\"pen-pinterest\",\"whatsapp\":\"label\":\"WhatsApp\",\"icon\":\"pen-whatsapp\",\"tumblr\":\"label\":\"Post\",\"icon\":\"pen-tumblr\",\"reddit\":\"label\":\"Reddit\",\"icon\":\"pen-reddit\",\"line\":\"label\":\"Line\",\"icon\":\"pen-line\",\"vk\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-vk\",\"stumbleupon\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-stumbleupon\",\"mewe\":\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"pen-mewe\",\"twitterFollow\":\"twitterFollowShowCounts\":\"\",\"setLargeSizeForTwitterFollow\":\"on\",\"followUserName\":\"ourlildinosaur\",\"fbLike\":\"fbLikeLayout\":\"button\",\"fbLikeActionType\":\"like\",\"fbLikeUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Our-Little-Dinosaur-582858138573920\\\/\"","roundButton":"","showLabels":"on","showCounts":"on","showCenter":"","showButtonsAsList":"","sgmbDropdownColor":"","sgmbDropdownLabelFontSize":"14","sgmbDropdownLabelColor":"","showButtonsOnEveryPost":"on","selectedOrExcluded":"","showButtonsOnEveryPage":"","textOnEveryPost":"Like this post? Help us and others by Sharing!","showButtonsOnCustomPost":"","textOnCustomPost":"","showButtonsOnMobileDirect":"on","showButtonsOnDesktopDirect":"on","sgmbSelectedPages":[""],"sgmbExcludedPosts":[""],"sgmbSelectedCustomPosts":[],"showButtonsInPopup":"","titleOfPopup":"Please share it!","descriptionOfPopup":"Go ahead and share our site if you liked it!","showPopupOnLoad":"","showPopupOnScroll":"","showPopupOnExit":"","openSecondsOfPopup":"","googleAnaliticsAccount":"UA-88059982-5","buttonOptions":"facebook":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-facebook","twitter":"label":"Tweet","icon":"pen-twitter","via":"","hashtags":"","googleplus":"label":"+1","icon":"pen-googleplus","linkedin":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-linkedin","email":"label":"E-mail","icon":"pen-email","pinterest":"label":"Pin this","icon":"pen-pinterest","whatsapp":"label":"WhatsApp","icon":"pen-whatsapp","tumblr":"label":"Post","icon":"pen-tumblr","reddit":"label":"Reddit","icon":"pen-reddit","line":"label":"Line","icon":"pen-line","vk":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-vk","stumbleupon":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-stumbleupon","mewe":"label":"Share","icon":"pen-mewe","twitterFollow":"twitterFollowShowCounts":"","setLargeSizeForTwitterFollow":"on","followUserName":"ourlildinosaur","fbLike":"fbLikeLayout":"button","fbLikeActionType":"like","fbLikeUrl":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Our-Little-Dinosaur-582858138573920\/","button":["facebook","twitter","googleplus","linkedin","email","pinterest","whatsapp","tumblr","reddit","line","vk","stumbleupon","mewe","twitterFollow","fbLike"], 6, '', 'http://ourlittledinosaur.com/wp-content/plugins/social-media-pro//img/no-image.png', '', ''); );

jQuery(".socialMediaOnEveryPost").addClass("sgmb-center")