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When I was in middle school a new pastor accepted a call to our church. He liked to play guitar and taught us a song about Noah's Ark called "Arise and Shine" (Children of the Lord) with lots of silly verses including "The Lord said to Noah: There's gonna be a floody, floody; Get those children out of the muddy, muddy; Children of the Lord." The song is fun to sing for children but because of the lyrics, it is one of those songs that a child could easily get made fun of by their non-religious friends for singing, for showing their faith. All kids worry about what their friends think of them and try to avoid getting laughed at by their friends. The newest VeggieTales DVD just released on August 4th called Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella addresses the issue of confidence around friends and teaches children to do the right thing and not worry about possible ridicule.

In this episode, Larry the Cucumber stars as Minnesota Cuke, the curator of the Mooselake Children's Museum. A rich man named Humfrey Muffet sends Cuke on a quest for Noah's Ark. Muffet wants the Ark for his Bible-themed goldfish pond. Cuke, along with his friends Martin, Julia and Professor Rattan, work to locate the Ark and learn of the existence of a supposedly powerful "Noah's Umbrella." Following clues, Cuke journeys to the pyramids in Mexico and later to Turkey and overcomes tests and hardships. Rattan's evil twin brother named Wicker knows of the quest and tries to find the location of the umbrella and Ark before the others. The accompanying silly song for this episode is titled "Sippy Cup." Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella is an Indiana Jones inspired episode, much like the earlier VeggieTales adventure, Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson’s Hairbrush.

Minnesota Cuke is overly concerned about what other people think of him. The show relates the following message: "God promises He will give us the confidence to do the right thing," despite what others may think. It is important to have faith in God's plans, just like Noah had great faith when he built the Ark. The applicable Bible verse discussed at the end of the film is Proverbs 29:25 - "Being afraid of people can get you in trouble, but if you trust in the Lord, you will be safe."

This faced-paced episode full of adventure and suspense will keep kids interested. Like the other VeggieTales episodes, the adventure includes plenty of creative and witty remarks. For example, one of the cities Cuke visits is called "El Pez," the ancient city of candy dispensers. For those interested in incorporating bilingual studies, parts of the episode feature Spanish words and phrases, especially the song "Mexican Ice Cream." And, to my delight, the song "Arise and Shine" plays a big part in the show. I have a feeling VeggieTales has another hit on their hands!


Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella Not Rated-50 minutes-Color-5.1 Surround Sound-English & Spanish Subtitles-Close-Captioned; DVD UPC Code: 820413114091 $14.99 SRP
DVD Source: Review copy provided for free by Big Idea


Related Links:
Watch the Sippy Cup Silly Song
Online game: Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella
Printable Coloring Pages [pdf]
First day of school help guide: Bob and Larry's Confidence Building Tips [pdf]

This post was written for Family Review Network as part of a program for Big Idea and VeggieTales, who supplied the DVD for review.

It's been another crazy busy week (Connie and I cranked out four acquisition proposals in a day and a half, including one last-minute auction project), but capped off with our very first company outing in Central Park, complete with hula-hooping, three-legged races, egg carry, bake-off, basketball, volleyball, softball and kickball, and more. I was roped into helping organize a softball game, and as I mentioned here, I also suggested kickball. The main game was softball, though, and I'm glad it was. I played on our company softball team back when we were based in Boston, and even though I've never been very good, it just brought back good memories. I played catcher, the position I used to always play back in the day. It's just a plain ton of fun. And I was captain of the winning team, woo-hoo! We won 4-0 after 7 innings. During the game I kept feeling like I was pulling something (what's the muscle on the back of the thigh?), and also got hit by the softball on my right knee while running to third (actually, I was already standing on third when the ball hit me), but I'm not really complaining, it was a great time. What I always loved about our softball team in Boston is that it united people from different departments. I have very little contact with coworkers outside of the young readers division, so it was good to meet some new people and get to know some familiar faces better.

The kickball game was a little scrappier and shorter, just three innings, and I think we lost 4-2 or 3-2. But it's just so fun seeing grown adults playing kickball. It's fantastic.

And THEN, later tonight, I ran in the Chase Corporate Challenge. My team introduced ourselves to each other by saying our name, department, and our running experience. It was weird realizing that I was actually one of the more experienced runners there. I'm used to being the amateur runner, the one just starting out, the one who never quite considered herself a runner, but now, 15 years later, multiple races, half marathons, and a marathon under my belt, including 3 or 4 Corporate Challenges, I guess I'm an old pro. There were so many people running their first organized race, and I must make a special shout-out to Jill, who only started jogging a month ago. She finished, and ran the whole way. Congratulations, Jill! You'll be running marathons before you know it. I remember my first Corporate Challenge in Boston my first or second year working at my company--it was my first official race, too.

Just as the race started, I heard someone call my name, and who would it be but Cheryl! Scholastic had the coolest T-shirts. Ours was plan navy blue with our logo on the back. And I didn't even wear mine because there were only larges left. I'm determined to make sure our company has a cool T-shirt next year.

I've been running regularly, but haven't been working on my speed. I made my goal to finish with an average of just under 10-minute miles, but after a quick start, weaving through the crowds, I ran an 8-minute first mile. I decided to try to keep up the pace. It was hard, I tell ya. But after raining for about a half hour before the race, the sky opened up, rainbow and flowing clouds and blue sky, and it was absolutely gorgeous, a little muggy, but overall perfect running weather. I crossed the finish line at 31:22, which if you subtract the 2 minutes it took to get to the starting line, means a net time of 29:22. Which means I ran about 8 and a half minute miles!!! (right? I'm horrible at math, as I mentioned in #6) I've never, ever, run a race that fast. Maybe being sore from softball and kickball actually helped, because it felt good to stretch out my muscles by running.

Phew. Then got caught in the rain on the way home. I'm absolutely exhausted.

Now I have to pack for ALA. My basic schedule is here, so if you're going, please stop by the booth and say hi!

I hope I'm not too sore tomorrow... Read the rest of this post

I've resolved to post at least once a week, even if it's just a stupid short little thing. This was actually one of my New Year's Resolutions, and as it seems it has fallen to the wayside like a few others (including my limit on sweet baked goods a week--damn those cupcakes!), I've decided to strengthen my resolve again.

Both Elaine and 7 Imp tagged me for this meme a while ago, and I'm finally getting around to it. Here are the rules:

Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

This feels similar to the 6 Weird Things Meme, but I'll try to think of different things. Let's see. Habits?

1. The first thing I do when I wake up is turn on my computer

2. I often narrate my life in my head as if I were a character in a book (I suspect that a lot of book people do this--am I right?).

3. For the last month or so, for no explicable reason, I've gotten the song "Red River Valley" stuck in my head as soon as I enter the bathroom in the morning, and often find myself singing it in the shower.

4. I always keep my fridge/freezer stocked with Hot Pockets, Tater Tots, tofu, and spinach.

5. Unless I'm carrying something heavy or wearing very uncomfortable shoes, I'll take the stairs up and down from my 6th floor apartment, even though I have an elevator.

6. I'm horrible with simple math (additions, multiplication, percentages). I still use my fingers to count sometimes, and never fully learned my times table. But I still got As in math, even AP Calculus in high school.

7. I take Pepsid AC when I drink alcohol to ward off the "Asian flush" (I think I have this on both my friendster and myspace profile, so I feel like I'm cheating...)

8. I'm really bad with faces and names, so don't feel bad if I don't remember you. It's me, not you. For some reason, it's hard for me to remember what people look like until I've taken a physical picture of them--even after meeting them several times. Even when I try to recall a loved one's face, I need to conjure up a photograph of them in my head.

Okay. Shoot, now I have to tag people...I'll go tag Libby, Linda, Amy, Tanya, Sara, Phoebe, Steve, and Jenny.

Oh, and if you're an author and you haven't weighed in yet, check out my poll over on the Blue Rose Girls (and don't forget that I post there every Monday--if I can post there once a week, why can't I do that here?). It's also a post about all the panels I've been on lately, and thus why I've been too busy to post.

And on a personal note, I just played in my first kickball game last night! (Yes, I joined a kickball league. Apparently two little kids who were walking by thought it was hilarious to see adults playing kickball and laughed at us). I didn't strike out as I was afraid I'd do (that would have been supremely embarrassing), but I did pop up once, and did drop a pop up. But I caught another, and got several "hits" (are they called "kicks" in kickball?), and even an RBI. Not bad for not playing since junior high! Which, when I actually thought about how long ago that would be, turns out to be 20+ years ago. And it was a TON of fun, even though the team we played was ultra-serious and competitive and didn't belong in the "just for fun" league. And beat us something like 17 to 4.

I was asked to help organize a softball game at our company picnic next week, and although I love softball and miss playing, I may suggest that we play kickball instead.