Winter Reading

I love to read. It is one of my favorite things to do. In fact, it is kind of an obsession. As a child, teenager, and young adult, I would become so engrossed in reading that everything else would fall to the wayside. My Mom used to use this obsession against me as a punishment. When I hadn't completed tasks or if I'd done something truly awful, my Mom would take away my books. It was a truly horrific punishment for me! I became emotionally invested in every book I read. The characters came to life in my mind and I had to know what happened to them next. It seems like my Mom would always take away the books right when some character's life was in danger or when they were at some major crossroad in life. I don't know how she did it, but it seems like she always knew the optimum time to use this particular punishment.

As a youth I was a very eclectic reader. Novels, biographies, history, sci-fi, fantasy, and classics. I would read anything. I usually read by author, if I liked the first book they wrote. An example, after reading The Three Musketeers and loving it, I read every other book that Alexandre Dumas had written.

When I entered college, I had to prioritize my reading. No longer could I pursue the novel or biography of my choosing. I had too many other things to read. Friends of mine were confused as to why I couldn't read both. The answer is simple...I am one of the few people on this planet who actually read every single word in every single textbook I was ever assigned, including the optional texts. I read from the title page to the index and bibliography. Even when teachers would say, "We'll only be using chapters 3, 6, 10 and 14", I would still read every single other chapter. I had to. Weird, I know. And very time-consuming!

After college, I was burned out. You would be too after reading all those textbooks! Haha! I've stuck mostly to children's stories, which I read diligently to my children. As they've grown and their reading skills have expanded, I've started branching out again in my reading. (I average about two to five adult books per year. that is a low number compared to what I used to read.) I am thrilled to say that my children love to read as much as I do. We have wonderful conversations about plots and characters. Theorizing the author's thought process and reasoning out where we think the story might lead.

This winter break provided a wonderful opportunity for my family to read. I am still stuck trying to think of a name for my baby boy. I confined my personal reading to baby name books. I also read stories to Joe and Cakes.

Joe's current favorites are the Black Lagoon series written by Mike Thaler, illustrated by Jared Lee. Joe gets the biggest kick out of these stories! He especially likes The Cafeteria Lady from the Black Lagoon. That one makes me a little nauseous to read. ;)

Cakes' current favorite is Curious George. He loves that little monkey.

Miss Q is new to the whole "reading for pleasure" concept. I assigned her a book to get her started. And what better book is there for a young girl to read than Anne of Green Gables. She had a hard time getting into, but after a few chapters I couldn't pry her away from the book. This was one of my favorites as a girl. :)

Rose is a goosey reader. She will often be reading three books at the same time. I could never do that! I always had to finish the one before I started another. Over the winter break she finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It has been so much fun to talk to her about these books. She was pretty upset about Severus Snape killing Dumbledore. But when Snape cursed off George's ear, Rose was livid! Her funniest reactions have been about Harry and Ron though. She couldn't believe it when Ron abandoned the quest. A few chapters later, she kept muttering to herself that Harry is an idiot. Hahaha! I know exactly where she is in the book just from her reactions and comments.

Anne began The Lightening Thief before school let out. She is currently reading The Battle of the Labyrinth. She has really sailed through the Percy Jackson series. She is loving the Greek Mythology. The name pronunciations are a bit confusing at times, however this has not slowed her down in the slightest. In fact, she and Rose (who already read the series) checked out Greek and Norse Mythology books from our local library...just so they could learn more about the stories! We have all decided that if we were to choose any of the gods to worship, we would choose Thor. My girls stated that Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and the rest of the Greeks are just to selfish to make good gods. Thor seems like the most caring in the group. Haha! Studying the Greek gods has made both girls very happy to have Heavenly Father as their God. :)

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We are counting down the days until the movie version of The Lightening Thief opens. We are super excited! After seeing the trailers and listening to Rose and Anne talk about the series, Miss Q decided to start reading the series too. That is a big deal!

Just a side note, we saw Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel over the break. We were excited to again see the trailer for Lightening Thief. We were even more excited when a trailer came on for How to Train Your Dragon! We first discovered good old Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third last year. We listened to most of the series via Book on Tape/CD. (this is why we are also interested in the Norse Gods) I would highly recommend these books, especially for young boys. They are hilarious, with just the right amount of adventure, mayhem, and gross. Haha!

The final book worth mentioning is To Kill a Mockingbird. Hubby decided to re-read this book. This is one of my all-time favorite books. I even considered naming Joe and Cakes "Atticus". (I'll tell you in a later post why that particular name was cut from the list.) Hubby first read this book as a class assignment in high school, or, as he puts it, "a long, long, long, long time ago." I was going to wait for him to read it first, then steal it and read it again myself. However, due to work reading assignments, it is taking a long time for Hubby to finish. If I wasn't stuck on names, I would have stolen it by now and read the whole thing already. Haha! Luckily for him, I have to keep re-reading the name book instead. ;)

I'm always on the hunt for a good book. What have you read lately??

i is busy.

I haven't posted for a few weeks. I keep meaning to, but I have been super busy. And when I finally do have a break, I want to read about YOUR life not write about mine. I don't think my break would actually count as a break if all I did was re-hash everything going on in my life. But my little sister wants an update. And I love her. A lot. So I will comply with a list of all the things keeping me busy.

1. I has been Painting.

My living room, dining room, and kitchen are now completely painted.

Next on my list are the kids bedrooms. I've already started the girls' room.

2. I is in a turf war with a pigeon couple.

Several weeks ago, Hubby and I knocked down their nest containing one egg. Good job us. The pigeons kept coming back. We kept shooing them away. This went on for a few weeks until I realized they'd probably laid another egg. Hubby and I knocked the second nest down to discover zero eggs, but two little chicks. Hubby is a baby-killer and I is his accomplice. :(

We figured that would be the end of it. But no, within a week the pigeons built another nest and laid another egg. We knocked that one down too. And the pigeon couple keeps coming back.

3. I is supporting my Hubby.

The whole family went to his work's summer BBQ. I am usually wary of events like this because even though they say "family-friendly" or "family oriented" they are usually referring to things teenagers would like, not little ones, and are often held in confined spaces where the voices of my children are echoed and amplified to the tenth degree.

Well, Hubby's work BBQ was completely family friendly. It was held on a football field. They had an alley of games for the little ones to earn prizes. And they had a giant slip and slide manned by a bunch of firefighters. We will definitely be attending next year.

4. I is being a baseball mom.

I am chauffeuring three children to weekly practices and games. I am helping at the concession stand, cooking up hot dogs and hamburgers, handing out candy and Gatorade and chips. And I am now trying to plan end-of-the-season parties for our teams. Funny thing is, I LOVE IT! And my kids are having a great time. If the kids all want to sign up again next year, I will totally do it.

5. I is getting sunburned.

First I got a funky tan line from sitting at the baseball field each Saturday. I've been wearing jeans rolled up to just below my knee, socks that go above my ankle, tennis shoes, and a high-necked t-shirt. I'm sure you can imagine how funny that must look when I actually don a swimsuit. But this past week, I wore a wider-neck t-shirt and got burned. Funny thing is, my sock line is still in place.

6. I is celebrating Popeye's birthday.

The Babycakes turned two. We celebrated with cupcakes and a visit to Chuck E. Cheese's.

7. I is being creeped out by Hubby.

He is rehearsing his lines and movements for Into the Woods. He plays Cinderella's Prince and the Wolf. The director has given Hubby some creep-tastic moves to perform as the wolf. He keeps trying to practice them on me. He is giving me the heeby-jeebies. I sure feel sorry for Little Red. :(

8. I is sewing costumes!

Into the Woods is feeding my sewing addiction. They have provided me with material, patterns, notions, and free reign to produce three costumes. I was very excited. This is the material for the first costume I made, a Steward. It was almost done, but the man I made it for is extra-wide and whoever took his measurements told me he was 50 inches in his chest & 56 inches in his waist. So I gave the guy a few inches extra when I made the costume. Well, somebody measured wrong and I need to add 8 to 10 inches somewhere. But no worries. I has a plan. ;)

9. I is helping the Hubby get in shape.

Yes, I know this book has a picture of a girl on it. But it's not just for girls. it was recommended to Hubby by a male coworker who is ripped to the extreme. Hubby is trying to follow it diligently. He does not want to be a pot-bellied Prince Charming. So far he has lost ten pounds and his tummy is looking firm and toned. His wife is very pleased. :)

Hubby is also growing his hair out for his role. I am liking that very much too. I have never seen him with hair longer than an inch. And I am loving the new length. It's about four or five inches long in some places now. Hubby looks HOT with his longer hair. I am doing my best to convince him to keep the length, but he has informed me that he is shaving it all off as soon as the play is finished. :(

10. I is tending my orchard and grove.

I purchased three citrus trees within weeks of moving to my new home. A couple months ago I added five fruit trees, two citrus, and four hibiscus. The look of the Nursery Worker's face cracked me up when he saw my mini-van. He told me that the 7 trees and 4 plants wouldn't fit in a mini-van. Good thing I have a Safari. I fit everything in plus myself, two kids, and two bags of mulch. And I could still see out my mirrors. Safari's rock. I hope GM will still make them...

I added another hibiscus a few days later for aesthetic reasons. :) I currently have 5 hibiscus: 1 white, 2 red & 2 hot pink; 5 fruit trees: 1 Anna apple, 1 Dorset apple, 1 plum, 1 apricot & 1 peach; 5 citrus trees: 1 Mexican lime, 1 lemon, 1 ruby red grapefruit, 1 sweet orange & 1 tangerine; plus an Indian Laurel in my front yard along with three giant hedge bushes that produce orange flowers. We also have carrots, strawberries, tomatoes and peppers growing. I love, love, love the outdoors. :)

Oh! When we moved a year ago, we left our lawn mower with a neighbor. So when we arrived here, we got to buy a new mower. Hubby just wanted to get a regular old mower. I insisted we get a self-propelled mower. It turned into a bit of a heated discussion, but I won in the end. The new mower is fabulous and so easy to use. I never mow the lawn. I tried to once, about six years ago as a surprise for Hubby. Yeah. That was stupid. Severe asthma and allergies do not like Bermuda grass. I managed to get the backyard done before collapsing into a wheezing, hacking, sneezing, itchy mess. That's how Hubby found me when he got home. Surprise! It took a round of steroids, albuterol, multiple breathing treatments, a shot in my bum, and a week resting to recover. I vowed to never mow again.

A couple weeks ago, Joe wanted to mow the yard. I helped him get the lawnmower out and started the thing for him. He took off like a rocket. The next week, I tried that mower while Hubby was pulling weeds. It was a snap! And the new mower didn't affect my asthma or allergies at all. Hooray! Except now I am a vow-breaker and a baby-killer accomplice. *sigh*

11. I is registering Joe for Kindergarten!

He is so excited. He can hardly wait to start. The only downside...his first MMR shot was given to him three days before he officially turned one. So it doesn't count according to our State's educational health policy. Meaning Joe had to get an MMR vaccination. Poor little Joe. He cried. A lot. Which is super funny to me because when he was a baby, he never cried while getting shots. Not once in his two years of getting vaccinations. He just always gave the doctor and nurse dirty looks. I guess he's making up for not crying back then. ;)

12. I is being held up in the grocery line.

For a long time. This would not be unusual except that the lady in front of me already had her groceries bagged while my groceries were sitting on the conveyor belt ready and waiting while she and the clerk discussed the Twilight movie! So I got to wait and wait while they gabbed about Twilight. Ugh!

The lady's check finally cleared, but they kept gabbing. Then I coughed, kind of loudly while looking away, trying to be discreet but get the line moving at the same time. Well, I looked in the wrong direction. I looked at the magazines as I coughed and the ladies assumed I was looking at this magazine. *exaserbated sigh*

They then felt the need to include me in their conversation. Yes I have seen the movie and yes I have read the books, but I so did not want to discuss it with them. I just wanted to get my groceries and leave. Fortunately, the first lady's husband finally got sick of waiting and told his wife to get moving. Actually, he said it in Spanish so I'm not sure exactly which words he said, but I understood the tone and whatever he said...it worked!!

13. I is visiting the doctors & dentist.

I think this picture says it all.

14. I is being amazed by Hubby's skills.

Turns out Hubby can sing in his sleep. I just discovered this talent of his last Sunday. His sacrament job is to hold the snoozing Babycakes. Unfortunately, Hubby sometimes falls asleep too. This past Sunday he started falling asleep while singing the rest Hymn. It was hilarious! We were singing "The Spirit of God" and Hubby's voice would fade as his eyes drooped then I would pinch him and he would come back singing full volume for a few seconds then start to fade again. Best part was he always came in with the right words on the right note. My man has skills! Hahaha! And I will never let him live this down.

15. I is screening books.

Rose wanted to read the Lightning Thief series. It was highly recommended by our local bookstore. Since it deals with the Greek gods, I figured I better read it first because those Greek gods were not very moral and got up to all sorts of trouble. We now own all of these books. They were a great read. Very compelling story and I loved how the author wove the Greek gods into the story. Wonderful. Rose just started the fifth book this morning. But I'm not going to let Anne read them yet. She'll need to wait until she's a little bit older.

16. I is supervising cake making.

Rose made this cake all by herself. It was a chocolate double layer with cherry frosting.

I think she did a pretty good job. I especially like the decorating job.

17. I is teaching preschool.

We learned the 70 phonograms using the Spalding education technique. We executed many science experiments including blowing up various objects, making volcanoes & goop, growing salt crystal gardens, watching yeast rise and bread bake, and mixing chemicals to watch the reactions. It was great!

18. I is in a talent show.

Rose, brave girl that she is, decided to be in her school's talent show. She sang "Every Star is Different" and I accompanied her on piano. Rose did a great job. She has a beautiful voice. Her school held three sessions: two during school and one evening performance. I showed up for each one. Another busy thing here was the dress she is wearing. Rose is at that wonderfully awkward stage where she is too big for the little girl section but too little for the women's section. And since she is not a stick-child, Miss clothing is definitely not an option. We found this beautiful dress thanks to a JC Penny saleswoman who actually knew her inventory. Knew what clothes she had, where they were located and what the best options would be for my daughter's body. Thanks to her we were out of the store in under an hour and the Rose-girl looked beautiful for her talent show.

I wish Hubby would have told me I would be in the shot. I would have sat up straight and sucked in my gut.

19. I is encouraging male bonding.

Hubby took the boys on a Father & Sons outing. They had a blast.

20. I is watching the harvest.

The boys and I have faithfully watched cantelopes grow in a field near our home. We were excited to see the harvest. A medium-sized John Deere tractor pulled this huge trailer and attachment while workers walked behind it picking the melons and tossing them up. I love agriculture.

21. I is dealing with my Ugly Daughter.

That's right I said ugly.

This girl pleaded with me to let her grow out her bangs. I agreed on the condition that she keep her hair out of her eyes. Psh. She completely diregards that condition everyday. Her hair hangs in her face. She refuses to put it in ponytails or headbands. If I try, she cries and says she looks ugly. For example, this picture taken this past Sunday. I put my foot down and and got her hair up and out of her face. As soon as she lookd at herself in the mirror she dissolved into tears, crying over and over that she looked so ugly. Excuse me? I can finally see her face. I think she looks great. She immediately tried to pull it out, but I threatened her with no dessert and a hundred sit-ups, so she left it in. This picture was taken after church. That's why she's smiling. She knows she getting ice cream soon.

22. I is watching movies with my Hubby.

We saw Star Trek in the theater. It was phenomenal. So great. A great cast. A great stroy. Good flow. Good sound effects. Such a satisfying movie to watch. They better be making a sequel or five.

Hubby also convinced me (I don't remember how or why I agreed) to watch some movies he has been wanting to rent. Um. That was not a good idea. He picked some pretty intense shows. First we watched Benjamin Button. That was alright but not my type of show. Then we watched Quantum of Solace. That gave me a headache and freaked me out a bit. And lastly, we watched Taken. That was intense and creepy-sick. Ugh! He wants to rent a few others, but he will have to watch those on his own.

23. I is watching the sun set.

Driving back and forth from ball games has a few perks.

Watching the sun set over fields filled with wheat and alfalfa is a beautiful thing.

24. I is eagerly watching the Airbender fan sites!

There are pictures available now. Hooray! I was so excited when I first saw these. The first picture is Prince Zuko played by Dev Patel. His scar isn't as apparent as I thought it would be, but other than that I think he looks fantastic. I love the facial expression. The scowl is a Zuko trademark and Dev has it nailed. The second picture is Aang played by Noah Ringer. There have been no pictures of Noah available since his name was released. At one point someone tracked down a baby picture, but other than that, no one had any idea what he looked like. And now that we do all I can say is WOW! M. Night nailed the casting. Well, the re-casting. (Thank goodness Dev is in and Jesse McCartney is out. That was just a little weird.) Noah is the perfect picture of Aang. I am so excited to see this movie. The trailer is available in only 20 more days. Hooray!

25. I is visiting teaching.

Umm. Yeah. I totally didn't do my visiting teaching this month. I was so busy with other things that my brain got confused. I thought about calling my ladies a few times then "remembered" that I had already gone visting teaching for May. Well, no. No I didn't. I went in April and then my brain fell out. I am going to need to bake some seriously delicious goodies to make up for my lack of visiting. Sorry ladies! I'll do better next month. I promise. Oh wait. I mean this month. This month. Yeah. I'll do better.

Thoughts on Movies...

After learning of my children's interest in Science-Fiction, I decided last week to introduce them to one of the classic Sci-Fi must-see movies: DUNE. I was so excited to share this movie with them. I assembled the pajamed group on blankets in front of the television. I had pizza, popcorn and other treats for munching. As I started the movie I told my kids again how great DUNE is, how it was one of my favorite movies growing up, how I just know they're going to love it too.

Ummm... Did I mention that I haven't seen DUNE for many years? Yeah. I kind of forgot about a few parts. I forgot about how the Baron face has nasty boils all over it. That totally sicked out my kids. I forgot how the Baron lusts after his doctor. That totally confused my kids. I forgot how the Baron attacked a young man, squeezing his head and body until the blood oozed and the Baron laughed his pure glee. That made one of my kids almost vomit. I forgot how Sting (who plays the Baron's nephew) comes out in just a little speedo thing, his muscles all flexed (looking pretty good to my eyes), that the Baron stares out him in a sick, lusty way. Again, my kids were totally sicked out and confused. I forgot how Paul's hand gets burned (but not really) and how they show his skin melting off and a hole forming in his hand. That my kids yell out in pain for Paul. I forgot that they showed "pictures" of Paul's little sister while still in the womb. For some reason, my kids thought that was as bad as the Baron killing the young man. Go Figure!

By the middle of the film my kids were begging to not watch anymore. I kept telling them it gets better, that the Baron eventually gets killed, that Paul wins, and that the worms aren't going to eat anyone and are, in fact, one of the coolest parts of DUNE. My kids didn't believe me. But somehow I convinced them to stay. They ended up loving it. Hooray! They even watched it again with Hubby the next day. We all agree that the Baron is one of the sickest, nastiest characters we've ever seen. But the worms and Paul make up for it. :)

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So this morning I was out running errands with my boys when I decided that we were going to see a movie! Specifically DRAGONBALL: EVOLUTION. I knew that Hubby wanted to see it too, but I've been trying for weeks to schedule a time with him when we could both go see it. I was sick of waiting and wanted to see it before it left the theater. I drove to the theater, unloaded my boys, and started walking up to the theater. The theater didn't usually start movies until after 11:00 am. I knew that Dragonball might not be showing for an hour, but already told my boys that we would get an ice cream cone if we had to wait long. I was SO excited! Until I got to the theater. Dragonball was no where in sight! I couldn't believe it. I was at a theater that housed 14 screens. And a Harkins to boot. Dragonball barely came out on April 10 and today is April 28. 18 days. Only 18 days and the movie is no longer showing! How is that possible? Grr. :(

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So I didn't get to see Dragonball. The boys and I were very disappointed. We even drove to the little theater downtown-just in case they were still showing it. Nope. *sad sigh* I finished my errands and drove home. At home I checked online for any possible showings in a surrounding town. Turns out, if I want to see it, I'll have to drive to a theater three hours away. THREE HOURS! Grrr. And you know what makes it even more of a stinky situation, the movies that are currently showing. Movies like Hannah Montana. Yeah. Now there's something I'm dying to see. And Monsters & Aliens, in both 2-D and 3-D. That crass movie, that I refuse to take my kids to see, is taking up two theaters!! TWO! Argh! Some people have no taste. :(

As I grumpily searched for a theater closer to my home and cursed people with bad taste, I stumbled across a news update that quickly turned my frown upside down. The teaser trailer for THE LAST AIRBENDER is scheduled to be shown with the new Transformers movie coming out in June. Now I am not a fan of Transformers. I really was not planning on seeing that movie. At all. But I would definitely be willing to pay $7.00, if only to sit through the opening trailers. Just to catch a glimpse of what M. Night has up his sleeve for us die-hard Airbender fans. *sigh* Of course, since there's no telling how long the theater will keep a movie playing, I'll be sure to go opening week.

In the meantime, I am counting down for STAR TREK. It opens in my town on May 7.

Love my Boys!

I seriously love my sons. They are some of the funnest boys that I've ever known. But after yesterday and today, I know that we will always be the best of friends too. Why??

Yesterday Joe put on a movie for himself and BabyCakes to watch. He picked it out and got it started while I finished up some laundry then made them popcorn. When I walked in with the popcorn both boys are completely absorbed in the movie they are watching. They barely ackowledged me and the buttery popcorn goodness I had for them. What were they watching?? Buckaroo Bonzai!!! And they were enthralled. Hahaha! The was one of my favorite movies growing up. I loved Buckaroo and his group of musicians/scientists/race car drivers/spies/aliens! And my boys loved it too.

And today what did Joe pick to watch? StarGate Atlantis! And again, both boys are completely enthralled. *sigh* It is such a great feeling, knowing that I must be doing something right as a Mother for my boys to be such complete sci-fi junkies. I hope I can keep it up. ;)

First Week of Spring Break

Friday, March 20 was the first Official day of Spring. And what a better way to start Spring then by giving all the elementary students a two week Spring Break. Hooray! Of course, living in Arizona, Spring has been in full force for a while now. Trees blossoming, new leaves growing, bees humming, and hundreds of butterflies in the front yard each morning. My citrus trees all have blossoms and one of apple trees has a baby apple growing. It's absolutely beautiful.

With Spring comes Baseball season. I signed up my three big kids for Little League this season. Yep, that was dumb. But it's my first year doing it, so I didn't know exactly what I was getting myself into. Haha! I figured one practice and one game each week times three. And all games held at the same fields. Turned out to be two practices and two games a week times three, with games held at many different fields. Haha. Fortunately, Hubby can help with carpool during the week.

Saturday, March 21 was Little League Baseball Opening Ceremonies. There are four divisions in our League: T-Ball, Minor B, Minor A, and Majors. And within each division are 8 - 10 teams. All the kids were dressed out in full uniform. They looked great!

Joe #1 Yankees ~ T-Ball

Anne #10 Cardinals ~ Minor B

Rose #9 Diamondbacks ~ Minor A
(when did they change from purple to maroon??)

Later that day, they each played their first baseball game. They had so much fun playing. My kids aren't very good right now, but they are having fun and steadily improving.

I forgot the camera for Joe's and Rose's first games, but I was able to get one of Anne. She played right field. I didn't want another picture of her back, so I called her name. This is the picture that resulted. ;)

Sunday, March 22 we had Stake Conference. I ended up taking BabyCakes out after thirty minutes. Not because he was super fussy, but because my tailbone was aching! Sheesh. I know that mine is almost fully healed now, but sitting in hard metal chairs for two hours is not a good idea. The speakers were our Stake President, the Mission Pres and his wife, the Temple Pres and his wife, and a General Authority. I didn't catch his name or which group he belonged to, but I really enjoyed his talk. Very uplifting and inspiring.
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Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the kids and I had fun being bums, watching loads of movies, making cookies and bread, going bowling, playing at parks, riding bikes and skates, and practicing baseball.
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Thursday, March 26, Hubby took off work and we drove to Legoland. It was a long drive. Followed by a long wait in the car to pay for parking before we could enter the park. BabyCakes chose this time to vomit. Yep. It was great. Long drives and cheesy-peanut butter crackers do not mix. And for some strange reason, I packed two extra onesies but no extra pants. Oops. We left his vomity clothes on top of the van. We didn't want them sitting inside the van all day. No one wanted to drive home in a vomity smelling vehicle. :(

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We started out with the Sea Life Aquarium, which is part of Legoland. The kids really enjoyed seeing such a variety of sea creatures mixed in with Legos.
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BabyCakes checking out the fish sans pants


I laughed out loud when I saw the Volvo Driving School. Hubby asked what I was laughing about, but no way was I going admit to thinking about Twilight while at Legoland. I laughed even harder when I saw a Volvo Mini-Van made of Legos. I was just imagining Edward driving a van around and what Emmet would say about it. Shh. Don't tell my husband!!! Hahahaha.


There were two sides. Junior Driving for ages 3 - 5 and regular Driving for ages 6 - 13. Joe, age five, was an expert driver. The other little kids kept crashing into walls. Not Joe. He didn't crash once, even thought several times other kids almost took him out. He just maneuvered around them and kept going. Talk about a smooth driver.

Rose driving on the wrong side of the road. It's hard to concentrate on driving when your Dad is yelling at you to look at him so he can take your picture. ;)


Anne was a little easier for Hubby to snap a picture of because she was stopped at a red light.



Anne, Joe & Rose waiting for a ride.

Legoland also had a water play area. The three older kids had worn their swimsuits under their clothes. When we reached the water area, they quickly stripped down and were completely soaked with five minutes. It was hilarious! BabyCakes slept through most of the crazy water fun. And with all the water shooting everywhere, I kept my camera safely tucked away. So no pictures of the water escapades.

After an hour, we rounded up the kids. Joe was freezing! I tried to strip him out of his wet swim stuff, but he wouldn't let me. Instead he ran to the bathroom, turned on the hand-dryer, then stood underneath it. Trying to blow himself dry and warm. Haha! It only took him a minute to realize his idea wasn't working. Then he let me strip him and put him in his warm, dry clothes.

I don't know how it happened, but somehow I was the one riding the roller coasters with the three older kids while Hubby entertained BabyCakes. Luckily, Legoland's coasters were geared toward younger kids, so I didn't get sick. Haha. Hubby took a few pictures to document our crazy fun.

Joe, Rose, Anne & I riding a Roller Coaster.

Us hanging on for dear life.

It was a blast. We drove back home that night. We stopped in Alpine for dinner. Alpine is GORGEOUS!! Pine trees and mountains. Mmmm. I love that. We are for sure going back there to hike around and explore.

Friday, March 27, we spent the whole morning being bums and recuperating from Legoland. Hubby headed to work after lunch. The kids and I were reading when I got a phone call from my Mom. Her Dad, my Grandpa, passed away. He was 92 years old. I was sad to hear the news, but mostly I was sad for my Mom. She was crying when she called me and she hardly ever cries. The Funeral will be next week. My kids and I were planning on visiting my parents and grandparents next week anyways. Now Hubby will come too.

I'm sad about my Grandpa passing, but I'm also kind of relieved. He has "almost" died so many times during the last fifteen years. His body just wasn't working right anymore. Nor was his mind. It's actually kind of ironic that my children knew him as a man who couldn't remember from one moment to the next. Because the man I knew growing up was smart as a whip. You couldn't put anything past him. Haha. He was always reading and leaning. Always working hard and always kind. Even when he couldn't remember very well, he was always kind and just laughed about not being able to remember. And the best thing about him...his eyes twinkled when he laughed or smiled. I'm going to miss him.

Saturday, March 28, brought more baseball games for Joe and Anne and brought another rehearsal for Hubby.

Joe playing Catcher! His job was to catch the ball then put it back on the "tee".

Saturday we also received news the Hubby's best friend has been in the hospital since Wednesday with chest pains. He had an angiogram Saturday morning. And is now scheduled to have triple bypass surgery on Monday. Yikes! Hubby and I are fasting for him. If everything goes well, he will only be in the hospital for another week and then on bed rest for a couple of months.

But hey, we've got kids, so we can't stay depressed for long. Saturday afternoon we took the kids to see Race to Witch Mountain and then out to dinner.

So far our Spring Break has been quite thrilling. I wonder what will happen next week...

Anime!

I am a fan of Anime. It is truly one of my favorite things. I love the animation, the storylines, and the fun and quirky scripts. They hold a special place in my heart.

So, imagine my thrill when I saw a trailer for a Live-Action Dragonball movie! I wasn't expecting it at all! It was in the previews for Inkheart. When the trailer started, I thought Wow, this movie looks good...wonder what it is. And then it showed the Seven Mystics banding together and I about jumped out of my seat. And then they flashed to a cute young man with a high hairline and I knew. I knew!!!!! At this point I DID jump out of my seat and startled the poor Babycakes who was sleeping on my lap. He fortunately fell back asleep once his crazy Mama sat back down. I'm so excited. The movie is scheduled to open April 7, 2009. That's only TWO Months away! Yahoo!

Another great piece of news...M. Night Shyamalan is currently making a live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It will be a trilogy with the first movie scheduled for July 2010. Now, I love me some Dragonball, but it cannot compare with my love/obsession with all things Aang. The cast is all lined up. I'm not sure what they'll do for locations. I feel sorry for the actors who will portray Katara and Suko, because they start out in the icy cold. Brr! I do have to tell you...if a midnight showing is offered for this movie, I will be in line. Seriously. I know that I will probably be surrounded by a bunch of teeny-bops (afterall-it is a Nickelodeon show) but I will hold my head high!

So, I've got my next two years planned out. How about you??? ;)

Wiped-Out!

I am SO tired! I only got four hours of sleep last night. The reason: Twilight.

I went to a midnight showing. What was I thinking? I am not a teenager. I have four kids who wake up at the crack of dawn. So why in the world would I go to a midnight showing when I haven't even read the books? (sorry mombabe and lauren, don't hate me.)

A woman in my new neighborhood/ward was chatting with her friend about Twilight coming out soon and how it would be fun to go to a midnight showing. But neither of them wanted to deal with a bunch teenagers acting crazy in the movie theatre in the middle of the night. No. If they paid to see the movie and got babysitters, they wanted to enjoy the movie. Their solution? Rent out a theater exclusively for themselves and invite other moms to come see the movie with them. FUN!!

I had planned on seeing the movie before I read the books. So this worked out great for me. I asked my hubby to take a picture of me before I left. He took one of me tying my shoes. Ummm. Okay... ;)

Before the movie they had a tailgate party in the mall parking lot. Here's some of the people who showed up.



Everyone brought a snack to share. There was a trivia contest. The best part was the women's reactions to other movie-goers.

Things I heard:
*Wow, there are a lot of men here. I didn't know any men read the book! (most of them didn't, they just went to see the movie with their wives so they wouldn't be alone in the middle of the night. what nice men!)

*Oh my gosh! I work with that woman. I didn't know she liked Twilight."

*What was I thinking coming to a movie in the middle of the night. I'm not a teenager.

*Oh, I'm going to be hurting tomorrow. I sure hope this movie is worth it.


At the tailgate party they handed out pins. So cute!



After the tailgate, we all headed to the movie theater. The gal I rode with and I wanted seats in the back. So while she parked her truck, I dashed into the theater to get seats. I left my camera in her car because I thought they weren't allowed. They Totally were! Bummer. So I have no pictures from inside. But it was great! At 11:35 they started raffling off Twilight items. It was hilarious! Grown women screaming about Edward and hoping that they would win the prize. They raffled off about twenty items. And then it was over, but wait. Someone was knocking on the door. Who could it be? It was Edward!


The women in the audience Screamed!! And the woman who actually won this life-size cardboard cutout...well, she looked like she'd just won the Price is Right! And I? I was laughing so much that I started to cry. Good times!!

Then the lights got dim and previews started to play. They showed a preview for the next Harry Potter installment. Now THAT I whoopped and hollered for!

As for the movie itself, it was pretty good. I'm glad that I didn't go with my hubby because I would have been SO embarrased with all the longful glances and deep sighs that were going on between Edward and Bella. I felt a little bit like a peeping Tom watching that movie. There were such intense emotions going on. I had to close my eyes a few times because I was so embarassed watching them. Sheesh!

Anyhoo, I liked the story. So much in fact, that I am going to read the books. But not until next week. I've still got unpacking to do. :)