Month: March 2008

A long time ago, Derek and I used to watch a lot of movies. In the pre-marriage days, we occasionally saw movies in the theater, but we watched tons and tons of rented movies. All through high school, I worked at a video store where one perk (probably the only perk) was the five free rentals per week. Almost every weekend when Derek would visit, we would cuddle up on the couch and kiss watch movies. In the pre-kid era, we saw a lot of movies in the theater. A lot of our weekends consisted of dinner and a movie dates. Not only that, but we were faithful Blockbuster Rewards members. We earned lots and lots of free movies with our frequent rentals.

Then, for some reason, we just stopped watching movies. The kids put our dinner and movie dates on hold, and over time, we simply developed other hobbies like playing x-box and scrapbooking. Then came the wonderful addition of DVR…ahhh…the luxury of always having good tv shows at our fingertips, ready to watch!

I loved our time spent watching movies, and recently, I’ve reclaimed that time. A few weekends ago, I had the urge to watch 13 Going on 30, one of my all-time favorite movies. I fully expected Derek to escape to the office for some x-box action, but for some reason he didn’t. We ended up watching the whole thing together, and it reminded me of the days of yore and I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

The next weekend, I headed to Blockbuster to rent movies for myself. But while I was there, I steered clear of the hard core chick flicks and chose some that Derek might like, just in case he wanted to watch with me. (oh, and it certainly didn’t hurt that by this point, Derek’s x-box was broken and on it’s way to the repair center in it’s “coffin”. One day, Derek called me at home to tell me to watch for the UPS man delivering his coffin. Nice.) Anyway, the movies. I rented Gone Baby Gone and Once, and we watched both of them together. It was great! I even pulled the classic Megan move of falling asleep with my head in his lap.

This past weekend, Derek headed to Blockbuster because he wanted to rent I Am Legend.   I was definitely cuddled up to Derek the whole time, except for the part when I was sobbing uncontrollably and had to take a break.  I tend to be a little on the emotional side these days.  I mean, it was a sad part and all, but I could not get a hold of myself.  And Derek couldn’t stop laughing at me.  It was actually some pretty good comic relief during a very intense movie.

With our renewed love of movie watching, I have decided to join Netflix, so now I feel like a real movie watcher. My first two movies are supposed to arrive tomorrow, and I am about to watch Season 1 of Friday Night Lights with the watch it now feature.

We’ll have to see if this movie watching thing continues once Derek’s x-box arrives again. I hope it does. I love watching movies, and it’s even better with a comfy husband.

PS-Anyone have any good movie recommendations? Really, it’s a fairly safe bet that anything in the past 4 or 5 years will be new to us.

Derek just asked me if I was depressed. The reason? I’ve gone on a bit of an internet shopping spree. According to Derek, people who are depressed shop a lot. Today, I purchased:

**2 new vacuum filters
**The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers
**Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac

The vacuum filters are a must. I am supposed to change it every 6 months. I know for a fact that I have not changed it since before we moved to Texas two years ago. No wonder I’ve been thinking my vacuum sucks. Or, rather, doesn’t suck.

The books. I’ve been wanting to re-read them for the past month or so. Our library does carry them, but the problem is they are long books. I don’t want to read them with the pressure of a due date. Besides, they might be the best books I have ever read, so I should certainly purchase my own copies. Right?

Photoshop Elements. I was very close to being eligible for free shipping on Amazon, so I checked out my wish list to see if there was anything I should get. That’s when I saw that Elements 6 is being released on April 1. This was technically a Christmas present from Derek. The only problem was that it was only released for Windows at Christmastime. I’m excited to finally get my Christmas present!

What I find a little ironic is that I just wanted to spend $5 to earn free shipping.

(And, for the record, I am not depressed. I just love internet shopping! Which reminds me…I still need a maternity bathing suit.)

It was a beautiful, fun weekend. Happy Easter!

And I know you are all on the edge of you seats with my kitchen progress. Right? Right?

I think that this little project will look especially good with stainless steel appliances (someday….someday.) And minus one green back splash. Anyone know of any easy and cheap ways to get rid of the green tile? Anyone have any stainless steel appliances sitting around they want to give us for cheap? Hey, a girl can dream, right?!

Today, Logan is three! Hard to believe my baby is three already. He is so much fun…but I must confess (because I like to keep it real on the ol’ blog…) I am a little nervous about what the three’s have in store for us. Three was our toughest year with Connor. Terrible two’s are just not the case in our family!

But I’m not going to blog about my insecurities as a mom or my pregnancy-induced lack of patience. Logan is three today, and I love this kid so much. He is such a fun, energetic lovable part of our family. His favorite things include (in no particular order):

*applesauce
*chocolate milk
*chicken nuggets
*superman
*making silly faces
*holding up his 5 fingers and asking for “dis many” of anything.
*strawberries
*his bff Noah
*his big brother
*going to school
*watching the blast off of Apollo 13
*The Backyardigans
*dressing himself. Don’t even think about helping him
*Going potty repeatedly to get a jellybean
*drinking from a big boy cup
*running, jumping, and climbing on anything and everything

We started off his birthday with a trip to the donut store where he chose a donut with blue icing and sprinkles. Next was presents, which is always fun. Then we went on an Easter egg hunt and played at the park. He took a 3.5 hour nap, and we spent the late afternoon/evening in the front yard where I painted cabinets, Derek washed the cars, and Connor and Logan ran around like superheros, dyed Easter eggs, and made a “tent” in the back of the CRV where they ate their dinner. I think Logan really enjoyed all of his birthday fun!

No post is complete without a few pictures…

Throwing a few gang signs while trying to get those three tricky fingers in place.

Victory!

Ready to open a few presents.

These rocket blasters were a huge hit. I love this picture of them!

Easter egg hunting and dying pics will have to wait. I wanted to get this posted on his actual birthday, and it’s my bedtime.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!

On the way home from the park, the boys had this great conversation in the backseat.

Let me preface this by mentioning that one of the boys’ favorite phrases is “that’s mine forever.” They will often get into heated arguments about whether something is or isn’t theirs forever. Sometimes I use those arguments to remind them that that things they have are blessings, and when we go to heaven someday they won’t take them. And the only thing that is truly forever is God’s love and heaven. Sometimes I just listen to them argue and let them work it out. And sometimes I get all irritated and tell them that they are having the most ridiculous argument ever. I probably do number 3 the most. Anyway, I digress.

The conversation went a little something like this:

Logan-“dis rock is mine porever.”
Connor-“No it’s not.”
L-“YES IT IS!”
C-“Moooommmmm….Logan thinks that rock is his forever.”
(Mom ignores hub bub in the backseat. It’s been a long morning.)
C-“Logan, that rock is not going to live forever.”
L-YES IT IS!”
C-“No. It’s not. Let me tell you something. We are going to die.”
L-“No we’re not.”
C-“Yes we are. We all die.”
Pause in conversation
C-“We’re not going to die when we’re kids. We die when we’re grown ups. Actually, when we are past grown ups, like maybe when we are 90 or 100.”
L-“oh.”
C-“But let me tell you the really fun part. When we die, we go to heaven.”
L-“NO WE DON’T!” (Logan is in an argumentative mood.)
C-“No, Logan. Listen to me. Let me tell you something cool. When we die, we get to go to heaven and be with God forever.”
L-“NO WE DON’T”
C-“Log, yes we do. That’s the best part.”
L-“NO”
C-realizes this conversation might be futile at this moment. he let’s out a long, semi-frustrated sigh.“Okay, Logan. Let’s just talk about this later.
L-“Otay.”

I love their conversations. Connor, the wise older brother. Logan, the ornery little one. Love them.

Last year for spring break, we were here.

This year, we are home. I decided that I needed a project. There is that little nursery thing…oh wait, that’s not little. And that would have been a great project for this week. But no, that is not the project I chose. This week, I am revamping our kitchen cabinets by painting them black. I am for sure nesting, because no sane person at home all week with two preschoolers (one of whom has come down with a little virus) would attempt such an undertaking!

Here are a few before pics. It’s not that it was bad really…up close the cabinets are a mess. But it is just a big white room.

And here’s where I am now after two days of working. Well, one and a half technically. After today, I will be about 1/3 of the way done. Being a half-full kind of person, I am pretty happy with my progress!

But if I had to choose, Spring Break ’07 in Florida was way more fun that painting cabinets.

Last Wednesday, we took the boys to the Houston Rodeo. While we didn’t see the actual rodeo (tickets were just a bit pricey since they are technically concert tickets, not just rodeo tickets), the kids had a great time riding carnival rides, checking out the petting zoo, and watching pig races and mutton busting. Here are some pictures of our rodeo fun.

We had such a great time!

Do you see it?
Connor lost his first tooth today! It’s been loose for quite some time, but today a chicken nugget did it in. We were at the park with friends when it all went down. There were tears and fears-it was quite the dramatic event! In typical Connor fashion, he was totally freaked out by the whole thing (because it’s new and different). Inside, I was freaking out too. I had to pull it…it was hanging on by the tiniest thread and it had to come out. I was dreading that horrendous root-popping sound, but thankfully it was so loose that didn’t happen.

Of course, now he is so excited that he lost a tooth. He can’t wait to show his friends and teachers at school tomorrow, and to see what the Tooth Fairy leaves him.

Isn’t he looking so grown up with his buzzed hair and missing tooth?! I can’t believe it.

Is it too much to ask? I am going to need a maternity swimsuit. The boys and I practically live at the pool starting at the end of May, so I am on a quest to find a good maternity swimsuit. I am having some issues. The issue isn’t cuteness, availability, or price. The issue is that all of the bottoms look like this:

And here’s an example of a top, which I think is simple and cute and comes in a wide variety of colors.

Back to my issue. The bottoms. Over the past, oh let’s say 14 years, I have become increasingly self-conscious about my legs and butt in a swimsuit. Usually I just suck it up and realize that no one looks perfect. But I would say for the past 2 years at least, I have chosen a swimsuit that covers more, either with a skirt or board shorts. And that’s when I’m not pregnant.

So this summer, at 7 months pregnant, I do not want to wear skimpy bathing suit bottoms. If only I was one of those cute pregnant ladies who only gained in their stomach, had an ideal body type before getting pregnant, and had perfectly perky and reasonably sized bosoms. Then maybe I would choose a suit like this one:

But alas, I am one of those lucky pregnant women who is gaining weight all over, who started out this pregnancy a bit on the heavy side, and who has already been through this twice before which means I am soft in squishy in places that should be firm.

I had the brilliant idea to buy a pair of board shorts, just like I would if I were not pregnant this summer. A quick google search led me to this:

and this.

Words really can’t describe. Faced with the option of baring a little too much and wearing one of those, I think I will go with the former. At least I can get a tan in the regular suits. And as we all know, tan fat looks better than white fat.

The kids and I headed out early this afternoon armed with posters, tape, plus Austin’s leash and treats just in case. We got to our mailbox, which was our first stop (our neighborhood has community mailboxes rather than in every yard.) In the middle of hanging our poster, a neighbor out walking with her kids stops to ask if we are looking for a dog. I say yes and described him. She tells us she is pretty sure her neighbor has him! She gives us directions to the house, which was only one street behind ours. Sure enough, there was Austin tied up to a tree in the front yard! As soon as he saw us, he started barking and peeing all over the place. Yup, it’s definitely Austin. They were not home, but I took Austin with us and left a note on one of our posters. We were all so happy! You should have seen the look on Derek’s face when we walked in the house not even 10 minutes later with Austin! I think he was shocked that we found him, especially so quickly and so close to home.  He is now wearing his rabies tag, and I’m going tomorrow to get the tags with his name and our number on them…I definitely learned my lesson!  And maybe, just maybe he learned his lesson about running away (a girl can hope, right?). At any rate, he looks pretty content to be home!