Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Bubba's Back

Yeah!! I am so excited when family comes to visit. Bubba is back for Thanksgiving (Bubba is my nickname for my younger brother Matt). I picked him up from the airport and we went sraight to our favorite restaurant -Lucille's Barbeque. Lucille's always hits the spot because we both love soul food & Jazz. Think of mouth-watering barbeque chicken, creamy sweet potatoes, and warm peach cobbler topped with ice cream.
My brother and I are so different it's hard to believe we share the same blood. And we have such different lives. In some ways he seems more like an older brother (which may be because he always pays for my dinner & movies). He is street smart, a perfectionist, incredibly observant, has great business sense, and really knows how to make money.
I am not sure what role I play in his life......but we've always been close. When I was young and talked about "going off to college" he'd remind me that he was small enough to fit in a suitcase. My siblings say that visiting me gives them a sense of normalcy. But my life and my children are headed on a one-way track to crazy.
Go figure.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Girl's Night

What a crazy fun night! Last night a group of us went to see the Midnight Premiere of the movie Twilight- it was kind of a last hurrah for my friend Tina (the super cute mama in black on the far right) before she moves out of state. We had a ton of fun. I had serious doubts that I could stay awake and watch a movie from 12 am to 2 am and had even greater doubts as I yawned while driving to meet Tina at 7:45.

The plans were to have a nice dinner and then head to the theaters to wait in line. What we didn't plan for was die hard fans to be waiting in line at 9 am.....for the midnight showing! We ended up waiting outside for about 1 hour, and then another 1 1/2 inside the theater before the show started. Inside was mayhem. There was confusion about which theater to be in, scrambling to get seats for your group, and of course fighting over saving seats. And to top it all off, I don't think the A/C ever kicked on. At one point a theater employee told everyone that every open seat was fair game. Yikes- bodies started moving left and right. Two of our girls were in the restroom so it looked like we had empty seats. Things got tense when a teeny-bopper grabbed one of our seats and refused to look at us or listen to what we said about our friends. With a crew of tired, hot, moms.....vampires weren't the only things about to go flying across the screen.
Posted by PicasaWhat might have been the most fun part was seeing all the frenzy and excitement leading up to the movies beginning. There were girls after girls getting up in front of the audience introducing themselves, and their clubs, web sites, affiliations, etc. They each had their own promotional goodies to toss out to the crowds. It was like being at a college football game. The goodie bags had stickers, buttons, candy etc. There were "Cullenscicles", which were laminated cut-out photos of the cast, glued onto Popsicles sticks. There were "Hyperventilating Bags" (which were brown paper bags) one club handed out to every girl in the audience to use when she'd see Edward Cullen for the first time. Pretty cute. So here's a picture of us using our bags....(although my use of it looks more reminiscent of my barfing bags of days gone by)
My review:
I'm a real late bloomer when it comes to Pop Culture...(I just barely saw "Hairspray" and I didn't like it. And I have never seen any of the High School Musical movies- I know blasphemy in American culture). I'm just not big on blindly following the masses- I am very picky about how I use my free time. That said, I was very apprehensive to start reading books about a vampire love story...are you serious? I am the last person who would read something about vampires. So I waited and waited a long time to read them. I finally gave in and read the first out of morbid curiosity (no pun intended). It couldn't really be as good as people claim..........right?
Well, it was. "Twilight" is an amazing book- I have never read anything like it. There were points that I would forget to breathe. The book is perfection. So for me, the movie does not do the book justice...not by a long shot. However, Edward is pretty hot, and there are some memorable minutes....so it's still worth watching.....just don't forget to breathe.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Grandma & Grandpa Arrive!

Here's Grandpa giving Wesley a very special toy airplane he picked out just for him.





For some people, the thought of their Mom & Dad visiting could be seriously bad news.........but not for me!!! I was so excited to have my parents visit in October! I haven't seen them for 10 months. Thank heavens for blogs- that's how they watch my kids grow. My parents live in Saudi Arabia so it's a major deal when they come see us in the States. It is a grueling trip for even the heartiest traveler. The flights are expensive and travel time takes anywhere from 24-36 hours of flying + layovers just to get here. But Mom and Dad are troopers and were all smiles when I picked them up from the airport.



Whenever they visit, Mom always goes straight to her suitcase and starts unpacking her gifts for the kids. The gift-giving started even earlier this trip when Dad had a stash of Paradise Bakery cookies (my favorite!) for me to enjoy on the drive back home.


This painting was a gift to Sienna & Wesley. My Mom is a very talented artist and painted this original design for the kids' playroom. It is so peaceful, serene, and beautiful. It was definitely a labor of love. And we truly love it Mom- thank you!!


Sienna wearing her Saudi "princess"clothes Grandma bought for her while Grandpa reads her a book. Honest to goodness...the kids probably love books more than anything.

We adjusted to life with Grandma & Grandpa effortlessly. It was such an easy transition this time around...we completely enjoyed each other.

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So Pretty

Me: "Hey Pooh-bear you look so pretty today can I take your picture?"
Sienna: (sound effects added) grumble grumble
Me: "Ummm, I'll give you some candy?!?"

Me: "Wow Sienna....so cute! O.k. let's try one more thing..."

Sienna: "Augh-Mom...(with teeth clenched) I don't want to take anymore."

Me: (enter sarcasm) "Wow Sienna...thanks this was so fun for Mommy."

Me: "Turkey-butt" (said in mind- not out loud)

I think.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

It's Official

Finally, it's the end of summer.
Ok, so it's not official...but we didn't break 90 degrees all week and when we got in the car for church this morning the temperature gauge read 52 degrees.
It's promising.....definitely promising.
But I have to admit....I am just a little sad.... to leave this behind.
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