Jake went to the movies and all you got were these lousy pictures

We've been waiting for MONTHS for Toy Story 3 ("Toh Stoh TEE!") to come out. We'd planned long ago that it would be Jakey's first movie ... the other boys were 2 years old when they saw their first movies (Cars and Flushed Away, respectively), and we thought Jakey was ready.

 

He was SO excited when we said it was time to go! He could hardly wait to get to the theatre.

 

 

 

Once we got there, he found the poster on the wall.

 

 

 

 

In a brilliant piece of cross-marketing, LEGO partnered with Pixar and produced a companion magazine for the movie, which we were handed free at the door (one for each of them). OH THE HAPPINESS.

 

 

 

Once inside, Jakey and I staked out the perfect seats (halfway up, right in the middle).

 

 

 

(What is it with people who prefer aisle seats? I can't do them. It gives me a migraine to have to tilt my head even slightly to the left or right to watch a movie.)

 

Jakey enjoyed his magazine and then the previews and movie. I would have taken more pictures, but I didn't want to use the flash in there. You're going to have to trust me when I tell you he was beyond adorable-to-the-max.

 

 

 

I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet, but I don't think I'm giving anything away to say that there were a couple of really scary scenes. Jakey started rocking front to back and saying, "No no no no no no no no ..." at one point, and then he started whimpering at another point. I had to let him know that everything was going to be OK ... AND I'M GLAD THEY DIDN'T MAKE A BIG FAT LIAR OUT OF ME. I was reassuring him with absolutely no knowledge to back it up. (That's one of my strengths.)

 

My own personal review would be four out of five stars, which is the same rating I would give the original film. I give TS2 the full five stars ... it remains my favorite. But I will say that I absolutely recommend TS3, and I did shed some tears near the end ... it tugged at my heartstrings. Come to think of it, I really ought to subtract a star just for reminding me that one day MY boys will be leaving me and their special toys to go off to college. I CAN'T EVEN GO THERE.

The good kind of tears

I know not everyone will find this funny. But last night I was laughing so hard at it that I cried. Sweet mercy. So funny to me. Thanks to Darby for passing it along!

A mystery for Monday

Clue #1 (courtesy of Bakerella) as to what we did last night:

Clue #2 (also courtesy of Bakerella) as to what we did last night:

It was lots of fun, but I had a bad headache for most of it, and it continued through the night. So, no new post about it today, but I'll try to get it up tomorrow!

Things I love: at Pottery Barn

I bet it seems like I post twice a month about things I'm drooling over at Pottery Barn. You're not far off.

But I find that it's easier for me to throw the catalogs away and quit thinking about all the things I'm dying to buy if I write about it here! It's cheaper, anyway. I get absolutely nothing from PB in return, in case you were wondering. (I hate that I feel like I have to say that, but I do want you to know that I would disclose it if I were receiving any kind of benefit.)

I'm more of a fan of Fall, in general, but Pottery Barn's Summer collections are gorgeous. Of course, they can make ANYTHING desirable. If they photographed a chaise lounge made out of hemp and dung, I bet it would look awesome. Luckily this hammock seems to be made out of the regular old stuff, cotton or what have you. It's the Hammock Sling ($149), and when I clicked on it, the mean Web site said they were out of it in this stripe. LOVE, though.

It's funny how when I page through a catalog, I'm drawn to the same colors repeatedly. Soon after I marked the page featuring the hammock, I marked this one so I'd remember this Brooks Armless Chair ($599). If there was a room in my house that needed a chair AND I HAD $600, this baby would be mineallmine tomorrow.

Do you know what would happen if I had this Bedford Project Table ($949)? Right where some photo stylist artfully arranged the vintage milk bottles holding pencils and the slim books leaning playfully to the sides, on MY Bedford Project Table would be Tinkertoys, Army men, tiny LEGOS, gum wrappers and maybe a pacifier. I say this with confidence because that's what every other surface and cubby in my house is littered with. So, it won't be finding its way here at any point, but that doesn't keep me from admiring it!

Do you have a Bucket List? I don't, but do people put home improvement tasks on them? Because if they do, then I definitely need one. Building a screened-in porch would be on it in the #1 spot, and furnishing it with four of these Seagrass Wingbacks ($599 for the chair and ottoman) would be item #2. And if they'd ship me that big stack of books, too, I'd just curl up and start reading.

And lastly -- for this week, anyway -- I stopped in my tracks when I saw this Rhodes Party Bucket ($99). First of all, I stopped in my tracks because I couldn't believe they're charging $100 for a drink cooler, but then again, it's PB. I shouldn't be surprised. But I also stopped in my tracks because I just can't believe how cute the bucket is. It looks like a miniature old-timey porcelain bathtub!

Until I get the next catalog, on Tuesday ...  ;)

I'msoexcitedI'msoexcitedI'msoexcitedI'msoexcitedI'msoexcited!

As a mom, my favorite days are the ones I get to spend with my kids when they're in a good mood. But as a GIRL, my favorite days are the ones where I'm locked away with colorful papers, adhesives and stickers for every occasion. And today I'm at a B&B with friends for our annual Summer scrapbooking retreat!

We arrived on Thursday night and will be cropping 'til late tonight. Grayson has the boys at home (I got a babysitter for several hours today, though, so he could have some time for himself, too.) I'm sure they're having a wonderful time, which makes us even!

After months of working really hard and no time off since we went to Orlando in January, I was so ready for a break! And being with these women, laughing and cropping, is a salve for my soul. I'll get home tomorrow totally rejuvenated and (hopefully) with lots and lots of cute pages to show off ... and it helps that the boys LOVE to look at their books.

Can't wait to see their happy faces ... right after I plow through these stacks and stacks of pictures. Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend, too!

Good things

1. Weekend scrapbooking retreats with friends
2. Reading a book that I just cannot put down
3. Discovering that my e-mail inbox has more personal messages in it than junk mail
4. Cheerfully using my CallerID to screen calls from telemarketers
5. Passing a truck hauling this on the interstate while I'm driving to work

THAT, my friends, is a great way to start your day. I'M STILL GRINNING.

Amping up the crazy for you this week

It's been awhile since I exposed some crazy to you, so I thought this was as good a time as any to come clean about a few more things.

1. I tend to drop packages off to be mailed around 5:45 p.m. That just happens to be the pick-up time for both FedEx AND UPS at my mailing store. And every single time I drive up and see both trucks there -- my beloved Brown and the shiny white (less charming) FedEx truck -- I automatically think, "There's a smackdown going on in there."

I don't know why, but I always think I'm gonna walk in the store and there's gonna be an AWK.WARD staredown happening at the counter. I know they're better than that (and here's some proof)(I love that story), but sometimes I want to sit in my van and wait 'til one of them leaves so I don't have to go in and breathe all that stressful air. HELP ME. Oh wait. I just watched my Brown video and all of a sudden I'm all better. It has magical healing powers, I tell you!

2. I am DYING to know what it's like inside cement trucks. I pass this cement company every day on my way home from work, and I see a line like this:

How does all the cement not get stuck in there? How does the spinning part not eventually just become one big block of cement? What do they use to clean them out? Because I could use some of whatever it is around my house in several areas. I'm not bothered enough by any of this to Wiki or Google it, mind you. I'd much rather just ask the pointless questions on my blog.

3. Sometimes I'm just watching TV or driving to work and all of a sudden I'm like, "I wonder what Amy Grant and Vince Gill are doing right now." Or, "I wonder if Steve Carell is on the set at The Office at this very moment breaking during a scene and making them shoot it all over again." I don't spend ALL my time wondering what my favorite celebrities are doing, but I'm just gonna come out and say that it happens a few times a week. Keri Russell, carpenter husband Shane Deary and adorable baby River, WAZZUP IN BROOKLYN?

They love him so much, they gave him the best gift they could think of

Grayson is very popular at our house. So when it came time to choose a Father's Day gift, I let the boys choose for the first time ever.

They immediately asked me to start looking for one thing in particular, something that we'd been looking for at our every convenience but hadn't been able to find.

I made several calls and went to three different stores. Finally I found one that had it, and I had them hold it for me.

Know what it is yet? That's right!

Toy Story Mania for the Wii! Not the new one that came out this week, noooooo. I have been on the hunt for a USED copy of the old one ... and we finally hit the jackpot. Not three minutes after Grayson opened it, they were all piled in the den taking it for a spin.

We'd enjoyed the ride so much at Disney that they just couldn't wait to re-live the excitement. Not that our den holds the same appeal as Disney, but you know. We try.

They played several practice rounds to get their game on.

And then they took Zurg on in earnest. You can see that the actual gift recipient had to patiently wait his turn while Quality Control performed its tests.

I've already chosen my two favorite games-within-the-game. One of them is this glorified ring toss:

Anyway, it's a big hit around here. Last night all the way home from school the boys were chomping at the bit to get home and start playing.

One other thing about Father's Day that made me laugh was the "All About Daddy" booklet that Nathaniel wrote at the end of first grade (and hid for a month so he could give it to Grayson last weekend).

I love it when my father plays with me. (True.) My father likes to eat. (Truer.)

Dear Dad, I love you because you give me my alawens's evre Friday.

THAT'S OUR BOY. All about the $3 allowance.

Keith Urban's a class act, y'all

Don't you just love it when a celebrity exceeds your expectations?

24x24: Saturday, June 19, 2010

Location: Just North of Chattanooga at Wolftever Creek on Harrison Bay


9:40 a.m. - Morning boat ride to get the weekend off to a great start

9:45 a.m. - Haley laughs at Hannah's antics

9:46 a.m. - Nathaniel enjoys the boat ride to the fullest

9:48 a.m. - Nick grins at the jokes that big kids are telling, mostly quotes from their favorite TV shows, mostly centered around bodily functions

9:49 a.m. - Hannah shows me her new snaggletooth grin

11:26 a.m. - Back at the dock, Nathaniel perfects his cannonball

11:31 a.m. - Nick jumps off the dock frog-legged, the same way he's jumped since he was younger than Jake

11:37 a.m. - Jakey jumps off the dock to Grayson, fearless, for already the 200th time that day

1:31 p.m. - Jack practices driving the boat while it's docked

2:10 p.m. - Jakey jumps off the boat to Grayson ... he cannot be deterred from all the fun in the open water

2:10:02 p.m. - Jack cheers Jakey on as he hits the water

3:45 p.m. - Back at the dock, Haley hangs off the ski rope

3:51 p.m. - Nick practices diving off the dock

4:12 p.m. - Jakey gets back into the swing of things, jumping off the walkway to Grayson, six feet below

7:26 p.m. - Continuing the tradition of a sunset boat ride, the kids pile in the front of the boat for the best view, Jakey already half-asleep after the big day

7:34 p.m. - Nathaniel counts his blessings that we're back out on the boat

7:41 p.m. - Jack and Jake bond over fatigue and having little control over one's destiny

7:55 p.m. - Jack rebounds and gives us a big grin

8:11 p.m. - Haley's hair whips in the wind

8:22 p.m. - The kids raise their hands to try to touch the bridge as we pass under it

8:31 p.m. - Jakey, practically asleep sitting up, watches birds fly past the boat

8:39 p.m. - Jack and Hannah look forward, Jack's curls lit by the setting sun

8:49 p.m. - The kids soak up the last few minutes of daylight, OUR kids wondering how they got so lucky as to stay up -- and be out on a BOAT, no less -- after 9:00 at night

8:57 p.m.

8:58 p.m.

24x24 is a series posted at totally irregular and unpredictable intervals. I invite you to participate anytime you'd like! Simply post 24 pictures from a 24-hour time period. You can just post the pictures alone, caption them, put a time stamp on each one ... whatever you'd like. If you'd like to write a 24x24 post of your own, grab the button at the top right of my blog and come back and let me know when you've published your post. I'd love to visit!