A Day Together as a Family.......Priceless.

This weekend we were blessed to have JC home the whole weekend. I was supposed to go to Oklahoma to see my sister's new baby but I caught Neely's cold, so we stayed home. By Saturday afternoon I was feeling a little better, and since Joshua didn't have a football game for the first time in a long time, we found ourselves with a free afternoon. We LOVE the movie Madagascar! We have been anticipating the new one since we saw the trailer for it months ago. I tried to take Neely to see Kung Fu Panda and she made it through the trailers and about 15 minutes of the movie, so I had sworn them off till she was a little older. Since that was about 6 months ago, I thought we might be able to try it again. So Saturday afternoon we packed up and went to lunch and a movie. I love BBQ, and my favorite place is Famous Daves in Little Rock. It is the yummiest! (It probably would have tasted even better if I could breath through my nose!) After lunch we went over to the Chenal Parkway theaters. If you aren't aware, these are the new theaters that have the huge IMAX screen. We went to see the 2:30 matinee. We would go see movies in Colorado on the IMAX screen and it was always the same price as any other screen in the theater, you just had to luck out and hope they were playing the movie you wanted to see on the big screen. Well, we were standing in line and I caught a glimpse of the conversation going on in front of me and heard the teller tell the man that his total was thirty something dollars for the 3 tickets he had just purchased. I got that shocked look on my face and asked the guy if I had heard right. (It would have been too easy, and not had nearly the effect if I had just looked at the price board) Sure enough, I had heard right. Matinee price for the IMAX theater, adult or child is $11. Are you serious?!?! But there we were, in line, Neely was stoked, we were excited....what do you do?? You pay $44 to see a matinee movie...that's what you do. We had a ball, and Neely sat mesmorized through the whole thing. So Madagascar 2 is her first official movie at 3 yrs 3 months. And I now have this beautiful Mastercard commercial.

Lunch at Famous Daves $46

Movie at IMAX Theater $44

Snacks at the theater $25

Afternoon together as a family......priceless.

Ready, Set, Blog!

The house is a mess, and there is a mountain of laundry that needs done, so it seemed like a great day to spend the morning not doing that and catching up on my blog. There are several posts, so just keep on reading! Love Ya!

PS - While catching up on friends' blog I found that I had been tagged! So here goes...

Seven Things I'm Thankful for:
1. My husband and kids. They are my world. Today is Veteran's Day. I have been listening to the TV while blogging and the Today Show did a segment on mom's who had lost their sons in Iraq and Afghanistan. My heart breaks and I cry out loud for those women. I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child and pray that I never do.
2. My parents and sisters. There were times in my life when I did not appreciate them, and today I am so thankful for the relationship I have with them. I am especially thankful for my mom. I grew up hoping I would never be like her (be honest, all teenage girls do it), and today I hope that I grow up to be just like her. Thanks mom!
3. The gospel. I am so thankful for the guidance it gives me in my life.
4. My husband's job. With everything going on in the world, the oil and gas industry in Arkansas might be one of few that will not suffer in these hard economic times.
5. Good friends. They are my life jacket. More days than not I feel like I could give up and drown at any moment. Thanks to them I am able to kick back to shore and head out for more. I miss friends far away...and think of you often...and am thankful for the new ones we have made here.
6. Modern conveniences. I think about those who lived without cars, running water, electricity etc, and awe at how they did it. I was definately born during this time because my Heavenly knew I could cope with all the other modern troubles in return for a flushing toilet and comfy bed.
7. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Enough said. LOL!

I tag...
Michelle Cannon since I'm sure everyone else I would tag has already done it!

This is Wrong on SOOOO Many Levels!

Joshua and his friend Tristen had a sleep over weekend before last. (Yes, I'm just now blogging it!) The weather was warm enough, and they decided to sleep outside. They quickly figured out that if they did that they would have nothing electronic to play with for the duration of their late night. This was their solution. Do you remember the days when you had a sleep over and you talked and goofed around playing dumb games like "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board?", or prank calling the boys you liked? What has the world come to??
Do you see all the extension cords??
TV, PS2/DVD player, IPOD and speakers, and a cooler for pop and snacks.

After they spent all evening hauling this stuff outside and setting it up, they retreated back into the house at about 10 pm claiming it was frostbite weather outside. I got on the internet and looked....it was 62. Yep...frostbite for sure!

Football is Over! WOO-HOO!

Well, football is finally over! I seemed like a very long season of practices and Saturday games. Joshua's team finished 3rd in their conference. They concluded the season with a great game beating Greenbrier (a team who had previously beat them) at the playoffs in Heber Springs. Congratulations to Joshua! I am very proud of him and all the hard work he put in. He had quite the learning curve trying to play Arkansas football. All of his teammates have dads who eat, drink, and live football and we just don't. They have also been playing together for a couple of years in this tiny town and he was the new kid. He had lots of things to overcome, and came out of it having a great year and getting a decent amount of playing time. I am very proud of him. Next comes basketball. We have already started practice. His first game is this weekend, but he will be in Colorado for an orthodontist appointment. That means a free Saturday for mom before the basketball schedule takes over our Saturdays again. Neely also had a very successful season as the ONLY 6th grade football cheerleader. She was a hit! Joshua at his awards banquet with Coach John.

House and Minnie

November 11th seems like as good as any day to post Halloween photos. No it's not....I apologize to both the grandmas for taking so long. Neely was Minnie Mouse. I'm sure you noticed right away that she is pink and white...not red and white. Although the Minnie Mouse we know wears red and white, the Minnie Mouse Neely knows wears pink and white. For those who don't know...the Disney Channel brought Mickey Mouse Clubhouse back to life, but this time as a cartoon of Mickey and his friends paling around. Neely LOVES this show. We have all 43 of them made saved on the DVR and most days it is all we watch. When discussing what to be for Halloween, Neely announced that she wanted to be Minnie Mouse. At this point I had not even noticed that Minnie was in pink and not red. So being the good mommy I am, I got on the internet and started looking for a Minnie Mouse costume. Neely was watching over my shoulder and I was asking her is she liked this one or that one, and she quickly had a 3 year old fit and informed me that she wanted PINK! Well, I just thought she wanted pink because she always wants pink, but then noticed on the TV that Minnie had pink on. So I started looking for the elusive pink Minnie Mouse costume. I actually found one on Disney.com, and they were on sale...but they were out of the matching ears. So, I went I ebay. I found the costume...but of coarse I could not purchase just the ears, so we ended up breaking the budget for the PINK Minnie Mouse costume. Sheesh! Josh was Horacio Cane of CSI Miami for the church trunk or treat, and when no one knew who that was, switched to House for trick or treating. House was a hit, everyone knew who that was. I guess we know which show gets watched more my mainstream Arkansas. We went trick or treating with some friends from Joshua's football team and their parents. We all had a good time....although....I still think trick or treating is dumb. LOL!

Boys will be boys! (And they wouldn't hold still so I could get a good picture!)

Tristen is some guy off the Halloween movies (I have no idea), Brian was a dead football player, and Joshua was House, and Neely REALLY didn't like the masks!!

We lucked out and Daddy was home for Halloween. We are thankful for the little things! :)