Cars!

This summer Cars 2 will be in theaters.  My employer, State Farm, is a sponsor of the movie and gets to display the Cars at their Corporate Headquarters.  The promotion started this week, and the kids couldn't wait to get over there to see them!

On Saturday night we went out to dinner, then stopped by my building to see Lightning McQueen.



This photo is courtesy of my friends Ashley and Stephanie, since I didn't manage to take a photo of the FRONT of the car!

 Today the girls were at school, but I was able to take Jack over to the other State Farm building to see two more Cars, Mater and Finn McMissile, a new character coming in part 2.

Love working for this company, and love the perks!

A Conversation With Jack ...

Me:  "Hey buddy, what'cha doin'?"

Jack:  "Nuffin.  Just playin Barbies."

Me:  "Hmmm...and Jenna and Kara aren't even here.  Do you actually like playing Barbies?"

Jack:  "Yep."

Me:  "Even though you're a boy, you still like them, huh?"

Jack:  "Oh it doesn't matter I'm a boy.  I can do a Kelly voice really good!"

Jenna, Live in Concert

Tonight was the 2nd and 3rd grade music show at Jenna's school.  For the 3rd year in a row, their school's music teacher had organized a wonderful music concert for the kids' families.  And for the 3rd year in a row, our family somehow managed to get there on time, but was only able to get seating in the very last row. 

Lesson learned for Kara's upcoming concert in April.

Before the show began, I crept up to the front to capture a couple of photos of Jenna on stage. 

When arranged by height, I think all of our kids will always end up in the front row.  Just like their mama.



A final pep talk from the principal before the show.



Showtime!

Even from the back row, I could see Jenna singing with a big smile on her face.  She just loves music and singing, and I have to say she's learning a lot in her school music class.

And mommy is learning a lot about grade school politics, and how to work the system for front row seats.  I'm camping out the night before Kara's show.

Pajama Day!

Bieber Fever

Yesterday and today the kids were off of school in honor of Presidents Day and the need for teachers to plan, or something like that.

Yesterday we went bowling again, and had lunch at Pizza Hut.

Today, the kids had another idea on the agenda.  Seeing a movie.  And not just any movie.  The new Justin Bieber movie.

I'm no prude, but I'm of the opinion that popstar crushes are fine once you've reached your adolescent years.  I've relented on the Hannah Montana, Taylor Swift, and Selena Gomez because they're girls, and I don't entirely mind their music (save for one of them).  But Justin Bieber?  He's a boy, and I'm not about to let my girls start getting all goo-goo eyed about a boy at their young, tender ages.

Alas, after several hours of constatnt begging, pleading and whining, we set out to the movie theater.  I was still working on a last-ditch attempt to get them to pick another animated movie at the theater.  No luck. 

We were seeing Justin Bieber.  To add insult to injury, the movie was only being played in 3D.

(I believe it Hollywod's conspiracy to release EVERY movie in 3D now in order to charge a premium for tickets)

Just in case you can't see, let me magnify the photo to show you that I did, indeed, pay $32 for the 4 of us to go see the movie.  In 3D.



When it was over, I have to admit that it wasn't that bad.  The producers of this movie were genius in the way they portrayed Justin so that moms would love him too.  He was a darling kid, had lots of musical talent as a little guy, comes from a loving and supportive family, prays before concerts and meals, and has surrounded himself with what seems to be a group of people who genuinely care about him.

Plus, his mentor Usher made sure that he got some screen time.

Plus, the kids looked pretty darned cute in their 3D glasses.



Using my phone camera in the dark resulted in some pretty bad pictures, but you get the idea!

Tales from my Phone: Face Paint

There's a lady in town called The Zoo Lady. She does face painting at nearly every community event, and she's pretty good!


The kids have had their faces painted by her at various festivals, and you can always expect to have to wait in a LONG line to have it done.

Last week, The Zoo Lady visited Jenna's classroom. It was one of the special surprises that her class received for having collected the most money in the school's Coins For Kids campaign. Coins For Kids benefits the local Easter Seals organization, and the whole school participates every year in honor of a few students who have been helped by this group in the past.

Tales from my phone ... Reggie the Redbird

A few weeks ago we took the kids to see a basketball game at the local state university.  Jenna received a couple of free tickets from her school, and we decided that it would be a good family outing on a cold Sunday afternoon.

We got there early and found our seats in the nosebleed section.  The kids were excited, and loved watching all of the activity and commotion and music.  The girls were in awe of the cheerleaders and dancers, all 3 of them danced to the band's music, and they loved watching the silly school mascot's antics from afar.  That funny Redbird named Reggie was dancing and skipping all over the court during the pre-game show.

Side note:  After the rousing introductions, the dramatic tip-off, and the first 5 minutes of play, Kara leaned over and asked me when the game was going to start.  Perhaps they're still a bit young for sporting events?

After the 1st quarter (long after the $10 worth of popcorn had been dumped on the stadium floor and the mega Sprite had been consumed) we could no longer spot Reggie the Redbird.  The kids wondered aloud where he had gone?  The bathroom?  The concession stand?  The locker room?

The answer became apparent when he walked up and plopped himself into the empty seats in front of us.

Mark and I held our breath.  Up close, the silly bird was actually quite angry and menacing looking. 

For as long as we could remember, mascots or characters or Santa or the Easter bunny or basically any adult in a costume would send Kara into hysterics.  It began at her first birthday outing to see a Sox game, and continued every time we went to Chuck E Cheese or a community event that featured local mascots for entertainment.



 As luck would have it, she's over that now! 

Apparently our spring trip to Disney cured her fear of larger-than-life characters.  I'm sure there's some fancy psychological explanation, but it most likely has something to do with the fact that she met about 999 characters while at Disney, and posed for pictures with all of them after getting them to sign her autograph book. 

After a few high fives, they were all willing to pose for a picture with their new friend, Reggie.

I only wish I had brought my actual camera to capture the photos.  But, once again, thank goodness for the camera phone : )

The Love Continues ...

Just had to share a photo of the Valentine's Day gift that I got from Mark and the kids ...

... a necklace with 3 hearts, one for each of my babies.  How thoughtful and sweet : )

Mark was also kind enough to photograph Valentine's Day evening for me, since I was away at work.  I ran out and got a heart-shaped pizza for them to have for dinner, and the kids seemed to have a blast digging through their Valentine boxes after school.  And apparently eating copious amounts of candy, as evidenced by the sheer number of wrappers I found littered throughout the house over the next 2 days.  Seriously, when did candy become a required add-on to a Valentine?  And why are FunDip and PixieStix the candy of choice?  Who are these kids that give these out, and don't their parents know what they're doing?

Not wanting to feel left out, Jack had a Valentine's Day party at school on the 15th.  Unfortunately for them, it was my turn to coordinate the class party, so there wasn't much fanfare or excitement. 

They passed out Valentines, played a couple of games, heard a story, did a craft, and ate a snack.



How much longer will my sweet little boy be willing to make and wear a love bug headband at school?




Jack folds his hands for prayer before snack.



Like all parties, the preschool party started out with the kids singing a few songs for their parents.  So, for the benefit of grandparents who might want to watch such things, a couple of quick videos ...

Happy Valentine's Day, Sweet Babboos!

Today is Valentine's Day, and my how my little Valentines have grown!

I wish I had taken a Valentines Day picture every year to compare, but here are a few through the years ...

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006



2004

Tales from My Phone ... part 1

One of my favorite things about my new cell phone is the fact that not only does it have a camera, but it also has Internet and email.  Which means I'm able to email the photos I take to my computer, and save them that way.  Unlike my old phone which will have pictures stored on it forever, since I'm not sure how to get them from my phone to my computer.  Anyone?

Anyway.  Here are a few recent shots that I've taken with my camera, and recently uploaded.  Each shot, of course, has a story.

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Sometime in January, we got a light snow in the morning, and Mark was getting ready to head out of town.  He had gone out to start his car in the driveway, and then made a second trip out carrying his overnight bag, laptop bag, cup of coffee, etc.  He came back inside and told me that he had almost bit it when he slid in the driveway.  About an hour or so later, after he had left, I was upstairs making beds and cleaning up bedrooms.  I opened the shades in Jack's room and looked out the window to see this in the driveway ...

It's not a great picture, but you can clearly see the clear spot in the driveway where Mark's car had been parked, and next to it you'll notice a long skid mark where Mark had slid down our slippery incline.  I don't know why, but I found it hysterical and had to take a picture.  I texted it to him with the caption, "Nice skid mark", and he was afraid to open it in front of his co-workers : )

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Jenna has some of the straightest hair you can have which, of course, makes her wish it was curly or wavy.  She's always asking me to make it wavy after a shower, and I do my best to put product in it, scrunch it up and blow dry it with a diffuser.  But it always comes out straight.  Not only is her hair as straight as it gets, but it also doesn't hold curl too well.  Until now.  A few weeks ago I bought a triple barrel curling iron, and Jenna  has been DYING to give it a try.

The waves turned out pretty cute, and she was thrilled.  The whole experience reminded me of the crimper, circa 1985, or my body wave (a.k.a. perm) in 1993 -- but you can bet your bottom dollar that I gave it a try once the kids had gone to bed : )

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That's all for now, but stay tuned for more tales from my phone, as updates become available.

S.W.A.K.!

Thank you

for the



chocolate lips

for Valentine's Day, Joanie!



Love,

Jenna, Kara, and Jack