Tuesday, July 31, 2012

So big...


I forgot to document Olivia's 5 Year Check Up - it was shot free, which was nice, and Dr. S was right on time, so the entire experience was rather lovely.  Dr. S talked to Olivia quite a bit, asked us a few questions and then just did her "check over the patient" thing...

Olivia weighed in at 52lbs and measured 44 1/2 inches tall - she is a tall girl! I was just telling a work pal that I am a bit nervous about Kindergarten and wearing real clothes, gone are the days where sweatpants and leggings are appropriate every single day, she is going to be wearing jeans and cords, real kid clothes - yikes.

TV Tuesday: Summer TV

I haven't been dying of boredom due to Summer TV the way I have in years past - this Summer has kept me entertained, but I am still very much looking forward to the Fall TV Premier Dates.  For fun I thought I would lay out my favorites...



1) Army Wives - this one is summer old faithful - I've really enjoyed Army Wives since it started, some episodes are better than others, but its a good one!



2) Saving Hope - I have no idea how this show is going to end, the last episode I saw left me in tears - its about a Doctor (Alex - female) who is engaged to another Doctor (Charlie - male), who was in an accident on the day of their wedding, he now lays in a comma - something about hospital dramas always suck me in.  I am hoping that it gets picked up after the Summer trial.


3) NY Med - I've already blogged about my love of this one before, so I won't beat the dead "I love this show" horse - tune in - its a good one.


4) Rizzoli & Isles - a cop drama, this is always a lay-up - cop dramas and hospital dramas - love them.  And this one takes place in Boston - love it.  I wish there was a little more romance in this one - but I still love it.



5) Franklin & Bash - these two guys have great chemistry - they are witty, charming and I laugh out loud while watching this show - legal drams have been hit or miss for me, I haven't been as loyal to legal dramas as I have with cop or hospital dramas, but this one is great.

6) Common Law - we just tuned into this one, its a new series and it entertains me - it isn't going to win any awards and if it was competing with something else for my attention, I am not sure it would win, but these two boys are funny and they are easy on the eyes.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Tacos & Ted

Brad and I got out for a few hours last night while Alex stayed with the girls. It was a nice relaxed date night.  We cuddled up to the bar for dinner at Bonefish while we watched the Olympics and sat next to each other, the first time we've ever done that, its just odd to have to turn your next like that to talk to the person you are dining with.

And much to our surprise - we arrived just before Happy Hour ended - a huge plus of having date night on a Sunday Night - there are fun specials.  So I dined on Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos for $5.00 & Brad had a Lobster Roll.  Being from New England I am always hesitant to order a Lobster Roll outside of the homeland, but Brad loves Lobster Rolls so he gave it a try - it wasn't bad, but it was mayo heavy, and my bite tasted like celery and onion, I didn't really taste any lobster, but I do love buttered and grilled hot dog buns when they are top cut.


And then we caught the 7:25 showing of Ted - I had super high hopes, several people had commented on how funny it was, a few even went on a FB limb and said it was the funniest movie they've ever seen - but I was rather disappointed - sure I laughed out loud - BUT for me, it just didn't live up to the hype. It was nice to snuggle with Brad in the theater, but I was tempted to cut off the bottom of my maxi dress and wrap it around my shoulders, I was freezing. We passed on Popcorn (I was proud of us) but did dish out a non-essential organ to procure some Reese's Pieces and a small fountain Cheery Coke - is there anything better than fountain Cherry Coke? My goodness, its delicious!


PS - I still have a huge soft spot for talking animals - but talking stuffed animals just wasn't the same.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Kindergarten in Style


Minus the 8-count boxes of Crayons we need to buy - we are all set - all supplies are purchased, labeled and packed up and ready to go.  Oh, and I need to sharpen 10 pencils for her, but you better believe that I am waiting until we purchase a battery operated or an electric one. I will get carpel tunnel if I try and sharpen these buggers by hand. I got a little misty eyed putting all the supplies together, and I still have a lump in my throat as I type, I can't imagine what I am going to be like on her first day!! Good thing I told my work peeps to expect me late that day, I will need some time for my eye swelling to go down!!!

Friday, July 27, 2012

Cavity Free at 3 & 5

I braved a trip to the Pediatric Dentist with the girls all by my lonesome yesterday and it was probably one of my proudest parenting moments, I puffed my chest out and proudly said "yes, ladies and gentleman, those are my beauties" I couldn't have been more proud of the way they behaved, how brave they were, and of course the rave review by Dr. Wood was just the icing on the cake.


Its odd, Avery loathes brushing her teeth, sometimes it requires a headlock and it always requires me to make up a song, with her choosing the topic/theme (When she said she wanted a Barbie song, I clearly had to rock out "I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world....") - yet she scored the A+ Brusher award and poor Olivia who brushes her teeth without me asking and before she even comes in our room in the morning could use a bit of work, I guess that just goes to show you that I really should still be brushing Olivia's teeth, he reminded me that kids often don't have the coordination to hit all the teeth until they are closer to 8 years old...(I died a little bit inside thinking about 5 more years of putting Avery in a headlock).  Avery was an angel though - always has been at the Dentist actually, its one of those things that just makes you go "hmmmm" - nothing is easy with Avery, so I figured the Dentist would be a battle, quite the opposite, she just sits there with her mouth open and keeps her beautiful browns focused on whoever is working in her mouth. 


Olivia - who is the everyday angel has had a tough time at the dentist since her traumatic fall when she was two, but holy smokes she was a champ, it almost brought tears to my eyes.

You can see the discoloration from her caps & root canal - poor thing.

Digression Moment - the other night when Olivia told me she had a loose tooth, which went a little something like this: "Mommy, ya wanna know what? I have a loose tooth. And ya wanna know why? Because I am five....DUH" - she cracks me up, but later that night when I was putting her to bed and she said "I am getting big" - I got all teary, and tears welled up in my eyes and she looked at me and said "Why are you crying" and I said "I just want to keep you little forever and forever" and she then started crying...she really is my daughter.


Another two funny Olivia stories from this week, she has been full of funny moments this week:

Driving to Sweet Frog last night after Swimming Lessons (Sweet Frog was a reward for an excellent dentist visit) she says "There is a jammit" and Brad and I both thought that she said "damn it" so we asked her what she meant, and she said "a jammit is when there is a lot of craziness" we still had no idea what she was talking about, but then she said "but a damn it is when two cars crash and one of them flips over" - with that we both busted into a fit of laughter, that clearly would be a damn it moment.

Driving to Swimming the other night - she says "I think I need to toot....oh wait, maybe I need to burp...I wish my body would just make up its mind - jeesh" and then Avery said "well you better say "excuse me".  The beauties....need to teach them some lady skills - us ladies, we don't talk about our toots or burps, in fact we don't toot or burp - ha!

Five on Friday: Back to School Supplies

I am already in back to school mode - I am thinking about all the things I need to do to prepare my oldest beauty for her first day of Kindergarten and to ensure that I am prepared as well.  Kindergarten will bring about some changes for our family and in this instance change means I "have" to procure (man not really have to, but want to) some new supplies to make the transition a smooth one.  I have a small obsession with school supplies, always have, always will, and I was thrilled that the time has come for me to start the school supply shopping for Olivia.  More on the comprehensive list of changes later, but for now I am going to focus on the Five Things we've done and need to do to get Olivia ready for school, supply wise.

1) Backpack - this was a tough decision for me, I always thought I would go with a PBK backpack for her, she has one she uses now, but its about the size of a lunchbox so we knew we would have to get her a new one.  I wanted Olivia to have a choice, but I clearly only wanted her to pick from Leigh-Approved options - so I went to poll my Facebook friends and it became clear that Lands End of LL Bean were the natural choices for quality - after some quick research I realized that LL Bean didn't have any "girl colors" to offer us in the size backpack we needed - so I defaulted to Lands End and gave Olivia two color choices, neither of which knocked my socks off, but the 30% off sale helped sell me.


2) Lunch Box - the whole lunch box thing kinda threw me, while I was excited to have to procure a lunch box, this actually means I will be packing lunch for the beauty every single day - big change for me.  I decided to get a matching lunch box - but I was distressed that the monogram choices and the fact that the backpack and lunch box choices didn't match up - they will be mismatched. Irks me! But I did learn to NOT use her full name, I don't want her getting snatched up by a stranger who reads her backpack, calls her name and makes her think that she should know him or her...so we went the monogram route. However, it probably wouldn't be hard for a stranger to guess that "O" as a first initial isn't Olive...


3) Pencil Pouch - this one was tough too - her school requested a 7.5 X 10 inch pencil pouch - for crying out loud, do you realize how big that is? At Target there was 1 option that measured 7.5 x 10 and it was plastic and had a zip lock like closure - and it likely wouldn't have lasted more than the first week so I bucked the system and grabbed her the biggest, most functional, fashionable one I could find and went with a zebra print one, with an actual zipper, not the zip lock closure thingy.

4) Lunch Box Supplies - so this is in addition to the lunch box itself, we will need some container like thingys to go inside the lunch box to keep her lunch cold - I have found several options on various websites, including Zulily - and I haven't actually made a purchase yet, but I am leaning towards the ones that include the stay cool feature - like the one below. There is nothing worse than a warm bologna sandwich. If you have any suggestions about storage containers, let me know.
5) Nap Mat - I wanted to go all out and get Olivia a cute little nap mat, a beautiful bright pattern, with her monogram, but after talking to a few parents and reading the recommendations from her school, I have decided that its better to just follow suit and go with the standard mat you can find at Target or Walmart, so we will be making that purchase this weekend as I aim to finish up the school supply list. Our August is insane and I don't want to stress about the supplies and God forbid I forget one of the 713 boxes of crayons I need to procure, I don't want Olivia to be "that kid" whose Mom is a deadbeat. And for the record, I want a nap mat.



But I would rather mine look a little more like this:

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Build-a-Bear Take 2

If you recall we took the beauties to Build-a-Bear for Avery's Birthday, and Olivia asked that we also make a Build-a-Bear trip for her Birthday, so of course, I prepared myself a little better for this trip. I clipped coupons ($10 off purchase of $30 or more) and gathered the gift cards the girls have received, and we also set some rules.  Our new "bears" didn't need shoes and they didn't need panties, and you know what, that rule alone saved us $20+ buck-a-roos...I can't believe the Build-a-Bear pantie are $3.50 each, isn't that insane? A big thank you to Nate Davis (and Maura & Aaron) for the gifts - the girls were so excited to be able to go to Build-a-Bear together again!! Between a gift card, promotional gift cards we got with our last trip and the coupons, we ended up paying .68 out of pocket, and we walked away having not touched Olivia's gift card - how cool is that? Clip those Build-a-Bear coupons - they are priceless!!!


The girls had fun building Charley the Cow (Avery) and Kaitlyn the Pup (Olivia) - trying to get Avery to name her bears has been comical.  This time she just looked around the store and named off everything she could see, and then finally we started to go through names that began with a C, so it would be close to "COW"...she cracks me up.

Sink or Swim



We signed the beauties up for serious-business swimming lessons this summer, and we started our 8 day blitz on Monday.  We have wanted to try Morgan Swim School (which is now Aqua Tots) for a year or so, but the timing hasn't worked out.  They use a combination of public and private pools all over the city, so you are at the mercy of their schedules and availability. And I should also mention, its a small fortune, but the reviews are nothing but positive, and it is critical these beauties learn to swim, so its well worth it.

This swim program is no joke, it is essentially private lessons, two kids in the pool with two instructors during each 30 minute lesson - and they don't let the parents watch, so we take the beauties, get them ready, hand them over to their instructors and we go sit in the car for 25 minutes and then we get to go back and watch the last 5 minutes or so, they show us what they have learned, and their little faces light up when they see the pride come across our faces.  They are both doing great so far, tonight was their second lesson - last night was cancelled due to storms, but Olivia is basically swimming already, and we are only two lessons in - impressive, isn't it?

Yo! Ho! Let's Go!


Our little Jake and the Neverland Pirates lover has been talking about having a Jake themed Birthday Party for months now, so we decided to do it up for her Fifth Birthday Party. I was a little disappointed in her theme choice, I wasn't sure how to make a pirate party girlie, BUT it was what the dollface wanted, so Jake is what she got.

I kept things simple, it was a home backyard bash, with a big waterslide, pre-package snacks (we avoided meal-time for the first time in 5 years) and we did the traditional cake and presents bit. The simple, turned into the chaotic when thunder struck and 20+ wet 5 year olds came running inside, needing to be changed, and needing to be entertained. I guess my Jake themed color-me print outs didn't do the trick, and the pirate scene sticker activity didn't suit their fancy because they were running all over our house within minutes of dropping their wet towels at their parents feet. I heard elephants on the second floor and just prayed that we had locked our bedroom door, the last thing I needed was one of Olivia's friends coming down the stairs sporting one of my over the shoulder boulder holders that was waiting in a laundy basket to be put away - disaster averted, we were safe, they were all back downstairs shortly after the stampede started.


I felt like a bit of a dead-beat on the decoration front, I wasn't sure how to do the whole pirate theme, and truth be told, last week was a wee bit busy (Consignment Sale & 15 Year Class Reunion Invites), but I did manage to display the pre-packaged snacks in cute little pirate themed boxes I found in the dollar section at Target. And let me express my love of prepackage snacks, they are amazing, they are easy, kids love them and the clean up is seamless, the unconsumed buggers just go back in our snack bucket and we call it a day.

We went with Olivia's favorite snacks: Fruit-by-the-Foot (huge hit), Fig Newtons, Fruit Snacks, Squeeze Applesauce, Goldfish and the theme appropriate Pirate's Booty. I did whip out the spray paint for one of the decorations and that was the treasure chest of snacks - an old box that I stored baseball cards in for years. And of course, you slap some vinyl on it and you have a cute little snack box.

The cake didn't disappoint - Cakes by Graham is top notch - and Olivia loved her Izzy cake.



Olivia loved having all her "school-friends" here, it was the first time she had invited her classmates to a Birthday Party and she was beyond excited about it. I did learn while talking to a lot of the parents that several of her friends won't be attending Jacobs Road with her in the Fall, I was sad to hear that news and can imagine it will be upsetting to Olivia too - I think we both assumed her friends would just go onto school with her in the Fall, but with the overcrowing, several waviers have been declined, thankfully we live in the Jacobs district and didn't have to worry about the whole waiver process.

And the icing on the cake for me was the moment Olivia came up to me and said "I will never forget this Birthday Party Mommy" - makes it all worth it. Happy Fifth Birthday Olivia!!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Five on Friday: All about Olivia

Being that it is Olivia's Special Week I thought it would be fitting to share the five things I love most about her. And it is hard to narrow it down to five, I could probably list out 101 things I love about Olivia, but for the sake of keeping it within the theme of Five on Friday, I will keep it down to the Top Five.

June 2009

1) Her Laugh - this child has the best laugh of anyone I have ever heard.  The second she starts, it hits you, you can't hear her laugh without falling into fits of laughter yourself.  And when she gets going, she can't stop, I love hearing her belly laugh, it comes from deep down, and it is just the best sound, the world stops and regardless of what is going on, you get a moment of feeling like you are exactly where you should be and everything is alright with the world.

2) Her Memory - this can be a blessing and a curse, but I am choosing to see this one as a full glass, not even a half full one, her ability to retain experiences, and her ability to recall memories is impressive. And it makes me feel good that things make that big of an impression on her, that she references it again and again.



3) Thoughtful & Generous- Olivia is very thoughtful, she is always asking how people are feeling if she knows they haven't been feeling well, she is always wanting to make a card or put together a present for the ones she cares about, and while you might not be thrilled with the box of random goodies she throws together and declares it a present, I am all about the motivation behind it, she just wants people to know she is thinking about them and she wants to make them feel good.  She knows how it feels to receive a present and she loves to make others feel the same way.  Don't get me wrong, this child loves to receive, but she is also a giver.

4) Snuggle Skills - this child is a professional snuggler, she can mold into my arms and curl around my body like she was made for me to snuggle with, and I like to think that she actually was! I can't get enough snuggle time with this beauty, and I am thankful that she still loves to snuggle and I am hopeful that she is going to be one of those kids that still wants to curl into our laps as a teenager.


5) She made me a Mom - this one is hard to put into words, but there is just something about her, something about her being the first person in the entire world to call me Mommy, the first person in the world that looked to me to protect her, show her the world and love her like no one else would.  This child changed me like I imagine nothing else could. Growing up and as a young adult I never really pictured myself as a Mom, and now that thought brings tears to my eyes, I can't imagine someone else being Olivia's Mommy and I can't imagine my life without her.  She is the first beauty in a family of two beauties and she will always be my little girl.  The day she arrived, I arrived and my life took on a new purpose. My goal is to never lose sight of that purpose for too long, its hard to keep my eye on the ball 24/7, but if I am focused on it more than I am not, I am in good shape!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

From the Mouth of This 5 Year Old

Olivia at age 5...from her mouth, to my fingers, to your eyeballs...

Today at the Doctor's Office...

1. What is your favorite color? Purple & Pink

2. What is your favorite toy? A puzzle with my Dad

3. What is your favorite fruit? Peaches from GA (thanks to Zac Brown Band for teaching her that)

4. What is your favorite tv show? Doc McStuffins

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? A sub

6. What is your favorite outfit? A dress

7. What is your favorite game? Hi-Ho Cherri-O

8. What is your favorite snack? A brownie

9. What is your favorite animal? A dog
10. What is your favorite song? Jesus our Brother ("that one is so cute, isn't it?) - Off the record, I thought she was going to say the "Toes in the Water, Ass in the Sand" song...

11. What is your favorite book? The Princess Books (she has a set of all the Disney Princess books she loves)

12. Who is your best friend? Johanna

13. What is your favorite cereal? "I don't have a favorite cereal"

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play on the bouncie house

15. What is your favorite drink? Lemonade

16. What is your favorite holiday? My Birthday

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Snowflakes my Doggie from YaYa's House

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Mexican (and she had it)

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? "I want to be a Doctor" - knock yourself out girlfriend...

Happy 5th Birthday Olivia Merritt

Our oldest beauty, Olivia Merritt Turner turns 5 years old today at 4:57pm, I can't imagine the last 5 years without her in our lives, and I can't imagine a single minute of the rest of my life without her.  She made me a Mommy and the first time I looked into her now beautiful brown eyes I just knew that I would be thanking my lucky stars every single day that I was chosen to be her Mommy.

Olivia the day she came home...

Olivia is a doll, a sweet, thoughtful, generous little girl who loves her family, loves her friends, loves to learn, loves her dog, loves glue, loves olives and loves to snuggle. She is witty and smart, she uses my words of wisdom against me at the most appropriate of times, and she has a memory like a steel trap, nothing gets by this girl.  Her dances moves are outstanding, but the facial expressions that go along with those dances moves could use some work.

Olivia at her First Birthday

Olivia adjusted so well to being a big sister, and it always melts my heart to watch her show Avery how something works, or explain to Avery how to play a game she has just made up, but it sounds uber official. 

Olivia at her Second Birthday

The imagination of this beauty is impressive, but I can imagine that is the norm for a rising five year old. I love to listen to her tell me stories and she is always asking for me to tell her a story.

Olivia at her Third Birthday

We have loved watching you grow, watching you try new things and your courage in the water this summer is just a true reminder that development is a wonderful thing and the fear you had of the water last summer is gone, you let me throw you into the water and you bounce off the bottom and gladly dunk your head under - I love it.

Olivia at her Fourth Birthday

Olivia is very much looking forward to her Jake and the Neverland Pirates Party on Saturday afternoon. She invited her classmates this year and can't wait to spend the afternoon on the water slide, splashing around. And tonight we are going to dinner as a Family, after my Mom takes Olivia & Avery to get their nails done - their very first trip to the nail salon - I hate to miss it, but I am grateful my Mom is able to spend the afternoon with them while I slave away at the office and blow my nose every 35 seconds (picture me looking like Rudolph).

Happy Birthday to our sweet, sweet girl Olivia.  We love you more than words can say, and can't imagine a world without you in it.

Monday, July 16, 2012

2 Reasons to Be Excited


1) I purchased some supplies via the World Wide Web yesterday that will help me knock off 3 projects on my Summer To-Do List...they will require some glue and some spray paint and they will make something oh so simple...oh so pretty - can you guess what they might be?


2) My Erin Condren Life Planner arrived...and funny story.  I knew it was going to arrive on Friday, I had been tracking it since I got the "It has shipped" email through the trusty FedEx Website.  It hadn't arrived by 6:00pm when we left our house Friday Evening, but FedEx shows up at our house super late sometimes and they are here at least 4 times a week (Brad's Job, I don't shop online THAT much).  So we get home after the girls had a swim at my Parents pool and we dined, just the two of us, at Don Pepe, and my planner was NOT on the steps.  I ran inside and checked the tracking, it was now after 8pm and it should have been here by now and according to FedEx it had arrived at 6:54pm and was left at the front door.  So I began to panic, but decided I would call Molly and see if she had grabbed it in case it rained or something like that...so I called, she answered and I joked and said "Did you swipe my planner, it has my initials on it, you won't want it - ha!", and she was like "I have no idea what you are talking about" and this went on for a few minutes, I was running around the house checking to make sure it really wasn't on the back deck, I checked the front a few more times, all while talking to Molly and all of a sudden she says "Oh,are you looking for THIS box" and she is on her front steps holding the glorious and fashionable Erin Condren Box..I didn't know whether to hug her or throttle her, she had the glorious planner, but she played an evil trick on me...we both laughed and then we joined Insley on her front porch while she rocked Sam to sleep.  Causal social hour with your neighborhood gal pals is the BEST.

So I am thrilled my planner is here, I can't believe I haven't spent hours filling it out just yet, but I can imagine I will get to that sooner, rather than later.  I have been busy logging clothes for the Kids Layne/Ladies Layne Sale that is coming up this weekend. What is it with their sales falling on the girls birthday party weekends, never fails!! I can't wait - I entered 297 items. I have to re tag a ton, which I am not looking forward to, but I am very much looking forward to getting a ton of them out of my house and I am inclined this time donate most of what doesn't sell to Goodwill...there are Suits and Tags Still On items that I will likely bring home if they don't sell, but hopefully a bunch sells and I only have a few things to bring home!!

Somewhere Over...


Isn't this rainbow fantastic? I captured this beauty on "film" yesterday at my Parents House - during the very long storm we were having. The girls were excited to see it, and asked a ton of questions about whether there really was a pot of gold at the end of the Rainbow, cute!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Book Report: Bared To You


My super gal pal Dana recommended this book to me after I so kindly recommended Fifty Shades to her.  She found this in the hopes that when she finished the 3rd Fifty Shades book she wouldn't have to fall into a deep depression with nothing fun and entertaining to read, and boy, I am glad she found it and even more thankful that she shared her find with me.  It was a good one.  Very, very similar to Fifty Shades, but better written, the characters are more developed, and it isn't quite so kinky. There is still a high-powered, young, amazing looking CEO, but the female lead isn't the girl next door the way Ana was in Fifty Shades.  Eva comes from an affluent family and has some secrets in her closet, and of course as does Gideon Cross, the male lead.

From what I can tell from the authors website there will be two more books, but unlike in Fifty Shades the ending didn't really leave me hanging, of course I want to know what happens to Eva and Gideon, BUT there wasn't a cliffhanger at the end that is keeping me up at night wishing that the second book was already out.  However, I should mention that I started reading this book last night at 11pm and finished at 4:45am - who does that? Apparently this girl does!!! And god bless my husband who got up with the beauties and let me sleep in a bit!!! He's a keeper!

This one isn't going to make you feel smarter, it isn't going to change your life, but if you are looking for a beach read, or a middle of the night read, it is very entertaining and I am just a huge sucker for a good love story.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Beach Beauties...

We had family photos taken again this summer by Sascha (Photos By Sascha) who happens to be just a doll to work with, and we are so glad that we did.  I absolutely love capturing our moments on "film" and I find that I have slacked in this department lately, and happy that we didn't let an opportunity pass us by.

Our Crazy Family...just being us.


A little more crazy


Here are the real beach beauties...



What a nice change...actually being able to photograph the girls together and while we don't have a great one of them both facing the camera, just having them in the same frame makes my heart melt...

Avery's attempt at a "silly face"


Our oldest beauty...so grown up.


Where have the last 5 years gone?


Here we are...love the reflection


Love Birds

And finally, just so you know we can be more serious...the 2012 Beach Family Photo...

Five on Friday: Summer List

I don't have a huge comprehensive list of things I want to do this summer, crafts I want to do with the girls, or experiences we would like to have, but I thought it would be fun to make a list of the Top Five things we hope to do this summer, some of which are scheduled already and others will take some planning and organization.

1) Trip to Wrightsville Beach & Wilmington, NC - we look forward to our visit with Greg & Angie every year and we are thankful that we have been able to go two years in a row, we had a dry spell for a few years and our summers just weren't the same. We enjoy getting to spend time with friends and their little darlings, who are close in age to Olivia & Avery, and of course we just love the Wilmington Area.  I hope to peruse some of the consignment shops in the area, get a dog at Trolley Stop, catch some rays and eat some seafood...

2) Drive-In - there is a drive-in located in Goochland County and I absolutely love the drive-in, and we are hoping that we can take the girls this year.  A drive-in movie experience just reminds me of home, we have one in my hometown and I always loved going...but I often remember falling asleep.

3) Make Ice Cream - this one isn't a big fancy one, but the girls love it and I do too.  This one should be simple and easy, hopefully we can do it more than once.

4) Get Library Cards and Visit the Library - I downloaded the list of recommended books for Kindergarten - First Graders and I am committed to exposing Olivia to several of the books on the list, but being that they sound a bit dull to me (I am a Fancy Nancy girl) I don't want to invest in actually purchasing them, we are going to check them out at our local library. I wish I had time during the week to take the girls to the library, but this will have to be reserved for the weekends

5) Go Camping - this one could take on a few different look and feels...if the evenings temps come down a bit, we might be able to camp outside (in the backyard), but if the temps stay in the 80's it might mean that we have to camp in the living room, but we could still put the tent up and make an adventure out of it. We could grill hot dogs, cook beans on the grill, make smores...all while being able to use the bathroom inside - GLORIOUS.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Book Report: Fifty Shades...


I wasn't sure how I felt about all the hype, I wasn't sure I was going to give into the craziness surrounding the Fifty Shades Trilogy and actually commit to reading them, but I have to say, I am thankful that I did, I absolutely loved all three books. 

Are they well written? Not particularly, but I don't care so much, they entertained me.  Do I love all the kinky stuff? Not one little bit, but I did fall in love with Christian Grey, I rooted for Ana & Christian the whole way through and I fell in love with the love story, not all the crazy "inner goddess" garbage.  I so badly wanted Ana to be the one to change Christian and to win him over, and bring out the normal side of him, but a troubled, young, very good looking, powerful CEO has a lot of magnetic qualities as well. I read all three books (1,246 pages on my Nook) in 3 days, I was reading until 2-3am every single morning, I couldn't put them down.

I am now thinking about who should be cast as Christian and Ana when the movie is made.  Universal already bought the rights and there is a Facebook Page talking all about the movie, some of the fan suggestions are a bit crazy in my opinion, I can't see a blond planning Ana, she clearly had brown hair because of the obsession with his mother and her being a brunette, not to mention he employed attractive blonds, yet people are suggesting blonde's left and right, and ones that couldn't pull off the brown dye job.

Bradley Cooper might be able to pull off Christian, he needs floppy copper hair, and Bradley could do that, picture the character he played in Valentine's Day. 


But there are a few other guys out there that could likely pull it off, while I adore Channing Tatum, he is just not Christian Grey, and several fans were all about him taking the lead role - no way Jose. I have no idea who should play Ana, I had a difficult time picturing her.  I know that a lot of people found these books to be a bit too much, and went on and on about the horrible writing style, but I was able to get past that and enjoy the entertainment value of the books, and I am glad I did.