Off to the movies....

This afternoon we took Brynn and Braden to see their first movie ever in an actual movie theater. We went to the last matinee showing of Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Squeakquel with hopes of saving a little money, but by the time we took our seats we had already spent $38.50; which included four movie tickets, a very large coke and popcorn we all shared. Did I mention the coke and popcorn were TEN DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS, seriously??? Luckily, I smuggled a couple bags of M&M's I bought earlier at Target and Braden's Thomas the Train water bottle.

At the cost of our hour and a half of entertainment, it was a huge relief both Brynn and Braden enjoyed themselves and we did not have to get up and leave in the middle. Brynn has never been a fan of the dark, loud noises, or anything large, so it pretty much ruled out movie theaters in the past. She was a little apprehensive when we first walked in questioning everything in sight and gripping me tightly. She did not want to sit close to the screen, so we took our seats at the top row as far back as we could. At first, she was convinced she was going to see something scary and every time a new movie trailer began, she would lean over and tell me she thought we must be at the wrong movie. In the end, she was thrilled and asked when we would be coming back. I told her she would need to save her money ;o)

Braden on the other hand looked at this outing as an adventure. He was overjoyed we choose the seats in the top back row because as he was able to climb all the stairs; he is all about stairs and thinks they are cool (Can you tell we live in a one-story?). He thought the lights on the floor were the neatest thing and asked several times, how'd they do that?, but he found the most enjoyment in the very seat he sat in, as it closed on him anytime his weight became unevenly distributed. He quickly figured out it rocked back and forth, so whenever the Chipmunks or Chipettes performed during the movie; he would rock his seat back and forth and dance right along. AND he was "that" kid who laughed out loud anytime he heard someone else in the audience laugh. I probably laughed more at him then I did anything in the movie.

Which brings me to the movie...

Until recently I have not had the pleasure of watching many kid movies, I never really took an interest in cartoons of any type as an adult or anything with a rating under PG-13. Obviously now I have children who are taking an interest in movies of G rating and I am actually enjoying catching up. Now Alvin in The Chipmunks, The Squeakquel in my opinion was not as great as the first one (how many times have we said that in the past?), and I must admit it was completely predictable, had only few funny parts, but those Chipettes are super-cute and the McDonald's Happy Meal toys don't really do them justice.

In the end, we had a great first time experience at the movies as a family, $38.50 and all..... 

Okay so....

My intentions were not to have several days go by until my next post, but it has been an extremely busy week and I have ten minutes to myself before I put the kids to bed, so I thought I'd clear up my cliff-hanger from the last post....

I went to Stonewall, Texas with seven other women for a weekend getaway. We rented a property referred to as the River Cottage sight-un-seen (we are brave women). It was cute little house along a river just outside the Lyndon B Johnson Historical Park and 20 minutes from of Fredericksberg, Texas which was also home to a lama, goats and sheep, a rooster and Fluffy and Precious the two Great Pryenees who guarded the property.

Besides the slightly crazy owner who talked and talked and talked to my friend Stacey and I when we first arrived, the crazy dogs who kept us up all night barking our first night there, the cats on the roof (yep, you heard me...on the roof...the TIN roof), all the farm animals (especially the rooster), the shot gun in the broom closet and no hot water it was a great weekend. We scrapbooked, watched movies, ate, drank wine, checked out Fredericksberg, scrapbooked some more, drank more wine and slept very little.

I can't say it was the most relaxing weekend I have had, but I will say I will do it again. Next time I'll just make sure I ask if there are any farm animals? cats who live on the roof? a crazy lady? and hot water?

At least my company was good, I didn't have to wipe any bottoms and I could say sh*t if I wanted to.

Can you guess...

where I was this weekend?

Geo what?

Today our family went Geocaching. I know, I know....you are sitting at your computer saying Geo what? Rest assure people you are not alone my reaction was the exact same. So what exactly is Geogaching?

According to http://www.geocaching.com/ 

"It is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment."

So how did this all begin? Well... back in October I purchased a handheld GPS system for Danny for his birthday, my initial intentions for this little device was to make sure he and his mountain bike buddies didn't get lost again while they were in Colorado, New Mexico or where ever they may go next. So over the last few months, Danny has been learning how to use his new toy and stumbled across Geocaching. He found this site and typed in our address and boom he received several hits of 'treasures' located only miles from our home. So we downloaded the name and map with origins of the geocaches and set out on our hunt.

So far we have found two of the four geocaches we downloaded and today’s find was pretty exciting, especially for the kids. Our GPS took us to a local wooded park with a long creek running through it, we had to cross the creek at two different places (that was fun with a two and four year old), walk through some heavy brush and squeeze between trees branches growing in every direction, but we finally made it to this:

We were all excited because we found the "Columbian Stash". When Danny and the kids opened the container, there was a lot of oohing and aahing from Brynn due to the Folgers coffee container being full of children's toys.

The rule is if you remove something from the container you have to replace it with something you brought. We knew ahead of time this geocache was geared towards kids, so we brought a few bracelets for Brynn and and a toy car for Braden. Brynn was super excited to leave the bracelets behind and get a sand craft project, but Braden stuck with the car he brought. There was no way he was parting with one of the 75 matchbox cars he has at home.

And this last photo... meet Curious George, he is the newest member of the family and has been hanging out with us since last Tuesday for a school project Braden's class is doing. He goes everywhere with us and we are documenting our adventures for his class. I bet this is the first time Curious George ever went Geocaching.

So in the end, it looks like our family just might get hooked on Geocaching; after all, it gets us all outside in nature and a chance to experience something different together. We are even thinking of starting our own Geocache stash. And to think.... I was just purchasing a gift to make sure my husband doesn't get lost on his trips....who knew?

Breaking Tradition

Typically in past years I have made a handful of resolutions to triumph over only to be let down by no one other than myself. The forgotten resolutions would end up on next year’s list and so on. This year when I started thinking about resolutions I would make for 2010 this past November I realized I was writing the word exercise on my list for the third year in a row. At that moment I stopped and asked myself why am I doing this? I put my pen down and walked away. From that day forward I have struggled with my 'why' that is holding me back from accomplishing my goals.

I found my answer in the strangest place; recently I was catching up with on one of my favorite blogs, Ali Edwards and came across a concept she adopted several years ago. One Little Word. The notion is to choose a word to focus and reflect upon as you go about your daily life. Live that word. Then each year a new word is chosen and so on.

I was completely inspired by this concept and when I finished reading Ali's post one word in particular stood out to me. It was a word I was very familiar with pre-motherhood. It is my why and the reason I believe I am not reaching my goals. So this year I have decided to kick New Year's Resolutions to the curb and focus on one little word: Balance.

Thinking about my word and what it means to me, I came up with the following:

Balance is Quality time spent w/ family.
Balance is Organization.
Balance is Calm.
Balance is Creativity.
Balance is Time w/ friends.
Balance is Faith
Balance is Freedom.
Balance is Change.
Balance is Peace.

So over the course of 2010 I will be focusing on achieving a good balance in my life.  I am excited about this journey and as you continue to visit my blog you will witness the progress made. Wish me luck!