Sunday, June 26, 2011

Movies

The most amazing thing has happened in our house. The kids are willing to watch movies I recommend. It started a few weeks ago when there was nothing to watch on a Saturday night so I recommended we browse the movies on On Demand...under Directors...specifically, Hitchcock. We settled on Dial M for Murder, then the next week Strangers On a Train (we tried North by Northwest but it wasn't available)...and they loved them! So Friday night, Mike was out biking, Joey was across the street with his second family, and the girls and I were searching for a movie to watch. We were actually browsing all movies on On Demand, alphabetically...well, what the heck, we didn't have much else to do. We got as far as the Bs and then I saw The Bad Seed!! (If Barb is reading this she's probably got a big grin on her face and a squeeee in her heart.)


So we watched The Bad Seed. Now...if you've never seen this movie, STOP READING, cuz I'm gonna talk about the movie and it'll spoil it for you (um, yeah, Spoiler Alert, in other words).






First off, Justine always gives a heavy sigh when the movies are in black and white, I guess she's just not old enough to get that black and white doesn't necessarily mean boring. I think she might be closer to understanding after watching the movie though. The next day she even said, "That girl, mom, she was weird." And weird came out sounding like "scary weird". Watching movies with Justine is like watching movies with my older brother when we were kids. He would always ask, like in the middle of the movie, "Who's that guy?" This would be someone who is, well, a MAIN CHARACTER! Or he would ask Why? about something and my mom would say, "Mike, we've been watching this as long as you have! We don't know either." I guess maybe he thought he had missed something, or we had all figured things out and he better ask what's going on. It would drive me nuts. Well, Justine isn't that bad, but she does get lost sometimes. We usually pause the movie and just check in with her to make sure she understands what's going on. That is actually important to me, cuz when the zingers come, she won't understand if she's not up to speed. Anyway she loved the movie.




Veronica actually gasped when she figured out that the mom was adopted and that her mother was the murderer being discussed by her father and writer friend. She also really appreciated the issue brought up in the movie about Nature v. Nurture. She took psychology last year. (She's now talking about Criminal Psychology when looking at colleges.) She was jokingly saying that she wanted to girl's mom to murder someone, well, she tried to kill her daughter, but it didn't work, did it? V didn't like that it wasn't cut and dried about Nature v. Nurture, but we agreed that that was what was so good about the movie. It's supports both arguments.


Veronica will try to figure out movies. And TV shows. We would have to pause Lost all the time so she could give us her "theories"...some were pretty close to the story line. Most were WAY off...but funny to hear her try to figure things out.



At the end of the movie, after the credits...when that rotten little girl gets her "spanking", we all laughed out loud! Best part of the movie!


Last night it was me, Mike and Veronica and we talked her into watching Alien. Such a good movie...she liked it. Not quite the same as the old black and whites, but a classic.



Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Wheeee!!

After years and years of saying I wouldn't have any type of video game in the house...I bought a Wii. Well, I realized that it was gonna be fun for the whole family and I didn't have to buy games that were violent, etc. What I didn't realize was how much friggin' fun it was!!!!

We only have two games; Mario Kart (came with the Wii) and Just Dance 2. Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love to dance...even though it's been a while since I've done so. So last night, Joey sets up the Wii and we play some Mario Kart (which I suck at...all driving type video games make me slightly nauseous) THEN Veronica comes home from work (she's working part time at Mike's office for the summer) and wants to set up Just Dance 2. After the kids have a few go rounds, I say I want to try it...

I KICKED ASS ON THIS GAME!!!! I think the kids were totally shocked I could dance and score so high...one song I got 40 points short of getting 100% (10,000 points, I think...I don't understand how it works, I just love the dancing part).

Here's the best: Joey says, "Hey Mom, we finally found a video game YOU can play!"


A side note: Dear Christine...if it weren't for you I would NEVER have bought this new toy. I really just couldn't see the attraction, why was everyone so crazy for this darn Wii thing?! We played Jeopardy at your house, which was a blast, but when we were over at your house for Memorial Day and the girls were doing Just Dance, I knew then we were gonna have to get one. The best excuse in the world for me to dance around the house ever! Thank you!! (You should know, too that last night Mike asked, "Do we have Jeopardy on this thing?" haha, guess I better get that game, too, huh?)



Side note two: Dear Dad...First big purchase with my "pocket money"...I can't thank you enough!! XOXOXOXOX

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Weekend Fun

Last Friday night we went to our first baseball game in Jacksonville! They don't have a Major League team, but they do have a Minor League team called The Suns. Everything was on a smaller scale then what we're used to with The Padres, but we loved it! The stadium was very nice, small vendors and lots to do besides just sit and watch the game. Mike and Joey paid $1 to see how fast they could pitch (Joey was 56, and I think Mike was slower...haha.).
It was St. Patrick's Day in June at the ballpark, hence the green bat give-a-ways. And after the game there were fireworks and...you ready?....Leprechaun Wrestling. We stuck around for both. The fireworks were great and the wrestling....well, it was interesting. One guy (both were little people, not real leprechauns...hey, I never know who's reading this blog) had a HUGE gut, I thought he was gonna crush the other guy.



Mike was in heaven, sitting in a ballpark, watching the home team win, drinking beer and eating peanuts.



On Saturday night, Mike and I went to the Alhambra Dinner Theater and saw The Odd Couple, staring Barry Williams (that's Greg Brady to those of you scratching your heads)!! We sat with the nicest couple (tables of four) from Atlantic Beach, great to talk with and laugh about life and stuff. Barry was great in the play, but the guy who played Felix just stole the show, he was so funny! Barry came on stage after the play and talked with the audience, he just seemed like such a great guy, totally down to earth (must have been all those good values passed down from Mike & Carol Brady). Actually, he did tease about his "affair" with Florence Henderson, it was so funny.




Monday, June 13, 2011

Retro Apron

I finished my first project with my new sewing machine!

I'll be cookin' with gas in my new apron.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Summer is Here!

This is the garden sign Mike and the kids made me a few years back when we lived in San Diego. Mike was digging around the garage last week, found it and hung it in the new garden. I guess it should really read, Justine & Brenda's garden now, huh?
Tomatoes are finally turning red! They taste wonderful, too!

My friend was talking about some giant (disgusting) worms she found in her garden! Gross. I hope our luck holds and we stay "pest" free, we'll that is if you don't count Joey.

So today was the official first day of summer, and Justine is already complaining about how booooorrrrred she is and there's nothing to do. My eyes hurt from giving her my best parental eye-roll.


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

My Birthday

Today is my birthday. I'm very happy to say that I've made it to my 49th year...and the best is still to be. I feel like there is plenty of great things ahead for me. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up...


We celebrated my birthday last Saturday, so today was just a normal day. I did go out to lunch...very fun! And I also...


made 100 pigs-in-a-blanket for Justine's sixth grade dance.
You gotta admit...they're pretty cute, huh?




I finished my Sarai shawl this week. Made with Malabrigo Sock.


I finished Donna's Socks of Kindness.


And my Malabrigo Sock Monkeys (no purl version).



My family got me a new sewing machine for my b-day!! I'm starting my first project this weekend, so you can expect some blogging about it soon.

Since some of you will want to know...it's a Kenmore. Just a simple machine, but it's exactly what I wanted! The best is the needle threader...OMG, it's the best invention ever! Ok, I realise I'm probably (probably?!) behind the times, but I've never seen this before. It's my favorite feature on the machine because with my old eyes, I NEED it!











Friday, June 3, 2011

Kitty, tomato and cookies...

Lyra is keeping Donna's socks warm.
First tomato from the garden!



V making cookies.



Oh my!