Twilight

I survived, although I may be bairly functioning today. I had a wonderful time with my friends and even met a new one. We met at a Mexican restaurant before the show.

I brought my Edward doll, you know the one I spent $5 for at a university rummage sale.

We're not sure which drink was Edward's fav.

Bad beath anyone?

I stuck with a soda. Edward insisted on feeding me chips.

My friends thought my doll was cool.

A nearby table of Twilight goers also wanted to pose with him.

That table had lots to drink. Later, one of their members got sick in the theater, thankfully not in the one we were in.

Call us loiters. We were in line for more than 20 minutes.

Some of us posed by the movie poster. Remember, my goofiness was not alcohol induced. I just come by it naturally.

Enjoying the show.

And the popcorn.

And holding my hands during the scary parts.

Quotes overheard: "Oh, no. We're being trampled by moms." (We were those moms as we dashed towards the line when our theater number was called. Sad, eh?)

Overall: I enjoyed the show. I still don't think the female lead can act but I love the Cullens and the girl's dad. Still leaning towards team Jacob. One of the party girls had on a shirt that said,"Team Charlie." Loved it!

Wild & Wacky Animals

I took Jack to a small petting farm yesterday. He enjoyed feeding the camel carrots and apples. The poor donkey didn't get as many treats.

The owner got up close and personal with the camel.

Jack was so brave.

Although he actually preferred the chickens.

The place also had pigeons and fainting goats.

And I think this is a South African raccoon.

And Jack was brave enough to go on the trampoline. What a big boy!

Midnight Madness

Call me crazy. I'm going to the midnight showing of the new Twilight movie with some gal pals. And I will pay for this fun tomorrow when I need toothpicks to pry open my eyes. Order me a caffeinated IV drip with a ton of sugar. I will drag my death warmed over self into work and manage but it's going to be hard. So, why am I doing this? To have some fun with my girlfriends. I don't do this sort of thing very often, so it's nice to get out every now and then. 

I've only been to one or two late night movie premieres: Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and one of the Harry Potter movies. I still remember the Star Wars movie night. Earlier that day, I had gone to a salon for my wedding hairdo trial run. I had never looked so nice for a movie. :)

On another note, I took Jack to a small petting zoo today. It was one of the city's preschool programs. He fed carrots and apples to a camel. He also had enough courage to get up on the trampoline. I'll post pictures sometime this week.

Cruisin'

He finally did it. 

My father has wanted to buy an old car for a very long time. I remember going along for a ride to Desoto, Mo. with my mom and brother Doug to check out an old car. I'm not sure which excited me the most during that trip: seeing the old car or meeting the owner whose last name was either Wilder or Ingalls. And yes, I found enough courage to ask the man if he was related to Laura Ingalls Wilder. He wasn't and I was bitterly disappointed.

We took a short ride in dad's new car today. It's a beauty, a 1931 Plymouth.

It looks perfect on the gravel road, doesn't it? The car drives smooth. It's as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside.

The only thing I think the car is missing is a rumble seat in the back. Dad has looked at cars with those seats in the past.

We've teased dad that he now needs to drive in holiday parades, join a classic car club and even rent his car out for bridal photo shoots. Good idea, eh? Beep, beep!

Dream a Little Dream or Two

It is my policy to grab a nap when Jack does on the weekends and I slept like a log today. I also had some bizarre dreams. In a week or two, we will be visited by a social worker to update our home study. An approved home study is necessary to adopt. We've had a home study almost every year for the past four years.

Anyway, one of my dreams involved a home study visit from a social worker who asked bizarre questions like what was the name of Don Knott's character's supervisor in Three's Company. Puzzled as to how that subject question would pop up in a dream? So, was I. Also, Jack was acting crazy during the visit, sort of like he acted after church tonight.

I believe the other dream was a gift from God to give me hope. I dreamed of seeing a baby in a crib and it felt like he was mine.

Have You Seen This Guy?

Name: Piglet

Size: 8 inches

Color: Pink

Piglet was last seen at Grandma's house wearing a grey onsie Tuesday night. Piglet sometimes goes by the name, Pig. He has pink fur and black eyes. If you've seen this pig, please call MY-PIG-IZ-LOST.

We left Pig at Grandma's house tonight and Jack was really upset. Poor guy. His little heart was breaking. I felt horrible. Before bedtime, we called Grandma to make sure she would take good care of the little guy. She assured us she would. Pig is his buddy. We had to find some stuffed substitutes for his bed tonight. 

Have I said recently how much I love my little guy? As we were getting ready for bed, we gave each other big hugs and kisses. He's really getting good at bear hugs. I said, "I love you so much," and he said, "I love you so much too." Melts my heart.

Ever Heard This One?

During our interview with a former railine employee today, he told us about a man who was known as a tightwad, but I bet you never heard a tightwad put like this before...

"The man was so cheap he wouldn't pay a dime to see Jesus riding a bicycle."

Don't ask me why that was so funny. I think it had something to do with hearing it from a 90 some year old man while we were standing in a garage in 90 degree weather. Guess you had to be there.

Glamour Girls

A few friends and I attended the Glamour Night Summer Soiree, a fundraiser held by Lutheran Family Children Services. My friends found some cute things at the booths. Although I saw several things I really liked, I was proud of my restraint. Still, I had a great time. I bumped into Janeene, one of our social workers. Have I ever said how awesome she is? She's so much fun. Janeene is a rock and has provided fabulous emotional support to us over the past couple of years. Love her!

Janeene, me and Jennifer

Unfortunately, I did not win the dermatology package or the diamond necklace, the big giveaways during tonight's event. I did walk away with this free botox hat. Ha, ha. Too bad I didn't have it on during the entire evening. I spent a couple of hours on the road today in a non-airconditioned vehicle, giving myself the natural windblown look. On the upside, I met and interviewed a neat man who worked for the railines. On the downside, my hair was pretty wild.

No one is going to believe I had botox, are they? :)

Happy Father's Day!

We hope you are having a wonderful weekend with your family. We've had fun with family, trying to keep cool this toasty weekend. My father spent half of the day in the field.

While the kids played with Meaghan's Little Pet Shop toys.

Jack can now peddle his tricycles and jump backwards while bouncing on a bed. He's also a great ball hitter. While we were playing ball this morning, he kept saying, "Gotta go to my baseball games." Of course, we wouldn't miss them for the world.

Hmm...something or somethings are missing here.

Owie

During a visit to my hometown, we stopped by this grotto dedicated to the unborn. After checking it out for a couple of minutes, Jack said, "Jesus have owie" and pointed to his hands. 

The Blessings of Family

Jack and I joined family and friends and showered his birthmother and her fiance with gifts yesterday. They will be married at the end of July. They bought Jack a ring bearer vest. He'll look so cute in it if I can ever get it on him. Aunt Jay modeled it for us.

Jack also let Aunt Jay borrow his new Spongebob sunglasses.

Jack had a blast with cousins, Chris and Allysa.

Uncle Parker and cousin Josh helped Jack fly up in the sky.

I took a decent picture of Sam and Aunt Jay but Jack's head was turned. In all fairness, he was being tickle tortured at the time.

Then Sam and I tried to take a picture with Jack.

Hopefully, we'll have much better luck at the wedding. Jack didn't want to slow down yesterday. He didn't have time for pictures.

Stinker!

Batter Up!

Last night, Jack and I went to my niece Meaghan's tee ball game. It was pretty hot but the kids were excited. I taught Jack the chant, "Go, go Meaghan. Go, go, go Meaghan."

It must have worked. Meaghan had told mom that she hoped they wouldn't pitch to her and instead use the tee ball stick. Well, my niece hit that ball each inning without the stick. I was so proud of her. She even brought in a homerun. :)

But she was more concerned about her loose tooth and spent most of her time on the field playing with it. Mom spent most of her time keeping my nephew Garrett busy. Here, they are playing "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

Garrett snuck on the field a couple of times. Mom and my SIL JeNae took turns running after him.

Good game. Good game.

The boys were proud of Miss Meaghan, the champion. You can just see Grandpa's head behind them.

I love tee ball games. No parents yelling at their kids, only cheering. And cheering for both teams. The kids have some good old-fashioned free-spirited fun, like the two boys who laid down in the in-field during one inning. We had a wonderful time and wish Miss Meaghan the best during her remaining season.