Fourteen

Finn trying on Olympic bling at swim clinic

My son Finn turns fourteen today. Hard to believe since he's always been my little boy. I'm in denial that he'll start high school in the fall!

He was a big baby 9 pounds 6 ounces. When he decided, he wanted to arrive there was no stopping him. I was ready to die (fully dialated in a little over an hour) and no one had any idea he was that big because Makenna had only been 7 pounds 15 ounces. Thank goodness he decided to show up a few days early or I'd been in real trouble!

Yesterday was bowling and the arcade at Big Al's. Today he wants Crispy Creme donuts (chocolate and glazed) for his swim team when practice ends today, a special dinner tonight and Dairy Queen ice cream cake for dessert. Very low key. Not sure if it's a boy thing since he's my only one!

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging. I'm still sick. I got worse towards the end of the week and went back to the doctor. Am finally on antibiotics and hoping this does the trick. I've lost another entire month to not feeling well. I want this to stop! Hope all is well with you!

A Good Weekend

I'm so happy it's Monday! I normally am not a big fan of the day, but I am today. We are all healthy! We had a great weekend. My To Do list has gotten huge after the flu went through the house, but now that we're feeling better,  I started checking things off!

On Saturday, hubby and Rose were in Seattle for her soccer game then afterwards they went sightseeing around town before driving home. She got Space Needle earrings and a special 12th man Seattle Seahawks shirt. A great belated birthday celebration for her with her dad, who she really misses when he's not home.

IKEA's RÅSKOG

Finn had his final soccer game in the Founder's Cup tournament, then Mackenna and I made a run to IKEA to buy one of these. Check out the link and see all the cool things you can do with them in a variety of rooms in your house or apartment.

Yeah, I probably sound like an ad, but when I saw that article above I knew I had to have one. Of course, I ended up purchasing two RÅSKOG carts, a blue one for Mackenna's room and a gray one for me. I haven't had time to put them together yet, but that's on my list of things to do. I'll be sure to post pics once we figure out how we're going to use them!

Last night we finally had Rose's birthday dinner at her favorite place The Old Spaghetti Factory. Perfect timing for a celebration since I also sent off the line edits for my first Special Edition, The Nanny's Billionaire. Rose and Mackenna both spent the night elsewhere so Finn and I watched a movie together—Pacific Rim. A good choice because I found the inspiration for my new Special Edition hero while watching. I happened to be working on the proposal at the same time. Needless to say perfect timing!

So how was your weekend?

Eleven

Happy birthday, my beloved Rose! You are a special girl and I love watching you grow up. Just wish you'd slow down a little, but you'll always be my baby! 

Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake

My youngest turns eleven today. I wish I could say this was going to be her best day of 2014 so far, but I don't think that's going to be the case. There have already been tears of frustration and disappointment. She was diagnosed with the flu on Saturday after a very rough Friday night. Really sucks, doesn't it?

She's staying home from school today even though she's been begging me to let her go. I have no doubt the school would take one look at her glassy, sunken eyes and be calling me to pick her up (that is after they isolate her from every other child in the school!)

I'm hoping the Tamiflu helps her kick this sooner rather than later. On Friday, she gets to sit at the Birthday Table during lunch and I can bring her a special meal. Her request—a burger place called Top Burger!

But thanks to a friend on FB who sent me some ideas on Saturday, we'll be trying to make today fun even if she's stuck at home and sick. We'll be hiding eleven goodie bags full of Dollar Tree items around the house and she has to find them. We have leftover ice cream cake from our mini celebration last night (see pic above - hubby did the writing on the cake himself!), but we'll also get her fave cupcakes—chocolate ones from Safeway! She also has a special gift to open.

We were planning to go out to dinner both last night and tonight (her choice of places) but she's not supposed to be around people so I'll let her decide if she wants me to cook or pick something up. We'll eat out once she's feeling better and won't get anyone else sick!

As you can imagine, my weekend was all about having a sick kid. I hope you had fun!

The End is Near...

Only a couple more days left in 2014. Hard to believe...

Today is a very special day. It's my husband's birthday. The kids and I had lots of plans for celebrating, but they involved traveling to Southern California. A few weeks ago he told me he didn't want to go anywhere so I was left with Plan B. Too bad I didn't have one! But my latest manuscript The Billionaire's Nanny is finished. I've completed this round of antibiotics. All of the animals are relatively healthy. I should be able to figure something out. And I've had his main present ready to go  since Black Friday!

Last night we had our annual family dinner at The Rhinelander in Portland. We've been going there this time of year to celebrate December birthdays since Mackenna was in one of those car seat carriers. Our group keeps growing now that friends/girlfriends are joining in. Last night we numbered fifteen! But boy can we sing to the accordion player's tune and do the chicken dance with the best of them.

I have book news. Home for Christmas is one of three finalists in the SnowGlobe Award! And I have two links for you both featuring the book and me. I'm one of three authors in today's post on the 12 Smart & Savvy Days of Christmas. Four ebooks are being given away via a Rafflecopter at the bottom of the blog post so be sure to enter! And Home for Christmas is mentioned as one of the 2013 Christmas Recommends on the bookworm2bookworm's blog.

Have a great Monday!

Thursday Catch-up

I've been very lax about blogging, not that life has been giving me a chance to relax, but starting next week I'll have more time than I ever imagined. All three kidlets will be attending school full-time. It'll be the first time ever (well, since having a baby back in '98) that I won't have a kid at home. Quite a change after five years of homeschooling. Needless to say, lots of school prep of a different kind going on around here. And lots of mixed emotions. For me at least!

My oldest's goldfish Butler died. We thought he died a week ago when our youngest found him on the carpet, but hubby moved water over his lungs and Butler started breathing and swimming again. Beauty, our little black cat, is the one who knocked over his bowl. She's been after him since he arrived from the fair (a prize from a carnival game.) Butler was floating in his bowl so we assume he died from natural causes. But Beauty has yet to provide an alibi. She also stopped hanging around the door to my oldest's room. Circumstantial evidence, but a little fishy if you ask me!

I had a very nice birthday. Thanks for the greetings. A quiet day, but fun. The celebration continued into Tuesday when my parents came up to take me to lunch and later that night the family went bowling. The funny thing about my birthday is I'd picked two things I'd wanted to do. On my day I wanted to go bowling and have lunch, but the place was closed for an employee appreciation party. And the next day I wanted to have lunch at a little cafe I love. Well, that happened to be closed, too. They stopped serving lunch. Lesson learned for next year, call ahead and make sure places will be open!

Did you see this story about George R.R. Martin's name appearing randomly in his A Feast of Crows ebook? Some of the examples are very funny!

Hope you have a nice day!

LASR 6th Anniversary Bash!

Today is my birthday and what better way to celebrate than to join in the Long and Short Reviews' 6th Anniversary Bash. You'll want to click on the link above because readers who visit can enter to win prizes...$450 in Amazon/BN GCs, more than $200 in publisher GCs, over 100 books and MORE! 

Hope to see you there!

Have a great Monday! I plan to!

Thirteen

Today is my son's 13th birthday. It's a big day for him. He gets a cellphone and a Facebook account. He's very excited!

Right now we have several boys in the house waiting for chocolate chip pancakes and bacon to be served. That's what he wanted for breakfast. Last night he had a sleepover. We took the boys to dinner at The Olive Garden, Finn's favorite restaurant. Then it was home to play Xbox, open presents and have cake.

He wanted an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Of course, I forgot to order one, which meant driving to three DQs yesterday to find one where they could write his name on it. The others had these edible decorations he doesn't like.

I was happy that once the TV went off it never went back on. The boys played night tag outside. Then they played Mafia inside until the wee hours of the nights. My two daughters joined in. It's played in the dark and there were lots of squeals of laughter during the game.

Of course that wasn't the only celebrating yesterday. At the end of March, we joined a new swim team that is much closer to our house than the old team. It was a change I'd wanted (simplify is my word for 2013) and the kids went along with it. Another family we are super close to made the switch at the same time which has helped with the transition.

Well, yesterday his new team went all out for Finn's birthday. His friend from his old team made a big card for him. Another girl on the team made another. Both arrived at Saturday's practice early to get people to sign it. So sweet and Finn was very touched. The team did big shout-outs to him and a poolside Happy Birthday. This followed a match of them playing water polo (Finn's favorite) so he was all smiles. Then, at the end of practice, our friends who came over from the old team brought out homemade sweet rolls for everyone. Three pans like the one to the right. Yum! Needless to say, the best swim practice ever!!!!

Finn and I were the same height until last week. He surpassed me. That makes two kidlets taller than me now. A strange feeling. I'm sure Rose won't be too far behind.

Happy Birthday, Finn! You'll always be my little bo-bo, no matter how tall you get!

Birthday day!

Happy Birthday Mackenna! My oldest turns 15 today! Hard to believe she's that old. I still remember when we called her "goo goo baby!"

She isn't getting a pretty, shiny bell like the LOLcat on the left. No, Mackenna is getting an iPhone. She actually got it yesterday when we took her to the phone store to pick out what she wanted. Given the monthly fees we told her that's all she's getting. I said I'd wrap it up for her to open. She wanted it right then. Made my life easy!

But no worries about a lack of gifts, she's been receiving envelopes and stuff from family members so she'll have stuff to open today!

I woke up this morning thinking about one of the story ideas I've been brainstorming and tinkering with. That was a good feeling!

I should be able to write a little before kidlets wake up, but then it's time to finish cleaning the downstairs. I must admit it feels so nice to walk into a house that isn't cluttered! I have a bad habit of letting stuff pile up while on deadline. We'll be heading to Costco this morning to. Mackenna has asked for a special dinner tonight:

Appetizer: Cheese fondue from Gustav's (a German restaurant that I'll get take-out from)
Salad: Caesar Salad (from Costco - her fave)
Veggie: Roasted Asparagas
Main Entree: Grilled Salmon and Steak
Bread: Artisan loaf
Dessert: Chocolate Fondue (Chocolate sauce recipe from Joy of Cooking)

A pretty easy meal!

Then she wants to watch Les Mis. We bought the Blu Ray yesterday.

That'll be my day. What about you?

Wish Our Devil Dog A Happy Birthday!

 Back in November, we adopted a Marine through Soldiers' Angels. SA is a fantastic organization that helps deployed service members, wounded warriors, veterans and families. There are lots of different ways to get involved. Some don't take much money, just a little time to write a letter and a stamp to mail it!

I've mentioned this before, but I joined SA after watching a web show on SOFREP called INSIDE THE TEAM ROOM featuring three former Navy SEALs including Chris Kyle, who inspired me to do more than just say "Thanks for your service" when I saw a uniformed service member or met a veteran.

I sent off our first letter, introducing our family to him, then went about making a care package. A Christmas care package due to the date and mailing time to the Middle East. Delivery times slow way down to the volume being sent.


Many times, you never hear from your adoptee. You're told when you sign up not to expect a response. Who can blame the service members for not being in touch. They are busy over there, working long hours, often seven days a week. But you keep writing your letters and sending your care packages to show your support and gratitude for what they're doing and hope what you're sending is things your "silent soldier" wants or needs.

Sometimes you get an adoptee who has access to a computer or likes to write letters. Those letters are called "free mail" because the service members aren't required to use a stamp. They write "Free" where the stamp would go. When you receive an email or letter, you feel oh-so-blessed to have heard back.


I wasn't expecting to hear back from our adoptee. But we received an email from our adoptee the day his letter arrived. Talk about a wonderful surprise. He sounded so nice and excited to hear from us. Since then, we have been in almost daily contact (depending on his workload and what he's doing). It's been an awesome experience for the entire family.

We love him so much. He calls us his "beautiful family" and he is a big part of it now!

Well it's his birthday!

His cake arrived in time, but his other birthday boxes didn't so this will be a prolonged celebration. (So glad I thought to stick a couple boxes of Little Debbie snack cakes in the party box!)

I thought it would be nice to collect birthday greetings in the comment section and email them to our favorite Devil Dog. I'll also give him a link to the comment section.

If you'd like to leave our Marine a birthday greeting, please post a comment and I'll send it his way.

Thanks! And oorah!

Semper Fi

Double Digits

 We (three kidlets and me) have been away at a swim meet in Newberg, Oregon. Hubby stayed home with the animals.

Today was extra special because our youngest, Rose, turned ten! I can't believe she's hit double-digits. Not my youngest, the baby of the family!

But as she kept reminding me today, she's 10! And proud of it.

She wasn't sure about swimming on her birthday, but it turned out to be a very fun time for her. A couple of her teammates brought her presents which she opened before the meet began.

One of these was a fish swim cap. She wore this during warm-ups. (See pic on right!) It's very cute and she loves it!

After warm-ups, we passed out mini-blueberry muffins to her teammates. Then the announcer told the crowd it was Rose's tenth birthday. An electric guitarist serenaded her with the Happy Birthday song. Then it was race time!

She did well in her events, but the best part for her was when she won her heat in the 50 breast. She received a little toy as a prize.

After her age group was finished, we gave out mini cupcakes to her teammates. Of course, she would have loved to leave then to go home (me, too!) but the two older kids still had to swim.

When we finally arrived home after six tonight, hubby had wrapped all her presents (many he went out to buy since I ran out of time on Friday), cooked her favorite dinner (enchiladas) and had picked up a Dairy Queen ice cream cake for her.

Needless to say, a very nice 10th birthday!

I just wish she was still nine. Ten sounds so much older!!!!!

What did you do this weekend?

Blah!

I'm still dragging and trying to write. But I managed to blog over at Miss Mousie's blog. It was her birthday yesterday. Look what the family made her.

You can read the post here, and see a better picture of her cake there, too.

Hope you have a nice Sunday!

A nice time

I only had to blow out one candle last night and it wasn't on a cake. Because I was on Day 26 of my second Whole 30, I opted for a pyramid of strawberries with a candle stuck on top. Very yummy and I got to make a wish which was the whole point!

I mentioned my present on the blog a couple of weeks ago—Margie Lawson's Immersion Class in September. But I did get a dozen lovely roses in a rainbow of colors, picked out by my son, a Stanford sweatshirt from hubby and cards from everyone, including the four-footed kids. I also received a cute email card created by Dru, who is a good friend of mine and commenter here on the blog. And this handmade card from my friend Julie, who I've gotten to know via Facebook:

For someone I've never met in person, Julie sure knows me well. The card is perfect for me, mixing things I love: cats, Jane Austen and puzzles. Not sure if she knew about the last one though!

Needless to say, I had a great time yesterday. My son's soccer team tied their game, my daughter got all the classes she wanted for 9th grade and I got to spend some quality time with the family! Can't beat that!

Hope you had a nice weekend!

One more candle on the cake

I wish I were getting a cute little kitty today, but my present was decided a few weeks ago. No complaints at all. Today is all about taking it easy for me. I've survived another lap around the sun, as my friend Al wrote this morning on my FB page! I plan to write, go to my son's soccer game and my daughter's back-to-school ice cream social. What are you up to?

Happy Birthday Chaos!

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Today, our beloved Chaos turns seven! She's now considered a veteran and can go back into the breed ring at dog shows even though she's been spayed. Mackenna can't wait to show her there, even though they've been doing Junior Showmanship. (They placed 2nd yesterday at a show in Redmond!)

While the cats are at home with a housesitter (and doing well, yay!), Chaos is here with us in Sunriver having a blast. She's been going for lots of walks. We went geo-caching yesterday and she came face-to-face (well, within twenty feet) of four deer. The hunter instinct in her (Norwegian Elkhounds are used to hunt moose) went into overdrive. I've never seen her ears stand so straight or such a perfect stack. It was really cute.

Right now she's on a nice long walk with hubby while the three kidlets do a two-hour trail ride. They've been wanting to go horseback riding for a while now. After an early morning at a dog show, bike riding, geo-caching, walking and tennis, they let me sleep in so I have a nice quiet house all to myself! I'll head over to the stable when they're coming back in, but hubby's been sending me pics of them heading out!

Here are some pics of Chaos from the time we adopted her when she was 2 1/2 years old. She's such a great dog. We really lucked out when I called the PSNEA Rescue Coordinator looking to adopt a Norwegian Elkhound who needed rescueing and we ended up with one of her dogs. But she felt we would be a good fit and it's been a perfect match.

Fresh from grooming

Go find your own to play with!

Not feeling well.

Hiking Mount Hood with daddy

Chaos and Yoda - the early years

It's not staying, right?

I hope you enjoy your Monday! We'll be spoiling our birthday dog with lots of love, treats and walks. Maybe we can find her some more deer to look at, too!

Paintball

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Yesterday was full of camouflage and ninja wear at Warpaint International, a paintball place in Salem, Oregon. It was a lot of fun though it can hurt when those paintball hits. The two youngest members of our party had the most problems with getting hit which reaffirmed my thinking on who should play. The eleven to fourteen year olds admitted getting shot hurt, but they didn't break down like the ten and under crowd (my daughter and nephew) did when hit. I'm so glad I went with my gut on this and limited the guest list. Birthday parties and tears are no fun!

Here's a picture as they prepared to play. Notice the non-paint splattered clothing.

Unfortunately hubby has the after shot of the entire group shot (minus the two younger ones who didn't want to touch the guns again) on his iPhone and he's on a plane at the moment so I can't upload that one.

I splurged to make this a private party so they weren't playing against a squad of paintball experts and adults. Some guys that were there play all the time. And I saw when Finn's soccer team did this in the fall that a private party might be more fun for them. It was, and definitely worth the extra $$$.

Finn said he loved his birthday so that put a big smile on my face. I also have a feeling he's going to want to go back again. Though I highly doubt his little sister will ever want to play again. Too bad, because she was a natural at it and shot two people her first game!

Hope you have a great Sunday!

Twelve

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My son, Finn, turns twelve today. Hard to believe he's that old since he seems like such my little boy. His sisters tease him that he'll grow up to be like Ned in the movie Seventeen Again because Finn loves Legos and Star Wars Action Figures and GI Joe ones, too. I don't see a problem with this given I have Master Replica Light Sabers and still buy Star Wars things myself!

Last year Finn was sick on his birthday. Once he was well, he kept changing his mind what he wanted...go to the Space Needle in Seattle or a Laser Tag party...so so I told him he could do whatever he wanted to make up for it. He didn't want a big party. Instead, he wanted to go paint gunning and he wanted his cousins to go so that's what he'll be doing!

What are you up to today?

Hunger Games - the Day After

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I wonder if this is how Cato and the other Career Tributes started out?

So I survived Hunger Games Day, I mean, my daughter's 14th birthday. Though I will have a constant reminder of Hunger Games because my niece got Mackenna a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Peeta.

In the morning, my daughter asked if I would braid her hair to look like Kantniss' hairstyle. I wasn't sure I could do it, but after studying a couple of pictures I managed to do something vaguely similar. My niece wanted hers done, too. I must not have done too bad a job since other girls asked me to do theirs at the theater. With both of them decked out in Hunger Games apparel and accessories, we headed out.

Opening days have always been my favorites. I haven't gone to one in years, but remembered we always got there early so we could get the best seats and hang out with other fans in line. I guess Fandango and advanced ticket sales have changed this. Or maybe it was because we were seeing one of the first shows of the day, but yesterday, we were the first people there. There were no signs where to line up so we asked someone inside the theater. She pointed to a spot. And when they opened the doors to the theater, we were still the only ones there. They just said we could go in even though our show didn't start for an hour and a half. Needless to say we were the first ones in the theater and got prime choice of seats!

I was told going into this that I could not sit with the girls. They choose the back row so Finn and I set in the row in front of them, right in the center. I didn't take Rose. I felt 9 years old was too young to see this film and I stick by that after seeing it.

I purchased the girls candy, popcorn and water. And the wait began! Lots of picture taking and conjecturing about the movie. And Peeta. Lots and lots about Peeta.

People finally started arriving. The audience was a mix of ages (lots of adults as well as teens. I'm guessing there may have been more kids except it was a school day. We homeschool so this wasn't an issue for us!) As for gender, I'd give a slight edge to females in attendance, probably 60%. There was a mom and her two middle-school looking kids sitting to the right of my son so this book appeals to both boys and girls. A friend of my daughter's from school appeared, too. Turns out it was her birthday, too, and she'd found out what Mackenna was doing so decided to come so they could celebrate together!

The previews lasted for-ever. Seriously. The problem with so many previews is you can't remember one from another. There seemed to be a couple of dark ones with spaceships. Some shoot 'em up, blow up big things ones. It's only now that I search my memory banks can I recall one I do want to see—Snow White and the Huntsman, mainly because of Chris Helmsworth. It was funny that when the trailer for the next and final Twilight installment came out a few people actually groaned. (In case you don't read this blog regularly, I'm not a fan of sparkly vampire stories.)

I could feel the anticipation build, however, with each preview. My daughter was practically on the edge of her seat waiting for this, and I heard a sigh of relief when the time finally arrived.

So the movie (will keep it vague so not to spoil)...

I enjoyed it. The girls were a bit stronger in their love of it: "A-mazing!" "No Words." "Best. Movie. Ever."

I have only read the first book. (I prefer the book to the movie, but I always do!) I read it on Sunday night so everything was fresh in my mind. Adaptions are always tricky, but in this case the author Suzanne Collins helped with the script. She's even given a screenwriting credit which is a pretty big deal in my book. The movie story stays faithful to the book.

Don't get me wrong, there are changes, but they make sense when you consider the length of a script vs. a book. I actually prefer the movie's version of how Katniss receives the Mockingjay pin. I love how we see beyond Katniss' POV (the book is first person, hers) to what's going on in the Capitol as well as the Districts, as well as the gamemaker Seneca. I hope the young viewers especially will see that like in the book there is so much more to this story than the games themselves. I will say I much prefer the book version of the cave scenes (book much more romantic though I love the cut to Gale in the movie which I mention below) as well as the ending which I felt was stronger in the book.

I do suggest reading the book before seeing the movie. The film does a good job explaining how things works, but since the movie is so faithful to the book it helped me to know what Katniss was thinking during certain scenes. (i.e. it just filled things in more for me and gave me a better viewing experience.)

I do think Katniss comes across as more likable/nicer in the movie. I'm guessing this has more to do with making lots of money at the box office with a movie series and not really being able to show her internal conflict as well as a book can. She's still a strong, independent heroine. A much better role model for girls than say a wimpy, spineless girl who stares out the window for months after her heart is broken by a stalker and has less self-confidence than a gnat.

As for the violence, I felt the book is more violent than the film. Strange considering the visual aspect of the film, but that was my feeling. I went in believing the movie would be much worse than it actually was. Oh, there's still kids killing kids and as I wrote above my nine year old will not be seeing this anytime soon, but the filmmakers could have taken this a lot farther than they did. Though I'm guessing they were mindful of not wanting an R rating. Will add, I'm rather squeamish so the scenes with visible wounds and burns had me cringing and closing my eyes.

Here's a couple of things that really stuck out to me:

Cinna. Lenny Kravitz is perfect in the role. I see now why he was hand-picked for the role. He is Cinna.

Rue. That was the hardest scene for me to watch and I cried. Lots.

Gale. He wasn't on screen much, but he'll be a worthy match to Peeta. His reaction to seeing the kiss between Katniss and Peeta in the cave spoke volumes. I can't wait to read the next two book to see how this love triangle plays out!

Katniss. Jennifer Lawrence is incredible in the role. Two scenes I thought she did especially well were: when she says goodbye to Cinna right before the games begin and after hearing a canon shot, she frantically searches for Peeta.

So that's my take on things. Did you see the movie? What did you think?

Hunger Games

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Today is not only the opening of the Hunger Games movie, it's also my oldest's 14th birthday. But all she really cares about is the movie. Adaptions of beloved books can be difficult to watch when they don't meet your expectation. I hope the movie rocks for her sake.

Her present from us is a spring break trip to the Eastern Seaboard. Eight days with her eighth grade teacher and some classmates visiting Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. I'm a little nervous about her going, but I'm sure she'll have a blast. She's been breaking in her new Nikes and already wearing her new jacket. I'm waiting for her to tell me what else she needs for her trip like clothes.

I told her not to expect any presents from us on her birthday since she didn't earn the amount she was supposed to for the trip (though she did contribute via babysitting and fundraising) and we had to make up the difference. But no worries, she'll have plenty of presents to open from others. Our hearth is covered with cards and packages from her grandparents, her aunts and uncles and her godfather.

After the movie, we'll be going out to eat dinner at Mackenna's favorite restaurant and then going to her favorite frozen yogurt place for dessert. She's not a big cake fan so I'll have to remember to stick a candle and matches in my purse so we can sing to her and have her make a birthday wish!

It's hard to believe my oldest is fourteen. She'll be going to high school next year! I feel so old! We've finally decided where she'll attend, too. She no longer wants to be homeschooled or attend an alternative program so she'll be going to a private high school five days a week. It'll be a big difference given her schedule these past four years.

What are you up to today?

The Hunger Games

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All I hear about lately from my almost 14 year old daughter is The Hunger Games. The movie opens on her birthday and purchased tickets for that day when they went on sale. Heaven forbid, she missed seeing it that day though I drew the line at the midnight showing. Neither hubby or I were up for that.

This past Saturday, she pleaded to go to Seattle to some event where the stars were going to be. Her and her friends wanted to go. We reminded her that she had a swim meet. Oh, if looks could kill I'd be six feet under right now. We were such horrible parents for not rearranging everything so she might meet Josh Hutcherson, the actor who plays Peeta. Well, it turns out we weren't the only ones. None of her friends got to go, either.

Last night, The Hunger Games premiered. She begged to be allowed to skip 4H so she could sit and watch the stars walk down the Red Carpet. Surprisingly, hubby said yes. As he walked about with Rose and Astra, the dog we borrow on Mondays for Rose to use, Mackenna sat in front of the computer monitor totally mesmerized by what she was seeing and hearing.

She's not the only one. My 11 year son is doing his paper bag book report on The Hunger Games. He's making a bow and arrow as one of his four items. He can't wait to see the movie My 9 year old only knows about The Hunger Games from her siblings. She's too young for the book as well as the movie (at least until I see it first) but she was quick to point out the new Hunger Games dolls and accessories that are 20% off in the Toys R Us flier that arrived in the mail yesterday. I have a feeling we may be seeing a Peeta doll around here soon as well as posters.

Has The Hunger Games fever hit your house or area? I think this obsession is pretty cute. And I must admit I'm very pleased it's not over another popular book and movie series (see LOLcat above.)

Have a nice Tuesday! We actually have snow outside. The kids will be so happy!

Home

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I had to laugh at this LOLcat. Yesterday, we returned home from a belated celebration for Rose's 9th birthday at Great Wolf Lodge, a really fun water park resort north of us. The cats' reactions were mixed on us being back.The kitten was thrilled. She ran around checking out the luggage and us. The older cats were mad. Even though they had a cat-sitter to take care of them, it's not the same as family. There were hisses, mean looks and outright ignoring of us.

I needed to go to Mass last night due to the a swim meet this morning. When we got home, something had changed. The older cats were now so happy to see us and all over me. Of course, it was dinner time by then. LOL! So typical. But they did plop themselves down next to me as I read over my revision letter again. And they were back in their same sleeping spots when it came time for bed.

As for our vacation, we've been to Great Wolf Lodge before, but only for a night each time. We stayed two nights this time so were there for three days. I have to admit it was really nice to have the extra time. We had fun, but also time to relax. I even roughed out a chapter on the new proposal. I didn't feel as we were trying to cram everything in and best, we weren't stuck camped out in the lobby the day we left in order to get in more waterslide rides. Since we're return visitors, we received gold VIP bracelets as well as an extra hour to check out in the morning. I'm not sure what that says about us since Great Wolf Lodge is the only place we've ever been VIPs!

My sister's family went with us. This was what my two nephews had wanted to do for their birthdays along with Rose. I think I wrote about that back in January when she turned nine and kept changing her mind about how she wanted to celebrate her birthday. My nephew Connor, who went to NYC with us last summer, invited a friend so there were 12 of us there to have fun together! And we did!

Rose had her first professional manicure at a kids' spa called Scoops. All the lotions and scrubs are ice cream flavored and she received a free ice cream when she was finished. It was very cute!

The kids had a blast playing Magic Quest. They carry magic wands and go around the hotel looking for clues. Their are journeys and adventures. Rose with hubby's help finished everything on Friday night. It wasn't her first time doing it, but she had so much fun. She proudly showed off her new pin and certificate. She was listed as #17 on the high point chart. She kept wanting to go back and defeat the dragon the rest of the weekend.

No matter what the age of the kidlet, they all enjoyed the arcade. I don't want to know how many dollars I handed out. But they came home with lots of little trinkets, a couple Angry Birds heads and fun memories so it was worth it.

Mackenna and my niece went to the Teen Lounge both nights and had fun playing video games, dancing and meeting other kids their ages. They are definitely growing up. This was the first time they didn't do Magic Quest.

The big draw, though, is the water park. The last time we were here they allowed plastic inner tubes in the wave pool. No longer. I'm guessing this is a safety issue. They have different kinds of slides and bigger rides. I enjoyed my talks with my sister while we sat in the hot tub. The kids were all about the Howling Tornado. I think they lost count on the number of times they rode it.

The only negative thing happened on our second day there. I had ordered her a Magic Quest birthday package for Rose before we arrived. When we got to our hotel room, there was a Great Wolf Lodge happy birthday poster on the door. She thought that was so cool and was excited to hang it on her bedroom wall when we got home! But the next morning her poster was gone. I called the front desk to see if housekeeping took them off the doors each morning, but no, it had been stolen. This seems to be something that happens regularly. At least that was the impression I received after talking to the gift shop who generously replaced Rose's poster. (We decided not to put the new one up.)

I must admit I'm still so surprised someone would steal a kid's birthday poster. It never crossed my mind to take it off the door before we went to bed. Part of the fun was having people wish her birthday as were were going into the room. Whoever took it was careful to take all the tape off, too, rather than rip it from the door. Oh, well...I guess they must have really wanted it for some reason.

Now that we're home, it's back to the same old same. Swim meet and futsal today for the kids. Writing and watching them for me. Sleeping and eating for the older cats. Playing, sleeping and eating for the younger cats.

What's up with you?