Movie Quote 75

It's that time again--time for a movie quote. S o here it is:

My father worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium, a master.

And another from the same movie:

Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window.


Totally obvious, I know. Awesome movie that I cannot get Chuck to sit through and I would've thought he'd love it!

George's Second Birthday

Poor George is a third-class citizen and did not have a big birthday party. We forgot to plan it. We thought about planning it. We got tired just thinking about it.

We decided to just do a family birthday. We took George out for his favorite food: pizza. Our awesome neighbor, Taylor, joined us for dinner and gifts.

We sang happy birthday to George and had him blow out the only candles I had available in the house that would fit on his homemade cake -- homemade by Chuck. This kid is seriously neglected compared to the effort we put into our other two kids on their second birthdays. Yes, well, that's the way it is now, I guess.

He only opened one gift and didn't have any desire to look at anything else.

He loves the drumsticks and will drum on anything.

And here he is reaching for the camera. We always have at least one picture of George looking like this every time we take out the camera. Taylor took this picture, and many of the others you see above.

Luke And Jesus

And so it continues.

Here's a text I received from Rosie today.

Christmas 2010

Sooooo, what a long holiday! I loved it, but I do have a touch of the post-Christmas blues. I hate to see my Super Bowl come to an end. At least I can try to enjoy it until the new year.

We had a pretty low-key Christmas this year. Usually, I have lots of visitors at the house including family and friends - I try to have an open house for all those people who get bored in the evening or tired of visiting their own family, or don't have any family in town to visit. I didn't really extend very many formal invitations, so this year, it was super quiet until about 7:30 when our friends Mr. & Mrs. Chesapeake stopped by with their daughter Savannah. The kids ramped up their craziness and we got to catch up with our dear friends until after 10:00 p.m. And, of course, our precious neighbor Taylor stopped by too. But until then, it was just the immediate family and Rosie - who is a great gift giver (by the way - more on that later).

Here's a picture of my dining room table all set for Christmas dinner. I'm really impressed with myself. And the beautiful centerpiece is actually a flower arrangement that I received from lead counsel on the crazy case I've been working on lately. He sent it as a "thank you" and I was really touched by his thoughtfulness.


So that doesn't even begin to sum up our holiday, but now that I'm back at work, I've got lots to do. So, I'll just tell you a little tidbit about the kids understanding of Christmas. I've been really emphasizing with the kids that Christmas is all about Jesus' birthday. So I keep asking, "Now, why do we celebrate Christmas?" It usually takes a second or two, but Luke and Evie have both learned that it is for Jesus' birthday. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself until one day Murphy (our elf on a shelf) was hiding in the beautiful nativity scene that Chuck's grandmother gave us for our first Christmas together 13 years ago. So I asked the kids that evening, "Where's Murphy today? Did you find him?"

Evie was sitting on my lap watching TV and disinterestedly said, "Oh yeah." She continued to stare at the TV without blinking.

I nudged her, "Well, where was he?"

She waved her hand in the general direction of the nativity scene (without breaking her concentration on the TV) and said, "Oh, in all that church stuff."

My eyes widened, "What do you mean by 'the church stuff'?"

She waived her hand in the direction of the nativity scene (which is actually in a different room), and said, "The church stuff in there."

I sighed my annoyance, "You mean the nativity scene?"

She shrugged.

I decided we needed to have a little lesson to understand what the "church stuff" actually was.

So, on Christmas Day, I pulled Luke and Evie over to the nativity scene (which is set up on a high shelf so they don't break it, and I asked them, "Okay, do you guys see this? What does this look like to you?"

While I was admiring the beautiful set up of Mary and Joseph standing over our precious baby Jesus, surrounded by farm animals and the wise men, Luke asked, "Are these action figures?"

I cringed. Then I decided to just embrace it and said, "Well, yes, I guess in a way, they are action figures." I proceeded to identify the different figures after they pointed out baby Jesus. As we discussed the "action figures", they put their little-kid hands all over each piece, making my heart jump in my throat as I visualized each piece falling to the floor and breaking into a dozen different pieces. Nothing broke, but I hope they understand what the "action figures" represent now.

Happy Booby, Jesus!

Merry Christmas Friends!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

We are counting our blessings and celebrating our Lord.

But, with three kids, celebrating Christmas can take on many different forms.

Here's one.

Green

Our Christmas Tree in all its glory.

And George with a Candy Cane in all it's glory.

Yummy!

P.S. Angie and Angela:
I have a special surprise for you guys tomorrow, so make sure you check in!

Christmas Carolers!!!!

Christmas Carolers at my doorstep tonight MUST have read my post about how much I LOVE Christmas! So awesome! Enjoy some of their tunes!

Unfortunately, no one in my house was nearly as impressed as I was.

I'm still glowing with Christmas joy!

Christmas is my Super Bowl

It's CHRISTMAS!!! This is my Super Bowl and I'm freakin' thrilled! Wrapped presents with a bottle (and a half) of wine last night and watched Love Actually. It was fantastic. I have my Christmas movie watching schedule printed out in an Excel Spreadsheet. Presents and stockings are ready to go! Must go grocery shopping and make Christmas cookies for Santa with the kids. Should be a very fun weekend!

The Naked Nutcracker

Evie and I went to see the Nutcracker this weekend with our friends Caroline and her daughter Eva. The girls were dressed to impress and boy, did they. Evie spent 1/2 an hour with her jewelry box trying to decide what jewelry to wear.


I had to convince her that she shouldn't wear every necklace in there. I think she looked quite stylish and she received quite a few compliments.

One woman came up, squatted down between the two girls and proclaimed, "This is what having a little girl is all about!" I have to agree. They were adorable and enthralled. The only part that Evie didn't like was the boys who danced around because at one point she said, "Mommy, I can see his butt!" (And there is no way for me to write the disgusted inflection in her voice when she said that.) I responded, "Yes, I know." I paused and added positively, "But he has on tights." She looked at me as if I had fallen victim to the Emperor's New Clothes and said, again with disgust, "But you can still see his butt!" And you could.

Still, I think the ballet was a hit and I hope we can go again next year. It was wonderful!

2010 Christmas Card

Ran out of Christmas Cards this year, so here's one for everyone!
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, filled with love and laughter!

Birthday Girl

You know those people in your life who have a personality that is constantly sweet, kind, funny, encouraging, and optimistic about life - all of life? Well, my sister, Mary, is one of those wonderful people and today is her birthday.

I hope she has a wonderful day, although I already know she will because it is just in her personality to do so. She couldn't possibly have a day that is anything other than wonderful and perfect.

P.S. Her husband is a photographer, so her pictures always rock!

And . . . I'm BACK!

So Chuck saw Luke put his hand in his pocket at church this morning.

Several minutes later, Chuck glanced over and realized Luke had actually put his hand down the front of his pants - not in his pocket.

*sigh*

Chuck's eyes widened and he quietly but frantically told Luke to get his hand out of his pants.

Luke looked up at Chuck, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Why?"

Yes, I have in fact fallen off the face of the Earth. Don't worry. Just working

Birthday!

One of the cutest little boys I know turns TWO today!


Happy Birthday George!

Maximize Your Elf

This little girl, just cracks me up!


I received this text from Rosie today.

I love it!

You see, Murphy is our Elf on the Shelf who is visiting from the North Pole and taking messages back to Santa about how the children are behaving and what they want for Christmas.
She's a little genius!

I probably should somehow discourage her greediness,
but for now,it's pretty darn cute.

Texas Starbucks

I love Texas! This was just one of the cowboys in my local Starbucks this morning. Typically, I wouldn't think anything of it, but these were real cowboys! They're most likely in town for the rodeo which starts in January.


It's a terrible picture, but let's face it: I was taking a picture of a stranger . . . in public . . . with my iPhone . . . trying to be inconspicuous. It was unlikely that I would get a good picture. But, it could have been great!

Success

Thanks for all the good luck wishes! The party was fun and fabulous although I'm pretty sure we violated some sort of fire code by squeezing 37 people into my den. Today I'm in a Leadership Fort Worth meeting -- so fun to learn about my city. Hope you all have a happy CHAMPAGNE THURSDAY!

Status Report

Heater is fixed - for now.

Critter is still rotting in a wall (according to the exterminator).

Plan to purchase candles this afternoon before the party.

Carpets are cleaned and beautiful - for now.

Maids came this morning and scoffed at how dirty the house was after I spent a week trying to whip it into shape - thankyouverymuch.

I'm freezing my fingers off at work trying to get out of here by 3:00 so I can get the house as presentable and party-ready as possible.

Wish me luck!

Numbers work!

Remember how I mentioned that our house has a rotting critter in it? Remember how I'm really unlucky?

It gets worse.

Our heater went out last night. The kids huddled in front of a heater on the ground last night like we're Eskimos living in an igloo. The repairman is at the house now, but it is COLD!

When I went home for lunch, George was cold too and wanted the heater to work.

He got frustrated.


He was trying to adjust the thermostat to make the "Numbers Work!" for a long time.

Works Every Time!

I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me and we all could use more calm in our lives. By following the simple advice I heard on a Medical TV show, I have finally found inner peace. A Doctor proclaimed the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started. So I looked around my house to see things I'd started and hadn't finished, and, before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of shhardonay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of vocka, a pockage ofPrunglies, tha mainder of botal Prozic and Valum scriptins, the res of the Chesescke an a box a choclits. Yu haf no idr hou fkin gud I feal. Peas sen dis orn to dem yu fee AR in ned ov inr pis


Okay, I totally stole this - obviously. But it's hilarious!

Bladder

Just read a deposition and the woman said, "My mother said my bladder was too close to my eyes." I'm a sure idiot, because I had no idea what this meant. Apparently, the woman was starting to tear up during the deposition. I first thought that she had to pee. Go figure. Anyone else ever heard this saying?

Unlucky.

I am hosting a Christmas party at my house Wednesday.

We've been hard at work trying to make the house presentable to the approximately 30 ladies that will be attending.

Yesterday, we noticed a smell emanating from a wall by the Christmas tree and the kitchen.

By the end of the evening we were certain a critter of some sort had died within our wall.

The critter continues to rot.

The smell is getting worse.

The party is still supposed to be Wednesday.

What do I do?

Only I could be this unlucky.

Pondering Responsibility

How can I make my children more responsible?

Parenting, by the way, is a lot of work. I find myself turning back to child-rearing books to make sure that I'm not screwing this up. I mean, yeah, I'm obviously not beating my kids or starving them (although they appear to be on a hunger strike of sorts).

The problem is that there is no order in our house at all. It is basically chaos, and it appears to be bleeding into Luke's school work. The worst part is that Evie will be in school next year too and I can't imagine how I'm going to make it work. I've started looking at myself and realizing once again that work is a certain impediment to truly being able to raise my children exactly the way I want to. I don't have the time to organize Luke and Evie's drawers so that they can pick out their own clothes. Half the time I spend the morning digging through a basket of unmatched socks just so Luke will have a pair to put on his feet that day. I don't have time to create charts listing chores. I am not at home to enforce chores. Dishes get thrown in the sink after we eat our take-out meals. There is no system.

I'm not an organized person at home. I never have been and, likely, never will be. Unfortunately, I feel like I'm doing a disservice to my children by failing to give them an example of how to maintain an organized and disciplined lifestyle. This bleeds into the way I eat and the way I exercise (or rather, the way I don't exercise). Pretty much everything could be revamped so that our household flows better.

So what can I do besides change myself to be a more organized and responsible person in this facet of my life? I don't think there is anything else to do. You tell me.

Karaoke

I owe you guys some posts of the kids, but life is busy right now - as always. Today is my office Christmas Party. I will endeavor to not drink too much and definitely not pick up a cigar. I learned my lesson after my first year here. I'm still trying to live it down. At least I didn't pull a Bridget Jones and actually karaoke, but that's only because a karaoke machine wasn't handy.


In fact, we own a karaoke machine and used to make everyone who ever visited us participate in a round of painful karaoke. More on that later. For now, I hope you all are enjoying your rounds of Christmas parties that I'm sure have already begun or will begin this weekend!