Let's Go To the Movies

I've been contemplating for awhile now whether or not Nicholas was ready to go see his first movie.  Greg and I definitely love a good movie, and so does Nicholas, but watching one in public when you're at the mercy of strangers was more than a bit daunting.  But when my friend Ashlee suggested we take the kids to see Gnomeo & Juliet this week, I figured now was as good a time as any.  I quickly formulated a set of rules in my mind to prepare us for the adventure.

Rule #1 - NO expectations.  If I go into this prepared for anything than there will be no disappointment.  Rule #2 - Talk it up as much as possible during the preceding days so he's in a frenzy of excitement and won't want to miss a thing.  Thrill him with all the details of the movie theater experience - the gigantic movie screen, getting to eat popcorn and candy, how we have to stay in our seats the entire time, and that we have to be as quiet as little mice.
Rule #3 -  Don't forget the necessities: ice cold water (Nicholas can't go without it.  And yes, it must be ice cold. ☺), a few toys in case he gets restless, and his beloved "B" (blankie) to snuggle with.  Oh, and the most important thing, the camera.  So I can be one of those really embarrassing mothers.

Worry schmorry.  It was a walloping success!!!  Nicholas and Kacee were awesome and they both loved the movie!  The theater wasn't quite a ghost town, but it was pretty darn close so I guess we picked the perfect time to go.  The only other people watching our movie were parents with small children about the same age.  Man, it definitely takes the pressure off when you're all in the same boat!  The kids sat right down in their seats, popcorn in hand, and watched that movie from start to finish.  I couldn't believe how perfect it was!!  We did have to get up one time to go potty but I'm not going to complain about that for one second.  I was shocked and impressed he even told me he needed to go!  He didn't get up from his seat one other time and even chose to keep the armrest raised so he could cuddle up nice and close to his mama.  Swoon! All in all, it was an absolutely fabulous date with my little man and I can't wait to take him back again when Daddy can go with us. 

And here are a couple of other cute pictures I took this week that I wanted to share.  I got a new camera lens that I've been experimenting with and I think I love it.

What up, Wednesday?

We're just poking our heads in to say hey on this beautiful Wednesday morning....so HEY! 

☺ We hope your week is so bright you gotta wear shades. ☺

I ♥ U!

We decided to get a jump on Valentine's Day and open our presents today instead of tomorrow.  Who wants to celebrate it on a Monday anyway when you're doing normal, boring stuff like working?  And how lucky is this girl that she has not one, but two, amazing Valentines?  Damn lucky! Both of my boys treated me like a queen and we all got to enjoy a whole bunch of candy!  Nicholas has caught a cold and hasn't had the best weekend but he perked right up when he saw his gift bag chock full of goodies.  It was a great pre-Valentine's Day all the way around!

One of the treats we got for Nicholas was a packet of the dinosaur grow capsules.  You know, you toss 'em in some water and they expand all cool like.  Well, we pick one out of the package, plop it in a cup of cool water, and.....nothing.  This is what we have 15 minutes later:

Hmm, well that's not right.  Of course in such an exciting moment one cannot be bothered to stop and read the ever-so-complicated instructions.  There's no time for that nonsense.  Do you know how long it takes to read the following:

1.  Remove capsule from package.
2.  Place capsule in cup of warm water.

Oh. Well.  There you go, then.  So, here we have round two which literally took about 3-4 minutes.  Sometimes you've really got to be smarter than the 3 year old's toy.  But, in the end he thought they were pretty awesome and he didn't hold it against us.

And on top of getting way more candy than any of us need, my boys got me these beautiful red roses to boot.  There's just something so special about getting roses on Valentine's Day. 

Thank you to my amazing husband and my amazing son for making this the perfect day.  My heart is overflowing with how much love I feel for the both of you.  And although that love is present every single day of the year, it's nice to take a moment to make sure you both know it.  I♥U!  XOXOXO
                                                                      

Making Up For Lost Time

After several days of being stuck in the house and doing a whole lotta nothing, we got to get out Tuesday and have a little fun.  Nicholas didn't get to go to school at all last week because of the bad weather so he was super excited that he got to go back yesterday.  AND it was pizza day!  He's really gotten into school lately and has such a good time when he's there.  After school, we swung by Grammy's house to pick her up and we all headed off to get him a real haircut at a real salon.  Now, I use the term "salon" loosely here because it's really more of a casual haircutting shop geared totally for kids, but you get the idea.  It's called Snip-Its and they have games and toys for the kiddos to play with and each haircutting station has a TV playing cartoons.  Nicholas was slightly nervous when we sat him down in the chair, but once he saw that I was sitting right next to him he calmed right down.  He behaved perfectly the entire time and was very patient while she got him all fixed up, even when she used the clippers.  He looks downright snazzy with his fresh new haircut and it definitely makes him look so much more grown up.  (sniff, sniff) After the haircut adventure, it was time for our playdate with Max and Kacee, which is always special for Nicholas.  He loves his friends so much and I love the fact that they've been best buddies since birth.  The kids played together for a bit and then the whole gang went to meet Greg for dinner at Ron's, which serves the yummiest, greasiest burgers on the planet.  Delish!  By the time Nicholas and I got home, it was starting to snow again and the temparture had turned frigidly cold out.  We ran inside and immediately got snuggly in my bed where we watched a movie until we both fell asleep.  Ah yes, it was an absolutely wonderful day!

Weekend Randomness

We've had a pretty easy-going weekend here after our plans to attend Jillian's 2nd birthday party in Dallas were thwarted by the snow.  We missed getting to celebrate with them but we managed to keep ourselves entertained nonetheless.  Happy weekend, everyone!

No Fear

Nicholas went to the boat show last weekend with Daddy, Papa, & Mimi and they discovered a huge inflatable slide that they decided to let him try.  He did this 3 times and popped up each time asking for MORE!  Nice form at the end!

Blizzard of '11

Ominous name and not fun in the least. We got hit right between the eyes yesterday with a whopper of a snow storm.  It started during the wee hours of Tuesday morning and continued well into the afternoon.  The snow was coming down really hard and it was combined with some pretty ferocious winds that caused almost-white-out conditions at some points.  Luckily everyone had fair warning about the storm's arrival so most businesses closed for the day which allowed everyone to stay off the roads.  Unfortunately for Greg and me, that isn't a possibility but we managed to get where we needed to be and do what we needed to do.  Nicholas obviously didn't have school so he went next door and hung out with our neighbors, Mike and Emerald, until I could get home from work.  He did all kinds of fun things including making snow ice cream and watching movies and eating popcorn.  We paid for that a little later in the evening when he had a massive tummyache.  It will probably take a few more days before things start to get back to normal.  With the temperature below freezing until at least Saturday the white stuff will probably be around for awhile.  The bitter cold has only allowed us about 5 minutes of outside play so far but hopefully we'll get to make some snowballs and maybe even a snowman before it all melts.  What's a snowstorm without that??

I really hope no one from up north looks at these pictures and laughs at our

 version of a "blizzard".  To those of us here in Oklahoma, it was crippling!

Golfing in the snow?  But of course. 

Stay warm everyone!

#1 Thunder Fan

The Thunder had a big game last Sunday against the Miami Heat.  And even though we couldn't be there in person, we were definitely there in spirit!  Nicholas had to have every bit of his gear on before I could take his picture to send to Mimi & Papa who were at the game.  He's not much of a picture-taker, so I pulled out the big guns and offered up some marshmallows as a bribe. And voila, the perfect pose and an angelic smile to boot.  Praise the power of the marshmallow!