Motion Pictures

Thor
What a name right? But let's not judge a movie by it's name shall we? Cause, just so happens Thor is ridiculously good looking a shockingly good movie. However, you must have an affinity, at least a small one, for super heroes. Growing up with two younger brothers I was left with no choice BUT to love super heroes ... and trade X-Men cards ssshhhh.

Let's say you don't care for super heroes. That's fine. An affinity for men that look like they were chissled from a piece of molten hot lava works great too. It's a fun movie. A good break from the heat if you will. Natalie Portman is in it too. Given the option, I'd do her or Thor I don't know his name in real life.

Pirates
What's more fun than a pirate? OK, so a lot of things but still ... Johnny Depp as a pirate is a pretty fun, good time. Typically, the last few Pirates of so-and-so have bored me to tears because of the following:

a of all Keira Knightley's horrible teeth when she opens her mouth
b of all Orlando Bloom is a prissy ninny
c of all 3.5 hour long movies are just too long to watch people who have bad teeth and are prissy ninnies

So,  they have tended to put me to sleep. But, this latest installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series kept me awake the whole time and I love, love, loved every minute of it. Also, it has mermaids!!

Pirates + Mermaids = Childhood memories
Huh? Read below:

Myth: Mermaids are real.

Fact: Regardless of that, every summer my best friend and I would go to the pool and spend all day pretending our legs were hooked together and swim around like mermaids.  

Needless to say I really, really wanted to find a body of water and pretend that I was mermaid. But I'm an adult ... And that'd just be plain silly ... *clears throat, nervous laughter*

Mother's Day

Never have I ever felt the need to back-peddle with appreciation as I do with my Mom.

Looking back I can fully admit that I was a pill/bitch/obnoxious ... and we have the home videos to prove it ... and she still loves me. Not only does she love ME, but she loves my husband and my Lovie and Baby Sister. That's true love right there.

When you hear everyone say "being a Mother is the hardest thing you will ever do," they are absolutely correct (note: the SATs come in a close second ... especially if you aren't a good test taker like me). No amount of advice from your own Mom, books, books on tape, videos, nurses, birth classes, etc. can prepare you for what your own experience is going to be like. And no matter how social you are and how many of you and your friends decided to have a "pregnancy pact" (bad idea if you are 14 and want a doll baby ... go to the store and buy an effing doll baby), it's very lonely at times. Adding to the loneliness are the Mom's who think that their children are angels all the time.

Point being - Motherhood is a hard job. Knowing that my Mom experienced everything and more that I have gone through so far with Lovie makes me appreciate her that much more.

To celebrate Mother's Day this year my husband and Lovie made me a delicious breakfast that consisted of an egg sandwich, then we went to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden to look at all the beautiful flowers (and got a free plant in the process!), went to lunch at Mexico and then had my parents over for dinner. It was a great way to celebrate being a Mom. Here are some pictures from the beautiful Mother's Day we had:

Yes. I promise there is only one in there.

Aren't they cute!? My two loves.

I had never seen peonies before. I think I'm in love.

Peter Rabbit's house. Yes. THE Peter Rabbit.

I hope all the other Mommy readers had a good Mother's Day as well!!

Open

This is the title of the book that I am almost finished reading ... Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi.

Read some of the great reviews here

It's nothing short of amazing and even more amazing is how well written it is. So well written, and captivating. The only reason why I picked it up to read it is cause I wanted to donate it and thought:

Welllll, it's a signed copy that I got when I used work at Genworth. May as well read it before I give it away.

(Andre Agassi used to be a spokesperson for Genworth and played in a few tournaments that Genworth sponsored. When his book came out he sent a box to Genworth all signed - those who wanted one got a signed copy ... or in my case those who happened to walk by at the right time and love free things.)

And I haven't been able to put it down ever since. Surprisingly the book isn't really about tennis, as I expected it would be, but instead it's about getting to know who he is as a person, his emotions, his thoughts, his journey. And that person is a remarkably touching, motivated, giving and kind soul. What touches me the most is how giving of a person Andre is. I don't know why I thought that he wouldn't be, I guess because before this book:

a.) I didn't care for tennis. At. All. (and still don't), and
b.) I didn't know a lick about him - except that he's a tennis player. And was married to Brooke Sheilds. And is married to Steffi Graff.

So, essentially all I knew about him is from what I would read in People magazine. But he's a person that puts everyone else around him first, and I will never tire of reading how much someone loves, honors, appreciates and respects their wife and family. Especially when that person is a male.

And lets get one thing straight. I'm no tennis aficionado. Me liking this book is tantamount to me ASKING to watch golf on TV. Something that would never happen.

So, mostly I'm just blown away by how good it is because I was expecting quite the opposite. Shocker book of the season right here.

Easter 2011

Easter is always one of my favorite Holidays - because the focus is on children getting presents from a mythical giant bunny someone was smoking some serious juice when they thought that concept would be a good idea and spending time with family over a ridiculous amount of food.

In summary: Holidays that involve ridiculous amounts of food consumption are my favorite.

The hardest part in our house, the Parker house, is finding the right time for the Easter Bunny to present him/herself. Last year Mike and I totally forgot about Easter so The Bunny came during Lovie's nap time so that The Bunny could gather some presents.

Easter Bunny challenge: Lovie cannot have an ounce of chocolate or else the Devil himself is present for the remainder of the day. 

So, The Bunny fills Lovie's basket with various and sundry non-chocolate treats like DVD's and little trinket toys and chewable candies. Last year The Bunny went all. out.

Complete with Bunny footprints ... Lovie was very distressed about this

But very pleased with his basket of treats

The Bunny also leaves Easter eggs in the front yard for an afternoon Easter egg hunt.

In summary: Easter 2010 was a resounding success ... Winning.

Well, this Easter we had to carry on the mid-afternoon tradition. So, that meant making sure SOMEone had/took a nap. Since we had all the preparations for Easter this year there was no excuse for The Bunny to not come in the morning. But being the horrid parents we are, we still couldn't get our act together to have The Bunny come in the morning AND come to find out, this was good bribery:

If we keep stealing other children's Easter eggs/standing on the pews in church/crawling on the floor at brunch I'm going to call The Easter Bunny and he won't bring you your basket.

So, that worked very well. Until actual nap time needed to happen - getting a certain SOMEone to take a nap these days is no small feat. Especially since he's moved into his "big boy bed." Never the less, after a good 2 hours of reenacting the Exorcist nap he eventually took. Allowing The Bunny to get the Easter preparations, set up Lovie's basket of treats and hide some eggs.

In summary: Easter 2011 was a success despite a brief run-in with devil possession.

Other ways in which Easter 2011 > Easter 2010: 
a.) We all went to church in the morning, before church there was an Easter egg hunt on the lawn of the Capitol. Lovie made out like a bandit;

Pre-said Easter egg hunt on Capitol lawn ... proof we went to church ...

b.) We had brunch with Nana and Papa afterwards no proof of this, you'll have to take my word for it, if you know me, you're lucky you're seeing pictures of a Holiday. You're welcome;
c.) Another egg hunt after nap again count your blessings;
d.) Dinner using the new china with Nana, Papa and Uncle Johnny no proof they actually came but keep in mind we wouldn't set all that china out for imaginary friends.

The china looked so pretty, I wish it translated better via pictures ... while we had our work cut out for us hand washing the dishes afterwards, it was so fun to use it all!

I Heart Bethenny

Maybe it's because I'm slightly neurotic myself or maybe it's because I secretly want to be ridiculously successful, rich and thin ... but I have a serious girl crush on Bethenny Frankel. This is the first girl crush of mine that isn't due to her looks because let's face it ... by most standards she's not a gorgeous girl.

Girlfriend is a little tran-tastic ... and those jowls ...

But she says what's on her mind, makes no apologies for it, doesn't care who likes her and who doesn't and has an uber successful brand.

She's also a Mom who, thankfully also shuns the Mom-jeans. I'd love to spend a day in her closet after I lost 90 lbs. Above all else, I just find her to be entertaining. And perhaps that's all she is - entertainment. But even if that's the case, I enjoy every minute of it.

Since my husband knows 100%, first hand, how much I love her this is what he got me for our 6 month anniversary present:

Can't wait to drink it alllllllll ....

And it was perfect. And I can't wait to try it. Skinnygirl is Bethenny's line of low cal bottled margarita ... the only one of it's kind and is in such high demand that ABC Stores are rapidly selling out of it. She recently sold Skinny Girl for $120 million. Girlfriend knows what she's doing.

So, until the next season of Bethenny Ever After airs, this fan will be anxiously awaiting ...

The Going's On ...

Lately life has been going at light speed 'round these parts. Feels like treading water trying to keep up. Not having a lot of energy/not sleeping isn't really making things easier.

Lovie is in soccer, like he was last Fall. However, either the Y doesn't really have their act together this season or things are just more organized in the Fall. This thing has been crazy to say the least. Right hand doesn't talk to the left, we don't have a coach so the parents rotate (Right. Cause that's not confusing to already wound up 3 to 4 year olds.), and it's pollen central. Soccer lately is classified as Mike and Lovie "doing boy things," meaning Mommy does laundry stays home. This is in large part because I just say the word Spring and get a sinus infection.

We're having a baby. Which means, essentially, starting from square one ... not only cause it's a girl, but because things like car seats expire (so add that to the list), strollers break (add that too) and we don't have a crib (Lovie was using one my parents lent us ... add that too), girl clothes are needed (I have a mini panic attack every time I think about all the clothes we are going to need), outfitting a room (dinosaurs just don't seem appropriate for a baby girl) ... I could go on. So, there has been a considerable amount of shopping going on ... thank goodness for HomeGoods and huge online nursery sales at Pottery Barn Kids. If you want to take a ganders at the crib we got here it is.  I really love it and can't wait for it to arrive. We are going to register too. This is because we know people will want to get something for the baby at some point ... and it would be good to point them in the direction of a list of what we need.

We're also technically still newlyweds. SO, since our 6 month anniversary is tomorrow (!!! can you believe it!?! 6 months of wedded bliss) we are going out for a date night on Saturday night. I'm pretty excited. It's the first one in a loooooong time. Much needed.

House projects are lining up fast and furious. My fantastic husband has practically transformed our yard into a green beacon (I will have to post some pictures), he stained our front porch and back deck, and he's toying with putting in a patio underneath the back deck. I'm so happy I married a handyman with a green thumb. Neither of which I have (nor do I want to have).

In cute news ... Mike calls me "Sweetie" and I call him "Honey." It never ceases to make me smile and laff when Lovie from the bottom of the stairs if we are getting ready to walk out the door will say, "Come on Sweetie. We gotta get going." Or when Mike is driving, and perhaps we aren't driving fast enough for Lovie's liking (he's a total back seat driver) says, "Honnneyyyy. Goooo. Go, Honey." He's a tiny magical lovie for sure.

Oh. And because both Mike and I know a lot about T-ball, and even more about T-ball with 4 year olds, we thought it'd be a good idea to start Lovie in T-ball. Ha.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!