Big changes afoot in my household. Baby teeth are making way for big teeth, training wheels for two-wheelers. And I may have to officially turn in my Soccer Mom membership card. It was time. With gas prices at eleventy dollars a gallon and me with a nearly 100 mile round trip commute, something had to give.

Sooo… we’ve gone from this… 

To this…

Ta da!!! Take THAT Saudi Arabia!

Oh. Hello stranger. Yes, yes, I know I’ve been gone for awhile. It happens frome time to time. Blogging is hard work. Truly. You have no idea how long it takes to put kissy lips and fake crowns on my pictures. Let alone upload them what with the new version of Wordpress that doesn’t LIKE to upload my images.

So…if anyone is still out there, I am back with a movie review. Kung Fu Panda. I gotta say, I enjoyed it. A lot of family movie reviewers are knocking it due to the violence. To that I say…er…um…it’s a cartoon. No real pandas were hurt in the making of this flick. At least I’m pretty sure that’s true. Frankly, I thought it was pretty funny. It kept my attention (which is not always easy…I totally fell asleep during Bee Movie). Jack Black as an overweight panda is a scream.  Ian McShane is the bad guy. And if you’ve ever watched Ian McShane on Deadwood…you know how good a villain he really is (though no worries, he does not have Swearingen’s vocabulary).

So, three thumbs up (what…me and the two kiddos). My daughter has been Kung Fu kicking everthing (the funniest was the movie theater bathroom stall door). She liked the part where the Panda sat on the bad guy. Really, everyone did. My son liked the part where the Panda said “Skadoosh.” I have no idea what that means, but it totally worked. It’s our new catch phrase.

Skadoosh, people!

Late Happy Memorial Day!

Because my son pestered us to death and because we wanted to see it anyway, we went to see the new Indiana Jones. I won’t reveal any pertinent details (shhhh…everyone explodes at the end), but I enjoyed it. It is not Raiders (what is?), but it is good. Go into it with no expectations other than having a good time and rooting for Indy, and you’ll have as much fun as we did. Also…Shia Lebeauf…pitch perfect. Karen Allen…rocks the Casbah.

That said, I got some “bad mommy” looks. The movie isn’t really for five year old girls (about five swear words, tons of violence…and skeletons…plus she thinks it’s called Kingdom of the Crystal Scones). I have one of those (a five year old girl…not a scone). She went. It is what it is. Rest assured, snooty people in the front row, she completely understands that it’s not okay to say dammit or punch Communists in the face (sadly though, she has witnessed her mother do one out of two, I’ll never say which) . I promise. Plus, her brother had a rip roaring good time and she gets to pick the next one (translation: Her brother and Dad better plan on bucking up for Beverly Hills Chihuahua).

Also, she laid this on me when we got home.

She: Mom, do we have a lot of money?

Me: Uh…er…why do you ask?

She: Well, I was thinking about that pony, Butterscotch.

Me: (Crikey…I thought we were over that). Mmm  hmm?

She: I was thinking I know how you can get enough money to buy me Butterscotch.

Me: Er…uh…

She: You just have to enter a Beauty Contest. You will win and then you can buy me Butterscotch with the money.

Solid plan!

Ok, so I wasn’t really kicked out. Mostly just sneered at….ok, so not exactly sneered at, but in my head that is totally what happened.

I went in there with my daughter to get stuff for a non-crafty project. I do not craft. Ok, not true…I can’t craft. It always turns ugly and messy. But, I immediately understood the look in my little girl’s eyes as we walked past rows of material festooned with unicorns, horses, rainbows, lolli-pops etc. She was literally spinning with possibilities. New blankets, new curtains, new couch covers (our living room sofa would ROCK if we re-upholstered in rainbow unicorns).

“Sorry babe, I’m not that kind of mom. I wish I were. We’re here to get some glitter and sharper scissors.”

I could tell she was a little sad.

I, of course, am about as lost at the fabric store as I am in the tool department of home depot (luckily, I’ve got connections for the latter). All of the cashiers knew it. I swear they could sense my non-craftiness a mile away. If it was Studio 54 in 1977, they never would have let me past the velvet rope.

But…I found the glitter (after asking 3 people).

2008 Michigan Team Wrestling RUNNERS UP!!!

Click for Results Summaries
DIVISION 1

Great work guys!

As for me? Not much has changed in 20 years, as it turns out Crikey, my hair is even pretty much the same!

2008 Team Wrestling Quarterfinals
Kellogg Arena, Battle Creek
Feb. 29

Click on Division for Summaries
DIVISION 1 | DIVISION 2 | DIVISION 3 | DIVISION 4

Division 1
Davison 41, Canton 21
Holt 34, Hartland 19  
Temperance Bedford 36, Rockford 32
Lake Orion 38, Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse 26

Once a wrestling cheerleader, always a wrestling cheerleader.

Also, check out the new and “being improved” Bedford Wrestling site. http://bedfordwrestling.com/

Congratulations to Temperance Animal Hospital for 30 years in business. They held an open house today. I may have mentioned this before, but my daughter is a bit of a horse/puppy freak and has insisted (for about 2 years now), that she’s going to be a horsie vet. I get that we’re a long way off from those types of decisions, but she’s steadfast for now. While driving to the car wash, I decided to take her over.

She had a WONDERFUL time. The highlight was peforming Teddy Bear surgery.  With the help of one of the real live veterinarians, she selected a wounded stuffed puppy from a basket and got to assist in sewing it back up. Meanwhile, whoever’s running around Temperance slicing up stuffed animals needs to be stopped She hasn’t put the thing down since. Our new stuffed puppy’s name is Sugar Creme Cakes (catchy). Here she is feeling much better.

 (Er…and in case you think I’m trying to be like Michael Jackson…I get that a lot…They gave all of the kids surgical masks and hats to wear).

Sooo, I of course polled some of the experts regarding what type of doggie might be best for us (recall, low shedding, medium to small sized, good with kids are our current parameters). I mostly got a “good luck with that.” Kidding. Poodle mix still seems to be the advice of choice.

Anyway, kudos again to the great folks at T.A.H. We never did make it to the car wash.

I may have mentioned this, but one of our big Christmas surprises was a Wii gaming system. We’ve really been enjoying it and my son, turns out, is a freakishly good Wii bowler. One of the cool things about this system is that you can create your own “character” or avatar called your “Mii.” (I realize my teenage nephews…assuming they even read this…are probably cringing ‘cuz I’m sure I’m not getting the terminology right. Plus also, they probably cringe anyway. They’re teenage boys.) Well, my son didn’t stop at creating his own image.

This is his Wii interpretation of me (or Mii).

It’s pretty close, actually.

This is my husband…

This is my mother… My daughter says, “This looks just like Busia. Except the Mii Busia’s skin is kind of little bit smoother.” Harsh!

This is my father… (Beeps is short for Beepa. My daughter couldn’t say Grandpa when she was teeny and it kind of stuck.)

He’s been a little bit obsessed creating a Wii village of everyone we know. The kids keep running back and forth asking, “How do you spell Tyler, Kyle, Sara, Mrs. So-and-so.” Yes, to my friends, family, neighbors, school teachers, we have a Mii version of you in our game system! Be afraid Bedford, be very afraid.

Just a quickie blog here, X-mas craziness in full swing!

I got treated to a wonderful (and unexpected) holiday moment today. I volunteered at the kids’ school and got to sit in on the BHS Symphonic Band concert. They were fantastic and conductor Ron Koch did such a great job putting on a show for the little ones. The elementary kids were riveted. He talked about each section of the band so the kids would know a woodwind from a percussion instrument etc. My son’s hands down favorite was when the Tuba players did the famous rift from Darth Vader’s Theme. All the little boys screamed in unison and pretended they had light sabers for about 30 seconds afterwards.

I gotta admit, it made me a little weepy (though I kept telling people it was my sinuses!). Back in the day, I was a clarinet player in Symphoic Band under Mr. Tolly. Good memories and the kids (both the audience and the performers) did Bedford proud today. I wish I had pictures but I didn’t realize in advance I’d be going to it.

Holy mackerel it’s cold out there!

We’ve been busy trying to squeeze out all of the X-mas fun we can around here.

First, there was the zoo. Frankly, I think it’s one of THEE best family-oriented X-mas events this area has to offer (and wait a minute…family-oriented and X-mas event must be mutually exclusive…I would hope).

The back story is my daughter is usually afraid of Santa. Well, not so much afraid, but she’s never been down with sitting on the lap of a stranger in a red suit.

But…her quandary this year is her desire to get Butterscotch. Butterscotch is a Fur Real Friends, robotic horse. It’s about as tall as her five year old self and retails for about $250.00 ($200 at Costco…if you can even find it). Bottom line…it’s not happening. I think we’re heading for her “A Christmas Story” moment. It is her Red Rider be-be gun, that horse. Again. Not. Happening. She tried though. In the car on the way to the zoo I talked her down and convinced her she should ask for a horse “like” Butterscotch. Ergo, I schlepped to two Toys-R-Us’ today to get her a 40 inch plush horse that is “similar” to Butterscotch without the (IMHO) creepy animatronics or the price tag. I am secure in my belief that she will like it just as much. I am also certain that she will let me know if she doesn’t.

And…lest anyone think we are all about the commercial aspect of X-mas. We spent our blustery afternoon doing one of the other best X-mas themed events in our area. The Mt. Carmel living nativity. Do go see it if you get the chance. The animals are adorable. We heard the real Christmas story from Mary herself with Father Dan Nicholas looking on. The kids made ornaments with their near-frozen fingers and had a really wonderful time. Those guys are Christmas heroes for  braving the elements and are much appreciated!

And I’m sooo not kidding about this horse situation. Here’s my daughter after she scaled the nativity wall. They were so sweet to let her, but man, there was a PONY in there. She had to go kiss it!