Twilight DVD Release Party

Okay, so I have lived a sheltered life and never been to a "release party" of an item. When Harry Potter books were popular, I watched the release parties on the news and it looked like a good time. All these people dressed up as Harry Potter characters waiting anxiously their copy of the newest book. However, I have never been (1) because although I enjoyed the H.P. books, I didn't want one that bad and (2)these parties are late at night and I'm sleeping!

I had girlfriend time last night and was scrapbooking with BFF Michele. Michele reminds me that the Twilight DVD is being released at midnight. Hey, we're up, we're caffienated, so we decide to go and find a party. We go to Border's bookstore; nothing happening except a lot of preteens and teens standing around waiting. Same thing when we went to Blockbuster.

In case you aren't in the know, Twilight is a book by Stephenie Meyer (she has three more in the series) that has been made into a movie. It is a story about a 17 year old girl named Bella who falls in love with Edward. Edward is a vampire.

FYI I have read Twilight and enjoyed it. Awaiting my turn to read the 2nd book (on order at the library), but no intention of purchasing the DVD; will just rent it and watch it.

Michele and I were expecting to see all kinds of vampire costumes and dark makeup. Instead, I think people were looking at us; we weren't exactly in the age range of the other girls!

To commemorate this occasion, here is a photo of me with a Twilight umbrella and a copy of the book and a photo of Michele with Edward (well, a photo of him anyway!)

Open Mouth, Insert Flip Flop

The weather here has been in the 70s and Joey and Dani have both outgrown their flip flops. So, Tuesday we went to the mall to find some new ones.

We went to Children's Place and the flip flops were $3.50 ea or 2/$5.00. Of course, Murphy's Law is that one child will throw a fit and not want a pair now that we are there.

As we are checking out, the sales clerk reminds me of the price and I decided to go ahead and pick up a pair for Dani anyway because as soon as we get home, I know she'll want some. The sales clerk says to me, "yes, I know how that is. I have children at home myself." She was wearing a loose black top and I say to her, "oh! and you're expecting another one!". To which she replies, "no, I'm just fat!"

I wanted to die right there on the spot. I was so embarrassed and I apologized. Anyway, hope you all get a laugh or learn a lesson from my outing this week.

Bagel Fridays

On Friday, Joey attends a Kids Day Out program from 9:15 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. After I drop him off, Dani and I run errands. One Friday morning, we stopped for a bagel. Now on Fridays, as soon as we drop Joey off and I put Danielle in her carseat, she says, "Go have a bagel, mom?". So this has become our weekly routine. I extremely enjoy it. This is one of the few times where it is only Dani and I and it is fun to see her little personality shine and how much she is growing into a big girl.

Today, while we were waiting in line for our bagels, she went and picked a table out for us all by herself. (It was two feet from where I was standing). Then, I went to get my Diet Coke and Dani says to me , "I stay here, mom." She stayed at the table and waited for me to get my coke and bring it back to the table, grinning from ear to ear.

Last night while I was at Bunco, I received a phone call from Dani that she had peed and pooped in the potty. She was very excited. This morning when she got out of bed, she peed in the potty. So after grocery shopping and bagels, we took a trip to one of my favorite stores. When Joey was about 2 1/2 years and we were in this store baby shopping for Danielle, he fell in love with a dinosaur bank. I bought it for him. Totally by fluke, the next day we began potty training with it. He got to "feed" the dinosaur each time he went on the potty.

It worked so well for Joey. (Mike and I gave him about $100 in change!) I explained it to Dani this morning and showed her Joey's bank. So we went to pick out a bank for her. Here she is with her new kitty bank that she chose all by herself. As soon as she got home, she pooped in the potty and got to "feed" her kitty! Hopefully, this will continue as I know she is very young to potty train.

I am enjoying my kids being a little older and a little more independent. They can play together now, have conversations now, wrestle (usually initiated by Dani), and walk without a stroller or being held. However, part of me is sad to be leaving the baby days behind. There is nothing better to me than a little cuddly snuggly cooing baby. Luckily, I have several friends still having babies, so I can always snuggle with their little ones.

If you would like to contribute to the Danielle potty fund, please email me for our address! just kidding! Wouldn't you know that I would have children that want money and are not thrilled by the stickers or M&Ms most mommys hand out for going in the potty??!

Danielle Marie turns two!

Dani turned two on February 22. It is hard to believe that our baby is no longer a baby! On Saturday, Feb 21, she had a birthday party at Olympiad Gymnastics, where both she and Joey have gymnastics classes. At the side is a photo of some of Dani's friends that were at the party. (Dani is standing in front in the unitard with the two pink stripes. Joey is to the right of her in the blue t-shirt and what looks like a rainbow on it).

Dani had 15 kids at her party between the ages of 5 months and 12 years. Everyone had a blast going through the obstacle course, jumping on the trampolines, jumping in the block pit, and just running around. We hired a photographer to come for her big day. She took over 300 pictures! Of course, I am not going to post all of those here, but the photos are great and she has a website you can visit to see Dani's party pics. http://www.jillarnoldphoto.com/ look for the tab labeled "Parties". Click on it and you will see something similar to "Danielle's 2nd birthday". Click on that and you will be asked for a password. The password is Dinah.

Bethany and Jacob (my sister Karen's kids) came with my mom and dad to the party and that was a very special treat for my two. The four cousins don't get to see each other much, so it was a very special day that they were able to join us for Dani's party. Grandpa posed with his four grandchildren. Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera in hand when Grandma (my mom) posed with the kids.


One of my best friends has a five month old baby who Dani calls "Baby Chubba". Dani just loves him! She was so proud that she got to hold him at her birthday party. When I tried to take him from her, she said very firmly, "NO!" and held on tighter. Baby Chubba weighs 20 pounds and Danielle weighs 23 pounds, so if you think they look about the same size in the photo, that's because they are!

(By the way, Dani did not come up with this nickname on her own. My friend told Dani that they call the baby "Bubba Chubba" and from there, Dani came up with "Baby Chubba".)

There have been a few warm days here and there and the kids really like to go to the park to play. One of our favorite parks also has a paved walking trails and horses. We take a picnic lunch and enjoy being outside. Here is a photo that Joey took of Danielle and me on one of our park outings:

And now from the retro files....this blue McKendree College sweatshirt that Dani is wearing is mine. No, we don't wear the same size! ha ha This is a shirt that my mom saved from my baby days when my dad attended McKendree College.

Okay, well, I need to go, as usual, and referee (why do my kids fight when I update the blog??). I just heard Joey yell, "Dani, never mess with me!" This doesn't happen at anyone else's house does it??

Thankfully, Mike is a great daddy and will be staying with the children tonight while I go out and play Bunco with the girls!

Enjoy the weekend. We love hearing from everyone!