Mmmm ... Movies

The boys got out of school early on Thursday and didn't have school Friday (don't ask me why), so we hit a matinee of "Igor" on Friday. It was an oddie with an all-star cast. I love John Cusack, who voiced Igor, but I especially love Molly Shannon, who voiced Eva. The boys were engaged, but I don't think this is one of those that we'll be rushing to get on DVD.

Happily, my Very Good Boyfriend, Anthony, took this Very Bald Girlfriend on a date, and I am pleased to report that we saw a Very Good Movie: "Ghost Town."

We had planned to see "Eagle Eye," since both of us like action-adventure type movies ["Quantum of Solace" comes out on November 14], but the reviews were so poor that we decided to skip it. After doing a little research, we chose "Ghost Town" as our alternate, and it was terrific. Well written, well acted, very funny, and very engaging.

Something for Everyone

I really like going to the dog park. The boys used to complain about it, but they are normally up for it these days. Charlie is always up for it. We all have our favorite things to do once we get there:

Nate likes throwing rocks in the river. Here, he has a handful of pebbles. He usually collects "perfect" rocks on the hike and fills his pockets with them. I try to assure him that there will be many rocks available on the way back down from our hike, but he has his own way of doing things.

The boys are in a very annoying stage. It is called "The first one to ..." Everything has suddenly become a race, and shortly after their race across this bridge, Nate fell and scraped up his leg.

I'm not sure I understand the appeal of peeing on every bush, tree, and blade of grass in sight, but Charlie seems to enjoy it. He also enjoys sniffing every bush, tree, and blade of grass, as well as every other dog's ... well. You know.

It is when I see a photo like this that I ask myself, "How am I going to take our Christmas picture?" Because it's that time of year, you know.

This is my "take it easy" week, but next week, we'll be hitting the trails again. Next time, I'm dragging them to Dog Lake up Millcreek Canyon. I've heard it's gorgeous!

Always in Season

It is officially fall here in Utah. I made that decision myself today, because I turned on the furnace for a few minutes to take off the morning chill. Also, the leaves seem to be changing color, and I enjoy wearing my puffy coat, if only for short periods of time, every few days.

What that means, though, is an end to Slurpee season. Slurpees are a powerful motivator for my boys. "If you get your chores done, I'll take you for a Slurpee." "If you get an 'A' on your test, we'll go for Slurpees." But I'm just not sure Slurpees are going to be as rewarding in the winter, as in, "When you finish shoveling the driveway, we can all go for Slurpees."

But we all enjoyed our Slurpee run the other night, because it was warm out, and the boys earned it. I know Ro is getting older, becuase he opted for Jamba Juice (with me) instead of a Slurpee. Next thing you know, he'll be choosing Bajio over Taco Bell. Grown-up tastes and all that.

This is Not Possible

Christopher Merrill is 12 years old. How can this be? And am I correct in my understanding that he will be 13 years old next year? I cannot bear it.

We celebrated with a family bash over the weekend and I think he had a very good time. As usual, we took many pictures (Ty helped), which you may view if you'd like to do so by watching the little images below, or clicking on them to see the slideshow larger.

Let the Yawning Commence

What is worse than being forced to sit around and look at someone's vacation pictures? Perhaps looking at someone's family pictures? So I'll just bore you with a few from our recent shoot.

You may know that our family dynamics have changed somewhat. We have lost two men in the family to divorce. Also, Sam was in town from New York, so we needed a family photo with him in it. And I thought it would be nice if I still had hair.

Begin yawning ... now.

The whole family: Ro, Nate, Kristy, Lucille, Frank, Harper, Nancy, Elliott, Sam

Kristy and Oma

Nate and Oma

Nater

Kristy and Anthony

Next up: our "other" family shoot: all the kids again, but with Ted & Mary. I might not make it while I still have hair, though!

Do-It-Yourselfer

Last night, Oma watched the boys while I ran birthday errands for Christopher. Would you believe that he is going to be 12 years old tomorrow? Seriously. He is old, man.

Before I left to run errands, I put all my sheets in the washing machine. I love clean sheets. And as soon as I got home, I said to my mom, "I forgot to ask you to put the sheets in the dryer!" My mom is great about doing laundry for me, and she would have done so if she had known of my need. But she didn't.

So I went downstairs and was very confused by my discovery. The washing machine was empty. My sheets? They were in front of the dryer, in a laundry basket. All clean and dry. So what could be in the dryer? Nate's "friend bea," his most beloved of all belongings, the blanket he has had since he was a baby.

While I was out, Nate did a little laundry. He first moved my sheets to the dryer, added laundry detergent and his blanket, and as he put it, "chose a good number," and started the washing machine. When it was done, he took the sheets out of the dryer, moved his blanket over, and dried it.

Who knew that my six year-old had such skills? Not I. But the bad thing for him is this: now that I know, I may just add laundry to his chore list.

First Day of School

I meant to post this picture on the first day of the boys' school, which was actually August 25, but would you believe I forgot I took it at all? I felt a tad bit guilty when I saw all the parents taking photos at school and by the school's name and with their kids' teachers, but this year, I seemed to just stop after this one.

Each boy did write their teacher a note, and each of them chose a plant for their teacher. Nate chose a red cyclamen, and I offered Ro the chance to choose from a pink, red, or white cyclamen, but he opted for a venus flytrap. It seemed fitting, somehow, and his teacher seemed to be very pleased with the gift, too.

Happy Valley Dinner

There is just something about going to my mom's for dinner that always makes my appetite grow three sizes. She made this amazing fried chicken (I will try to get the recipe for you), fresh Utah corn, beets (I hate beets, but I ate them anyway), warm squishy white bread rolls ... you know. All that good stuff.

Sam was there, too, but I realized he is not featured in my slide show. I think that's because I wasn't crazy about the pictures of him at that dinner, so I'll share one of him from our lunch at Market Street instead:

Hmm. I'm not sure that's the best one of him, either, but it will do for now. Click the image below to see the brief slideshow: