Close Your Eyes...This Stuff is Scary!

I have to admit, I'm not really that big fan of Halloween. Let me rephrase that...I don't like spooky, gory, bloody, gooey, creepy Halloween stuff. I totally love my little cowgirl, Batman, and 50's girl. But I'm going to have real issues when they start wanting to dress up as scary, horror things (really I'm not too worried about Katie--I'm pretty sure she'll never go down that road). Plus, I love pink and spring and flowers (which I think we've clearly established on this 'ol blog)...I guess you could say I'm more of an Easter type gal than Halloween (even though 1/2 of my wardrobe consists of black clothing...that doesn't count).

So in the spirit of Halloween I thought I'd give you MY Top 10 scary things:

10. Freddie from Nightmare on Elm Street. He doesn't scare me anymore, but he was scary in his day, so he deserves a place on the list. And if you are near my age, you know that just once it crossed your mind that this creep might be lurking somewhere in your dreams. Huh?

9. Stephen King. I've met this guy in person (when I worked for a bookstore the employees got to have lunch with him, it was a small group so we got to actually converse with him). Let me tell ya...there's a reason he can write those freaky/scary books. The dude has a strange, strange mind.

8. Darth Vader. Come on, you have to admit that breathing was just plain scary. How'd you like to hear that in a dark room? And then when he took of his helmet thing and you saw his acid burnt, white scary face. Yeah, that was the closer for me. Scary.

7. Catwoman. Not the sexy catwoman from Batman. This woman. This is a lesson in plastic surgery gone wrong. Very, very wrong. And very, very scary.

6. Jaws. You know this bad boy crossed your mind the first time you went in the ocean after seeing this movie.

5. The Fog. Fog in general is not so scary. But fog with red glowing eyes (circa 1980). Now that's some scary fog.

4. The little girl on The Exorcist. Holy moley. THAT was some scary stuff! That movie still freaks me out everytime I watch it. It really has to be one of the most frightening movies ever. I find satan possessed-type movies to be WAY scarier than slasher type movies.

The following three are the trifecta that makes The Wizard of Oz one of the scariest movies of all time. I grew up in Kansas, so these three had an elevated scare factor in my home state...and I double checked the trees when my mom drove us here and there.

3. The wicked witch. She wasn't all deviled up looking. Just an old fashioned wicked witch. But man, she was scary.

2. The misty, fog laden Oz face. What was that? Part vampire (the fang-like teeth), part devil (the weird veins/horn type things), part goblin (shrouded in green mist). I don't know, but that Oz head was frightening. That poor cowderdly lion, no one should shame him for running...I would've run from that freaky thing, too.

1. The flying monkeys. Hands down, this is the scariest thing ever known to man. Flying monkeys. Scary!

Happy Halloween!

A Really Late What Would You Rather Do?

Here's one for all you book-lovers out there...

Would you rather read...

A sci-fi book

or

A Harlequin-type, mushy romance book.

Power to the book-readin' people! (Sorry, sometimes I say random things).

$1

It's amazing what a dollar can (or can't) buy...a candy bar, a piece of Hubba Bubba, a donut...um, that's about it.

It can also buy this.

WM ran to the grocery store yesterday and on his way there he saw this little boy with a chair and table and a box of toys set up in his front yard with a sign that read "Toy Sale" and his mom sitting on the porch watching. WM drove by and finished his errand to the store. But he stopped on his way back (he has a soft spot in his heart for these little guys--toy sale, lemonade stand, school fundraiser...ask WM, he'll say yes). So he stopped to help the little guy out and came home with that (pictured above).

Buzz Lightyear.

A talking, lights blinking, practically new/in perfect condition Buzz Lightyear. So he bought it--for $1

You can get this same Buzz Lightyear at Target for $34.

Patrick hasn't put it down since.

Here's Patrick laying on the couch watching Toy Story-with his $1 Buzz Lightyear.

I'm pretty sure that we'll never get this kind of return on our investment ever again.

See what you can get today for $1 that will give your child hours and hours; days and days; months of enjoyment.

$1

Perfect Pairing

Visit Baloney, Baloney, Bo, Boney's site for more Perfect Pairings. Here's mine for this week.

He tunnels through the rock;

his eyes see all its treasure.

He searches the sources of the rivers;

and brings hidden things to light.

--Job 28: 10-11

Adventures in Mexican Relaxation

I've been meaning to do a post on our recent (3 weeks ago) trip to Mexico. But I just can't organize my thoughts to tell all about it. So here's a very abbreviated version.

Went for 5 days to Maya Riveria, about 20 minutes south of Playa del Carmen. Great resort-I'd recommend it and if you go there--take advantage of the spa services. WM golfed in Playa one day and said it was great, too. It's called Adventura Spa Palace. We went to Cozumel back in February and I wasn't real impressed with it, but I really liked this place and it gave me a different attitude towards vacationing to Mexico (even though I still prefer Polynesian destinations).

Here you go:

Our room with a (sort of) view. That jungly looking area below had a sweat-lodge in the midst of it.

The big pool.

The littler pool (this makes it look really tiny...it wrapped around that fountain and expanded on the back side).

The indoor pool.

Where we laid out most of the time.

The back patio.

Pretty flowers everywhere in many colors.

Pretty floral arrangement that was delivered to our room the night before we left.

Weird looking berry/nut things on trees (anyone know what those are?).

Wildlife. These were everywhere in all sizes. This one was probably in the mid-size range. We saw little bitty ones and WM had to wait for a pretty big one to get off the 18th tee box while golfing.

WM feeding El Gato.

The view over to Cozumel (you can barely see the cruise ships docked over there).

And if you're feeling a little flabby from all the food, fun and drinks...you can always run into Playa del Carmen and work it off at a Pole Dancing class.

Gracias--buenas dias!

Goldenrod and Tumbleweed

As I've mentioned, I have a love/hate relationship with my hair. For the past 7-8 years it's mostly been a hate relationship (except for the 9 months I was pregnant with Patrick and I had FABULOUS hair). Until I got pregnant with Katie (7 years ago) I had pretty manageable, good hair. It was very straight, but very thick--very low maintenance. A flat-iron never touched my hair until about 4 years ago.

I do believe that part of the problem is that I've highlighted/colored it for several...many... A LOT of years and I think all those chemicals are taking it's toll. I've had good colors and I've had bad. It's been anywhere from light brown to platinum-ish (not true platinum, but it's been close a couple times). It seems like it's getting harder and harder to get my color to look like what it used to and what I like. Maybe I need to work on my communication with my stylist.

Needless to say, I've become super self-conscious about my hair.

One of my Katie's favorite things to do when she gets home from school is to sit at the kitchen table and color and draw. Yesterday she calls out "mommy, what color is your hair?" I asked her why and she said she was coloring a picture of me. She says "come here, I've picked out all the colors that it could be."

Here's was the line up she had prepared for me to choose from (I was deleting photos off my camera, that why it was in hand when she called me into the kitchen):

I pointed to the one which I thought was closest to it's current color--a crayon color called Goldenrod (4th crayon from the left in the photo).

After about a minute long contemplative analysis of my hair, she said "no, I think it's this one." She crayon she picked is appropriately called Tumbleweed (5th crayon from the left).

There couldn't be a more accurate word to describe the state of my hair lately. I do, indeed, feel like I have a tumbleweed on my head most days.

Techies-Please Help!

I'm getting there with this new blog look, but there are two things I need help with from my techie friends out there!

1. How do I get the copy in my posts so they are not centered?
2. How do I get the titles of my sidebar widgets so they ARE centered? (the one's that say "The Three Little Lams" and "Things I Love", etc.

Those two things are bugging me.

Anyone know?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Whatcha Think?

I need to know, seriously...

What do you think of the new blog design?

I still have a lot of manipulating to do, but I'm thinking I like it!

If you like it click on Template Mama's button over there on the left. She's got cute stuff and lots of options.

New post coming up later today--I concerns my hair and the tragic love/hate story I have with it!

Winds of Change are Blowin'

Tomorrow (Friday) or the next day or maybe the next or next, I'm going to change up this 'ol blog. It's getting a little drab and I want to shake things up a bit. And it's really, really, REALLY bugged me since day 1 that all the text is centered. Doesn't that bug you?

So the next time you visit it may (or may not--depending on my level of motivation in the next day or so) look different. But you'll be in the right place.

Stay tuned!

Breaking Her Fall

Here's this week's book review. Like I've said before, if you don't like book reviews, then 'bye bye', see ya tomorrow!Breaking Her Fall is by Stephen Goodwin. This is one of those books that parents with a pre-teen should probably read. Some of it was difficult to read and you'll read it saying to yourself "please don't let this ever happen to my son/daughter" while realizing how easily it could. The story is written from a father's perspective about an incident that happened at a party involving his 14-year-old daughter. It's not graphic or vulgar, which I appreciated very much, but it's written so that you certainly understand that the incident was very serious and potentially life-changing for this young girl. The remaining 300+ pages is the story of how this father reaches out to his daughter (and his son) to keep her from spiraling into depression and self-incrimination (and a legal battle he's fighting). Many times he fails in his attempts to reach her, but ultimately in the end he succeeds. It's a nice story about father/daughter relationships, a father/son and brother/sister relationship in the aftermath of something traumatic. It's about the struggle children have when divorced parents are pulling them and influencing them in different directions. It's also about finding love in your own life.

This book is written very honestly, not all flowery with lots of intellectual, multi-paragraph dialogue that really doesn't get anywhere (doesn't that bug you when an author writes a bunch of garbled nonsense that 3/4 pages later you realize has done nothing for the story--you won't find that here). It's written just like you are sitting in a coffee shop with this father and he's telling you his story. There were many times I wondered if maybe this didn't really happen to this author and this really WAS his story.

This book had the good guys, the bad guys, was a little predictable in one of it's sub-plots, but that was okay. It had love and it had resolution. I really enjoyed this book. Actually, I kind of hope that maybe there might be a sequel--I just kind of wonder what ends up happening with some of the characters.

On my scale of 0-5 stars, I give this 4 1/2 stars (the only reason I didn't give it a 5 was because of a small blip of infidelity--I just kind of get tired of hearing about affairs, otherwise it would've been a 5). I will say this book isn't for everyone...if you're looking to expand your mind and challenge yourself--you won't find that here. But if you want a look into teenagers lives these days and what parents need to be prepared to deal with, this is a nice book.

Next Up: The Host by Stephenie Meyer (but I have a long ways to go, so it'll be awhile on it--it's a 600+ pager).

What Would You Rather Do? Wednesday

Here's a What Would You Rather Do? Wednesday for all my TV/Movie-lovin' friends...

Would you rather...

Decide programming for primetime TV

or

Decide what major motion pictures were produced?

My answer to last week? I'd rather do the party for kids. When it comes to party planning, I get a little Martha Stewart-ish and go into perfection-mode (which is normally not my style, I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of gal). I've noticed that I can be a little more relaxed when planning a party for kiddos. They don't care if everything is perfect and aren't impressed by intricate, hand made hors 'douerves and desserts. They are just lovin' having a party! Adults are much more high-maintenance when it comes to parties. I find planning a party for children to be much less stressful. And I'm all about leading a stress-free life.

Tony Stewart Style

Did you know that Tony Stewart:

Wears snazzy suede boots...

Plays "air drums" with sticks while swinging his hips from side to side...

and wears yellow roses in his hair.

I wanted to clear that up incase you didn't know.

Perfect Pairing(s)

It's been a couple weeks since I did my Perfect Pairing, I haven't been very good about keeping up with my blog this past week or so, but I have one this week. It's a multiple photo Perfect Pairing. I'm not sure that's allowed (is it Baloney...can I do multiple photos for one verse)?

So here it is. Go here for more Perfect Pairings.

On the walls around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved

cherubim,

palm trees,

and open flowers.

I Kings 6:29

With This Ring

Ten years ago today I married my Prince Charming. I loved him then, I love him now, I'll love him forever.

Us (with our dog, Bailey) 10 years ago.

What a great life we've built together.

We've experienced most of what we promised we'd do in our vows (to have and to hold in good times and bad, sickness and health, richer or poorer...etc.). Luckily death has not parted us. Good grief, I don't even want to think of that.

What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.

I love you WM...here's to another 10 years, and then another 10, and then another 10...

(The two of us also have a good recipe for children...the Three Little Lams are proof of that and such a combination of the two of us).

What Would You Rather Do? Wednesday

I don't know why I'm in a party state-of-mind, I'm just curious....

What would you rather do? Plan, organize, buy stuff for and throw a party for...

Twenty 3-year-olds

or

Fifty adults?

Party on!

The Almost Moon...A Review

Ok, I promised a new post today...it's still today (8:15 p.m.) and since I've had kind of a busy day, I decided I better just do another book review.

See that book over there on the left...The Almost Moon. That's what I'm reviewing today. I finished it about a week ago, and I'm about 50 pages away from finishing my next book which I'll do a review on later this week (sorry for those who don't like book reviews, I'll try not to do a too many). So instead of posting the current book I'm reading, I figure I'll just change out the photo tomorrow.

Anyway, back to The Almost Moon. This will be quick.

I hated this book. It's basically about a mother/daughter relationship. If you like reading about a woman who murders her elderly mother...you'll like it. If you enjoy reading about a woman who sleeps with her best friend's son (repeatedly using the "F" when referring to it)...you like it. If you like reading about a daughter who is intolerant and not understanding of her mother's mental illness...you'll like it. If you like cuss words and vulgar words used for human anatomy...you'll like it. If you like to read about a person's inability to and desire not to forgive...then you'll like it.

This was a terrible, ugly, hateful book. I couldn't stand the main character, though the author tried to make you sympathize with her. Numerous times I almost put the book down. In the words of Yogi, it is most definitely a "Corner Chucker" (is that the right terminology, Yogi)? If it weren't a library book, I would've put it in the trash.

The author, Alice Sebold, wrote The Lovely Bones which was a big hit (I haven't read it--don't plan to) and has been heralded as a survivor and has healed from her wounds (she was raped in college). I disagree, if someone can write a book about such a selfish, ugly, intolerant, unforgiving character, I think that she must still have some healing to do.

So, on a scale of 0 - 5 stars (5 being "you GOTTA read this book), I give this book a ZERO.

My Post for Today

My post for today is to tell you that I'm working on it...working, working, working.

Thinking, thinking, thinking.

I promise that I'll have something up later today. Something...I just don't know what it is.

Just stick with me, don't leave me!

Happy Tuesday!!

M.I.A.

I've been M.I.A., huh?

Nah--I've just been on vacation and didn't feel like I needed to announce it here on the 'ol blog. You know...boogieman may be lurking.

Anyway...I'm still getting caught up...on laundry, on cleaning, on all the hugs, kisses and snuggles I didn't get while away from the 3 Little Lams. And I'm catching up on the blog.

So for now, while I'm getting caught up, I'll just give you this photo to look at as a little sneak peek at our vacay (I will do a vacation post soon).

Perfect Pairing

In honor of my doggie...here is today's Perfect Pairing. To see more go HERE.

All kinds of animals, bird, reptiles, creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man. James 3:7