There's nothing better than....

finding your kids like THIS:

After lunch was eaten and the dishwasher was running for the second time today, the house was uncomfortably quiet. Simon was down for a nap and I figured the older kids were playing with legos in their room. I peeked in to find them up on the top bunk enjoying a chapter of Ben and Me, a novel about Benjamin Franklin. I love seeing them chilling out with a good book, their feet up in the air and Zack/Spiderman hanging on to every word being read aloud. These are the moments that make all the hard work seem not so hard at all.

Monday Movie Review

AS IF I am going to do a movie review every week! I go to the theater about twice a year. However, if you want a movie review about classic musicals, like The Sound of Music, I would be happy to do so. Let me know. Today just happens to be Monday and last week I just happened to see a chick-flick with some girly-girls. Which makes this a Monday Movie Review. Enjoy, because it might be the last one I ever do.

A friend of mine got tickets to an early screening of a new romantic comedy, Letters to Juliet. I will be upfront and let you know that romantic comedies are NOT my thing. But I jumped at the chance to get away for the evening. I left my man with a van-full of boys at scout camp and dashed off to the theater. It was SUCH a fun night... exactly what the doctor ordered.

Before the film began, we were given special instructions: If we liked the movie, we must shout it from the rooftops. If we didn't like it, we mustn't say a word. I figured it would be a cute little tween movie (it's rated PG for goodness' sakes!) and I wouldn't be interested in promoting the film. But I was pleasantly surprised. It was funny, cute, romantic, well-written, heart-warming, scenic, and wholesome. I honestly can't wait to see it again...
I have always loved Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls, Mamma Mia) but it was Chris Egan who stole the show. He's an Australian soap opera star who just won his way into my heart. I think he was wearing a little too much fake tanning lotion in the film, but that was his make-up artist's fault-- not his. Seriously ladies, picture these lips saying romantic-nothings in an English accent. hubba-hubba.

Watch the preview here... The movie comes out May 14th!

heaven help me!

I'm going to have a really difficult time NOT spoiling this kid...

Can you BELIEVE those eyelashes?

the wild, wild west

This week our lives were put on hold while we supported Ben and his first adventure at Scout Day Camp. Last Sunday, I was really stressing... I am not sure why. Maybe because I've never had a scout before and I don't usually have activities that disrupt our daily schedule. Our mornings are busy with school, play-dates and field trips, but our evenings are almost always chill. I took a deep breath and realized that BEN and SCOUTS were going to be our focus all week... and everything else was going to come secondary. We ate every one of our dinners picnic style.. Daddy had to step in a few nights when it was too windy for the little ones to be outside. Thankfully I got a sitter for Simon on the craziest, windiest day of all. Ben had a blast and I am so glad he was able to participate (Luke and Zack liked it a lot too.) But all I can say is I am SO glad it's over.

Scout camp was everyday except Monday. It was outside and unlucky for us, it was terrible weather. Well, it wasn't snowing, but it was windy and cold and miserable. Friday the sun came and showed us some love. We are all sick with colds and runny noses from spending so much time outside. Hopefully this week we can recover and not go anywhere!

The Wrangling Penguins doing their cheer!

Some of Ben's best buddies.

Shooting BB Guns! One of the scouts' faves.

Learning the proper way to fold a flag

Zack hiding out on a windy day. He was freaking out like I've never seen him freak out before. He literally thought he was going to blow away! Who knew a Trix yogurt could save the day?

A fireman doing the famous EGG DROP. I must toot my own horn and say I can make a pretty mean parachute. Ben's egg survived... Luke's and Zack's did not (they didn't have a parachute to save them.) Aaron made fun of my contraption, but it was successful and I stuck out my tongue at him when all was said and done. ps. these are the kind of pictures I take with my broken camera :)

Family night.. with two of our adopted girls.

I have to hand it to all the scout leaders who put SO MUCH WORK into this particular scout camp. I was exhausted and I hardly did anything. I know all of the boys had such an awesome time. (I can testify to it because I had seven excited boys in my van to and from camp and they couldn't stop talking about it. Mason even referred to it as "Scout Paradise".) The leaders have a cute blog up and running with all kinds of pictures. For those moms who haven't had a chance to check it out, go here. This is another reason why blogs are so awesome! For Ben's sake, I posted the slide shows here so he can come back and reminisce any time he wants!

the gym is overrated

Our babysitters slept over last night.. Aaron and I weren't planning on going out, but as we were getting ready for bed, knowing the kids were already asleep, we said, "Let's go do something fun."

We changed into workout clothes and decided to go to the gym. We packed suits for the hot tub afterward and tiptoed out the door. Aaron needed to fill up his car ASAP so we stopped at the gas station a couple of blocks away. While we were sitting in the car, we both looked at each other with blood-shot eyes and laughed. WHAT were we doing? We've had the longest, most exhausting week. Neither of us have had any sleep and there's a busy Saturday ahead. (Aaron got up at 6 AM to play a tennis match this morning.) So we complimented ourselves for being spontaneous and decided to get some hot chocolate and call it a night. And that's what we did. We sat inside the "coffee shop" for about an hour-- talking about our plans for the summer, where we want to be in 5-10 years, and quoting the most frequently used movie lines in our house. We came up with some pretty good ones..

• One of our favorites is "I love you for trying" from Spanglish-- which is a nicer way of saying "you suck."
  
• When Aaron is going to be home late, I usually say imitative a no-namer on It's a Wonderful Life and say in a deep voice, "I'll wait for you, baby."
• We always say, "These mashed potatoes are so creamy" but only when we're talking about something other than mashed potatoes.
  
• If I am talking too much (or about random stuff) Aaron asks me "What else does the Reverend Mother say?" Do you know the movie?
  
• And last one: when Aaron asks me out on a date he wants to know if I want to go "eat a bunch of car-a-mels.. because that's just as arbitrary as getting coffee." Name it... although I am not sure if it's an exact quote...
  

Last night we should have picked up a package of caramels at the gas station. It would have made all those years of saying that line come full-circle. maybe next weekend that can be our date. As I am typing this, I am realizing how much we've grown up as a couple together. I think just recognizing the fact that spending a couple of hours at a gym was CRAZY officially makes us old. And it's okay to be old and realistic and tired. Pretty soon, we're going to skip the hot chocolate and think that driving the car to the gas station to fill up is a sufficient date. And honestly, if that drive is with my man, it might be good enough.