Category: Family & Friends

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Activities Cole Family & Friends Me Ryan

The ‘Awesomeness’ that is Mamma Mia

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So read my Evite invitation from my sister-in-law, Kat. 

My entire family saw Mamma Mia over the summer and just loved it.  Even my brother (who likes musicals) saw it at least three times in the theater.  I never got around to seeing it. Evidently I am not alone and Kat knew some other people that had not experienced the ‘awesomeness’ of it.  So she decided to throw a Mamma Mia party and basically invented the word, ‘awesomeness’ to describe the movie.

I was really excited to watch the movie at the party, eat the yummy Greek food we are bringing (the movie takes place on a Greek Island), and of course break out my Dancing Queen moves. I was going to save the ‘awesomeness’ for the party, which is on Saturday.

Then my sister, Mara, started telling me how much my niece Maelin, (who is 21 months) loves the movie.  She even has her favorite songs.  She dances to the songs.  If she wants to hear the songs, she starts asking for “Mia, Mia.”  Mara said my boys would love it, but I had my doubts.

On Christmas Eve, they brought over the DVD to my aunt’s house, and it was the funniest thing.  Three little kids- ages 4, 2, and 1, were totally mesmerized by Mamma Mia.  They should have been wound up and bouncing off the walls- after all in a few hours Santa was coming.  But they just wanted to watch the songs over, and over, and over.

A week later my mom sent the Ryan and Cole the DVD which came with a CD.  I had to break down and finally watch the movie with them one night, and then I understood the ‘awesomeness’ that is Mamma Mia.  I will never doubt again.  (I don’t want to give anything away in case you haven’t seen it,) but it is such a fun, and upbeat movie.  The music is great.  All the songs are from ABBA.  I also loved that fact that the main character, Sophie, who is 20, is not decked out in a ton of make-up, and neither is Meryl Streep, who plays her mother.  They look very natural which I think is a wonderful thing to see in a movie these days. 

That was about a month ago and Ryan and Cole ask to watch Mamma Mia EVERY day.  I’m not joking.  I don’t let them, but it has become a great motivator.  It goes like this (if you haven’t seen the movie, some of this may be lost on you, but if you watch it come back and read this, and it will all make sense):

Ryan:  Mommy, can we watch Mamma Mia- Coley wants to watch Super Trooper.

Cole: No!  I want to watch the Summer song.

Ryan: After Honey, Honey, Cole- remember?

Cole: Oh yeah.  Honey, Honey Mommy.

Ryan: Okay Mom, I think we will just watch it from the begining.

Mommy (me-expecting an argument and tears): I ‘ll tell you what.  You can watch Mamma Mia if you pick up the toys in your play room.

Ryan and Cole (as they eagerly run to their playroom): Okay, we’ll be back in a minute.  You get the DVD ready- Yay!  We get to watch Mamma Mia!

I keep waiting for the ‘awesomeness’ to wear off, but it is going just as strong today as the day they first saw it.  Kat was really on to something. 

I am still looking forward to the party, but since I have watched the movie and have heard it in the background almost every day for a month,  I can have fun without having to worry about missing any of the movie.  I can laugh, eat, talk, enjoy some good wine with good friends, and know exactly when Dancing Queen is on.  ‘Awesomeness’ at its best.  🙂

P.S. We have not listened to another CD in the car since the day it arrived.  I think the songs will be permanently etched in my brain- but at least it isn’t Barney over and over again.

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Activities Cole Family & Friends Mothering Ryan

Ryan and Cole go to Casa Bonita

If you live in Colorado, or have ever been to Casa Bonita, it needs no explanation. In fact, it is kind of hard to describe.  I usually tell people you just have to see it.  

However, I do try to explain that while Casa Bonita is a great, fun place for kids, the food isn’t exactly the best Mexican food you will ever eat.  Most adults like to eat before they go. But you will still have to buy a plate of  ‘Alimento mexicano delicioso.’  After a few bites of your food, okay really only after one bite, you remember why you never eat the food at Casa Bonita, and just raise the flag for the unlimited sopapillas.

When you are done eating the sopapillas, then the fun really starts, especially if you have kids.  Our fun started during dinner, because Ryan and Cole LOVED the gorilla show. They were entranced by it.  It didn’t matter the adults couldn’t make out a word the high school actors were saying- I think the sound equipment there dates back to the year Casa Bonita opened which was in 1974. 

During dinner, the Mariachis band came to our table and asked whose birthday it was.  They didn’t care when we said no one at our  table was having a birthday.  They started playing, right behind my niece, Maelin’s, highchair. She is 21 months old, and we thought she would start screaming, because she doesn’t like loud noises, and the band was loud.  But after her initial shock, she started smiling and bopping along to the music.  It was very cute.  She even waved good-bye to the band as they left.

By now, Ryan and Cole could not contain their excitement anymore. They had to get out and explore.  Since I was still finishing my third sopapilla for dinner, my brother, Uncle Jeff, said he’d take the boys exploring.  Here is a picture before they set out:

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We caught up a few minutes later with the boys and Jeff at the waterfall, where a diver had just dived. He was really good.  He came over and gave the boys high five’s.  I think he was happy because we were the only people cheering and clapping for him.  I managed to get the boys to kind of sit still for 2 seconds for a picture:

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The attraction the Ryan, Cole, and Maelin loved the most was this:

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They loved jumping on these wooden planks above the water.  They had a blast.  The boys also got to participate in the breaking of a pinata, and Uncle Jeff introduced the boys to skee ball.  He won enough tickets for them to each have a little car, and an airplane. The boys were in heaven.

When I was growing up, a few years ago, 🙂  there was a treasure room at Casa Bonita.  The server would bring the kids Casa Bonita money in the sopapilla basket, and on the way out you could exchange your dollar for a ‘treasure.” I remember always getting a piece of candy.  The treasure room is no more- it is an aquarium now, but right next to it are some rides and Ryan and Cole enjoyed them. 

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It was fun to be able to take Ryan and Cole to a place that I remember going to when I wasn’t that much older than they are.  Considering my sister lives 10 minutes from Casa Bonita,  I am sure we will be back.  It is a great place to watch your children be children, and to have a few hours of fun with them.

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Activities Cole Family & Friends Health Household Mothering Parenting Ryan

Why I Haven’t Been Blogging

Yes, I am still alive!  I think this is the longest I have gone with out updating my blog- an entire week. 

I have good reason though:

  • My sister, Vanessa, was in town for a visit, and we spent a lot of time together
  • I have been working another half-day at work
  • I have been trying to learn all the features on my NEW  red Blackberry Pearl 8110 cell phone ( I love it. I can’t believe I waited so long to upgrade)
  • I’m working on my New Year’s goal of  trying to keep the house organized and clutter free- it takes time, believe it or not
  • I’ve been reading more (actual books– not blogs)
  • I’ve been spending more time with my family

We did a few fun things while Vanessa was in town. We had a sister-night-out, a night at my dad’s, where he made his delicious Mexican food, and on Monday night, we took the boys to Casa Bonita.  They had so much fun, and I have pictures, but I’m too tired tonight to upload them.  I will write more about the boys’ and their cousin Maelin’s first visit to Casa Bonita soon. 

I also received some good news from my doctor.  She said my blood work came back fine and normal.  She said I could wait 4-6 weeks and have my thyroid checked again.  She said if it was still enlarged, then it would be very important to have the ultrasound.  So hopefully in the next few weeks, it will return back to normal.  I was happy to hear that.

I am learning to appreciate the good things that happen every day.  Some days it can take longer to find something good, but it is always there.  🙂

Stay tuned for the Casa Bonita recap- coming soon.  🙂

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Activities Family & Friends Health Household Mothering Uncategorized

Moved, Old Cell Phone, & My Thyroid

We are moved-finally.  I thought that would be it, but the fun is only just beginning.

We lived in our old place for 11 years, and it was clean- clean until we moved every last piece of furniture out, and took down every last picture.  How come I never noticed that the walls aren’t really white anymore, but more like a light gray, and where did all those crayon, and little dirty hand-prints come from? 

So now we have more work that we thought  on our hands to do as quickly as possible, so it is ready to rent.  We have managed to put away most of our stuff in the new house, so at least that is somewhat organized.    But until you move all your stuff into a new place, you never really know.  This new kitchen is bigger, but I can’t fit everything from the old kitchen into the new kitchen.  At least we have a basement for storage.

I also wanted to get the computer set up as quickly as possible, and called a few weeks ago to make sure Internet would be on.  It was, but they failed to tell me I needed a new modem.  So I had to wait for that to be shipped to me.  I kid you not- the computer had been up and running for five minutes, when my cell phone locked me out.  It has never done this before, and it is the only phone I have in the house.  It wanted a PKU code- whatever that is- it was locked on that screen.   I tried taking the battery out and resetting it, and it didn’t work. I looked for help on-line and T-Mobile said they would send me the code-to my cell phone!  That wasn’t going to help me, because the screen was locked waiting for the PKU code!

After posting my frustration on Facebook, I realized that the phone was still hooked up at the old house.  As soon as the boys woke up from their nap, I loaded them in the car and went back to the house to call T-Mobile.  The boys were running and playing  around, and every noise they made was amplified by about 500% in the empty house.  It was lovely trying to tell the nice lady at T-Mobile that I was at the end of my rope with this cell phone.  A few minutes later she had it unlocked, but could not tell me why it had locked up in the first place.

I really, really, wanted to take the phone and back over it with the Jeep.  But I needed a phone for tonight and tomorrow.  I didn’t think my phone was that old, but it is almost two years old, and I have been told any phone over six months old, is considered old.  Evidently, I have a dinosaur for a cell phone. 

It wasn’t that big of a deal when I had a land line at home too, but now since this is my only phone, I can’t have another day like today, and thank goodness there wasn’t an emergency.  So after work tomorrow, I am going to go cell phone shopping.  Time to say good-bye to the Nokia 6010. 

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I know what kind of phone I want- we’ll see if I end up with it.  🙂

If that wasn’t enough, I had a yearly exam today, and I was told my thyroid is enlarged and it needs to be checked, ASAP.  I asked the doctor what does that mean, and she said it shouldn’t be enlarged and something is causing it- hormones, stress, a growth, or in rare cases cancer.  She drew some blood to check my thyroid levels and said that would tell her in a few days some information, but I need to go get an ultrasound at the hospital so they can look at it.  I really think this is stress or possibly hormone related, so I am not going to dwell on it for now, but if you want to send some positive thoughts my way, I would appreciate it. 

I know I promised pictures of the house, but I can’t find the camera.  Maybe I can take some on my new cell phone and post them soon. 🙂

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Activities Family & Friends Household

Moving Weekend

No matter what, we are going to be out of our place and in the new house this weekend.  We are aiming at having all the necessities moved over today, so we can finally sleep and live in the new house- tonight.  My dad is coming up from Denver in a few hours to watch the boys for us.

We will have a few more odds and ends to finish up  tomorrow, but that should be it. 

I have to disconnect the computer today, and we actually have no place for it in the new house!  There aren’t any phone jacks where the computer will fit, so we have to get a desk or figure out something else. But I remembered we have a laptop I think I can set up.  It might be a few days before I can blog again, but I’ll be back when I can- with pictures.  🙂

Have a great week.