Fall TV

Since you asked....well only Christina asked, but it was enough of an opening for me to do a post on the upcoming TV season.

NEW SHOWS

Every time you turn on the TV there are promos running for all the new shows starting this fall. I tend to DVR much of what I watch so I don't see many commercials, but there are times (Football) when live TV is all that will do and I'm forced to watch the many many adds for the upcoming premiers.

On a side note, my current favorite commercials are the AT&T/Cingular dropped calls - there are a couple new ones out, one with a retired football player on a golf course talking to his wife and another between two men, possibly a butcher and his supplier. Both had me laughing out loud. For those of you who typically have to sit through commercials have you seen any particularly funny ones?

Back on track...I am interested in a couple new shows and want to check them out to see if they're any good.

Chuck - Mondays at 8pm on NBC. It was on last night but I had already seen the pilot because NBC made it available free ahead of time in almost every possible way (computer, Blockbuster, Comcast on Demand). Chuck is a lovable geek who works for at Best Buy type company. He accidentally downloads all the governments secrets into his head (stick with me here) and becomes a marked man. It's a funny geeky version of Alias - has some intense moments but always intertwined with lots of comic relief.

Pushing Daisies - Wednesdays at 8pm on ABC. I haven't seen this yet, but I have heard alot about it. The word on the TV scene (I know, I'm a complete dork, I admit it and accept it) is that it's like nothing else you'll see on TV, very whimsical, charming and very different. The basic premise is the main guy has the power to bring people back from the dead by touching them. But if he touches them again go back to being dead......FOREVER. Duh duh duh! The previews I've seen are very intriguing - very colorful and stylized - the overall look just seems different. I don't know what to say to make you interested other than if you are interested in shows that aren't your typical laugh track comedies or procedural crime shows, perhaps you would be drawn in by this. I'm curious so I'll be tuning in.

Bionic Woman - Wednesdays at 9pm on NBC. I'm 50/50 on this one. It's a remake of the original somewhat campy version. This one is darker and more intense. Basic idea - main girl gets in to major car wreck and is taken to secret lab by professor/researcher boyfriend. In order to save her life he remakes the injured parts of her body with bionics - some super science-y sounds things that make her all rough and tough and strong and fast and give her super senses. At one point in the pilot she does battle with a rouge Bionic woman who was supposed to be dead. I imagine there will be lots of of action and mystery and conspiracy. I figure since Alias is gone the Bionic Woman can be the new kick butt woman in my life! Maybe. If it's any good. I'll let ya' know. Or you let me know what you think. But for some reason I don't imagine many of my blog readers will be interested in this show.

Returning Shows
The shows that I am most excited for are....

The Office. Thursdays at 9pm on NBC. Two days left! I can barely wait. Not much to say except this show makes me laugh so much and I usually watch it twice.

Friday Night Lights. Friday nights at 9pm on NBC. I love this show so much. It makes me laugh, cry, smile, sit on the edge of seat in suspense. Basically a whole wide range of emotions will be experienced while watching and they all feel genuine rather than manufactured and contrived. Recently I received an email from my friend Cindy that made my day. She's been up late as a result of an inability to sleep comfortably which is a result of being 9 months pregnant! She said she caved in and started watching them online for free on NBC's website. And she's hooked! Nothing could have made me happier. Well, I guess world peace and the end to hunger and disease would make me unspeakably happier....I guess it made me just a little bit happy. I have a number of copies of first four episodes of Season 1 that I would be happy to give you if you were interested - or throw in the mail. And for those of you who already have a copy - and you know who you are - just do it. Just watch it! Have I ever led you astray?

I do like Grey's Anatomy but it fizzled a bit last season so I'm hoping it will come back better this year. Lost doesn't come back until February so I have nothing to say about that.

How about you? Do you have shows you regularly watch - ones that are on your must see list? Do you have shows you like to watch if you happen to be home and catch them while you're crashing on the couch? Are you going to take a chance on any of the highly publicized new shows - most of which won't even make it to a second season??? Let me know what you think!

Getting the hang of it...

9/19/2007 - pictures added

So we made it through our first week of preschool. Ella did really well on her short orientation day and her first full day. In fact, on her orientation day she was one of the more talkative kids (it was only half the class, so it's wasn't too overwhelming). While the head teacher was meeting with the parents, the assistant teacher lead snack time with the kids. I could hear Ella chatting with the teacher about her sister and telling her random things. I think she was the only one talking.

Thursday was the first day with us dropping us off.

Ella was very excited. In fact she woke up and was very mad on Wednesday when I told her she didn't get to go until the next day. Catherine was the one who was sad on Thursday when she saw Ella getting her shoes and coat on and wanted to get her shoes on as well - so I had to let her know that Ella was going to school and she was staying home with mommy. She just sat on the couch and cried.

Tuesday was the first morning that we would all have to be out the door by nine - Ella to preschool and Catherine and myself to Bible study. Ella was a bit hesitant this morning, I imagine because of the long break between Thursday and Tuesday. But all went well - the teacher came and got her right from the car, Ella smiled and waved and disappeared into the building without a peap from Catherine.

The strange thing is when I pick her up from school, I have no real idea what she's done or experienced in those 2 1/2 hours. I have an idea of her schedule and the activities that she does, but I don't know if she's making friends or at least learning their names, I don't know if she's is participating and interacting. I'm used to being completely aware of every activity and every interaction she has. It's just another one of those things you grow to accept as your kids get a little older and more independent - you start to lost some of that first hand knowledge of their lives. Granted it's only a few hours a week - but for that time I have to rely on her or her teachers to fill me in.

Surprisingly Ella hasn't been very forthcoming about her mornings at school. I imagined she would be a chatter box of information - almost too much information. But it's the opposite....so far this is what I've been able to get out of her...

She likes playing with the dollhouse. It's been named as her favorite activity both days.
She now knows her teacher's names.
She likes her cubby.
She played on the seesaw - possibly with or four or five other girls or boys.
She had a chocolate cupcake for snack today - I think that was the highlight of the day!
Also, and most myseriously - she mentioned someone named Rachel (I checked, there are two Rachel's in her class) smelling like poop. What a wonderful observation to share with me!

New Feature!

I just added a flickr badge to my blog - it has pictures from my 30th birthday party on it at the moment. I hope to update it occasionally - meaning that when my 31st birthday rolls around I pray that there are some new shots to looks at!

School, Birthday's, Big Ben and more...

What's new around here....

Ella starts school this week! It's only 2 mornings a week, but we're excited. I'm looking forward to it for both of our sakes. I'm excited for her to make new friends and have that structure. I'm excited for me to have a little bit of time with just Catherine. I'm sure I will waste the majority of those 2 1/2 hours the first couple of weeks, but I am looking forward to doing errands, visiting friends, etc with just one little girl. It should be a nice change of pace.

The lazy days of summer are over as of this upcoming week. Not only does Ella start school, but my morning Bible study starts and I have leader training for another mom's group. Our days of being lazy in bed until Catherine gets up at 9 are done. By the time Catherine and I get up Ella has been downstairs with Matt before he leaves, had her first breakfast, made a mess and then snuggled in with me to watch the weather (AKA, the Today Show). I love staying in bed as long as possible. I just love it. Not a real admirable quality, but it's true. But with the onset of fall (doesn't feel like it, still too hot) comes more structure to our days and more busyness overall.

What else....
Oh yeah - a few months ago my husband, with the help of some dear friends, threw me a surprise 30th birthday party. I've been meaning to blog about it since then but I had so much to say about it, that I kept putting it off. And now two months have gone by. I posted all the pictures on flicker and then could not figure out how to link to it from my blog and got frustrated. Maybe I'll get them up someday.

Anyway - it was a wonderful surprise that shouldn't have been a surprise, because our babysitter accidentally spilled the beans the Sunday before in front of me (no specifics, just asking matt if he still needed her for friday night and what time - enough for me to go - ooohhhh, what's going on friday, hmmmm). Matt and I avoided talking about it because I just didn't want to have it ruined and I just ignored him when he tried to get me to admit that I knew. I was supposed to go out with some friends that Friday and I figured the surprise would be afterwards. I have to give alot of credit to Matt for how laid back he was - I was totally looking for clues and he never slipped up. But the real Oscar winners go to Rachael, Tasha and Renee - the friends I went out with beforehand. They did such a good job of throwing me off track and that I thought perhaps I was totally mistaken about what I heard and it was for another weekend or something entirely different. I was actually a bit bummed out because I was looking forward to a party! I wish I could go into the specifics but it would make this post way too long, but it's pretty funny, especially because the whole time they weren't sure if they were fooling me at all. When we arrived at the party location I was so clueless I didn't think twice about the long line of cars across the street (I figured it was a graduation party - if I had said that out loud I wonder if they would have lost it) or the car parked in my driveways that is my friend's and rather distinct.

So I ended up being really surprised and it was a great time. It was a special treat to have my parents there as well as some friends who traveled especially to be there - Shannon and Greg (and little Cade) and Kate and Paul - thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedules to come and celebrate with me! The food was wonderful - prepared by my friend Sarah who stayed up way too late preparing the night before. Renee made a delicious and beautiful cake and my parents even brought my favorite DQ ice cream cake that is only sold in my hometown.

I found out after I got in the car to go home around midnight that Matt and I weren't going home, but we were having a little getaway until Sunday morning! I was shocked and of course a bit worried about what he packed for me (he did a good job, but did accidentally throw in a nursing bra??? He blames me because why is it still in my drawer.). We had a wonderful two nights away at Bear Creek - a beautiful ski resort that also has hiking and biking. We enjoyed a nice hike and swim and hot tub time as well as a great dinner. And of course I bought Harry Potter because it came out that day. I was also worried Matt wouldn't let me go buy it on Saturday but my husband knows me well enough that he didn't even question it.

So that was the surprise party post! Just a bit belated....but since my party was a month after my birthday, what can you expect.

Other randomness....

The Steelers kicked butt today! I didn't get to watch, but I read the play by play online and caught highlights. Big Ben had 4 TDs and I didn't even care that he was the starting QB on my brother's fantasy team - who I was up against. My loyalties always lie with the real team over the fantasy team.

Yes, I play fantasy football.

And finally. If you're in the mood to watch a trainwreck, try and catch some footage of Britney Spears performance at the VMAs. I tuned in just to see her and it was pretty bad. Hard to watch bad. I'll be curious what the reaction is - this was supposed to be her comeback performance. Kind of feel bad for her.

So that's it. A marathon post with no pictures. If you made it through, thank you very much for caring! :)

She's two!

I can't believe Catherine is two. What I really can't believe is that when Ella turned two I had a four month old. Ella seemed so old in comparison. At two Catherine is still my baby even though she is growing up in leaps and bounds. She is definitely developing her talking. She talks alot. I still can't understand all of it, but it's becoming clearer and clearer. Sometimes she speaks in whole sentences that we understand completely. For example, at the mall last week Ella sat in the umbrella stroller that Catherine had been using. Catherine yelled indignately "That MY seat. Ella outa my seat!" Within the deMontaigne household Catherine communicates pretty clearly. For those not around her 24/7 it's just not so clear.

In general Catherine is a happy little girl (I had to refrain from writing baby.). She does tend to get a bit whiny and clingy with mommy which I'm trying to work on. She loves other kids and having people to run around with. She is a social butterfly just like her big sister.


She gets frightened easily. She loves dogs and cats and birds, but doesn't like other animals up close. A big crab washed up on the shore while we were there and she was not happy. A deer in our backyard had her so upset she laid on me and wimpered for a good 15 minutes. Of course most of you know that Ella doesn't like characters in costumes....well neither does Catherine. We recently had a run-in with the Chic Fil A cow and it was not pretty.

Catherine is a picky eater. Pickier than Ella was at this age which I thought would be impossible. Her favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, applesauce, peanut butter, chicken nuggets, pizza, mac n cheese, grilled cheese, any type of fruit, any type of sweet or goodie. She has such a sweet tooth. We were at Friendly's last night and the kids got their free sundaes. I had to match Catherine bite for bite because she really would have eaten the whole thing - it was pretty big, but she would have kept going as long as there was ice cream to eat. Below is a shot of her taking the cake eating process very seriously.



Catherine loves to dance. The picture below is her gettin' down. Lately the second she hears some music she starts doing a funny little bouncy-spin around the room-wiggle the butt dance.

I would say I don't know who she got her movies from but the other day Matt broke out into a dance that looked remarkably similar (minus the spin around the room part). She got a little "boom box" (for lack of a better word because it doesn't play tapes and it's not really a cd player either) that has a microphone as well. Definitely a favorite for her.

She also loves books, and coloring and play dough. She loves serving food from her play kitchen. She'll usually let you know that it's "hot" or "hot, hot, hot". She loves her baby dolls and animals and likes playing games with Ella which involved putting the babies to bed or carrying them around.

She loves loves loves her special blankie that she sleeps with. Sometimes she'll carry it around with her all day. It comforts her when she's sad or sleepy and I definitely have to sneak it away to wash it. Of course it's white so it needs washed pretty frequently. Last night she had it in the car with her and felt very strongly that it needed to come in to the restaurant with her. It was shaping up to be a potential tantrum until Matt bribed her with ice cream. Such is life around here.

Catherine is definitely in her terrible two's. She is very opinionated and does not hold back those opinions. She's started getting a bit aggressive with Ella when they are fighting over a toy. Her "weapon" of choice is biting but it's pretty rare and she has only ever bitten Ella.

One of my favorite aspects of Catherine is that she is a snuggler. She loves to cuddle and snuggle.

There is nothing wrong with her in this picture. She's just enjoying some relaxing snuggle time with mom. She is very sweet - quick to hug and kiss and show her love.

She loves to play dress-up with Ella. Catherine got two dress up kits for her birthday and they were open 30 seconds after the last people left. I think my kids are more comfortable in heels than I am....



The girls are gradually becoming good play mates. Catherine often will follow along with Ella's ideas and games and they tend to have more fun together than apart. Recently I took Ella away for a day and night to visit a friend and Catherine stayed home. I was worried Catherine would be lonely and be upset that Ella was gone and not know what to do with herself. Nope, Matt said she ran around the house and happily played with all the toys. As much as she loves her sister she didn't mind having a taste of being an only child.

One final thing I have to mention about Catherine is her love of sleep. I am so spoiled by her. She goes to bed around 8:15 and typically gets up around 9am. Now I don't know if she goes to sleep at 8:15 - many times she's up there talking, but completely content in her crib. Again, in the morning we go into to get her at 9, because it just seems like she should get up. She may have already been awake, just laying there, chillin' out. She takes one 2-3 hour nap a day. I usually put her down around 2pm, but if I need to get her down earlier, no problem. In the same way, if we're out, she has no problem going down late. She loves her sleep, but is completely flexible with it. It's a wonderful thing!

Her birthday party this year was a joint party with her buddy Nolan. It worked so well and it was so nice to share the planning and preparing with Renee - hopefully we'll do it again next year!

For more pictures from the party you can head to Renee's blog (hangin' with your naybor) or just click here.


So that's my Catherine. I am so blessed to have her in my life and I am so thankful that God gave me a second girl. It's amazing how He truly knows what is best for each of us and His plan is often so different from the one we think up. I'm so glad Catherine was a part of God's plan for our family.

Vacation

We got back on Saturday from a week long vacation with my family to Ocean City New Jersey. It was a hectic, fun-filled week, with lots of beach time and late beach nights, good time with extended family and all the craziness that goes along with that. The weather was great and we're all nice and tan!

I'm not great about getting pictures up on my blog - it's usually feast or famine -well, today it's the biggest feast of all. Rather than spreading them out over a number of blogs I just posted a bunch of vacation pictures all at once and most likely this post will be filled with big chunks of open space and unevenness, which is what typically happens when I post pictures.


To start things off, Catherine turned two on Sunday, our first full day at the beach. We enjoyed a few presents and a yummy chocolate cake with peanut butter filling. Catherine was so excited when she saw her cake, she kept running around and pointing to it, saying "cake!". Below you'll see her taking seriously the task of blowing out the candles.

Here she is, waving to the papparazi

Monday was another day at the beach but we got to go to the boardwalk that night for rides! Here is a picture of Ella, Isaac and myself on one of those fun spinning rides that no adult was interested in going on (I'm including myself in that category - but what can you do!).

Ella and Catherine are enjoying their Kohr's orange and vanilla (with rainbow jimmies) cones.

Reading time with grandma and all four grandkids....

Our favorite time was heading back down to the beach after dinner. Ella loved the water so much and even Catherine became pretty fond of it. The water was rough and you had to keep your eye on them because the waves would take them down, but by the end of the week they didn't seem to mind going under anymore. You would have never guessed that Ella was petrified of getting into a pool at the beginning of the summer. Below is a shot of Ella, mid-jump, joining her Pap-Pap and Isaac in a little pool while Theo looks on.

Meanwhile, Catherine and I were flying a kite. Actually, we were just holding the handle, Matt did all the hard work.

Isaac and Ella in the waves

Not sure what Catherine was doing, but I loved this shot of her.

Another favorite Catherine shot...

One of the few pictures I got of the two girls together. Ella just looks way too old.

And of course, a picture of Matt and me.

After this Matt and I decided we needed some more quality time together. What better way to do that than to both get the stomach flu together!? Seriously, who does that happen to? That happened on Wednesday and it then spread to a few other unlucky family members. At this point Ella and Catherine escaped it, so we're counting our blessings. If they end up with it, then we'll have to find some more blessings to count in the midst of it!

Overall it was a fun week. Tough because of the illness, but we had special times with my family and now are eagerly awaiting the arrival of oot one, but two new additions to the Koerber family. Not only are Mike and Sharon due mid January, but Matt and Chrissie have number three on the way two months later.

Well, now I'm off to give relax and watch High School Musical 2. I have no excuse so I won't even try to come up with one....

Quick update...

just wanted to let you know that I just got back from a week at the beach and hope to have a new post up in the next day or two filling you in on the last month or so of our summer!

We're still alive and kickin', just waaaaayyyy behind on blogging....

Childhood Favs...

My friend Jodie over at A Beautiful Collision just added a post about remembering those movies that she watched over and over again as a child - on sick days or rainy days. You know, the movies that you basically know by heart and just thought were the greatest thing ever. You can check out her blog to see her thoughts, but I thought it would be fun if you all started sharing your childhood favorites. When I fill out those online profiles for blogger or facebook one of the categories is movies and for some reason my childhood favorites never seem to make the list. But when Jodie mentioned sick or rainy day movies a few came to mind immediately...

The Star Wars Trilogy. Yes I would watch all three movies while at home sick. In fact I wonder if I was really that sick because I imagine it would have been tough to stay conscious through 6 hours worth of movies. But after you've seen movies five plus times you don't need to concentrate that much. I remember getting to the end of Return of the Jedi and feeling so sad that it was over. No more "galaxy far far way", no more Hans Solo and Chewbaca and R2D2 and Luke and Leia. Little did I know that all those happy memories would later be tainted by Jar Jar Binks.

Back to the Future. Oh my I loved this movie. Or, more importantly, I loved Michael J. Fox! I remember being on the bus for first or second grade and the girl sitting next to me asked if I had a boyfriend. Of course I said "yes". "What's his name?" was her next question. To which I responded "Michael, Michael Fox". It wasn't a mistake either, very deliberate on my part. It was as if leaving out the middle initial somehow would make it less obvious that he was a famous actor. Anyway, that movie brings back memories of a birthday party that my dad surprised us all by renting Back to the Future (do you remember what a big deal it used to be to rent new popular movies? Unlike today when there are at least 100 copies of a new movie.).

I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones that jumped out immediately and brought back very tangible childhood memories.

So sorry Jodie for completely copying your post. I just couldn't help it! And for everyone else - please share. I know you already have something in mind. And while you're at it check out Jodie's post for a trip down memory lane with Daniel and Ali (if you don't know I don't know if there's any hope for you - JK)!

Anyone out there...

read the last Harry Potter yet?

I would love to have someone/anyone to discuss with. I spent about 30 minutes trying to sum it all up to Matt after i finished reading it Sunday night - he read books 1-4 so he was genuinely interested, but I think I lost him after a bit.

It's kind of a weird feeling to come to end of the Harry Potter story. I've always loved Harry Potter and been a fan since the get go. I'm not one of those who spends time in between books pondering what is to come and debating various theories with others. I just get very excited when a book is about to come out, buy it right away, read it right away, and then feel sad/depressed when it's over. The last couple of books (not #7 - I won't post anything about that for those who haven't read it yet) I've felt sad because of how they ended and some of the characters who were lost. But now, to be at the end is a different feeling. I guess it's called closure!

So although I don't want to discuss specifics I would love to hear if you've read it and if so, what did you think? Loved it, hated it (hard to imagine), just so-so? Did you cry or stay dry eyed? Did you feel closure or do you want more? I'll post my answers in the comments....

All in a day's work

Today I cleaned out our fridge. I hate cleaning out the fridge and rarely do it. This should be obvious by the pictures I've posted. It's typically Matt's job because I get so grossed out by all the old leftovers and yucky food that has gone bad that he has to do it. I think he gets grossed out too, but he knows that I will hold out longer so he caves in and does it.

Just to keep you all somewhat interested I figured I would post some "before" pictures. This was after I had cleaned out the bottom shelf so about a third of the mess is actually gone already.

Wow, look at all those salad dressings! Who knew two people (two salad eaters, that is) would need so much dressing?

Luckily this time around there weren't too many mold leftovers. There was actually a container of moldy macaroni and cheese - I didn't think that was possible and I know it wasn't too old, which leads me to think there might be a problem with our fridge. Actually we have had issues with the door not closing well. I sometimes wonder if it's because our house is so old and the floors are a bit crooked so gravity is working against it. Unfortunately it's most likely due to the fact that the fridge is overstuffed and it's physically impossible to close unless really pushing it shut. Still with me? Anyone completely disgusted with me?

I found a great deal of expired condiments, tortillas, salad dressings - things like that, items that gets in hidden in the back of the fridge and replaced with newer stuff. Well, except for the salad dressings - those are quite obviously displayed on the fridge door. I guarantee that I have never served any of you expired salad dressing. I'm quite good at checking the dates. But if I am good at checking dates, why why why are all those containers still in my fridge? I think that's a whole other issue that I'm not gonna get into now!

So now for the after pictures....

A couple of things to note. When I was looking at the pictures on my LCD screen I thought perhaps you wouldn't be able to see the difference between the before and after. Ha ha.


Anyone need some mustard? The top right of the first before picture shows four, actually I think five (a small one in between the two larger ones) mustards. That's after throwing away a few. I like mustard as much as your average person. But according to my fridge I must be a really big fan.

Onto the door.

My apparent love of mustards is surpassed by my love of chocolate sauces. Now that I won't argue with, but I was surprised that I had enough sauces, syrups and toppings to fill a whole compartment.

Anyone else notice the big yellow jar in the bottom left compartment? That's a jug of Jose Cuervo Margaritas. Before it was hidden in the back of the bottom shelf. I figured that was a real waste - I would totally forget it was there! And now that I've remembered I think I'll be enjoying a margarita tonight!

Now I need to go throw out ALOT of trash! And I gotta go grocery shopping - my fridge is empty!

a day of firsts...

Today Catherine went pee pee on her little potty for the first time. It was right before her bath and no one even noticed at first. Afterwards I was thinking about how easy to potty train she was going to be and how cool it would be to have her trained at two.

Fifteen minutes later she pooped on the floor.

Like I said, a day of firsts. First pee in the potty, first poop on the floor.

I'm trying to convince myself that my earlier thoughts were true and all that sitting on the potty just got things all stirred up. Allow me to have my fantasies....

Free shipping

This is my first time posting on Works for me Wednesdays - it's hosted by Rocks In My Dryer and always has at least a hundred helpful tips and ideas submitted by other bloggers. I think I first heard about it from Crafty P awhile ago and I'm always suprised when I check in each week and see that the ideas keep coming.

I hate finding a good deal online only to realize that after you factor in shipping it's not such a good deal anymore. That's why Wal-Mat's Free Store to Site shipping works for me! They now have an option to buy items online and have them shipped free to your local store. I recently purchased on outdoor recliner and saved myself $15 in shipping. The shipping was very quick and I just picked it up when I had other stuff I needed to get at the store.

Not everything is available to be shipped this way, but you can do limit your search to Site to Store items. I noticed that some of the really big items - like a swing set - did not offer free shipping, and some of the smaller items (DVDs, books) had $.99 shipping (not bad). Alot of furniture had the free Site to Store shipping - a friend just bought her toddler bed from Wal-Mart and had it shipped free.

I think this is relatively new service. Around Christmas I was trying to order an art desk for my 3 year old and every store only carried it online and was charging $20+ to ship it. Site to Store was only available in about five states - not mine of course, which was a bummer because Wal-Mart's price was the best. Now it's offered in probably all BUT five states. Hopefully this is helpful and you can save some money on shipping costs while taking advantage of good prices.

Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the Lord

That was the title of the song that Ella danced to in church this morning. She was part of a group of 3-6 year olds that did a four week worship dance class with Renee K. and then performed in church today.

Ella loves to dance. She dances all around the house and makes up all sorts of moves. But she's never been to great about following along during her dance class. Occassionally she'll do the moves, but the majority of the time she's marching to the beat of a different drum. But she likes it and looks forward to it so we encourage her to have fun with it and keep reminding her that she's dancing for Jesus.

I pretty much knew what to expect this Sunday. I knew that Ella would not really do the routine. She would do a few moves and then get distracted and do her own thing and then start watching Renee again and following the dance. I thought she would probably stand there and play with her scarf or her dress (I had many many talks about not lifting up her dress and I'm very thankful that it got through to her). I honestly thought she would be pretty subdued. In that sense I was very suprised - for about 10 minutes before church she was running around on stage with the other kids and then in the minute or two before it actually started she was jumping up and down in her spot. As far as how she did - I was right on.

I was determined not to laugh. I had laughed extremely hard during the dress rehearsal which was five minutes before the actual performance. I figured I got it all out and I knew what Ella was going to do or not do. But as the music started Renee whispered for the girls to "smile" and Ella proceeded to give her famous "Pirate Smile" looking back and forth for about fifteen seconds. For those of you who don't know Ella's pirate smile, I've included a picture....







Now, that was over a year ago and it's not so extreme these days, but that is often the way Ella smiles when you actually tell her to smile. Now usually if you tell her to say "cheese" she'll give you a relatively normal smile.

So as soon as the pirate smile came out I lost it. I basically laughed (silent, shaking, tears rolling down face laughter) the whole way through the dance. I have to say that she did a great job in getting up there and just having fun. I wasn't sure if she would go through it because she sometimes gets very shy or scared in new situations, and being up on stage in front of alot of people was certainly new.

If after all that you still are interested in watching, I was able to download it to google video. The quality on our camera is good but for some reason it didn't transfer that great. I used a new program and might have to fiddle with it a bit.

A couple of things to notice...
- The laughter you hear is mostly from our one pastor's mom sitting behind me. She loves Ella to death and said it reminded her of watching her grand daughter do ballet. I know she was really trying to hold it in (because she too had watched the dress rehearsal and giggled through that and we talked about trying to hold it in next time).
- Ella singing praise the Lord - with the emphasis on Lord.
- A little yawn somewhere in the middle
- How beautiful they all looked and how good the others did.
- The lovely choreography by Renee.

Now for your viewing pleasure.....

Weekly post :)

My friend Renee posted about this week's So You Think You Can Dance. Go here to add your input!

I still have to post some pictures from our trip to Clearfield and Pittsburgh. Ella had so much fun with her cousin Isaac and I got some cute pictures of them holding hands. She cried so hard when we were getting ready to leave Saturday night. She told me in the car she wanted Isaac to come home with us! I think he felt the same way about her :) In fact he had some jealousy issues when another little girl wanted to play with Ella - he did not like someone else moving in on his turf. Isaac is such a sweet sensitive soul, something you don't always see in little boys. I think it's a good thing and I hope my kids grow up with tender hearts that have compassion for others. But sensitive kids are easily hurt and it' s a fine line as a parent to nurture that sensitivity but also help them toughen up so they aren't overwhelmed by the world around them.

We loved our time with Matt (my big brother), Chrissie, Theo and Isaac. There was a house for sale not too far from them and Chrissie kept dropping hints about us moving out there. Especially after I was blown away by how "uncrowded" their Costco's was and I found out that they have a Fudruckers one parking lot over (from the Costco, not their house - that would be dangerous).

I could keep going but it's going to storm and we have alot of stuff outside that needs to come in! So off I go. Remember, SYTYCD fans - go over to Renee's blog and add your opinion.

The results are in....

So this is just a quick post to discuss last night's elimination from So You Think You Can Dance. I won't put anything on this page because I know Renee hasn't watched it and might see it accidentally.

I was NOT happy with the people that got eliminated tonight. In a way I was alright with the girls - not because she (whoever she was) deserved it, but her solo was nothing special and someone had to go. For the guys though, I really think the wrong person was kicked off. Renee I almost called you and said I'm not happy tonight - and it would have been you saying don't say anything, I haven't watched yet!

That's it for SYTYCD tonight. Tomorrow we're off to Pittsburgh to see Matt, Chrissie, Isaac and Theo. I don't think Ella knows we're going tomorrow. She knows we're going Friday, but I don't think she knows tomorrow is Friday. If all goes well we'll spend the afternoon at the Pittsburgh Zoo which should be a treat for the kids since it's much bigger than the little zoo that we live close to.

Today we spent the day at Curwensville Lake and both kids had a wonderful time playing in the water. I have some fun pictures to post when I get home....

Have wonderful weekends!

What did you think?

I'm at my parents for a few days before we head to Pittsburgh to visit with my older brother Matt, his wife Chrissie and their two boys and attend a family reunion for my mom's side of the family. Aside from my brother's family, it's been years since I've seen my mom's family - the last time I was at a gathering was for my Grandpa Bill's funeral and I was about 14 weeks pregnant with Ella.

I enjoy spending time at my parents because there's lots of space for the kids to play and a big yard to run around in and a long flat driveway to ride bikes on. But for some reason Ella has not been sleeping well the last couple of times we've been in Clearfield. I was really hoping it wouldn't happen this time, but of course, around 2:00 am she wakes up crying for me and when I go in she doesn't go back to sleep for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I lost track of time at some point. It was very frustrating and annoying. Of course that lack of sleep catches up to her throughout the day and she had probably an hour long temper tantrum over the clothes I picked out for her (I really didn't care what she wore, but she wanted to wear her sister's shorts and was literally hysterical because she couldn't.). Looking back, if I had known what it would have led to I would have said " sure, wear Catherine's shorts", because it was so not worth the fuss. But once I put my foot down about something I cannot give in to Ella - if I do it will come back to haunt me. I have a hard time comprehending why this stuff matters so much to her. Why a pair of shorts is worth the screaming and the tears?

Oh well. Enough about Ella. Who out there is watching So You Think You Can Dance???? Erin, Renee - I know both of you are. What did you think about tonight's show? I am really liking this season. The dancer's are all really good. I have found that I really really enjoy contemporary dance - it's grown on me these past few years and I tend to look forward to it and to how the dancers will do with it. I'm having a hard time remembering all the dancers because I don't have DVR at my parents and I can't just quickly rewatch a dance that I like. Which I do at home. A couple of times! I liked Pasha and Jesse - mostly because Pasha really surprised me and was awesome, plus the choreography was great. Jesus and Sarah's Paso Doble was cool and he's another guy that I enjoy watching. Neil and Lauren's hip hop was cool - I liked this new guy's choreography alot - I agree with Mia about the fluidity of it. Lacey and Kameron - good as I would have expected. I like him but he hasn't wow'ed me yet. I like Jimmy alot, Danny not as much. Danny is great, but seems to be lacking in emotion and passion. And since the judges always say that's an important part I'll hold that against him. I love Hok and was surprised he could at least keep up with his dance (was it the Samba?) and look so comfortable. I know I'm forgetting and I'm really just talking about the guys. Can you blame me?! :) For the girls I like Lacey, Sarah, the girl that dances with Hok (name?), Lauren, not sure about Jesse. Last year I had already decided I liked Benji and Travis was growing on me and I loved Musa and Alison as well. This year I'm still figuring out who I'm rooting for.

How bout you? Who was hot and not so hot tonight? Who do you like regardless of how they do? I have a hard time separating personality/performance from dance technique so I know some of my fav's might be different from, say...Renee, who knows dance and can appreciate the training and technique probably more than I do. I think it would be fun if the few of us that read this and watch would weigh in weekly and share opinions, rants, raves, etc....

And if you're not watching, check it out on Wednesday and Thursday nights on Fox. My mom was actually watching with me tonight and enjoying it!

Hola

So it's been awhile since I've posted. I've been having too much fun reading other people's blogs - much easier than actually writing something on my own.

I figured I should post some pictures just to let you know that I'm still out here and give you something new to look at.

These are from our trip to Chincoteague Virginia over Memorial Day weekend. We had a nice time with Matt's parents and the kids played non-stop. Once we got to the beach Ella barely stopped running (hence the picture) - she was just so overjoyed to be at the beach. Catherine's favorite spot was the beach chair (hence the picture!) - she was just taking everything in - and looking very cute doing it. The close up shots are from a park that had a wooden boat the kids could play around. Ella's hair is red because she painted it earlier that day - she did a good job of it.

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Chincoteague is very different from Ocean City, NJ - where I've grown up vacationing. Very calm and quiet and not busy at all. It was a nice change of pace for me. I'd like to head down for a week the end of August or beginning of September before Ella starts school. The highlight of the trip for Ella was riding on the moped (how the heck do you spell that?) with Matt. As soon as she'd get whiny and annoying he'd take her for a ride around the block. We're seriously thinking of buying one at the end of the summer when they sell them off cheap. Not because of Ella (although that's an added bonus) but it gets amazing mileage and Matt could take it the mile to work and do his immediate errands with it. I think the highlight of everyone else was watching me come within inches of wrecking the moped - twice. I was barely moving so there was no danger to my safety - just to the fence and shed that were in front of me.

Since then we've been trying to beat the heat (Ella is again terrified of swimming pools - she had gotten over it by the end of last summer and apparently forgot that she wasn't afraid and now she's afraid again. I feel like it's my fault since I never did swim lessons with her. I know it's not too late but I keep procrastinating and I'm not sure where to go. She loves water just not pools with no shallow ends.) and stay entertained. Catherine and Ella are like tweedle dee and tweedle dum. They play together all the time - not always nicely. Catherine adores her big sister - she's the first one she asks for when she wakes up after nap. I think "Ella" has replaced mommy as Catherine's most frequently used word. That and NO.

Well Ella is anxious to go watch Charlie and Lola, which means I can (i.e., should) start doing some housework. Adios!

PS - I turn 30 in three days. Yikes!!!!

Hmmmm.....

So much on my mind and so much I shoud be doing. But my last post is about an episode of The Office that is two episodes back so I'm in need of a change....

So here are some things I want to share. Nothing special.

1. I mowed the lawn for the first time yesterday. I felt pretty proud of myself.
2. I ran 3 1/2 miles yesterday. Trying to push myself past the 3 mile mark so I don't get stuck there. Contemplating doing a 10k in the fall. When I excercise I tend to have alot of energy afterwards (weird?). Sunday I ran and then proceeded to clean the kitchen and then go outside and trim the hedges. Seriously. And the Monday's run was followed by the lawn mowing.
3. The Office season finale was really good. In true Office fashion the little moments were the true big moments. I'm excited for next season. If you're a real office geek, like me, go to NBC and then to The Office and you can read Creed's blog.

4. Once again I realized how different my kids are from each other. Today after playing at the park for a few hours I noticed that Catherine had a pretty good scrape on her knee. Don't know how or when she got it because she didn't let me know. With Ella, no injury goes unnoticed - no matter how small or seemingly invisible.

5. I have to recommend this recipe for icing. I made it for cupcakes (as shown in the post) and it is much lighter and not nearly as sweet as a buttercream icing. I'm sure you save some fat and calories, but most importantly, it tastes good. Now I'm just waiting for a reason to make the peanut butter pie you can also see in the same post. Thanks Crafty P!

6. Tonight is the last episode EVER of one of my favorite shows - Veronica Mars. I'm pretty sad, especially because the episode was written as a season finale, not a series finale. So we'll be left with a cliff hanger and have no closure for these characters that we've grown to love over the past three years. This season wasn't as good as the first two, but I think it's because the network (CW) was pushing the creator to make changes and make it easier for the casual viewer to jump in and watch. The previous seasons had series long mysteries that built up to intense season finales. But even so, it was better than alot of the stuff that's on TV now, but just wasn't able to get good ratings (again I'll blame the network - I'm a true fan!). Now it's being replaced by some crap crap crap reality show called The Farmer needs a Wife. I feel a bit sick just writing that. Can you tell how I feel about reality TV? The really sad part is, it's the type of stuff that America watches. I would love to know what is so fascinating about these reality shows? If you are a fan (in general, not neccesarily of the farmer variety) please stand proud and let me know why it appeals to you. We're all allowed our opinions, I have mine, but I am curious about others'. I promise, it won't change the way I feel about you!!! :)

7. Speaking of reality TV, I am going to be hypocritical and tell you about the ONE reality show I watch. So You Think You Can Dance, which premiers this Thursday. I am not an AI fan, but for some reason I really love SYTYCD (not typing that out again). It features a wide variety of up and coming dancers - from studio trained to street dancers. If you appreciate dance (your appreciation doesn't have to compare to your actual ability) you should like this show.

8. OK, final TV plug. Friday Night Lights became one of my favorite shows this year (next to The Office and Veronica). I resisted watching it at first, but got sucked in after a few episodes because Matt was hooked from the start and I was curious. I know how annoying it can be to have someone bug you to watch a show (b/c I do it alot!) but I really think you'll like this one. You don't have to be a football fan to enjoy it. There's some typical risque high school behavior, but it definitely doesn't center around that. Anyway - NBC is replaying the entire first season on Sunday nights at 9pm - since there's not much good on during the summer I suggest you check it out (or tape it!).

9. We're heading to Chincoteague VA this Memorial Day weekend to visit with Matt's parents and stay at their little beach place. Not excited for the four hour drive, but I'm looking forward to a few days at the beach. I hope everyone has a wonderful extended weekend - I know it's more than a half a week away but the chances of me actually posting again before that are rather slim.....

I'll leave you with some pictures to reward you for actually reading all this (or not, I'll never know)

Beach Games

So how many of you are Office lovers out there? I don't mean that you love the place where you or your husband work, but the awesomely funny show - The Office....

What did you think of last night's epi? Were you holding your breath for the last 2 minutes? All season I've been hoping Pam got up the courage to speak her mind about a few things and finally it happened!!! I have to go watch it again - at least one more time, because it just goes by so fast. I never watch it live but start it 20 minutes late so I can bypass conmmericals - the whole time I'm watching I'm checking how much time is left and I'm wishing it were longer.

Some highlights for me (in no particular order)- Creed catching the fish and then showing up with a skeleton saying "no one told me we got hotdogs", Stanley taking Jim out with the sumo suit, Jim walking Karen into the lake, Dwight yelling at Ryan and Ryan quitting, The whole bus singing "The Gambler", poor Andy floating away (in the background while Michael is talking), and many more I'm sure.

What were the highlights for you? Are you excited or scared for next weeks finale! One hour long - yippee!

Also - potential SPOILERS - but nothing too bad. But be warned....
Word on the street is that there are two separate finales filmed. Rashida Jones (Karen) is involved in a pilot over at FOX and if it gets picked up she'll leave the show. Which is the reason for the two different episodes. Of course I hope the pilot gets picked up so the show moves in a (hopefully) pro Jim and Pam direction. But I'm pretty annoyed that the direction of the show may be determined at all by Rashida Jones. I think the writers should do what they want and plan regardless of her. I am hoping Jim and Karen break up and a) she leaves for the corporate position or b) she stays in Scranton but they still break up. I am worried that if her show at FOX doesn't get picked up then they'll keep Jim and Karen together which will annoy me. What do you think? Come on, if you watch The Office you have to be wondering what's going to happen as well....

PS. Just read that next season will be 24 episodes - 4 of which will be hour long specials! Yeah!

Singing

Here is a video of ella singing - just a trial - working on posting videos...