Teen Fun And Teen Not-So-Fun

My favorite high school senior arrived Friday afternoon. I was so excited to spend the long weekend with her here. We hopped in the Escalade {that is still not the same after the accident} and headed into town. We ate at Applebees...shopped at the mall and TJMaxx...and watched "Just Go With It." Btw...that movie is the best I have seen in a while...funny and romantic. Jenn Aniston and Adam Sandler are great together.

On Saturday I went to my first thirty-one party {fabric personalized purses, lunch totes, totes, etc}. Then we went to the grocery store. We ended the day with a pizza party and a Just Dance 2 Dance Off. Fun!

On Sunday we joined Dr. Hubby on a shopping trip at Cabelas. We entertained ourselves the best way we knew how. Fun photo time! We ended the day with a Game Night {from hades} at my inlaws. My 2 little ones were monsters and no one seemed to want to stay focused on the games. FAIL.

IMPORTANT TEEN PARENTING QUESTION!

Manga Dork is 15. She has a boyfriend. I have offered to take her, her boyfriend, and another couple on a "date." They can walk the mall and see a movie by themselves. This must be with me or Dr. Hubby chaperoning.

He can even come to our home for a couple hours, but they have to stay in a "public room." NO bedrooms. She is not allowed to go to her boyfriend's house. She is not allowed to go to a friend's house with her boyfriend or other boys.

She is very unhappy with these rules {which I take to mean I am getting it right}. She cried cause she wants to go on the "date" with another parent chaperoning. The same parent I saw this weekend who told me she was tired of running around town and that even though her daughter's boyfriend is not allowed to go to her house to hang out she was on her way home and "what his mom didn't know wouldn't hurt her" and "if he gets caught it is on him not her!"

So my question is...

What are the teen dating rules in your home?

or what will they be when your kid becomes a teen?

Video Night...On Crack!

Anybody can pull off "Video Night"...right? Get the movie...pile in front of the tv...provide a snack or three. Well, I decided to take our "Video Night" to the next level.

Here's how we celebrated with a "Toy Story 3 DVD Premiere Party."


While grocery shopping I picked up mac n cheese, cheezits, gummies, and cupcake fixins' for our dinner. Not the most nutritious of meals...but most video night meals aren't balanced nutritiously...right?! For an added touch I got plates and cupcake decos from the birthday section. My mom had bought the movie for the girls, but you could buy it, rent it, PPV it, or even request it at the library! Free is a great price!

For some added flair I dug around in the kids' room and pulled out everything they had from Toy Story 3.

A yellow $1 plastic table cloth and some green napkins from my stash of birthday leftovers made the table very festive. Cutie asked me "Who's birthday is today?"

I had also picked up Toy Story 3 pjs for the girls. They needed long sleeve pajamas and I usually wait and pick them up for occasions like this. I would have bought them anyway...but this way they feel SPECIAL!


Can you feel the excitement building?! No?...


How about now?! I had to go to the Boys Section to get the pjs. For some reason several of the Toy Story items are geared more toward boys. Note to Disney/Pixar...this movie is more of a "unisex" theme...more girl stuff please!


Mr. PricklePants was eyeing the Cheezits....

and Buttercup wouldn't stay out of the gummies so we sat down to start our celebration.

While in the birthday section I had spied a clearance rack with this kit marked down from $6 to $3! Fun!

Even "Big Baby" was excited to color a ring! {That baby creeps me out in the movie}

Our fave 2 cousins were visiting so they joined us for the party. Coloring the rings was a fun activity.

I even had to do one!

Cousin Beth found out what happens when you lick what your colored!

After eating the mac n cheese the girls each had a yummy cupcake.

Movie time!

The girls were still chattering about it the next day! Mission Complete!

My Head Swelled Right Up!

Last weekend I took Cousin Kayla out and about to capture some senior shots...

We started out in our hay barn.

Then we headed over to our pond.

It was a very cloudy day...but it was all we had to get it done.

We did a little trespassing to get the pics with these old rusty wheels surrounded by goldenrod.

I loved all this rusty fabulous tin in the alley behind Dr. Hubby's office.

In our library's front yard.

At the library's gazebo.

Such a beautiful girl made 2.5 hours and 350 shots a big bunch of FUN!

My head swelled a little when Walmart refused to print them for her mom because "they can not reproduce professional photographs." They made her sign and give her driver's license number before they would print them.

Dr. Hubby and I were dating 3 months when I went to the hospital to see her when she was newborn. The years have flown by...

It's Going Too Fast!

I can't believe it is already Thursday! It is that point in the vacation where you start thinking about going home...I'm not ready! Here's a another sample of the fun we are having...


We drove south to Myrtle Beach for a day. We ate at PFChangs and the air conditioner in my Escalade went out...and the temp on the rearview mirror said 104 degrees! Then we took the kids to Family Kingdom amusement park and proceeded to sweat more than I have ever sweated before! It was fun watching the kids enjoy themselves though!

Cousin Kayla and I took a walk on the beach one evening and ran into this guy. A fisherman had caught him. He was safely returned to his ocean...he didn't look real amused...lol.

I got the idea for this photo on flickr. Dr.Hubby and I are going to take one later. These are the cousins.

On the 4th of July we attempted a family photo. Manga Dork went to see Eclipse and the little ones were cranky. I don't know what my exscuse was...

I love gummy candy. We found the "World's Largest Gummy Snake." He was 36 inches long.

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary. We are going out to see Eclipse tonite! I can't wait to give Dr. Hubby his gift!

Time to go get more sand on my toes...

Weekend FUN!

On Friday we had our community yard sale. Thanks to some VERY bright sun I look like a lobster. Your Welcome...that's for not showing you a pic...lol.

On Saturday Cousin Kim and I took our 5 girls to eat at Cheddars and to the movies. They went to see Shrek in 3D and I took Wild Child and Cutie to see Marmaduke since we had already seen Shrek.

Marmaduke is SO cute...especially if your kids are as dog and cat crazy as my 2 littles. Owen Wilson is perfect for the voice of big loveable Marmaduke.

We hit a few stores. The kids played Rock Band while we shopped at Old Navy...so cute. I bought the Eclipse novella "The Short Second Life of Bree Turner." Can't wait to get started on it!

Hope you are having a great weekend too. Today I am taking Manga Dork and Cousin Kayla out on the town...

btw...the answers to your questions are coming soon! There is still time to go back and ask one in the comments on that post!

Only In WV...

We visited Dr. Hubby's cousins this weekend. We wanted to see Cousin K all dressed up for the prom. She was SO beautiful.

Manga Dork was the first one to cry...

We watched the Prom Walk. The dresses were GORGEOUS! But only in WV would someone wear a camo prom dress. The front was shorter than the back and they had lined it with Hunter Orange. She carried orange lillies...you know the kind that grows on the side of the road. They are one of my fave flowers. It was very unique. I'm surprised they didn't arrive on an ATV!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Why Can't I Just Be Selfish And Self Absorbed?!

This little fellow is brand new...well he's a couple days old now. I just missed him popping out by a few seconds. I was in the top of the barn and coming down the stairs when he came out! {Yes, I was actually INSIDE our barn!} He still has his adorable wobbly new legs. Don't ya just want to hug him?!

Manga Dork recieved her awards for volleyball at a banquet last night.

Oh yeah...about the title of this post...

We are supposed to be going to WV to see a cousin go to the prom on Saturday. She is really excited.

The problem.

I CAN NOT go see her AND go see Dr. Carlisle Cullen from Twilight. It is a 5 hour drive to her home from the mall where Carlisle will be. Carlisle will appear from 12 to 5. She leaves at 4:30! Argh.

Don't worry...I have my priorities in place. Carlisle will just have to deal with not meeting me.

Surely this will effect my "Meeting Someone Famous" Mojo. I better go bake a cake....

The Jolie-Pitts will surely be moving into the empty house next door!

When it rains....It Pours

We are still continuing all the fun with the cousins. We invited Manga Dork's 2 BFFs over and had a late night waterballoon fight. They were so funny. Wild Child and Cutie Patootie would only throw pink balloons.
On Friday, Mother In Law and I took my 4 kids, the 2 cousins, and the 2 BFFs to the local pool. It was my first time there. I have only swam in a public pool once and I ended up with pink eye. Not fun. They all had a great time. Cutie Patootie took up for Wild Child against a little boy trying to steal her rubber ducky. The sight of it touched my heart and I ended up in tears.
Friday night we had a rough thunderstorm. I was hoping it wouldn't blow our new trampoline off the hill! We have such rough winds we are going to anchor it down. Luckily, it was still there this morning.
I woke up this morning with terrible PMS. I have always had a rough time, but it seems to be getting worse. When I went to the gyno she showed me a chart and asked me to name the symptoms off that chart that I was having. Simple....ALL OF THEM! LOL! She offered medication, but I want to try some other things before taking medicine. My mood swings are the hardest to deal with because I know this affects my family (not just me). I try my best, but I know I am cranky and I CRY constantly. Do you know any tips on dealing with PMS?

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday! Don't forget tomorrow is Father's Day!

Sh! Don't Tell Anyone...my rep would be ruined!

Guess what I was doing around midnight last night! Yep, I was flying down the Slip and Slide! Guess what I was wearing! LOL!

Don't pretend like you don't know what Granny Panties are! The girls (12 year old, 2 visiting cousins, and BFF of 12 year old) and I went out in our undies and Tshirts and had a blast! We couldn't quit laughing. Although when hubby pulled in the driveway I think he thought I had lost my mind! (REMINDER: We live on a 101 acre farm so we had complete privacy!)
BTW, Lil' Sis (who would have loved to have joined us for the slip and slide) got us tickets to be in the studio audience of the Conan show on July 15th during our NYC trip. I have not watched him since 1995 while I was in labor with 12 year old (That sounds painful! LOL!). Being in a "studio audience" is one of my bucket list items.

I have had a great time with the kids. I feel like my body has been beat against the ground 10-15 times (Slip and Slide) and I am a little tired, but other than that we are having a blast.

Hope everyone is enjoying summer!