More than just Funny People

Saturday nights around here are "Date Nights" if you will. Though we did not have a babysitter, this Saturday was no exception. We got some Chinese takeout and watched a movie (as Jackson climbed all over us).

It was Funny People with Seth Rogan and Adam Sandler.

I've got to tell you...this movie was SO much more than I thought it would be.

Judd Apatow always surprises me with the direction in his movies, because even though they have some young-ish sort of toilet/sex humor, they always have this other level of genuine human emotion that is so sincere.

Like not cheesy sincere...but really honest and raw.

This movie was good. I laughed alot..and was touched.

High points for me were Seth Rogan (I have such a fangirl crush!) and Jason Schwartzman's (I've loved him ever since Slackers) roles. Well played and fun.

Low points...I'm not a huge fan of Leslie Mann but you can tell that Judd must really love her because he seemed to give her a part in this movie that was just a little too big for her britches. Also, the movie is about half an hour too long and it kind of feels like everyone is scrambling to tie up loose ends despite the excessive length.

Overall I give it a B-. Even with the downsides this movie still has some very touching moments, fun dialouge, and a fresh original feeling. 

A great date night movie if I do say so myself!

Have a flick you think I would like? I'd love for you to share with a comment!

I love this kid

And how could you not with an expression like that one?

Truth is...

I often wonder if I'm doing a good job as a Mom.

I know I shouldn't...but I compare myself to others.

I eat to make myself happy.

I need to get on some Anti-Depressants or I'm going to end up in a bad place, again.

I've decided to turn a corner and try to correct the previous 2 statements for good.

Mostly because I am fat. I know it. I hate it.
I feel like it is tearing my life apart.

I also think it's probably one of the main factors in my depression.

I want to be proud of what I look like, not just of who I am.

I can't do this alone, and I'm scared to death that I'll have to because no one cares.

I'm lame and want you to like me.

I don't really know why.

Truth is... I could use a few extra kind words today.

Thanks.

Helpless is

The feeling the ER nurse and I both shared last night as she told me that even though Jackson's condition seemed rather critical that the wait would be at least 3 hours. Made me wonder how long the non-critical cases were having to wait.

I got angry and left after an hour and a half...and cried in the car on the way home.

He's doing a little better now...prayer is sometimes the best medicine.

Cupcake '10 Swag Giveaway!

 ******THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED********

And the winner is....

 

#2 Elaine!

Congrats lady! I'll be emailing you shortly!

Thanks to all who participated! More fun giveaways coming soon!

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So, it took me a little while to get this up here for you guys...but you know, I'm busy.

Plus, I was in the hospital over the weekend even, and well I'm still trying to catch up from all that. Seems that pesky cold of mine that wouldn't go away moved into my lungs. I found out I had a nasty Upper Respiratory infection and came home with lots of meds and strict orders to get rest.

So yeah, I'm just now barely back on my feet...which would explain why this is going up so late...but oh well.

So, Beth at Anti-SuperMom was totally awesome and gave each Cupcake '10 attendee a nice little swag bag. Thanks Beth!

But, she also had a few extra items and said if I wanted to grab some for a giveaway here, I totally could (see, she really is sweet!).

So, one lucky winner will get all that you see there!

1- e.l.f. Mini Make-Up Collection ($15 value)
1- Pack of Boogie Wipes
1- Go Girl & Sticker
1- Got Milk Lanyard


To enter all you have to do is leave a comment here by Midnight CST February 12th. Only ONE comment per person please. Open to the U.S. only. Winner will be drawn randomly using random.org. Please leave your email address in your comment so I have a way to contact you. If the winner does not respond with 24 hours of being notified, a new winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

Child's Play

Yesterday, Jackson and I made a trip to the newly renovated Children's Museum in Houston to see what kinds of cool new things they had there.

All I can say is WOW! It is so amazing!

I should say here that my heart is especially close to this museum since I grew up in Houston and my school made regular trips there (not to mention my mom took us a lot just for fun).

They have always had cool, hands on exhibits...but I'll be honest and say that previous time we went (which was when Jackson was 11 months old) things were seeming a bit tired.

And how could they not have been? As we walked through some of the exhibits then, I recognized some things from my childhood. Which meant that curious kiddos had been using and playing with those exhibits for over 20 years.

So you can imagine my shock and joy at how sparkling and new things were when we arrived yesterday! It was just awesome! Everything was beautiful...and the most important part....Jackson had a blast!

Seriously, the kid did not slow down once the entire time we were there. It was fabulous!

He even got to play outside at the Flow Works exhibit, since we got awesome weather (up to 80 degrees!).

Hands down, if you near live near Houston and you haven't seen the changes at The Children's Museum....go now. The smiles on your kids faces alone will be well worth the trip. :-)

Disclosure: I have no affiliation with The Children's Museum of Houston (not that I would mind ;-). I chose to write this post because I wanted to and I spent my own money on our trip there. It was so awesome I'm probably even going to buy a yearly pass...yes folks, it really is that good.

You Capture- Love Around the Home

Last Friday I attended my Best Friend Rachel's wedding. We've known each other for 12 years now and been through a lot together...so it felt pretty special to see her and Clint finally get married (they've been dating since our Freshman year of High school!).

When I found myself looking around my house this week for things that represented love, I came across the invite to her wedding.

It made me want to post some photos from that night...I hope that counts. I had a crazy high fever for the last couple of days...so I really don't have any other photos.




For more You Capture visit Beth's blog.

"Let's Grow- Lend A Helping Hand" DVD Review and Giveaway!

******THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED******

And the winner is....

Congrats Renee! I just sent you an email!

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Sprout, the 24-hour preschool channel, has just come out with an exciting new series of DVD's called "Let's Grow". Each DVD in the series is uniquely themed and focuses on areas preschoolers ages 2-5 encounter everyday like helping out, manners, safety, and more!

Sprout was kind of enough to send me a copy of the first DVD in the series, "Lending a Helping Hand", for Jackson to watch.

He seemed to like it, I think partially because in between each segment Kelly and Chica from "The Sunny Side Up Show" came on to talk about why it is important to help out. They even gave examples of how to help out around the home and how things get done quickly when friends work together.

This DVD made me happy because it presented concepts that we have already been trying to teach Jackson - but in a very kid friendly manner. Plus, it included episodes from some of our favorite PBS Kids shows like Thomas & Friends and Fireman Sam.

Each "Let's Grow" DVD includes a Parent Resource Guide filled with expert tips and discussion starters for families.

I'll be honest here, sometimes I really struggle with Jackson when trying to explain the importance of things like team work and cleaning up. I would just rather do it myself than endure a tantrum. But this DVD did a great job of making the tasks seem fun while stressing their importance (and he's even been more interested in helping me out since he watched it!!!)...so for that I give it an A+!

"Let's Grow- Lend a Helping Hand" is now available at mass retailers throughout the U.S. Look for more titles later this year.

*******************************

Want to WIN a copy of "Let's Grow- Lend a Helping Hand" for your kiddos?

Just leave a comment on this post before Midnight CST on February 7th.

Want an extra entry?

Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link to it in a separate comment.

Open to the U.S. only. Winner will be randomly chosen using Random.org. Please leave your email address in your commment that way I can contact you if you win. If the winner does not respond within 24 hours a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck!

Disclosure: Sprout provided me with a copy of "Lend a Helping Hand" for the purpose of this review. These opinions are my own. I was not paid to write this review. Since Jackson really liked this DVD we will be keeping it.

Dear Zachary,

I know your story now. I have been deeply touched by it. I just want you to know that I'm sharing it with many people. Hopefully, if enough people learn about what happened to you, things will change.

********

You can purchase Dear Zachary HERE. It is also available on Netflix.

I wanted to share this here because I was completely moved after watching this documentary.

I will caution you that it is graphic and sad, but also poignant and profound.

Disclosure: The links above are just for convenience. I have no association with the filmmaker nor do I receive any monetary gain for posting the links here. Moreover, I especially wanted to share the link on where to buy the DVD because all proceeds from the sale of it go to a Memorial Scholarship Fund honoring Andrew Bagby.

Help for Haiti

When I first read about Haiti, I was in shock. We don't have T.V. in our home...so it wasn't until I saw some awful photos on Yahoo! News that I became aware of this immense tragedy.

These people need our help and our prayers. Please give in whatever way you can.

Here are a couple of reliable links at which to give, donate, or help.

Doctors Without Borders

Charity Navigator

For an easy way to donate to the Red Cross, you can text “Haiti” to 90999 and $10 will be added to your next phone bill. (Over $1 million raised this way as of this writing.)

Thanks to Jen at Cake Wrecks for originally posting these helpful links.

This weekend I'm sending my laptop off for repairs...so I won't be online.
Instead I'm going to do whatever I can to help those in Haiti, I hope you'll try to do the same.

See everyone soon.

You Capture- Winter

This is a hard topic for me to photograph...mainly because Winter here is far different than most other places. For instance, the leaves here didn't even turn or fall off the trees until after Thanksgiving.

Also, we got a little snow 2 weeks before Christmas (and it melted within 30 minutes) and then the following week the temps were up in the 80's. That's why they say "If you don't like the weather in Texas, wait 5 minutes, it will change." :-)

We finally did get REALLY freezing temps (I'm talking record breaking folks!) here the first week in January...16 degrees at one point! And it never even snowed. Then my favorite cactus died. Talk about heartache.

But, I happen to have pictures of "iconic winter" this year, since I was just in Wisconsin for Cupcake '10.

So, enjoy these pictures of real snow while I mourn the death of Mr. Prickles.

Yes, that is a screen you see there.
What? Like I was actually going to stand outside and take the photo?
Phbbt.

This was the view out the front of the lodge. So stunning.

A cool corner.

For more You Capture- Winter Photos pop on over to Beth's Blog.

Also, today is Delurking day...so if you hang out here alot but are afraid to comment, today is your day to shine. I look forward to getting to know you and reading your words as well.

WW- Will Freeze to Death For Friendship

Being a Native Texan I'm am not at all accustomed to scenes like the one above.
It was FREEZING in the Arctic Tundra of Wisconsin.

And yet, it totally didn't matter since my weekend at Cupcake '10 meant I got to experience so many fabulous moments, like the one in the photo below.

Cupcake was so wonderful. I spent time with old friends
and met some really awesome new ones too!

Photo by Carrie.

Many thanks to these two fabulous ladies for all their hard work in putting it together.

For more WW, head over to Angie's Blog!

Big Stuff

Hi ya'll. I just wanted to pop on here and say that I will make my detailed Cupcake 10 post soon (I hope) but that right now there are some VERY exciting things happening for us that have to be taken care of first.

These things are so VERY exciting that they have somewhat overshadowed the fact that my flight home yesterday had a 2 hour delay and that they lost my checked bag (and that's nothing, wait till you here how fun my trip there was :-)

So anyway, please pray for us is you don't mind (thank you!). What happens today could totally change our life for the better.

I appreciate all your constant love and support so much....hopefully I'll have some wonderful news to share soon.

Vive la Cupcake!

Because the best things in life are simple and sweet.


Cupcake '10 rocked my world! Excuse me while I go sleep it off now.

More tomorrow.

Go Speed Racer!

After several false alarms... my newest nephew Luke finally decided that yesterday was the day he would enter the world. He was 5 days over due...and we were all dying to meet him.

Alicia wanted me to be there to take pictures and tweet the birth...but it was not to be.

Even though she called me as soon as she was in active labor I was not able to get to them in time. We live a little more than an hour apart..and well, her babies just come really fast. In fact, she almost had Emma (who is just a few months younger than Jackson) in the car on the way to the hospital. Her entire active labor with Luke was less than 3 hours!

So when I walked in their house yesterday Marc told me that I had missed the birth by like 3 minutes. I was a little disheartened (I missed Emma's birth too) but I still got to see her deliver the placenta and the midwife showed it to me afterward. So that was cool.

Plus I got to cuddle my cute nephew for a bit...and really that was the most important thing.

Luke Daniel was born January 8th at 11:06 am
He weighed 8lbs 4oz
21 inches long

P.S. This weekend I'm in WI freezing my Texan behind off at #Cupcake '10. Be sure to follow me on twitter @princesshaley for fun updates.

You Capture- A Year in Review

January: {Preschool Show}
He couldn't even walk and the teacher held him up.

February: My favorite little cupcake.

March: My Baby Blue

April: Bluebonnets Baby!

May: I'm one lucky Mom

June: A new arrival

July: A big splash

August: The Big 2!

September: Steppin' Out

October: What a treat!

November: Look at these Turkeys

December: Self Reflection


Looking through the photos just now I was baffled at how much Jackson has grown.

What an amazing year!

For more Year in Review photos check out You Capture with Beth!