In case you haven't noticed, my Flashback Friday entries usually center around what is going on in my life at the present.  Well, this week was VBS at our church, and basically it was all-consuming, so I dug out the oldest pictures I could find in the VBS genre.

This was Annaleigh's first VBS...

She's the little over-dressed red head there on the front row.  She was two years-old and probably too young to even know why she was there.  The reason why she was there, in case you're wondering, was to give me a chance to go sip a cup of coffee at the Shoney's down the street....but don't tell anyone that, ok?

In the above shot, it's hard to tell if she's putting the offering in or taking it out.  I'd prefer to think she's putting it in, since we were trying hard not to raise a thief.

Boy, the years sure do fly!  Now she's too old to actually be an attendee at our VBS, but she's a helper.

You may think VBS stands for Vacation Bible School, but at our church it actually stands for Verging on the Borders of inSanity.  You see our church is small....very small.  We don't have enough children in our congregation to constitute a VBS.  Nor do we have enough workers to competently run one.  However, our church is located very near a government subsidised neighborhood that is swarming with children, so that's why we host one year after year.  It is cuh-razy!  Yet every year when I look at the photos of the smiling, happy faces while I soak my sore feet in Epsom salts, I realize it's worth it...every chaotic second.

I no longer go down the street to sip coffee (but believe me...it's tempting because our present church is near a Starbuck's...not a Shoney's).  I am the craft person, and it's just about the looniest room in the building. (Big D asked me to give him photo credits for the following...)

Those pictures may look all nice and sweet and tame, but trust me, being the craft person can bring on a headache the size of Montana.

Yet, I still do it because it's not really the crafts that are important.  It's not about the crick in your back.  It's not about the paint on your favorite maternity shirt.  And it's not about the room that you left in a massive upheaval earlier tonight because you were too tired to think about it.  It's the opportunity to share the love of Christ with children through spending time with them and showing them a brief moment of love and peace..

However I still suspect that some are just there for the food...

But then again, maybe not...

Please join me with a flashback of your own!  Then come back here and post the link so we can all come share in it....

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Brief Synopsis (with no spoilers...I promise!):  The setting is the distant future, and Earth has been abandoned by all human life due to the overabundance of trash build-up over the years.  It hints that the Buy-N-Large (think Wal-mart on steroids) corporation is to blame.  Wall-E, a garbage collecting robot and the last of his kind, and his pet cockroach are all the personality left on our desolate planet.  Wall-E continues to do what he is programed to do, with occasional sidetracks as he's fascinated with all of our left-over trinkets and gadgets and has built up quite a collection of odds and ends.  He has everything from an old VCR player and homemade tapes to silverware to a strapless bra (which he has no idea of the function, by the way).  Life for Wall-E seems fairly lonely and mundane until the arrival of Eve, a recon robot sent from the massive space ship (think cruise ship in space) where all the overweight, lazy humans have been for hundreds of years.  She's sent to see if life is sustainable once again on Earth.  In the meantime she meets Wall-E before she indeed does find a sign of life.  Her attraction to the quirky little robot doesn't stop her from her mission however, and she is soon heading back to the mother ship with her info....but lonely Wall-E hitches a ride, and that's where all the fun begins!

Why We Went to See It:  It's a Pixar movie.  Period.

Why You Might  Want to See It:  It's a Pixar movie.  Period.  And it's better than Ratatouille, which I didn't like near as well as most Pixars.  Pixar has the best writers on the planet.  They are simply amazing.

Why You Might Not Want to See It:  If you have very small children they might be bored at the beginning because there's little dialogue, and the plot is built through Wall-E's actions and quirky personality only.  That is absolutely the only reason I can think of.  Of course you don't have to see it in the theater.

Will You Die if You Don't See It?:  Eventually, yes.  If you boycot this film, I'd say you have approximately one year to live....so plenty of time for the dvd.

A Good Substitute:  Well, if you haven't seen other Pixar movies, go rent them all.  Other than that, there isn't one.  Go see this.

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A couple of posts ago, I declared that I was five months pregnant, which caused many gasps.  As it turns out, that's not quite right.  I always get confused with the weeks/months thing.  I'm actually not quite five months pregnant, but I'm not sure if that will surprise you all any less.  It definitely seems that long to those of us who are living it.  I will say that this has seemed to be my most rapid pregnancy of the three, which I attribute to Annaleigh and Harrison distracting me with their lives so much.  I'm much busier these days than with either of the other two, which makes it seem to go by faster....but not fast enough.

We are neck-deep in our room-shifting projects.  We are moving Harrison into our current schoolroom, and his room is going to be the nursery.  And where are we going to do school?  Good question.  I think mostly in the loft, and then both kids will have desks in their rooms.  We can also make use of the kitchen table if need be.  And as busy as we always are, I find the car a good place for some school.  So basically the answer is anywhere we see fit.  Right now I'm busy boxing up books and scrapbook paraphernalia and cleaning out closets.  The kids are going to the grandparents' next week, and we want to paint the schoolroom to be more suitable for him while he's gone.  He wants this too, since it's currently lavender.  I'll post some pictures when all of it finished.

Pregnancy-wise all is well.  I had my ultrasound last week, and the doc declared all to look like it's supposed to, and the measurements were all on target.  Here's a black and white peek at little Peanut....

Above is the profile, with the spine up top.  I was glad to see that the nose looks on the smallish side.  I had a grandmother with a rather large nose, which so far, hasn't shown up in any offspring.

Here's a face-front view...

I was startled to find that Peanut looks like the crystal skull from the latest Indiana Jones movie.  Thankfully we have 17-18 more weeks to get that cleared up.

Here I am of late...

Sorry about the extra bright lights streaming in from my dining room windows.  I guess  I give pregnancy glow a whole new meaning.  Again, my measurements seem to be right where they are supposed to be.  I've only gained a total of 6 pounds, which was thrilling to me since usually by this point I've gained about 100.  Well, not quite that much, but way more than 6, I can assure you.  I was shocked because this was the month that we were on vacation, and I developed a hearty craving for all kinds of pasta.  Next month may not be so encouraging.

Thanks to all who rang in their opinions on the name.  We have locked in on Madelynn Rose, I believe.  For a boy, we've gone a totally different direction and have chosen William Albert.  I've always loved the name William, and both Big D and I had grandfathers named Albert, so it just works.  Now we just wait to see which one we use....

Now I must leave you, because I just became incredibly hungry all of a sudden, and I may be tempted soon to start eating my keyboard.  That would be hard to explain to Big D.

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Last Sunday, while on vacation at the cabins featured in my post below, Big D and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.  See...

I promise that is not the picture insert that comes with the frame.  It's really me and Big D at the tender ages of 18 (give me a break...I was almost 19!) and 21.

Every year when this event rolls around, I like to reflect on the reasons I married this man and am still happily married to him after all these years.  Then I thought how this would make a great "Flashback Friday."  So, here are my reasons, accompanied by a photo that has once-upon-a-time appeared on this blog for some reason or another.

1.  He is a hunka-hunka burnin' love!

2.  He knows how to have a good time.

3.  He can cook.

4.  He's a little bit crazy.

(in a good, non-scary sort of way)

5.  He's a good dad.

(OK...so I didn't exactly know this when I married him, but I had a hunch, alright?!)

6.  He is fierce.

(in a big teddy bear sort of way)

7.  He doesn't mind when I do things like this.

8.  He's creative.

(Yes, I know this involves food again.  I am pregnant...it's how I think nowadays.)

9.  He can dance and rap.

10.  He loves God.

(Even though the expression on his face doesn't exactly demonstrate it.  Trust me....he does.)

11.  He's artistic.

12.  He's romantic.

13.  He lets me have these...

(...even though he doesn't really like them all that much.)

14.  He's a good sport.

(and so are Indiana Mimi and Debbles, I might add.)

15.  He's award-winning.

16.  He's adventurous.

and finally...

17.  He lets me have my way.

(...but not without a fight!)

Seriously, Big D is the best husband out there, and I am blessed to have lived almost half my life with him.  I'm looking forward to the next 17 years of fun, chaos, love and adventure!

So, have you been saving anything up for Flashback Friday for the past couple of weeks while I've been delinquent?  If so, post below so that we can come share the memory with you...

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...and this is where I've been:

(Sorry about the sun spot on the image!)

Every July for the past several years, our family converges upon Turnstone Cabins, located on the border of North Georgia and North Carolina for a little R&R.  Not even a laptop helps you in this place, as there's no reception nestled deep within the Smoky Mountains.  We can't even watch TV here, although they do have a VCR/DVD combo available.  I have found that if you have Verizon Wireless cell service, that you can make and receive calls while standing very still on the 8th flagstone from the cabin.

We just love this place.  Would you like for me to show you around?  I thought so.

Here's the main living space...

We intend to someday go back in the fall or winter so that we can use the fireplace.  There's no AC, except a window unit upstairs, but you really don't need one.  We always visit in the hottest time of the year, but because this area is a part of an ecological rain forest, it's always about 10-15 degrees cooler here than just 5 or so miles in town.  We always leave all the windows open, and it actually gets a bit cool at night.

All 4 of the cabins at Turnstone have this signature spiral staircase leading to the loft...

It's quaint, but it's actually kind of pain getting up and down it...especially when you're five months pregnant.  Fortunately I didn't have to navigate it all that much since the master bedroom is downstairs. The kids sleep up there in two twin beds.  A couple of the other cabins have a full and a twin to accommodate a slightly larger party.

All of the cabins have full kitchens and grills on the back porches.  We have a lot of favorite restaurants in the area, but it's nice to cook a couple of meals here too.  The kitchens are also fully stocked with plates, silverware, pots, pans, etc.

Our very favorite part of the cabin is this...

Betty's Creek runs right along the back of the cabin and provides a constant bubbling that is so appealing and soothing.  We enjoy it in different ways, however.  I prefer to prop my feet up on the porch and enjoy its melody while I read.  Big D and the kids prefer to hike along it for several miles upstream and get wet and dirty and scraped up.  Harrison's favorite story from this year is how he came within inches of stepping on a large snake which was curled up by the creek.

I realized when I was uploading these pictures that I didn't really have too many to show for a six day trip, but then I did let Big D do most of the photography this time.  So I'll have to wait for him to upload his and get them cleaned up in order to share some more tidbits from our trip.  Until then I'll be slowly but surely visiting some of your blogs to say "hello" and doing about 10 loads of laundry.  "See" you soon....

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Brief Synopsis (with no spoilers...I promise!):  Po, an adult, overweight, lazy male Panda, begrudgingly and mundanely works in his family's noodle restaurant.  Secretly, he fantasizes about being a Kung Fu master and is a closet-fan of the infamous Furious Five, made up of the impressive likes of Tigress,  Monkey,  Praying Mantis,  Crane, and Viper, led by their master Shifu (and to be perfectly honest, I'm still a bit baffled about what type of animal he is.  Annaleigh thinks some kind of rodent.  Harrison is leaning more towards a small fox.  If anyone finds out for sure, please let us know).  Through a bumbling set of amusing incidents, Po is the unlikely personality chosen to defeat the likes of an angry, vengeful snow leopard, Tai Lung (or something like that).  The plot centers around the unlikely hero and his road to self-discovery.

Why we went to see it:  Well, when you have this in your life on an everyday basis....

...is there any question that you must go see a movie like this?

Why you MIGHT want to see it:  It is a fun, family-friendly flick if there ever was one.  Because it was Dreamworks, I figured it could go either way in the crudity department, but this film stays on the straight and narrow.  It was even without the cursory reference to flatulence that almost all kid movies contain these days.  And it was genuinely funny.  I have to admit that I'm a bit of a fan of Jack Black.  While I haven't seen all of his films, the ones I have seen always exhibit an adorable, extremely likable kind of humor, which I find refreshing in our days of vulgarity-for-laughs.  He is the perfect voice for Po. By the way, did you know that my brother-in-law, Patrick, is a dead-ringer for Jack Black?  Look at this...

Patrick (and his lovely wife, Amy):

and Jack Black:

Similiar, eh?  Well, he has gotten stopped a time or two. (And is it just me, or does Mr. Black have a very visible booger in his nose?!)  Many years ago, Patrick was also mistaken as this guy by a two-year old...

Anyway, enough about my famous-looking brother-in-law.  Let's get back to the movie....It seems that the producers went to great lengths to make sure it was a star-studded affair, with other voice talents including Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, and of course, Jackie Chan.  The animation is decent too, almost with a 3-D feel at times.

Why you MIGHT NOT want to see it:  It is rated PG for sequences of martial arts action, but honestly this surprises me.  This movie is no more violent than the Bugs Bunny cartoons that I used to watch on Saturday mornings back in the late 70s.  The snow leopard character might be a bit scary for a very small child, and the scene where he escapes from prison is mildly intense, but I would think most children about 5 or 6 and up could handle this just fine.  Now, it doesn't just beg to be seen on the big screen, so if you want to save a buck...or twenty...just wait for the DVD.  If the movie has a weakness, it's that it's predictable...for adults anyway.

Will you die if you don't see it?:  No, but you might as well see it anways.

A good substitute:  Well, as far as animated family movies go, I don't think one can compete with Pixar as far as plot goes.  Still, this one is much better than the standard Shrek fair we've been bombarded with of late.  If it's a martial arts movie you're looking for, then this is the one to see with your family....or just watch the above video of Harrison and his friend performing their extreme form demonstration from the last tournament we attended.  They aren't pandas, but they are dressed in black and white.

***A note about Flashback Friday***

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be able to blog for a few days, so I will not be hosting a Flashback Friday this week.  If you had a good one, please hold onto it for another week, and I'll get back to you next Friday....or just go ahead and post it on your own if you'd like.  I haven't copyrighted it or anything.

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I grew up in a family that did not set things on fire (well, there was an incident involving my hair, Indiana Mimi and a blow dryer...but that's another story for another time...). I pretty much grew up in the dark about the sorts that actually found enjoyment in playing with matches and cigarette lighters.   On the 4th of July my family would usually go see fireworks somewhere...the kind that shoots way, way up in the sky...the kind that do not endanger your life or limbs in any way.  One year my dad bought some sparklers, and I burned my hand on one.  To my knowledge we never had them again.  How I ended up in a family that actually spends hard-earned money on things like this...

...I don't know, but I'm making the best of it, and I spend a lot of time in prayer over their fingers which are apt to be blown off someday.

The day started out innocently enough.  My family went into the backyard to play a non-flammable game of badminton.

Meanwhile, I was inside cooking stuff like this...

and this...

and this...

Oh, wait...you don't cook watermelon.  Oh yeah...and Big D actually cut that up.  But anyway, since my cooking involved a lot of boiling water and wait time, it involved a lot of lying on this...

...in order to avoid being constantly stalked by my regular kitchen companions...

and...

Well, it was during all of this cooking and boiling and lying and avoiding that Annaleigh ran into the house and told me that I had to come out back and film something for my blog.  Well, of course I wanted to know what, to which she wouldn't give me a straight answer.  "Trust me,"  she says.  "It's good!"  So, this is what I taped...

I am now convinced that I am a member of the weirdest family on this planet.  They also strapped firecrackers to plastic army men and Hot wheels cars, to which I told them they had all turned into the mean neighbor boy from the Toy Story movie.  They laughed maniacally, and it made me glad to be having an innocent, sweet baby in a few months, one who will in no time soon, be exploding their toys.  Oh, and then they also blew up an apple and several grapes.  Annaleigh even painted explosives onto her fingernails...

Later that day we went to see real, live, SAFE fireworks, which was  the first ever for our town. 

It turned out to be the best small town show any of us had ever seen.  I even taped  the 2 minute finale for you, if you're interested...

My family had STILL not had their share of explosives by this point, so we came home and almost lit our neighborhood on fire along with all the rest of the hicks fine Southern citizens.

Big D had, earlier that day, built a nifty little launchpad, complete with a festive paint job and flags...

At least there were a couple of us, who had the sense to watch from a second-story window...

Is it just me, or is that picture just mildly frightening?  Don't worry...I think it's just my flash.  Indiana Mimi is one of the most non-scary people I've ever come in contact with.

Well, the good news is that we still all have our fingers, and we enjoyed the FREEDOM to celebrate how we wanted to....even if it was strange....and slightly dangerous.

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Since Flashback Friday happens to fall on a national holiday this time around, I'm skipping it this week.  I figured you might be more interested in grilling hamburgers, eating slices of watermelon and shooting fireworks with your families than sitting at the computer and reading about....oh, say...my mild obsession with Michael J. Fox and "Family Ties" in 1986.  So just like Mel shouted so appropriately, right before he lost his head in Braveheart, you have freedom this week from Flashback Friday!

I thought I might put a cute Independence Day graphic on here to create a festive mood, but finding an appropriate 4th of July graphic is about as difficult as it was to find a nice Christmas one.  Let me just say that I was not aware that the Statue of Liberty could glowand sparkle in seven different neon colors while breakdancing  or that so many buxom young cartoon women like to wrap themselves in the American flag and nothing else.

I finally settled on this one...

I like the homespun, vintage feel to this one.  I also found humor in the fact that this child has no idea that he is about to blow himself to kingdom come since he built the "4" with dynamite sticks that are larger than his torso.  How quaint.

Truly, I do wish you a very happy Independence Day.  Enjoy your time off and fun with your families and the privilege of living in such a great country!

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Every now and then I like to change things up around here.  You might be visiting today expecting to see some absurd video of Big D rapping or doing the worm, or get my latest discourse on "American Idol," or find out what my favorite movies from the 1980s were, but you're in for a big surprise today.  Today I'm going all educational on you....and it's in the middle of the summer to boot!  The reality is that here at Hilltop Academy the learning never stops.  Some days we learn that if mom is in a really bad mood, it's best not to put the answer of 3 for every single one of your summer-brush-up math problems so that you can be done and go swimming.  Other days we learn that if we are super quiet and only leave the TV volume on low that Mom might sleep until almost 9am.  But over the weekend we learned about sea life by going to the super cool Aquarium in Chattanooga...

Before I begin my educational discourse on aquatic life, there are a couple of things I'd like you to know...

1. This is not going to be very educational because I really don't know very much about aquatic life, but I like to look at it.
2. All of the photography was done by me and my puny camera and not Big D and his fancy-schmancy one (well, except for the one that I'm actually in...but he still used my puny camera).  I'm really proud of that fact because some of them turned out pretty darn well.

First, the kids stopped by the stingray petting pool, and both wanted assurance first that there was no way they could get killed like the Crocodile Hunter before they put their hands in the water.

I've never understood why people get so excited to be touching things that look like this...

I was very content to just stand back and photograph the activity.  Besides I'm pretty sure that there's some kind of rule that pregnant women should avoid touching stingrays.  I think my doctor may have mentioned that on my last visit.

Next we visited the butterfly room, which isn't sea life, but it's still a cool exhibit so I wasn't complaining.

They are pretty cooperative little buggers, aren't they?

Then we visited the penguin room where I discovered that it's next to impossible to get good pictures of penguins through glass, so I was forced to take a picture of the kids with giant fake penguins...

This was the best I could do with the real thing...

Here we have some jellyfish (and to give proper credit, Big D did help me a little in photographing these creatures)...

Harrison finding Nemo...

And then here is some kind of giant crab and the reflection of a man in a white shirt...

Here's a pretty decent shot of a friendly, smiling caiman,

A Big D...

Some seahorses...

The one on the right is pregnant, and it's MALE.  So there....one valid educational fact from yours truly.

And, finally, some type of uninhibited frog...

Before we left, I splurged and bought Peanut its first souvenir...

...a soft, little stuffed penguin.  I couldn't help it.

Well, I hope you enjoyed your uncharacteristically educational visit to my blog.  Come back anytime you need to feel enlightened!

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Thank goodness that my kids are calm, cool and collected because this past Saturday I was a nervous wreck.  We had a state TaeKwonDo tournament this weekend, and we've been a part of this sport for long enough that the traditional forms and sparring competitions don't make me want to vomit anymore.  However, both of my children have decided to compete in the extreme and free design forms competitions, which do make me want to vomit and bite my nails to the quick and smoke a pack of Marlboros. (I actually did none of those things, by the way, so please don't report me to the obstetrical police or anything.)

First, Harrison competed in the junior extreme form competition.  We really tried to encourage him to use the same form he used for the last tournament since he had to learn a brand new traditional form and perform in the demonstration, but he wouldn't because he's a little hard-headed, and he made up a new one from scratch.  If you watch the video, you'll see he gets a little stuck at one point, which was a shame because it cost him 2nd place, since he was tied after the first round.   Still, we were very proud of him and how hard he worked for this competition...

Oh, and he placed 2nd in his traditional form competition, by the way.

Next, we have Annaleigh competing in the Free Design competition.  Basically, it is a form that you make up yourself using traditional TKD moves instead of the gymnastic moves of the extreme forms.  Hers was definitely on the creative side, and she added her own dramatic flair by choosing the "Overture" from Phantom of the Opera .  Again, we were very proud of her skill and ingenuity.  She got 2nd place for this and won the gold medal for her traditional form.

Finally, here is a video of Harrison and his friend Dalton performing in the tournament's demo.  A couple of months ago, our school owner told us that our school had been chosen to handle the demo for this tournament and asked if the boys could come up with an extreme form to put on together.  So Dalton's mom (who thankfully used to be a dance choreographer and cheerleading coach) and I got to work with them (also Annaleigh helped some too).  Here's what we came up with...

I'm really not sure how many were watching this, but I will definitely venture that it was in the hundreds as the crowd was wrapped entirely around the mat.  That would have been enough to make me pass out, yet these two eight year-olds handled it with a lot of poise.   I'm very glad that Harrison got to experience a moment like this.  Annaleigh has had her fair share on the stage with her drama and dancing abilities, but it seems those with athletic abilities don't have these types of opportunities as much...not that Harrison cares all too much.

And if you're interested, one of the school instructor's posted the other half of the demo, performed by the school owners' son, on You Tube.  Click here if you'd lke to see.  His board-breaking demo is worth it!  The back view of the boys' form is at the beginning again.

Now, the next one is not until late October, so I have plenty of time to stock up on some Valium....

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This past week we bought a new sofa, which naturally started me to thinking about evolution.  Well, not Darwin's theory of evolution, but of the evolution that Big D and I have undergone through the years in being consumers of sofas.  I don't mean that we eat sofas, but that we purchase them.

So, almost seventeen years ago, Big D and I got married.  We were uncharacteristically young, and we each had nothing by way of material goods, except a closet full of clothing, to our names.  Big D had been living on his ship, the USS Sierra, and I, a college student, had been living at home with Indiana Mimi, Gigi, and Debbles.  So we needed furniture.  Imagine my surprise and delight when an associate pastor from our church told me an elderly woman had a trailer full of old furniture that was just sitting around and that we could have whatever we wanted.  For the most part, we hit the jackpot.  Big D and I were going for the country look and really liked antiques, and among the pieces was a beautiful claw-foot table and six flute-back chairs, as well as a couple of nicely upholstered wing back chairs.  The sofa, however, was a doozy....

• Yes, it is pale orange.
• Yes, it is adorned with large, dark orange peacock-like birds.
• No, I don't know why I have a cooler lid sitting on the couch next to me.
• No, I don't know what the scrap of paper says that I'm holding, but I suspect it might say, "This sofa really bites."
• No, I don't know why I chose those tortoise shell frames for my glasses or why I wore them in the picture.
• Yes, I did always feel like singing "Dream On", weaving a wreath of daisies for my hair and smoking a doobie anytime I sat on it.  OK...not really....at least not the part about the doobie.
• Yes, that's the claw-foot dining table and flute-back chairs in the back ground.  We still have that table, which we use for a side table in our dining room.
• And, finally, yes, we do have cinder block walls because we were living in the married dorms of my college.

Ugh....is that not the ugliest sofa you've ever seen?!  Yet, we were thankful for a free place to sit for a year or so.

For our first anniversary we bought this familiar piece of furniture....

I say "familiar" because if you're a regular reader of this blog, then you've seen this sofa many times, as we still owned it until last weekend.  In recent years it was in our family room/loft where we do a lot of our school reading.  Most recently it was the site where I pancaked a tutu and lived to tell about it.

For many years, the above was our only sofa, but when we moved to TN almost seven years ago, we bought a house with two living areas.  For the first couple of years, the plaid sofa was in the downstairs living area, while our loft was housed with not much of anything, except some beanbags and such, until we bought this...

...our denim furniture! (Please ignore the random stuffed animals on the floor.  My kids were making them play a baseball game, and the photo is from a previous post of mine.)  This sofa is super-comfortable, being the squishy, slipcover style, but we've been a little dissatisfied with how slouchy looking it gets.  We've thought for a long time that it would be a better fit for our loft where the TV is and school happens, and we've been looking at more formal options for the living area.  Also, recently a certain reader and blogger friend mistook the armrest of this sofa for my hind parts (see the comment section), so I drug the whole thing into the yard, sprayed it down with four cans of AquaNet, and threw a match on it.  OK, not really.  It's now upstairs in the loft, but I swear I will never pose in front of that sofa again.  Never.  Never ever.

Well, this week we finally settled on this...

I'm sort of going for the Pottery Barn look, but I see now that Bridget, her green ball, and random magazines that are on the floor ruin that effect.  The green water bottle that I left on the stairs for spraying Ripley for getting on the new sofa doesn't help any either.  And  I think it's safe to say, that unless I'm ever wearing tight brown leather pants, there is no way that the armrest or any part of this sofa, could be mistaken for my rear anatomy.

Thanks for tolerating this somewhat bizarre look at my furniture tastes and purchases over the years.  Do you have any memories that you'd like to share?  Sign-up with Mr. Linky below with a link to your post, so that we can all come share with you....

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Crud....I have "blogger's block."  It is not that we don't have plenty going on in our lives right now.  That, unfortunately, is NEVER the case around here.  And I do really enjoy using this blog to sometimes chronicle the everyday events in our lives...especially for family members that we don't get to see on a regular basis.  Yet sometimes I desire to break away from that and just blog from the heart.  I like to yap about homeschooling, or dish on a good book that I read, or review a movie.  But tonight as I sit in front of my computer screen, I have none of that.

My empty-headedness led me to browse through some picture galleries on my computer, and because I have nothing better to say now, I have chosen some of these to post and explain....if that's possible.

Up first we have a weird face with a whipped cream nose by Harrison...

This was taken at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant on Annaleigh's birthday a couple of years ago.

Then we have a good friend of ours, Mary, sporting a pair of Elvis glasses that she did not buy...

Mary is an aspiring Christian music artist, who came to visit us and record an album a couple of years ago.  I actually had nothing to do with the taking of this photo, but apparently she uploaded her pictures to my computer, so I have no choice but to post one.  To compensate her, please visit her website by clicking here, and listen to some of her music.  She really is very talented!

Here is a shot of the kids completing their favorite chore of all-time:  picking up dog poop from the back yard.

As you can see, they never pass up an opportunity to pose.

This is a picture of Harrison's teeth...

...when he's been eating chocolate ice cream.

This is a picture of Indiana Mimi twirling her napkin in the air at a character breakfast in Disney World...

I don't know what to say about that except that she is a very zealous person.

This is a couple that I don't know...

We briefly met them at a restaurant around Christmas time.  They were from Texas and had forgotten their camera.  I immediately volunteered to take a picture of them and e-mail it to them.  They agreed, and I promptly forgot about it....until this evening when I was browsing my picture gallery.  I have no earthly idea where their e-mail address is, so....Dear Texan couple, if you happen to ever stumble on this blog and see your attractive faces here, please e-mail me, and I will be glad to send you the file for this lovely picture.

Here is a rather rude giraffe that stuck his tongue out at me...

This is a photo of Annaleigh climbing a rock wall...

...but what I really wanted you to see was the ornate hairstyle that I created that day.  It is called the fish bone braid.  This will be featured in the hairstyle book that I am putting out someday called, Hilltop Hair.  Look for it in stores soon!

And, finally, this is Indiana Mimi's dining room table covered with a variety of flavors of Hershey Kisses...

The legs under the table belong to Ma (Big D's mom) and Indiana Mimi.  We all went to Wal-mart one evening before Christmas and were amazed and overwhelmed at all the flavors of this candy that had appeared seemingly overnight.  We had no choice but to conduct a taste test.  We discovered that the truffle flavors were not so hot, but we quite enjoyed the toffee and the candy cane varieties.  However, do not store the candy cane flavors with the others or everything will taste minty.

Here ends this rather riveting piece on the hidden gems I often find in my computer picture galleries.  (Please leave me a comment and tell me what in the heck to blog about before I post something else as ridiculous as this...please!)

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When Annaleigh was five, something weird happened.  We gave her a Cinderella party because she pretty much was obsessed with this princess at the time.  She watched the movie weekly.  We read books about her.  She had the doll.  We traveled to Orlando, Florida to visit her castle and meet her at breakfast.  It was a crazy time.

So, anyway, we had this party, and in the invitation we told the attendees they could dress up, if they wanted to.  All the girls came fully decked out in their princess garb.  All the boys came in their jean shorts and tee-shirts and were probably not all too clean.  All but one.  This guy....

He comes in a little tuxedo and bearing a corsage for the party princess.  It looks like they were going to a little mini-prom doesn't it?  Well, we did what any over-protective parents would do....we sold our home and moved out of the state.  And that's a true story!

Here in Tennessee, we've managed to avoid the romance department so far.  Well, until this guy came along...

Frankly, I'm not sure what she sees in him.  I mean he's not exactly a looker.  However, he's been causing her to dress like this....

and go around in a constant swoon...

and declare her love in the most ridiculous fashion...

Oh, c'mon..."Your form is beautiful!"  "He doth teach the stars to sing."  Who does she think she is...Shakespeare?!

Anyway, it looks like another move is in the works for us.  I'm looking at Maine.  Anyone know anything about Maine?  Anyone?  How about Oregon?

(***Disclaimer***  Just in case you hadn't figured this out by now, this entire post is tongue-in-cheek.  Annaleigh was recently cast as Titania in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, and this was just my attempt to chronicle her time at drama camp as the fairy queen who falls for the donkey-headed Bottom/Pyramus and to tease my pre-teen daughter who will eventually read this and be mortified.  But that's what blogging parents do, right?  She was actually pretty fed up by the young man who played her opposite, saying he acted fairly obnoxious during rehearsals.  Well, what can you expect from an ass?  Now, if I can just convince her that all people of the opposite sex are thus for the next...oh, say...twenty years then we can just stay here in our fair state of TN.)

So, got anything for us to share this week?  Sign in below and flashback with us...

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16 weeks?!  Can that be right?  Hasn't it been more like 26 weeks.....or even 36 weeks?  I know it probably doesn't seem that long to you, but for us who are living it, it is crawling.

Well, the good news is that I'm finally feeling much better.  Food is good again, and to prove it I up and gained two pounds.  I think the Dove chocolate ice cream bars that Big D brought home last week finally pushed me over the edge.  Thankfully, they are expensive, so we will not be purchasing them often.  I am trying to keep my weight gain under or around 20 pounds...not because my doctor told me to (he didn't), but just because I'm 35 and have already discovered that losing extra weight is comparable to climbing Mt. Everest in the difficulty department.  So far, so good as I didn't gain anything during the first trimester.

I am still tired a lot, but not quite so much as before.  Since it's summer I've just been sleeping in a little when I can, which makes getting through the day a little easier...especially during my mid-afternoon slump.  I'm also drinking a cup of coffee in the morning or the afternoon now sometimes, and that helps as well.

Peanut is doing just fine.  I've heard the heartbeat three times now, and every time it was strong, regular and a little on the fast side (does that mean "girl"?).  We had a scare around 12 weeks where I had some spotting off and on for about 24 hours, but my doctor had me run in and everything checked out fine.  Then here we are four weeks later, and that hasn't recurred at all.  Praise the Lord!  I'm also feeling little fluttery movements now from time to time.

I think I have things picked out that I want for the nursery.  We're going gender-neutral, of course, since we aren't finding out what "it" is.  The bedding I like is a black toile pattern, and we're going with a dark espresso finish on the furniture, with some of Big D's black and white photography as wall decorations.  I'm leaning toward a light sage green for the walls.  I think it will look very classy...at least that's what I'm hoping for!

As for names, I was hoping to get some of your opinions on the matter.  For a girl, I think we are pretty set on Madelynn but haven't decided on the middle name.  What do you think?....

• Madelynn Rose (this is my personal favorite...I just think it sounds the best)
• Madelynn Clare (for one of my grandmother's sisters)
• Madelynn Amy (for Big D's older sister)

And then for boys we're really stumped!  I think the only boy name I really and truly like is Harrison, and well, we've already used that one.  Here are a few of the front runners....

• Gabriel Paul or Eric (Paul is Big D's and Harrison's middle names and Pa's first name.  Eric is Big D's older brother's name.)
• Jameson Paul or Eric
• Nathaniel Paul or Eric

Personally, I've been pulling for Jack Baur Sparrow, but Big D is having none of that.  I also mentioned Xavier Raymond, because then I would just call him X-Ray, but again Big D and company just blew me off.  What is wrong with these people?  Don't they know a good name when they hear one?

Let me know in the comments section which ones you like.  Don't tell me if you hate all of them because that's just not nice...especially to a pregnant lady.

Oh, and here's what I'm looking like these days....

The top I'm wearing naturally kind of flares out at the bottom, but I think you can see my new little baby bump sticking out there.  I also think you can see a little white deodorant on my black shirt, but I'm hoping that's just the lighting since this photo was snapped before we went out for the evening.

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I think that over the past almost two years that I've been blogging  I've made it pretty clear that we are not a normal family.  We do some pretty strange things...a lot!  This past Father's Day was no exception.

Most families that I know got up, went to church, took their Dad out to eat or made them their favorite meal and gave them a gift and/or card.  That is the normal way to celebrate.  We got up, went to church, left right after Sunday school to drive 2.5 hours to Owensburg, KY to eat at the Moonlite BBQ joint, and then we drove 2.5 hours back home.  Why did we do this?  Because Big D wanted to, that's why.  We did something similar last year, and somehow I feel a sort of weird, twisted tradition coming on.

There they are, father and children, in front of our destination.  It was a good place to eat, but with us that's not really the point.  The experience is the thing.  However, I would particularly recommend the creamed corn, but then you have to keep in mind that I'm in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy and everything is tasting especially good right now.

This next picture actually has nothing directly related to this post, but I just wanted to show it to you.

Someday I am going to have to do a post entirely dedicated to Harrison's sleeping habits in the car.  I cannot even begin to tell you how many photos we have of this child sleeping on car trips, and every time he is in a different position.  It's really sort of fascinating.  Sort of.

The kids did go the more traditional route with a gift...

We found these big mugs at a crafts store that you could decorate, and we did ours with rub-ons, and then filled it with a gift card and some favorite treats and goodies.  Annaleigh inscribed the bottom...

...and Harrison helped with the card.

Oh, and we also got him a 32" flat-screen HDTV with a 7 speaker home theater sound system.  Normally we are not so extravagant, but we had been planning on getting one anyway soon, and it seemed very Father's Day-ish....even though Big D is probably the person who is the very least concerned with the TV in our household.

So, what was the very first thing we watched on our new system?

Why, an episode from season 5 of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", of course.  And Big D didn't even join us as he is not a big fan of this show.  As a matter of fact, if he ever does watch it with us, he usually just laughs through it, so we usually veto his presence.  But don't worry...the TV will get plenty of Big D usage during football season.

So how did YOU celebrate Father's Day?  Please, please tell me that you drove to visit the Empire State Building from somewhere west of the Mississippi!  It would make me feel oh-so-much better and ever-so-much more normal.

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The lady of the house around here is calling for occasional guest writers now because she just can't seem to get it together nowadays to blog regularly.  So I, the lone canine in the household, am up first.

Recently, my old bed was getting a little flat.  I'd had it about two years and had pretty much squished the squishiness out of it.  My people didn't seem to notice how low to the floor I was getting, so I did what I had to do to get their attention and to get some new sleeping arrangements.  I peed on it.  I didn't just tinkle....I let loose my whole bladder so that it soaked right through to the pitiful, flat pad, which can't be washed.  They had no choice but to buy me a new bed.

I waited anxiously for the bed's arrival.  Imagine my surprise when they laid this baby on me....

I've always had just a large bed in the past.  But this time, for some reason, my people bought the extra-large variety.  I can really stretch out on this bed, and my long legs still never hit the floor. 

Another plus is the crushed red velvet material.  Wow...pure luxury!  I guess since I'm getting on in years, they've decided to pamper the old gal a bit.  But I just have one question....and be honest.  Does red make me look fat?

However, there are some drawbacks to my new digs...

Drawback #1....

And drawback #2...

Bummer.  (And it's quite obvious that red makes both of them look fat.  Wait a minute....they just really are fat!)

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Basically, pancaking a tutu involves taking a large, elasticized ball of tulle, which I guess you could say is more in the popcorn or dumpling state, and using needle and thread to turn it into more of a pancake shape.  It also involves frustration, tears and suicidal thoughts.

Annaleigh has been taking ballet lessons for seven years, and I have yet to be required to pancake a tutu.  She has worn tutus as part of her costumes before, but for some reason they already came pancaked, I guess.  Why this one didn't, I don't know.  Actually, I'm not even sure why ballerinas are required to wear tutus.  I guess it's along the same line of reasoning as male dancers wearing such tight leotards that it looks like they have live squirrels stuffed in their drawers (and to give credit where it's due, I borrowed that colorful analogy from an old Dave Berry article, but I've always thought it to be scarily accurate).

Regardless of the "why's",  Annaleigh came home from ballet class in late April carrying this large ball of white tulle and proceeded to tell me that I was required to pancake it.  The teacher had apparently given them oral instructions in class to pass on to their mothers.  Obviously, she is not the parent of a pre-teen girl, because Annaleigh's instructions to me went a little something like this:  "Well, first you get a piece of thread about so long (she demonstrates with her hands) and then you sew through all the layers, and then you......Well, I can't really remember if you cut it and knot it there or not.  Oh well... anyway, then you sew through just about three of the layers and then cut it and knot it...maybe.  It's supposed to go diagonal.  Oh yeah...and always start from the bottom.  And you just go all the way around.  And it's supposed to be about three inches thick when you're done."  I went to bed that night and cried my hormonal self to sleep.

And then I procrastinated.  I waited until two days before her recital, and then finally I sat down with my popcorned tutu, determined to transform it into a pancaked tutu.  Annaleigh sits on the couch beside me and says, "Ya' know Mom, my teacher really wanted to see the tutu finished before the recital.  She said if it wasn't pancaked correctly, that we'd have to rip it out and do it over again."  I gritted my teeth and said, "Oh yeah?  I'd like to see her make me."  Annaleigh then decided to just go read in her room.

Here I am mid-pancake with a look of utter frustration and consternation on my face...

 Right after this picture was taken I burst into tears and shoved the whole stinkin' tutu into a paper shredder.

Not really.  But only because I don't own a paper shredder.

Actually, when all was said and done, somehow I got that stinkin' tutu pancaked.  See....

Annaleigh's look on her face denotes embarrassment over having to pose like this in our front yard when people were driving by and staring....not dissatisfaction over her tutu.  She was actually quite pleased with her tutu, and only said once that her teacher might have me do it over again, to which I again gritted my teeth and said, "I'd like to see her try and make me."

And to think, that a few years ago I used to think this was difficult....

I can now do those buns in my sleep.  I guess in a few years I might be able to pancake a tutu in my sleep as well.  But I kinda hope not.

Finally, here is the tutu in action....

Not bad, if I do say so myself.....and I mean that for the ballerinas and my tutu!

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It is past 2am here (I'm back to drinking a bit of coffee again now and then), and I have been playing Spider Solitaire for about an hour, waiting for inspiration to hit me for my flashback.  Nothing.  Nothing...well, except a few frustrating electronic card games.  Usually I know what I'm going to blog about for Friday a few days in advance, and I will begin to hunt for any old pictures that need to be scanned, get permission from my family to post their retro photos (again, not really...but it sounds good), and sometimes even begin to write the entry early on Thursday.  But not this week.  Nothing historical was coming to me.  Nothing.

And now my caffeine high is wearing off a bit, and I need to drag my body to bed.  So I am not flashing back today.  I'm sorry.  Yet if you have something you want to share and have been waiting all week for Flashback Friday (ha, ha), then I thought I'd go ahead and post the Mr. Linky box.  See? Here it is....

 Later today (or this weekend) I may do a highly intriguing post about my recent experience with pancaking a tutu.  You won't want to miss it!  And then I will be thinking intently about next week's Flashback Friday piece, and I will try to come up with something riveting....but don't hold your breath.

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Before I get to this review, I just wanted to tell you all how much I've missed hanging around this site.  I miss blogging more regularly.  I miss reading your blogs.  I miss conversing back and forth with some of you.  But I have just been busy.  And tired.  I'm in my second trimester now and while I have a modest amount of more energy, I would still rather take a nap than win the lottery.  Hopefully soon I will be back to normal.  Ha!  What am I thinking?!  My life will never be normal again....but I think you knew what I meant.

OK, now on with the review...

Brief Synopsis (with no spoilers...I promise!):  Man...this is a bit tough to summarize, but I'll do my best.  The movie opens with an aging Indiana Jones being brought by force by a group of Russians to a military warehouse in remote Nevada in the 1950s.  They are led by the villainous Irina Spalko played smartly by Cate Blanchett and are hoping to find the remains of some kind of space creature that crashed years before.  Jones escapes, of course, only to find out later that the college where he teaches is giving him a leave of absence because of some complications with his dealings with the Russians (remember...it's set in the 50s!).  On his way out of town, he's detained by a young "greaser" named Mutt Williams played by Shia LeBeouf, who tells him that Jones' old colleague and Williams' mother are being held captive in Peru and that it has something to do with a crystal skull that he unearthed there.  Needless to say, the same group of Russians are also interested in said skull, and thus we have the makings of an iconic Indiana Jones flick.

Why I went to see it:  Good grief!  Why wouldn't I?  It is Indiana Jones after all, and it has been 19 years since the last one after all.  I love the 1st and 3rd IJ movies.  I don't like the 2nd, Temple of Doom so much.  After reading several reviews, it was mostly touted as much better than ToD, so we decided that we'd see it.

Why you MIGHT want to see it:  If you have seen the others, you might as well see this one.  It is pretty good.  I was especially relieved to see that they allowed Indy to age along with Harrison Ford.  It would have been disappointing to see him still womanizing, still acting like a 40 year-old when he's obviously in the grandfather stage.  Yet, it would have been even more disappointing if he hadn't still had the same swagger and confidence that movie audiences had grown to love two decades ago.  The movie keeps the balance.  It has all the frights and thrills and cliff-hangers (literally!) that we've grown accustomed to with the original trilogy.  You won't leave the theater a changed person or with much to think on in a deeper realm, but it's a good popcorn flick.  I also believe that it is the cleanest film of the whole franchise, as I guess the makers thought Indy was too old for his former suggested bed-romping.  Just for the record, we're letting our kids see this one.

Why you MIGHT NOT want to see it:  It is rated PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images.  There is a scene with some large CGI ants that could be particularly disturbing for kids.  For the most part though, everything else is along the same lines as the original trilogy as far as scary images and violence goes.  There's also some language, but most of what I heard was uttered during intense action sequences, and I always find that not as noticeable.  The plot IS very different from your typical Indiana Jones movie, but I can't really go into it much without spoiling it for you.  I know some major fans, and they were a bit disappointed with the ending.

Will you die if you don't see it?: No, fan or not, I think it's safe to say that you won't, but you'll probably be glad that you saw it in the end.

A good substitute:  Honestly, I don't think anything compares with Raiders or Crusade.  However, when I saw the first National Treasure movie I thought it was in the same ballpark.  The second was just as good.

Let me know if you see it and what you thought about it!

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This is a picture of my grandma (mine and Debbles' kids always called her "Gigi"), Debbles and me in about 1986.  Oh, yes....and I'm holding our dog, Bonnie, and Debbles is holding three Pound Puppies (anyone remember Pound Puppies?!?).

Gigi lived with our family from the time I was about two years-old, so I actually can't even remember life without her with us.  It proved to be providential after my parents' divorce because my mom had to go back to work, and Gigi's being there prevented me and Debbles from becoming latchkey children after school.  It also prevented mine and Debbles' early demises since we probably would have killed one another if left alone for too long.

I always loved to hear stories about Gigi's family when she was young.  If I ever write a book, it will probably be a fiction-based-on-truth novel about her family.  She came from a family of eleven children, growing up in Depression area, rural Arkansas.  Every time she shared a story or tidbit from this time, it was like opening a window to the past for me.  I know they were a very poor family, but the stories she shared were rich with character, life and love, and I was always a captive audience.

Gigi passed away in April of 2003, and she was buried next to her husband, who died a couple of years before I was born, and her son, who died when I was just a couple of months old.  It is a little cemetery in her hometown, where almost all of her large family is buried.

This past Monday, for Memorial Day, Big D had the idea to drive to Arkansas to visit her grave, since we haven't been back since the funeral.  It was a crazy idea really, but we did it anyway.  Four and half hours there and the same coming back.  All in one day.  Whew!

First, we stopped to visit Gigi's oldest sibling, Henry, who since a stroke a couple of years ago, has been in a nursing home.  He's 92 and the only brother that's still living.

This was actually a very sad visit.  Just five years ago at Gigi's funeral, he was still such a vibrant, feisty man.  Thankfully, he did know my mom, although he got a little confused towards the end and thought she was Gigi.

Then we made our way to Hartsoe Cemetery where we first paid our respects to my grandparents.

The cemetery places flags on all of the veterans' graves.  My grandfather was a veteran of the army in WWII.  Like I said, I never knew him, but Indiana Mimi likes to tell the stories of how he swam in Mussolini's swimming pool after the Italian take-over and how he was the only survivor of his tank which was hit by a grenade.

To the left of their plot is where my Uncle Larry, Indiana Mimi's only sibling, is buried.  He died tragically at the young age of only 23.  Harrison is apparently his look-alike.  All of my grandma's living sisters always gasp and tear up when they see him because he looks so much like him.  Even my Uncle Henry saw the resemblance when we visited him.  At one point he was staring at Harrison, and he said, "I sure do like that boy.  Looks like Larry."