A Very "Harry" Weekend

I'm finally back to posting after a packed weekend with tons of activities, a lot of reading, and very little sleep.

On Friday I took Lydia, Megan and Grif to Jump Zone for some highly entertaining bouncing and sliding. Jump Zone is a place that has about 7 inflatable bounce houses with everything from slides to obstacle courses. The kids, as well as I, had a blast. The only down side was the fact that a lot of people thought to bring there rugrats there that day and there were quite a few that seemed to have no manners whatsoever. As for the 3 that I took, yep you're right, they were angels. I love these kids.

Friday night we had FX at the church which is a sort of family worship experience. The after dinner activity for the night was making table top corn hole games and enjoying ice cream sundaes. It was pretty cool and kept us, well me, occupied so time went fast before the big Grand Hallows Ball at our local bookstore.

Yes, that's right, Friday night was the big release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Every bookstore was having some type of extravaganza before the big release. Jenny, Monica and the kids, Lydia and I all sprinted over there after FX. They were having a costume contest, so I dressed Lydia up as Ginny Weasley. She looked great if I do say so myself. Considering the number of people who came up and commented or took pictures I wasn't the only one to think this. While we were getting her costume we also got Meg and Grif some items. Considering that Lydia had had a pretty full day, not to mention the pretty full week, already she did great as we were waiting for the book. I finally got my copy at around 12:35am and then the race was on to get home and start reading. Lydia most definitely fell asleep on the way home and was a little disoriented when we got there. As soon as I had her safely tucked away I dove into the book.

I know there are a lot of mixed reviews about the book, but I for one loved it. I read it so fast and was anxious through most of it that I really need to read it again for its full effect. But, yes, it was definitely worth the wait. I stayed up until 3am that night and read a little in the morning before Lydia woke up, but then I was a good aunt and spent the day watching movies with her and having what she called a "lazy" day. I finished the book last night after I got back home from dropping her off to my parents.

All in all it was a great week. I know Lydia was worn out and the feeling is mutual! I had a blast and wouldn't trade it for the world but now I'm ready to get back to some routine and regular sleep!

Day 2 or Like Chocolate for Vomit

Today was the big spa day for Whacked Out Wednesdays. This was the girls only day and it ended up being pretty nice. We gave the girls the whole pampering treatment including manicures, pedicures and facials. We even had a chocolate fountain with many fun things to dip. The young ladies also decorated their own flip flops as a little take-away. They all seemed to have a great time and are already on their way to enjoying the many finer things of life. The chocolate fountain was definitely a hit although it will come to play a nasty part further along in our story.




After the spa day Lydia was invited to have tea with Sarah and her little sister Hydia. (I'm not sure about the spelling there.) This was a hoot with the girls and Sarah was pretty thorough with trying to teach them the proper etiquette of tea. There were miniature everything including PB&J sandwiches on homemade bread. (Way to go Sarah!)


After tea Lydia and I headed back to the house for her to pack up an overnight bag as she was spending the night with our cousin Kat. Here's where the story goes from fun-filled day to vomit filled car. Lydia said her head was hurting so we decided it would be best for her to lie down for a little while when we got home. On the way home she became more than a little car sick and ended up emptying the contents of her stomach on the floor of my car. She promptly said, "Oh I feel better now except for the bad taste in my mouth." I got her home, into the shower and cleaned off before I started on my car. From here on out I will not fill you in on the gory details other than to say I might possibly be using a whole bottle of Febreze this weekend. A little while later Lydia was asking for food because her "stomach felt empty." Ya think?! She wanted carrots, she got Saltines. She also decided that she didn't think she could think or even talk about chocolate for awhile.



Lydia is now over at our cousin's house spending the night because I have to work all day tomorrow. Jackie just laughed and laughed. I guess after having 6 kids you can find the humor in vomit. I, however, am going to have to take a couple days to get there I think, or at least until the smell has somewhat dissipated. Ah well. That's what aunts are for right...to get nieces so sick on chocolate and then let them puke all over your car. It's a good thing she's so cute and lovable!

So it begins...

The Big Entertain My Niece & Tire Her Out So I Can Stay Up For 48 Hours Straight Reading H/P Week (as Sarah as so deemed it) has begun. I went up this afternoon to Columbus to pick her up and got to spend most of the day with my brother and his family. It was a pretty uneventful day as we just strolled one of malls up there and hung out. The highlight of the day was Cameron being discovered. I was chasing Cameron across the mall which he personally thought was hysterical (he's a fast little guy) so he was laughing and screaming and wanting to do it over and over again. The area that we were doing this in the mall was right in front of a picture studio. So the people working came out after awhile of watching it and asked if they could take his (and the other kids as well) picture for free and then Jason and Carie would receive a free 8x10. I know it's all to lure one in so they get you to actually buy more pics but it was entertaining and the pictures were amazing. How could they not be with subjects like this...







They are pretty stinking cute if I do say so myself. And Cameron was a ham during the time of getting his pictures taken! And, yes, I'm pretty sure Jason and Carie were lured in and are planning to buy some of the pics taken. After seeing them and how good they were I would too. Hopefully I'll have those to show in a future blog.


Lydia couldn't wait to leave to come back to Cincinnati. She kept asking when we were going to go home so that was cool. On the way home we stopped for some Skyline which is one of her favorites and she declared this day one of her best. Hopefully they will just go up from here. Tomorrow is the spa day with the elementary girls which should prove entertaining so Lydia is already in bed dreaming of it right now. And since Aunt Megan has to be up and moving extra early for tomorrow she's heading off to bed now as well.

Happenings

So this weekend I saw the infamous and "darkest" Harry Potter film. Of course it was dark, most of the film is shot in dungeons, and basements, and Grimmauld Place. Doesn't lend much for sunlight coming in does it? Anyway, this was definitely my favorite of the HP saga, which is saying something because it's my least favorite book (mainly because she kills off my favorite character and Harry is grumpy through the whole thing!) It's funny though because all of the kids who I've talked to hated it because they feel like it cut out too much. To them I say, it was an 870 page book, what do you expect a 20 hour movie? All of the adults I've talked to though have loved it and that seems to be the theme.


My favorite parts were when we entered Prof Umbridge's very pink and kitten strewn office because the reaction of LB sitting next to me cringing and gasping was classic. My other favorite part actually came after the movie when we all were visiting the restroom and a 13 year old (if that) starting talking to us about the movie and telling us that she had just returned from London and was able to visit the Creaky Cauldron that was so cool and etc, etc, etc. Again, I'm pretty sure that it was funny to me because of LB's reaction. Again, classic!

So now I'm totally excited for Friday when the book comes out. Yes, I will be one of those people picking it up at midnight with Jenny and my niece in tow.

Speaking of which, I'm pretty excited because my niece is coming down to stay with me this week. This is a picture of her with my mom. I'm meeting up with my bro and his family tomorrow to retrieve her. Since the boys have been born I really haven't gotten too much one on one time with her so I'm really looking forward to this. I think she might be more looking forward that on Thursday she gets to spend the whole day with our cousin Kat while I'm at work but either way I know I'm going to have a blast with her. On Wednesday we're doing a spa day for the girls in the elementary on the Westside which Lydia, of course, will be coming to. I'll be sure to post some pics after that because we are doing facials with cucumbers on the eyes. It should be a hoot! If anyone has some other cool ideas about what to do with a 9 year old in Cincinnati be sure to let me know. Until then...

Really?! Really?!

Okay, I might have seen it all now...unfortunately I probably haven't though!

Check it out for yourself...

http://omg.yahoo.com/from-hollywood-to-holy-word/news/900

I don't even have words for this.

Addendum to "We are Family"

Yes, two blogs in one day!

So it was noticed in my blog of "We are Family" that I didn't happen to mention my cousins on my mom's side. This is NOT because they are not great and loving and all of that. It's just that they all grew up states away.

But because I was reminded of this by someone who shall remain not so nameless...ahem look in the comments section...I wanted to give a shout out to one of them.

Nathan is one of my cousins on my mom's side. He is currently working for PBT with his beautiful wife Lindsay and their daughter Addy and one more daughter on the way! Nathan is one of those great guys to have around...he's passionate about Jesus, fun loving and absolutely hysterical! If you want to read any of his blogs you can link to him through my page. It's definitely worth the read.

Books, Movie and other Media

Yes, I'm finally back blogging again after about a week's hiatus. I guess I'm still getting used to deciding what to blog about and what not to. Anyway, I was reading the comics this morning and found this one which I loved and wanted to share...

Okay, there are a number of reasons why I love this comic, the first and foremost being the excitement Pasquel has about going to the library regardless of whether it is in the summer or not. If you know me, you know that I have a love affair with books which is the only reason I worked at the downtown library as long as I did. This started when I was about the age of these kiddos and my mom would take my brother and me to the library all the time. Books were considered treats to us. I kind of lost the reading excitement during college when reading became an educational requirement instead of for fun, but now that I've graduated the love of it has returned.

This summer is a good one for reading enthusiasts with the obvious pending release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I can't wait...yes, I'm a nerd. There is a part of me that is also really dreading it though. This is not because of worrying whether or not Rowling is going to kill of Harry or not, but more for the fact that a great series is going to be over. Stephen King wrote an article in the latest Entertainment Weekly about the emotions of finishing a really good book and how they're tied in with memories as part of your family and life. It was pretty good and pretty accurate.

While Harry Potter ranks up there with some of my favorite fiction books (I'll save nonfiction for another blog), my all time favorite is reserved for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...are you noticing a theme with me and British authors? Now I haven't read all of her books but I am definitely a huge fan of Miss Austen which is why this summer is getting even better. Not only are good books coming out (see above paragraph) but great movies are as well. Yes, I mean Harry Potter 5, but more so, I mean Becoming Jane. This movie is going to be out in August and it's basically a bio of her life. *** Thank you Jen for turning me on to this piece of information. Just out of curiosity what are some of your favorite books and movies?

So I've talked about books and movies. I'm guessing you're wondering what the other media is...NEWS. Can someone please tell me what happened to it? This past week I've gotten to see the morning news a lot, much more than in recent years. As I was flipping through the three main stations most of it was devoted to the morning concerts each one of them was having. I realize this was Friday, but seriously, each one has to have a concert. I thought I might be judging too harshly off of one viewing so I decided to watch some more this week and basically it's the same...fluff pieces about what to pack for summer and how to pack for weekend trips and yada yada yada. I don't mind these pieces once in awhile, but really, do they have to dominate. What happened to the news when I was a kid where we watched the Berlin Wall coming down or the tragic story of the Challenger? Alright, I'll get off my soapbox now and be done with this edition of Notes from the Westside...cue music.

We are Family

So this weekend I got to go to an open house for one of my younger cousins. A lot of family made the trek to the 'Nati for the occasion and I was reminded how lucky I am to be blessed with the family I am. I actually have quite a big extended family on both sides. On my dad's side, which is the one I grew up around, I was one of the youngest. I can remember my older cousins babysitting me and my brother, and taking us places, and really investing a lot of time in us. They always felt more like brothers and sisters than cousins and eventually as we grew older we became more like friends.

Other than feeling really old at the open house, since I remember when Samantha was born and watching her grow up, it was really cool to have that same feeling now with their kids. A lot of them I babysat and took places and invested time in. And now they're growing into wonderful young adults and I'm getting to know them on a whole other level. The bonus of that is that they are hilarious.

I used to think that all families were like this. Through my job I've realized that slowly we're fading into the minority. And that's why I feel totally blessed to have people who surround me that are funny and caring, who can get mad at me because of the stupid choices I make but love me anyway, and who I know would, if I ever needed anything, be there in a heartbeat. Yep, that's my family and I know I am one lucky girl!