Rock Band.....watch out!!!

Last weekend was a busy weekend and I have something really important to write about, but not right now.

Last Friday, we headed to Circuit City to buy Rock Band. This was a big decision because we fell in love with Guitar Hero at Craig and Susan's house New Years Eve. How much fun can 30-somethings have on NYE? Well.....whip out the guitar and see for yourself!

I love music, but knew I would pretty much suck.....and I didn't. I even "rocked" a time or two. It takes a while to acclimate to the whole thing, but once you get it, you've got it.

We wanted Guitar Hero terribly. We were patient and didn't run out New Years Day to buy it--aren't you proud? Russ talked with a guy at work who said Rock Band was fun--AND it had a microphone and a drum kit along with the guitar. The fun just multiplied in my eyes.

We pondered, but not for long, and sucked it up and bought Rock Band. Drove home, put Riley straight to bed, and when I came down, Russ had it set up. Amazing! Robbye & Mike were in town and they came over with Thomas & Karol. We played until after midnight, which is late for a teacher lady/mommy like me and especially Robbye!! We all took turns singing, drumming, and strumming and I enjoyed every moment. We all played long enough to get "good" at it My mother in law even tried the drums and the guitar. Mike sang "Mississippi Queen" and from now on I'll think of him whenever I hear it.

Who would've ever thought I would be in a band with my husband and go on tour? Ha! Look for us in your town--The O'Mellies. Maybe I'll tell you where the heck we got that name in another post!

(I feel like a professional....on "easy" that is. I should be ready for "medium" in a few months!)

13 Dresses

I'm not a movie girl like Tina, but I do love a movie when I can get away. R, T, and I went to see 27 Dresses last night. It was cute, a perfect girl's getaway movie. R said, "She looks good in all of them," referring to Katherine Higl looking gorgeous in every ugly bridesmaid dress she put on, and it's absolutely true!

Between the 3 of us, we've donned 13 bridesmaid dresses!

Juno

Russ and I went to see Juno yesterday. I loved it and he liked it. It's funny to me how I can want to see a movie and have absolutely no clue what it's about--that's what I did with this one. I wasn't disappointed.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this little Ellen Page cutie--she was so quick-witted I could probably see the movie again and catch some more great things from her.

Mom came to babysit and they had a great time without us. Mimi and G were so shocked at how much our little guy has "grown up" in the two weeks it's been since they've seen him. He knows his colors, he's counting ("one, two, pies, six"), and has mastered some alphabet cards we have (like a puzzle where he puts in the missing letters).

We went to Fuddruckers afterwards and he sat with Mimi and G, not between us. It was his first time not sitting in a high chair--a little too much freedom for me! He sat in a booster between them. He would spontaneously hug them both and it was the sweetest thing to see. Them he realized he could hug them both at the same time by pulling them into him. It was too cute:

Little guy is waking up upstairs. Now begins my morning of:

*convincing Riley he needs a clean diaper,

*carrying Dog downstairs (his blanket),

*milk

*TWO (don't even ask....it started with Skittles and the Advent calendar and yes, he's hooked. He still asks for them upon awakening in the morning or naptime. I think it's "two" because I forgot to start the Advent calendar on Dec. 1st and I said, "open drawer 2." So......there's the short version--ha!)

*A-yard or Agains--which is "Backyardigans" and we have 15 episodes stored on the DVR. He gets to watch them in the mornings. Believe it or not, the first name he's attempted is Uniqua, which is the hardest, I think.

Off I go. Happy Sunday. Pics later, I promise.

My Bunco Girls

Yes, I say "mine" 'cause they are. They're mine.

I hosted Bunco at my house on Tuesday. It's a lot of work cooking for 12 little ladies, but I love it because I love them!! I love cooking, but I really love cooking soups. So...somehow and I couldn't be happier about it) I started whipping up two different kinds of soups when my girls came over. Over the years, we've had:

Mexican Wastebasket Stew

Potato Soup

Cream of Zucchini Soup

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Tortilla Soup

and surely there are more......

Sonia loves Potato, Norah loves Creamy Broccoli, and Tina loves Tortilla (Martha Stewart's recipe is her favorite version, though I do have many). I have a hard time choosing--I always like to try new recipes, but the oldies are always good!

Somehow (and I'm thrilled again) we also started wearing our pajamas to my house for Bunco....so the annual tradition of Soup and PJ Bunco at my house was born.

Yes, I do host in the winter and it is supposed to be cold....but this is Texas y'all. The last few years I remember wearing my cozy, warm, winter pajamas and it's almost 80 degrees outside. NOT soup and p.j. weather AT ALL. This year was perfect. It was nice and cold and it even started raining as the girls were arriving. It was cozy alright!!

I couldn't have been happier.....(well, if Kaley and Shelly were there I could've been) cooking for my girls, a glass of white wine (thanks for the rec. Karen), and my friend Greta from work joined us as a sub and she fit in perfectly. Our newest edition, Baby Beck was on hand too, and what a cutie he is! Riley had his first soup (creamy broccoli) and Russ handled bedtime solo (thanks, Babe). He brought Riley down his his "j.j.'s" to say goodnight.

I can't say enough about these girlfriends--we have such a good time together. I'm lucky to be a part of this special group.

To do lists....

Why do I need a "To Do" list to function? Why does it THRILL me to cross something off? I've gotta mix it up too, the crossing off--with pen in squiggly lines, one straight cross out with Sharpies (a variety of colors, of course) and the madness continues, huh? It's more than a sense of accomplishment that I need apparently. Thank goodness I haven't resorted to putting things like: brushing teeth, eating breakfast, etc. on the list (even though it would be one more thing to cross off. I also enjoy re-writing my list....when several things have been crossed out.

My list is rather short for me right now, which is good...means I'm accomplishing things. This week I accomplished something that's been on the list for quite some time--taking Doak to the vet. Just for shots and a checkup, but why didn't I take him during the summer while I was off for 2 months? I'll never know....

High Expectations

Today I finally figured out how to comment on the blogs of my beautiful friends........they had no idea I'd attempted this blog thing until I signed in. What a dork I am for wanting so bad to tell them how much I enjoyed their writing. NOW they can read mine. Way to go. Get my blog off of yours, please. YIKES!

I haven't written since July, but I do check those 2 daily and boy am I disappointed when they haven't written anything new.

A little Riley moment that surprised me today:

He needed a diaper change and usually it's no big deal, but when he decides he doesn't need/want one, it gets kinda hairy. You know, the kicking/twisting/put his hands in it hairy that takes at least 4 hands to change? Well......Dada was doing the changing while I was doing the cooking and I hear, "Um, I'm going to need your help. Could you hold his hands or something?" (Yes, so he wouldn't put his fingers in his poop.) So I was distracting him by putting my hair in his face. He said, "Hands." ('cause he heard Dada say hold his hands) I grabbed them and moved them to a tune I made up on the spot....."d-d-d-d-d-d-diaper." Well I may has well have won a Grammy 'cause he loved it. The diaper change went smoothly and he continued chanting my little ditty.

Chicken Parmigana is cooking and Dada and Riley are on the backporch playing. I hear Riley singing his new diaper song and then he busts out with, "d-d-d-d-d-d-DOAK." Well.....that's our dogs name and I was completely impressed that he made the transfer from one "d" word to another. You ARE impressed, aren't you?

Now I'm getting off the dang computer to enjoy my evening alone watching the NCAA National Championship. Dada's watching somewhere with a friend and here I sit for hours on end.

I swear I'll get better at this....at least I'll try.