Halloweeeeen!

Yay!  Sunday we celebrated our first Halloween at our new house.  We had so much fun preparing for the day.  For dinner I made chili (a small tradition we started last year).  We eat a lot of chili in our house, but for special occasions I bring out the 1988 Chilympiad winning recipe to make.  It is sooo delicious!
Anyways, we had chili and prepared to pass out candy.  Our family themed costume was "The Wizard of Oz" starring us!  Dax was the Tin Man, E was Dorothy, Roxy was Toto and I was the Scarecrow.  We made our costumes (a requirement in our household!) and went outside.  Well...not too many people showed up at the house, and even less homes had their light on.  I was really excited to meet all the neighbors, when in actuality, I only met 3 households.
Anyways, we really enjoyed the evening and already planning our costumes for 2011.  What is it you may ask???  Hah! Like I am going to share that with you now!  You wouldn't come back to read in twelve months if I did that.

Friday Night Cinema - on Thursday

Bonjour, Ya'll!

It's been awhile since I've updated. Well the big news we've been holding close is that we BOUGHT A HOUSE! More details to follow when I post the pictures and all the details!

Ok, So we've been holding onto our most recent DVD rental for about 2 weeks now, "Magnificent Destination" a documentary about the space shuttle program. Recently I've been on a kick on NASA, space travel and really all things science related. My secret dream is that E becomes a science superstar, and her interest stemming from our DVD picks. Yes I realize that is pretty absurd.

Unfortunately for the DVD queue, my obsession with space means bombarding it with anything space-related. So until I actually watch the movie we rented, I've decided to go old school.

Thanks to the miraculous Netflix website that keeps a list of every movie ever rented or watched instantly, I'm going to review movies that I watched one year ago. So below are all movies we watched around the end of October/beginning of November in 2009. Doing this is my version of time-travel through my awesome movie watching. So we can consider this a science experiment because it is science related. Kinda.

1. RocknRolla: A Guy Ritchie action paced movie on English mobsters. Woah, that is deep (insert sarcasm). Thandie Newton starred in this comedic, action packed adventure. She usually choses interesting roles, so I was excited to see what she would bring to the table. Gerard Butler (300 Hottie) also starred. He was so amazing in 300 that ever since that, all other film choices have just been meh. Anyways to be honest, I do not remember the movie much at all. I gave it 3 stars meaning in Netflix world that i "liked" it. But if I like a film I usually rate it 4 stars, so I'm assuming I wasn't impressed with Guy Ritchie's latest flick. Though I haven't been impressed with much of anything he's done lately.

2. Pollock: Biopic on famed artist Pollock. From his humble beginnings to watching him find his iconic style and continuing onto his death. Ed Harris starred and directed. He did a great job. Bio pics are Hit or Miss most of the time and this one Hit Hard. It kept moving and kept me entertained. Well if after a biopic movie ends and I find myself on Wikipedia, than I liked the film. It's an older film (2000), but a great flick to watch anytime you can.

3. Roy Orbison: Black and White: This has a blazing 5 Stars. If you have PBS (and watch it!) you've probably seen excerpts of this concert of Roy Orbison rocking his awesome tunes. D is a huge Orbison fan, so he loved watching this.

Friday Night Cinema - on Monday

It's that time of the week again when I impress everyone with all of the movies we have watched.

1. Un Prophete (The Prophet) - 2009 french film that is incredible. It's about Malik, a 18 yr old boy sentenced to 6 years in prison. He has to make his way and ends up being involved with many interesting characters. The movie is captivating because even though he is in prison, he learns a lot and even gets to do things he never thought possible. I'm a HUGE shawshank fan, and though nothing holds a candle to that film, this movie holds its own ground. I believe it was nominated for Best foreign Film during the Oscars last year.

2. Couples Retreat - RomCom starring who else but Vince Vaughn. He and his gaggle of friends embark on couples counseling in Bali for the week. Laughter ensues? I don't know...my expectations were low low low for this film so it was a kind surprise when I somewhat watched the entire film without completely gauging my eyes out. It's one of those flicks where you can do a load of wash and organizing the tots toys with out missing anything integral.

3. Social Network - D and I actually went to the movies last week at the Alamo Drafthouse. We love that place! Unless you've been hiding under a rock the past 4 years or so, you know what Facebook is and how your grandmother keeps calling you, begging for you to show her how to get on "The Facebook". Anyways this film goes biopic to see the inception of it and all of the fallout that comes with becoming a billionaire by the age of 26. The film was good, no questions about that. Sorkin never disappoints and keeps you interested with interesting dialogue and characters.

4. A Perfect Getaway - 2009 film starring Milla Jovovich (5th Element & Dazed & Confused) and Steve Zahn as a couple on their honeymoon in Hawaii. There is a grotesque murder on the island as they trek around in the trails of the beautiful oasis. Ummm, it was a good film. During the climax I began to get confused about everything and magically, lost my interest in the film. Well not really lost my interest, but moreso I was watching it alone and had no one to explain what was going on. Some of the character development was meh. Zahn and Jovovich have given stellar performances in the past, so I'm not sure why they didn't bring their A games to the screen with this one. They did come off as an unlikely married couple -- I mean c'mon, she's a former model!

That's all I got for now....Later!

ACL 2010

D and I attended Austin City Limits on Friday. It was so much fun! The weather was amazing! It was 80 degrees with not a cloud in sight. With the fab weather, we saw even more fabulous bands. The Black Keyes rocked, Beach House was mellow (perfect for people watching!!), Spoon sounded amazing and Ryan Bingham did not disappoint. We read in the paper the next day that it was estimated 52,000 watched the Black Keys with us. Wowserz! Vampire Weekend was also performing, but me not being a huge concert goer, plus what seemed like a billion people wanting to see them perform was enough to deter me. Crowds are not my style people! You know me...I love live music, but I like classical venues in beautiful concert halls. Send me tickets to "Wicked" anyday!

Hello October!

The days are really starting to pick up around our house.

First, it's been a tough few weeks for us. D and I made the tough decision to have Baby E stay with my parents in Houston for the month of October. Why you ask? Ever since E had moved to her new school it just didn't feel right to us. The atmosphere wasn't the same as before, E started crying a lot during the day and we just kept having that parent alarm go off in our heads. We made the decision we would rather have E in Houston surrounded by love then have her spend 9 hours in a place that lacked love. So now we have been seeing her on the weekends. It sucks! The first week was fine because E has spent days with both sets of grandparents and it's been wonderful. But 3 days versus 1 month is quite different. Anyways, E starts her new and improved school (indoor putt putt anyone??) November 1st. Think Beverly Hills for people who toilet train. On the positive side...E spending 24/7 with my parents as she learns to use the potty is really a godsend. My baby poo'd at PF Changs on Saturday night in the potty. Yes the feeling of excitement was beyond. She is brilliant. Here's a picture of her after her momentous feat.




Other than that, we've been planning for our Big Announcement on October 19th. Being uber superstitious, I can only give a few clues like "Plateau" and "Soft Chamois". Even "Bleached Linen" is attending the clue party. Oh and these photos at Lowes on Saturday

Friday Night Cinema

Alrighty...here's my weekly round up of recently watched flicks.

Let the Right One In: Swedish vampire flick that is pretty awesome (should have enjoyed some swedish fish while watching). Oskar is a bullied kid who befriends Eli, a child vampire. Please believe when I say this is not Twilight...after the movie finished I went to wash my face. I heard a noise and about jumped twenty feet. I wouldn't go back into the bathroom until D investigated the noise (it was the water pipes). Foreign films can be more enjoyable than American one's because those directors don't feel the need to jump camera angles every few seconds. That's also another reason I don't mind E watching foreign films with me. She hears me read the subtitles to her while having a singular shot play out the scene.

OutRage: documentary on closeted gays in government. The kicker? Most of said congressmen gays vote down gay rights.

Near Dark: Kathryn Bigelow (Hurt Locker) directs this western/vampire genre stinker. It's so beyond cheesy, plus obvious cracks in the story that made this hard to watch. D loved the film, and this got me thinking Hurt Locker & Point Break must be anomalies, or perhaps Near Dark is the oddity in her catalog?

Princess & The Frog: Baby E loved the film. It wasn't Beauty and the Beast, but it wasn't Mulan (haven't seen Mulan, but doesn't seem as great as other Disney films)

Dear John: Nicholas Sparks tries to recreate the magic of 'A Walk to Remember' and 'The Notebook' It...was...meh

An American Werewolf in London: GREAT flick!!! Gosh I really don't know where to begin with out giving it away. It's really good

Kalifornia: 1992 Brad Pitt/David Duchovany film about a writer (David) trying to finish his book on serial killers as he travels in a car to California with his girlfriend. They give a ride to man, who just so happens to be a serial killer. What are the odds!! (warning, very 90's)

Cute Story

Baby E is with my parents for the week. My mom called and told me this funny story:

They were in the living room and some music came on tv. E of course started dancing around. My mom asked E, "I heard you danced at your Uncle Shane's wedding". Well E ran over to my dad and started talking to him. She then walked over to my mom and said, "Sasha". After that she went and sat in her rocking chair where she finished telling her story and ended up laughing.

It's so cute to think she was retelling a story from the wedding, and a funny one to boot! My Baby is super awesome.

FYI, she is really picking up on this toilet thing. She's been going on the potty at least once a day. She's the best!!!!!!

Big Day!

E tinkled in the potty today! Woooo-hooooo!

Yep. That's all we have for the day. 'nuff for sure!

Cupcakes Galore

A post ago I promised to upload pics from the Epic Wedding of 2010. Guess what? Haven't done it yet. But guess what? I do have a video of Baby E enjoying a wedding cupcake at the Sunday Brunch. In case you ever questioned who's Baby she is with...the way she is enjoying the cupcake obviously shows the apple hast noth fall frometh thy tree. D and I can take down any cupcake, anywhere, any flavor. Never forget that!!!

OK, enough of my crazed cupcake ramblings. Other things besides cupcake obsessions have been going on. Our dearest friends, Ximena and Eric came to visit last weekend. They brought along the sweetest little girl in the world...Baby J! It was our first time to meet their sunshine, yet when I finally got to hold her, it felt like we had been there every step of the way. Ximena and Eric made living in California live-able and love-able, so not getting to share in all of their happiness can make me sad. Do you want to hear a crazy thing? I will be posting pics of our wonderful time with them once I figure out how to upload pictures. HaHa...my favorite storyline.

Smooches

We are still here!

Sorry it's been over a month since the last post. One of the promises I made myself before starting a blog was that I would blog at least once a week. And that was true until August rolled around. Listen folks, we've been busy, busy, busy

Sooo many things have occurred. After 4 months of interviews, presentations and projects, D got an awesome faculty position at a local college. He's definitely the perfect person for the job. As you may know about him, he never slides through anything handed his way. 120% on a bad day, ya know? Anyways, those students are very lucky to have him!!! Other things that have happened these past 4 weeks include D's bro getting married. It was one of the loveliest weddings we have ever attended and I promise pics of the spectacular day will be posted! Also we have some other things in the pipeline, but will share those as they continue. And no...we are not pregnant!!! haha
Something else i have been thinking about including on this blog is all of the movies we watch. We aren't tv people, but are movie folks! I'm obsessed with our Netflix and use it in conjunction with our Roku to maximize our movie experience. This week we have seen: The Art of the Steal - documentary on the battles of the Barnes art collection in Philadelphia. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - a 21st century, poor remake of Forrest Gump. The comparisons are too many to write.

Anyhoo....smooches to all!

Emergen-E

What a frightful day....

D and Baby E have been vacationing in exotic Houston since Thursday. Well, D went to New Orleans for his brother's much anticipated Bachelor Party Extravaganza. It must have been fun...


Anyways this afternoon I was just sitting at my desk stressing about things that really don't matter in life when my phone rings. Caller ID said it was my main dish. He told me E had fallen down the stairs and landed on her head at his parents house. I have never felt so scared and lost before. They took her to the hospital and the doctor's said she was fine, but to monitor her over the evening. I ended up just leaving work because I was absolutely beside myself with stress and my stomach was in knots! D thankfully kept sending videos and pictures of our sweetie and that made me feel a tad bit better, but I'm still walking around in a daze. Here's a pic he snapped of her bathing. You can really see the 2 strawberry's on her forehead.

E. Potter

E has been wearing these silly glasses a lot lately. When she does she looks just like Harry Potter! It's absolutely adorable. I told D that could be a cute family costume idea for Halloween - E as Harry Potter, and us as the other 2 (we have never read or seen the films, so I'm just going off commercials). This is the best picture we have snapped of E wearing her Harry Potter glasses - but trust me - it's really really cute!


E started a new school on Monday. We think she likes it, but the change is kind of hard on her. At her old school, she walked into the building and knew which class was hers, but at Rosewood, she is still trying to get used to it. The cool thing is on the 2nd day of class when I went to pick her up...the two teachers in her room exclaimed [loudly], "She's so smart!!!". They went on to tell me how she can say and point to her nose and ears. I grinned smugly because E knows way more body parts than that. From top to bottom - head, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, teeth, elbow, hands, fingers, knees, toes and feet. This week we have been working on shoulders and tongue. Any requests out there for other body parts she should work on???

Also E's vocabulary is really skyrocketing. Getting the ear tubes has been life changing for all of us. Last night we were in the kitchen and she heard some kids outside. She pointed at the window and said, "Baby Outside". Hey kids...that's a sentence! And yes I do believe she is the smartest tot of them all!

Since this post has become more bragging than informative, I'll continue with other outstanding things she does. The one we are probably most proud about is her nighttime routine. At 7:30pm D will look at E and say, "Are you ready to go to sleep?". E will climb off the couch, find Pinky (if he's not in her crib), walk into her room and stand by the crib waiting to be placed in. We give her tons of kisses and leave the room. Wha???? seriously...isn't that a tad bit amazing?!?!? FYI: we do other things before that also. Like read, "Goodnight Moon" and "Feed Matisse's Fish".
Ok enough bragging for one day. But like they say...it ain't bragging if it's true!

Smooches!

La La Life

Hello World!
My name is Bean. I also go by Beanity, Miss Bean, Bean-Bop, Beanie, LuLu, Epotech and Epps. My absolute favorite things in the world are giggling, playing with Purple Pinky (Pinky's nemesis), painting with my dad and of course all things dog. Roxy is my dog that I love giving big kisses and hugs to. I like to feed her my dinner and just love her to pieces. Mom and Dad walk Roxy and I so I like to walk her too. Today was my last day at my school that I've been attending since January. Mom and Dad made cupcakes for my classmates because it was my last day. When we were leaving one of the teachers said I was one of the most well-behaved children there...I don't bite, yell, climb or scream. Monday I start a new school at the Capitol, so tomorrow we are going to buy school supplies.

Irrational Fears

Everyone has those little fears. After actually saying my fears aloud, I realized how kinda absurd they are. Nonetheless, here are my biggest fears in life:
1. Forgetting how to read - I am deeply afraid of being in the middle of reading a document, turning the page and not being able to read what is on the page. I was told reading is a motor skill that can't be forgotten, but it's still my #1 irrational fear.
2. Parasailing - This looks like one of the more fun vacation adventures you can have. You are in a beautiful tropical location, you go up in the air to float around and enjoy the scenery....but wait, you must now come down. My fear is being pulled back to the boat and seeing a shark waiting for you. As you try to make your way out of the parasail, a shark takes the opportunity to attack. Seriously, this sounds absolutely frightening.

OK, so it's really just 2 fears, but to me, they are very big and scary! hehe

Hamilton Pool

Last weekend, or possibly, the weekend prior, D and I took Little E to Hamilton Pool in Dripping Springs. It...was...gor-gaws! After we trekked down the .25 mile trail we were welcomed by the beautiful water and grotto. The best part nobody else was there with us. So for the time we were there, it was our private island. a la Lost scenery for sure! E had a wonderful time until she started not to (please see the video below for further explanation)

The walk back up to the car was less than ideal, Miss E is definitely entering the Terrible 2's a little early. She became super unhappy and had a complete meltdown. By now we were attempting to run up the incline with a screaming tot with lots of onlookers. Definitely something that became funny only after the fact.

Other than that, nothing much is new with us. What is new with you???

Future Jr. Leaguer

I'm on the Children's Events committee this year and am loving it! We have been so busy preparing for the 3-day celebration in November that we have been working hard since March. Yesterday E and I went up to the headquarter's to help sort our Friday morning craft project with Amy and Jenny. Jenny snapped this darling photo of E's first official league event. hehe Amy and Jenny are always so sweet to her, but yesterday moreso...Jenny was cracking E up! It was hilarious!

Our week in review

Another charming week in the House of Norman. Let's see where to begin...
Miss E said a slew of new words this week. Some of the new verbiage includes: hot dog, car, door, hi doggie, keys, cracker and don't forget poo poo! Also this week E went to her 18-month check up. She is weighing in at a lofty 23 pounds and stands proudly at 32 inches. The nurse went ahead and guesstimated her future height to be...get this...are you ready....5'7"! What? Never in my wildest dreams did I think anyone related to moi would be so tall. I'm not trying to get my hopes up, but that is exciting to image. And to think I had always dreamed of being 5'4"! What a world!

Other than that, we've been keeping pretty low key. We have been eating tons of hamburgers from Whole Foods. They are having this amazing special on seasoned patties for $1. They come in delightful flavors like bleu cheese, bacon 'n cheese and spicy steakhouse. Needless to say, Dax has been having an absolute blast during dinner. Every bite is better than the last. As for me, I'm still talking to myself about working out and wishing I never started watching 'The L-Word' on our Roku. It's definitely a show I can't stop watching. Mostly I admire their hair, makeup and beautiful ensembles of clothing. They all dress so adorable! Though there is a tendency for the melodramatic. Oh but the best thing ever was I finally got a new iPhone. After two years, one of those with a much discussed cracked screen, we updated our iPhones. I got a 3GS and D is getting the 4G. I'm absolutely loving getting to take vids whenever I want, and then being able to instantly upload them. voila!

Below is a vid of E being super giggly. My ponytail was cracking her up this evening. Who knew a crappy hairstyle could be so much fun!

Dallas Vacay

We spent the weekend in Dallas visiting old friends, family and making new friends! We drove up Friday evening and stayed with Mo 'n Greg at their fabulous house they share with Jake and soon-to-be Zachery Kristian due in October. They are going to make wonderful parents! The most hilarious thing was when Eppe saw big 'ol Jake she was so in love with him! The entire time we were there she had to be next to him. Jake was so sweet and let her pet, hug and kiss him.

On Saturday we drove into Dallas proper, walked around SMU and drove up to see Joon, Mia, Claudia and Jenny at their new house. We hadn't seen them since Claudia was a baby, and now she was almost 5! Unbelievable how time has flown. Mia, as always, made amazing Korean dishes that are so yummy.
After seeing all of our friends we rushed back to our hotel room to get ready for S&S's engagement party extravaganza. It was so beautiful and a blast to see everyone. Pictures will be posted of the events once we get a replacement wire to connect the camera to the computer. Technology can be so very difficult.

Ear Tube Surgery Day

Yesterday was surgery day for E. After barely sleeping the night before, I was eager to get going to the hospital. They took E in for surgery at 8:40am and at 9:05 am the doc was in our waiting area saying how awesome she did...though the whole time I had to resist my urge to run back to the recovery room and hold my sweetie!
Here's a pic before the procedure...


And the photo afterwards

Approaching 18 months

I just love this photo we took of E in Gruene on Saturday. She will be 18 months on Sunday...what an amazing 1.5 years it has been for us!

Kissy Kissy

Sooooo, I went to pick Little E up at school yesterday and the teachers told me they caught her kissing a boy under the sink! My little angel is almost 18 months old, what is she doing??? After my shock wore off, the teachers were practically giggling telling me how she was kissing Logan when they found them. They went to get a camera, but didn't have time. Ohhh, how I would have loved to have seen that kiss. What a great photo to remind her with in about 15 years! I'm going to take a pic of the "love nest" under the sink and post it, so we can always remember where her first kiss was!

Look at her Now

I love my little girl!