The Girls Go Out

What do 3 ladies with all of their kids in elementary school do on a Friday morning? We go to the movies! I invited several friends to join me at the before-noon-$5-showing of the new Renee Zellweger/Harry Connick Jr. movie, New in Town. This was a sweet and funny movie. Please consider going with your girlfriends for a break from the hectic schedule we tend to get caught up in. For the theatrical trailer and video clips visit www.movies.yahoo.com

Lipstick trick

I buy only BeautiControl lipsticks which are packaged in a smooth black case. I have 4 different colors in my makeup basket and I look at the name of each one each morning to determine which is the color I am seeking. I thought of a little trick. I took nail polish that closely matches the lipstick color and painted a stripe along the base. This way just a quick jostle in the basket and I see which lipstick I am looking for. Do you have any simple time-saving tricks?

Worker Bee

My Emma is such a worker bee. This afternoon she dropped her cup and out spilled a clear liquid. I assumed it was water and told her she didn't need to wet down the paper towel she had to clean the floor because it was just water. She replied that it was Sprite and if she didn't clean it with water then the floor would be sticky. Then she had the wet jet and sprayed the cleaner on the floor and wiped it clean. We are definitely cut from the same cloth!

Sisterly Love

This picture is one of my all-time favorite pictures. It was taken in April 2004 when Rebekah was 6 years old and Emma was 3 1/2 years old.

Guilty Pleasure

My current television guilty pleasure is the show Confessions of a Teen Idol on Vh1. It airs Sunday nights 7pm. The show "stars" seven former teen idols (Christopher Atkins, Jeremy Jackson, Adrian Zmed to name a few) who are considering putting their acting career into high gear again. They tell us how their ego got the best of them and they each walked away; or had their career destroyed by bad choices like drugs or alcohol.

I think one reason I enjoy it is that there is no high drama and fighting going on. It isn't one of these competition reality shows that becomes cut-throat and just plain mean.

Personally, I think Christopher Atkins (who happens to be the oldest) and Jeremy Jackson (who is the youngest) have the best shot at an acting career again. Do you have a guilty pleasure?

HEB Part II

I walked into our new HEB this morning with a giddy heart. There were two employees near the door when I entered and I asked them if they heard that noise. "What noise?" they asked. I replied, "The sound of the angels rejoicing!" They got a good laugh over my enthusiasm and I merrily went on this divine shopping experience.
Everywhere I looked there were great deals! smiling people! the freshest food available! and samples! What more could a housewife ask for? Well, let me tell you. How about a Cafe on the Run? As much as I enjoy cooking dinner for my family (no really... most of the time I do) I plan on making good use of this prepared-food extravaganza.
I'm thinking about going back tomorrow...

HEB Part I

As a precursor to tomorrow's blog and the GRAND OPENING of our new HEB store at the front of Sienna Plantation, allow me to give an example of why I am an HEB snob. Today I went into Randall's to renew Jeff's car tags and while in there I bought juice boxes. I purposely took note of their price for my kids' favorite, Juicy Juice Orange Tangerine. The Randall's price was $4.19 for a six box count. HEB's regular price is only $2.79.

I really don't know how Randall's has remained in business. No one can beat HEB price, quality of meat, freshness of produce or selection on any grocery item available. I have waited impatiently for 9 years for a grocery store at Sienna Parkway and tomorrow that wait is over! *how sad is it that I am eagerly awaiting the opening of a grocery store of all things?? I am truly fully domesticated.

HOORAY!

Today Jeff finally received the verdict for a lawsuit he was working on last summer. (he was in London for almost the entire month of June presenting it in court) For all 3 patents the verdict was... drumroll please... WIN!

This is such a huge relief and burden taken from him. Good job, Jeff! I am very proud of you.

Family Album

This week in school Emma made a Griffin Family Album. The first entry was her dad. The corresponding page said, "This is my dad. He is a lawyer. He helps people make the right choice."

This picture just cracks me up with how cute it is.

Wrapped around

I like to think that I am not much of a pushover but I gotta hand it to Alex -- he has me wrapped around his little finger.
Tonight he was crying and I asked him what was wrong. He said that he could not find the special picture he drew at school. The paper in question had a "dollar bill" on one side of the paper and some random drawings on the other side. He showed it to me when he got home from school and eventually I put it in the trash.
He was sobbing about this "most special picture" and how could I have thrown it away?! I felt pretty bad so I dug into the trash can, retrieved the paper and wiped it off. I thought that would make the tears stop. It didn't. He continued crying because the picture now had all these wrinkles and he wanted it smooth again. I am not kidding -- he was sobbing over this! I ironed the paper and he was finally happy. He cut out the dollar bill and handed it to me and said, "Here Mom. You've earned this." I'll say I did!

Housework

This afternoon after Alex had watched his allotted after school t.v. he was complaining about being bored. I finally told him that if he had not found something to play by the time I was done folding the laundry then he could help me with the housework. It wasn't an idle threat, but at the same time I did not expect him to take me up on it.

He vaccuumed for about 6 minutes before he decided that being a kid and playing was considerably better than being a grown-up doing housework. Guess I'll be on the ballot this year for meanest mom of the year.

Shoebuy

Have I ever told you how much I love www.shoebuy.com? I wear a women's size 12M shoe and it is near to impossible to walk into a shoe store and try on a pair of shoes. I have worn a 12M since high school.
There were size 12M in some catalogs and specialty stores but the cost was exorbenant for a college student and then the paycheck of a recent college graduate. I mainly had to wear Payless Shoes which brought me years of unpleasant shoe wearing experience because they are not leather, are cheaply made and wear out quickly.
I am deeply passionate about Shoebuy because they carry the quality brands (Clarks are my all time favorite) and they offer free shipping for delivery and for returns. They consistently have the best price and also have a frequent shopper discount code for 10% off the total purchase.
Whether you have size issues like me or just don't feel like heading out to the mall, give www.shoebuy.com a try!

Silly son

Alex is less than thrilled that his bedroom is on the other side of the upstairs from his sisters. He does not like going to sleep in his room and prefers to go to sleep on a pallet on Emma's floor. Emma is fine with that because she likes the company.

Usually when Jeff and I go to bed we take him to his room and have him sleep in his own bed. For the longest time he would wake during the night and make his way back to Emma's floor.

Well, the past couple of nights instead of going to Emma's room he gets up during the night and makes a pallet on the floor of his own room. He has the bedspread and blanket from the bed and then pulls out smaller blankets from his dresser to cover himself up. I've asked him why he does this and he just says, "because I like sleeping on the floor". I guess we have some magically comfortable floor!

Lucky 13

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary. It must be love when an Aggie wife watches a Longhorn football game and actually WANTS them to win so that her husband is happy. Ahhh... what love can do!

November 1995

Saturday projects

My project for the day was to begin re-upholstering our kitchen chairs. Keep in mind that we just purchased this table set in September. The original cover is a beige and brown pattern and shows every little drop, dribble and spill. The fabric I selected was a little tricky because it had a particular pattern that had to be centered on the seat. I thought the design went well with the swirl of the iron on the chair.

Meanwhile, Jeff was working with a neighbor at building a gate between our two houses. The Griffin children have taken quite a liking to this family because they have three daughters who are pretty much the same age as our kids. Our backyard fence shares a portion with their fence and almost daily someone is climbing over it for a playdate.