Book Club! Eeek!

Warning:

This blog is going to be a little...

...girly. 

So, for the guys reading this, I'm sorry. 

We can go back to something more gender neutral tomorrow.

For now though:

Book club!

Come on!

How great was the book club I went to a couple weeks ago?

The book chosen was Pride and Prejudice. 

Out of the fourteen people that came there were no two books that looked alike. 

That probably says something about the popularity and enduring legacy of the book. 

Or it says that ladies like variety in their book covers. 

Oooh! Oooh! Rabbit Trail! I read the most interesting article the other day on Huffington Post about book covers. See, there are...oh, good grief. I digress. It's way to long to be rabbit trail. I'll blog about it later. 

Okay, back to book club.

First, lets talk about the favors. 

I know that's like having dessert first but they were so fantastic that I have to go on and share them.

Each person took home a tea packet with a Mr Darcy quote on it. 

Mr Darcy. 

Sigh. 

I mean, seriously, I just thought of him and audibly sighed. 

Each person also got these little mini books to hang on their Christmas tree.

That is all kinds of creative. 

So, Pride and Prejudice...

I mean...

I just love it. 

First, Mr Darcy says...

And then she overhears it!

And then they meet again....

And then he proposes and it's all just too much. 

And then they are apart but they both grow as people. 

And then they meet again!

Double sigh. 

The bar has been set very high for the next club, though. 

Mary Katherine.

The hostess.

That pound cake was super yummy.

Susan and my cousin Kathryn. 

Susan...

She is a super fun person but she doesn't like the book!

It's true. 

I think we can still be friends.

Mary Katherine covered the whip cream can with brown paper and ribbon. 

Love.

Discussion about the book followed.

Each of us picked out a question to read and discuss.

My oldest minion's third grade teacher was in the book club. 

I tried to behave. 

And sound smart. 

And not make grammatical errors like in that last sentence fragment. 

A high school sophomore showed up. 

It gave me hope for the next generation. 

So, Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813 an has been consistently read since then. 

I wonder if in two hundred years people will still be reading Twilight at book clubs?

I don't know.

Maybe if they serve pound cake.

Her Reign of Terror..

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Her reign of terror is over. 

Yes, after four days of chaos at nap time and bed time this beautiful box came in the mail. 

The crib tent had arrived. 

And before you get all judgmental on me let me just assure you that once a kid learns to crawl out of the crib they will choose to do so at very inopportune times. 

We learned this when the first minion was 18 months old. 

I woke up at two am to the sounds of a 'robber' creating havoc in our house. Upon further investigation I found our child sitting on the stairs eating a banana - with the skin still on. 

She was participating in the same sort of shenanigans. Crib parties at one am and the like. 

Oh, she was all smiles while I was putting the tent together.

"Yeah! Tents are fun."

The novelty wore off once she realized I was going to zip her up in it at night. 

"Crib tents are a stupid idea."

"I'm not even tired."

"Does this look like a tired face to you?"

"Well, it's not. Trying to zip me up in a crib tent. It's a dang travesty."

Or something like that. 

Sweet sleep with the knowledge that my child is safe and sound in her crib...how I've missed you. 

Troubling Questions...

Tonight, dear readers, I have just a few troubling questions for you. 

Questions that come from the world of retail....

Questions that make you scratch your head and ponder...

Why?

Let's get started.

Troubling Question, the first:

Air Hedz. 

Inflatable wigs for children.

I mean...

As a child I don't think I ever said:

"Gee, if only I had an inflatable princess wig!"

Apparently, it's "great for parties", though. 

Odd. 

Troubling. 

Troubling Question Number Two:

This comes from the latest book about the Bushes. 

And yes, my Wilson family, I foresee that someone will be getting this at Wilson Christmas. 

I don't know who but I just know it's gonna be under that big ole cedar tree.

Anyway...

Let's look at the cover. 

Why are the Bush's chins so itchy?

Shaving snafus? A practical joke involving itch powder?

I don't know...

I think David Elliot Cohen, the author, potentially has some explaining to do because it's looks like they are experiencing some major chin itchiness.

Number Three:

Also from the bookstore...

We now have a hugely thick volume dedicated to Vader on the shelves. 

Really, Star Wars fans, how much Vader do we really need?

Because, that is a whole lotta Vader.

And lastly, 

A question that has nothing to do with retail but is important none the less:

Why is there always one Candyland game piece in the Chutes and Ladder box?

Stick to your own kind, Candyland. 

Stick to your own kind.

"Don't bother me with your troubling questions"

And Then This Happened...

So...

Thanksgiving in the country came and went and was completely drama free except for one little incident.

"What's drama?"

The little incident involved a wasp. 

Which, can I just say, is really apropos since I'm laying in a hotel room watching Bee Movie as we speak..er, blog.

The wasp was lazily sitting on the ceiling. 

Mark..

Yes, that Mark.

...decided to be super manly and 'take care of it.'

Go Mark Go!

Get that wasp!

Notice his sister in the background cheering him on. 

My Grandmother was highly entertained by the whole ordeal.

Actually, there was a bit more drama.

The two year old thought this Jack Russell Terrier was hilariously funny.

Hilariously funny and scary.

She loved it. 

And then the glorious spread:

Oh, how I heart the spread.

But why am still talking about Thanksgiving?

This weekend we've been in Auburn for the Iron Bowl.

Happy Times.

Except for the whole losing thing. 

No worries, though.

There is aways next year. 

Except for that poor wasp...

I'm happy to say Mark took care of that. 

We're Currently Obsessing Over...

Tonight as we were window shopping in Auburn the eight year old excitedly called us over. 

He had found something that was quite intriguing to him. 

It was representation of Samford Hall made entirely out of Legos.

Apparently this cool cat named Eric Harshbarger made it. 

It was a great representation. 

And easy to compare to the actual one since it was on display at J & M Bookstore which is directly across from the real Samford Hall. 

For those of you that don't know Samford Hall is where the administration has have their offices at Auburn. 

It was built in 1889 when Auburn was still called East Alabama Male College. 

It's just a beautiful old building.

There are a million cool stories about the place.

I have my own: I once got kicked out of Samford Hall for trespassing one late night. That's not tonight's blog though.

It's just a stroll way from Toomer's Corner.

Back to the Legos...

Oh, how this child loves Legos.

My minion would have sat and looked at this for hours. 

We gave him five minutes. 

After dinner he begged to come back and look some more. 

We obliged.

"This should, like, be in an art museum or something"

Yes, it should.

And it could be yours for $1500. 

Too rich for our blood but a beautiful piece none the less.

I'm All Out of Love...

Isn't Epcot an amazing place?

Oh, look. 

The iPhone turned my children's eyes into zombie eyes. 

Again.

Anyway...

It's such a great place to knock around.

Especially with kids.

On our latest trip there we had a fantastic time.

But...

The monkeyness that accompanies hanging out with boys all the time sometimes gets to be a little...

...much.

Sometimes you just need to experience Epcot as a couple.

Ya know...sans kids.

This happened to us on the last trip.

Plus this was going on:

Those little red dots?

They appear when I walk crazy distances.

I blame Italy. 

Wait! Rabbit Trail! Have I never blogged about the time I got stuck in the hotel shower in Italy in the dark? I was going to put a link to that blog and now I can't because it's not showing up when I search for it.  Hmmm...I should totally blog about that!

Anyway...

When the boys get to be squirrely and Billy and I want to canoodle there is really only one thing to do. 

Call Neverland.

It's the Childcare at the Polynesian hotel. Parent's magazine once rated it the best place to find childcare on vacation in the world. 

Seriously, for the kids it's like getting to hang out with Richie Rich for the night. 

The kids actually climb through a  window to get in.

Inside it's all life size doll houses and X boxes. 

So don't feel bad for them.

"Do I really have to stay here?"

"Is that Mario Kart?"

And then we get to go back to the park and be all mushy with each other.

Mushy and eatey. 

We usually head to Mexico for dinner and then to France for dessert. 

Because, you know:

Yumminess 

and

Profiteroles.

As we walked through Epcot I heard something quite familiar....

Something like...

A power ballad.

As you can see Air Supply was in the house.

And we had just missed Night Ranger.

I wasn't worried about missing Richard Marx. 

I saw him years ago. 

Air Supply though?

Never saw them and always wanted too.

Am I losing cool points?

Ya know...

I'm blogging about Epcot already so I don't know if I had that many cool points to work with. 

That's okay. 

I'm still in love with Epcot. 

And especially date night in Epcot. 

You Don't Say No To a Magical Moment...

Let me just start this post off by saying that the eight year old hates to be the center of attention. 

I mean, he seriously hates it. 

When other kids are requesting clowns and pony rides for their birthday parties he is requesting to just hang out with his cousins.

He doesn't want to sing in public, or talk in front of an audience, or really do anything that would make people look at him.

Let's contrast this with his six year old brother that recently told me:

"Hey Mom, When I'm grown up I'm going to ride in limos and live in Hollywood."

He was also upset when he found out that kids could be famous and he wasn't.

Nice.

So...

One morning at the Magic Kingdom as we waited for the gates to open we were approached by a cast member and asked if we would like to be the 'official greeters' for the opening of the park that day.

Disney is always making these 'magical moments' happen.

Being the official greeters would entail the following:

Getting to go into the park before it opened, wearing greeter buttons and using the big Mickey gloves to wave to people as they walked in. 

Three of the four of us immediatly said yes. 

The fourth?

Not so much.

"I'm gonna have to do what?"

The Mickey hands were awesome, though. 

They kinda make you feel like a super hero. 

Or like a fighter because this immediately happened:

And then this had to happen:

"Stop! In the name of Mickey!"

It all worked out in the end. 

We took a ride on the firetruck at Main Street and actually acidentally missed the opening of the park. 

Thank goodness or otherwise he would have had to endure the cruelty that would have been standing and waving to people. 

Oh, the humanity.

How could he have ever overcome such trauma?

I'm not sure where all this shyness comes from. 

Neither me nor his father...

Dang it!

 I'm visualizing my Mom getting on to me right now about the grammar in that last sentence. 

Neither him nor me?

Neither of his parents?

Neither of us?

Neither his father or I?

Oh, good grief....

Billy and I aren't shy so we aren't sure how he turned out so shy.

Oh, well. 

The point is you don't turn down the chance for a magical moment.*

Am I right, minions?

"You're always right, Mom!"

"That's not what we said."

Oh, be quiet.

I'm thinking about my magical moment.

_________________________________________________

*You also don't turn down the chance to compete in an apple pie eating contest but that's a blog for another day.