Nice Little Saturday

I took advantage of the snow-free weather today and got out of the house with Eva.  I feel like the only place she gets to go since I've gone back to work are daycare are church.  Not that those aren't great places but, a girl's gotta shop!  So we went to the library to stock up on Dora and Diego books, then had girls lunch at Eddington's and went to Party City.  Party City is a death trap for me as I want to buy every over-priced novelty item in the store.  I was able to keep it in check and just get the basics; plates, utensils, grab bags, balloons and more balloons.  What's a party without a larger than Eva-sized gold colored "3" balloon?  No party at all, that's what.

We followed up the outing with a nap, a bath, tutu time, high heel dancing and lots of book reading.  Life is good.

Admiring the animal mural at the library

"What's on the ceiling Eva?"

Rockstar travel companion

I've become one of those moms who let their kids ride in the back of the shopping cart to keep them from whining... ugh

So many balloons!

Pink balloon- $0.99
Pink jammies- $14.99
Pink tutu- $15.99
High heels- $7.99
Being the girliest girl EVER- priceless!

Attitude to the left

Attitude to the right

Daddy Gets a Promotion!

I am happy to report that Jason got the promotion he was going for at work!  He is now the Assistant Superintendent at the golf course, a great step up from his position last year as Irrigation Technician.  Along with a raise in pay and guaranteed hours (last year if the weather was bad he would get sent home, which is hard to budget around) he is also now second in command at the course, so he's got a lot of responsibility.  He will be the boss on weekends since the Superintendent usually only works Monday-Friday.

It's going to be a lot of time and effort but the goal is to eventually become the Superintendent when his boss leaves, which his boss has already started talking openly with Jason about.  I suppose that college degree in Golf Course Management really paid off- so proud of him!

Here's to Daddy working all summer and Mommy working part-time and going up North every weekend with Eva & Baba ;-)

Oscar Predictions Follow Up

In short, I'm awesome.  Called all but 2 of the major categories :-)

You may go on with whatever you were doing.

Oscar Predictions

I love watching the Academy Awards!  I usually manage to see most of the movies that are nominated for the big awards and I like getting ideas for independent films to check out.  Plus, I'm a total celebrity gawker and the hosts of tonight, Anne Hathaway & James Franco, are two of my absolute favorite celebs.

Here are my predictions for the following categories:
Best Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech- winner!  Although Inception and the Fighter were also amazing.
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in "Biutiful"
Jeff Bridges in "True Grit"
Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network"
Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"- winner!  He was so incredibly amazing in this movie.James Franco in "127 Hours"

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in "The Fighter"- winner!  I would love to see Geoffrey Rush win as well!John Hawkes in "Winter's Bone"
Jeremy Renner in "The Town"
Mark Ruffalo in "The Kids Are All Right"
Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech"

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right"
Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone"
Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"- winner!  Without a doubt the best acting/dancing ever!Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine"

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in "The Fighter"
Helena Bonham Carter in "The King's Speech"
Melissa Leo in "The Fighter"- winner!  I could not stand this woman in the movie, which means her acting was that good.  I also love the little girl from True Grit.Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit"
Jacki Weaver in "Animal Kingdom"

Animated Feature Film
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3- winner!  Is these even a close competition?

Cinematography
"Black Swan," Matthew Libatique- winner!"Inception," Wally Pfister
"The King's Speech," Danny Cohen
"The Social Network," Jeff Cronenweth
"True Grit," Roger Deakins

Costume Design
"Alice in Wonderland," Colleen Atwood
"I Am Love," Antonella Cannarozzi
"The King's Speech," Jenny Beavan- winner! "The Tempest," Sandy Powell
"True Grit" Mary Zophres

Director
"Black Swan," Darren Aronofsky
"The Fighter," David O. Russell
"The King's Speech," Tom Hooper
"The Social Network," David Fincher- I don't agree with this, but I think The Social Network has to win something during the evening."True Grit," Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Music (Original Score)
"How to Train Your Dragon," John Powell
"Inception," Hans Zimmer
"The King's Speech," Alexandre Desplat
"127 Hours," A.R. Rahman- winner!"The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)
"Coming Home" from "Country Strong," Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
"I See the Light" from "Tangled," Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater- winner!"If I Rise" from "127 Hours," Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
"We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3," Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Happy watching!

Some Randoms

So I meant the title of the post to mean random photos, which I will post in a minute, but "random" reminded me that some RANDOM ass man tried to walk into our house today!  Jason, Eva & Tyson were napping upstairs and I was doing homework.  I was still in my PJs and not expecting anyone, so when the door knob started to turn I panicked a little.  Thank God it was locked.  Then the person became more forceful and I could see a shadow stepping to the side, trying to see through the blinds.  I froze up for a second, because this person had not rang the door bell or even knocked, just tried to come in.  I was inching towards the stairs to yell for Jason when the doorbell rang.  So, I figured, maybe wrong address?  I didn't unlock the door, but pulled the curtain to the side and saw a middle aged, foreign man standing there looking impatient.  He saw me and looked as shocked as I was.  He quickly did a wave motion to say "sorry, wrong house" and left.  Awkward, unintentional break in avoided- whew!

And Jason says Tyson is a good guard dog- HA! 

On to the photos.  Here are some of Eva using her pink dirt devil vacuum and then playing the game memory. 
P.S. I realize she is wearing Santa PJs, don't judge me, it's laundry day and we were running low :-)

The handheld part detaches, very realistic

Oh just vacuuming in Mommy's shoes

Match!

"Mom, this really isn't that hard."

Decided she needed her magic wand to help...

Matches all lined up

4,000

We have reached 4,000 views people!  I know I was pretty bad at posting for awhile.  Damn job and class.  Who do they think they are getting in the way of my blogging? 

I'll be taking photos today as we head to Baba's house for a UFC pay-per-view fight with Uncle Noah and his friends. 

And then I believe someone has a 33rd birthday coming up veeery soon... so stay tuned for the photos from the mayhem that the birthday bar crawl (held in conjunction with the Olssons) is sure to produce!

Montessori Anyone?

Since Eva went back to daycare 4 weeks ago we've noticed something; sass.  She is sassier and more defiant than ever and I can't decide if it's the daycare/kids she's around or just her age... or me!  My best friend Katie suggested Montessori school for Eva, since she's pretty independent and go-with-the-flow, so I did a quick Google search and sure enough, there is a pretty decent Montessori school right on my way to work.  In addition to the curriculum, it would actually save us money.  Right now we pay for full time daycare, even though I only work part time and Jason only has 2 classes.

So does IMPROVED CURRICULUM + LESS MONEY = OBVIOUS GOOD CHOICE?

I'd really like to think so, but I'm afraid moving her will cause stress.  And what about my precious alone time after work to run errands, stop by church, go tanning, get dinner ready!?  Decisons, decisions...