Movies & Me

I love movies, I do.  But unfortunately I haven't been able to enjoy them as much as I'd like to lately.  This having-a-dependant-thing can really dig into your free time, eh?  {Love my boy!} 

The last movie we saw in the theater was Hunger Games!  Boy, if that's the case then it's been awhile.  I'd like to try to see at least one movie a month per my 101 in 1001 list.  And on the list I wasn't counting April, but May was a loss.  :(

Meanwhile, I've managed to get some great Groupon deals lately for our local movie theater.  And I mean GREAT deals.  I've snagged up two of the same deals so Hubby better be prepared to find a sitter so we can go. 

THE DEAL:  Choose Between Two Options

$15 for a movie for two (up to a $43 total value)

•Two tickets (up to a $12 value each)
•Two medium drinks (a $4 value each)
•Two medium popcorns (a $5.50 value each)

$27 for a movie for four (up to an $86 total value)

•Four tickets (up to a $12 value each)
•Four medium drinks (a $4 value each)
•Four medium popcorns (a $5.50 value each)

I purchased, on two separate occasions, the first deal.  I mean it's ridiculous right?  $15 for 2x2x2??  I was further surprised to see it came up a second time, and I hope that it continues to pop up over and over again.  This will be a sure bet order for me and my credit card.

Now I just have to find the right movie(s) to go see.  Any suggestions?  {First I should say...Any babysitters??}

And just for some fun facts, here are some tidbits about me when it comes to the movie theater...

1) My first job was in high school working at the local theater with my HS sweetheart.  I think I only worked there for a few months before I decided to switch from new movies to old(er) movies, and got a job at the local movie rental store instead. 
     You get more of a selection and it's pretty much unlimited!  Not to mention that while you get some free swag at the theater there are a lot of workers there so the swag spreads pretty thin - seniority gets first pick.  Meanwhile at the video store, there's even more promotional t-shirts and posters with fewer workers, which equals more free swag to go around!

2) My first real movie date was to see "Titanic" in 1997.  As awesome as the movie is it is just too long to sit through on a date.  Probably not first date material!

3)  I don't like 3D movies.  I just can't sit through them.  I don't know why they are so great.

4) When the movie "Over the Hedge" came out in 2006 I was excited to go see it.  I had actually bought myself a Verne stuffed animal {he's the turtle, of course} before it released to the theaters.  When it was time to go see the movie with Hubby I insisted on bringing Verne with me.  Yes, I brought a stuffed animal with me to the theater.  Yes, at the time I was 23 years old.  I even made a point to show him off to the ticket salesperson, not caring if they gave me any funny looks.  I'm sure I got a smile out of it!



Say "Hi" Verne!



5) Before that, in 2005, "Brokeback Mountain" was released to theaters!  {I was so upset that they didn't win at the Oscars, and even later on about Heath's death.}  Anyway, I was set on going to see this movie in the theaters.  Sooooo determined that I didn't even bother asking Hubby to go with me because I figured he wouldn't want to see a movie with guys kissing {etc.}.  So I was headed out the door and was stopped and asked by Hubby, "Where ya going?"  "I'm going to see..."  "Okay, I'll go with you."  {insert SHOCKED face here}  And, yes, this is a true story.  I did NOT force him to go see "Brokeback Mountain".  He offered to go with me.  Although if asked he'd probably say the opposite.  :)

Animal House

When we were leaving my in-law's house this past weekend we stopped to say goodbye to Granny on our way out.  Only she wasn't home.  It's a good thing we at least saw her the day before at the festival. 

But next door lives one of Hubby's uncles, Sam, who was outside tending to his animals. 

When I first met this family I only recall Sam having several dogs, majority were rottweilers I believe.  And he might have had a horse or two at the time(?).  But over the years he's become more and more involved with collecting a variety of animals.  He still has several dogs although some have come and some have gone.  He has one horse right now although it's not much of a rider.  And in recent years he's collected some goats!  He's got nine as of right now.  And most recently he came across a baby deer that he took in to care for.  {He named him Bambi!}

So we stopped by for a few minutes to chat with Uncle Sam while little Lucas was asleep in the car.  And I brought out the camera to take some photos of the goats.  Sam spent several minutes trying to coax Bambi out of his hiding place in a nearby trailer where it was cooler.  Finally Bambi appeared and I was able to get some photos of the two-year-old as well.

I've always wanted to go inside the fence and play with the goats but they have gotten BIG - and they have quite some HORNS now too.  Let's not and say I did...

We didn't stay out there too long because the mosquitos were TERRIBLE.  Another reason we let Lucas sleep instead of bringing him out to see Uncle Sam and the animals.  And it's a good thing I was wearing long jeans instead of shorts, but I was wearing my flip-flops so my feet are now sporting lovely red {and itchy} bites.

Lucky 7

No check-up this month so no real measurements.  :(  BUT, we did happen to take Miley to the vet the other day and I decided to just plop Lucas up on the scale too!  Hehe.

Approximate Weight: 17.6lb - that's with some clothes and a diaper so knock off a few ounces for better accuracy.  That's only about a pound increase since his six month checkup.

Approximate Length:  27-1/4in - 3/4in increase

Approximate Head circumference:  43.5cm - no change

Honorable Mentions:

I still love my jumper. It's what's helping me get my legs oh-so-strong and ready to crawl and stand, and eventually walk. But of course lately I've preferred to be on the floor.

My biggest milestone: I have been scooting around a lot lately and going super duper fast.  I've even got some calluses forming on my left arm!  I think they call it "army" crawling but my Daddy likes to call it "sniper" crawling instead.  It won't be long before I get the hang of it and start to pick up on my knees and crawl for realz!  I'm already getting into a bunch of stuff, so won't it be so much cooler the stuff I'll be able to get into then?

I've been eating more and more and finally have tried some MEAT {Gerber-style, of course}.  My formula intake hasn't increased any - I take about six 5-6oz bottles each day.  And I sure am a good Pooper!

This past month we celebrated my Mama for both Mommy's Day and her birthday.  :) 

It was also Memorial weekend a few days ago.  So we went to the race track and I got to see my Daddy race for the first time!  Boy was it loud.  And boy did they go fast.  Before the race we went to a festival and got to see fossils.

I can't wait for next month.  :)

A Day at the Track {and a quick tutorial}

Now that you've seen all about Lucas' first race experience here is more about Hubby's day at the track and how he and the car did.

Here's a snapshot of his stats for the night.  I'll try my best to explain...

First, the race car is in the "foot brake" class, meaning it doesn't have any fancy electronics to help you race.  You have to actually hit the gas and go at the right time, like a normal street car.  And this particular track, New Bern Motorsports, runs an Eighth Mile as opposed to a Quarter Mile.  So it's a shorter length.

The first two rounds, T1 and T2, are time runs {practice} and the third, DFC, is a Dash-for-Cash race.  It's just a separate race within the race where all classes can run against each other - the closest to their Dial-in wins {as opposed to the fastest}.  You see, that's what bracket racing is really about.  Not being the fastest per se, but rather predicting what time your car will run {the Dial-in} and running as close to that number as possible without going faster {that would be called Breaking Out}.

In the Stats above you will also see some color coding.  In red are some negative reaction times.  Reaction time is measured when the lights {affectionately called a Christmas tree in drag racing} count down from yellow and turn green, which is the point at which the car then hits the gas and drives down the track.  So a perfect reaction time would be 0.000.  So you want to get as close to a perfect reaction time as possible.  The higher the number the slower you are at reacting to the tree.  Now above you see that Hubby has two reaction times in red.  This is because he was too quick in reacting and left before the light turned green {called Red-lighting}.  This is an automatic loss, like shown in the 2nd round.

Another color you will see in the Stats is blue, which is the Breaking Out I mentioned above.  You see this in the ET column {Elapsed Time} which is the time actually ran down the track.  The blue times shows that Hubby went faster than his Dial-in.  This is also an automatic loss - unless of course both cars break out {a double break out it's called}, then the car closest to its dial-in would win.  The car that broke out the worst would lose.

Now with all that explained here's basically how his day went, rather short actually.

T1: Hubby said his tires spun when he first launched {the track was too slick}.  And he red-lighted.  Good thing it was just a practice.

T2: A better practice run and his ET was really close to his other time run.

DFC: First race where you would Dial-in predicting what time you think you'll race.  Hubby broke out by four thousandths {very very little} but it's a loss.  **I got to stage him during this round/race.

Note that later in the day when the sun goes down the air tends to get cooler.  In racing when the air gets cooler it allows the cars to run faster.  So you tend to see the drivers gradually change their dial-in times appropriately as they plan for the car to go faster.

Now for the races to begin.

1st: Hubby had a good reaction time but the previous car that ran down the track didn't do a good enough burn out and ended up bringing some water down the track with him.  {I'll show you some examples of burn outs further below.}  So that left the track a bit slick and he didn't run too close to his dial-in, but even with that he still managed to win - the other car red-lighted.

2nd: This time Hubby red-lighted.  You know this as soon as it happens so even though you automatically lose you then treat this as a time run.  He still ran it out trying to get the best time he could.

At some tracks, like NBMS, they allow "buy backs" where for additional money, if you lose you can buy back into the race.  Now each track is different with how they handle this.  Usually they only allow it for first or second rounds, allowing you to buy back only one of the two rounds or sometimes you can buy back for both.  So Hubby bought back after 2nd round to keep going.

3rd: Hubby had an okay reaction time but he and the other car were really close at the end of the track.  He ended up "patting" to slow down - he "lifted" off the gas to slow down just a bit as opposed to hitting his brakes to slow down a lot.  {You can also tell how much he slowed down based on his MPH.} 

     He did this because he was reaching the finish line well ahead of the other car, and with bracket racing you should arrive at the same time based on your dial-ins.  So Hubby knew he was either going to break out or the other car was just going too slow.  As a result, even with his "patting", he did get down there too quickly and he broke out.  The other car didn't so Hubby lost, ending his night early.

There weren't too many cars in the race to begin with because it's a holiday weekend and everyone is at the beach, so there weren't too many more rounds to finish.  But now on to the fun stuff!  Pictures of Hubby racing his dad's car.

Just a day at the track.

Racer Boy {in training}

This Saturday we took Lucas to his first race. 

We went to Hubby's old stomping grounds at New Bern Motorsports Park where he bracket raced his Dad's Camaro Z28 in the Modified "Foot-brake" class.  Hubby's own Z28 is still out of commission while refreshing the transmission and motor.  He usually runs his car {nicknamed "Chrissy" - short for "Crystal Blue Persuasion"} in the Top Eliminator "Box" class.

Crissy at our Wisconsin home

Hubby is the 2010 Champion at New Bern for both classes.  That year we actually lived in town and Hubby and his Dad were able to go regulary enough to join the points series.  They raced his car in the Top class and his Dad's in the Modified class.  And as I said, Hubby won both classes that year.  That's two trophies he took home!

Here's a quick set of photos back from when we were engaged.  My MIL took a photo of me in Curtis' race car so that they could blow up the picture and make the poster in the second photo for our 50's Sock Hop themed rehearsal dinner.  The joke is that once we were married the race car is now also mine.  :)  {And no, you don't get to see my poodle skirt.}

Now, in preparation for Lucas' first trip to the race track I had to make a few Amazon purchases...

First of all, it's super loud, because it's a race track.  All those cars suped up to try to impress everyone!  So I got these Baby Banz Hearing Protector Earmuffs - in blue of course.  And with Summer beginning I also picked out some Baby Banz Sunglasses in black. 

The ear muffs worked out great.  He rarely pulled at them and was even able to fall asleep wearing them.  Now the sunglasses he didn't care for at all.  We tried them first at the festival earlier that day and he just pulled them right off.  The sun wasn't too bad so we just left them off at the track.  His hearing was most important.

First things first.  Lucas had to get a tutorial on the race car with Daddy.

Hubby had to get suited up in his race jacket and shoes so he could get some time runs in.  Good luck Daddy!  Time to sit in his very own race chair for the track {his mini version of our folded chairs}.

Then, of course, Granddaddy had to take Lucas around to see some of the other race cars, like this orange one belonging to our old neighbor, Larry.  And he had to get a quick lesson about charging up the car.  Checked out the track real quick...  And then before first round even started he was out...needed a nap with Grammy.

And to end Lucas' first racing experience.  Here are a few Instragram favorites of mine from the weekend!

Small Town Festival

This weekend we went to Hubby's hometown where they were celebrating Memorial weekend with their annual Fossil Festival and Parade.  We went with Grammy and Uncle Gary.  Not only was this Lucas' first time at this festival but it was mine too.

Welcome to Aurora, North Carolina.  Where the water tower has a shark named Digger on it.

First we parked down the road at Hubby's grandmother's house.  And we walked a few blocks to Main Street.  We stood at the side of the street to watch as the parade started to go by.  It wasn't too long before it started to lightly rain, so the camera didn't get to stay out very long until it started to clear up.  What was missed: The small high school band marched by and then a few classic cars and the fire trucks. 

Then the downpour came again and we ducked under a nearby tent for cover.  When it let up again we headed back out to stand by the street to continue watching.

The Piggly Wiggly is the big grocery store in town.  And they had their HUGE shopping cart in the parade.  It's motorized!

Then a bunch of horses with their riders walked by.  Hubby's Uncle Tommy was riding one of his horses.  Needless to say that the horses are at the tail end of the show.  {They tend to make a mess that no one wants to follow!}  Once the parade was over we walked by the mound of rejects that the Aurora Fossil Museum has next to one of their buildings.  All the kids were digging for sharks teeth.  {A bit too muddy with the rain.}

Then across the street we ran into Granny!  She came with several of her friends.  Of course she loves {LOVES} baby feet so she usually has to take Lucas' shoes/socks of to get to them.  Fortunately he was already barefoot so she had easy access.  Hi Granny!

We walked by the museum and opted not to go inside.  It is way too busy on this day.  We'll take Lucas there another time.  But then we had to stop and get some homemade ice cream!  Hubby and I shared a Vanilla/Chocolate mixture.

Then we walked on over to the festival area where they actually had all the fun stuff.  Unfortunately Lucas is still too young to enjoy the slides and inflatables so we just snapped a few shots as we walked by.  Can't wait until he's a big kid!

The last area we looked at was the classic car show.  They even had a "General Lee" car!  When also saw Cousin Mike at the car show.  Then we were headed back to grandmother's house with a funnel cake we picked up for her.

It turned out to be a gorgeous day after the rain decided to move on.  Not too bad for Lucas' first parade and festival.  Next year we will get to do a lot more with him.

Note: This town doesn't have any stop lights.  They do, however, have three (yes, three) flashing lights at their "busiest" intersections.  :)

Photo Outtakes

How many times does it take you to get a good clean shot?



What is that face, Lucas??



A smile, yes, but OPEN those beautiful eyes boy!



Ah, finally.  Not using the flash helped.



Third time's a charm!

Wreckless Driver Etiquette

Dearest Wreckless Driver from my morning commute,

While you feel it is your prerogative to drive like a maniac in your little red sports car, it does not make the rest of us obligated to allow you to do so.  While I typically do move over to allow people to pass, the moment you continuously flash your headlights at me like a German offensive driver is the moment I decide to do just the opposite and instead mess with you.  :)

My driving seven miles over the speed limit is appropriate enough for me to be in the left-so-called-fast-lane, especially when I am passing my fair share of drivers in the right lane.  Do I irritate you when I won't let you pass after the third time you flash your lights at me? 

Do I irritate you further when I reset my cruise control setting from seven over to only three over, causing you to slow down even further?  I sure hope so.  That was the intention.  I surely enjoyed working with the car to my right to block you in behind us. 

But alas, my fun ended the moment the right-lane car had to exit, leaving you an opening {very narrow due to the car ahead} to merge over - speed up - then merge back to the left lane cutting me off.  Ah, if only I had my camera ready in time to take a picture of your car's rear so I could remember this moment always.  ::sigh::   It's okay though.  I had my morning fun.  :)

While I've been a very good, defensive driver for thirteen years {knock on wood}, you have probably received countless speeding tickets and maybe even an accident {or five}...  Fortunately for you the cops are rarely there when needed.  So I just hope that that one time that gets you in really really big trouble you just don't endanger others.

Meanwhile, I'll continue to have my fun by irritating you and your friends.  :)

Sincerely,

The Mommy who made you what(?) all of ten seconds late to work...

Alphabet Scramble: Z

Let's get this thing over with, shall we?  Here is the final letter for the Alphabet Scramble.

Z

Zinc (diaper rash) cream - I've said it before that we've been fortunate that Lucas hasn't had any diaper rash problems.  But we have some tubes of Destitin on standby.

Zoo - I had a zoo trip scheduled but it just wasn't in the cards for enough of the family to go.  And I know Lucas is still so young and not quite old enough to fully enjoy the trip.  But he is so observant and I really think he'd love seeing all the animals.  In the meantime he does have a blanket that my MIL has made from a zoo-animal print.

Alphabet Scramble: Y

Y

Young - Oh to be young again!  Lucas is growing up so fast before my eyes and I'm just so glad that he's got so many years ahead of him as a little kid.

Alphabet Scramble: I

I

 

Infant - Lucas has long since been in the baby stage, oh no.  He is an Infant!  :)  Maybe it's just a more politically correct term?  I dunno.  Anywho, he's my infant and that's all that matters!

ID tag - Yes, of course we saved Lucas' tags, as well as mine, from the hospital!  Our first souvenirs.

Induction - I won't go into this, just that I had to have one.  And it took awhile because they couldn't increase my doses until the current dose steadied out enough.  But eventually it got me where I needed to be, obviously.  :)

Alphabet Scramble: Q

Q

Quilt - Aside from the afghans and handmade blankets that Lucas has he doesn't have any actual quilts.  And I'm talking the patchwork kind.  I actually started making one before he was born and I have all the squares sewn together.  I just stopped at the part where you need to sew it together with the batting.  For that I need to have the correct type of needle for my sewing machine and I just haven't gotten around to it.  I really need to get that done though, before he's too big to use it!

Q-tip - My boy has some dirty ears.  I try to clean his ears with the cotton swabs after each bath and I swear it always comes out dirty.  I've got the special baby Q-tips so they can't be pushed in too far.  Lucas just can't keep his ears clean.

Alphabet Scramble: W

W

Weight - He's still in the 25 percentile as of his six month appointment but the doctor has no concerns. And with the daily intake of solid food he should beefen up no problem.  You can check out Lucas' montly updates to see his progress.

Words - Much like I said in regards to his Talking, he's starting to put more and more sounds together.  He's not making any actual words just yet other than what I imagine he is saying in my own mind. 

Walking/Walkers - Not in this stage yet {fortunately}!  But he's a strong {assisted} stander.  If you have any recommendations for walkers I would love to hear what works the best.

Alphabet Scramble: S

S

Scrapbook - I've got a few scrapbooks in the works.  One I received from a baby shower that is for each of Lucas' birthdays, so that won't get finished until after he's turned 18.  That's a long work in progress.  Meanwhile I've been accumulating scrapbook stuff for all the holidays since he's been born and holding onto certain cards, etc., so that I can complete a scrapbook for his first year.  The plan is to do one for each year.  I hope I can stick to that idea too.

Smiles - Lucas is all about some smiles.  As I've said before, he's always called the "happiest baby" wherever we go because he will just bust out a smile at anyone.  At daycare they actually get concerned if he gets the slightest bit fussy because "that's just not him."  I love that boy!

Snores - Yes, he does.  But it's just so darn cute!

Socks - I'm a little bit crazy about his socks.  I don't like the plain white socks.  They have to be colorful!  And by the end of the day he's usually not wearing them anyway.  He loves to eat his own toes so he usually pulls his sock off to get to them.

Stroller - We don't use it enough.  We've taken Lucas out a few times, a walk in the park or around the mall, but we just need to do more of that.

Swing - Early on we borrowed my SIL's swing for Lucas and he loved it.  But it died.  It wasn't just battery operated though, it used a wall outlet.  So we're still not sure what went on with the wiring but it just decided one day it didn't want to go on anymore.  So eventually I picked up a Graco swing base that just uses your Graco carseat.  Not a big fan of it, it basically was just a seat holder for us.  Recently I actually just packed it away because the floor can do that just fine.  The speed control was either slow {barely moving} or super duper fast.

Alphabet Scramble: X

X

Xylophone - Nana has a small little piano-style toy that we keep at their house for Lucas to play with.  He enjoys it.  Let's just call it a xylophone for lack of other X-words.  :)  We also have one at our house that we just got recently.  It's actually part of an activity table but we're not using the legs attached just yet.

Alphabet Scramble: T

T

Talk - Lucas is very chattery these days.  He's starting to make more and more different sounds.  I think that Dada or Daddy will come long before Mama or Mommy.  But that's okay.

Teething - Yeah, he's been doing that for the longest time in a drooling sense.  No teeth yet!

Tummy time - He enjoys his tummy time and likes to do doughnuts on the floor. 

Alphabet Scramble: O

O

Oliver - This is our other kitty, a gray tabby.

Here kitty kitty.

Orajel - We haven't had to use much of this at all.  Lucas still hasn't cut any teeth but he is still "teething" which we currently attribute only to drooling crazy.  There have been a few times where he's been really fussy and we tried everything - he's dry and clean, he's fed, he's had a nap.  So just in case it was his gums I put a dab of Orajel on his pacifier and he would be all better.  I can't wait till we really need it!  {sarcasm of course}  :)  But, we've also got the Orajel brand toothpaste...for when those teeth finally show up.

Onesies - I don't even know if he wears all of the ones we have for him.  There are soooo many.  I try to rotate as best I can.  But now that he's in the 6-9 month size we've started putting him more in the non-onesie outfits, meaning the actual t-shirts and shorts/pants.  So the onesies just might be phasing out for the most part.

Oatmeal Cereal - He's not a fan.  I think it's too plain for him.  Although that doesn't explain why he enjoys the taste of formula so much {bleh!}.  Once I finish this one box I'm going to get the flavored kind that Gerber makes.  Maybe he'll want it more often.

Alphabet Scramble: K

K

Kisses - Oh, I give Lucas tons and tons of these.  He just hasn't figured out just yet how to return them.  We keep trying to teach him how to make a fishie face.  But so far, all I get is Lucas' mouth wide open.  Definitely not what I'm looking for.  :)

Kicks - Lucas just goes crazy with his legs.  He did so in my belly and he continues to do so now.  It can be a struggle on the changing table sometimes because his kicking legs just get in the way.  But it just means he's got some strong legs...and he's already standing up {with assistance} really well...next up, walking!