Happy Birthday Michael!

I know 3 posts is too many for one day but I didn't want the day to go by without telling my wonderful hubby


Myspace Graphics at WishAFriend.com

He is 40 today and nowhere near over the hill!!

I am so proud of him for being an awesome husband, wonderful dad and great manager.

WAY TO GO, CUBS!!




I hope this year is your best year ever.

And we will all be here, cheering you on, every step of the way!!

Love and kisses,
Your adoring family....

(pictures to follow soon)

New Additions to Favorite Movies

We have "family night" every Friday night and we usually watch a movie that everyone is interested in seeing. For awhile we were really having trouble finding some good ones, but the last two we watched have been absolutely wonderful!!

I have to preface my reviews with a disclaimer. We occassionally (and very selectively) watch movies with "magic" in them. If you do not watch those kinds of movies, these movies might not be for you...especially the first. Also, neither of these movies is a Christian film, although neither of them is anti-Christian either. One last thing. There is a little bit of bad language in the second movie. (mostly of the very English kind, like bloody this, or bloody that) I don't remember any in the first movie though.

Okay....drumroll please.....the newest additions to our favorite movies are:

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium



This movie was simply magical, if you don't mind my saying so. Michael and I loved this movie as much, if not more than, the kids. The funny thing is, I really don't like Dustin Hoffman very much, but I loved him in this movie. He was great! And the rest of the cast was wonderful as well. I fell in love with all the characters (including the shop, which is quite a character itself) and I was just enchanted with the movie. I have heard people say this movie is sad, and it does deal with death. However, I don't think that death is the main theme by any means. In fact, I think this movie is much more about how you live and believing in yourself (and others). There is one mention of heaven and a response that brings up other religions' ideas about afterlife. My kids were not shocked by it, though, they just said "yeah right, we don't believe in that stuff." The movie was fantastic and I already can't wait to watch it again. It is the kind of movie where I know I will catch more and more every time I watch it.

I will warn you...for some reason this movie seems to bring out a big response in everyone. They either love it or hate it. I have hardly read any reviews that are middle of the road. Try it at your own risk. ;-) And then let me know what you think...


And....for our second addition to our favorite movies.....are you ready???


The Waterhorse



We saw this one last night/this morning and it is fabulous! This one I did find to be a little sad, but not enough to keep me from enjoying the movie completely. (The sadness was actually afterwards) I have always had a wee bit of interest (say that with a Scottish accent for full effect) in the Loch Ness Monster and this movie explains the myth. The story is very imaginative and yet also includes WWII in it enough that I could almost call this a "school movie!" Okay, that might be stretching it a little... Anyway, this movie has mention of magic in the myths, but no actual magic is seen to happen (that is, if you don't count the wonderful special effects). It might be considered slightly scary for the younger crowd, but all of mine watched it without problem. (And Emily doesn't usually like scary stuff) I loved the multiple story lines and even dreamt of the movie last night. I adored the sea creature: Crusoe, and wish I had some animal right now that I could name Crusoe in memory of him/her. He/She was AWESOME! (you will know what I mean by that after you watch)

So...those are the two newest movies to add to our favorites list. We are going to see National Treasure II as soon as it comes out on video, too, and are hoping that will be one to add to our list as well. We are really looking forward to it! Have any of you seen it? What did you think?

This and That

This:


Led to this:


And they thought she wouldn't walk or talk! How about ride a trike and scrape up her face?! Does that count? LOL! And I can't get her to be quiet! REALLY!!! We can't figure out where her "off" switch is. Since THURSDAY!!! Non-stop talking. She sleeps, but wakes up and immediately starts talking again. She even falls asleep mid-sentence!!

Went to the thrift store last week. I love seeing what people get at the thrift store, so here are my finds (in case you are the same):

A hat, a broach and a pterodactyl. (10 points for whoever can tell me what movie that is from....and no googling!) So I really got a hat, a star bracelet and a wire basket.


I don't have a use in mind yet for the basket, but it was too cute to pass up. Or, maybe I should say I have too many uses in mind for the basket! LOL. I just can't decide.


Here is Britty modelling the hat for us. :-) She loves it too so we are sharing it. It's actually a funny story...I was at Goodwill with my niece and I saw this hat sitting on a display. I was being COMPLETELY sarcastic when I said "this hat is SOOO me!" and popped it on my head. However, after my niece said how cute it was and after I looked in the mirror, I decided I couldn't live without it! It IS ME! :-) I'll see if we can get a picture with me in it soon.

The star bracelet is also exceedingly me! I love stars and moons and suns. (Psalm 148:3) And if you notice my sidebar I always tell people my name is Kahri, it rhymes with starry. There is even a lady in our homeschool group that calls me "Kahri who rhymes with starry." Sooo the star bracelet is really me. I wish I could get a better picture of it, but you will just have to see it on my in person. :-)

Isn't it fun when you go to the thrift store and find things that are just so "you!" I love it!!

I also went to a book sale this week at a private school. My friend's children go to Regent's school and they were having a book sale so she invited me. Hmmmmm, why would she think of me? ROFL!! ANYWAY, I had great fun there too and even found a book that I needed for Emily's curriculum next year! WOOHOO!! There book sale was set up very nice and was very classy. Some of their books were nice and inexpensive but I thought a few were overpriced. Of course, I just didn't get those. :-) It was lots of fun, though, and I feel like I scored some treasures there.

Thinking of the Zandis Today

Found this gem in my morning devotional and just wanted to share...

Just to let thy Father do What He will;
Just to know that He is true, And be still;
Just to trust Him, this is all!
Then the day will surely be Peaceful, whatsoe'er befall,
Bright and blessed, calm and free.
F R HAVERGAL.

[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]

Michael's new Truck

My hubby got a truck on Friday. We think it is very pretty. It is hard to describe the color, it is bluish, greenish, purplish, depending on the light. It's a Chevy Avalanche. We are really proud of it! (And hubby did the noble thing and got the one that would sit all 6 of us, instead of getting the upgraded package that would have only fit 5 of us. Thank you honey!)

Wordless Wednesday

And what mother would not be wordless when finding this in a formally pristine-looking room? (Be sure to click on these so you can see the MAGNITUDE of the mess)




But check out these smiles...

Tackle It Tuesday

I actually did a "Tackle It Tuesday" today! Woohoo!!!

I cleaned my garage last year for the Organizational Challenge. It stayed mostly nice but started to get messed up when it started to warm up. We had piles of coats, piles of giveaways and then the kids' toys started to get messed up.
Here are the before pics:






And here are the after pictures:






So excited to get this done! Now I just have to keep it this way!

Check out other Tackle It Tuesdays here.

My Hair (and no, there is no purple)

I promised pics of my new "do"...here they are. And I also promise no more posts for tonight....3 in one day is enough. :-)






Not to be outdone, Kaedra and Emily had to have pics of their hair too...

Menu Plan Monday

I am finally rejoining Menu Plan Monday! I haven't joined in the fun in over a year! WOW! But I definitely need some accountability here, I have great meals in our freezer from a Once-A-Month-Cooking day Michael and I had, but I keep forgetting (or not thinking ahead) to defrost them when needed. This way I can plan it all out today and not think about it again for a week! Thanks Laura, I appreciate you!

Monday: Breakfast for Dinner

Tuesday: Honey Garlic Chicken wings with sauteed green beans (Michael is out of town and these are two things he doesn't like that the girls and I LOVE)

Wednesday: oamc calzones (another thing Michael doesn't like so much), salad

Thursday: 40 Clove Garlic Chicken, Fresh Green Beans, Macaroni Salad

Friday: Grilled Salmon, Grilled Corn on the Cob, Rice
(Take dinner to the Exums)

Saturday: (going to a picnic during the day) whatever-you-want-dinner (or I may double Exums dinner from yesterday)

Sunday: oamc cheesey chicken casserole, broccoli & cauliflower medley

Next week we are going to start Project Ratatouille like the Zandi Zoo!