Did anyone watch this movie growing up? I loved it. What brought it to mind today was that since my Land Rover has been broken, I have been driving a rental car that looks a lot like the Gnome Mobile. Seriously. It has a very similar shape and is full of children, a dog, an elderly man, basketballs and backpacks and lots of dog hair. Lovely imagery, huh? I could show you a picture of my rental car, but I think using your imagination is much more fun, isn't it?
Our family dog, Annie, loves to ride in the car. She is so content to sit in the front seat and stick her head out the window, her ears flapping in the wind. We adopted Annie from
DFW Lab Rescue this summer, and I can't say enough good things about that organization. They really try to match you with a dog right for your situation, and they work hard to find homes for these abandoned and/or just homeless labs. Most dog breeds have a rescue organization of some type, so next time you're looking for a pet, look them up! They usually require that you have a fenced yard and room for a pet (at least the larger breeds do).
I detoured a little off topic, didn't I? Back to the movie above. I grew up on a ranch and my parents choose not to have access to TV. Instead we read books and occasionally rented movies. I think this is a large reason why I read up a storm and prefer books over TV 90% of the time. That's not to say I don't like TV, I do, and I have a lot of shows I DVR (God Bless the DVR) and watch when I can. But there's something magical about books that the TV just can't compete with.
I've been trying to pass along my love for reading to my boys. It's was a challenge at first with my older son, Donny. He was slow to read and was more into comic books and/or graphic novels. I kept searching for books that were on subjects he would find interesting. I wasn't pushy, just consistent about sharing my love for novels and excitement about going to the bookstore. He's finally fallen in love with books and is an incredible reader! My younger son is just learning to read, and he loves for us to read to him. We usually get him to read to us now also, so he can practice reading.
What are both boys reading right now? Let me share.
Donny just finished reading
The Invention of Hugo Cabret and is starting to read
The Kingdom Keepers.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret: Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
The Kingdom Keepers: Thirteen-year-old Finn and several of his friends become holograms at Florida's Disney World and then find themselves literally pulled into nighttime adventures in the theme park. Ridley Pearson's fantasy (Disney Editions, 2005) is fast paced and technologically savvy. Finn and his friends make repeated forays after hours into the very guts of such Disney icons as Tom Sawyer's Island, It's a Small World, Adventure Mountain, and other rides both tame and wild as they lay siege to Maleficent, an evil witch whose minions are at work to destroy the Disney mystique. The kids hang out at the park looking for signs and signals that will aid them in their nighttime quest for securing Disney power. Their parents are mildly suspicious, but Finn and his pals are fast talkers, willing to face their nighttime nemeses alone, rather than bringing in adult forces.
Remy's favorites right now are
Poor Puppy and
Bad Kitty, along with
Oscar and The Mooncats and
Walter the Farting Dog.
Bad Kitty: This four-part alphabet book will appeal to youngsters who like their stories more naughty than nice. The tale opens with Kitty learning that her owners have run out of cat food and that her only options are healthy and nutritious edibles that run the gamut from Asparagus to Zucchini. She reacts by doing an A-to-Z list of mischievous things, like claw[ing] the curtains and hurl[ing] hair balls at our heads. When her owners return with food that ranges from An Assortment of Anchovies to Baked Zebra Ziti, Kitty realizes she must atone for her bad behavior with a final list of alphabetical deeds such as cleaning the cat box and washing the car.
Poor Puppy: The scrawny, supercilious feline from Bad Kitty is back and—quel surprise!—has no interest in playing with guileless, gangly Puppy, who appeared at the end of that title and takes center stage here. Poor Puppy, Bruel writes. Poor, poor Puppy. Poor, poor, poor, poor, poor Puppy! The book then becomes a counting/alphabet book to demonstrate that Puppy isn't really poor—in fact he has many playthings at his disposal: 1 Airplane, 2 Balls, 3 Cars and so on. But Puppy still wants to play with Kitty, and as he falls asleep, the book takes another trip through the alphabet—and through the world—as Puppy dreams of 26 fun activities and locales he'd like to share with his best friend Kitty: Apple Bobbing in Antarctica, Baseball in Brazil, Checkers in Canada, etc.
Oscar and The Mooncats: A cozy tale about a cat who learns that there's no place like home. Oscar the cat loves his boy. He also loves to climb way up where he can see everything. He jumps onto the fridge, onto the bookshelf, and onto the roof of the garage, but if he jumps just a little higher, his view would be out of this world. With the mightiest leap of his life, Oscar makes it all the way to the moon. Oscar makes some new friends there.
Walter the Farting Dog: Walter, a fat gray dog with an apologetic look on his face, comes home from the pound with two children. He has incurable gas, and his family decides to take him back. The night before he is to go, Walter sadly devours "the 25-pound bag of low-fart dog biscuits the vet had prescribed for him, which had made him fart more.... A gigantic gas bubble began to build inside him." Wouldn't you know, two burglars break in, and Walter's liability becomes his asset.
My husband is currently reading
John Grisham's new novel,
The Appeal, and I'm reading
Eat, Pray, Love by
Elizabeth Gilbert.
What are you currently reading? Have you seen the movie The Gnome Mobile?
For those of you who don't read or aren't reading anything currently, what's in your Gnome Mobile?
And, for those of you who aren't interested in any of those questions, you need to see this
weird new fish from Antartica and how can you make it through your day without hearing about
this? If I never make it as a writer, then I can always go into that new profession.
Our sweet Annie, whom we adopted from DFW Lab Rescue this summer, is the love of our life. We spoil her and love her so much. This is her cushy couch-bed she got for Christmas...although she sleeps with my older son in HIS bed every night. So, maybe this is her daybed...
I had to share this next picture, because it is something I look at every day and can't live without. I had lap-band surgery back in November and have lost 30lbs so far. I still have more weight to lose, but it's a huge start. Anyway, I have to take in lots of protein every day, and the way I most enjoy doing this is with protein powder in my homemade smoothies. I'll have to share the recipe sometime soon, ,although it's super simple. Here is one, below, in my favorite Target cup: 
Finally, I just couldn't resist sharing this portrait of me, in my wedding dress, taken almost 12 years ago! I can't believe it's been that long. 
