Disney's A Christmas Carol - In 3D!

Joe, Xander and I went to see Disney's new movie A Christmas Carol, which has several characters played by Jim Carrey. Xander was very excited, because it was in 3D and also because he already knows the story of "Ebeneber" Scrooge.

I'm a big fan of this story, in all of its incarnations. I've got versions with Muppets, one with Susan Lucci (playing Elizabeth Scrooge), and my favorite George C. Scott edition. It's just such a great story! And I thought the new movie did a great job with it! There were some funny parts, but not as many as you'd think from a Jim Carrey film. There were some scary parts that had Xander covering his eyes. And the only thing I didn't really like was the way the Ghost of Christmas Present transitioned out of the story. Otherwise, it all kept very close to the original story.

The Bruno family as a whole recommends this movie. Xander is already asking when we can buy it on DVD. For me, it will be a welcome addition to the Christmas Carol collection I already have. Cause I never get tired of watching this story!

Our Overnight Guest!

Xander has been on many overnights, mostly to my mother-in-law's and my brother's. The only child we had stay over was Katie (her folks bunked in too) for Xander's second birthday. So it's been a while.

On Saturday, we had scheduled Braden for an all-day playdate. Xander was so excited, particularly because it would just be the boys all day - no pesky sisters! The boys played so nice together all day! Braden decided to stay for dinner, and when I would've taken him home afterwards, Xander begged for more playtime. And just like that, Braden ended up spending the night.

The boys decided they could both sleep on Xander's bed, once they got all the stuffed animals, extra blankets, and random toys off it. At 8:30 I put them to bed, but they played their DS games for about another hour. The night passed without incident. I'm so happy everything went well, it will make me less nervous about any future sleepovers we may have. Plus, it was nice for Xander and Braden to have all that time to hang out together. Might have to switch up to a bigger bed, though...

Happy Birthday To My Mom!

Happy Birthday, Mommo!

57 years young today! I've known you for 36 years now, and you're still my very best friend. Hope you have a great birthday!

Minekill Overlook

It's been unseasonably warm the last couple of days, the kind of weather where you want to throw open all your windows. Not only did I do that, but I wrangled Joe and Xander for a trip to the Minekill Falls Overlook. The last time I'd been there Xander was about two years old.




I'd wanted to do the big through-the-woods hike to the bottom of the falls, but the inspiration to go hiking came too late in the day (they close the park at 3pm). So we just did the overlook. I wasn't actually expecting much because there's been roadwork next to the falls for a couple years now, and sometimes the water isn't flowing at all. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the roar of the falls as we got closer, and to see how great it was flowing.

It was a nice little outing. When summer rolls around again, I'm determined to do the big hike. A big pool of water and lots of rocks for throwing? Xander will love it! I'm sure glad we live close enough to visit this natural wonder whenever we want to!