A-Kon Dallas: Random Nerdy Fun!

So friends of ours own this cool little comic shop, SuperVillain Comics, and they decided to set up a booth at A-Kon, one of the most awesome Anime Conventions, which was celebrating their 25th year. We decided to go see them and take the kids on their first nerdy adventure. The whole day turned into so much awesome it was hard to contain! We saw people from all our favorite animes as well as some other fandoms! Even my father, a nerd at heart but an old fashioned kind of one, had some great fun seeing the costumes and some characters he recognized. We also came away with some awesome goodies! Here is a look:

Right off the bat we got to see Spirit, Toad, and Mouse from Soul Eater! Right in front of our booth!

NoFace, from Spirited Away, was walking around with a handfull of gold just trying to make friends.

We found a cute little hat shop! Too bad these cutties were too small for the beautiful creations. Maybe next time!

We were very impressed with Maka and Soul from Soul Eater! She was very beautiful and very sweet. This was when we began to really see people and feel confident about asking for pictures.

The hubby was very happy to see Madara Uchiha from Naruto: Shippuden.

Other fandoms were welcomed too! The boys were terrified of this very awesome Dalek from Dr. Who!

Death the Kid! This Soul Eater character was very nicely done and impressed Jareth.

Natsu and Grey may fight a ton on Fairy Tale, but they were more than nice when it came time to take a picture with Happy and Jareth!

With Sailor Moon making a comeback next month, I was so excited to see this excellent costume! And love it when the people are as nice as the characters!

PawPaw, who was a bit out of his element, was all grins when he saw someone he recognized. The man dressed as Snake Blisskin was glad to take a picture with him!

PawPaw found more things to be excited about, although I thought he looked a bit sinister!

Another surprise! Legolas and Gimli really made Jareth smile, nerds all around!

Luffy from OnePiece was seen in a booth with some awesome items, but he stopped his looking long enough for a quick picture with a fan.

I think this Ash was a little suprised to find a Pokemon fan that was so young! But Jareth couldn't be more excited to get a picture with her and Pikachu!

A very impressive costume for this Halo soldier. He was spotted many times without a helmet, though, with it being so hot! But he was nice enough to put it back on for our picture!

Another very impressive costume from Silent Hill. He had a very large crowd just waiting for pictures in awe!

We were on our way out when we finally found a Kirito! With Sword Art Online coming out with a season 2 next month, Jareth was eagerly looking everywhere for this particular character. His day ended on a high note!

A bit of adorable advertising! Liv walked around with a SuperVillains Comics monkey in her hands! And she was not letting go!

While it may not look like it, Jareth was excited about his new Power Rangers shirt!

Our loot! I am thuroughly in love with my new Asuna (Sword Art Online) wallet! And our new book marks will come in handy as we take on the Summer Reading Program!

And of course we had to try something new. As lovers of Pocky, we could not pass up the green tea flavor, and it was amazing! These little sodas were a big hit since you have to push a glass marble down into the jar to open it. I think Ramune is our new favorite drink!

Over all we had such an amazing time walking around seeing everything! All the booths and people were so incredible! Definitely a great first experience in our geeky convention adventures! We can't wait until the next opportunity to show the kids around the nerdy world! Have you been to a convention? What was your experience like? To what geeky fandoms do you belong? Let us know so we can share fan tales! And have an awesome time at your next convention!

Random Movie Trip

List Items #62, #35, and #11

It started out as a simple trip up the Jareth's school to give his teacher a gift our favorite GiGi made for her. And since we were already in the car and talking about wanting to do something fun and check something off the list, we started thinking. Of course it had to be something cheap since we don't have much money right at the moment. Dollar Movie! So we took ourselves into town and picked a movie. Since it was Livia's first time in a theater we saw a movie the boys had already seen, allowing Daddy to miss parts of it to go entertain Livia when she got antsy. So we saw:

The LEGO Movie - #62 Go to a dollar movie

And of course since we were already in the area we had to stop in at Yogurt Story for some of the best dessert available!

#35 Frozen Yogurt

Mommy - Espresso/Chocolate/NY Cheesecake with mini M&Ms and cherries
Jareth - PeanutButter/Chocolate/Strawberry with mini Reeces, gummy bears, and sour gummy worms and 1 cherry

Livia stole Bubba's and made a nice little mess!

And thanks to 102.1 The EDGE we had some great music to turn up and sing to!

#11 Sing loudly with the car windows down

Livia dancing in the front seat (as Jareth and I got our yogurt) really entertained a girl walking along so much she put down her bags and began dancing along. It started and ended with Bastille! Our line up on the way home included Pompeii, No Rest For The Wicked, Safe and Sound, and Bad Blood!

All in all the trip cost us about $10 and we had so much fun! 3 more items checked off our list and a little randomness for the kids! This is what our summer is supposed to be about! I am so glad we got the chance to enjoy it!

Camping Trip

List Items #5, #17, #19, #53, #58, #69, #98

It was the first official weekend of summer! We made plans to take this camping trip about a month ago thanks to my father, who is big into geocaching, and his plans to be at the State Park already. It turned into a great couple of days of fun with some friends who were able to join us for this trip! We were able to check off quiet a few items on our list and the whole family had tons of fun!

#98 - Go Camping

My son loves to camp! Him and my husband go at least once every summer with some friends or family, but we have thought Livia to be too young and I will admit that I shy away from it unless I have no other choice. However, this summer is about family time! So we packed everyone into the car, including Brewster our dog, and we drove just down the road to the Ray Roberts Lake State Park - Isle du Bois Unit. We invested in a State Park pass which will get us into any State Park for free for unlimited visits for anyone in our vehicle. With this card we also get discounts on camping, park store merchandise, and other benefits which we will be taking advantage of this summer! We recommend that everyone look into this for their state as I believe it is an untapped mine of fun for the family! If you are in Texas, here is where you can find more info: texasstateparks.org .

Of course, the boys did most of the tent building, but us girls tried to do our part to help!

#58 - Go to the lake / #5 - Go to the beach / #19 - Go swimming / #53 - Build Sandcastles

The Ray Roberts Lake has some amazing spots! We were fortunate enough to have a campsite that had a nice little pathway straight to the lake with a large beach area for the kids to have fun. And they weren't the only ones! Brewster had never been to the beach before either and he had so much fun, on leash, wading through the water with us.  And all of this of course led to swimming in the beautiful water! And for a short time we tried our hand at sandcastles.

#69 - Go berry picking

Originally we were going to try and go to the berry farm in the area, but news of their being closed this summer really put a damper on the Summer List. Fortunately for us a friend who had stayed at the site the night before had discovered a patch of wild blackberries! So we took the kids over and, after some mishaps with the thorns, we collected a large handful of blackberries! Not everyone liked them, Jareth being among those that didn't like the slightly tart berries. But they all had fun finding the bramble and searching for ones that had reached maturity.

#17 - Make s'mores

And of course no camping trip is complete without S'mores! The kids had so much fun, of course, roasting the marshmallows over the open fire and watching them ooze out of the sides of the graham cracker and chocolate sandwich. Of course, Livia went straight for the marshmallows, having no patience for letting it cook. Leaving everyone happy with the night as they ate their sugary goodness in the dark!

Of course the night didn't end there. Just before some of our party had to go home we went out in the dark for a small hike to do some night time geocaching. For those of you that don't know, this is an adult-type scavenger hunt utilizing the Global Positioning System (GPS). Geocaches can be found all over the world in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It was mentioned that I didn't include it on my list and that is for 2 reasons: 1) It wasn't on the two lists I used to compile mine, and 2) it is something my family does often enough that I didn't find the need to put it on the list. But I will mention it to anyone else making a Summer List, because it is a fun, family adventure that costs nearly nothing to participate in! So if you have never heard of or really looked into the fun, check it out! Geocaching.com will give you more information and get you hooked on the adventure!

Also on the way out of the park, as we were talking over all the fun we had, we were lamenting the fact that all we had seen was a small rabbit run across my path as I took Brewster for a walk. That was corrected as we came to a stop to see a young doe grazing at a patch of grass on the corner of two of the roads. Everyone was able to stare and admire her as she slowly made her way back into the woods, adding a little something special to the whole trip!

We had so much fun on the first trip of the summer! And it has made the family more eager to check off more of the items on our Summer List as we have fun and enjoy family time together this summer. I hope others have chosen to take on the challenge that is the List. If you do, please tell us about your adventures! I look forward to telling you more stories of our days and hearing about yours!

Our Summer To-Do List

This summer our family is trying to focus more on each other and quality time. In such a fast paced world where kids are at the mercy of their parents' work schedules, I don't think children get the attention they deserve. The husband and I are trying to hive our two memories they will cherish. So here is our list of things we want to try and fit in this summer. Don't let the high number of items on the list put you off; some of these things can be done together and some don't take any time at all. Most of them are also budget friendly, with only a handful of them actually costing much. And we are spreading those things out a bit.
We challenge you to complete the list with us! And we hope your summer is as fun as we plan ours to be! Don't forget to follow us as we check things off the list and discover all the ways we managed to fit everything in one summer!
 NOTE: The list will be completed from May 30th - August 26th, our official summer vacation. This list was made from 2 lists found on Pinterest.com. They can be found at The Crafting Chicks and The Freckled Fox.
NOTE2: We may not get to the whole list! And while we tried to do it all as a family, due to scheduling (and the nature of the item) a couple had to be done without one parent or the other.

Summer List

1. Go to the drive-in movie                                       51. Participate in a library storytime

2. Watch Fireworks                                                 52. Visit a state landmark

3. Go to an aquarium                                                53. Build sandcastles

4. Ride on a ferris wheel                                           54. Play a game of charades

5. Go to the beach                                                   55. Go bowling

6. Make homemade popsicles                                  56. Go to a farmer's market

7. Build a blanket fort                                               57. Paint rocks

8. Jump through sprinklers                                        58. Go to the lake

9. Have a bonfire                                                      59. Make Tie-Die t-shirts

10. Go on a roadtrip                                                 60. Make homemade ice cream

11. Sing loudly with the car windows down               61. Play night games

12. Go running at sunset                                            62. Go to a dollar movie

13. Read a book in the sun                                        63. Play mini golf

14. Have breakfast in bed                                         64. Run in a family race

15. Eat sno-cones                                                     65. Go to a baseball game

16. Have a scavenger/treasure hunt                           66. Have a dance party

17. Make s'mores                                                     67. Have a girls camping trip

18. Have a silly string fight                                         68. Have a paper airplane contest

19. Go swimming                                                      69. Go berry picking

20. Visit the museum                                                 70. Go on a boat

21. Ride bikes                                                          71. Bake and decorate a cake

22. Go thrifting                                                          72. Bake mini pies

23. Go on a hike                                                       73. Have a water balloon fight

24. Sleep on the trampoline truck bed under the stars 

25. Visit the zoo                                                        74. Have a marshmallow fight

26. Have a movie series marathon                             75. Do a kid's service project

27. Go to the park concerts                                       76. Go stargazing

28. Have a picnic                                                       77. Go to the park

29. Play frisbee                                                          78. Play jax

30. Have a water fight                                                79. Paint your own pottery

31. Do finger painting                                                 80. Play boardgames

32. Go boating/kayaking                                            81. Go to a festival

33. Blow bubbles                                                       82. Visit a historical site

34. Random Acts of Kindness                                    83. Leave nice notes on cars

35. Frozen yogurt                                                      84. Make Jell-O Jigglers

36. Play Freeze Tag                                                   85. Make a Flat Stanley

37. Wash car in swimsuits                                           86. Go fishing

38. Taco truck                                                           87. Have a teddybear picnic

39. Have a BBQ                                                        88. Plant something

40. Go swimming at 5 different water parks                89. Go to a garage sale

41. Host a puppet show                                             90. Play Hide-n-seek

42. Visit a waterfall                                                     91. Start a grateful jar

43. Do a Home Depot kids Workshop                       92. Go to a rodeo

44. Do a backyard campout                                       93. Make suckers

45. Make sidewalk chalk masterpieces                       94. Go to a carnival

46. Play frisbee golf                                                   95. Have a read-a-thon

47. Dance in the rain                                                  96. Fly a kite

48. Do a MadLibs                                                     97. Have a gaming party

49. Pick Wildflowers                                                 98. Go camping

50. Eat at a popular restaurant found on Yelp or Urban Spoon

A big "Thank You" goes out to my step-mom, the amazing De Vickery, who sat down and helped me figure out which of these things would be possible with where we live! Check her out over at Two Traveling Greyhounds. She is having her own summer fun!

Why I Am Letting My 7 yr old On Facebook

My son says some pretty crazy things. A lot of my own Facebook posts are his quotes, our conversations, or descriptions of his latest ideas and adventures. Many times I have been told to make a group for everyone to read and share their own stories of my son's antics. But I am a writer with two blogs and my own Facebook page, keeping up with yet another page was not going to make the project fun for me. Then I realized, my son is seven years old! Perfectly capable of writing his own updates and sharing his favorite YouTube videos with family he doesn't see often enough. So why couldn't he have his own Facebook page to update as he wanted and see what those family members posted in return. Facebook has serious privacy settings for a reason, although no one uses them these days, and they make it pretty hard for outsiders to see a person's content (yes I have tried to stalk people and run into those said walls). And right now my son is used to my constant monitoring, hovering over his shoulder as he plays Wild Krats games on my laptop. Until he is much older he won't know the privacy of his own computer, and right now he doesn't contest that rule. So why wait until he is thirteen, stubborn, wanting to post what is cool, avoiding his parents, and most likely to get into trouble. No. Instead I will give him an account that only I know the password to. Warn him that everyone in the family can see whatever he says. And get him used to behaving appropriately on the internet which so many young people abuse these days.

And why is this concept such a bad thing? What happened to expecting more from our children and teaching them responsibility and consequence? My son will one day be a contributing member of society, I think now is an excellent time to begin instilling in him the morals and values to make him someone I will be proud of.

So I am stepping out of society's comfort zone to try to help the next generation. If I am wrong, expect a letter of apology on here in ten years. But then I don't see others apologizing for some of the teens I see these days. Parenting is a trial and error experiment with much higher stakes than some would like to admit. I am hoping to change the world through my kids. Just wish me luck.

My Daughter Turned Me Into A Girl

I am the oldest of 3 girls. While my mother had a full time job and was involved in church activities a lot of the time, she was still there to talk to me about what being a girl meant, all the fun little details we dread. But as things turned out I spent a lot more time with my father and his car club, which I believe influenced me to be more of a tomboy. I wore a lot of baggy clothes because I wasn't happy with my body type, I found male super heroes to have more interesting stories, and the only women that I really liked wore trying to fit into a man's world i.e. Xena, Dana Scully, Captain Janeway, and Captian Samantha Carter (don't get me wrong, I also saw them as strong women just making it in general, but the pant suites didn't help). I always got along a lot better with the boys in the neighborhood, never having more than two female friends at a time until High School. It wasn't until I began dating the man that would be my husband that I even began to start thinking of myself as a real girl. Suddenly someone was interested in my looks! My dad was shocked at the tight jeans hidden under the hockey jersey. Makeup didn't come into play but once every three years for very special occasions; Senior Prom, the night he proposed, my wedding!

So when I found out that we were going to have a little girl the second time around, I cried. Sure I can pass it off as I was just happy to know what gender this little creature we had waited so long for was. But the truth is, I was terrified! What if she liked dresses? Better call up my friends for makeup advice! Worse: What if her dream is to be a ballerina or cheerleader!? I had no idea what I was doing! The most I did for date night was paint my nails, throw on a skirt that I felt nearly naked in, and put on a little eye makeup. I do feel at home in heals, but that has always been more for showing off and hiding my height issues.

I remember barely being pregnant and going into Toys'R'Us for a gift for a friend's daughter. My husband left me to look at another Nerf gun for my son, an aisle I feel totally at home in. But I had to find a gift! So I stood in the little girl's aisle, looking at all this pink! I literally began to have a panic attack. My husband came back to find me sitting on the floor, staring at five different stuffed dolls wide eyed and non-responsive. I admit, I over reacted, but I couldn't help it, girls terrify me!

How does someone like me make it through being a mom to a little girl? I had the right little girl! My daughter loves to tackle her brother, and I am not talking about just running at him, she actually looks like a little football player charging a guy! She runs down the toy aisle at a store and her eye is first caught by the fighter planes painted camo meant to attract boys! Her favorite thing to do to me is to run up and burp in my face or fart on my lap while we snuggle! She is the product of a house that is used to being centered around a boy. But you know what she wanted for her second birthday? Little Mermaid. Nothing else would do! While she is running around the house in her big brother's baggy athletic shorts, she has on her little princess dress heals. Every night after a bath to get all the mud off, she selects a new pair of earrings to wear the next day. My daughter is a perfect mix of attitudes that catches me off guard, makes me laugh, and comforts me.

Every Saturday we sit down and paint our nails because she just loves switching colors. I am slowly learning new ways to do my long hair so that when she gets older I will know it all. I pick out cute outfits for her every day and it has rubbed off onto me picking out stylish clothes for myself, when I can afford it.

But she hasn't just made it so that I embrace the little girly things I shunned when I was younger. She has made me comfortable in my own skin. I am working on getting fit, not so that she can see me skinny, but so that she can see me happy. I don't want a six pack of abs, I just want to smile when I have to put on a bathing suite. Her fascination at "that time of the month" makes me realize it is something that is perfectly common and sets me out as a healthy woman in my prime. The way she watches me with her brother and the other kids I watch fascinates me as she passes it onto her babies and makes me proud of my job, something others seem to take for granted. And the way she is delighted in the bits of my religion she sees renews my own delight in worshiping a female figure.

No longer am I terrified of her getting older and girlier. Instead I am eager to show her what all I know and have learned over the years. A whole world of wonder awaits a young girl, and I get the pleasure of introducing my daughter to it with pleasure! Yeah, society has made it difficult on being a woman in today's world, but if mother's can stop listening to what society thinks a woman she be and just lived how they were happy, girls would be in much better places as they grew up, just my humble opinion.

So I look forward to the challenge of raising a little girl. I hope other mothers are just as excited! Has having a girl made you different? I want to know! Or have you always been into the girl scene and have had a boy? I bet it is just as challenging for you. Let me know!

Ponyo Night

This post is part of our "Theme Night" series. We watched a movie while enjoying a new food that even my picky little eaters enjoyed! We encourage you to do the same with your family to explore new things!

Ponyo

Ponyo is a movie by Hayao Miyazaki about a little goldfish princess, Ponyo, who longs to become human after she meets 5-yr-old Sosuke. Of course her father doesn't approve and tries to bring her home, but her determination and love prove too strong. 

Jareth is a big fan of Miyazaki's work as the stories are incredible but easily understood by the young. The artwork and characters are fantastic. And the tales grow with you. So I was not surprised when he came to me asking if this could be a "Theme Night". We decided to make the ramen noodles Sosuke's mother makes for the children on Ponyo's first night as a human. 

First, we had to figure out what all was in the ramen, which turned out to be simple enough! Ramen (we used chicken flavor), a few slices of thick cut ham, and a hard boiled egg (cut in half). The movie and some people put in chopped green onions as well, but we are not big fans.

   

We used eggs dyed for Easter to get them out of the fridge! While the water boiled it gave me time to show an eager Jareth how to peel the egg. 

We made the Ramen as usual. Boil two cups water, pour it into the bowl with the noodles, and cover it with a bowl for 3 minutes. 

The children closed their eyes like little Ponyo and Sosuke did, while I uncovered the noodles and poured in the flavor packet and gently stirred it in. Then I gently placed the egg halves and ham in the bowl and recovered it for 1 more minute. This allows the extras to soak up the flavor, making it so much more delicious!

Que up the movie!

And you have two happy kiddos! 

I have since learned that draining the juice and placing the noodles in the bowl by themselves is a much safer way to enjoy this dinner with the 2 year old! 

This was such a fun "Theme Night" and it has allowed us to discover a dinner I never would have thought to try on my son since he is such a picky eater. Now Ramen Noodles is a staple in our house! And the meat and eggs gives it a little more substance.

If you haven't seen the movie, we urge you to add it to the Must Watch list! It is loved by everyone in our house! Enjoy!