A Second Twilight Movie Is Confirmed!

I was just on www.twilighters.org to see what the ticket sales were on Twilight this weekend, and they just announced this today. So I guess the film made the money it needed to go on with the second movie... let's cross our fingers and hope that the second movie, New Moon, will be better than Twilight! Second time's a charm right!? See you at the next premier.

Press Release: Summit Confirms New Moon Movie (Nov. 22, 2008)
In addition to Rob and Kristen’s announcement Summint has officialy stated that they will be moving foward with a New Moon movie, see the announcement on their website, here!

Los Angeles, CA November 22, 2008 — Summit Entertainment announced today that the studio is officially moving forward with the production of NEW MOON, the second installment of its filmed franchise TWILIGHT, the action-packed, modern day vampire love story.

Stephenie Meyer stated, “I don’t think any other author has had a more positive experience with the makers of her movie adaptation than I have had with Summit Entertainment. I’m thrilled to have the chance to work with them again on NEW MOON.”

Twilight Midnight Premier

Well, the countdown was over... it was Thursday night around 8:00pm, and I was getting tired... not a good start to the night since the very anticipated Twilight premier was at midnight. Thankfully, I had Yoga that night, so I went to Yoga class, and that woke me up and kept my adrenaline going until premier time. At 10:00pm, my friends and I piled in my van and we headed to the premier, only to find a long line already forming to get into the theater. You could feel the excitement and anticipation in the air, as many girls wore their "Bite me" t-shirts and had on any and every "Twilight" t-shirt ever made. Fans just couldn't get enough. At 10:50pm, they opened the doors and people were literally running to their seats to get a good seat. Once inside the theater, we broke out "Catch Phrase" to keep us busy for the last hour which seemed to last forever!! Finally, the lights dimmed and I felt like I was at a concert; people screamed and hooted and hollered in excitement until the previews started and then, it was quiet. Not a noise in the theater, as the "Twilight" saga began...

It was so fun being there with everyone else who was just as excited as we were. It was fun to be in an audience who clapped and laughed at funny parts and said, "awww" at sweet moments. It was such a fun experience! Although the experience was good, the movie wasn't; we were all a little disappointed and it seems the critics thought so too... bummer.

My "Twilight" Critique: one thumb down
I read a lot of critics' reviews, and unfortunately they weren't great. The film was enjoyable to anyone who has read the book, but to those who haven't, I felt like they would have been lost through the whole thing because a lot goes unexplained. I felt as though the movie was very rushed and no characters were developed enough for you to understand the relationships between them. They really missed the boat on developing a loving, passionate relationship between Bella and Edward (which is what the book is about!!!), and when she admits that she loves him, you are thinking, "WHAT??? Why? You don't even act like it!" They never hold hands or really touch each other, which bugged me. I think they did great at picking the characters; they matched what I had pictured to the "T", but they need a new director if they are going to do anymore movies from the Twilight saga, because although it wasn't directed very good, it has the potential to be a great second movie (if there is one!).

That being said, since I read the books, it was fun seeing it come to life, and if there is a second movie, yes, I will be seeing it again at it's midnight premier because I'm hooked and I LOVE Edward's character! And yes, I have to say, I will be buying the movie when it comes out, despite the fact that I was disappointed, because in the end, I'm still a big fan!

Above: My friends Virginia, Sarah, me, Marci and Tara who stayed up to watch the premier with me! Thanks for coming, it was such a blast being there with other "Twilight" lovers!

Turkey Craft

Last week at our playgroup, we made these cute turkey's out of wheat rolls and graham cracker covered marshmallows. We used toothpicks to hold the marshmallows into the roll and the only thing we had to glue were the eyes, and wallah.... too cute! That was such a great craft, thanks Tara for letting us make those! Cute idea!

Disclaimer: If this turkey looks a little on the "lean" side, that's because Hallie had already taken a huge bite out of the front of the roll before we got home! She didn't understand that it was meant to be a decoration, not a snack!

Sydnee's 6 Month Portraits

I've been meaning to get the girls' portraits taken professionally for a while now, but one of them either gets sick or is not happy the day of our appointment. So today, I took advantage of how happy the girls were and decided to take their portraits myself. I must say, they turned out dang cute and are definitely Christmas gift worthy! Sydnee has just blossomed this past week, which has truly been an answer to prayers. She is cooing all the time, and is just full of smiles which melts my heart every time I see her face light up at me... that is the reason why I'm a mom. Sydnee turns 6 months old at the end of this month, and every month is such a delight.

Hallie's 3 Year Portraits

Sydnee's All Smiles

How cute is she!?

Video: What a Great Dad Looks Like

While Sarah and her kids visited, Cam was nice enough to give Sarah and I a break from entertaining the kids on Saturday night, so he played "hide-and-seek" and "duck, duck, goose" with them. The kids had fun playing with Cam, he's such a good dad for playing their games willingly, and he was a great husband for letting Sarah and I relax a little! In case you're wondering, that is Cam laughing like a goofball in the background while he's getting chased. He and I can't watch this video without laughing!

Video: Museum Fun House

While our friends, Sarah, Jonny and Jessi visited from Ohio, we took them to our science museum and one of the kids' favorite exhibits was this fun house where everything was slanted, making your center of gravity completely off. It was the weirdest feeling! It was so funny to see the kids try to walk up to other side of the room since the room was slanted. Jonny was the only one who seemed to make it every time without falling downhill. The camera doesn't do the slant in the room justice, but it's pretty funny watching Jonny just slide backward out of nowhere! Sarah and I were laughing pretty hard!

The Hallie and Jessi Duo Are Reunited

This past weekend, my good friend, Sarah, came to visit from Ohio with her kids, Jessi and Jonny, in tow... Hallie was so excited to see them again since it has been about 6 months since we last saw them. Hallie and Jessi were best buds when we lived in Ohio, and of course, Sarah and I clicked like sisters, so it was such a treat for us to see them again! We took the Jackson's to the science museum, the mall to play and ride the carousel, to Sonic (always a must when Sarah visits), and Cam gave us two mom's a break on Saturday night while he entertained the kids by playing "duck, duck, goose" and "hide-and-go-seek," yes, he is the best dad ever!

It was a great weekend, one with a lot of fun memories, and the quote of the weekend has got to be what Jonny said when he looked at my painted toes and said, "Your toes are bleeding!" I laughed pretty hard, because if you know Sarah, you know why Jonny would not know what nailpolish is! I'm sure Sarah and I gained a few pounds over the weekend with the yummy meals, and two trips to Dairy Queen after kids were in bed, but man, was it worth it! Thanks for coming, Sarah, we miss you already!

Above: Hallie and Jessi

Above: The science museum

Bella & Edward Invite You To... Twilight

Okay, so I know I'm just as excited as a teenager about Twilight coming out, but who isn't!? Being the creative person that I am, I had the novel idea to create an invitation for my friends who are also planning on attending the midnight (yes, midnight!) premier of Twilight with me. So, after a few minutes of thinking, I came up with these cute invitations to attend Twilight.

I got fake apples (they happened to be cheaper than real apples) and tied the invitation that I printed up on my computer to them with ribbon. The invitation reads, 'Bella and Edward invite you to..." and then the inside reads, "The midnight premier of "Twilight." The rest of the invitation invites them to meet at my house so we can carpool to the theater and it also asks them to buy tickets in advance so they can get a free download of Bella's Lullaby on iTunes. I had a lot of fun making them, and even though it was a little over the top, my friends LOVED getting the invitation and it made them even more excited to see the movie at its premier!

Indiana Friends

The past few months, we've had a couple families move into our ward with kids Hallie's age, which she loves! We've become good friends with the Stewart's and Hallie loves to play with Marci's kids Alena and Kerra. I was watching Marci's girls the other day and they were playing so well together (which doesn't happen very often with toddlers!) so I just had to take some pictures :)

Sorry Fellow Bloggers!

Since I've been trying to figure this "blog list" thing out which allows me to see when all of my friends and families blogs were last updated, I have left a few family/friends blogs out of my list... by accident!! Thank goodness for the blog stalkers we know, otherwise I wouldn't have realized which of my friends blogs I left out until later! I hope that I now have everyone's blogs on my list that I had before, if not, can you please let me know so I can add your blog to my list of "family and friends blogs?" Thanks and sorry if I have left your blog out until now!!!! Don't take it personal, just consider it a blonde moment on my part :)

Rub-a-dub-dub, Two Cuties in the Tub

Sydnee LOVES bath time. Even though she gets soaked from all the splashing her big sister does, she still loves the bath. Hallie is always pouring water over her saying, "She's cold mommy... here, Syd, I'll make you warm." Even though most of the water goes in Syd's mouth or her face, it's nice that Hallie tries to keep her warm!

Fire Station Tour

For playgroup last week, I arranged for the kids to tour the local fire station. Hallie was looking forward to it all week, and when we finally got there, she was so excited to go inside the fire truck. The firefighters did a great job at showing us the fire trucks, their gear that they wear and they gave the kids a quick emergency lesson. Hallie left the fire station with her very own fireman hat and a coloring page... she was a very satisfied tourist.

Sleeping Beauties

In the same week, both of the girls fell asleep in the weirdest places... which just screamed "photo opportunity!" It was nice that Hallie fell asleep but sad that she fell asleep on the kitchen floor of all places... don't ask how that happened, because I don't know! I was talking to her one minute and then a few minutes later, I asked her a question and she was quiet. I rushed over to her and checked to make sure she was breathing and then I started laughing... who falls asleep on the kitchen floor!?!?!?

Then, a couple days later, I was bathing the girls and I always get Syd out of the bath first then dry her off and get her dressed, then I bathe Hallie. And somewhere in between bathing Hallie and getting her out of the tub, I found Sydnee fast asleep on the bathroom rug... it was pretty cute, so of course, this was another photo opportunity! Obviously I'm wearing my girls out by the middle of the day!!

Halloween Party

I got into the Halloween spirit and had a crazy thought... let's throw a Halloween party! So, we invited some of Hallie's friends over for a fun Halloween lunch. We had "mummy dogs" for our main dish, then veggies and dip with a hand coming out of the dip, then a creepy hand filled with popcorn for dessert! It was so fun, the kids had fun eating the heads off of the mummy's and it was a sneaky way to get the kids to eat at least one healthy meal before filling up on candy.

After we ate our yummy lunch, we headed over to Cam's work's Halloween party and as soon as we walked in, everyone "ooo'd" and "aaaa'd" over the girls' costumes (thank you very much!). Then, we had time for a quick dinner before going to our ward's trunk-or-treat. Cam took Hallie around to each car to get candy, and they would ask her, what kind of candy do you want? Cam would tell the candy-giver that she wasn't going to have any anyway, which the candy-giver replied, then what kind of candy do you want, Dad? Very sneaky, Cam.

Above: Hallie had fun seeing her friends dressed up too. This is Hallie's friend, Makenna at our ward's trunk-or-treating.

Carving Pumpkins

Cam and Hallie carved pumpkins together for Family Home Evening before Halloween. Cam drew the faces, cut the pumpkin top off, dug the seeds out and carved the faces into the pumpkins...all while Hallie sat there in awe since she was allowed to hold a knife (a pumpkin carving knife, that is) and actually use it without getting in trouble. Once she got over that, she had fun helping Cam pull the seeds out.