The Hunger Games & Happy 17th Birthday to Caleb

Today my family and I went to see The Hunger Games. It was my 14th "new" movie of the year. I had never been more excited to watch a movie since I was 10 years old and wanted to watch Star Wars. We even bought advance tickets to watch the movie.

Before I continue...I want to wish Caleb, my son, a Happy 17th Birthday! I remember the day he was born. He had a very fuzzy head and the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen on a baby. I had a baby boy. Even though he is all grown up, I still love that kid! I know he is smarter than me and can't wait to see what he can do for the world. I am very proud to call him my son! Happy Birthday Caleb. I love you.

Now, back to the Hunger games review. The movie was worth the wait. It was fantastic. I'm trying to figure out just where to rank it in my top 100 movies of all-time. The movie was very moving and I either cried or came close to crying several times. My heart broke when Katniss volunteered to take her sister's place at the Reaping (seen in the trailers, so no spoiler here) and my heart pounded as the Hunger Games started. I was on the edge of my seat almost the entire movie. The acting was great. Jennifer Lawrence should get another Academy Award nomination for best Actress. Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci should all get Supporting Actor nominations as well. The musical score was great. The cinematography was great. The costumes and art designs were great. All of which means the directing was also great. This movie better at least have several Academy Award nominations coming to it.

If you have read the books, you will notice several differences; however, I think the director and screenwriters stayed very true to the books; much like in the Harry Potter series and unlike the movies Eragon and the Percy Jackson movie. I can't wait for the other two books to be turned into movies as well.

Happy 4th Birthday Girl Kitty

Happy 4th Birthday to our "Girl Kitty!" Ramey-Jem is her official name (at least on her tags). She was originally called Ramey by her previous owner, who had to give her up because she was moving. We (mainly me) added the Jem to her name after Jem Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird. We already had a cat named Scout, (also from to Kill a Mockingbird), so we just completed the set.

As we all know however, we hardly ever call cats by their real names and shortly after we got Ramey-Jem we started to call her "Boo-Boo Kitty" which eventually led to just calling her "Girl Kitty."

While trying to figure out how old our new kitty was, we knew the previous owner told us that Ramey's shots were due in September, which was two months before Scout's shots were due. So we figured Ramey-Jem was born sometime in March. So we (my daughter Rachel) got 31 little pieces of paper numbered 1-31 and set them out in front of the cat "to let girl kitty tell us when her birthday is." After sniffing around on the pieces of paper, Ramey-Jem picked the 7th, by biting it and carrying it off; so March 7th became "Girl Kitty's" birthday.

She is queen of the house. One meow, lets us know she needs something and if we don't respond right away, we get a loud chorus of meow's that lets us know she wants something "NOW." She's a diva I tell ya! She does reward us with a very loud purr, that melts your heart, when we do something she likes. We love her!

Happy 45th Birthday To Me!

Today I celebrated my 45th Birthday! I didn't do anything terribly exciting; however, thanks to a special that Totino's Pizza is currently featuring, I got a free movie rental from redbox. Even though it is not considered a "manly" movie, I decided to rent the movie The Help. Turns out this is one of the best movies I have seen in a while. In fact I added it to my list of my favorite 100 movies of all time. It is getting harder to make that top 100 movie list. Only three movies I saw last year made the list. (I will post my updated list again tomorrow. My top 20 appear at the bottom of my blog.)

I have a few goals going into my 46th year of life; Getting out of debt is the number one goal. Another goal is to work full-time again, which will help with the debt goal. My son Caleb is going to be a Senior in High School next year, so helping him, and Rachel, who will be a Sophomore, prepare more for college will be high on my list. Getting him a decent used car for Caleb to drive is also on my list of things to do. As always, keeping in touch with Jamie and working on our marriage is very high on my list of priorities.

Day 16 -- Happy 15th Birthday, Rachel

15 years ago today, my wife, Jamie, gave birth to one of the greatest blessings God has given to me; my daughter Rachel. This little pink newborn, has grown into a wonderful young woman in which I am very proud. She is strongly rooted in her belief in God and has grown confident enough to stand up to me and correct me when I am treating her unfairly. She loves her family, especially the kitties, and her love of the Beatles and the Backstreet Boys fill our house with music. Although she shares many great character traits with her mother, she finds it annoying she shares some OCD character traits with me as well. I love my daughter and I can't wait to see what the next 15 years brings into her life and mine.

Happy Birthday Rachel! I love you!

Happy Birthday Jamie!

Happy Birthday to my beloved bride, Jamie!

Always yours, Mark

Happy Birthday to my Son, Caleb!

14 Years ago today, I became a Father! I was holding a little alien looking kid, who had just peed on himself. 

Now, I am the proud father of a brilliant young man, who makes me happy every day. He gets good grades and loves his God. He watches James Bond with me, and he even makes  his own weird videos to send to his cousins, (as the picture shows).

I love you Caleb! -- Dad

Happy Birthday Rachel!!

It's hard to believe, but 12 years ago tonight, our baby girl, Rachel was born! Wow!

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Aagghh! I'm the Parent of a Teenager!

Yes, it is true! I am finally the parent of a teenager! My son Caleb turned 13 today! My little boy is finally turning into a young man. Where did the time go?

He asked me this morning does being a teenager mean he has some extra privileges that come with it? He of course meant staying up later, watching some PG-13 movies, etc... I told him, of course you have some special privileges; the yard needs mowing at least once a week, taking out the trash will now be his job alone, and he can now wash and fold his own clothes. Poor kid's eyes almost popped out of his head. I told him I was kidding, but only to an extent. I do want him to take on a few more responsibilities around the house as well as getting to enjoy a few extra privileges that come with age.

I just love watching my kids grow into young adults. I can't wait to see what God has in store for my "Teenager"! I'm sure it will be wonderful!

I have a teenage son...Man I'm getting old!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I turn the Big 41 today! -- My 30's are officially over!

I think I will start the day by formally introducing myself to the blogger world. I have been very careful not to list family member names because of the many "nut-jobs" out there in the world, who may seek out my children in order to hurt them. But I have decided that my wife and I raised our children well enough that they will attempt to avoid such risky internet behaviors and let us know if anyone "creepy" comes lurking around their blogs. Besides all my fellow bloggers are giving their names so I think it's only fair.

My real name is Mark English -- Thus Mr. E. or "Hubbs" as the wife calls me.

My wife of 15 1/2 years is named Jamie! I have recently started calling her "LadyBug" on my blog.

My son, who will turn 13 in March is named Caleb. I think I will start calling him "Scooter" or maybe "Taco". Taco is what the youth group at church call him. ???

My daughter, age 11, is named Rachel. I think I will call her "Cheeks." She used to have some fat little cheeks when she was a baby. (The picture is from 2006 by the way.)

I don't feel any older, but I know I am. I am going to make a renewed effort to exercise more during this year. I need to take better care of myself. I also need to go back to eating better. For a while I gave up many fried & fatting foods, as well as soft drinks. It lasted about 2 months. I did feel better when I was not eating such "junk" but I just couldn't hold out. I will try again!

Swimming was a big part of our exercise program when I first started my new job. But when we tried to go to the pool last week, we were informed that there was a leak in the pool and it may take until May to get it fixed. Phooey! We really wanted to get into the "heated pool" my college provides and get back to swimming.

See you guys next week...Road Trip tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to My Little Girl

It was eleven years ago this evening, when my little girl was born. It was very cold that day, (25 degrees to be exact). I was very over-joyed to finally have "Daddy's Girl". Just short of 2 years earlier my wonderful wife gave birth to my little boy to expand our family to three, now we had four.

I still have to tuck her in every night, and we still play "Beeping the nose!" with each other. I better enjoy it while I can, the teen years are a comin'!

So from Daddy to his girl.... Happy Birthday!

To everyone else...it has been very busy lately, so any serious blogging has taken a back seat for moment. Hope to get a good blog in soon! Gotta finish getting kids ready for school...Catch you on the flip side.