Halloween Pictures

Here's Lainey before they dressed her in her Eeyore costume. Isn't that a cute shirt, though?

And don't Samantha and Emily look gorgeous?

HALLOWEEN

To me the scariest thing about

Halloween is the candy.

Lainey's Friday

Wow, Grammy and Mommy are going shopping, and I get special time with Papaw all by myself!

AM I OK?

Saw this on someone else's blog and I laughed out loud, which made Joe ask, "Are you ok?"

Am I?

Does anyone else think this is funny?

Sleepy Lainey

Lainey was an angel all night! She slept in this great outfit that "my Lisa" gave her. (Ginger calls Lisa Edington MY Lisa because her best friend is also named Lisa.)

Joe kept her while we went shopping this morning. I think he was a little freaked out at first because she's still so young, but we knew he'd do fine because he was great with Madeline, and he did!

Busy, busy!

No time to blog tonight--Lainey is here! She visited both great-grandmothers tonight, and now she's tired and cranky! Don't get me wrong, though--she's still as sweet as ever! I'll get some quality time with her tonight because I have the night shift!

Zowie!

Monday night we launched a recovery ministry. So many people came that next week we plan to break off into FOUR groups!!

Thank you, Spring, Mark, and the whole ALT (awesome leadership team), for your vision and hard work to get this off to a great start!

To steal a line from Kev, "YOU GUYS ROCK!!"

Movie Review--sounds good!

Steve Carell, arguably Hollywood's biggest ticket funnyman these days, seems to gravitate toward films where family comes first.
In last year's quirky cult hit, Little Miss Sunshine, he played a suicidal uncle in a family that was both highly dysfunctional and committed to family-first-no-matter-what unconditional love.
More recently, he played the lead role in Evan Almighty, a modern-day Noah who adores his wife and sons but is pulled away by duties on his new job—and by this little side project of building an ark. In the end, the whole family pitches in to help in a series of feel-good mushy moments.
And now, Carell plays the title character in DAN IN REAL LIFE, a "grown-up" family film opening in theaters everywhere this Friday. It's a wonderfully human story about a widowed advice columnist left to raise three daughters.
At a recent press gathering in Los Angeles to promote the film, Carell said he was drawn to his character, Dan Burns, because he's "honest, caring, and really loves his family a lot."
Carell said he relished the chance to make a movie about a man's responsibilities to—and need for—his loved ones.
That's just what screenwriter Pierce Gardner, a committed family man himself, was aiming for. And though he's written one of the finest Hollywood movies of the year, Gardner is, well, about as un-Hollywood as it gets.
While a small group of reporters waits Carell, the Big Movie Star, to make his appearance, Gardner strolls into the room, grinning, toting a plus-size man purse, clad in sneakers and a pullover sweater that looks suspiciously not trendy.
He places a large, framed family photograph on the front table and immediately launches into a proud, glowing description of his wife, kids, and in-laws—leaving all of us to wonder how this guy could possibly work in a town notorious for its depravity and dearth of family values.


Gardner quickly makes a few things apparent—like the fact that he actually doesn't work in Hollywood, that he lives and writes on the East Coast, that this is the first Hollywood screenplay he's written in years. But more than that, Gardner's very presence suggests that perhaps the movies aren't quite as anti-family as they're sometimes made out to be.
Noting that he favors movies "about human relationships, with a little bit more in the background," Gardner, working with Pieces of April director Peter Hedges, has crafted a wonderfully human story about a widowed advice columnist—Dan Burns, played by Carell—left to raise three daughters. Comedic turmoil that ensues when he packs up his girls for a weekend at his family's cabin, only to find himself falling in love with his brother's new girlfriend (Juliette Binoche).
It's one of the most delightfully positive portrayals of a caring, functional family in recent memory, with a large cast of talented Broadway actors bringing the Burns clan to life in vivid detail. In fact, it's such a close, loving, tight-knit family that, if anything, some will accuse it of being too good to be true.
Not so.
As Gardner points to each face in his family photo, he reveals that the film is indeed based on his own extended kin, on joyful experiences at his wife's family cabin in New England. It's just the kind of movie he's always wanted to make—a "family comedy" that, as he puts it, "connects to everybody." In fact, Gardner's passion in writing the script was to make a movie about family that he could actually take his family to see; thus, he notes that it was "so intentional" to avoid profanity and explicit sexual content in the movie. (It's rated PG-13 "for some innuendo," according to the MPAA.)
Of course, not everything in the film is modeled after real life. The big crab dinners and family talent shows may be real, but Gardner knows that even a family comedy needs some jeopardy; he even joked to his wife, "I'm going to kill you so I can fall in love with someone else." Seriously, though, Gardner changed his fictional family just a bit from the real thing, making his lead character a widower and adding a third daughter; he and his wife have two, but he didn't want the onscreen girls to too closely resemble his own.
Director and co-writer Hedges is quick to pick up on the spirit and strength of Gardner's work, calling the movie "a film for adults that I could take my kids to." This is high praise for Gardner's work; Hedges is the go-to guy for movies about family, having penned What's Eating Gilbert Grape? and About a Boy, and directed Pieces of April.
But the film isn't just well written; it's also a triumph for Carell. Best known for his comedic work in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Evan Almighty and TV's The Office, Carell showed some impressive dramatic chops in Little Miss Sunshine. And he gives a performance here that's hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time.
Still, Carell says he's not particularly interested in making any kind of a jump from comedy to "serious" acting. "I guess I don't look at it differently," says Carell, noting that the difference between comedy and drama isn't just "a switch you can flip." He suspects that his method of performing goes back to his days of improv comedy; first and foremost, he says, acting is about listening to what's going on around you, and responding appropriately.
"I don't go into 'dramatic face' or 'serious face,'" he shrugs. Nor does he go to great lengths to plan his career around the public's assumptions about him. "I don't do anything to try to change people's perceptions of me. I don't plan my career based on what I want people to believe I'm capable of doing."


For everyone involved with the movie, working with Hedges on a family-themed movie seems to be the big draw. Hedges likes the character, too; in fact, he initially says that he'd "like to be him," but immediately takes it back: "I don't want to be a widower." But he did, in a way, get to step into Dan's shoes during the production—for Hedges, the best part of the experience was the "chance to have daughters for nine weeks."
It all comes back to the family. Gardner speaks admiringly of his parents, calling them "superhumanly wise." He laughs about the film's reflection of his own family's "ineptitude at crossword puzzles." And he seems genuinely crestfallen to admit that one character—a five-year old boy modeled after a real-life family member—had to be cut from the film, and that, when his real-world counterpart sees the film, he's going to be "devastated."
It's the kind of concern you don't expect to hear from a Hollywood screenwriter; it's the kind of concern you expect to hear from a guy like Dan Burns. It's what sets the man—and the movie—apart.
"It's a sweet story without being overly sentimental," Carell said in an interview with MovieWeb. "It's a family that cares about each other very much, but again, it's not too 'precious,' which is something that our director was wary of.
"It's not all kisses and hugs; bad things happen, and that's life. So I think it's fairly true to life in that sense, but it's sweet, and it's caring, and I hope it moves people

Kaleo Fair/Night of Worship

A good time was had by all!

Lainey's Two-Month Birthday Yesterday

I don't know WHY they dressed me up,

and I'm gonna pout about it.

Well, maybe I can muster up a little smile.

OK, I'll do a little princess wave, too.

I need more silence in my life, bloggerbuddies, so I've decided not to blog for a few days. I'll let you know when I start again, probably Oct. 23.

MY TWO TV SHOWS

Do you have favorite TV shows, bloggerbuddies? I have two, neither of which Joe can stand.

No problem.

One is Biggest Loser on Tues. nights. Ginger "TiVos" it for me and I watch it at her house on Wednesdays. It's only fun to watch if you start at the beginning of the season and get to know the people, so I'm not recommending that you start it now, but I find it very inspiring.

The other one is The Office on Thursday nights. I think people either love that show or hate it. Ginger and Todd and I love it. So does Travis Cottrell, who leads worship for Beth Moore. This was on his blog: "We aren't really big into evening TV. My only evening TV vices are American Idol (which isn't on until January), Survivor (which I am skipping this season), and The Office (which I watch and watch over and over again because I love it). The first episode of The Office this season was so funny that I about threw my back out."

You can watch full episodes of it at NBC.com, so sometimes I just sit over in the corner and watch it on my laptop and laugh like crazy. Every now and then Joe will say, "NOTHING'S that funny."

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He likes Cops. Don't get me started.

It Was a Great Little Trip!

Look closely at the street sign. It says "Shiras," my maiden name. I went back to my roots yesterday.

I had a great time in Mountain Home visiting old friends. We’re all amazed at how QUICKLY we’ve gotten old. It seems like just yesterday we were high school kids, and now we’re grandmothers!

We looked at pictures from the recent class reunion, and they identified everybody for me. Everyone has changed dramatically, which shouldn’t be a surprise since we’re pushing 60! I forgot to take pictures of US, but I plan to go back in the spring, so I'll do it then. We decided not to wait for another reunion in 10 years to get together again because we might be dead.

We all agreed that we really LIKE the time of life we’re in. We’ve pretty much accomplished all we wanted to (accumulating way TOO much stuff along the way), and now it feels good that we can just “be,” instead of “do.”

Now it’s all about FAMILY, which it really always WAS, but now it’s clearer to us.

Then we went to Green Forest, where Joe took this picture of Annette and her husband and me at a Mexican restaurant. After the guys went to bed, Annette and I talked randomly until 1 a.m.


We got up early to come home this morning as dictated by our internal alarm clocks. The sun was rising and filtering through the trees at the Mossville cemetery.

TRIP

Joe and I are taking a road trip this morning! We’re going to Mountain Home, where I lived the first 18 years of my life. I haven’t been back to visit classmates since our 10th high school reunion. I was planning to go to our 25th, but they didn’t have one. They had a 30th but I couldn’t go for some reason. So I was looking forward to our 40th on Labor Day weekend, but something much more important came up-- CHARLIE was here!

I like Plan B better, though. I didn’t especially want to see a whole CROWD of people, mostly the two organizers. So they are going to meet me for lunch today, and they can fill me in on everything I missed!

Joe will play golf while I’m visiting with them. Then we’ll drive over to Green Forest and eat Mexican food and spend the night with Annette and Donnie. Annette has promised me a foot rub!

We’ll probably be home by noon Friday, so I’ll post again Friday night. Bye!

GRAMMY'S DAY!!

This is Wednesday, and that means it's GRAMMY'S DAY! Every Wednesday I get up very early and go to Cabot to spend the day with Lainey. I always walk in and say, "Grammy's here!" and she always gives me a strange look like, "Who?" and stares at me for a long time.

Someday soon I'll walk in and she'll smile at me. Then she'll crawl toward me and hold up her arms. Then she'll go outside and watch for my car and run out to meet me. Then she'll start school. Bummer. Maybe Grammy's Day can be Saturday then!

New Picture of Charlie!!!

Jody sent a new picture of Charlie from his phone today.

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Isn't he adorable?!

In Case You Were Wondering

Here are three of the special young mothers I was talking about yesterday--Spring, Laura, and Stephanie.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A BABYSITTER!

Joyce Meyers says there's a spiritual principle

about sowing into someone ELSE'S life and reaping in your OWN. I thought about that when Lisa's mother thanked me this morning for the things I do at Mark and Lisa's house. She is an awesome mother and grandmother, and she would LOVE to do the things I do, but she can't because she doesn't live here.

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So now I'm wondering if this principle could apply in MY life. I am sowing into the lives of other young working mothers, and I'm wondering if MAYBE I could reap by someone ELSE sowing into MY daughter's life.

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Here's the deal. Ginger has to go back to work next month, and we REALLY don't want Lainey to go to day care unless absolutely necessary. The rows of cribs give me the creeps because they look like cages, and there's NO WAY she could get much attention. I would LOVE to go to Cabot and babysit Lainey myself every day if I could, but it's too far. Joe and I plan to go every Wednesday, but that still leaves 4 other days.

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We need someone to babysit Lainey, and Ginger has exhausted all her leads. We don't want to hire a stranger, of course--the woman would have to come with a personal recommendation by someone trustworthy.

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We need her by November 7. Today is October 7. That gives us exactly ONE MONTH month to pray, bloggerbuddies. Please ask God to send Lainey a sweet babysitter, ok? I know it would be a lot more likely if Ginger were involved in a church with lots of networking opportunities, but STILL--God can do ANYTHING!

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(I promise to pray for something for you sometime!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY!!

Emily is a whole hand now!

Yes, all five fingers!

God's Tattoo

Did you know that God has a tattoo? In Isaiah 49:16 God says, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

Yes, God has a tattoo, and it has your name on it. With full knowledge of what he was getting himself into, God made a decision to love us. That decision wasn't a temporary commitment—his love won't stop if someone better comes along. And it wasn't a conditional commitment—his love isn't based on what we can contribute to the relationship. It's a forever promise, a "not even death can part us" promise.

In our human relationships, we long for tangible reminders that we're loved. We want people to remember our birthday, send us flowers for no particular reason, tell us what they appreciate about us, hug us. God knows we have this need. He understands our short memory and our desire for tangible proof. So not only does he tell us over and over in Scripture how crazy he is about us, he went so far as to engrave our names on the palms of his hands. If there ever was a doubt of his love, God's tattoo settles it now and forever. We belong to him. Permanently. Unconditionally.

"I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." At the time the prophet Isaiah recorded these words (about 2,500 years ago), it was common for pagan worshipers to carve the name of their god into their hands. The throbbing pain reminded them of their devotion and hopefully earned them their god's attention. God spoke into this mixed-up religious climate—and turned things completely upside down. Instead of asking us to prove our love and worship, he took great pain on himself to show us his love. And instead of demanding our sacrifice, he sent his Son to be the sacrifice in our place.

I would never have the guts to get a tattoo. But I'm looking forward to one day seeing the tattoo on God’s hands--the one with my name on it.

Shannon and Charlie

Shannon, in the blink of an eye Charlie will be towering over you like Jody towers over me!

Sleepy Lainey

I'm sleepy this afternoon because Mommy and Grammy and I had a Girls Day Out this morning!. We paid for new carpet at Lowe's and got groceries.

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We also visited three day care centers, Cabot Patch Kids, Career Kids Child Development Center, and A+ Child Care. We didn't really like any of them very much, because there were so many babies in one room.

I'm used to being the center of attention.

A Surprised Charlie!!

Wow! The doctor just said I was at the 50th percentile on growth and development for my age.

Do you know what that means?

I'M PERFECT!!!!

Goodbye to Junk Food

Why, you ask, do I have a picture of a vending machine on my blog?

And when, I ask, did I take a picture of a vending machine?

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I don’t know. I just found it when I was loading some pictures onto my computer. Very strange, huh?

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I almost deleted it, but then I thought, well, it's a picture of a lost love.

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Yes, it’s over. I have broken up with all sugar and other junk food.

Farewell, bad friend! I’ll miss you, but you weren’t good for me. I've got to think about MYSELF for a change.