FREE Movies are back!!

Every Summer, Movies 278 in Hiram does a Free Family Film Festival!!  HOORAY!!! I love Free Family Fun!  They show the free movies on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. You can see the schedule of movies for this summer here:

(click image to follow link and see other locations as well)

Regal Cinemas used show free movies, too. But this summer they changed it to $1 showings. Bummer. But still, $1 admission is better than $8, so if you don't live near Hiram for the free movies at 278, check out the dollar movies Regal at Town Center in Kennesaw. Or you can check out their other locations as well.  Just go to Regal Cinema's main website.

If you live even further, check with your local theater and see if they have similar programs. I would be surprised if none do. It's a great marketing idea for them as well! Hey... if they don't maybe you could suggest it to them and be the one who brought free family films to your area! Wouldn't THAT ROCK?!


OH! Also, remember, you can review any movie before you go see it at Focus on the Family's PluggedIn Online website. It is incredibly helpful if you like to be picky about what you let your kids watch. We sure do! The great news is that they all usually show a great selection of family friendly movies during the Summer film festival series.




Do you know of other fun, free stuff to do in the Atlanta Area? if so, please share with us all in the comments below! We could all use more free fun!

Mommy-isms

I realized today I have become SUCH a MOM!  You know, saying those things that one day my kids will quote back either to me or to their own kids. Sayings you rolled  your eyes at as a kid but now see the wisdom in them? Like these, for example:

• Because I said so!
• Your rights end where the rights of others begin!
• Respect the "no" or you won't get a "yes" next time either!
• I love you to the Moon and Back!
• Make sure to wash behind your ears!
• No dinner, no desert

OK Mom, you were right. ;)  I have become you.

AND I LOVE IT!!

...What do you find yourself saying that you thought you never would?

I Found it!!! A Working Mommy's Club!

When posted about my stay-at-home-mom-envy and how I Googled searching for other blogs by working moms, I found little comfort. Apparently, I must not even know how to Google correctly, because I missed a TREASURE TROVE!

This weekend, I was catching up on the blogs I follow, and one of them wrote a quick blurb on her own blog simply stating she was being featured on a blog about working moms. First of all, I didn't even realize SHE was a working mom! (Some follower I must be!) Then, when I followed the link, the blog it led to had a link to the mother load!...

 This is a blog by a working mom for working moms!  Yeah, I had to jump on that! I immediately joined and started reading some of the posts. AHHH! I felt like I had walked in to an oasis after a long hot walk in the desert! SO many of the posts I read felt like they had read my mind! It was so great to read about their ups and downs, their struggles with SAHM envy and sadness over comments their own kids have made regarding being away for work and realize I am not alone feeling any of those same things. Not that I like that we all have this sadness to share in common, but it is comforting to know I am not alone in it.

I know I am going to love catching up on all the wonderful blogs and getting to know their bloggers. I can't wait for connections to be made and all the wisdom I will gain from their experiences. This is sure to help get me over this rut I've been in since getting back to work after baby #4.

Optimistically yours :)

Dianne

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Brokenness Behind the Mask

I have debated writing this post for a long time. However, now the heaviness in  my heart is so burdensome, I must unload it somewhere. For me, this is my safest place to do so.  I have talked about our need to be real with each other and stop playing pretend, like we have to keep our happy masks on all the time but instead share when we are struggling or sad as well. When you are real only then can you have a real relationship. Anything else is fake. I can be fake no longer. This is me behind my masks today:

I feel like an utter failure. 

1. My kids are out of control- whining, disobeying and generally lazy. And I know the only one to blame is me. But I do NOT know how to fix it.
   
2. My house is a certified disaster. When I read other blogs/posts searching for help about this general topic there is inevitably some Clean Queen who comments something like "I never have trouble keeping my house clean.  I enjoy it actually... I don't understand what your problem is." Me neither. But obviously, there is one.
   
3. My envy of stay-at-home-moms is reaching an all time peak. I am incredibly and unbearably overwhelmed juggling 4 kids now, plus the house and a full-time job. As a result, I am trying to figure out a way to "fix it" instead of relying on God that He can and will and wants to provide a way to give me the deepest desires of my heart. So I know I am missing His blessing in a way I cannot comprehend. But I can't stop myself.
   
4. Most of all, I find myself crying every single night with a broken heart as another day ends without any contact from one of the most important people in my life. When you are growing up, there is so much you take for granted. Like unconditional love. Then when you grow up and realize it is conditional for some people, it is hard to reconcile this in your head and heart. I keep telling myself  "You're a grown up now!!! (get over it!)" But I still feel like an insecure 16 year old girl most of the time. Especially when feeling the sting of rejection from someone who is supposed to be a rock in your life. I guess the lesson here for me is there truly is only One Rock in this life for us all. And only He can be truly relied on. Everyone else is just human and prone to let you down. Now, how can I write that and know it in my head yet somehow forget it in my heart?

And now, after thoroughly unloading my heart on you all, I feel the need to write a disclaimer. Yes, I know I am so very blessed. And I am incredibly grateful for the many blessings in  my life! I also know life is never perfect. (What is "perfect" any way?)  I just share what I feel to reach out and test the waters, to vent so it doesn't build up inside, and to, hopefully, help others know they are not alone if are dealing with similar situations. Life has seasons. I am fully aware of this. We are in a tough, hard season and we know a much better one is around the corner. I am very much looking forward to it! Until then, writing how I feel now is the only way I know to get through this one, though.  Oh, but three kisses from the three sweet angels sleeping behind me (yes.. I see the irony in this description in light of point #1 above. Keyword: "sleeping"!) totally helped tonight. =)

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