As the work and school week grind to a close, a heightened sense of excitement pervades our home as we gear up for our favorite Friday night tradition.

TGIFMN!

(Thank Goodness It’s Family Movie Night!)

Preparations for the weekly event begin with the girls brainstorming on a dinner theme for the evening.  One of our recent Friday night celebrations was a spooktacular Halloween bash after which we watched “The Cat from Outer Space.”

Other favorites include …

• Nachofest
• Homemade Make-Your-Own Pizzas
• Crepes
• Salad Bar
• Soup and Bread Bowls
• Fondue
• Baked Potato Bar
• Milkshakes
• Breakfast for Dinner
• Homemade hamburgers

After assembling a plate of food for each of us, we gather in our state-of-the-art media room and watch a new release on our HD BIG screen …

Ok. Not really.

We picnic on old blanket on the family room floor where we huddle around our faithful “vintage” 25″ Sony Trinitron and, while Baby Tad provides Dolby-like hi-fi surround sound, watch an old movie that we’ve DVR’ed during the week … or if BT’s feeling munificent, we may even splurge and rent a movie from Red Box.

True.  Our technology is so last-century. Some of the movies we watch aren’t even in color.  (In fact, we LOVE to watch Fred Astair dance on the ceiling in the black and white classic “The Royal Wedding”). But honestly, this simple, budget-friendly Friday night tradition is the highlight of our week.

Thank goodness it’s Friday!