Amazed
Today, and probably only for today, my kids think I'm amazing. Of course, it's only 10:00 a.m. so the day could go downhill pretty fast. We had to run some errands this morning. So, we put a c.d. of some of our favorite tunes in and off we went. Red asked to listen to one of the songs again. There are controls on the steering wheel for the c.d. player, so I just switched it with that. From the back I hear a gasp as the song of choice comes back on. "How did you DO THAT??" He is totally flabbergasted. I inform him that my brain works like a remote control and all I have to do is think about a song and it will go to it. Yeah. He believed me. :D
At the store we bought popsicles and since it's 100 degrees outside already, we had to hurry home. Baby Girl was highly annoyed that one of the lights was red for an ETERNITY. "MOM! Just go! My popsicles are melting!" So I told her to ask the light to turn green...
"Light? Will you turn green?" Nothing happens.
"You forgot to say please.", I remind her.
"Please light will you turn green?" Nothing happens.
"Maybe this light needs you to say 'pretty please'."
"PREEEEEEEETY PLEEEEEAAAASE light! Will you turn green?" And as she finishes the word "green" the light changes.
"Mom?"
"Yes Baby?"
"How did you know that was a Pretty Please light?"
"Because I know everything!"
"Oh yeah... and because you're a princess, right?"
Ah... today I am adored by the masses! I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts....

Sandals and PJ's
Okay... I had written this really long post about how everything was going... and then realized that the details aren't important. So far he has worn new sandals and pj's without having a major meltdown. The pj's were the biggest struggle. But, I have found something that works well for Little Bug when it comes to shoes. I got the sandals on him (with lots of screaming and crying on his part) and then put all the kids in the van. He took them right off, but that was okay. Then we went to the Children's Museum and I told him he couldn't play if he didn't have sandals on. He let me put them back on him without any fuss. So, I guess I need to remember, the reward needs to outweigh the uncomfortableness of the situation. Don't know why it took me so long to figure that out. I know that if I'm going to do the work, the reward had better be worth it. I think we're all a little that way... right? Right??

Overwhelmed
My house is a mess. No, really, it's a disaster. There is stuff everywhere. Laundry piles, paper piles, book piles... lots of piles. Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work there is to do? I look around and think "Why bother? It'll just be a huge mess again tomorrow". I need to get cleaning and get organized. So, I'm turning to you! What are your best cleaning tips? And how do you get and keep things organized? Any thoughts or ideas will be appreciated!

Also, I'm gonna take a tiny bloggin break. I've got to get Little Bug desensitized to his new shoes and some new school clothes. Sigh... this is gonna take a lot of time. New shoes are not a fun thing in this house. Screaming and crying till he pukes is usually what happens. But his old shoes are so small... sigh... and he has new sandals too. Heaven help me. It's a fairly time consuming process for us. Hopefully it will only take a few days. :S Anyway, I'll see ya on the flip side!

The Princess Dress

This is how the sewing process works for me:

1. Get a pattern that has the word "easy" or "simple" somewhere on it. (Yes, I know that this pattern is for pj's... but it will work as a princess dress... I couldn't find an "easy" pattern for a REAL princess dress...). Measure Baby Girl to see which size will work best.


2. Let Baby Girl pick out fabric and trim that doesn't clash too badly


3. Start sewing till I get frustrated and think "Who decided this pattern was easy??" (I had to unpick the ties on the side because I had sewn them in with the right side facing down... which is really my fault because the pattern doesn't even call for ties.... grrr)


4. Put everything away before I want to throw the whole thing in the trash. I still have to put the sleeves in and hem the darn thing.

I'll try to get better pictures tomorrow.

Something that I forgot to remind myself of while we were buying fabric - don't pick stuff that fray's easily. It's hard to sew with (for me) and makes a mess. As I'm looking at my tiny girl, I'm noticing that this dress is gonna be big. Even though I checked and double checked the size, it's gonna be really really big (which is why I put the ties in). She will be able to wear it for at least two years. I did have one bright spot in this sewing mania... Baby Girl came in after I had gotten some of the trim on the front and informed me that it was "OH! SO! BEAUTIFUL!!" She knows how to get what she wants. A compliment here, a little flattery there...

It's Funny Because It's True
It was really quiet on my computer... you might want to turn the volume up a tad...

No Meat Please
Last night Red made an announcement. I was a little thrown off by this proclamation. He's never had any inclination to live his life this way before. And he's only 8. It seems like an odd decision to make at such a young age. But, he has decided to become a vegetarian. Why? Because he has a tender heart and "doesn't want to eat animals any more". I realize that this is not a bad thing, I'm just a little shocked. This boy loves his hamburgers and hot dogs (of course, we're not sure if these really fall into a category of "meat"). He loves lasagna and spaghetti (both dishes are served with meat in this house). He thoroughly enjoys my chicken enchiladas. We are carnivores. We eat meat. Not tons of it, but we do enjoy it on a fairly regular basis. What I'm getting at is: how do I feed this child? He is not an overly picky eater, when it comes to meat. But there are a lot of veggies he won't eat. He does like some fruit, but the season for varied fruit is coming to a close and he's not a huge apple eater - the fruit of winter. I'm hoping that this is a phase. I don't want to cook two meals every night.... okay, so this whole post is now irrelevant. He has just come in and announced that he will eat meat. Just not deer. No problem. I can't remember the last time I had venison. I wonder, does he get this fickle nature from me? Or from my Hubby? Hmmm... it's a toss up!

Template Tampering
I'm loving messing around with the template on here. I've figured out how to make my own banners and change the background. I know there are a lot of people that don't like to mess with the template, but I'm having a ball! I still have a lot to learn... but it's fun. So, when I change things around, tell me what you think! I love to hear it... even if it's bad. I want to know. For example - I don't like my template right now. But, I think I'll leave it up till school starts... unless I can find something that I like better for "Back to School". Till then, it's this one. I really like the next header I have planned... so, do you mess around with your template? Or have you got it exactly the way you like it? Why mess with perfection? ;)

Two Months Early

I always like to get a jump start on Halloween costumes. My kids usually pick fairly easy things, but sometimes they are a little more complex. I hate spending a lot of money on something that they will wear for one day. So, we try to improvise as much as possible. Red wants to be Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter series. I'm game for that! We have Hubby's graduation robes which I'm going to hem up and then we will use an iron on patch for the Gryffindor coat of arms. He has a white shirt already. And of course, he has a wand. All we need is a tie. So, I started checking online... they are a tad on the expensive side... around $20. Please remember, I'm a total cheapskate. Anyway, today I headed to the second hand store and I got this:

It had the red color that I was looking for. I had seen online where a gal had painted a tie to make it look like the Gryffindor ties. So, I decided to give it a try. It was only $1.99... what could it hurt, right? I know it's not EXACT, but, it looks okay, don't you think? I'm pretty pleased... Halloween costume #1 is almost complete. Not sure how I'm gonna get Baby Girl's done... she wants to be a princess... I can make the dress, but the fabric will not be cheap. Anyone have some great idea?? I'm open for any suggestions.

True Love
Today was a long day. Red and his friend went to sleep around 11 last night. I'm not sure what time they woke up. I thought it was 4:30, but come to find out, hubby went out at 4 where they were playing "Rock dude, paper dude, scissor dude". I shushed them from the comforts of my bed at one point. But then came the "DUDE!!" that was WAY TOO LOUD. Got up, told them if they didn't knock it off I was gonna... do something bad. Cut me some slack, I could barely stand up! Anyway, they giggled and played around for awhile more, then, about the time Baby Girl got up they drifted back to sleep. When they got up they played more Nintendo till I couldn't take it for another minute. So, I called to them, trying to keep the strain of my mental breakdown out of my voice "Red, time for little friend to go home." Then I walked off to do laundry and such. They ignored me. COMPLETELY. So, I tried again "Red, time for DUDE to go home right now. Help him gather his things." Again... ignored. "PLEASE GET YOUR THINGS. IT'S TIME TO GO NOW!!!" I know as I walked away this kid was probably saying "Dude, your mom is WHACK!" Sigh... the rest of the day was pretty cruddy - as it usually is when everyone in the house had O.D.'ed on "dudes" and not had enough sleep. So, it's 7:30, all my kids are in bed and I think one of them is asleep (Baby Girl). And Hubby? He's at Wal Mart. Buying me Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes and Little Debbie Star Crunch Cosmic Snacks. I didn't even have to beg. He just loves me that much!

Just for Laughs
Maybe you've already seen this, but it made me laugh : The Best Blonde Joke Ever

Online Contest
Would you like to win $50 to a great little online store called "Olive Kids"? They have some really great stuff! You can learn more over at An Island Review. Good luck y'all!!
p.s. Don't forget to read my post from last night... those little stinkers were up at4 freakin 30 this morning. Grrr....

DUDE!
We decided to let Red have a friend spend the night. They are sitting in my living room playing a Nintendo game and the conversation is going something like this...
"Dude, how do you kick that guy?"
"Push A and pull the trigger, dude."
"Oh, thanks dude"
"Dude - you've gotta cover me"
"But dude, this guy is kickin my butt"
"Dude I'm gonna die!"
"Dude, if you push A and B and pull the trigger you'll do the super mega killer kick."
"Seriously dude?"
"Dude - yeah. Try it!"
"Ooooh dude! That is SO. COOOOOOL!"
"Dude, I know."
"Dude, I'm gonna fall off!"
"No way dude!"
"Dude I can't hold on!"
"Oh dude... end of game. You wanna do it again dude?"
My brain feels like it's shriveling up into a tiny version of its former self. Help!
***UPDATE***
They are now brushing their teeth...
"Dude, my teeth are like gross"
"Dude, let me see... oh dude! They are gross!"
"What kind of toothpaste is that dude?"
"Dude - it's the best!"
"Dude, I heard that that kind of toothpaste will kill you."
"Dude... NO WAY!"
"Totally dude."
"Dude, are you sure?"
"Dude - there is no way I'm using that stuff."
"Okay dude. But dude, then your teeth will still be like really gross."
"It's okay dude. When I go home, then I can use stuff that won't kill me. You know dude?"
"Whatever dude...."
Yeah... that's what I'm saying... whatever dude....

The Reminder
Some of you had almost convinced me that I should miss my kids when they go back to school. I was starting to get a little reminiscent about a few things. Perhaps even a little teary eyed... then I went shopping. With all three. By myself. Now, this may be a small accomplishment for some. But, for my little brood, getting out of the store without any major catastrophes is HUGE. Today was a series of unfortunate events. I'm not sure how many times I lost Little Bug today. In all honesty, he never goes too far... but the fact that he takes off at a dead run and won't stop till he's good and done, scares the crap outta me. Those few seconds are torture. And to repeat that over and over is maddening. He also likes to stand in front of the cart and try to push it the other way. While we were in Costco, I got tired of pushing against him. I picked him up and put him in the basket. He screamed. Not quiet crying or fussing. High pitched wailing. Literally hurts your ears. I smiled as people stared.

At Kohl's they have a display of stuffed dinosaurs by the checkout counters. All three kids were "looking" while I paid for our stuff. I looked away for 2 seconds... I swear it was only 2 and they had every last dinosaur off the shelves. They were using them as missiles. Lobbing them at each other and Red was yelling things like "I GOT YOU!! YOU ARE DEAD!".

And then there were a few events that weren't the kids fault, but if I hadn't been pulling them off of things and getting after them, I may have been able to prevent them. For example: the IDIOT at Costco put my Bounce extra scented dryer sheets next to my bread. Did you know that bread will ABSORB the smell of dryer sheets? Also, he shoved the bread into a box that was a little too small... so it's smashed. If Baby Girl hadn't been bawling her eyes out I might have noticed this. She was still crying when we got to the car (why was she crying? NO IDEA) and so I sat the eggs on top of the cereal box. I meant to move it to a more secure location before we left, but I was trying to calm Baby Girl down and get the boys to get in their seats. I was done. I closed the van without moving the eggs. And so, on the first turn out of the parking lot I hear a sickening crack as the carton slid off the cereal box and several of the eggs broke.

Summer is over. School needs to START. RIGHT. NOW!!

Bloggy Reading
How do you decide what blogs to read? Are there certain blogs you read every day? Do you read a blog because it inspires you? Makes you laugh? Informs you on a particular subject? Are there any blogs that you lurk on? Ones that you're not quite comfortable with leaving a comment? Or is that just me?? Enquiring minds want to know...

Which Group are You?
So, it's back to school time and I'm noticing a pretty big difference in the attitudes of the parents across the board. Group one is feelin sad that summer isn't longer. They had a great time with the kids and wish that it could go on and on. Group two is done. School needs to start - NOW. They had a great time this summer too, but summer has gone on long enough!
I find myself in group two most of the time. It's too hot to go out and play. So, we do things inside. A lot. Which means that there is a lot of good playing, that morphs into teasing, that quickly melts into fighting. And I'm left staring at my 3 crying children running to me to tattle on each other as fast as they can(okay... so Little Bug doesn't tattle, but he does join in and have a good cry with the others). We've done some great things this summer. Several trips to the beach. Sea World. The Animal Park. And lots of swimming in the back yard. But I'm done. It's time for school to start. At times I want my kids to stay little forever. Sometimes, I miss having a tiny baby around. But, for the most part though, I like where we are at right now. I'm really enjoying watching them change and grow as they get older. And I like seeing all the amazing things they learn at school. They don't learn quite as much here. It's hard to learn anything at home when you spend most of your time tattling.
So - which group are you in? Do you wish that the summer was a little bit longer? Or are you ready for school to get going?

OH YEAH!
2 posts in one day... yeah... sorry about that. But, I'm just SO. EXCITED! Little Bug got up this morning and said "hungry" and then signed it!! Then a little later he said "I love you" after I had helped him get something. My heart is melting! I feel like I could burst! HAPPY! HAPPY! JOY! JOY!!!

Crazy
I think I may have lost my mind. Red wants to learn the piano. He's asked about it a lot in the last little while. Technically, I can teach him. But, in the past when I've tried to teach him different things, it has not worked out well. We did a preschool group and all the mom's just loved Red. "He listens so well! He does the activities and participates!". As soon as I was the teacher all that goodness went out the window. He sat in time out a lot when preschool was at our house. He didn't want to participate. He was destructive and cried. A lot. He's a lot older now and so he doesn't cry so much, but we still don't always mesh well when I'm trying to teach him. But, we can't pay for piano lessons right now. So, if he's going to learn, it's gonna have to be me. Any thoughts or ideas on how I can make this as painless as possible? I know some of you home school (Hi Elastic :D) and perhaps some of you have taught your kids piano... any tricks you can share would be fantastic! I'm just not sure how to take on the roll of teacher and have him look at me that way? Does that make sense?? The last time I tried to teach him something he got really upset. He wanted to figure it out on his own. We were both frustrated and angry by the end. I want to avoid this. Maybe I'm just weird... well, I am weird. But any thoughts you have on this would be great!

Have You Ever....
...gone to the computer with a specific goal in mind, but the moment you sat down it left you?
...put movies on for your kids in the morning so that you could get just a few more minutes of sleep?
... eaten cinnamon rolls for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
... wanted to go to Idaho? I mean really, really wanted to go there?? Yeah, I didn't think so. I do. Missin my family right now...
... had a zit INSIDE your nose?? IT HURTS!
... made up a random list on your blog so that you don't have to do laundry? Mountains of laundry are calling to me.... oddly it sounds like something from "The Sound of Music".

Off I go...

Beach Bums
We got to go to Crystal Cove yesterday. It was so much fun! I got to meet Eve and Red (who is a commenter, but does not have her own blog) - not to be confused with my son, Red, whom I have already met. We had a fantastic lunch at the Beachcomber Cafe. These girls were so much fun! Fabulous conversation, amazing view, and delicious food. I couldn't have asked for more. Of course, being the total lame brain that I am... I didn't take pictures. I had my camera, but just didn't do it.
I was so thankful that Hubby and the kids came along. I got us lost - 3 times. I don't know what I would have done if I had been alone. I'm not very comfortable driving down here. I'm always sure that I'm going to make a wrong turn and end up in the middle of some gang war. Because I'm paranoid. And because I watch too much T.V. ... Anyway, Hubby kept the kids just a ways down the beach while I had lunch. Then, when I got back, Red (my son, not the new gal I just met) and Hubby went out body boarding. All in all the day was a success! It was so fun to put a face with a name and I hope to meet more bloggin buddies some day! So, if you're headed to Southern California, let me know!

The theme for this week is "two". These pictures were taken almost exactly one year ago. This is Baby Girl and her only cousin on my side of the family (but not for long... my sister is due with a baby in a few weeks!!!) They are the funniest "two" little girls!

An idea...

So, I messed around with a few hairstyles today online. I don't want to pay $15 to access all of the hairstyles... but I liked this one. Just a little shorter... some high lights and low lights. What do you think?? The makeup is a little weird. And I'm not sure why I am smirking at the camera. After all, I was the camera person.

You know... as I gaze at that photo I'm thinking "I look like Blossom!" Remember her?
My eyes are a little big... and I need a hat with a HUGE sunflower on it, but the face shape and nose are very similar...or am I just tired? Gosh... I could have been a t.v. star from the early 90's!

4 Reasons I'm Happy Today

1. The kids are playing and happyHubby made it home safe from his trip.
2. I have a new favorite T.V. show called "Just for Laughs" It's on every Tuesday on ABC and oh...oh does it make me laugh! Just thinking about this week's episodes puts me into fits of giggles...
3. My fingers are sticky

Who could ask for anything more?

The Beautiful People
So, I'm lovin the new hair color (yes Carrot... I do love it), but I was wondering how those stars do it. What creams do they use on their faces? Is there some magical hair care product that I should have? What is the latest miracle weight loss program for the super skinny? Then, I stumbled upon this lovely site. When you get to the site click on "portfolio" at the top. It will take a minute for the pictures to load (at least it did for me) and then click on the thumbnails. It will bring up beautiful pictures of beautiful people... but if you run your cursor over those pictures... WAHLAH! There are the beautiful people not looking so beautiful (except Halle Berry ...she still looked good. Dang it!). It's the photos untouched. Everyone has freckles and black circles under their eyes. Wrinkles, redness, and age spots. Tummies that poke out and b**bs that sag. Some of them have zits. They just might be normal people after all! Who knew? My hair color suddenly seems to have made me feel a whole lot better!

Colorful
I was cruising around the blogdom today and was looking at pictures of some fabulous bloggers. I noticed that they all have fabulous hair. Coincidence? I think not. I think their amazing personalities are linked directly to their hair. So, I decided I needed to make my hair fabulous in order to have the corresponding personality. One that sparkles. One that shines. One that never shows roots or needs a trim (unlike my hair). Unfortunately, I don't have the cash to get my hair professionally colored. So, I got the box... I picked this one because:

1. I liked the color and
2. the model on the box looks like a fun gal (thus perpetuating the fabulous hair, fabulous person theory).

I also liked it because it said it would not cause "brassiness" which is something I can't stand in hair or personality.

So, I started with my natural mousy brown hair... please forgive the towel wrapped around me held with a clothes pin. I know that the truly fabulous have special capes to wear whilst coloring their hair. Also, the truly fabulous wouldn't have been wearing their hair in a pony tail all day and so their hair wouldn't be all crazy. Oh, and their bathrooms would be clean... see why I REALLY needed to color my hair?

I ended up with this

It actually almost looks like the color on the box. Unfortunately, I don't feel fabulous. They need to put a disclaimer on these boxes:
To the unsuspecting Housewife: Greetings. We know that you feel frumpy and dumpy otherwise you would not be buying our product. We need to warn you - coloring your hair will not make you look like our fantastic model on the box. She is 5'11" and 102 lbs. You are not. When all is said and done, you will be the same height and weight. Also, we have professional makeup and hair people. And fantastic computer people who can do wonders with Photo Shop. If you remember these minor things, you will not be disappointed. Thanks so much!
Oh well. Maybe I'll get it cut, put in a few highlights and eat something covered in chocolate. It won't change my personality, but at least I'll feel better :)

Run Forrest, Run!
I was playing my favorite online game, Poppit, at Pogo games and I started reading the conversation going on in the sidebar chat. It made me laugh! These people are crazy. Totally crazy. There was one gal (I'm assuming it was a gal...) on there diagnosing another gal with bi-polar. Because she bought her PHD in psychiatry from eBay. Then they started talking about kids and the "psychiatrist" said something to the effect of "Kids come in all kinds of packages. You never know what you're gonna get". Deep, don't you think? For some reason it made me think of chocolate... and how life is like a box of those chocolates....I wanted to butt into the conversation and say "Hey Forrest, that's a great insight! So, do you like the kids that are a little nutty? Or do you prefer the ones that are more fruity? Or maybe the flaky ones are better?" Do you think I could pretend to be a doctor and use movie lines to give out advice? Let's try it out here... I don't have my eBay degree yet, but I've used the "buy it now" option, so it should be here soon. Here is your advice for the day courtesy of The Fellowship of the Rings: "Never trust and Elf!" There you have it. Take it and enrich your lives.

Does Shamu Rock?
Why yes - yes he does! We got to go to the night show at Sea World over the weekend where they played loud music and had whales jump and spin and do cool stuff. Everyone liked it, except Little Bug. He enjoyed the jumping and spinning, but the loud was not enjoyed. Notice the look of complete agony while the others giggle and play. He refused to join in the fun. Yeah. It was a little much for him. I wish I had more pictures of the actual show, but they just didn't turn out well...

Hubby's birthday ended well yesterday - except for the fact that I cooked the steaks too long...grr... oh well. Baby Girl had a hard time saying the name of one of the gifts... it's a boogie board or a body board. She calls it a "biggie board" or "boggy board" or "skate board". Yeah. No idea where the last one came from. She is physically incapable of saying "boogie". Which delights my dear sweet Hubby who keeps asking her "What did I get for my birthday??" just so he can hear her many renditions of the word.

Would you like to see what I got Hubby for his birthday?

I saw this pillowcase at Target and just couldn't resist! It doesn't match anything we have, but who cares? It makes me laugh!

Happy Birthday
Today my fabulous sweetie is old. Yep. Old. He's gonna love that I'm bloggin about this. I can say that he's old, because he's older than I am. Always has been. Always will be. Yesterday, to celebrate, we went to the Wild Animal Park in the morning and SeaWorld in the evening for their new night time shows. (We have passes to both of these places... ) We had lunch at Johnny Carinos - a favorite of the whole family. We had a fantastic time. Today Hubby got to sleep in and then had breakfast in bed. Sort of. I think he had 2 bites before he came out to be with us. He and I are so different. I can't think of anything better than sitting down to a meal where I don't have to run and get people things. I can sit and eat while everything is hot. He wanted to be with us. Crazy guy. We opened gifts and now he's gonna spend some time reading Harry Potter. He vowed to never read the books, but he's now on book four :) We'll head to church in awhile and then we'll come home for a fillet mignon dinner followed by Cheesecake Factory cheesecake with homemade blueberry topping (have I ever mentioned how much I love Costco?? Where else can you get Cheesecake Factory products and fillet mignon?? Well, besides actually going to the Cheesecake Factory...) Overall, he seems to be having a good day. I can't tell you how thankful I am for this man. I was thinking about all the girls in college that thought he was so sweet and nice and wished he would ask them out. There were a lot. He picked me. I don't know why. Heaven knows I don't deserve him. But I got him. And I'm grateful. Now, I'm off to do the dishes (usually his job) and keep the kids away from him for a few minutes so he can relax. Happy Birthday sweetie!!

The theme for this week is "row". A few months ago Red had to do a school report on where food came from. They had to pick one food and follow it's path to the stores. He choose strawberries - a wise choice for this part of the country. We drove out and took some photos for his report. Is there anything lovelier than rows and rows of strawberries?

Aimless Wanderings of My Mind
So, what do you think of the new look? I've decided to make a new template each month. Why, you ask? Because I can. Is anyone having trouble loading this at all? Let me know....

The other day Baby Girl announced that she is a "dancing ba-loo-lah". I'm not sure if I like the sounds of that. She then informed Red that he is a "dancing ba-loo-lah". And what did Red do? He tattled of course. He came running to me with his whiniest voice "Maaa-um! (I spell it like that because that's how "mom" sounds when you're really whiny.) She called me a 'dancing ba loo lah'. That's not fair or nice!" I asked if he was tattling and got "But MAAAA-UM!! I am NOT a dancing ba loo lah!" So, of course I said, "Then why do you care if she calls you that? Go work it out with your sister." He runs off and echoing down the hall are the words "Mom says not to call me that any more!" SIGH. Is summer over yet?

Sunday is Hubby's Birthday. We were going to go to the beach tomorrow as a kind of early celebration until we read about the jellyfish. I guess there is a rare black jellyfish that has entered Southern California waters and they are estimating that 200 people are being stung each day. Now, as fun as that sounds, I think we'll move the birthday celebration somewhere else.

Another reminder for any Southern Californians... we're gonna meet on the 18th (next Saturday) in Huntington Beach for a little lunch. E-mail me if you'd like to come and we'll get details worked out!

American Idol
Did any of you see this? I'm all for following your dream, but, um... HELLO!! The girl was in line to audition for Idol and she went into labor. Did she go home? No. Did she call her doctor or an ambulance? Nope. SHE STAYED!! By the time she got into the audition room she was having back to back contractions and she still sang... and she got through to the next round! Then she went and had her baby. Does anyone else find this odd? Or is it just me...

Blogger BLAH's
Is anyone else having trouble with Blogger? It won't let me leave comments on some of your sites. It won't let me mess with the template. It won't let me read my own comments... I'm a tad frustrated and about ready to jump ship!! Maybe it's time to get my own site... cause right now, I'VE HAD IT! :S

Blog Design
I'm gonna be messin around with the look of the blog again :) Any comments, thoughts, critiques would be helpful. I really like this one and will probably keep it up for a few days... what do you think?

Netflix Frenzy
We are enjoying our new membership to Netflix very much! It stays so hot here in the evenings that it's hard to go outside to do anything. So, we stay in and watch movies. We saw the "Astronaut Farmer" last weekend... which wasn't really my favorite. This week we had "Remains of the Day" and "Miss Potter". I enjoyed both of them, but, especially "Miss Potter". It was such a sweet story! Have any of you seen it? I highly recommend it. Hubby watched it with me the first time and liked it. But not enough to sit through it again :) I had to watch it one more time before I sent it back. I'm still trying to build up my list of movies that I'd like to see and that the kids might like. It's almost harder to find something for hubby and myself. We like our movies on the clean side and Hollywood just doesn't seem to think that's too important. Do you have any suggestions?? It doesn't have to be a new movie - just something that you've enjoyed. Can't wait to hear your ideas!

Grrr...
Up at 4 a.m. Smiling. Happy. Ready to be awake. Fights sleep. Slowly, quietly, eventually drifts back off. Who knew this face could cause so much sleep deprivation?

And now? Now that it's time to be up and awake and happy? She's awake alright. But she's tired. Cross. Cranky. Just like her mom. This is day #3 of the 4 a.m. wake up call. Hubby got up with her last night. I love that man. Now, we are all tired. Luckily, Little Bug wasn't up this time. Yesterday he was up too and once he's up, he's up. There is no going back to sleep for him. Till about halfway through the day...
This isn't a picture from today... but another day after he had been up way too early. Yeah, he stole the pillow and blanket from Baby Girl. Do you know how much I wish that was me? I'd even sleep on the floor if they'd just let me rest...

Would You Like to...
Come to lunch? No, seriously - would you like to come to a bloggy lunch gathering? August 18th we're going to try and get a few bloggin friends together for a lunch in Huntington Beach, CA (had to specify the state... just in case there is a Huntington Beach in Florida or something). If you think you'd like to come, email me and I'll get you the info. It's gonna be casual. Why is it going to be casual? Umm... because I said so. Besides, my prom dress just doesn't fit after having three kids. ANYWAY.... The restaurants that have been suggested by Eve (who will be here visiting) are Duke's, Corner Bakery and Wahoo's. Any votes as to which one? I hope some of you will be able to come... also, if you know of other places to eat - let me know and we'll see which will be the easiest for everyone! Hope to hear from you soon!

I'm back! I almost went a week... almost. I admit it. I'm weak and easily tempted. This week's photo hunters theme is "funky". I'm gonna do two different things here. First of all - a picture and then a couple of YouTube videos. No, they aren't my own videos. They are shots of a new kids show that will be out this fall called Yo Gabba Gabba! My cousin is the producer. My kids love it and it definitely fits the theme of "funky". So, first, we have my photo:

When I think of funky - I think of off-beat in a very cool kind of way. With that definition in mind - this little family isn't funky. Crazy? Yes. Odd? Yes. Slightly twisted? Yes. Funky? We're just not. This is about all I got. The cake that looks like an eyeball. Sorry... now, onto the cool, hip, fun, REAL funky stuff!

Yo Gabba Gabba is a kids program with a beat. It's modern and really unique and my kids want to watch it over and over and over... so here are a few videos for your viewing pleasure....

And this...

Last one...

The pilot copy we got has the Commander from the Aquabats. Do you get funkier than that? My kids love it... too bad we don't have cable :S