Ahhhh, The Sweet Life

Monday

I grew up in the 80's and 90's and I loved to read. So, OF COURSE, I was all about some Sweet Valley.  The Sweet Valley Kids series didn't come around until I was past that stage but, man, I loved some Sweet Valley Twins. And, naturally, I graduated onto Sweet Valley High.

Ahhh. SVH. I can remember standing in line to go into class when I was in the fifth grade the girl in front of me said, in her most scandalized voice, "Did you know there's a Sweet Valley High book in the library called All Night Long?". Oh reeeeally? Of course, I had to pick it up. It was my beloved Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, still glorious and beautiful but now 16 and in high school, and staying out all night with older guys with 70's porn mustaches. I was hooked!
Over the years, I graduated from SVH to grown folks literature (such masterpieces as Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic Series). But I've always had a fondness for the Wakefield twins. They WERE my formative years. I was excited when Francine Pascal published Sweet Valley Confidential last year and brought us up to date on Jessica, Elizabeth, Todd, Enid and the rest of the crew. (I'll refrain, at this point, from posting a laundry list of errors from that particular book. But, Francine, it was Ricky Capaldo! Ricky that "saved" Easy Annie back in high school! Ricky Capaldo!!!!!!)

A few weeks ago, the first installment in the e-serial "The Sweet Life" was released and my Sundays haven't been the same since. The installments are released weekly and they're short enough they can easily be read in an hour or less. I wasn't going to write anything about The Sweet Life until I finished all six e-serials. But after finishing the fourth yesterday morning ... must.talk.about.it.

Here's the deal:

1) I want to find Sweet Valley, California and RAISE MY CHILDREN THERE. The crazy drama aside, everyone who graduated from SVH is crazy successful! Annie Whitman is only 29, making her just four years out of law school, but she's already achieved everything an attorney can possibly achieve in San Diego and headed back to provide her law prowess to her hometown. Ken Matthews plays in the NFL. Todd and Elizabeth both write for the LA Times ... a pretty major paper for being not even a decade removed from their days at SVU! And how crazy that it's the biggest paper so close to their hometown? Enid Rollins is the best gynecologist in Sweet Valley, despite being a scant 30-years-old, an age at which everyone but Enid and Doogie Howser is still in their residency. Even Caroline Pearce, that crazy gossip that everybody loves to hate, runs a successful blog.

2) Let's talk age. Y'all. There must be a fountain of youth in Sweet Valley! The first book was published in 1983. Yet in 2012 Jessica and Elizabeth - age16 in '83 - are only 30. I was 13 years younger than them all those years ago and now THEY are younger than me? Remember the fits that Claire Pike used to throw in the Babysitters Club series? No feeeeeee-air! (Yeah, thought I'd pull another 90's reference on you!) Although, I'll be honest.  I'm not sure I want to live in a world where the Wakefield twins would be celebrating their 45th birthday this year. 

3) Enid Rollins. Best OBGYN in all if Sweet Valley -- everybody goes to her!  She turned into some sort of evil horsebeast in the years since high school and now everybody hates her.  But they let her get elbow deep in their lady parts? Ex-squeeze me very much? Do me a favor. Think of the person you hated the most in high school. Now. Imagine yourself carrying on a conversation with her while your feet are in stirrups and she is SWABBING YOUR VAGINA. Yeah, not gonna happen. It was bad enough when somebody I knew from high school had to give me a sponge bath in the hospital. And she was somebody I liked! 

You better believe there'll be more about the series to come.  Now while I wait for the last two installments to be released, Imma go in search of Sweet Valley and their fountain of youth . . .

It Happened This Week

Sunday

We spent last week in "kindergarten boot camp" mode.  Jaidan is my night owl.  If allowed, he can easily stay up until the wee hours of the morning and then sleep the morning away like a teenager.  Yeah, totally not going to work when school starts in a couple weeks.  My plan for the past week was to put him bed around 8:00 every night with a movie, turn the movie off at 9:00, and then get him up around 7:30 in the mornings.  We had a rough couple of days -- a REALLY rough couple of days.  However, he was snoozing well before 9:00 Friday night and the last two mornings he's been up during the 6:00 hour.  It's safe to say he's definitely getting adjusted to the early wake up.  But, seriously kid, chill with the 6:00 bidness on Saturday mornings.  Sheesh.
Here's a look at what we've been up to the past couple weeks;

Sunday 7/15:

Monday 7/16:
I cropped out a toddler sitting on a potty in this picture!  Ha!
Please don't ask me how the potty training is going.  Don't wanna talk about it. :/

Tuesday 7/17:

Wednesday 7/18:

Thursday 7/19:

Friday 7/20:

Saturday 7/21:

Sunday 7/22:

Monday 7/23:

Tuesday 7/24:
Why does he look half grown in this picture??

Wednesday 7/25:
This puppy was a Christmas gift from her MawMaw.  She did not like it.  In fact, she cried when she first saw it.  We were shocked because the kid absolutely loves puppies.  Fastforward seven months and she hasn't let the puppy out of her sight for the past week!  She loves it now!

Thursday 7/26:

Friday 7/27:

Saturday 7/28:


Summer Reading List: Legal Thrillers, Suspence, Memoirs, Chick Lit, and More!

Friday

I am so behind on writing about the books I've read!  I was actually able to read more on our California vacation (48 hours on the road with a husband and children to ignore) but haven't read much since being home.  Things like laundry and vacuuming always seem to get in the way.  :/


The Litigators by John Grisham  - I've never been shy about professing my love for Grisham.  He's one of the first "grown" authors I read and I still, to this day, absolutely devour his books.  (Exceptions being The Brethern and The Broker, both books he should've written under a psuedonym because . . . DAMN).  The Litigators is the story of David Zinc, a young Chicago attorney working his ass off in the salt mine known as a Big Law Firm.  He's on the fast track to a partnership and gobs of money when he, tired of the pressure, throws it all away.  He finds his way to a "boutique firm" that is more or less managed by a couple of ambulance chasers.  One of the partners has the inside track on a huge class action suit against a pharamceutical company.  What follows is a series of blunders, all in the pursuit of the "big one" and big bucks.

The Litigators is by no means another The Firm or The Partner or The Rainmaker.  It's not a legend and it's doubtful there will ever be a movie made of it.  But it IS a fun book, an enjoyable book.  The characters are classic Grisham-ish in that they're easy to like even with their goofiness and obvious character flaws.  There is not a lot of action in the book.  It's hardly what anyone would call a "legal thriller."  But it is a good, fun read.

Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand - I read this entire book in the stretch between Odessa, Texas, and Deming, New Mexico.  I was so completely captivated by it that I found myself getting irritated when we had to stop for potty breaks or what not because I DID NOT WANT TO STOP READING.  In the interest of full disclosure, Hilderbrand is probably my favorite author -- particuarly when it comes to a good beach read, but still . . . this book was just captivating.

Summer People is the story of the Newton family.  The mother, Beth, and teenage twins, Winnie and Garrett, are spending the summer in Nantucket, the first since the loss of family patriarch Arch.  Along for the ride is Marcus, the son of Arch's final client in his law practice.  The summer sees the family through their pain, Marcus deals with his own pain, and all three of the teenagers fall in love for the first time.  Meanwhile, Beth is dealing with a secret that she kept from her husband and children, a secret that comes back to haunt her as the summer wears on.

The book is good.  It's really good.  It's relateable and realistic in a lot of ways.  The "secret" that Beth carries is both obvious and pretty damn lame but, other than that, it's a total page turner. 


Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg - Okay, we all know that Fried Green Tomatoes starring Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy is, like, one of the Best Movies Ever.  It's chick flickish and funny and pulls at your heart strings and, ohmygosh, don't you just love it?  I absolutely adore when I can catch it on one of the movie channels!  Since I enjoyed the movie so much, I knew I had to - had to! - read the book.

The book/ movie is the story of Evelyn, a middle-aged woman, who befriends Mrs. Threadgoode, an elderly woman at the local nursing home.  Over the course of their visits, Mrs. Threadgoode shares the stories of the Threadgood family, the cafe (Whistle Stop) ran by Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Bennett, and the time Idgie stood trial for the murder of Ruth's former husband.  Mrs. Threadgoode and Evelyn form a lasting bond and share a friendship that bridges the gap in their ages.  Evelyn begins to question her own life and choices and her penchant for always following the status quo in life.

The book is good.  It's very good.  But.  I think that MAYBE I liked the movie better.  It's not really something I can explain.  Perhaps I appreciate the movie more because I've been watching it every time it came on TBS for the past 20 years.  Maybe I like it more because the book skipped around too much (and skip around it did!  One chapter you're in the 1980's, next you're in the 50's, back to the 80's, then into the 20's).  The book does, however, delve into much  more detail than we ever see in the movie.  We learn more about Buddy Jr. as the book sees him past the age of eight or so where the movie left off.  We see much - much! - more of Big George and his family.  The book has an overall lesbian theme between Idgie and Ruth, something that seems to be missing from the movie.  Fannie Flagg never comes right out and says that they are in a lesbian relationship but it's much more than implied.

All in all, the book was good.  It was very enjoyable.  But the movie is the real masterpiece. "Face it girls.  I'm older and I have more insurance."



The Gap Year by Sarah Bird - If you have a daughter, this book will make you think.  When I finished it, I couldn't stop thinking about the hopes and wishes I have for my daughter -- and how they will collide with the hopes and wishes she has for herself.

The Gap Year is told from two different points of view: that of mother Cam after daughter Aubrey has graduated from high school and in Aubrey's voice throught out her senior year.  Cam is a single mother and gave up a life she loved in the city for the superb school districts of the suburbs.  When Aubrey begins her final year of high school, the mother/ daughter relationship turns more tumultuous.  Aubrey falls in love with a young man Cam doesn't approve of.  And all Cam really wants is Aubrey to keep her eyes on the prize: college.

It was hard for me to know which "side" I was supposed to stand on with this book.  I'm a mother - a mother of a daughter at that - but it doesn't feel like it was that long ago that *I* was a senior in high school and the entire world was my oyster.  I can understand Cam wanting Aubrey to pursue higher education but, at the same time, I could understand everything that Aubrey was going through as well.

There are several different elements of the book that I won't give away and they serve to make the book more interesting.  And at least one of them makes it slightly squicky.  Aubrey's father left when she was just two-years-old to join a Scientology-type cult.  The whole cult angle is both weird and kind of necessary to the storyline.  Both main characters, Cam and Aubrey, made me want to scream from time to time and there is a certain disdain/ stereotyping of the suburbs.  In the end, I think the book was pretty true-to-life of the mother/ daughter relationship.  And, mannnnn, did it make me THINK!


The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark - Ya'll.  I think maybe it's time for Mary Higgins Clark to put away the pen and paper.  Her books.  They ain't what they used to be.

The Lost Years tells us of biblical scholar Jonathan Lyons who is murdered after he reveals to his priest and a handfull of friends that he thinks he has found a sacred parchment.  His wife, suffering from alzhiemers, is found in the closet clutching the gun.  Their daughter, Mariah, is left to pick up the pieces of their life and try to figure out what happened to her father.

This book was just . . . I don't know how to describe it but I think "meh" is probably the beset adjective.  It was better than Shadow of your Smile but it was nothing - nothing! - like the earlier works of Clark that I fell in love with so many years ago.  I didn't care WHO committed the murder.  The main character lacked the charisma of the heroines of other MHC novels.  It was just a boring novel that I only barrelled my way through because I make it a point to always at least try to finish a book. This is also yet another novel where Alvirah Meehan makes an appearance.  I understand that she's a loveable character and many of Clark's fans are also fans of Alvirah. However, I think it's time to retire Alvirah's sunburst pin . . .

Interestingly: When I googled this book, I found a discussion wherein several people seem to think that her last few novels haven't been written by Mary Higgins Clark but, rather, her daughter Carol.  Veddy interesting.  Veddy interesting.



Bossypants by Tina Fey - Man.  I love Tina Fey.  She's hillarious (hello!  Bitch is the new black??  Comedic genius) and she's also one of those people, along with Amy Poeler, that you like to think you'd be BFF'd up with if, you know, your paths ever happened to cross.

This book starts off great.  It's funny and - even better - you find yourself reading it in her voice.  She tosses in sarcasm and every chance she gets and I love her even more for it.  Once she gets to the middle of the book, and begins discussing the SNL years and then 30 Rock, it was a little harder for me to read.  It wasn't as interesting and it seemed like she went on and on (and on!) way after all the "good" jokes about those times in her life were out of the way.  She picked up steam again when discussing her portrayal of Sarah Palin and her chapter on motherhood was downright hilarity.  She touches on the whole mommywars and everything she said about breastfeeding had me saying, "yes!' and "preach it, sista!"

The book is good.  It's one that you'll want to read -- but I won't be mad atcha if you skip over the SNL and 30 Rock parts.

Thursday Things

Thursday

1) I was all kinds of out of sorts last summer.  I blamed it on the fact that 2011 was a Big Fat Bitch and the summer just sucked, sucked, and sucked some more.  Well, I'm all of sorts this summer and you know what?  2012 has NOT been a Big Fat Bitch and the summer hasn't sucked.  Maybe I can blame the "out of sorts" feeling on all the travel.  Or maybe the summertime - as much as I love it with it's flip flop and ice cream and swimming goodness - just does that to me.  Regardless, I'm kindasorta maybepossibly ready for fall. 

Truth: I'm ready for football.

2) The kids and I went to visit my mom last weekend.  We had so much fun!  On Saturday, the kids played in the little pool (that Gigi bought just for them!) and Sunday we went shopping.  We weren't there very long but the kids love them some Gigi.  They had a great time.





3) My Cheap Bitch Finds of the Week:
Hooded sweatshirt, Gap (duh) Outlet, $14.99

Shoes, Charming Charlie, $14.99
Dress, Charming Charlie, FREE! (They had a buy one clearance item, get one free promotion)
Don't worry.  They won't be worn together.

4) I gained a grand total of six pounds on my two vacations.  Then I managed to put on another couple since coming home.  BLAH.  BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.  I remember the days when I could go on vacation, come home and drink a gallon of water a day, not eat like an asshole, and drop the vacation weight in a matter of three days.  Getting old sucks.
5)  I can't decide if I want to boycott Chik-fil-A or not.  On the one hand: Boo, Bigots!  On the other hand: that chicken is delicious!  On the one hand: My marriage was once illegal too and I hate the thought that the money I pay for a (delicious) chicken sandwich could ever go, even in part, to prohibit people who love each other from being able to marry.  On the other hand: most stores are fanchises.  Do I want to hurt the "little people" far down the CFA food chain?  This would be so much of an easier decision if someone like, I don't know, Long John Silvers had opened their big fat bigoted mouth.  (And, really, I don't think this is just a matter of a difference of opinion -- it's all about equal rights.  Replace "homosexual" with "interracial" or even just "black" or "Hispanic" and hello? Bigotry.)

6) The sprinkler that we made last week with merely a 2-liter bottle and some duct tape, finally gave out yesterday.  It lasted a good six days longer than I ever thought possible.  YAY DUCT TAPE!

7) My daughter has started referring to herself in the third person.  For example, "Bear Bear MAD!"  Yesterday she told me, "Bear Bear so cute!"  Well.  She's right.

8) I managed to participate in the Instagram daily challenge for May, June, and - so far - July.  Here are the pics from the last week:
7/19 - Animal
7/20 - Eyes
7/21: 9:00
7/22: Upside Down

7/23: Mirror - (that was taken in the bathroom of the social security office.  Ha!)
7/24: A stranger
7/25: Heart

9) We are doing Kindergarten Bootcamp this week (and next and the week after that).  Basically this means our days of staying up late and sleeping in are Over-with-a-capital-O.  I'm so sad!  I think I'm more sad about losing the sleep-in time than I am about my baby going to kindergarten!  On the upside, though, I did actually get up and work out this morning for the first time in well over a month. 

10) There's a kitchen to clean and laundry to do (boo) so let me leave you with this:
Oh, you know you do it too!


Coast to Coast 2012: All The Other Stuff

Tuesday

1) On our way to California, we stopped for a night in Deming, New Mexico.  You know what's in Deming?  Two hotels, a McDonald's, and not much else.  The hotel we stayed at, howevs, happened to have a BAR!  It was like it was made for us!  (It's also 90% of the reason we selected that particular hotel).  Anyhow, that night after the men and children were tucked in their beds with visions of Mickey Mouse dancing in their heads, Kira and I headed down to the bar.  And found that it's where a lot of Deming locals hang out!  We had a good time, got some free drinks, and even encouraged a local to call the Hogs.  Woo Pig!

Cheers!
Oh, and please don't judge how we look TOO much - we'd been on the road for 12 hours with five kids and two husbands.

2) Our second night in California, we discovered a restaurant called Acapulco.  I ate there two more times on the trip.  It's a chain and the odds are good that we only thought it was SO DELICIOUS because we live in Tennessee.  But, ya'll, it was pretty damn good!  Not only that, but the margaritas were cheap!  I really wish I could find carnitas and green chli like that in Memphis.  Stupid BBQ city.

3) On Thursday night - our next to last night in Cali - we had a Girl's Night Out.  Our hotel had a complimentary happy hour so we started there for some free drinks.  Then made our way over to Acapulco (I told ya'll we liked that place!)

4) If you've ever been to Disney then you already know they have photographers everywhere taking 384308282 pictures of you that they sell at exorbant prices because they KNOW you will spend it because you HAVE to have a professional picture of your kid with Goofy.  Here are our photo pass pics, if you're so inclined to want to look.

5) We drove through some icky weather and pouring down rain in Arizona on our way home.  But when we got into New Mexico we saw this:

The next day we saw another rainbow on the Oklahoma/ Arkansas line.  Cool stuff!  The kids loved it.

6) I had been to southern California prior to this trip but I'd flown.  Driving was such an experience -- and it meant I got to see a lot of the country I had never seen.  I had never been to Arizona before at all.  My only experience with New Mexico and far west Texas involved a ski trip to Colorado a lifetime ago.  The landscape was so beautiful -- and so different from where I live.  I felt like I was living my boyfriend's song Fly Over States.  Also, I kind of have a crush on the state of Arizona. 

7) Speaking of Arizona . . . let's talk about heat.  I live in the mid-south and it's not uncommon to hear southerners play the "we have it worse than you" game with our friends who reside in the desert.  Our favorite phrase to use is, "but over there it's a dry heat.  We have HUMIDITY."    "Humidity" is like a bad word in this part of the country.  It's icky and it's evil and it's gross and it can make a 93 degree summer day feel like a 123 degree summer day.  But you know what?  FORGET THE DRY HEAT.  We stopped on the Arizona/ California line for a potty break and I'm convinced that is  THE HOTTEST PLACE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH.  It was 113 when we were in Vegas and I'm pretty sure my flip flop half melted on the pavement.  I go every summer so, obviously, I know just how hot it is in that part of the country.  I just felt the need to get passionate - right here, right now - about the whole dry heat vs. OH THE HUMIDITY thing. Hot is just hot.  That's it.

8) On our trip to Savannah last summer, the "song" we heard over and over and over again was Moves Like Jagger.  (Interestingly, it was also the "song" for the New Orleans road trip several months later).  Well, Maroon 5 did it AGAIN because we heard, "I'm at a payPHONE tryin' to call . . . " approxomately 32849238942 times.  Now every time I hear that song I think about our trip.  And I also wonder where Adam Levine found a payphone in 2012.

Coast to Coast 2012: Grand Canyon!

Monday

I didn't post much (any at all really) about our trip going to California.  But that's because the most exciting thing about it was we were so far south in Texas that I pointed to the kids and said, "Hey look, that's Mexico."  Oh, and we went through two border checks.  And in one of them the border guard was kinda hot but my husband rolled his eyes when I pulled out a "how YOU doin'" in my best Joey Tribiani voice.

But the ride home . . . the first half of the ride home . . . was much more exciting.  The second half of the ride home took us through Amarillo and Oklahoma City and Little Rock and I won't be writing anymore than THAT about it.

We left California Saturday morning and were VEGAS bound.  Eddie spent several years there growing up and wanted to take the kids through his old stomping grounds.  We also had every intention of taking the kids to the strip until we came to our senses and realized that it was a SATURDAY in the SUMMER and that it would take us approxomately 23903249 hours to get to the strip and then equally as long to find parking.  (Not to mention the fact that I get all indignant and red-faced and "wtf" when I see people with their children on the Vegas strip).  So, in the end, the kids got the "Daddy Tour" of the city, had the strip pointed out to them, and then we stopped at Del Taco (much to the chagrin of two assholes in the backseat who wanted Taco Bell EVEN THOUGH WE CAN EAT THAT AT HOME [seriously, I'm going to have to work on the whole you don't eat shit you can eat at home when you're on vacation thing with them]) for lunch and to see my friend Casey who was also in Sin City.


After leaving Vegas we made a stop at the Hoover Dam.  I was amazed at the beauty of Lake Mead.  This is a seriously gorgeous lake.  I live in Tennessee where lakes and rivers alike are muddy and brown and kind of gross and the thought of swimming in the lakes around here conjures up thoughts of ecoli.  And that's the NICEST thought it conjures.

Eddie and I were all "HOOVER DAM!  HELL YEAH!" and the kids were all like, "it's so hot!" and "what's a damn?" and "this is booooring!"  95% of this trip was awesome and amazing and wonderful.  The 5% that sucked was the attitudes of 3/4 of the backseat when we were at Hoover Damn.
Nice pic with the trash can there!

We ended up driving to Flagstaff, Arizona, that evening because the next day's destination was the GRAND CANYON.

I had never been before.  And you know what?  The Grand Canyon was everything I thought it would be.  Beautiful.  Breathtaking.  Amazing.  



The ONLY family pic we got the whole trip!

The Grand Canyon should be on everybody's bucket list!

So Very Pinteresting

Saturday

Mannnnn.  It's been a while since I shared any of my favorite [been there, done that] Pinterest finds!  I've been a pinnin' fool and a tryin' the pins fool this week so I have quite a few recipes/ activities/ fun stuff to share.

Kid Food:

Homemade Jello Fruit Snacks - My kids love fruit snacks.  Love them!  But I don't buy them very often.  Partly because they're crap food and if I'm going to give my kids crap it's going to at least be something like Chips Ahoy cookies or Hostess cupcakes (read: crap that I'll eat too).  But mostly because, with four kids, it doesn't make sense to buy any sort of individually packaged snacks.  They go through them so fast!  When I pinned this recipe, I knew it was something we had to try.
Here's the deal with these fruit snacks:

1) They don't taste good.  They have a . . . waxy, I guess . . . taste to them.  My boys,  however, were both fond of them.  And, for what it's worth, I used sugar free Jello to make mine.
2) The texture isn't like Jello -- it's not slimy or anything.  But it's also not like a traditional fruit snack.  I don't really know how to explain it.
3) You're only using a third a cup of water so, obviously,  you're not getting very many.  I think I got 16 the size in the above picture.

So, basically, they don't taste good and they're not anymore cost effective than buying a box of Phinneus and Ferb fruit snacks.  There ya go.

Frozen Yogurt Bites - My kids LOVE yogurt so as soon as I saw this one I KNEW we were going to have to make them.  And right away.  They were a huge hit!  The boys and Z loved them.  Karis wouldn't try them but that's nothing new with her these days.  We will definitely be making these more as the summer goes on.  One more thing -- if you don't like yogurt, you're not going to like these.  Take it from me, the "ewww, yogurt" person.

Pizzadillas - You know what?  15 years ago, TGI Friday's wasn't everywhere. I can still remember when the town closest to me got one.  They had the "pizzadilla" on their menu and it was soooo good.  (As a total sidenote, I can't believe I actually ordered one. Those were during the days when I pretty much only ordered a burger or a club sandwhich.  No matter where I was eating.  Steakhouse?  I'll have a burger!).  I had long forgotten the pizzadilla until I saw this pinned.  My kids love tortillas and they love pizza so I figured it was a match made in Heaven.  And, well, kinda.  Jaidan ate them. He eats everything.  Karis ate one and Kyan picked the pepperoni out of his.  If this were a test and I was grading the pizzadilla, I'd give it a firm B.  We'll probably make them again but it won't go down in our list of Most Loved Recipes.

Yummies:

Cheesy Potato Fries - Weird: before I got pregnant with Karis, I didn't really care for ranch dressing.  In fact, I knew I was pregnant when I started craving ranch.  These days I can't get enough of it.  You know the scene in Patch Adams where the lady takes a bath in Jello?  Yeah.  Me.  Ranch.  This recipe was like all my favoirte things in one dish: carbs, bacon, cheese, and ranch.  It was good.  Very good.  Vedddy vedddy good.  My only complaint would be that the sauce was - believe it or not - too much!  I used four potatoes (the recipe calls four 4-6) and had wayyyyy too much sauce.  Next time I'll probably cut the sauce recipe in half.  But, believe me, there WILL be a next time for this recipe!

Secret Sauce for Burgers  - This is actually a burger recipe with a secret sauce.  But I have a tried and true burger recipe that the whole family loves.  I'll stick with it for now.  I knew the sauce was something Jaidan and I would both like and I was right!  The only issue I had was I used a little too much soy sauce (boo!) and had to try to balance it out with the other ingredients.  It was good.  I'll have it again.  But it also didn't blow my socks off and make me proclaim that I'd never again eat a burger without it.

Homemade Cookie Cake - I love cookie cake!  Good stuff!  This one was pretty good.  It doesn't have any white sugar in it so be sure to add plenty of M&M's (I used two of the king sized packages in mine) to make up for the missing sweetness.  We thought it was best straight from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Chicken Tortilla Bake - I was approxomately 30 seconds into making this (easy, five ingredient) casserole when I realized "Duh, this is Mexican chicken!"  My family loves Mexican chicken so I pretty much knew it would be a hit . . . and since it doesn't have sour cream I knew it would make the hubs happy.  I added taco seasoning to the cream of chicken soup/ Rotel combo and an extra layer of cheese rather than just putting all the cheese on top of the casserole.  My family tore it up!  Karis especially enjoyed it -- to the point that she was literally licking her plate.  Definite hit!

Summertime!

Water Bottle Sprinkler - Seriously?  A sprinkler that took approxomately three minutes to make and used things I already had in the house?  AWESOME.  I used the pin to give me an idea but I did things slightly different (read: I rednecked it up). 

I took a water bottle and cut slits in it.  Then I took the bottle and DUCT TAPED it to the water hose. DO NOT SCRIMP ON THE TAPE.  Use the heck out of that stuff!

So far, it's held up for three days!  And I havent' had to re-tape it yet.

Bubble Snakes - Apparently I'm all about the upcycling this week!  This is such an easy activity.  Old water bottle, a sock, duct tape, and a little bit of dishwashing soap.  It was so much fun!

Jaidan and Karis both  loved it and had a lot of fun blowing the bubbles (well, Karis had more fun playing in the soap/ water mixture).  Kyan was being a turd.  All in all, it was a fun little activity.

Real Talk:

A Narcissist Devotes an Entire Post to her Hair

Friday

This is my dad, circa 2001:

A very goofy picture of my dad.

Notice those lines on his forehead?  I inherited them.  Thanks, Dad!  My grandmother always said if I inherited her (substantial) backside and my mother's (substantial) chest then I would be STACKED.  Yeah, instead I inherited the Oregon Trail going across my forehead.  (Credit for the Oregon Trail comment goes to my friend Rella).

Seriously.  When did my face start to age?  I feel like I spent all of my teens and 20's wishing I could look somewhere right around the age of 21.  Now I'm wondering who this old person is who TOOK OVER MY FACE.  The lines on my forehead?  Yikes. Something had to be done!
You know what's cheaper than Botox?

Bangs.

I haven't had bangs in at least ten years.  In fact, I spent too much time last night looking through old Snapfish albums to find pictures of me with bangs.  The most recent ones date back to HIGH SCHOOL.  (I'm almost positive, however, that I had bangs since then).  Sometime in my early 20's I realized that bangs were the reason I could only pass for about 15 and kept getting carded to get into R-rated movies.  So I grew them out and kept them that way.

Until yesterday.

I was going for Jennifer Garner:

You know, since I hear I look like her ALL THE TIME and all.  (Totes sarcasm and that also reminded me to tell you all that once upon a time, a [now ex, obviously] boyfriend told me that I looked like Ugly BettyNot America Ferrera.  Ugly Betty.  Ouch).

Yeah.  Was going for Jennifer Garner.  Ended up with this:
I also cut several inchees off the length!

Truth: Only posting this picture because I bought the outfit (dress and shoes) yesterday and I'm kind of in love with it.

I'm not in love with the hair.

I'm not even sure that I like it.  It's just so different.  I feel like a completely different person. I woke up this morning looking like I belong in an 80's hair band. I do, however, I appreciate how the bangs look when in a ponytail:

I figure, if nothing else, they'll be long enough for the cute sidesweep thing before too long.  Except I have an interestingly placed cow lick and WILL I BE ABLE TO SIDESWEEP THEM?  Time will tell.  And, besides,  they'll always grow, right?  Right.

Oh!  And my family's reaction to the hair?

Kyan: "You look funny!"
Jaidan: "Don't ever go back to that hair place again!"

*Sigh*  Thanks, kids!

Thursday Things

Thursday

1) I still have more to write about from my trip but I also wanted to get back to "regular" blogging too.  I mean if I don't share all these pent up frustrations -- such as why do I have to use acne cream AND anti-wrinkle cream -- then they're all just going to build up and keep building and building and building.  Blogging is good for combatting the building.

2) I bought these Oreo mint fudge cremes.  They are SO GOOD!  They taste like thin mints with a little layer of Oreo creme.  Nom, nom.  Eddie loves thin mints and I kinda want to give him one and let him try it (he's not an Oreo freak like I am -- he throws down on the Chips Ahoy so any Oreos I buy are left for ME and only me!) but I'm afraid he'll really like them and then my cookies will be all gone.  Selfish much?

3) Karis's vocabulary has EXPLODED in the past couple weeks.  She is talking all.the.time.  Also, she's two.  Do you know what happens when you laugh at something a two year old says?  They will repeat it con-stant-ly.  Which is why we hear "eww!  Stinky butt!" at least 438284984 times a day.  She's also found of saying, "I'm will-we sad" and "I'm will-we mad" as well as "Shhh!  Be qui-net!"  I love her little voice.

4) When I'm eating something I don't want to share with my boys (#selfishmom) I tell them they can't have it because it'll make them grow boobies.  So far it works!  Parenting tip of the day!  As of right now, they are very good about it avoiding cherries, Smirnoff coolers, and Skinny Cow ice cream bars.

5) Jaidan starts school in 25 days.  Z in 18.  But who's counting?

6) The other day I found a box that had been in my garage since we moved in.  Unopened.  Obviously, everything in it was of great importance, right?  Along with a box of envelopes, a ton of Sharpies (whatEVER did I do without my bright orange Sharpie for the past threeyears), and an array of scrapbooking scissors, I found the powerpoint presentation masquerading as a video that was shown at my ten year high school reunion a few years ago.  Jaidan and Zhariah begged to watch.  I grudgingly obliged.  Seeing the video reminded me of the following things:
     a) I'm so glad I didn't peak in high school.  I get that I'm not exactly a super model these days and all and I'm certainly not trying to imply that I am.  But me in high school?  I'm totally judging the grody old bastards that gave me the "Dirty Old Man once over."  Not just because they were giving the DOMOO to a 17-year-old child but because really?  Really, really?  I get that it was the 90's but those eyebrows were not okay, Brandi Nicole!  They were not okay at all!
    b) If I ever find out who submitted a certain picture of me that was in that video, I will kick their ass.  The end.  Amen.

7) I read the first two installments of The Sweet Life earlier this week.  If you were a Sweet Valley fan back in the day then you absolutely must read The Sweet Life (but first you have to read Sweet Valley Confidential  -- and try not to yell at Francine Pascal for all the mistakes that, hello, THE CREATOR OF SVH SHOULD BE ABLE TO PICK UP ON).  It is deliciously cheesy.  To give you some sort of idea: Lila drives a Maserati. Yeah.  That deliciously cheesy.

8) My favorite picture from our California trip:

9) I'm thinking about doing something drastic with my hair.  Like . . . cutting a few inches off!  Such a risk taker!

10) Real Talk:


Coast to Coast 2012: BEACH!

Wednesday


I'm not sure how it's possible that I ended up in a landlocked state when I love the beach so much.  I mean, really.  It's cruel to be so separated from salt water!

On our last full day in California, we went to Newport Beach for sun and waves.  This was my first actual beach experience with the Pacific.  I've been to Santa Monica Pier before and I have dipped my toes in the San Francisco Bay.  But this was my first time to head to a California beach, spread a towel on the sand, and prepare to splash in the waves.

Too bad the water was way too cold to even BEGIN to think about splashing in the waves!


Jaidan is a little beach bum.  He experienced the ocean for the first time when he was two, when we went to Padre Island, Texas, for Spring Break.  Even then he couldn't get enough of the sand and the waves.  I knew he was going to feel right at home on this beach trip.

I wasn't so sure about Kyan and Karis though.  Kyan because he wasn't a big fan of the beach during our trip to Hilton Head last summer.  And Karis because, well, she's two.  Who knows with her.  About anything.  Ever.  This summer though?  Kyan had the time of his life!  He loved splashing in the waves -- we could not keep the boy out of the water.  And it took Karis a bit to warm up but, when she did, she loved running from the waves.
Starfish!  So neat!

We're so proud of this shot!  We managed to get one where every single one of us got air!

I wanted to do our beach day on our last day so we could sort of unwind from the craziness of Disney.  And it turned out to be a great idea.  It was tame but also fun and just the ultimate way to end our time in California.
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