"I Am Not An Animal"

That was my first thought as I took this out of my bread machine. Apparently, you cannot use wheat flour with a white bread recipe, even if it is King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour.

I think the name is a bit misleading.

None of the wise females in the house would entertain the thought of eating this deformed beast.

My hunny did try to eat it as part of his "Nothing goes to waste"philosophy on life.

Even he, did not succeed.

Date for the Movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei-YE7hpyyU

My hunny and I had a rare trip to the movies on Sunday. I had planned on having a real, live babysitter come to the house, going to an actual restaurant without asking for 2 kids menus and seeing a movie inappropriate for children.

But, plans changed and we went to visit the in-laws over the holiday weekend. I was REALLY looking forward to seeing Marley and Me, though. So, I basically told my Mother-in-Law that she was taking my 2 plus my nephew to see Hotel for Dogs while hunny and I went next door for Marley and Me.

The book was great. It was funny, sad, entertaining and made you really care for the people in the story and the dog. You totally GOT why this family would keep and love such an incorrigible dog.

The movie, not as much. Hunny, who did not read the book said he enjoyed the movie (although I think it had more to do with Jennifer Anniston skinny-dipping) but he did not understand why anyone would keep a dog like that.

I was dissapointed that the movie did not go deep enough into John and Jen's emotions and relationship with the dog.There were a lot of ups and downs in their lives not explored. There was too much of John Grogan's disappointment with work and his relationship with his shallow best friend(neither of which was much of a story line in the book).

The movie is probably a good one for someone who hasn't read the book. Lots of cute puppies and it is funny at times.

My advice, though...skip the movie and read the book.

Another good read by John Grogan...The Longest Trip Home.

Hunny and I did have a good time at the movie. We went out for dinner as planned but had to ask for 3 kids menus! Oh, well. Maybe next time.

Welcome to My Circus

My darling ones have some unusual talents. I don't know how they discovered their talents but I like to trot them out like circus acts for the amusement of myself and others. They love it. Both girls love being the center of attention so don't feel too bad for them.

Daughter number two has marching eyebrows.

And This...

This just defies explaination.

I just have to know if you have ever seen anything like it.

Shorts in January

I have a problem...it's not a terrible problem but one that has been weighing heavily on me.

Number one child has grown 22 inches since last summer and will be a small version of Daisy Duke on our vacation next month if I can't find summer clothes now.

Where does one find girl's size 10-12 shorts and tops in Oregon in January?
It's a trick question---The answer is "nowhere." I've wasted one tank of gas and countless hours on this mission impossible.

Oh, well. She can wear a bathing suit and hula skirt all week, can't she?

Now about sandals....

Bear Lovin'

Today is my baby's 6th birthday.


We had the big birthday party yesterday. We drove an hour away to the nearest big mall and Build-a-Bear workshop followed by lunch and more at Chuck-e-Cheese's. Yes, most kids would be happy with Build-a-Bear workshop OR Chuck-e-Cheese's but not my over-achiever. She needed both. She tried to throw in a trip to Jungle Jump but I did draw the line there.



Emily insisted as this was Daddy's first trip ever to Build-a-Bear workshop that he absolutely MUST build a bear of his very own. Ever a trooper, he agreed. This is the bear he chose.

He said it reminded him of him-- a little old gray man. I did think the hair looked vaguely familiar.

Being the good Daddy he is, stuck through the dancing, the spinning around, kissing the heart to be stuffed into the bear. He dutifully took his bear to the grooming station and proceed to pick out an outfit for him.

The time had come to name the bear and Daddy chose the name "Man Bear" just to show that his bear was macho even if he did come to life after a dance and chant with a group of under 8 girls.

Then Emily chose a wedding dress for her bear and announced that she was going to marry Man Bear in a ceremony later that night.

Here is the wedding photo.

Pictured are from left to right: The best man, Man Bear, Preacher Pinky, Bride Lianna, the bridesmaid and the Flower girl Skyler.

I love my honey for loving his girls enough to take part in bear weddings and I love having girls who love having bear weddings.

My Gym Pet Peeves

I Love the Gym. I don't love thinking about going, actually getting up out of my chair,getting dressed and driving to the gym, but once I'm there I LOVE my gym.

I feel like I am at a spa. My girls happily dance off to the child care area where there are games, movies, music and a constantly updated array of coloring pages. More often than not I am greeted with an "AWWWW, ALREADY?" when I return. I know they are safe and having fun which makes my time away from them all the more sweet.

I casually retreat to the locker room where I retrieve my IPOD with 10 songs by people I don't know. The songs were chosen for the speed of the tempo. Just enough to keep my feet moving at a good clip on the elliptical trainer. Often I grab my Amazon Kindle. Easily my most favorite thing that is not a person. Oprah agrees with me.
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20081024_tows_kindle

I stash my bag in the cherry wood locker, lock with the key provided and head upstairs to the co-ed cardio room. This brings me to

Pet Peeve #1. New Year's Resolutions. My gym has elliptical trainers, stair steppers, treadmills and bikes galore. Usually I have my choice of 10-20 machines. Of course I have my favorites and head towards them. I have a routine. I like my routine. I am borderline Obsessive Compulsive. January really messes with my order...Where did all these people come from? Why are you in MY gym? Get off of MY machine! The co-ed cardio room is packed in January. I am sure I am no stranger to this irritation but I feel I must vent. So I wait my turn as the smell of fresh-baked cookies wafts up from the cafe...what kind of cruelty is it to bake cookies at the gym cafe?

I love my gym locker room. It is my favorite part of going to the gym. I get to shower in a private shower, as long as I want...no one is yelling at me through the glass that she is hungry or needs her bottom wiped. No one is whining about the unfairness of having to deal with an older(younger)sister for 10 minutes alone. No dogs licking the outside of the shower door....you get the drift. Then I get to blow dry my hair, put make-up on and get dressed-ALONE! Heaven.

Enter

Pet Peeve #2 Locker Room Nudity. Not mine, other women's. I just don't get it. Sure, walking from the shower to locker tightly wrapped in a towel or 2 is fine. Milliseconds of nudity required to drop towel and put on undies, okay. But really? Hair drying, makeup applying, walking back and forth greeting people and having drawn out conversations while completely buck naked? Sometimes I couldn't tell you if my own mother was in that locker room I spend so much time with my eyes directed to the floor.

Naturally Pet Peeve #2 has a direct relationship to Pet Peeve #1 and if I am patient and good I will have my quiet,lovely day spa back soon.

New Year's Eve Partying

Well, we did it! We stayed up until midnight and then some. The kids were fine, mind you. I was falling asleep in my s'mores.

We followed the kids plan... had our delicious meal of hot dogs and beans, watched Wall-E (that was pretty cute), played Scrabble-Sarah is a mean Scrabble player...she gave me a run for my money. Enjoyed a fireworks show from the new hot tub( a Christmas gift to ourselves) and toasted in the new year with s'mores and sparkling grape juice...I am not sure if the nausea I am feeling this morning is from the lack of sleep, strange mixture of food or both.

The kids were up until 2:30 a.m., they say. I was well into REM sleep by then. Here's what they looked like at 9:00 a.m.

The big girl woke up at 9:30. We didn't see the little one until 11:30. Here's how the new year looks to them.

Should be a fun day.

Happy New Year's!