Nother Hot Shot

Hot Shot

Elle est Belle

Hannah Montana Worthy?

MK and MiLo dressed up as Hannah Montana back-up dancers for a birthday party. With Taralee (dance teacher) in the lead as Hannah Montana we sung (more like lip-sync'd) and danced for all the girls! It was a blast!

Outcome of Dance Competition!

MK's Solo- 1st attendant (2nd place)
MK's Tri0- 1st place
Mia's Solo- (wants to tell you herself)
Production "Lion King" (all dancers)- 1st place
M&M's Hip Hop- 1st place and awarded best overall Hip-Hop
M&M's Jazz- 2nd place
M&M's Lyrical- 1st place
Our studio was awarded best choreography!

My Top Ten Household Items

Got tagged for this by Jen. Here's my top ten (in order):
1. A Scrubbee-Doo (large size). What the . . . ? It's an awesome mop. It's not like any other I've seen before. It's got a flat rectangular microfiber mop head that you velcro on and off. It's the simplest mop I've ever used. No buckets of water to tote around. You just wet the microfiber, velcro it on, then squirt floor cleaner directly onto the floor and mop it up! Microfiber soaks up so much, you won't have to rinse until you're done (unless you're mopping up a cafeteria). It's not only convenient, it cleans much better than any mop I've used. You can buy it at Don Aslett's "The Cleaning Center." It also has an adjustable pole handle, so kids can use it--and they like it! My number one pick.
2. Whiteboard Month-at-a-Glance Calendar. We post all family activities, so everyone knows where everyone else went!
3. Smaller whiteboard for notes and reminders on the fridge. I love it because I don't have to nag my kids as much. Every time they get into the fridge (plenty) they are reminded--"Getty, clean your zone." Or, I write notes, "Be right back" "I love MK, and she loves me". . . .
4. Kitchen dial timer. This is a great tool for time-outs, to motivate for chores, for obstacle course races, etc. Got mine for $2.99 at Target.
5. IKEA colored plates and cups (wish they had cereal bowls!) for kids. Microwaveable and nice looking. The kids each picked a color, so they use their own color cup and plate for the day (except for dinner). Helps keep dishes to a minimum. Cups and plates were sets of 6 for $1.99!
6. Stairbasket! For all those downstairs items that find their way upstairs (and vice versa). "Down to Earth" for $20 on a 50% off sale.
8. Wireless intercom. Love this. Now I don't have to yell my head off (when the baby's awake) or go running ALL THE WAY downstairs (when the baby's asleep) to get the boys to come up for dinner . . . . From Radio Shack.
9. Clorox disinfecting wipes. I have one of the kids do a quick wipe-down of the sinks and toilet seats with these once a day. Quick and easy. Great for doorknobs, too.
10. Microfiber dusting mitten. Also at "The Cleaning Center." It's a great duster. I think it was $2 or $3. The kids think this mitten makes dusting fun. Whatever works.

"Don't you just love Mario-Kart?"

The latest poop in politics . . .

Love this magazine—"The Week," the best of national and world politics, economics, science, art, music, books, entertainment. I don't get out much, so this keeps me in touch. Thanks to Cattens for introducing us! We're hooked! Contact us for a 50% off coupon. You get an issue every week.

Rob's New Venture Prototype

Rob’s taking a few months off of school to make the transition from Moss to his new venture. I don’t know who’s more excited—Rob or me! The new CEO won’t announce Rob’s departure until he can figure out how to position it to soften the blow. Rob is the last of the former management triad to move on. John left in November, and Bob recently renounced GM to work part-time.

Celebrity look-alikes: Johnny Depp 63%, Chad Michael Murray 63%, Benicio de Toro 66%, Travis Tritt 62% (Country singer), Denzel Washington 55%, Michael Keaton 53%, Michael Douglas 53%, Eddie Irvine 54%, and the (very) late Andrew Johnson.

Oxy-MORON

Never eaten more nutritiously in my life and have never had less energy. And, here’s the topper: Not losing weight. It’s true I normally don’t lose much weight until 4 months postpartum, but c’mon! Where is the love? Our family New Year’s resolution was a challenge to see how long each of us could go without eating sugar, which quickly evolved into a no junk food policy, including chips, candy, pop, ice cream, and baked goods (cakes, cookies, donuts). Actually, we cheat with Great Harvest whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies (recipe on-line) and milkshakes made with no sugar added vanilla ice cream and 100% orange or grape juice concentrate. Yum! Anywho, I made a deal with the kids. No junk food for 2 weeks, I’ll pay you $10. No junk food until MK’s birthday, I’ll pay you $100. One year, you get $200. Safe bet, right? Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and birthday were exempt. However, if you stayed with the program even on holidays, you would be paid a “healthy” bonus. Getty lasted 5 days, Mia lasted 9, Cy’s still on a “soft” program (but don’t tell him that), and, as of today, February 28th, MK’s going strong! I told the kids I’d stick to it until the very last one cracked. Rob jumped aboard (the “soft” program—but don’t tell him that . . . ).

I tried out a website that featured state-of-the-art face recognition technology and downloaded several pictures to determine two things: one, which parent each of our kids looks most like, and two, to see which celebrities they most resemble. Here are the results of the parent "Look-alike Meter.”

Results from our most recent family photo, Spring ’06:
MK Looks 31% more like Mom
Mia Looks 12% more like Mom
Getty Looks equally like Mom and Dad
Cy Looks 23% like Mom
Cam Looks 20% like Mom
Elle Looks 4% more like Dad

My celebrity look-alikes: Albert Einstein (Whoa—seriously), Viggo Mortenson (“Hidalgo”), Choi Ji-woo and several other Asian women. I have no words.

MK as Amanda Bynes

One of the dance moms at Maximum Dance asked McKenzie how much she would charge for private dance lessons for her daughter. Taralee recommended $12 an hour. McKenzie offered to teach her for $10 an hour. She starts next week. I told her she needs to cut down her hours as an assistant, but she wants to do it all. She’s an aminal.

Celebrity look-alikes: Amanda Bynes 70% (“Hairspray,” etc.), Summer Sanders 57% (Olympic swimmer), Jodie Sweetin 55% (Second oldest girl in “Full House”).

MiLo (Mia Lorenne)

“Yea! It’s raining! My favorite kind of precipitation!”

Celebrity look-alikes: (and kindred spirit) Ashley Tisdale 73% (Sharpay in High School Musical) and David Beckham (pro soccer player). Nice!

Up-Cy-down

Cy’s latest quirk is standing on his head—all day long. While on the phone, when watching tv, “safe” in tag is upside-down on the couch, during conversations, while snacking, when playing floor games, during family night (well, they all do that . . .).

“Elle’s so cute! If she was 5, I would marry her.”

“Mom, do you tie your shoes like a guinea pig?” “How’s that?” “They don’t.” How true . . . how true . . .

Aunt Britt emailed us some photos called, “Going to hurt”--photos of people getting speared by bull horns (in the crunch!), arms getting run over by motorcycles or cars, etc. Cy said, “I bet they miss their mommies.”

Celebrity look-alikes: A selection of gorgeous women: Penelope Cruz, Rachel McAdams (“The Notebook”) and others, along with Emma Watson (Hermione), and two guys with girls’ names (Lauri Ylonen and Nicky Byrne—who are they?).

Naughty . . . Nice

Cam loves to draw and, like all great artists, doesn’t limit himself to just one medium. Cam’s artwork has been found on: the coffee table, the leather couch, four microfiber couch cushions, several walls, several doors, the leather ottoman, three desks, the kitchen table, the kitchen counter, the refrigerator . . . .

Cam and I were playing the “Who loves you?” game—goes like this: “Who loves you? Mama . . . Daddy . . . MK . . . Mia . . . Aunt Meme . . . Granny . . . . After each name he’d say, “Thank you . . . thank you . . . thank you . . . .”

PG (Peeg) Patrick Getty, but more importantly, Parental Guidance suggested.

Getty sent in a picture he drew of Nephi shocking his brothers to “Friend” magazine. We’re hoping he’ll get published—it’s awesome!

Celebrity look-alikes: Ashton Kutcher 53%, Mika Hakkinen 60%, Anna Kournikova 51% (pro tennis player), and Amanda Bynes 51%.

Isaboo aka Elleria

Elle covers her eyes with her hand when she nurses. (I would take a photo of that too, but . . .) I figure there can be three reasons for this, one, she would like a little privacy; two, she would prefer that I were a little more modest; or three, she would rather not face the fact that she sucks on a boob for food.

Getty, this doesn't sound age appropriate to me . . . Mom, what do you think?

Overstimulated