I think I just joined a 3rd Party

I don't know which one, but I'm left speechless when it comes to the games those who want to be President are playing in the two main parties. Am I only just now mature enough to be aware of the games? Or is there a whole new set being played? It seems to me that both major candidates are trying their darndest to be as much like the other one as possible! Obama basically picked McCain to be his running mate, and McCain is pandering so much to women who want change, but not from a black man, that he ought to be embarrassed. I'm disgusted.

Buzz Alert!

A couple of years back, I joined a group called Buzz Agent. In return for getting to try various items for free, I get to spread the word about the products I like. In the past products I really liked were Take5 Candy Bars, the Sonicare Toothbrush ( needed that after the candy bars!..LOL) ZipLoc Big Bags, and a few others. There have been a handful of products that I really haven't cared for so much, so you all may not have heard much about them from me. Well, my latest "Buzz Campaign" ( that's what they call the period of time where I get to try new stuff and spread the word about it) has been for Max Factor. I have never used Max Factor makeup, EVER. I guess I always kind of associated it with my Grandmother, whom I loved dearly, but figured if she wore it, it was old fashioned and out of date, so up until now, I had no experience with Max Factor. Well...recently I rec'd a little package in the mail ( seriously, being a buzz agent can be so fun, who doesn't love getting packages in the mail?) which contained a neutral toned Color Genius blush ( in Peaches...a really nice tone) a seperately packaged natural hair blush brush, a lipfinity longwearing lipcolor set ( color plus refresher gloss) and a Volume Couture Mascara. Of course, like any female who loves make-up, I tore these open and immediately gave them a try. I decided to give them several try-its before sharing my opinion and now's the time to let you all know that your money isn't wasted on Max Factor! I really DONT feel like I'm wearing my grandma's makeup! Now, I have never been too much of a makeup snob and I'm not above wearing "drugstore" brands, in fact, in truth, that's all I've ever really worn. So, if you're a high-end makeup counter kind of gal, I don't have the experience to compare the Max Factor product with what you've been wearing. But what I CAN tell you is, I like this make-up. The neutrals seem to be truly neutral, no turning too orangey, or too pink, the lip color actually stays the same shade it comes out of the applicator in, which I think is a minor miracle. The blush is just OK...I like it, but I'm not so in love with it that I feel the need to go try every shade available. The Mascara...I REALLY like. I will say the feeling of the brush takes some getting used to, its unlike any brush I've used before and it feels a little prickly at first ( its one of those new rubber-y kind) but the application is flawless. No clumps, just a nice natural look. I was able to build it up a little with multiple coats for a more dramatic finish, but the key thing here is NO CLUMPS!

If any of you want to try any of these products, post a reply and I will send a coupon for 2.00 off ANY Max Factor Product to the first 5 people who ask for one.

http://www.maxfactor.com/user/post/global_landing.do Visit here for cool makeup tips.

"Holy Spicy Sweet Greasy Goodness!"

That was what Mr. Cavehair's boss exclaimed after popping not just any ordinary bacon wrapped-cheese-stuffed-jalapeno. My camera is broken and its really too bad, because not only did these things taste amazing, they really turned out pretty attractive too.
I'm going to tell you my secret to these awesome little party-poppers...roll them in brown sugar!

Split your jalepeno in half up to the cap, but don't separate the halves, clean out the seeds and veins. Stuff each WHOLE jalapeno with 1/3 of a mozzerela cheese stick. Wrap each jalapeno in one slice of THIN sliced bacon ( it wraps better than thick...trust me on this) and then roll each bacon wrapped jalapeno in brown sugar. Place on a wire rack over a foil lined baking sheet. Bake in a 450 oven until sugar has begun to caramelize and the bacon is crisp. Then roll the jalapenos over, turn on the broiler and finish the second side under the broiler for a couple of minutes. ( if you turn and then bake until the second side is caramelized, I'm certain the jalapeno will be overcooked and mushy inside). These are a great treat to take to a cookout or other casual party. Enjoy!

Last Comic Standing Update

The cave-hair comic received much laughter, perhaps more of the "uncomfortable" sort, or even the "pity/charity" sort, however, the Cave-Hair comic was NOT the last comic standing.
Not even the Yak bit could beat one woman's "elbow deep in boogers" story.

Last Comic Standing...

Who will it be? Somebody, who shall remain nameless, got roped into "performing" tonight at the ward "Last Comic Standing" party. The prize for winning is 2 stand-by(e!) roundtrip tickets anywhere Southwest Airlines flies, so wish that person some good mojo!

Seriously, So Blessed!

To all of my friends with an excellent sense of humor and appreciation for satire, you MUST read the SeriouslySoBlessed blog linked on the right hand of this page. I think we have ALL read blogs just like this! ( And even perhaps been guilty of such horrors from time to time)

Enjoy!

1973 Schwinn

In preparing for the girls' arrival and wanting them to be able to have some liberty and not be stuck at home all day, I started looking for some bikes this past Spring. I was successful and purchased one for 30 dollars and got another for Free from FreeCycle.
The one I purchased has been the favorite bike of every one in the family. It rides well and has a really fun, retro style. As it should! I just discovered that the classic Kelly Green Schwinn was manufactured in 1973...That is an OLD bike...lol
Perhaps I'll have Annie take a picture of it tomorrow.

Spanking is for Animals

After a particularly challenging afternoon the other night, I finally threatened that if the undesireable behavior didn't stop, I was going to administer a spanking...But, as they say, "out of the mouths of babes"...Gabriel vehemently informed me that "Spanking is for ANIMALS!".
Yes, Gabriel, it is. *putting hand down now, and feeling ashamed*
( Now if only I could convince him that hissing, spitting, kicking and screaming was also only for animals!)

Forgive the obnoxious post, he's my baby boy.

This is the most excited Kindergartener I've ever met. He got up, got dressed and told me he didn't want breakfast because he "sure can't be late for the first day of Kindergarten!" (He did eat breakfast by the way) We waited for the school bus, which didn't come, and finally took him to school in the car...he wasn't very happy about that, but its ok, we had planned to meet him at the school anyways, there was no way I was putting him on the bus and waving goodbye.
Once we got to school he couldn't wait to get out on the playground and ran off with some big boys to play kickball. I'm not sure he was supposed to do that, I think he was supposed to stay on the kindergarten playground, oh well. After a few minutes he came up to me and saidm "Mom, when are you leaving?" Make sure and read that with the proper inflection imagined. That was not a concerned "Mom when are you leaving because I don't want you to leave me alone in this strange place with all these new people", that was a "Mom, when are you leaving, 'cuz your crampin' my style" kind of question. When it was time to line up, he was first in line and very patient waiting for all the other kids to get there. Happy 1st Day to Gabe.

The Dork, The Dancer, and the Daredevil

Defenders of the Desert.

Do I really need to write anything else?

She Be Krumpin'

If you're having trouble identifying exactly what doesn't seem quite right about E-Vo's teef here. Let me give you a clue...it involves tin-foil. I"m pretty sure if we had a large clock, she would have hung it around her neck.

"Maybe We'll Go on a Field Trip to Space!"

I'm not quite sure what's up with this goofy smile, but this boy is one EXCITED kid! Kindergarten starts on Wednesday morning and he can hardly wait. Tonight we took him to meet his teacher, whom he barely had the time of day for. He really took his time exploring the classroom and seeing all they had to offer. His favorite thing was, of course, a science book. He told his teacher he LOVES science and she told him that her mommy is a real scientist and likes to give her fun ideas for science. Gabe told us the other afternoon during his special Mommy/Daddy/Gabe lunch that he really hoped he got a teacher who loves science as much as he does, so hopefully this is a good match. This is the first school I've dealt with that didn't ask for a description of my child's interests, so we may have just gotten lucky. His teacher also took the opportunity to introduce him to the "Treasure Box"... I think he has his eye on a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur, so hopefully he'll be good enough to earn a trip to the treasure box.

No Kimchi for YOu!

So one thing that hubby promised would change after making the move to AZ was that he would be better about taking me out for date nights. Lately, we've been mostly staying in, because Jp's mom, our usual babysitter, had a heart attack and for obvious reasons, isn't babysitting kids right now. We've created a really funny tradition of getting $1.00 ice creams from McDonalds and listening to the Friday Night Ska/Punk Show on the radio. Yeah, we know...that's more pathetic than cool, but we get a really good laugh at ourselves over it and its just plain fun listening to all the old stuff that we outgrew years ago and discussing how all the new bands just aren't "punk enough"...because, we ARE experts on this topic you know...yeah, whatever. Anyways, sometimes we literally play hide-n-seek...and no, that is not any kind of euphamism for anything else. Our bedroom is really dark and we both seem to think its high comedy to hide and try to scare each other. The kids think we are annoying and totally uncool, but that is our job as parents, and we intend to be the most enthusiastically employed parents of all time.
This past Friday we decided to mix it up a bit and try something new. We went for Korean BBQ and that was fun. The Beef was really delicious and so was the soup. The fishcake, shredded radish, tofu, and bean sprouts were really great too. I tried to order Kimchi, but the waitress wouldn't let me. She actually said" no, not for you, not for first time...too hot, no, no, not this time"...ok...so I can't order Kimchi? I wanted to try it! So eventually she did bring a small bowl to let us try it and I have to say I'm glad I didn't order a whole serving of it. It wasn't gross, but it wasn't really good either. We had so much fun, but JP wouldnt' let me take a picture. too bad, next time!

Weekend!

What's fun to do on the weekend? Play a nasty joke on the teeny-boppers, that's what! Actually, we didn't do it on purpose, but it turned out that way. Gabe told the big girls that we were going to a water park, so of course they were madly dissappointed when we got there and it was a park with water, not a water park. They were expecting slides and wave pools and lazy rivers...what they got was toddlers with saggy diapers, pigeons hungry for potato chips and 112 degree weather ( not to mention old men who stood over the sprayers and let the water run up their shorts!). I felt really bad for them, but had I known Gabe told them we were going to a water park, I really truly would have managed their expectations. Oh well...not everything has to be for the big kids, sometimes the little kids get good stuff too, and THEY had fun!