a definite difference between boys and girls

What-ever.

VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is another bragging post about my cousin Kai Kalama. He's up tomorrow night and we need to send the votes through the roof! Here's a link for a great website that Kay put up, you can get all the latest info and voting tips. Go Kai!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More marshmallowey goodness...

This Saturday morning as I was pretending to sleep (for some reason, no one argues, fights or bugs me when I'm pretending to sleep) someone tip-toed into my room, patted my head, pulled the covers over my shoulders and then kissed me on the cheek. Any guesses who it was?

I will KEEL the girl that breaks his heart.

The child formerly known as Random

I'm going to officially change Random Child's stage name to Marshmallow Head. And here's why.

First, a background on the moniker, "Marshmallow Head". Long ago, when Marshmallow was a wee lad of 2, Mr. Manly and I went to check in on him in his bed. We first looked lovingly at his brother Responsible Child (with whom he still shared a bed), sleeping sweetly and he was so handsome, with nicely proportioned features. Then we looked over and Marshmallow and we both started laughing. Compared to his brother he had this HUGE honkin' face and head! HUGE!! You know, like the "So I Married An Axe Murderer", ginormous, got it's own solar system noggin. And so we started calling him Marshmallow Head. This name was also very fitting because he is naturally so soft and sweet and gooey.

In the past he's had his share of Love/Hate relationships, especially with Hannah Montana. But I could never really figure that one out because he really likes High School Musical. Isn't that the same thing?

He has also had his heart broken.

And now I'm kind of worried. He nervously asked me for some paper for some Valentines yesterday. I told him that I had already purchased some very manly Power Ranger cards that he could use. Again, he nervously asked me for some paper and I left it at that. And then I found this amazing valentine that he had drawn:

I just don't know what I'll do if she laughs or makes fun of him. I might just be suffering from a broken heart right along with Marshmallow Head.

Diary of a model.

Are Squeaky's clothing choices merely random, or is she a fashion prodigy? You be the judge.

Exhibit #1Haven't I seen that look on the runway before?


Oh yes. That's Herve Leger's famous "Bandage Dress". You are clever my little cabbage.

Exhibit #2
Is it a shirt or a scarf? Or both? You are blowing my mind Squeaky!

Exhibit #3
Repurposing underwear as outerwear.


Sorry, Madonna but Squeaky does it better (I promise, promise that was a clean pair).

Exhibit #3
Who said that Grunge was dead?

Exhibit #4
It's all about the boots.
For the record, Mileys picture was just taken a couple of weeks ago, and Squeaky's was taken in November of last year. Miley, I think you should give credit where credit is due. You should also wear longer skirts.

Exhibit #5
It just keeps getting better, doesn't it?


And lastly, Exhibit #6 (Borrowing brothers suit jacket)


This is a look that rocked the fashion world back in 1999, and the clever little monkey is bringing it back.

Yikes!

This is a quick blurb for my YARDSALEMONKEY site. If you're short on cash, you can check out what I did to get 2-$500 Visa cards. You can click HERE or click on the link on the side to re-direct.

I don't have much to report or say (surprise, surprise). But I'll just ramble a little bit. Lots of big things going on this week. Kai was fabulous on AI. Definitely not a ship singer.

Then, free donuts at Krispy Kreme on Inauguration Day. Except, they were not free at the Orem location. I'm guessing that the poor guy running the store was still bent-out-of shape about losing the elections and decided to stick it to everyone by not offering us free, heavenly, calorie laden, donuts of joy. Now listen, if you're familiar with my political persuasion, you know that I voted for the other white meat, but even I think it's pretty heartless to deny artery clogging treats to the masses. Boo to you Krispy Kreme man!

Oh, and I love Spam Musabi and people. I know many of you are grossing out right now because the thought of Spam is repulsive, even hearing the name may be repulsive. But just wait, I'm going to gross you out even more. I was recently told that Fijieans of old, preferred Spam because it reminded them of human flesh. Oooh this is good. I've always been a people-person and now I know why. I just loooove people. And Spam.

Lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Rich maybe not, famous yes! I've gotta blog and brag about my familia. I come from a family with oodles of musical and artistic talent. Here's a short list of the cards we're holding: We've got two bona-fide models, several recording artists, loads of cousins who worked as Gondoliers at the Venetian, a Disney artist and now...an American Idol. Tune in this Tuesday for the San Fransisco Edition of American Idol. My very handsome and talented cousin, Kai Kalama, will be having his audition. Anyone know the time for Utah? I'm still pretty clueless, I have no t.v. I'm crashing a friends house to watch it. (Ps. I know I haven't blogged in a while, I've been trying to hide from blogging-Is that even possible?)

Nothing says I love you like a finger up the nose.

It's all about classiness and manners around here.

I could threaten them with duct tape so I could have at least two decent- non-picking-their-nose-or-goofy pictures. But why? Because in the end, the little buggers make me smile.


Oh, and thanks guys for teaching the little princess how to be extremely un-princess like.

I'm having a WALL-E day.

Moms, have you ever felt like WALL-E? Don't know what the heck I'm talking about? In the movie, WALL-E gets left behind on Earth to clean up the trash that humans make. He's all alone, acts a little crazy, etc. So, sometimes when I wake up in the morning I see this:

And then the hubby leaves for work and the kids leave for school and I'm all alone (well except for the other two humans; one who willingly eats trash and the other who likes to make more). And I clean up after the humans leave. And I'm a little crazy.

p.s. I'm doing a giveaway on Yardsalemonkey. Here's the LINK. wink!

I'm at a complete loss of words. (Disclaimer: No food was harmed in the taking of this photograph).

sleep in heavenly peace.....

What ever happened to passing out whenever or wherever you wanted to? So underrated.

Yardsalemonkey....

I know, like the world probably doesn't need another blog, but I made another one. I'm a bit of a cheapskate and love a good deal so I set up a blog, YARDSALEMONKEY, and I list information about coupons, good deals, giveaways, etc. Peruse if you dare, HERE.

See any resemblance?

In this picture that I took, Squeaky was pretty angry at me because I was taking her picture instead of getting her head un-stuck from the arm hole of Manly's shirt. It's okay though, I explained to her later that it's all about the blog-and blackmail.

Breakfast of champions

I asked Dimples to help me set the table for breakfast the other day and this is what I found:

What the heck? He totally forgot the candy corn and soda! He's fired.

half empty, half full

This post may be a bit long winded and serious, so if you get bored, just look at the pretty pictures here and down below. I try not to be serious too often, because this blog is not about being serious, it's about being silly and how I make up outrageous things about my children. But once in a while I will be serious, just to show you all that I'm not like, Bozo the clown all the time.

Last week I was feeling sorry for myself (I'm really good at that). I was sad because two weeks before that, the plumbing in my "make believe" kitchen was torn out in order to frame-in the new kitchen. So now, I have no running water or sink or real oven, yet I need to cook, clean and feed my family of 6. Just a few inches away from me, a huge, glorious kitchen of my dreams was being built and yet I couldn't even make a meal for my family. Even worse, after the windows go in, work will stop on the house, because the money is running out. The situation felt depressing and bittersweet, even cruel. To fully understand my situation, you need a brief history of my kitchen misfortunes.

One of my first kitchens featured a stove from the 1960's. It was a sad, tiny little thing. The stove was about the same age and lopsided-and scarrrry! There were tears in the linoleum and through the tears I could see the dirt underneath the house. The house was later condemned.

When we bought our current house we didn't know that the sink had a leak. And boy did it leak-and pour! The stove only had one working burner.

I've been married for 10 years and for only 2 of those years have I had a disposal or dishwasher.

Two years ago, I got a disposal and new kitchen plumbing! 6 months later I got a dishwasher!!!! I'm using !!! a lot of !!!! exclamation points in this paragraph because !!! it was very exciting!!!!!!! Seriously, having crappy stuff first makes you appreciate the good life. Then, I got a new stove with a ceramic top!!! Life was beautiful. 3 months later my kitchen was demolished because the wiring was faulty and the foundation was cracked.

I've been using my "make believe" kitchen for almost a year. It's been interesting. I have a "mini bake" oven that is about the size of a microwave and it has two little burners on top. It has been a true lifesaver, however I've learned that I can't use the burners and the oven at the same time. It also burns just about everything because the coils inside are always about an inch from the food. I also can't cook when I'm doing laundry (all on the same electrical circut). The experience has been very humbling.

Before I get to the point of the story (I know you probably wish there were more pictures), I need to add a few more things. I cook a lot. I teach cooking classes for heaven's sake! I have a bit of a reputation for being a good cook; especially when it comes to making desserts. The truth is, I'm not that great of a cook, I just know how to pick a great recipe. I pick a good recipe and make it over and over again and no one seems to notice. I even tell people this, but they don't seem to believe me. I've also made lots and lots of meals for compassionate service. Now, please don't misunderstand me when I'm telling you this. I don't say that to make my self look good, or compassionate or pious-whatever. I always make meals because I'm fast and efficient and fairly sure that my food doesn't gag anyone. And I love to cook for people. It makes me happy. Food=happiness. I also feel that the ability to cook is one of the very few talents I possess. I don't sing or play the piano well. I can't draw worth beans. I may sew, but I can't handle any other handi-crafts. So I cook all the time. That's my way of serving and I feel good about doing it as much as I can. I cook therefore I am. Get the gist?

Hopefully you understand me a little more. The day that I felt depressed, it was all just too much for me (Did I mention that the week before, my "make believe" kitchen flooded three times?). But, as with times of trouble, we often pray more, go to the temple more and behave just a little bit better. And you know what? The next day I felt much better. I felt optimistic and hopeful-even happy.

This past Saturday I woke up early. I woke up at 4:00 am, so it was quiet and everyone was still sleeping off their movie-night hangovers. The very first thought that came into my mind was that I was seeing it all wrong. I was so busy worrying about "Me" that I completely missed a miracle taking place. Did you know that only month ago, half of our old foundation was still stuck in the ground? And now, I have 2,000 sq ft of house in my back yard! Only a month before, I was sure that the foundation wouldn't be poured until next Spring. Yet this work was done by only two men in a very short amount of time. And the work is good. So good that we already have neighbors lined up to have them do their houses too. Even though I'm looking at the same kitchen as before, my vision has now been "corrected". How did I miss it before? Because I felt sorry for myself. What a waste. I saw that my kitchen wasn't done yet, but really I should have seen that my kitchen was in the process of being done. Why am I telling you this? So you don't also waste your time. Because we all do it. Feeling sorry for ourselves. Soooo boring. Soooo ungrateful. And soooo missing out on all the other wonderful things that are going on around us.

See? I'm not Bozo all the time.