Ahoy, Matey....Princess?

Last month, I took the girls to the Jake and Sofia Disney Jr Live show in St Paul- to say we were ALL excited is an understatement! I purchased tickets last Spring, and we had 4th row!

K2 had two costumes to wear: First up, was Sofia the First, as she has loved her from the minute she laid eyes on her. She looked adorable in her dress, and thanks to Keifer's overpriced cotton candy, K2 also got a tiara to wear! (came in handy on Halloween, as well!)

My phone pictures aren't the best, but you get the idea that we were OH SO excited!  K1 used her own $$ to buy cotton candy, and Kyla used hers to buy that overpriced Sofia cup with shaved ice in it (which ended up half on the floor).

I bought some popcorn and we were set!

We were ALL tickled pink when Sofia came out dancing and singing! I, of course, got tears in my eyes watching Kyla's eyes light up!!!!!!

Next, it was intermission and time for JAKE and his Neverland friends to chase that Hook and save the treasure (or something like that!) Kyla did a costume change, and the people around us were laughing and clapping for our little "Izzy"!!  This was her costume from Halloween last year!  What a ball we had putting this on!! And, the best parts? Two of the female "extra" pirates from the show came through the audience and Kyla got some great pics with them, and our neighbors were there watching the show, as well! Kayla is the same age as Kyla and her and her mom Jenni came on down to visit us. What fun we had again!

 Can you tell Keifer is a little Pirate? What a ham this girl is! LOL

Once the lights dimmed, it was time for some rocking and rolling! I LOVED the music and it was SO fun to watch the escapades on stage!

I think the best part for ME, as mom, was when Peter Pan came flying in.....Kyla gasped audibly, put her little hands over her mouth, and said, "OH MY GOD! It's the REAL PETER PAN!"

I about peed my pants laughing at her (and tears again, springing from my eyes, at her pure joy!)

 

So yeah, we are huge fans of Disney, can you tell!?  Hope you are able to do something as fun as we did with your own kiddos!!!  And yes, I AM that dorky mom who gets all excited about things like this! What memories we have now!

Wordless Wednesday: I'm still so sad about him leaving us too soon

**I found this on my desk when I returned to work. I have a bunch of these magnets from the first season the show came out**

All the singing shows

Well, if you know anything about me and my girls, you know we all love love love our music, and Glee, and musical shows. We didn't even attempt to watch the Idol this season, and I never got into The X Factor.  I think they need to retire the Idol, but that's just me. And who am I? LOL

The Voice? Well, I liked the previous seasons, "so so", but then this season, Usher and Shakira came on. And me and my girls were HOOKED!  If you ask Kyla who her favorite judge is, she'll put her hand on her right hip, cock it to the side, and very seriously tell you, "Shakira. Because she's a girl!"

The simple changing of the judges was all it took to grab our attention. We all love Shakira- myself, because she seems so open, emotional, fun, and passionate.  I didn't think much of Usher, but now watching him do his coaching sessions, I feel like he really is a very hard worker and cares about his team.  I already loved Blake and Adam, and this season only makes me fall more in love with them. What fun it is to watch.

This season, I'm loving Michelle Chamuel. Not sure if it's the special education teacher in me, but I always root for the underdog. Michelle stood out to me in auditions because of her energy and passion, and watching her the other night sing "Just Give Me a Reason" (in which Kyla exclaimed, "Mom, we listen to this one in the car!"; yes, because every radio and satellite station I turn it to has this playing, oye),) watching her sing gave me goosebumps. Adam summed it up best by saying that when all the judges watch Michelle, they forget its a competition; it's just entertainment to watch her perform.Well, he actually said, "you take the competition away from us, because we're all beaming with pride".
Anyhow, I love when she performs, either ballad (moving me to tears) or high energy (in which she kicks, squats, and makes stretching motions).



I also am so -so about Sasha Allen -- had a good night the other night. She sang, "Next to Me", which is a song I enjoy popping my body around to in the car.  I also loved it when Rachel and Shelby sang it on Glee (yep, still plugging along watching that show, although I'm not loving it, I always look forward to the music part of it). 





Back to The Voice, Keifer and CJ like Danielle Bradbery, and we all like Amber Carrington.  Overall, it's a fun year to watch. CJ likes to compare them all to Wedding Singers, but what are they to do? They have to sing familiar songs so that they audience likes them, right?

So what singing shows do you like to watch?

Jake & Sofia? Oh MY! Hot DOG!

If you have kids that are into watching Princess and Pirate shows, and really love anything on Disney Junior (TV), then you'll be excited right along with me.

Jake and Sofia are hittin' the road!

They are going on tour, along with Doc McStuffins, and I know one little almost-4 year old who is going to scream, get crazy, and probably do a little dance when she hears about this!

And this girl's Mama (me, hee hee) was up late, purchasing tickets to the Fall show! I think I AM more excited than the girls' will be when we tell them!

Yep, Jake and Sofia are coming!

Doc is a side show thing, apparently. 

Kyla was really into Jake and the Neverland Pirates last summer and this Fall. In fact, she was an adorable Izzy for Halloween!

"Ahoy, there matey! Let's look for some gold doubloons!"

 (at the zoo, with her witch sissy)

And Princess Sofia? Well, let's just say, this girl calls herself Princess Kyla the First, and has already broken one of Mama's necklaces that she was calling her special "Amulet", just like Sofia wears! 
 (*I wish this was released sooner, instead of waiting until July! Our girl would love this for her birthday! You can count on her purchasing one with some birthday money!*)

Here we were, in Duluth, lounging and reading about Sofia!

So yes, I am truly excited to find out what this live show entails for our girls this Fall! You can bet that I'll have plenty of pictures from that upcoming day!

** I should add, I am no way affiliated with Disney, or the tour that is coming. I'm just the Mama of 2 Disney fanatic girls, and am a Disney World/ Disney Land lover as well.  I think it's FUN to enjoy things like this, so by sharing this opportunity, I am no way endorsing it or being paid to do so!**

Jordis has the VOICE!

Lovelovelovelovelove LOVE JORDIS on The Voice!!!

She's a MN girl, whom I blogged about when I first started blogging years ago- I loved her on Rock Star: INXS! And CJ and we got to meet her! It was Keifer's First Rock Star experience! LOL

I am hopin' and prayin' she makes it to the end! She's gorgeous, experienced and has a voice that makes me break out in goosebumps!

GO, Jordis!!

Excited!!

Not only is April 10 our K1's 5th Birthday, it's also the return of our beloved Glee- and here's a sneak peek of it that has me SQUEALING like a little girl- HOT HOT HOT Matt Bomer, HOT HOT HOT Darren Criss, and they are taking on a current favorite song of ours:

Somebody I Used To Know!

EEK!

Cannot wait!

Goo Goo, Ga Ga

Rah rah , ah ah aha. Roma, ro-mama. Bad Romance.

Lady Gaga. Everyone is talking about her. What, you're not? I can't go a day without hearing her on the radio or seeing something in the Hot Gossip section of web sites.

Last week, my fave show Glee did a cover of her song Bad Romance. Keifer happened to come down into the basement to say goodnight to me just as I was watching the performance. Yeah, needless to say, me and K1 watched that performance 3 times before she went to bed. "Again, mama, again!" she kept saying. For the next few days, she went around humming "rah rah rah" under her breath. So did I. And I must say, I liked the way they had Rachel and her mother, Shelby, perform Poker Face. It made me understand the lyrics (for once) and actually felt a little verklempt over the whole mother/daughter relationship storyline on the show!

My SIL Jilly and I are going to see her in concert in August - she added a second show and I got us tix for the second night. I cannot wait- I just know it's going to quite a memorable concert!

This morning, Keifer heard something on the radio about the concert,and she asked me, "Mama, what's her name? Goo goo, gaga??". Seriously. "Goo goo Ga Ga".

The wanna be Idol?

"Mama, that girl is silly" - says K1 to me as she was watching the singer Ke$ha flounce around the American Idol stage a few weeks back, singing her song "Blah Blah Blah".

"I like this show, it's a funny show; can we watch her sing again?" This was her response to watching the insane performance Ke$ha put on, complete with dancing TV HEADS on stage with her. That' s what got my girl: the dancing TV heads. In fact, when we heard the song in the car a week later, Keifer said, "mama, this is my favorite song!" (although she says that about most songs she likes), and she even referenced that there were "dancing TV's" with this song on TV. Nice.

Yep, that's my girl. She is now really into the Idol this year - for the first time, and of course, it's a season when the talent is only so-so (in my humble opinion). What's interesting to me and CJ is that our girl seems to have a good ear for the "good" singers. She will bluntly tell us to not listen to the ones that are awful, and get really quiet and intent on watching when the singing is good.

"Is he/she good,Keifer?" we'll ask, and she'll nod her little head and whisper "yes".

She doesn't like "all the talking!" (NO TALKING, NO TALKING!) either, except if we happen to see judge Kara talking. "I like her", she'll say, or "I like that boy, what's his name?" about Ryan. Cute. My kid has a crush on Ryan Seacrest! LOL.

Mama likes:

I loved movies this summer. Kyla accompanied me to Harry and The Proposal, but Daddy and I got a date night with they hysterical The Hangover. Loved it. I also was able to enjoy Julie & Julia with my childhood friend, Jess, in Duluth (delightful!), and last weekend, The Time Traveler's Wife with Courtney and her friends. I knew The Time Traveler's Wife was iffy- as I loved this book. Usually, I read books and love them, and the movie always feels so distant and shallow, due to the lack of emotions that you feel while reading a book. This was the case for this movie- I felt like I was observing it abut not really enjoying it, if that makes any sense. In any case, if you hadn't read the book, I felt it was a pretty good movie, but again, the book was 100% better in my "book".
I think the best part about coming home from 2 of these movies listed above was Keifer meeting me at the door upon my arrival home, taking my face in her hands, and asking me, "mama, you have fun? You have fun with your friends?". Ahh, yes, baby, I did have fun! Yep, our girl is very into "did you have fun" or "I had fun today, mama!" when we've had a play date that day. My heart sings with joy when she does this! She is too cute.

I'm excited for All About Steve, and hope that is as good as it looks (aka funny), as I now have a huge crush on Bradley Cooper (blush).

I fell in love with cheesy Lifetime movies this summer; many a day, Kyla and I sat together and watched, and this was also true with Live with Regis and Kelly. Huge blushing going on here.

I am almost complete with my 50 book challenge thanks to wonderful, engrossing mysteries by Tess Gerritsen, Karin Slaughter, and other great recommendations from magazines aplenty. I just finished The Help and highly recommend that book to anyone. I find time to read when CJ is driving us somewhere, when I'm in the bathroom (even brushing my teeth!), and before bed, once the girls are settled down.

I was able to finally shop a Trader Joe's here in St Paul- it's on our route home from Baby Ballroom (which K1 and I still attend on Monday nights). Keifer and I fell in love with their mild fresh salsa - the best store bought salsa ever, in my opinion. I also love their honey wheat pretzel sticks and Keifer loves their mango apricot yogurt! Yum.

I've been trying very hard to get back on the workout bandwagon this summer, after finally healing from my Csection. I'm getting back into some good work out routines, and the weight is finally budging, thank goodness. I'm still in that battle of hating the scale, but trying to remember I just had a baby and my body/hips have changed (for the better! I had a baby! Two , in fact!). I met with a personal trainer again last week - a friend of my coworker's - whom I met with last summer and last Fall for a regimen. I love Heather. She evaluated me and came up with some finding that were very interesting about my lower body, and set up a workout routine that builds strength into my body and helps budge that weight.

Apparently, my knees (which have always been awful thanks to Dance line in high school- those knee drops were killers!), are not "tracking' when I do squats like they are supposed to. Not surprisingly, I often have knee pain. Heather also discovered my right side glute is "weak"- it doesn't give my body any support, so when I try to do things with just my right leg, I get all tippy/wobbly and fall over.

Heather came up with an intense strength building workout that also tones muscles, and works on my core and arms. I love her. With this workout alone, I am burning tons of calories and feel like I'm actually doing something to my body for the better. If you are able to meet even one time with a personal trainer (especially on with a degree in it) I recommend it. The best $50 I have ever spent on myself this summer! So, I'm hoping to get back into the size 10 jeans I was wearing pre-PG with Kyla last Fall!

And sadly, I return to the work force tomorrow. I had thought I was OK with it, knowing that Kyla will be in wonderful hands with Elaine, and having big sissy there to watch over her and report about her day. However, I'm once again feeling so sick to my stomach. I had the same feelings when Keifer started daycare. All my love goes into these girls and not being to be with them every day all day is going to be so hard. I just hope I don't throw up in my mouth like I did the day I dropped Keifer off for the first time. Uggg. Work is a good thing- I enjoy my job and helping children and families improve on their skills, etc., but really, the real work is at home, right? *sigh*. Already I'm excited for NEXT summer, when we can really have a great time and do more fun things as a family!

Movies, movies, movies: ahh, for the love of MOVIES

Movies. I love 'em, as you all know. I've even dragged my almost 3 month old to them and plan to do so one more time this summer.

On Friday night, I took my mom to a movie for her birthday - I treated her because I have no idea what else to get the woman who has everything! So, time with her daughter out it was. We saw 500 Days of Summer- a really delightful spin on 500 days of a relationship, shown in no particular order of days. It was enjoyable, and we both gave it a thumbs up. I never realized 1)how attractive Joseph Gordon-Levitt has grown up to be, or 2) how gorgeous blue-eyed Zooey Deschanel is! Who knew the girl from Elf and the guest judge on Top Chef Masters this summer would impress me so much?

Saturday, my parents agreed to watch our girls while CJ and I had a day/night away - sort of a "staycation" if you remember it took place within 10 miles of our home! We went to finally see The Hangover, at the only theater I could find still playing it. OH my goodness, did I giggle and laugh hard at this movie. It was pretty raunchy, especially in the final few minutes, but man was it hilarious! I still giggle out loud when I watch the trailer online. Hee hee.

Then, we enjoyed some yummy margaritas (yum, drinks!) at Outback and I redeemed the free coupon for a free meal there that we had recently received in the mail. Afterwards, we trekked over to a Holiday Inn, where we lounged and caught up on Season 5 of Entourage - we whipped through the majority of the season in no time at all. Yes, this was bliss for the Soupy couple. The final icing on the cake of the evening for me was being able to sleep - pure, uninterrupted sleep for a solid 10 hours straight!! Ahhh, sleep, how I miss thee!

Oppopus

Keifer telling us about the Opposite room on Imagination Movers - yet she calls it "Oppopus" room - sounds like a cross between opposite and octopus!
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Oh, how we love the library!

As I've written before, I'm an avid reader and love my local library. We are very lucky as ours is only 2 blocks away from us- an easy walk or a 1 minute drive. I put loads of books on hold there, and so many times, Keifer is with me as I'm either picking them up off of hold, or returning them in the drive-up book drop. When we drop them off, we always say "goodbye, books, thank you library!". Keifer loves the library for it's free kids activities and the half-boat climbing/sitting construction they have in the kids section. She loves to sit inside the boat, on the cushions and look out the round windows.

I've also gotten many CDs and movies there, and have increasingly been getting more and more of them for Keifer.

Last week, I let K1 "check out" the movies that were for her, and she did so well at it - she really seemed to catch on. It was so cute - I think I'll be getting her her own library card sooner than later!

I also love that they have a section of books for sale- Hardcovers for $1 and paperbacks for 50 cents. I have found many books to add to Keifer's (and now Kyla's) collection there, and found 2 more of them yesterday- one being super cute for preschool aged kids: Copy Cats Animal Actions - a spinner book. It is so cute- it has a spinner on each hard page, and the child can spin to an animal, where it will say "Flutter like a butterfly" or "Wiggle like a worm". For $1, I was soooo stoked! It's also going to be a good one to use at work.

A few weeks back, Keifer discovered she loved one of Laurie Berkner's songs on the show Jack's Big Music Show. Keifer rarely watches the show itself, but she loved this particular clip of Laurie- called the Farm Song (that's what I did on the farm). She had us rewind the DVR and play it over and over and over....... So, Mama went to the library website, put ALL of Laurie's CD's on hold (yep, all of 'em) and also found a DVD called We are the Laurie Berkner Band, and got that as well. Needless to say, Keifer was obsessed with Laurie this whole past week- obsessed, I tell you. Now, CJ and I can be found humming or singing many of her songs to ourselves, or singing along to the songs on the CD! LOL. Ahhh, what we do for our kids!

Anyhoo, this DVD was great, but K1 literally watched it on repeat for many food preparation sessions (by mama). I initially was fine with it, but when it was due yesterday, I did not weep as I returned it! I've also found that it has many fun songs that will go great in my classroom for work- so a great new exciting discovery for me on that front (work!).

K1's other favorite show - which we watch every morning at 6-6:30 AM (on DVR) in Daddy & Mama's bed is Imagination Movers. Ahhh, the Movers, Knit Knots, and Nina. And don't forget Warehouse Mouse.They aren't that bad (translation: annoying), and they do teach being kind, helping others, etc., and of course, they have their songs. Mama found a CD by them at the library, called Juice Box Heroes, and last night, Keifer and I had our own Dance Party 2009 in our living room! My favorite song by the Movers would have to be Shakable You - hee hee- as it really gets ya moving (aka burning the calories) and boy, does our K1 know how to shake her body now! LOL. And really, the song is very catchy and rock & roll like, don't you think? LOL.

And the winner is...Presley!

Yes, I've been watching the show on CBS for 11 weeks, The Greatest American Dog. Cheesy? Well, a bit, but as a dog fanatic, I've been enjoying it (and so has Keifer: "puppy!"). Last night was the big finale, and Travis and his Boxer, Presley, took home the winning money and trophy. I'll admit, I had tears in my eyes (drugs or no drugs, I'm a sucker for anything with dogs and people who love 'em). Presley was truly a gorgeous and intelligent dog and it was fun to watch him compete. I enjoyed all the pup pups on the show, and whenever I watched it, I made sure I had my Tboy curled up next to me, so I could give him all the love that I was feeling inside.

La la la la: K + (M)Elmo

I'm not a big one for having kids watch TV, or using TV as a babysitter", unless it has something meaningful in the content. At work, with my kids, if we're doing a particular theme, then I'll whip out my trusty Videos of....say, "Goodnight Gorilla", or "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", or the all-time favorite, "Corduroy".

As I've mentioned at times, K has LOVED watching The Signing Time show on PBS. Unfortunately, we lost the show that we had saved on our DVR when we had to replace one of the DVR boxes. Since then, we haven't found the show anywhere, and still haven't made a move to purchase the shows. (Lazy-am-I).

Occasionally, I'll have some Noggin show, or maybe Curious George on in the background when we play, but other than our usual Music Videos to start our AM, K and I just listen to our music via the computer or radio.

The past few months, CJ and I have introduced K to Cookie Monster and Elmo through toys we've found or a balloon (Cookie). Keifer had NO idea what or who these characters were, other than we've told her and made their sounds for her to imitate (she's quite the cute little Cookie Monster herself). A few weeks ago, I put on Sesame Street for her, and when Elmo came on, the world stopped for a moment for Keifer. ELMO! The furry, cute, bug-eyed dude she had to play with was singing and dancing (her favorite things EVER) on TV. She was hooked. Since then, we've watched a few DVRed episodes of Sesame Street with K, and she loves it. Today, the episode's theme was "laundromat" and socks played a major theme. Combine SOCKS (our girl is obsessed with socks), Elmo, singing, dancing, and kids, and well, you've got yourself a fan for life. And, surprisingly, I don't find Elmo annoying at all, especially compared to that big purple dinosaur that bugs the crap out of me. LOL. And who could not like a show that teaches kindess, teaches life lessons, teaches letters and numbers CONSTANTLY, and is FUN?

As for me, well, I can still sing the "1,2, 3, 4, 5 - 11, 12" song by memory and apparently was an avid SS fan (watching it the two times a day, AM and PM, they showed it) when I was younger. I think it's great in it's educational value and heck, since K will watch it while I get laundry and lunch started (and actually ATE my own lunch without jumping up for her), well, it's OK by me. *and I even find myself singing and dancing along with the cute, (not yet annoying) characters! And heck, some of the songs they sing are CLASSICS, people! *

This is NOT fat

This drives me crazy. She is NOT fat. *rolling eyes* It drives me insane about how much people judge others by their weight, and this by NO means is even CLOSE to fat. Uggg. Carry on, carry on.

Here he comes again: Bret and the girls

As if we didn't see this coming. Bret and Ambre from Season 2 have broken up and now there is a Rock of Love 3 coming next Winter. I wonder if I'll even be able to have Keifer in the same room when I watch it (for the skank factor? LOL). Well, I do know our girl would admire Bret and his headbands being back! LOL.

It figures

I knew it was a possibility. Because of this post, I had a dream that night that I was on "Rock of Love" and was one of the final three women competing for Bret's affections. In my dream, my long time friend (who is now a mother of 7!), was helping me pick out the slinkiest, sluttiest dress we could find for my dream date with Bret. Say it with me: ewwwwwww!!! LOL.

Random thoughts as my mind is racing

My mind is going 50 million miles per second right now. We leave tomorrow AM at a decent time for Cancun, and this week has been a blur of CJ and I preparing for our trip, for K's week with Nana and Papa, getting a will ready, etc., and also trying to plan for the big ONE YEAR birthday bash we'll be having on April 12, the Saturday after we arrive home. Whew.

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The other day, I gave K her brush to hold as I changed her diaper. Changing her is like changing a cheeky monkey. She is non-stop action. She typically wraps her little (long!) legs around my arms as I'm changing her, and will use those wrapped legs to flip her body over mid-pants change! LOL. Anyhoo, I gave her the brush the other day, and she immediately put it up to her hair and started trying to brush it! I couldn't believe it! I didn't realize how much she is catching on to! She continues to make us smile each day with new tricks like this. Another fun new thing we've been doing is brushing her teeth, which she enthusiastically seems to enjoy! She is so fun!

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This AM, she woke up earlier than she usually does, so we were forced to turn the TV on in hopes to entertain her while we got ready for work. I have come to the realization that our girl doesn't really care for TV or cartoons, unless 1)there is live action (people, animals) with singing and some sort of dancing or movement, and 2) the only cartoon she seems to prefer is Little Einsteins, which, if I were to choose, would be one of the few I'd like her to like (for the music and live adventures they take).

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When CJ buckles her in her car seat every AM as we leave for Elaine's, lately, we've been giving her a bottle for her drive. This AM, since she was up earlier, she had a few sips of a bottle and didn't seem to want one as she was crawling around the house. However, the minute he buckled her in, she looked at him, and clearly said "ba ba?". So, mama got her the bottle and she giggled with glee and accepted the bottle with open arms. *sigh*.

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I've noticed lately that because my work toilet and sinks are now automatic, that sometimes when I'm out in public, I will stand in the toilet stall, waiting for the automatic flush, and then grimacing that I must attempt to do it (my foot is what I use, as I'm a germ-a-phone). I will also find myself standing at the sink, hands under the faucet, waiting for the water to automatically come on. Ahhh, the little things in life we get used to. LOL.

K prefers Ellen, too!

I heard on the radio this AM that apparently Ellen's talk show won in popularity over the big "O": Oprah. I have to say, I agree. I find Ellen to be so down-to -earth; I could imagine she might be more approachable in person, if I were to see her jammin' at a local dance club *(LOL)*. Maybe SHE might like to hear about me and Mooshie's egg donor story? I know the Oprah people didn't even acknowledge us....hmmm..........

Anyhoo. Last week in Duluth, I had Ellen on , and K was dancing along with her as she danced in her audience. Of course, she stopped dancing as soon as the video camera turned "ON", but what's a baby to do when she' s in the limelight of her mama's camera all the time? Such pressure. LOL.

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Wordless Wednesday: learning the power of the remote