A Perfect Girls' Day

We continued Laura's Birthday celebration last Saturday. (I realize this post is super late. Sorry!) Isn't she a lucky little girl? For the past two weeks, she was off gallivanting with friends and finally had time for her sisters. We three usually do a shopping/dinner/movie day for our birthdays. But this time, Laura really wanted to do something with our nieces because she missed them. So I planned a day o' fun for us five girls, which involved arts and crafts and fondue. I know, what a combination!

Our first activity was making chocolate molded candies, which we had never done before. I bought two molds, one birthday-themed and the other under-the-sea, and sticks to make lollipops. We also had white chocolate, food coloring, and paint brushes. We really went all out. We melted the chocolates, filled the molds, and waited for them to set. Then I melted the white chocolate to make chocolate paint. Everything was very time sensitive because the chocolate hardens fairly quickly. Our first batch was kinda a clumpy mess. But we got the hang of it the second time. Carmen and Rachel did such a good job with theirs. It was a lot of work but really fun. The kids had a blast. If I was smart, there would be tons of photos showing how much fun we had. Alas, I suck and didn't take many pictures. That's why I'm not a photoblogger. =p

I knew I wanted to make chocolate molds but wasn't sure what else we were going to do for the arts and crafts portion of our day. At Michael's, I saw these mosaic tiles made of cement and colored stones and was inspired. However, instead of using stones, we used sequins and made shiny colorful art. Haha. It was a great idea, and we all came up with our own ways of using the sequins. I think they turned out pretty good. Check us out!

Tara's Random Little Girl


Laura's Dude and Robot (Tina called the robot R2D2. What a noob!)
Tina's Rainbow Fish

Notice I am only displaying the adults' artwork. I didn't take any pictures of the kids' stuff. I was so proud of what we did that I totally forgot. Haha! If you didn't already know, we really get into the arts and crafts projects that we do with the girls. Sometimes we have more fun than they do, often to their chagrin.

Anyway, later that night, we had chocolate fondue. It was definitely a chocolate-filled day. But it was yummy! Our dippers were bananas, strawberries, rice krispy treats, brownies, raspberries, and marshmallows. It was soooo good. After our tummies were filled and after the kids went to bed, we capped off our night with a rousing game of monopoly, a 3 Sisters favorite. We talked and laughed, and I kicked their asses!! Booyah!

It really was a perfect girls' day. It didn't matter that it was raining and dreary outside. We didn't even notice.

Our Little Igloo

Unlike Tara, who was having a nightmare of a time during the blizzard weekend, my girls and I were enjoying our snow day. Carmen had an idea to make an igloo. Well, with my help, we made a double room snow house with a connecting tunnel. Carmen actually did the one section and I continued on even after both my girls lost interest. Hehe. Adults should get to have fun too. Afterward, I made both of them crawl through the tunnel in between. Hey, I worked so hard they better at least try it. I think I should get a real estate agent to list this snow house for me.

Listing: Beautiful snow house in prime location. Newly built and move-in condition; ready for home buyers. Two bedrooms, no bathrooms, outhouse available upon request. Open house: February 10th, during snowstorm. Property won't last so hurry!

The Mysteries of the "Playdate"

I was a city girl for the better part of my life, but then I got married and had kids. Suburban life was inevitable. Now that I'm a suburban mom, I am perplexed by the unspoken rules of the "playdate." Ever since I got a call from a complete stranger telling me she's the mother of so and so and her daughter would like a playdate with Carmen, I have been submerged into this business of playdates. The neighborhood schools even enable parents to initiate these playdates by creating "playdate-friendly" school phone books that have students' names, parents' names, phone numbers, and addresses all listed according to grade and teacher.

Playdates do have its advantages. I can actually catch up on my "Grey's Anatomy," while Carmen is playing with her friend and Rachel is trying to move in on that playdate. But I'm not that kind of parent who's trying to fill their child's every waking hour. For the most part, it's other parents who call me to set up playdates. And that brings up another issue of whether I have to call back to be polite to initiate the next playdate. My biggest issue is when a complete and total stranger invites my daughter to their house for a couple hours. Am I suppose to be okay with that? Admittedly I have done it. How do you say "no" or even awkwardly ask if you can attend this said playdate? The weirdest was when a divorced dad was sitting in my living room with me while Carmen and his son were playing in the basement. Stranger moms can be a little awkward, but stranger dads...now that's just too much.

Well, this weekend I came upon another drawback of "playdates." It's all well and good, until Carmen says, "There is no way I'm hanging out with her." She said this with a lot of flourish and some hand gesturing. Here's the story: I get a call this weekend, and it's icky Bella from the bus. She put her foot on Carmen's coat, and Carmen has disliked her ever since. What to do?!? I'm wishing my husband didn't pick up the phone. I politely tell her I'll call her back and panic as soon as I hang up. I tried to get out of it by saying we were going out for the day, but she politely responded any time would be okay. My husband and I, the cowards that we are, told Carmen to tell Bella that she wasn't able to have a playdate and her reason was, "I don't know. My dad said so." We tried to be as vague as possible because Carmen, the sweetheart that she is, did not want to tell her a boldface lie. Carmen even suggested she just tell her that she did not want to have a playdate with her. But this girl seemed the clingy and jealous type, and I didn't want to make her an enemy. End solution: avoid her calls 'til kingdom come.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

We celebrated Carmen's 7th birthday this weekend. I can't believe she is 7 years old! She is growing up too fast. It's incredible. I called her on her actual birthday to wish her a happy birthday. I know...I'm such a good Auntie. (You hear that, Laura! Haha! Jk.) Anyway, I asked her if she was excited for her party. She said, "Not really." I know she was...she just wanted to act chill. Such a teenager!

Anyway, as usual, Tina threw a party for her. And as usual, I was in charge of desserts. I usually make two kinds of cookies, chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin. However, this time, I wanted to try something different. I found a recipe for peanut butter cup cookies on allrecipes.com. They are so cute and easy to make. They turned out perfectly soft and delicious. My half brother's daughter wanted another before she even finished her first cookie. Haha! So cute.

I provided an actual picture of how my cookies turned out. The recipe is below:

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature peanut butter cups

Directions:
1. Unwrap the 40 miniature peanut butter cups and refridgerate.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
4. Shape into 40 balls (about 1-1.5 inches in diameter) and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan. Note: You can just place them directly on a cookie sheet, which is what I ended up doing because I didn't have a mini muffin pan.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Disney World: The Happiest Place on Earth!

My family and I went to Orlando this month and we had a blast! I have to admit there's no place like Disney World. I am not an amusement park kind of person and I hate roller coasters (mainly because I get motion sickness the moment it starts). But Disney World has all kinds of rides and shows for adults and children. Where else can you watch "Beauty and the Beast" live, ride "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror," and ride a Star Wars simulator? 3D and 4D shows are always a hit, and every park has one. And you also get to watch some of your favorite Disney movies live on stage or take a ride through the world of some of your favorite characters. If you love Disney movies, you'll love Disney World! I know Orlando, Florida, will be a regular vacation destination for our family for years to come.

Tina's Top 5 Disney Attractions:
5) Finding Nemo-The Musical: It's like watching a 30 minute Broadway show! It was such a treat, even though I was the only one who liked it. HELLO, they turned Finding Nemo into a musical! (Animal Kingdom)
4) The Haunted Mansion: It's fun and the holographic effects are pretty cool. (Hollywood Studios)
3) It's Tough to be a Bug!: It's a 4D show where you get stung by a hornet, sprayed by a stink bug, and attacked by spiders! (Animal Kingdom)
2) Dinosaur!: You take a ride through the Jurassic era where carnivorous dinosaurs want to take a bite out of you. (Animal Kingdom)
1) The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: They drop you from the thirteenth floor, three times! (Hollywood Studio)

Honestly, I missed a lot of rides and shows, but these are some you shouldn't miss! Disney World is the happiest place for all ages!

Ponyo by Hayao Miyazaki

I watched Ponyo with my daughters and we all really loved it. My four-year-old, who's already a movie critic, actually sat there the whole two hours watching it, which, believe me, is saying a lot. During the movie Up, 20 minutes in she was already ready to leave. And also she didn't go to the bathroom once, because usually she has to go about three times. The cutest thing was that she didn't want it to end. Twice during the movie she asked whether it was over and was so happy when I said no.

Ponyo is about a goldfish princess, who while running away from home, is found by a five year old boy named Sosuke. She comes to love the boy and wants to become human. It's just a sweet movie about unconditional love and the strength that children possess.

The director and writer Hayao Miyazaki is awesome! My girls and I love his movies. He just knows how to balance the innocence and also the maturity of children. Check out Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, which we watch again and again. I'm so glad that Disney teamed up with him to bring his films to the US.

Carmen, age 6, said, "I love the part when the town was underwater. I wish our house was like that."

Rachel, 4, said, "Ponyo loves Sosuke!"

Otto Grows Down

The other day, I was taking care of Tina's kids. I was reading to them before bedtime. They borrowed "Otto Grows Down" from the library and asked me to read it. This book is so unexpectedly weird. It is about this little boy named Otto who had a new baby sister. For his birthday wish, he wished that she was never born. I thought it was going to be the typical book about sibling rivalry. But things began to get strange after his birthday wish. Time started to go backwards. His candles lit back up, and his mom put the cake away. Then he had to return his presents to his friends. Soon his parents brought his baby sister back to the hospital. After that, life continued to go backwards. He went to school in the afternoon, returned home in the morning and then went straight to bed. When he took a bath, he went in the tub clean and came out dirty. Otto was not happy about the turn of events at all. It was particularly distressing when he had to go to the bathroom. Yuck!

While I was reading this book, I started cracking up. The story is so ridiculous. I didn't expect it at all. Rachel and Carmen were sitting on both sides of me. And they were both looking at me strangely. That didn't help matters. I couldn't stop laughing. I couldn't read anything for at least five minutes. I was laughing so hard that my eyes were tearing up. This book is so funny. I love weird books, and it is definitely weird. I don't think the girls understood it. While I was laughing, they were not amused. I kinda had to explain it to Carmen. Oh, well, I thought it was entertaining.

Otto Grows Down definitely takes a different approach to sibling rivalry. All kids can learn a thing or two from Otto Grows Down. For one, the moral of the story is, if your sibling was never born, then time will go backwards until you were never born before. Yeah, that's right. Another one is going to the bathroom when time is going backwards is not fun. So think twice about your little sister or brother...it might not be so bad.

Hippos, Hippos, Hippos!

I recently took my daughters to the local aquarium and one of our favorite attractions are the hippos. They are so adorable and so enormous. Interesting fact: Hippos are so big and heavy (up to 3.5 tons) that they are able to walk underwater at the bottoms of lakes and rivers. They can also only have one offspring. But be forewarned! Although hippos look so cute and approachable, they are actually extremely dangerous. So if you ever find yourself in the rivers of Sub-Saharan Africa, DO NOT approach these animals! But if you find you and a hippo between five inches of glass, enjoy these wonderful animals!

Avatar: The Last Airbender (The Movie)

Our family loves loves loves Avatar. We used to catch it every day at 7pm. My daughter, Carmen, would ask whether it was 7 o'clock yet all the time and would be disappointed if we missed it. And yes, we watched rerun after rerun after rerun, but she didn't care. Now we are so excited for the new Avatar movie coming up some time next year, which is directed by none other than M. Night Shyamalan. Supposedly M. Night was a huge fan and watched the cartoon with his kids all the time. Actually the movie will not be animated, which makes me a little wary, but we will still give it a chance.


The most exciting thing about it is that my five-year-old niece, Kalani, was an extra on the set. She was a little citizen of the Earth kingdom. My brother said that M. Night himself even spoke to her and the actress playing Katara thought Kalani was so cute and adorable. Kalani had quite a few fans. We can't wait to watch Avatar the movie, and we will also be looking out for our little Kalani.

Up in 3D

I saw Up in 3D! I loved it! It made me laugh and cry all at the same time. This film is definitely a wonderful family film, that anyone would love.

I paid the extra $3 to watch the movie in 3D. It was worth it. Speaking as someone who gets motion sickness sometimes (I seriously almost puked when I saw Cloverfield in theater), I didn't feel a thing!

I don't even want to summarize the film! I started, but I stopped. I just think everyone should see the movie, so no one should need a summary. Just take my word for it, please!

My favorite part of the movie was the flashbacks of the main character, Mr.Fredricksen's, past. The majority of it was done with no dialogue and just had background music. As an artist and a storyteller, I love telling a story or part of a story with silent facial expressions or body language. (See Love Story of a Spoon post) I really appreciated the skill in which they showed so much more emotion with silent clips.

So go watch! I give it 4.2 stars!

Fear of the Ginger

Why do people fear the ginger, meaning those with red hair? I've heard references to ginger kids or people in a derogatory manner. And I decided to get to the bottom of it. So I did a little "research," which mainly involved reading wikipedia. Also, as a side, I came across this weird site called The Ginger People that sold ginger, and its mascot is a person made of ginger root with a platter of ginger pieces. It would be cute if it wasn't so freaky. But I digress ("per usual," as Tina would say).

The first time I heard of this phenomenon was on South Park. You can watch the full episode called Ginger Kids here. For a class presentation, Cartman delivers a speech spewing hate and prejudice against ginger kids who he describes as pale-faced with red hair and freckles. He says they have no soul and could not survive in the sunlight--like vampires. This speech causes everyone in school to hate the ginger kids. To teach Cartman a lesson, his friends turn him into a ginger kid over night, using skin bleach, hair dye and fake freckle tattoos. Cartman wakes up to find that he has turned into a ginger. Cartman goes to school and is a victim of the prejudice he started. In response to this, Cartman establishes the Ginger Separatist Movement to help the ginger kids. Then he quickly turns Hitler-like calling the ginger the "chosen race." Cartman is cute as a ginger kid...until he turns evil, of course.

So where did this idea come from? Throughout history, red hair was the mark of a savage or signified evil. Red hair and green eyes were thought to be the sign of a witch, werewolf or vampire during the Middle Ages. Recently, the dislike of the ginger is more discrimination than superstition. There is speculation that the dislike of red hair may derive from the historical English sentiment that people of Irish or Celtic background, with a greater prevalence of red hair, were inferior. Fast forward to today, and you have the South Park episode.

So it appears that the present day misunderstanding of the ginger may have roots in history! Or we can just blame South Park. Haha! In any event, leave the poor ginger alone...and don't look directly at them. Just kidding!

Disney Ads By Annie Leibovitz

Photographer Annie Leibovitz is most known for her portraits of celebrities on the cover of Vanity Fair. You probably never heard her name before but would recognize her sometimes controversial photos. She is the one who shot the famous picture of Demi Moore naked and pregnant back in 1991. More recently, in April 2008, she did the cover of Vogue with Gisele Bundchen and LeBron James. People thought it looked like King Kong and thought it was racist. Pretty ridiculous. She also photographed Miley Cyrus covered in just a sheet, or at last, that's what it looked like. And that caused a whole fuss, as you can imagine.

She has actually shot G-rated pictures for Disney. She shot various celebrities in beautiful ads inspired by Disney movies. Here are a few I really like:

Rachel Weiss as Snow White

Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella

Zack Efron and Vanessa Hudgens as Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip

The funniest picture of them all is the one for Peter Pan. Tina Fey is in it! She is awesome!

Where is she, you ask? She is Tinkerbell! Haha! Hilarious. Here is a close-up:

I Am Not Ashamed to Say That I Like iCarly

You might not have ever heard of the show called iCarly especially if you're not a parent and don't have Nickelodeon on 24/7. My girls and I were watching "Drake and Josh" for the longest time until we must have watched every show at least three times. Well, in "Drake and Josh" they had a little sister, and now the actor who plays her has her own show called "iCarly." "iCarly" is about the lives of three junior high kids and their web show called iCarly. Yeah, I know the show is for little kids and might sound a little corny, but it reminds me of shows back in the day. The days when we had TGIFridays and Urkel was on TV. If Urkel's not your cup of tea, then Screech. I'm glad that nowadays there are still some TV shows that can be considered wholesome and fun. Hopefully my kids will watch them before they become teenagers trying sneak into Rated R movies.

Note from Tara and Laura: Tina has forced us to post this blog that she drafted almost a month ago.

Watch E.T. Again!

Yesterday was movie night with my girls and we borrowed E.T. from the library. I haven't watched the movie since its release back in the 1980's. And I didn't jump on the bandwagon when it was re-released, because I didn't remember loving the movie when I was little. Then again I think I was only like 3 or 4 years old. Well, after watching the movie again I really enjoyed it and it might actually be close to being one of my favorites. It reminded me of the movies back in the 1980's, ya know those feel-good family movies. I feel like family movies nowadays aren't like they used to be. Moviemakers try to draw in adults to watch kid movies with high-tech graphics and inappropriate jokes that kids don't get. In my opinion, E.T. is pretty sophisticated, at least tech-wise, for an old movie. But it doesn't feel like an old movie. That's why it can stand the test of time. You all know what E.T. is about, but if you haven't watched it for the last two decades, I recommend watching it again. I barely remembered what happened in the movie, so it almost felt like a new movie to me.

The Little Match Girl: Not Suitable for Little Children

I read The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen to my niece not too long ago, and it is the saddest Christmas story ever. It is about a little girl who is sent out into the cold by her abusive father to sell matches. He beats her if she doesn't sell enough, so she is too afraid to go home one night having made no sales. She is left out in the freezing cold with just her matches. She lights them to warm up. Each time she lights a match, a vision appears like a Christmas tree or a Christmas feast--wonderful things that are out of her grasp. Each vision dies with the match. Then finally she lights her last match, and her dead grandmother appears before her to take her away. In the morning, she is found frozen to death in an alley. What the heck kind of children's story is that?

When I was reading this book to my niece, I tried to cover up the abusive father part. But she still questioned me about it--why can't she go home? Then when I got to the part where her dead grandmother comes to take her away, I had to make up an entirely different ending. My niece is very particular and would force you to finish books whether you want to or not. So in order to not traumatize her, I ad-libbed my own ending. Basically, it goes like this: Her grandmother finds her and takes her home out of the cold. And she lives happily ever after, warm in her house. The End. The stupid book forced me to lie to my niece!

Who in their right mind would read this to their child? Can't a person live blissfully unaware of the cruelty of the world for just a little while?

What Is Wrong with Kids These Days?

I came across an article that just disturbed me. A 13-year-old boy who looked more like 9 just had a baby with his 15-year-old girlfriend. He had sex when he was 12. That is just plain disgusting! I can't find words to describe how I feel about this subject. Kids are having kids now! They can't even take care of themselves, let alone another human being.

When asked what he would do to support the child financially, Alfie asks in a small, high-pitched voice, "What's financially?"

This just makes me really really sad.

Update 5/19/09: Today, a court found that the 13-year-old is not the father! It's actually another kid who is 15 years old. See article. That is still gross, of course.

Birthday Parties: Love 'em or Hate 'em?

I went to my niece's birthday party this weekend and it was great. My sister-in-law went all out and I know my daughters had a great time. Honestly, once you have kids I think there is no escape from hosting birthday parties and I mean the ones that are themed with games and favors and the whole nine yards. I know Tara really, really doesn't want to have huge parties for when she finally has kids, and it's one of her many pet peeves. (She hates themed parties.) First of all if you love your kids, you're gonna want to throw parties for them. She might be able to hold off for a few years, but eventually it's gonna catch up to her. Her kids will whine and ask, "Why does Susie get to have a Princess party and I don't?" And she will give in, oh yes, she will give in. Fortunately the time will come when her kids will be too old for themed parties, but then at that age birthday parties will be the least of your problems. =)