Betty White to Host SNL

Set your TiVos/DVRs, people. NBC has announced that our favorite Golden Girl will host Saturday Night Live on May 8 (which happens to be Mother's Day weekend).

Nearly half a million supporters of the Betty White to Host SNL (please?)! helped persuade SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels to make the ground-breaking decision. Betty White is 88-years old! But then again, she can still hack it on a football field, as proven in the Super Bowl Snickers ad.

This special Mother's Day edition of Saturday Night Live will also bring back 6 former female cast members: Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Molly Shannon.

While I love Kristen Wiig, I am so thrilled to have a reason to tune in to SNL again! Yay, Betty!

Skillet Cleaning in Seconds

This evening, I stepped out of the box from my usual dinner ideas...I made carne asada tacos! Yes, they were yummy. But when I looked at the skillet I cooked the carne asada in, I was scared. My husband even noted that it would take hours to get that skillet clean.

Then I decided to try a little experiment. I filled the skillet with about 1/4 of inch deep water and put the skillet back on the stove. I turned the burner to low and let it sit for about 120 seconds (I could have said 2 minutes but then my skillet cleaning wouldn't be in seconds!). Then I used a spatula to move around the water and gently loosen the caked on gunk from the carne asada. Once it all seemed to be removed, I then poured the murky water down the drain.

Low and behold, the pan was clean. I didn't even apply soap! Of course, I then cleaned the pan with a sponge and soap. It took such little time and no strenuous dish washing. And I love to finding ways to save time and energy!

"Six Shots are Too Many"

This is what my brave little almost five-year old told me after receiving 4 immunizations, a TB test, and a finger prick to check his hemoglobin. As far as he is concerned, any poke is a shot!

There were some tears shed, but luckily he made it through. And luckily, he will not need any further immunizations (other than flu shots) until he is 11. But to him, 11 is still too soon.

Here are just some quick things you can expect from school preparation doctor appointment:

• lots of shots
• vision test
• hearing test
• TB test
• Hemoglobin test
• urine screen
• your child needing Tylenol (or some kind of pain reliever)

Fun, fun, fun!

But now he is ready to sign up for kindergarten. I mean, I am ready to sign him up for kindergarten tomorrow morning. Naturally, I am told by other parents at our elementary school that I need to get there earlier than the sign up time so that I can get the time slot I want. (Even though the school says there is no guarantee of getting the morning or afternoon class. Great, just what I need to hear.)

Wish me luck!

1st Annual Walk 4 Water: The Samburu Project

After another night of washing the dishes and bathing my kids, I suddenly realize how lucky we are to have the simple things in life like clean running water. I know, there are a lot of things like clean drinking water and air that we take for granted every day.

This became even more clear to me when I found out that 4,500 children worldwide die each day due to a lack of clean drinking water. People in other parts of the world spend their entire day looking for clean water...sometimes never finding it.

But the good news...we can do something about it. It only takes $13 to provide a child with clean drinking water for life! So, how can we help?

The non-profit organization, The Samburu Project, is hosting it's 1st Annual Walk 4 Water event in the Los Angeles area (Hermosa Beach to be exact) on Sunday, March 21. All proceeds will be going to the Samburu Project's clean water initiatives, specifically targeting the Samburu District in Kenya.

The walk will be a 4-mile loop between Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach, and a great opportunity for a great Sunday morning walk with your family. Individual walkers and families are welcome to participate. The registration fee is $26 (which includes a free Samburu Project t-shirt).

If you live in the Los Angeles area and would like to walk, please click here to register. It is a family event that anyone can walk in. My husband and kids will be walking with me (and I am hoping the walk will tire the kids into a nap. It's okay to dream!). Please come out for a fun family outing that can help teach the kids about giving in the process.

Oh, and if you would like to donate money to The Samburu Project, you can either visit TheSamburuProject.org and donate in the upper right hand corner. If you would like, you can also sponsor me as a walker. If you are interested in doing that, please contact me info@housescouchesandbabies.com.

How You Know Your Son is a Big Boy

Moments ago, I was sitting on the couch watching The Marriage Ref when I suddenly heard this thumping sound coming from upstairs, seemingly from my 4-year old son's room. As I started to walk up the stairs because I was afraid my son was having a bad dream and kicking the wall (way out in left field, I know, but hey, it could happen), I then heard him going potty in the bathroom.

So I just sat on the stairs to listen and make sure that he didn't need my help. All with the lights turned off, he walked into the bathroom, went potty, and then walked back into his room. I suppose this is most impressive to me because I am used to him waking me up in the middle of the night to tell me he had a bad dream, when really he just needed me to go to the bathroom with him.

Wow, he didn't need my help...what a bittersweet moment. What a big boy!

Surprise Giveaway Winner: $100 Gift Card for Tea Collection Kids Clothing

At the end of last week, I received my order from Tea Collection and luckily my son was thrilled to model for me. (My daughter, not so much.) Here he is sporting the adorable Flying Dragon Tee and Ticking Stripe Short. Both are super cute and very comfortable for him to wear.

And thank you to all of you who entered the Tea Collection surprise giveaway. Congratulations go out to Sarah in Milford, CT. Sarah, please contact us at info@housescouchesandbabies.com to claim your prize.

Thanks again to all that entered and stay tuned for more exciting giveaways.

The Most Exciting Finale in Bachelor History

I was just trying to hook you with a Chris Harrison tag line. The episode was so predictable and somewhat boring.

But, I will say that my husband and I high-fived each other when Jeffrey Osborne came out to sing, "On the Wings of Love" on the After the Rose show. I am glad to see that the producers of the show can poke fun at themselves, all while paying a nice man his song royalties.

And Jake is going to be on Dancing With the Stars now...seriously? First of all, he obviously doesn't like flying that much if he is going to take this much time off to do all of these reality shows. (I suppose I would try to stretch out my 15 minutes of fame as long as possible, too.) Secondly, does ABC really have to milk this guy for everything that he's got???

Oh, that's right...they have to pay off Jeffrey Osborne's royalties somehow!

My 4-Year Old Therapist

This morning, when we pulled into the parking lot to preschool, I realized we forgot my son's backpack. As I began to think about all the things that hadn't gone right this morning, my son quickly chimed in with, "Mommy, don't worry about it. Everything is going to be okay."

What? I have never heard my son utter those words! And yet, I was so thrilled at the moment he said them that I took out a piece of paper and pen to write them down so I wouldn't forget what he said.

If only he knew just how wise he already is...

National Pancake Day

Did you know that today is National Pancake Day? This is probably a day that IHOP (International House of Pancakes) created, but since I love pancakes, I will go with it.

Pancakes for dinner...one of my favorites!

Surprise Giveaway: $100 Gift Certificate for Kids' Clothes From Tea Collection

Last week I came across some of the cutest kids clothes from a company called Tea. The clothes are referred to as the Tea Collection and the designers have travelled the world picking places of inspiration for their seasonal clothing lines.

This spring, the inspiration is Korea, and I have to tell you I love so many of the items for both girls and boys. Many of the clothes have a variety of matching pieces, and you can even buy them in sets (a great way to go to save some dough!).

But don't just take my word for it, check out there clothes for yourself. And thanks to the wonderful people at Tea, (1) lucky HC&B reader will win $100 gift certificate for the Tea Collection. Here's how to enter:

• Visit the Tea Collection website and pick an item (or outfit) that you would love to have
• Post a comment here including your name, location (city, state) and your favorite Tea Collection clothing item
• Please post your comment by 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, February 28
• For an extra entry, become a follower of Houses, Couches, and Babies (those of you that are already followers, will get an additional entry)

The winner will be announced shortly after February 28, so please keep checking back to see if you are the winner.

Good luck and happy shopping!

(shown above: Hahoe Plaid Shorts, Bulguksa Print Shirt, Paeja Vest, and Circle Geo Banded Dress)

Tiger Speaks...Finally

If you haven't heard by now, Tiger Woods is holding a heavily controlled press conference tomorrow. By heavily controlled, I mean that there will only be one camera, no one will be allowed to ask questions and those in attendance are his supporters. There is not word as to whether or not his wife, Elin, will be at the press conference.

Other than the staged run with all of his Nike gear on this week (he had to show love for the major sponsor that didn't dump him), no one has seen him prior to his Thanksgiving accident. (Interesting side note: I love that the photo of him jogging was released by Getty Images, a paid-subscription photo agency. It was thought that the paparazzo that got the first shot of him might score $1 million, and Tiger essentially made that first picture worth nothing by staging the photo and releasing it through Getty, thus screwing the paparazzi. That is awesome!)

So what's he going to say?

Here's my prediction: "I am sorry. I will try harder to be a better person. See you at the Masters."

If he says anything more than that, I will be shocked by the fluff. If anyone thinks they are going to get any major revelations from a guy who has managed to stay in hiding for nearly 3 months while the entire world has been playing a game of "Where's Tiger?" (you know, like "Where's Waldo?"), they are sadly mistaken.

But I can't wait to see it anyway. Keeping count of how many times he says the word "sorry" and how many Nike labels are clearly visible could make for a very interesting drinking game...

Image from UsMagazine.com

We Found LOST

While on our vacation at Turtle Bay Resort last week, the hubby and I loved wandering around the massive property and the surrounding areas. Since the weather was so beautiful, we decided it would be fun to go for a run outside, rather than staying couped up in the resort gym. There were several trails on the property, so we decided to do some exploring. While running on one of the trails, we came upon this...



Yeah, that's one of several trailers. The trailers we ran by were labeled "Locke," "Lapidus," Claire," "Kate," "Sun," "Jin," "Sawyer," and "Hurley." We kept running on the trail toward the beach to find the actors of LOST filming a scene.



(From left to right: Sawyer, crew member, Sun, Kate, Claire, Frank Lapidus, and Hurley.) Naturally, I didn't capture the photos I should have. For example, I really wish I had a picture of Sun running up the beach to hug Jin (I assume for the first time...you know, the reunion 3 years in the making!). It would have also been great if I would have taken a picture of the actors in the picture above down on their knees. We weren't sure if they were being held at gun point or praying...I am pretty sure it was the gun point option.

I would have taken more pictures if I wasn't afraid of the 600-pound security guy. Oh, and my husband who was embarrassed that we were watching the filming didn't help my paparazzi cause either.


The above picture is part of the trail/LOST beach set where we took our run. When we came back the next day (because I had to see if they were there filming again), all that was left were these props. I am not really sure what they are...perhaps electromagnetic thingamajiggers.


Now I just can't wait for this scene to air...and for the ah-ha moment when everything on the show finally comes together. Maybe the show is called LOST because that is how you feel when you are watching it???

Amazing Race 16 Trumped the Olympics???

Yes, I am sad to admit that I didn't watch the Olympics' coverage tonight from 8-9pm because I had to watch the season premiere of The Amazing Race 16.

Hello, my favorite couple from summer TV-watching, Jeff and Jordan, are contestants. I loved watching them on Big Brother this past summer and was excited to see they are now (or at least when The Amazing Race was taped) together. I hope they go far in the competition.

Oh, and the former Miss South Carolina (a.k.a. the Miss "the Iraq" and "such as" interview disaster) is on this season for, hopefully, some clever comments.

Please forgive me fellow U.S. Olympic loyalists...I will cheer on our athletes the rest of the week...after tomorrow night's The Bachelor episode, of course!

CPK Gift Card Surprise Giveaway Winner

Thank you all for entering the CPK gift card giveaway and I hope everyone gets the chance to check out their new Wine Cravings and Small Cravings menus.

Now on to the winner...drum roll please...

Congratulations to Jennifer in Blacksburg, VA (a.k.a. henniferus) for winning the $50 CPK gift card. Jennifer, please contact us at info@housescouchesandbabies.com by February 23 to redeem your prize.

Please stay tuned for more exciting giveaways coming soon!

How Can You Tell if a Duck is Male of Female?

I learned a random piece of trivia from The History Channel this week.

So how can you differentiate a male duck from a female duck? A female duck quacks and a male duck grunts.

This certainly isn't life-altering information, but I thought it was something interesting to pass along.

First Celeb Spotting in Hawaii - Dennis Quaid

"Dennis Quaid's here!" Every time I saw him walking around Turtle Bay Resort, I thought of this funny line he yelled on an episode of Ellen as he walked into a Starbucks (Ellen was telling him via an ear piece what to say).

The funny thing is, we didn't even notice him until his toddler son pushed one of his two toy trucks (shown in picture above) into my husband's path and he stopped to give it back. When we looked up from the boy to his father, there Quaid was, seemingly annoyed that we helped his child. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he is jaded and just used to people doing those kinds of things to get close to him, but he still could have said what any other parent would have said..."thanks." But he is a celebrity parent, and I have no idea what that is like.

But enough of my rant, it was cool to see a celebrity like him on vacation. And he was one that I was actually able to snap a few photos of...yep, I have reached an all new low - a paparazzo!

Turtle Bay - The Hollywood of Hawaii

My hubby and I are wrapping up our fabulous trip to Turtle Bay Resort (thanks, Regis and Kelly!) and I must tell you that I have seen more celebrities here than I have living just outside of LA.

While here we have seen pro surfer Kelly Slater, actor Dennis Quaid, actor Kevin Sorbo, actress Laura Dern, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Real World Paris alum and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Mallory Snyder, and oh yeah, we stumbled upon the beach set of LOST. This morning we saw the actors who play Hurley, Sawyer, Jin and Sun on the beach filming a scene.

Don't worry, my amateur, not-all-that close pictures of some of these people are coming soon!

Surprise Giveaway: CPK Gift Card to Satisfy Your Cravings

California Pizza Kitchen, a.k.a. CPK, is one of my favorite restaurants. I am a big fan of their salads and pizzas. In fact, we catered our Modern Menagerie baby shower last month with CPK salads and focaccia breads.

Starting today, February 4, CPK will be offering two new menus that I can't wait to try. The Small Cravings and Wine Cravings menus are smaller portions that allow for more variety or just the opportunity to eat a little (and save some money, too!). Many people resolve to eat better and less at this time of year. These new CPK menus are perfect for satisfying a craving, but not ruining a diet!

With the new Wine Cravings menu, you can have just half a glass for half the price. This idea is perfect for the parent who just needs to take the edge off, but doesn't need an entire glass. (Or am I the only one??)

Some of the yummy food items on the Small Cravings menu include Sweet Corn Tamale Ravioli, the Asparagus and Arugula Salad, White Corn Guacamole and Chips, and Crispy Artichoke Hearts - all priced between $3.99 and $6.49!

And lucky for you, the great people at CPK are going to give (1) lucky Houses, Couches, and Babies reader a $50 CPK gift card for you to use at any of their locations!

Here's how to enter:

• Post a comment here including your name and location (city, state)
• Please post your comment by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, February 11
• For an extra entry, become a Follower of Houses, Couches, and Babies (those of you that are already followers, will get an additional entry)

The winner will be announced shortly after February 11, so please make sure to check back and see if you are the winner. (The winner will not be contacted.)

Good luck and indulge those cravings!

My Very Own Cookie Monster

This morning, as we were getting ready to run some errands, I noticed my daughter hiding underneath the pillows on our couch. I thought she was just being silly until I walked into the kitchen and saw that a chair had been pushed up against the counter right in front of an open Tupperware container of chocolate chip cookies.

I walked back over to the couch, lifted up the pillows and found my daughter chomping away on a cookie. Naturally, chocolate was all over her face and she had a grin from ear to ear. She then even offered me a bite.

This was one of those rare occasions when I actually laughed at her and chalked it up as me having a crazy little 2-year old!

Image from SesameStreet.org

Dancing it Up on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

I had so much fun at the Ellen DeGeneres Show taping on Thursday!

Here's how the day went: We arrived at Warner Bros. Studios at 3:15 because our check-in time was 3:30. I was told that we didn't need to get there any earlier because where you were in line for check-in didn't determine where you sat. Well, that was a lie. I was number 188 and we were called into the studio in numerical order. As a result, we were in the last row (As you can see in the picture above). But, I was lucky enough to sit on the aisle and had a great view of everything.

Josh Duhamel was not the guest on our show. Instead, it was Rihanna! Ellen called it her Grammy show. Rihanna performed 3 songs (only 2 will air on this episode...they recorded the third for future use). The cute little boy from Modern Family, Rico Rodriguez, was also a guest on the show.

Click here to see the promo for Ellen's Grammy Show - Monday, February 1, 2010. Watch for me. I am on the aisle in the last row right in front of the Ellen sign wearing a purple top and jeans (dancing like a maniac at times).

Oh, and be sure to watch Monday's episode of Ellen. I might have received a cool prize that I can't tell you about yet. You will have to watch and see!!!

Going to the Ellen Show - Take Two

Last October, you may have remembered me mentioning that I was going to the Ellen Show. Well, unfortunately, the kids got sick and I was unable to attend the taping.

That is why I am so excited to go today to a taping of Ellen. And I am keeping my fingers crossed that our taping today is for Friday's show...Josh Duhamel is supposed to be the guest. Hubba Hubba.

Image from Ellen.warnerbros.com

Another One of Those "Awww" Moments

Today was one of those days when I wanted to get a lot done and got frustrated when I got side-tracked.

Having two kids, I obviously got side-tracked on more than one occasion, and thus got frustrated. (The hubby has been out of town for the past few days on a business trip so I began counting down the seconds until his car pulled into the garage.)

But tonight at dinner, after the kids complained when I told them they were going to watch the President on TV because Mommy wanted to watch the State of the Union Address, we settled in for a nice dinner and I had one of those "awww" moments. (I thought it was important for my son to see "The Rock of Bama." That is somehow what he remembers our President's name to be. And since he is so close and sounds so cute saying it, we don't always correct him.)

The kids asked me to sit in between them at dinner, and instead of protesting for my own space, I gave in for once. And once I sat down, I was glad I gave in. My 4-year old son started gradually making his way onto my lap while my 2-year old daughter held my hand, interlocking our fingers while nuzzling her cheek on my shoulder. Yes, all this while eating dinner and watching the State of the Union Address.

As I was sitting there, I took mental note of what was important. The errands that I ran today...not so important. The errands that I wanted to run and didn't get around to...still not so important. These loving, cuddling moments with my two little ones that will soon enough be asking me not to touch them or kiss them in public...very important.

Advice #10 for Expecting Moms

This week's advice for expecting moms comes from Rachel in Maryland. I really couldn't have said it much better than this, so I will leave it to her words:

"The best advice I could give is to not have many expectations. Before my first son was born I was a perfectionist who worried over everything. Before he was born I had planned out how everything would be! Life with children is anything, but predictable. Just enjoy the time you have with them, be very flexible and expect the unexpected (in a good way)."

Thanks, Rachel! And if you missed any of the past advice, be sure to check out all of your Advice for Expecting Mommies.

P.S. Above is the trailer for the movie, Parenthood, for your amusement. It makes a lot more sense now that it did 20 years ago!

Heidi Montag's First TV Appearance Since 10 Plastic Surgery Procedures...in One Day!

What happened to this girl??? This is Heidi Montag when she first started appearing on The Hills (pre-Spencer, I might add).

Last week, I was shocked to hear that Heidi Montag is on the cover of People magazine because she is obsessed with plastic surgery. Apparently, she had 10 procedures done in a 10-hour surgery this past November - and is actually proud to admit it.

She is only 23! What is she going to do when she hits 35 and gravity really hits?!?! I thought people were supposed to get plastic surgery to look younger, not older. One of her many procedures included liposuction. Really, you can't hit the gym like the rest of The Hills co-stars? (Photographers can take enough pictures of Audrina Patridge working out!)

She finally appeared on TV for the first time after her 10-hour plastic surgery on Good Morning America today. If you missed it, click here to check it out.

It is really sad to see her and her plastic surgeon (Dr. Ryan) talking about how she actually looks better now. Her face shows no emotion and she looks absolutely lifeless. It disturbs me that a plastic surgeon has done so many surgeries that he thinks this actually looks pretty and not totally fake. I would certainly not want to get any plastic surgery done by a guy who does this kind of work.

Of course, it isn't shocking that the timing of the People magazine cover was lined up with the release of her first album, Superficial. (Fitting title, in deed.)

The saddest part about all of this is that as I talk about her, she and her scheming husband are laughing all the way to the bank. They were banned from E! News last year because of all their shenanigans, but every other media outlet is talking about them. What a joke.

But I guess Speidi would rather be seen in the public eye as a joke than not in the public eye at all. I guess is it "reality" TV at its finest!

Image from HeidiMontagfan.com and ABCNews.go/GMA

Modern Menagerie Baby Shower - Part 2

When our guests walked in the door to the Modern Menagerie baby shower, this is what they first saw. One of my favorite elements was the giraffe print lanterns that my co-host, Sarah, found online at WorldMarket.com. We actually used jewelry wire to hang the lanterns over our hot pink tables to add depth and dimension.

We continued the menagerie/jungle theme with our table centerpieces - even adding some small animal figurines to the play up the theme. We used tea leaves on the bottom of the centerpiece, along with white mums, pink protea, and papyrus leaves.

Here are the happy grandmother-to-be and mother-to-be.

We stole many tricks of the trade from our guest of honor, and one in particular was just covering up 3 framed pictures she already had in the room with something that would match our theme. Can you believe that is actually wrapping paper in those frames???

We decided that for our color scheme we would sticks to pink, brown, and green. Instead of having having different colored candles, we decided to just accent simple white candles with ribbon to tie everything in.

Something that is always fun to tie into a baby shower...a baby picture of the mommy-to-be!

Ah, yes, the sweets! As I mentioned before, we used a wide array of candy from ACandyStore.com. Some of my favorites included the gummy butterflies, gummy frogs, sour watermelon slices, and sour grapefruit slices. To add a bit of variety to the table, we also offered chocolate covered strawberries, frosted sugar cookies, and Killer Brownie Bites.

Varying shapes and sizes of our glass containers really made the table not just a candy table, but a beautiful decoration (if I do say so, myself!).

Lastly, another key element to any Hostess with the Mostess event is a signature cocktail. And in the case of a baby shower, it is always important to have a "mocktail."

The raspberry apple mojitos were delicious, both as a mocktail, and a cocktail.

Thanks again to my co-hosts Sarah, Mimi, and Jen for making it to such a wonderful event. And thank you to our guest of honor for having what seemed like an endless amount of supplies for us to work with. I guess that is what makes her The Hostess with the Mostess.

For more ideas for baby showers, bridal showers, or parties in general, please visit HostessWithTheMostess.com.

Who Needs Training Wheels!?!

My 4-year old was so excited to ride his bike today all by himself. As he told me when he stopped for a breather, "Mom, this is totally awesome!"

Yes, it was a totally awesome day!

Modern Menagerie Baby Shower - Part 1

This past weekend, I hosted a baby shower (along with 3 other fabulous ladies) for the Hip Hostess herself, Jennifer Sbranti (founder of HostessWithTheMostess.com).

If you are thinking, "Wow, that's a lot of pressure to plan a party for a party planner," you are very smart. Naturally, Jennifer told us she was grateful that we were throwing her a shower and was thrilled to enjoy a party for once. But come on, we had to make her proud, and certainly had to step up our game.

To begin with, we wanted to order super-cute invitations that went with a jungle theme shower for a baby girl. Thanks to Tiny Prints, not only were we able to find adorable invitations, but matching thank you notes, gift tags and mint tins! (Invitation and thank you note above are examples given on Tiny Prints website.)

As you can see above, we used the personalized mint tins to add a little something to our place setting. And thanks to my ever resourceful friend, Mimi, we were also able to get a delicious cake (below) from Flour Power in San Diego to match the invitation!

We used the matching gift tags on white take out boxes so that our guests could take home whatever they wanted from the "sweets" table. 43 pounds of yummy candies came from ACandyStore.com and not only made a great treat, but were also a beautiful, decorative addition.

Stay tuned for more details about the Modern Menagerie baby shower.

The Bachelor Drama

Although I have sworn off watching The Bachelor many times, I always end up tuning in.

Tonight was only week 2 of the show and already big drama in the house. If you watch the show, you know that Rozlyn (a model/make-up artist; yeah, I have a feeling her career aspirations had something to do with her being on the show) was removed from the show for having an "inappropriate" relationship with a "staffer."

Her interaction with Chris Harrison was classic - and by classic, I mean incredibly lame on her part. As he is awkwardly bringing up the subject and confronting her about the fact that she hooked up with someone on the production staff, she keeps a straight face as if she has no idea of what he is talking about. Loved it.

Then, when she finally does start talking, she says that her personal life is no one's business. I agree, her personal life is no one's business...unless of course she goes on a reality TV show that is all about opening up your heart and hopefully finding love. Sure, we all know the show is a farce, but saying that your personal life is off limits is lame. Oh, and by the way, when you sign all the legal documents required to be on a show like that, somewhere in there, it says you are pretty much signing your thoughts and "personal life" away.

On another note, the show has reached an all new high by playing James Ingram's "On the Wings of Love" while Jake and Ali were flying in a plane. It's too bad Joel McHale beat them to the punch by playing the song on E!'s The Soup last week while recapping the first week's episode.

Oh, how I love totally un-important television!

Image from abc.go.com

A Little Girl With a Mind of Her Own

As I mentioned last week, my family and I enjoyed a fun-filled family vacation in Tahoe with a few other families. Once my son started feeling better, we were able to participate in more activities.

At Northstar (a fabulous ski resort in Tahoe), they have a great village area that has tons of shops, restaurants and activities like ice skating and bungee/trampoline jumping.

As soon as my son saw the bungee/trampoline jumping contraption, he had to try it. And naturally, as soon as my daughter saw my son doing it, she had to do it, too.

My daughter and I waited in line for over an hour to do this whole bungee/trampoline jumping. Luckily, for a good portion of that time, she fell asleep on my lap (as pictured above). She woke up about 5 minutes before it was turn.

When it was finally her turn, we headed over to her trampoline. She seemed very excited. We took off her boots and she began to get hooked up to the bungee cords.

Then this happened.

She didn't jump even once, although, she did almost do a back flip when she was trying to squirm out of the harness.

I am just glad I captured at least one picture of what she did. And I can't wait to show her someday when she is older. Silly girl!