Free DINNER!!!

Tonight we hit Taco Bell for 5 free tacos and then we went to Chipotle for 3 FREE burritos. Wow, was it a yummy day. We won't talk about the caloric intake.

And the Crazy Sleeping Gene Takes Hold on Yet Another

I've blogged about my crazy family and this weird sleeping gene that has evidently passed from my husband to Boy Wondertwin. See here.
Well, evidence suggests that Little Dude has also been overcome by the crazy sleeping gene.

We found Little Dude like this at about 10PM. I went into his room before I went to bed. I panicked a little because he wasn't in his bed, under his bed or anywhere on the floor. I then searched the house including all bedrooms. No Little Dude.
I returned to his bedroom and opened the closet. This is what I found.





Should I be fearing the future in this home? I may need to start deadbolting the doors at night...not so people don't break in but so that my family doesn't break out!

Krazy in Kindergarten

So there is this little thing going on in my twins' Kindergarten class and I don't like it. With 6 girls and 15 boys in the class, it appears that they are pairing off. My daughter comes home and tells me (over and over again) that her boyfriend is "so and so". She then goes on to name almost every girl in her class and who they are girlfriends' with. Here's the sad part.

On the way home the other day Boy Wondertwin (BWT) said, "Mom, I don't have a girlfriend."

I said, "That's okay. You're 5...you don't need a girlfriend."

BWT said, "But Mom, I don't really want a girlfriend but Kelly isn't my girlfriend".

Confused, I inquired, "Well, buddy, was Kelly ever your girlfriend? Did she tell you she was your girlfriend"

BWT answered, "Well, we painted together during free time so I thought we were "boyfriends" but now she likes Mike."

A sad little pang hit me but I was also torn because let's face it. These kids are 5and it's just too early for drama and broken hearts.

At the class Halloween party I discovered who might be responsible for promoting this silliness. A mom leaned down to greet her daughter and she said, "Now show me which one is Doug". After the little girl showed him which one he was the mom responded, "Oh, baby, he is sooooo CUTE!!!"

Innocent puppy love is cute and I too remember chasing boys on the playground as a Kindergartener but maybe it's going too far when a 5 year old boy is lamenting over NOT having a girlfriend or another 5 year old girl is heartbroken because a certain boy has dumped her. Really?

My question is this...is this a normal part of growing up and typical of a Kindergartener or are there parents behind this (like the one mentioned above) egging this on? Can't we just enjoy our little ones right where they are?

P.S. All names have been changed to protect the innocent...or not so innocent.

Trick or Treat

Tonight was Trick or Treat. Don't ask me why it's on the 29th. I really have no idea. Interesting evening. My husband invited a family from Korea over for dinner. This is their 2nd year in the United States and they really knew nothing about trick or treating. They have a 3 year old son and a 4 month old baby.
We let the 3 year old pick (out of our play clothes bin) whatever he would like to wear. He chose a fireman costume.

So off we went into the wild blue yonder to snag some chocolate. You would not believe this little Korean boy. You would think he had been trick or treating for years. He ran like a banshee from house to house yelling "Trieee o Trea" "Triee o Trea". If you said anything to him he would say, "yea!".

My husband asked him if Elephants eat Jiraffes and he said "yea". His "yea" sounds quite fluent. Come to find out after a few random questions (like the elephant question) that he doesn't understand much English. All he knows he has learned on Noggin.

Anyway, it was fun to be a part of this little boy's first American experiences. He had a blast and his parents thanked us over and over again for hosting them. They said our home was the first American home they had ever been in...and they've been here for 15 months. Goodness. We were blessed to share our American culture with this family.

Happy Trick or Treat to you and yours.

They Know Me

Have you ever watched a show or a movie and felt like someone was peeking in your window or had cameras in your house for episode ideas?

The moment my husband and I caught our first glimpse of EveryBody Loves Raymond, we were sure that someone had written a show about our lives.

We are currently 1000 plus miles from the extended family but all the same, they might as well be next door. I just watched the epidode (via DVR) where Robert and his new wife return from their honeymoon and Marie (Ray's mom) is pestering her that she has yet to write her thank you notes.

I promise you...we had yet to even open our wedding gifts and J's mom was already obsessed about the thank you notes. We didn't even know what to thank them for yet but somehow I was supposed to have these written.

Don't get me wrong. I love my in-laws and they are truly wonderful people but at the same time, I'd pretty convinced that someone was spying on us when this show was written. Scary.

Bzz Bzz Bzz

I'm still doing BzzAgent and wanted to let you in on an awesome shampoo! AVEENO NOURISH + Hair Care is a new line by AVEENO (Get your free sample here). I've always trusted this brand and had positive experiences. This shampoo/conditioner combination is excellent. I've been trying a lot of different brands recently including Pantene, Tresemme, Arbonne and others.

While I've always gone back to Pantene after a brief stint with others, I may stick with AVEENO for a while. It's that good. There are a few different verisions including moisturizing and volumizing. It's worth a trial.

If you haven't checked out BzzAgent yet, it's worth a trial. This Bzzcampaign provided free shampoo and conditioner (full sized bottles) as well as coupons and samples. Check it out!

Acne at 35?

Yep, I'm 35 and I've just encountered my first bout with acne. And yes, I'm bitter. I finally bit the bullet and made a dermatologist appointment yesterday. I was able to get in the same day for what I thought would be a little tlc and sympathy.

Nope.

Friends I have with a lot of derm experience tell me that dermatologists have the least bedside manner of any doctor. I thought I'd get a "Wow, acne at 35? That stinks. Let's see how we can take care of that."

Instead she had no answers and basically rushed me out of her office. Good news is that she gave me Retin A which will take care of those minor lines and wrinkles that I've recently developed. Since I received my prescription 48 hours ago, 2 friends have already tried to swipe my Retin A. I guess it's a valuable "street" drug. =)

A good friend seemed to think that the breakouts were a result of all the working out that I do. Unfortunately the Dermatologist had no answers for me nor did she want to even think about the cause. Drugs are the answer I guess. It's disturbing to me that doctors aren't concerned with causes...only making the problem go away.

So the teenage years are still raging here. I'll keep you posted on the results.