Thank you.

Belle's Gotta Have Her Os!

Most cats go crazy for a bit of tuna or slice of chicken. And then there's my cat, Belle. She loves Cheerios. She goes nuts when you have a bowl of them. She'll get right in your face until you give her some. It's the weirdest thing. She only likes plain Cheerios and doesn't like them if they're soggy from milk. Give Belle some crunchy Cheerios and she's a happy cat! Belle and her love for Cheerios reminds me of a Madonna song. Which one, you ask?

Cause we are living in a Cheerio world

And I am a Cheerio girl

You know that we are living in a Cheerio world

And I am a Cheerio girl

She also likes rice cakes, but that's another story. Have you ever had a pet who ate something unusual?

Who needs expensive toys?

Especially when there are boxes to play with! This picture is of Nathan, taken on his birthday this past Saturday. He's such a goon. Don't get me wrong -- the laser remote control Battle Machines are a big hit, but the box was fun for awhile too. I swear, my kids have so much fun with empty boxes. We recently bought a Bowflex TreadClimber and you should have seen the boxes that thing came in. They were huge. The boys were bummed we got rid of them, but geez, they took up the entire family room.

I loved empty boxes as a kid too. I used to make homes for my Barbies, pet houses, forts, and other stuff. It's not something I grew out of right away either. When Rick and I got our first apartment in 1987, I took a big box and made a saloon for my cat CJ. I called it Whiskey Lips and decorated it with windows, signs, even swinging doors. He loved it and went in it all the time. However, something weird happens to my kids when they see an empty box. You know those long soda boxes that hold 12-packs? Those are suddenly transformed into moon shoes. Even empty plastic tubs are eyeballed for possible GI Joe scuba diving tanks. Yep, the possibilities are endless when it comes to an empty box or container!

To Lip Or Not ...

That is the question ... but what's the right thing to do? The other day I read an article about Britney Spears being in Australia to start her current tour. Click here if you want to read it. Apparently, some people are upset over the fact that she will be lip-syncing the show and not actually singing it. A source close to her said that Britney just isn't capable of singing and dancing at the same time. I don't know why, but I thought that was funny. It reminded me of a time when my in-laws took my girls to spend a weekend at Disneyland. The girls told us about my mother-in-law yelling at her husband in the car because she had missed a sign and went the wrong way. "I can't read and drive at the same time!" she yelled. That's just funny to me. Okay, so my MIL can't read and drive at the same time. Britney can't sing and dance at the same time. Isn't it funny how Britney can drink a Frappachinno and drive at the same time, or hold her baby on her lap and drive at the same time? I guess she has priorities.

Anyway, the Australian government isn't too happy about this and are considering enforcing new measures that would require artists to notify fans that they will be lip-syncing. Apparently, Britney's tour manager says fans come for the "pop spectacular experience" and that her not singing isn't a big deal. What do you think? Would you rather watch Britney Spears lip-sync and dance? Or would you prefer to hear her actually singing? Now, I know a lot of artists sound way better on album than they ever do on stage, so I understand Britney's side of this. However, I do agree that it should be made public before someone dishes out $1500 for a ticket. I think artists owe at least that much to their fans. What they choose to do on stage is their business, but they should at least be honest when it comes to lip-syncing. Maybe I'm wrong. What do you think?

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Today is Nathan's 10th birthday. It's hard to believe it's been that long already. He's grown up so fast. He's my little brainiac of the family. If you have a question about any kind of bird in the world, he can probably answer. If he can't, he has all the books to find the answer. He knows the names of more actors and producers than I do. He's the one who will sit looking through his world history book for an hour after his lesson is over. He certainly didn't get his smarts from me!

Nathan had a rough start in life and was hospitalized for 6 days after he was born. There was meconium present at his birth and the doctors believed he had inhaled some into his lungs. He was on oxygen, under the lights, got poked with needles day in and day out. It was awful. I was officially discharged, but decided to stay with him. Turned out, I came down with a high fever and infection, so I was readmitted. It was a crazy time for us both.

We're having a simple party for Nathan tonight. He's a little disappointed that Nichelle and Nicole won't be here, but he understands. He's looking forward to them coming home soon. I'm sure I'll take some pictures, so maybe I'll post some of him with his gifts later on.

Happy 10th Birthday, Nathan!

Bead for Life

I am pretty sure I blogged about this last year, but it's worth repeating. Bead for Life is a great organization that helps poverty stricken regions of Africa. The organization not only gives people jobs, but the money earned helps to pay for food, medicine, and education. I discovered this group through my sister-in-law three years ago when she gave me a necklace for Christmas. She gave me the blue three-strand one pictured above. Last year my daughter gave me the purple long, single-strand one for Christmas. It's not the best picture because I just tossed them onto a pillow, but the website has lots of pictures of the different colors and styles. However, if you click on my picture, it enlarges and you can see the detail in the beads.

If you're looking for a unique gift for someone this year, consider these. They have necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and even loose beads for you to create your own. They even have gift bags for $1, which is what Nichelle gave me last year. They also offer the chance to host your own bead parties. The prices are so reasonable too, so these make great Christmas presents. What's really cool about these beads is that they're made from recycled magazines, calendars, cereal boxes, and pamphlets. They have a new line called Katoga that uses different colored beads in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can visit their store here, or click on the link above to read more about who they are and what they do. Christmas is going to be tight for a lot of people this year, so I wanted to mention these again because they make great gifts that not only help other people, but are also affordable. In addition, they're really pretty and unique. Each one will be different.

I had to laugh when I got my necklaces out this morning to snap a quick picture. All twisted up in my blue necklace were my black hoop earrings. I've been looking for these for months! I thought I lost them when I was out of town. I had them all along, and in a drawer I open quite often. Talk about a "d'oh moment" for me! Also, thanks to everyone who wished me well yesterday. My neck is still really sore, but I slept better last night. No bear dreams, thank goodness. I did wake up to it being rainy and really windy, so there's my answer more than likely. My head usually starts up right before the winds, so I should have known. I took a Dong Quai last night and that seemed to help a little. Thanks again ...

Busy as a ...

That pretty much sums up how November is going to be, not to mention December as well. Things are usually pretty busy for us this time of year, especially with school because the boys love doing all sorts of holiday related crafts. That goes non-stop from Halloween all through Christmas. However, it's going to be even more busy this month. Nathan will celebrate his 10th birthday on Saturday. We're having a small party at home for him. He's excited about his birthday, but sad his sisters aren't here. Then on November 21st we're going to a wedding. This will be the boys' first wedding, so they're excited about that. The next day, November 22nd is when Nichelle comes home. She's been gone since June, so we're all anxious to see her. I just got off IM with her and she's looking forward to coming home. A few days after that is Thanksgiving. Then we get into the whole Christmas mode. Nicole will be coming home sometime in December for the Holidays. So, in the middle of all this, I have about a gazillion things to do.

To top it off, my neck is killing me for some reason. Maybe I slept on it wrong the night before last. I know it wasn't last night because I didn't sleep at all. I had another horrifying dream about bears last night. I laid in bed awake for the longest time worrying if the downstairs door was pushed shut all the way. I knew it was locked, but sometimes it's not secure if you don't push it hard and hear it click. So, I sat awake worrying about it for the longest time. Then the neighbor's dog started barking at 3am, which usually means some large critter is outside walking around. That got me out of bed to check the door. Then I couldn't go back to sleep so I looked around Facebook for an hour. I went to bed at 4am and it took another hour for me to fall asleep. So, then what happens? Another bad bear dream! WTH? I woke up exhausted, to say the least. And now I'm getting a late start with school because I was talking to Nichelle online. But that's a good thing, so I'm not complaining about that. I guess I better get my cranky @#$ moving ...