"And he hammered and he hammered"

Rob and I went to my cousin's little boy's birthday party on Saturday. (the photos were taken on our cell phone, so they're not the best quality--sorry!) He turned two years old, and they had a fabulous birthday bash for him with a fun construction theme. Adrienne and her friend made this amazing bulldozer cake and had really cute party favors like hard hats, tool belts, and toy hammers, saws and screwdrivers filled with candy. We decided it might be a little weird going to a 2-year-old's birthday party by ourselves, so we brought our niece and nephew along. They had a great time!

Abbie and Mason both really liked the cardboard house they got to paint, and Abbie loved the bouncy house they rented for the kids. Mason spent a lot of time riding around on a little ATV in the backyard. It was going so slow on the grass, but he still loved it!

Some highlights of the day:

• Abbie deciding she was going to help Owen open his presents! (sorry again!) -- We had to bribe her with some birthday cake so she would step away from the present-opening area and let Owen open them all by himself!
• Mason wearing his hard-hat and tool belt the entire time, and making sure all his tools were accounted for.
• Abbie singing her made-up songs the whole way home. ..."And he hammered and he hammered and he hammered"
• Mason falling asleep! He was so exhausted after all the partying, he took a little nap on the ride home.
• Abbie saying she wants to be a 'worker' but she can't because she's a girl.
• Mason discovering there was a measuring tape in the pocket of his tool belt and running to show Abbie. -- "Abbie, Look!!"

Thanks again for a great party Adrienne! We had tons of fun.

Worth Watching

Don't let the cheesy poster fool you. This was a good movie! Rob and I watched it today (courtesy of NexFlix) thinking the only thing good in it would be the dancing. We were expecting a weak plot, but it was actually pretty engaging. AND the dancing was just as good as expected. The only downside? It makes me sad that I can't dance anywhere near as good as the people in this film. Ok, let's be honest. I can't dance at all! But watching movies like this makes me wish I could. It looks like fun. (serious!)

What's the deal America?

Carly Smithson voted off 'American Idol'

Seriously America, I don't get you. Carly's performance last night was amazing! (click here to see for yourself). And she is by far the best vocalist this season. It just goes to show that 'Idol' has turned into a popularity contest rather than a vocal competition. I mean, sure Jason Castro is cute, and I really like his style and would probably enjoy his album if he ever made one, and I like Brooke as much as the next person, and her Let It Be performance was great, but this week was the second time she has stopped during the first line of the song and started over. That's just not acceptable! Carly has WAY more vocal talent than either of them, yet she got voted off and they both stay in for another week. I just don't get it. The only thing I can think is that perhaps America didn't like the song she chose, Jesus Christ Superstar, but it was Andrew Lloyd Webber week; she didn't write the song, he did! And it's from his broadway musical!! But perhaps people didn't vote for her because of the song, even though she sang it very well. I thought the top 3 should have been Carly, David Cook (who I origianlly didn't like, but he's grown on me lately), and Michael Johns, who I really liked but sadly got voted off a few weeks ago. Well obviously my choice for top 3 isn't going to happen, so we'll see who America chooses.

(p.s. -- my appologies for all the links. I know that really breaks up the flow of reading, but they're helpful for those who don't watch American Idol regularly and perhaps have no idea who these people are I'm talking about. That's all.)

Happy Earth Day!

blog title exempt from this post...

...because there's no comma after 'like.'

I found these posters online today (or rather, they found me) while I was searching for something completely unrelated. But let me tell you, these posters aren't messing around. They were brought to you by the Academy of Linguistic Awareness, so you'd better pay attention to what they have to say. I found them very appropriate to my blog as I was a frequent misuser of the word "like" during my youth, more specifically during my Jr. High years. My 7th grade Language Arts teacher helped to cure me of this nasty linguistic habit by clearing her throat (quite loudly) every time I misused the word 'like' during my verbal book reports. Eventually I got the hint and kicked 'like' to the curb. However, please excuse me if you ever happen to notice me slipping back into my adolescent ways and use it occasionally.
It can be, like, so much fun.

She needs the rock to rule.

I watched this movie on TV today, and let me warn you...it is as cheesy and predictable as it looks. When I saw it while browsing through channels I thought, "Hey, the first one was pretty cute. How bad can it be, right?" The answer? Pretty unbelievably bad, and I could tell it would be after watching the first minute. But did that keep me from watching the entire thing? Absolutely not! I had to see if all the obvious foreshadowings would come true (and to save you the suspense, they did). I burst into spontaneous laughter several times during the course of this film, not because the writing was oh-so-clever or because the plot was so funny, but because of the sheer painfulness of it all! I just had to laugh about how completely ridiculous certain scenes were (for example during the slumber party when Julie Andrews bursts out in song which, once the beat changes to an R&B vibe, turns into a duet with Raven Symone, aka Olivia from the Cosby Show.) BUT I do have to give it some credit...certain parts were okay (like a few of "Princess Mia's" speeches) and it was overall a cute flick that I wouldn't mind putting on for my niece or little sister if I had one. But I must say the best part of the whole thing was this guy. Can anybody tell me why I've never seen him before? He's pretty easy on the eyes, right ladies?

SO - overall response? There's 113 minutes of my life I'll never get back! Don't make the same mistake.

Good News and Bad News

First, THE GOOD NEWS:



Rob got into Westminster College for their MBA program! They have a great night-school program for working professionals, so he can continue to work full-time while getting his MBA.

And now...THE BAD NEWS:
Rob got into Westminister College for their MBA program. This means we're stuck in Salt Lake for another three years!

There was talk of applying to other schools in cool areas like Chicago or California, but for some reason the applications to said cool places were never sent. Rob says he doesn't want to be a full-time student, so that's why the Westminster program appealed to him. But I want to move away to someplace cool! Rob says we'll just have to wait until his MBA program is done, and then we can move far far away. I'm going to have to hold him to that!

But anyway, YAY FOR ROB for going back to school!

Sleep-over

Since we don't have kids of our own yet, we'll have to post videos of other people's kids! Our neice and nephew stayed the night at our house last week. In this video, Abbie is showing us her ballerina skills, and Mason is wearing his new t-ball hat (and his pajamas backwards!). Aren't they the cutest? This is their second sleep-over at our house.

Hello all you bloggers out there!

After several requests that I make a blog of my own, I've finally done it! Keep checking back for all sorts of interesting updates from the life of Rawbanana. You won't want to miss it!