I watched the season 5 premiere today and also have been forced to keep up with the gossip surrounding the family. I have to admit  that I feel bad for them, I never want to see a family split up and have all those kids go through a possible divorce. Everything they have been thru and to split up now is tragic.

During the show they kept saying that they didn’t know what the problem was, it just happened all of the sudden and they don’t know how to fix it. I think the problem is having your life under a microscope, being bothered by paparazzi, and all the celebrity that comes with it. I don’t believe they are handling it well, john seems to be mad and sick of it, saying things like it is our personal business and just an overall sense that he thinks that they didn’t ask for this. Kate is the opposite, she seems to be enjoying the fame that came, she now travels promoting the family and her book.

I think the show and fame are the problems with the family. Everyone can agree that the paparazzi is nothing but lowlife parasites that will do anything for a buck, including bothering a family out shopping. You have to know what comes with being on a television show, John is either ignorant or delusional to think this wouldn’t happen, in a way they did ask for it. Kate is so caught up in the celebrity that I think her family is suffering, they are now set financially and need no promoting, everyone knows who they are. The fact that she fooled herself into thinking she needs more poularity is stupid.

If they want to save their family they need to stop doing the shows and appearances across America and just be a family. They have enough money so that isn’t an issue, and they used to be happy before the fame. I know that they have both made mistakes and they are pretty big, but this is an unusual situation. Forgive each other, quite all the stuff that is causing the problem and get back to the basics. They keep saying that they do it all for the kids but a seperation or divorce won’t help them much.

Well, I’ve met the Plums, and I’m a fan

For anyone not familiar with Bare Minerals/Bare Escentuals “Wearable Eye Kits” they are awesome.  I’m not sure how they do it, but they manage to take a specific range of colors and adapt them so they look good on  hazel, brown, blue, etc.  – doesn’t matter what your eye color is.  It will enhance and look beautiful no matter your skin tone or eye color.

There is “Meet the Browns” “Meet the Nuts” – both are various shades of brown.  The blue eyeshadow trio is rightly named “Meet the Blues” and there is even a hard edgy trio called “Meet the Stones”.

The one I have, that I was most intrigued by, is the “Meet the Plums” collection.  This collection came with a light plum, medium plum, and dark plum color.  Tossing the instructions aside, I delved into my new shadow.  One bruised looking eye later….I got the instructions back out, removed my eye makeup and put it on the correct way.

I was very pleased with the result, depending on which of the trio I want to wear – one or two at a time, or all three smudged together for a smokey plum effect, they all DO seem to work with my eye color (very dark brown) and skin tone (casper the ghost).  The best thing I liked about this product is that it looks like it will last forever as a little bit truly goes a LONG way.

You’ve undoubtedly seen the television show called “Clean Sweep”, or one like it. It’s a show that helps families clean up and unclutter their homes. If you think your home needs a clean sweep, one way to achieve this is to clean one room at a time until the whole home is clutter-free.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when your home is cluttered. Trying to decide what to do to get rid of the clutter is even more discouraging. You look at the things in your home and wonder where to start. Here are some ideas that will help you succeed at clearing the clutter.

Start by focusing on one room at a time. If you look at everything you’ll easily be intimidated by the scope of the work to be done. By cleaning out one room at a time, you’ll get a sense of accomplishment when you’re done with one room, and be encouraged to move on to the next.

Be prepared with trash bags, plenty of cardboard boxes, and some storage containers. Label the boxes “Keep”, “Donate”, and “Trash”. Then start going through the items in the room.

Clean off all surfaces and empty out each drawer. If it’s a bedroom, take everything out of the closet. You will have a number of boxes, but don’t look at the total number. Concentrate on one box by deciding about each and every item in the box, then go to the next box.

Clothing: If you love the clothes and wear them often, put them in the Keep box. If clothing hasn’t been worn in six months you may want to donate them, so put them in the Donate box. If they’re torn or need repairs and you love them, put them in the Keep box. If they need repairs or are stained and you don’t like them, in the Trash they go. Put the boxes you intend to keep aside and move on.

Shoes: Treat shoes as you did clothing. Keep only those pairs that you love and wear often. If you haven’t used them, unless they are seasonal shoes, let them go. Each pair you get rid of will give you more room and less clutter.

Music: Go through your music collection to see if there’s anything you’ve outgrown or your musical tastes have changed. Sort and store your favorite music.

Papers: Take the time to go through the papers in this room. Start a filing system if you don’t already have one in place. You can begin by separating items by broad categories and then into smaller subcategories as needed.

Books: Unless you’ve read a book multiple times or have recently acquired it, books may be something you’ll consider passing on to others. You can donate them to shelters, charities, or even a local library. Books take up a lot of room so getting rid of some of them will open up space in your room.

After you’ve taken the time to decide upon which items you’re keeping, what is being donated, and what is being thrown away, take the donate boxes and trash bags out of the room. Clean the room from top to bottom, paint if that is planned, and then rearrange or remodel the room. Put the items you’re keeping back into the room, being careful to store the items in an organized manner.

Give yourself a break after completing one room. Then start on the next room – separating, keeping, tossing, and donating items until each and every room in your house has been swept clean and is organized. Congratulate yourself for hard work well done.

Recently, I had the opportunity to watch a show called Quads with Two Moms on the Discovery Channel.  I was intrigued because I was trying to figure out how two women could make 4 babies.  Ah yes, donor sperm, of course.  So I tuned in, expecting to see one lady hugely pregnant with quadruplets, like I was.

Nope, what I saw was two lesbians, each pregnant with boy/girl twins.  Here’s the best part, all four eggs came from one woman and then 4 eggs were fertilized.  They implanted (in-vitro) two eggs into one woman and the other two eggs into the other woman.  All four took! The chances of that happening are pretty slim, kind of cool that it happened that way.

What I have a problem with is this: They are not quadruplets.  Quadruplets result from 4 eggs from yes, the same woman and sperm or donor sperm and then ALL FOUR are carried in the SAME uterus.  Advertising these two sets of twins as quadruplets is fraudulent.  I am sure when the couple is stopped in public and the topic of who carried the babies comes up, some bystander is bound to say “oh, so those are two sets of twins? right?”

I think people are confused enough about how multiples happen, now they will really be confused.  You can have natural quads where your body releases one or more eggs and they split or are each fertilized separately, without the use of fertility drugs.  You can have fertility assisted drugs where you take a medicine that increases the number of eggs you release (this is what we had done, I released 3 eggs and one split in two on its own resulting in quadruplets).  Or you can have in-vitro where you have a specified number of embryos (already fertilized eggs) implanted into your uterus.  Are you snoring yet?

What’s more, they were delivered on the same day, by choice, not allowed to incubate and come when they were all ready.  One baby, in the 42 year old mom, was not doing as well so they opted to deliver all 4 babies on the same day, resulting in 4 premature infants.  This just seems selfish and wrong, just for the sake of all having the same birthday? Granted, 5 weeks early is “good” for twins, but where one set had to be born for the sake of the infant boy, the other set in the younger mom was doing just fine.  Why not give them another couple of weeks, etc.?

I think it boils down to Discovery Health Channel wanted an attention grabbing title for their show and “Quads with Two Moms” won.  Or maybe “Lesbian Couple Pregnant with Two Sets of Twins” was already taken…

After watching the show, I was pretty much bored, a good one to skip.

It’s important to know where you come from and to pass that knowledge down to your children. This may mean that you want to teach your teenager your family history. If they know where they’ve come from, it may give them a better idea of where they’re going.

Maybe you’ve been seriously considering your family history for some time but have never delved into it. You may also be experiencing tension or problems with your teenager. Why not use genealogy as a means to reconnect with your teenager while searching for your family’s past?

You can create your family tree using one of the many free genealogy products available online. You can also make a scrapbook with actual photographs if you and your teenager are more interested in that format. If you really want to teach your teenager about your family history, paint a family tree on a wall or on several pieces of poster board.

As with every genealogical search, you start with yourself. In this case, it would be your teenager in the first slot. You and your spouse would be numbers two and three. Then you would fill in your parents and your spouse’s parents in the appropriate spaces. Continue filling in the names as you remember or discover them.

Dig into your family’s background and find interesting stories about each family member. Of course, you’ll want to include pertinent factual information such as birth date, birth place, date of death, and place of burial, if appropriate. List the spouse or spouses, and each child from the marriage.

Your goal is to fill out as much of the family tree as possible, but it may take some time to find out the information you want. The best and easiest source to use when trying to find your family’s history is to speak with family. If you have older family members such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins, try to spend time with each one to see how many additional names they can add to your tree.

Pull together as many old photographs you can find. If your teenager is interested in computers (and how many teens aren’t these days), they may be willing to create a family blog or website where you can share your findings with other people in your family.

While you’re digging into your family history you’re doing more than teaching your teen about genealogy. You’re helping them learn about the people in their past and may be instilling in them a love of history that could become an important part of their future. In the process of searching for your family’s history, hopefully you and your teenager will grow even closer together.

I have torn feelings about the issue between the courts and the mom running with her 13 year old boy.The boy has cancer and the courts have issued an order that the boy has chemotherapy for the cancer.The family is refusing treatment due to religous beliefs, they practice a native american religion where the “religion is the medicine” according to them. He has Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which has an 80% survival rate with chemotherapy, thats pretty good odds. The boy understands what he is doing by refusing treatment but the judge said because the boy has a learning disability and can’t read because of it, he is unable to make an informed decision so they did it for him.

On the other hand this country was founded on religous freedoms and as long as we have that and the fact that the mother is trying other natural cancer treatments they should leave the family alone. There have ben other people in very similar situations that have lived by using natural cancer treatments, in fact they are becoming quite effective and gaining popularity. The treatment the family is believed to be trying has already been proven to work on Hodgkin’s lymphoma, so why is the court even getting involved? Not to mention the running from the law is surely causing the boy stress and making him weaker.

Why does the courts need to get involved in our personal business, no laws were being broken? They are treating the cancer, does it have to be the treatment they say and everything else is wrong? I am also not very fond of chemotherapy, it is basically a race, will it kill you or the cancer first. I have known or been related to many people who have had cancer and watching them go thru chemo is hard, I can’t imagine what they go thru. I guess I think they should let them do what they want for treatment. I thought America was free, we don’t need anybody telling us how to live or what to do.

The Event: A wedding to go to.

The Task: I needed a manicure.

The Dilemma: I couldn’t afford one!

The Solution: Sally Hansen’s 5 Minute French Manicure

I discovered this quite by accident while at the store to pick up a cheap travel size emery board that I could take to the wedding with me in my purse.  You get quite a bit for the cost, a pure white tip pen for drawing on (was a lot like using a magic marker) your “tips” and it also included a bottle of “base/top coat” and a bottle of “color polish”.  I followed the included step by step instructions and I had a pretty decent rendition of a french manicure at a fraction of the cost.

The feature I liked best about this product was the fact that there is enough liquid in the pen and polish in the bottles that I can get several manicures out of this one-time purchase and I can touch it up anytime I like when it is convenient for me.  No more depending on salon sales for my manicures/pedicures, I’d rather do it myself in the safety/cleanliness of my own home anyway.

Yesterday was the last day of my daughters ECDD class (special ed preschool) and I am sad. She has been in this class for 3 years with the same teacher. We got her in one year early and kept her in it for one extra year along with developemental kindergarden, just trying to give her every advantage.

Her teacher is wonderful and I will be sad to not have her next year as my daughter enters kindergarden. I think that my daughter is as well off as she is in school because of this teacher. She fought to get her all the help she could with occupational, speach, and developemental therapy, it is rare to see a teacher care for her students as much as she does.

We moved to the town we live in because of the education systems reputation and they have exceeded all expectations. This has given my daughter a very positive opinion of school and she loves going. There are many years left and I hope they haven’t got my daughters expectations set too high for the rest of her education. Maybe we will get lucky and her teacher will move to kindergarden for next year.

Your teenager may not always think highly of themselves, especially if they’re being teased by their peers. You may want to find ways of raising your teen’s self-esteem through the roof. Here are some ways you can do just that:

* Stop what you’re doing and pay attention to them when they are speaking to you. Yes, there are times it may be inconvenient to do so, but taking that time away from what you’re doing and concentrating solely on them can have such a positive impact on your teen’s self-esteem. It lets them know that you truly feel they are important.

* In the same vein as paying attention to your teen, listen to what they’re telling you. Let them know that you are actually hearing them by repeating some of what they’ve said to you back to them. You don’t have to do this with every sentence, but try it every so often rather than merely answering “uh huh” every once in a while.

* While you’re listening, don’t forget to ask questions. What better way is there to prove that you hear what they’re saying than to ask questions pertaining to what they’ve said? This will also give you an opportunity to learn something else about your teen that you may not have known.

* Praise your teen for the things they do right. There will be plenty of opportunities to bump heads with your teen, so make an effort to find them doing something right, and sincerely praise them when you do.

* Acknowledge your teen’s feelings, especially for your teenage sons. Teens may have problems expressing themselves adequately, so do what you can to encourage them to talk even if they have problems expressing their feelings.

* Never criticize your teen. If you get upset and must dole out punishment, make an effort to punish your teen’s behavior rather than your teen.

* Try to share some of your teen’s interests with them. This doesn’t mean that you have to be intimately involved in every detail of their lives, but you may want to begin working on a shared hobby together.

* Don’t belittle your teen if they seem insecure or fearful about the future. There are so many unknowns that your teen will be facing, it’s no wonder they may be insecure. You also don’t want to laugh at your teen or tease them about their insecurities. Doing so will damage their self-esteem rather than improving it.

* Talk to them about their future. Ask them what they would like to do. Do they want to attend college? Do everything you can to help that desire become a reality.

* Nurture your teen’s special talents. If your teen is interested in a sport or playing an interest, encourage them to go for it.

Loving and encouraging your teen has such a positive affect. It gives them the confidence they need to try new things and to look forward to the future. You may find that your encouragement is what’s needed to raise your teen’s self-esteem through the roof.

Well, it is a sad day when you realize that you don’t have your sister’s good looks, voice, moves, etc.  and are in fact, the ugly duckling of the family – in every sense of the word.  I still remain baffled as to why Solange Knowles insists on singing.  She looked like Lady Gaga on crack while performing her cover of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida.

The word “butchered” came to mind when I struggled for the actual word to describe her singing.  Some of the notes actually reminded me of my old cat, she howled in the same fashion when she was in heat.

I remain adamant that she should stick to whatever the heck she was doing prior to her attempted singing career.  Meanwhile, sister Beyonce’ keeps attempting to reinvent herself as a rap girl…give me a break, you are Mrs. Jay Z, not the man himself.  The Knowles sisters are out of control, at least Beyonce’ can still sing and has the looks and moves, etc. but as of late, they both make me throw up in my mouth a little when I see or hear them.

As for sister Solange…I say change her name to SO LONG and exit stage left.