Alice a Hit With My Tween and Her Friends

As I mentioned last week there was a new mini series on the SyFy Channel entitled Alice. Basically a different look at the story of Alice. A very different look than the Disney version I saw as a child and to be completely honest I haven't had time to sit and watch it though I will at some point. I caught a few minutes only.

My 12 year old however went to a sleepover on Saturday and they watched all 4 hours of the mini series. They loved it. They fell in love with the Mad Hatter who was played by Andrew Lee Potter. Apparently there is a romance between him and Alice. I know that didn't happen in the Disney version. They love him more than Edward and Jacob from Twilight. That I can't believe, but hey he must be the flavor of the week. He is cute. I guess the chemistry between him and Alice was very well done. When my daughter came home from school today she said they were starting a fan club for him. I thought that was so cute. They're really serious about it. They even have an idea for a t shirt.

I look forward to seeing it now. I need to find the time. Someone out there needs to add more time to the day. I'm just so busy getting ready for the holidays now there is no time to sit and enjoy a good show on the TV. I guess that's why they show so many reruns this time of year.

Again I thank the brilliant people who created the DVR and on demand. It makes it so much easier to catch up on things I missed.

A Really Long Day

It's Sunday. I wanted to get a lot of things done today. The good news is that I pretty much got everything done I wanted to do. The bad is that it's about 10 pm and I am sitting down for the first time today. I'm totally exhausted, but happy at the same time that I got what I set out to do done.

Since it's Sunday I always get every one's clothes ready for the week. Since my girls wear uniforms they have to be ironed. It's a pain, but it must be done. I don't care if they say the clothes are wrinkle free they still look wrinkled to me and my kids don't go to school looking sloppy. So I spent some time doing all the laundry and ironing.

I went on my treadmill for about an hour because if I don't no one will do it for me. I always feel lousy when I don't work out in some way.

Before I knew it the day was coming to a quick close. I made a nice dinner which I along with my 8 year old had to wolf down as she had dance practice for the holiday show she's in. She's in the opening number this year and she's had I think 4 extra practices that have all landed on the weekend. It was pouring out so it was a pain getting there. I dropped her off only to return an hour and a half later. When I came back there was no where to park because it was almost the whole dance studio practicing. The waiting room had no room as there were coats, bags and Ugg boots everywhere. Luckily her class was one of the first to be dismissed and we made our way to the car. She was so happy. She had the best time and is so excited to be in the opening number with all the older kids. That made it all worth it even if we were both soaked.

When I got home I had to hurry her into a bath and get ready to make my chocolate truffles. I make them every Christmas and give them as gifts. It is a very long and tedious process, but one I wanted to get done today. I have to make the chocolate mixture that is the soft inside of the truffle and then let it harden for about an hour. When it hardens I have to roll it into balls. This takes forever. Sometimes the girls help me, but because I started so late they couldn't help. I finally finished and they are all in the frig and ready to be covered with another layer of chocolate tomorrow. No time left to do that tonight, but I never thought I'd get to that so I'm done for today.

I am so tired right now and my bed is looking very inviting. I'll be heading there very soon.

The Princess and the Frog

Well as far as my daughter and I are concerned Disney has a winner here with The Princess and the Frog. My husband and I took them to the 10:30 am showing this morning. I have to say I'm a huge fan of early morning movies. They tend to be less crowded and it leaves the rest of the day for other things. Not to mention the fact that it's cheaper. We were lucky this morning as we had two free tickets to the movie that we received while we were in Disney World in November. It was a great deal. If you had purchased entrance into any of the Disney Parks you received one free child's movie ticket so since there was two of us we got two tickets good only till the end of December. Never the less it's expensive to see movies so when you get any kind of discount you have to take advantage. My girls both wanted to see this and to be honest so did I. I love all the princess movies.

So how was it. It was fabulous. It had everything that I have been missing lately in Disney movies. I know that 3D is the new thing, but honestly I don't enjoy them all that much. I don't care for the glasses and well I just prefer the way the old movies look. My 8 year old hates 3D movies. She completely freaks out. Needless to say I loved the animation in this movie it was colorful and real. The characters were fabulous. Tiana is a wonderful addition to the princesses. She's a hard working girl that you really route for. You want her to get her dream and it's wonderful to watch her fall in love. The prince is also very entertaining and you really see him grow up throughout the movie. The supporting cast of characters are also great. You really come to love Louis the crocodile and Ray the firefly. Oh and Tiana's friend Charlotte is hysterical.

The villain wasn't too scary though he may frighten really small children though none in our theater seemed disturbed and we had some real little ones in there. They kept him very colorful. My girls weren't bothered by him though they are 8 and 12.

My youngest loved the movie she really liked Louis and Charlotte. She thought they were hilarious. Oh and I should mention that my daughter loves frogs. In fact if you ask her what her favorite animal is she'll answer a red eyed tree frog. I have no idea why she has just always liked them. Her favorite color is green so she loved that the princess turned into a frog and then her dresses seemed to always have a shade of green in them. This princess won my daughter at the get go.

My advice go see this movie whether you have children or not it is vastly entertaining. The music is wonderful the animation refreshing and the message wonderful. You should always work hard for your dreams to come true, but never loose sight of what's important.

Christmas Shopping Done

That's it I'm done. I have just returned from the mall with my girls. It was crazy packed which I wasn't really expecting. Usually after school and dinner time it tends to quiet down. Well not today. We only got a parking spot because we were lucky enough to go down an aisle when someone was leaving. It was a great spot too so that was good.

The mall was so hot probably because it was so full. I couldn't wait to get out of there and wouldn't you know my daughter couldn't decide what she wanted to get her friend for secret Santa. Oh and not to mention when we enter a mall they want to go in all their usual stores. I understand that and I tried to accommodate, but it was hot and I was tired and hungry. I'm still hungry. I have to make dinner, but I really don't want to get off the couch where I'm typing this.

We finally were able to find what we were looking for and I can't think of any other presents I need to purchase. I don't have to go back to the mall and I don't plan to. I don't think they'll miss me though. That place was packed like sardines.

Of course this doesn't mean I'm done with Christmas stuff. I still have other things to do, but I'm done with the mall. The surprising thing is my girls wanted to leave as badly as I did. That never happens.

No More Glee Till April

I can't believe there won't be another episode of Glee until April and neither can my daughter and her friends. They are not happy. They look forward to this show every week and so do I.

The fall finale as they called it was great. The didn't leave us hanging which I appreciated, but they did leave us wanting more. Let me give you a quick run down of what happened in the exciting fall finale.

First off Rachel tells Finn that Quinn's baby is actually Puck's baby. He was so not happy and quit the Glee club and wanted nothing to do with any of them. Also Mr. Shue is unable to go to Sectionals so he asks Emma to take over for him which causes her fiance to get angry. At sectionals the group finds out that the other two groups have stolen their numbers because Sue leaked their set list. This set things in motion for the dramatic return of Finn who comes to save the day with an awesome song choice. You Can't Always Get What You Want It was great one of the best ones all season. Oh and by the way Rachel did an amazing solo to Don't Rain On My Parade The girl really is talented. The final song they did was My Life Would Suck Without You The kids sang this for Mr. Shue when they get back from sectionals. They won by the way.

Oh I almost forgot Sue was suspended for leaking the set list and basically recking havoc on the Glee Club. Yeah justice for a change. She vowed to return and really go after them. Should be an awesome spring. Oh and the best part is Mr. Shue running to stop Emma from leaving the school. She quit when her fiance dumped her and she decided it was just too hard to look at Mr. Shue and be heartbroken. Apparently she doesn't have to worry about that because the episode ended with a kiss. Now what will happen? I have no clue but I look forward to more. I just can't believe we have to wait till April to get new episodes. It's just not right.

The Snow Day That Should Have Been

I knew it was coming honestly I did. I saw the weather last night and so did my girls. It called for snow changing over to rain When the change over would come and how much snow we would get was a mystery. It's always a mystery. It's not the weather mans fault. Things change hour to hour around here. We're used to this.

Well I woke up this morning and looked out my window and it was really snowing. I thought well the girls probably have the day off or at least a delay. Oh no there would be none of that. I checked on the Internet and they had school so I woke them and my husband early because I knew the ride would be horrible. My oldest was fit to be tied. She looked outside and looked at me like I was crazy for telling her she had school. She grumbled until she got in the car. I suspect she grumbled all the way to school. I don’t blame her. Who doesn't want a snow day? Snow days rock as my 8 year old would say. You get to hang around in your pj's and watch movies and go out and play in the snow. What's better than that?

Well a tractor trailer couldn't get up a hill near my house because the roads were not plowed well. This caused a major back up. My husband sat on that street for a good half an hour. He managed to get them to school by 9:15. That wasn't really all that bad, but he told me most of the buses hadn't even arrived at the school yet so the girls weren't marked tardy. I really didn't care if they were I was aggravated they had school at all because it didn't look like it was going to clear up anytime soon.

Around 1:00 I was volunteering at my 8 year old's art class so I headed to the school. It finally changed over to rain and honestly it just made things a sloppy mess. It was just gross. Oh and the school parking lot wasn't plowed yet. I don't know what was taking them so long. Inside the school everyone was complaining about the ride in and what a mess it was out. I told them it really wasn't getting that much better. When I came out of the art class I was thrilled to find the plows had arrived and were plowing me in. This day just keeps getting better. I quickly got to my car getting my pants soaked in the process and headed out of the parking lot. I had to return an hour later at this point we were having terenchal rain and the wind was blowing like crazy.

I'm finally at home and happy to be here out of this awful weather. It amazes me how crazy the weather can be here in New England. As I sit here and type this we are having a thunder and lightening storm. This has been one crazy day that I wish could have been spent at home. Let me rephrase that it's a day I should have spent at home.

Wisp a Great Product for Tweens with braces

Most tweens need braces. It's just part of growing up. You go to the dentist and then wham it's time to visit the orthodontist. This was not a surprise. Honestly, I knew my daughter would need braces and she wanted them badly. When I was taking pictures she would try to hide her teeth. I felt so bad. She had prefect baby teeth, but when the new ones grew in they grew out a little too far. It's normal for that to happen and can be fixed very quickly by braces. In fact she's had her braces for almost a year and you can really see the difference.

One of the great things I've discovered in this whole process is this great product Wisp that Colgate put out there. It's a tiny toothbrush that already has a dab of toothpaste on it and no rinsing is required. It's so great for her to take to school to brush her teeth quickly after lunch. It's a pain for her to bring a toothbrush and toothpaste. Food is always getting stuck in the braces. When I pick her up after school for her tightening she can quickly brush them in the car. They are truly a great invention. They come in 3 flavors peppermint, spearmint and cinnamint. My daughters favorite flavor is cinnamint.

I love anything that makes my life easier and this definitely does so thanks Colgate. Of course I always wonder why didn't I think of that?