party food

I am having a Pampered Chef party tomorrow night! I've never had one before, so it should be fun. The demonstration is "Beverages and Appetizers" so it is the perfect party for me to host since I love party food. Olivia says I remind her of Cher in "Mermaids."

For those of you thinking, Um, Erin, you don't look anything like Cher, I say: Duh. Rent the movie, people.

For those of you too lazy to rent the movie, I say: Fine. (sigh) Cher's character only served finger foods. Ever. And it is a really good movie, so you should still rent it.

bad hair! bad!

I have got to take a shower. I look like Criss Angel Mind Freak:


Without the jewelry.

Duck on a Bike

This is the Lion's favorite book. We read it together every evening before bed.

He loves to point to all of the animals and shout out their names. "Duck! Chicken! Beep! (Sheep)" He even points to the random animals (some butterflies, a bird and a frog) that are not instrumental to the story. They are just decorations on the page but the Lion points to them as well and shouts their names.

There is a picture in this book of a bunch of little kids riding bikes. It's a 2 page spread. Lion always points to the boy riding out in the lead and yells "Daddy!" For some reason, "Mommy!" is the little black girl riding beside him, which always cracks Jonathan up.

I Must Needs These Items

hmmm

I don't even drink tea.

brand spanking new stuff!

Um, hi, my name is Erin and I have a problem.

I was in Marshall's today with Blue. I don't even remember why I went in there.

Anyway. I was in there. And I fell in love. I saw this teapot of the Tower of London. And one of the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. And one of a double decker bus. And one of a red phone booth.

I cannot explain or even describe what happened next. But I did at least call Jonathan to tell him I was buying all four of them for myself.   A month before Christmas.

I now have a teapot collection. I collect teapots. I have gone from being a woman with one serviceable Ikea teapot to a woman with a teapot collection. In a matter of minutes.

I love my new collection. It is so awesome! I can't wait to show it to the DWAFS. I can't wait to get one of those Anne Boleyn teapots. And Henry VIII. Is there a Jane Austen teapot anywhere out there?

Rose River Trail

On Saturday, er, I mean, yesterday some members of the Biggest Loser Fredericksburg went on a 4 mile hike in Shenandoah National Park. It was a beautiful cold day. It was a beautiful hike. Although I was sadly disappointed by the complete lack of wildlife. I think I have been spoiled by my previous trips to Shenandoah and duped into thinking the wildlife are shameless paparazzi lovers. Seriously. I usually see insane amounts of deer. Gobs of them. And I've even seen black bears. This time? Nothing. Zip. Nada.

But we did catch this action:


Must be mating season. Check out Olivia's face. Classic. I am merely admiring the beauty of the world around me while y'all can just go on with your bad selves. Or something to that effect.

I lovelovelove this picture. Notice how I am so completely bundled up and Katherine is wearing a tshirt:


And this one:


And this one of Katherine, the Amazon queen. Not because she's tall, but because she looks like a warrior. No Retainer Girl in sight.


And this one of Olivia, that she yelled at Jonny not to take and which she will most likely hate, but that I think is an amazing picture. (Um, Katherine, how were all those thats and whichs? Did I do okay?))



So after the awesomeness of the hike, we stopped in Culpeper on the way home and ate dinner in a little diner that had oldies in the jukebox and cheeseburgers for $3.95. What a wonderful day!