Watkins Family Life

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to see the Spice Girls at Staples Center. I have to say that it was AWESOME!! No one went to that show to hear the powerful vocal talents of these 5 British beauties (they all looked amazing!)...oh no, we went to be a part of the spectacle that is Spice World! I will bet you that not one person walked out of that venue disappointed. From Posh Spice's Madonna/RuPaul walk down the stage's catwalk to Scary Spice pulling some dude from the audience and gyrating all over him...magnificent. You all know my taste in music, so of course I knew every word of every song and I belted them out along with the other 20 year olds in the crowd...that's right, you read me, 20 year olds (I averaged my age with my companions last night). Oh, did I mention that I was with two 17 year olds and a 15 year old? Not important. What IS important is that I let all of you people know how fun this concert was. Even those of you who mock me would have had fun...you wouldn't have admitted it, but you would have been highly entertained. I was a little envious of the fact that these women were being paid ridiculous amounts of money to "sing" and prance around in gorgeous Roberto Cavalli clothing, but my envy could not overpower the teenager-like glee that was bubbling inside me. I loved how the concert opened, I loved how it ended and I loved everything in between. If I had the money, I would go again tomorrow. Girl Power!!

So we went to the wonderful Montrose Christmas Parade on Saturday night and it was freezing! This isn't just California wussy style freezing, either -- it was like 45 degrees! I bought Kate a churro and soon found out that Jack wanted some, too. Who am I to deprive my 9 1/2 month old baby of the sugary sweet goodness that is a churro? Of course he loved it and didn't want it to leave his mouth! Nothing like getting your kids all hopped up on sugar at 6:00 pm to keep them from complaining about the cold! Hooray for churros!

So I guess I'm really doing this marathon thing. Thanksgiving was a training day for me, so I decided to run the annual Run for the Hungry 5K in La Canada. I had no idea how different it would be to run on the street, not the treadmill. The biggest difference - slight hills. My butt started burning right away! The most important thing is that I finished. I was pretty proud of myself and I had the best cheerleading squad around! Next up, another 5K in December.

Wow - this picture makes me a little teary. What happened to my baby? This picture was taken on Kate's 4th birthday (she got the rockin' scooter from Aunt Jana). That morning, I pulled out the pictures and showed her the day she was born -- it seems like just yesterday. I never would have believed that I could have such a beautiful little girl, but here she is. I'm a lucky Mommy. Happy Birthday, Kate!

Happy 4th Birthday Kate! This was the scene on Saturday night as Kate celebrated her 4th birthday (which is actually today). All the girls were decked out in their best princess gear to help the birthday princess check off another year. It was absolutely adorable to see all these little girls dancing in their gowns -- and Miss Amanda taught them a cute princess dance that they later performed for all the parents. It was a wonderful night.

Look at my little Dude. Jack is the cutest little guy in the whole entire world. I was at work yesterday and I got an email titled "Hi Mommy". When I opened it up, this was what I saw. It made my day. Work totally sucks but this is what I get to go home to! If that wasn't enough, I also get super hugs from Kate and love & support from the world's best husband. Life isn't so bad after all.

So I'm totally having a surreal moment right now. It's Saturday morning, I'm playing castle with Kate and we're watching Disney's Aladdin. While we're playing, I'm quoting almost every line of the movie in my head and it's taking me back to high school -- yeah, you heard me, high school. For some strange reason, we all loved the movie Aladdin in 12th grade and we would watch it all the time -- and we weren't dorks doing this. Needless to say, we watched it so much that the dialog and songs are forever burned into my memory -- this movie brings back strong memories of high school for me. So how do you think it feels to have my 4-year old daughter sitting on my lap watching the movie or dancing to the songs while I sing along? Super strange! We even played parts and sang 'Whole New World' to each other (she was stroking my face during the song). That was super weird because that song kind of reminds me of a high school crush! I guess the moral of this story is that it's really odd getting old. I'm sure I'll experience these moments more and more as my kids get older and start going through the things that I did -- I don't know if I'll ever get used to it, though.

Sometimes I wish I was a kid again. I had no worries - except maybe Tom hocking a loogie on me. Don't get me wrong, I've got a great life as a grown up, but sometimes it would be nice to go back - just for a day. It would be nice to ride my bike until it got dark, have some dinner, then watch the Facts of Life or the Cosby Show - if Dad would let us. What a life. By the way, look at what a sweet-looking bunch us Higginbotham kids were in 1980!

Here we are at the Big Bear Discovery Center. The mountain was closed for hiking and exploring because of the fires, but it was still beautiful. Kate and Jack got to touch different animal pelts (sweet) like bobcat, raccoon and bear. We had lots of fun.

Here are the two cutest kids in the world with their pumpkins on Halloween night. Sleeping Beauty cleaned up on candy and Captain Jack made it through the night without too much fuss. Oh, and Captain Jack's good looks got his mommy some candy too.

Kate and Jack got in a little pre-Halloween fun at the ward trunk-or-treat. Kate had a ton of fun with the carnival games, then cleaned up on candy. Jack was a good sport and kept his hat and hair on all night! How cute are they!

No, we didn't murder anyone in our shower - this is the aftermath of the Carrie costume preparation. Blood was everywhere! Little splatter drops in random places outside the shower - it was crazy! Good thing everything washed off - except my hair!

Didn't know that Bret Michaels and Carrie knew each other? Well they do - they actually live together! Bret decided to ask Carrie if she would stay in his house and continue to rock his world. Carrie accepted.

How awesome are these costumes! Please notice the details of Brian's guy-liner and lip gloss, as well as my corsage and bloody tiara. Unfortunately for me, the blood didn't wash off too well. It stained my skin a little and leaked through my wig and skull cap to tint my hair pink. It was totally worth it, though.

Jack kept smacking his gums at the pumpkin patch. Check out this sweet face with Uncle Rick -- Bitter Milk Face!

With the paparazzi surrounding the pumpkin patch, Kate decided to pose for them before entering the jumping pumpkin. Where would she learn to do that? Hmmm, baffling behavior.

After having so much fun with Melissa at Disneyland, there's no way I was leaving the digital camera at home for my Disneyland adventure with Tiina. As you can see, we had SO MUCH FUN!! Tiina's beauty always baffled me -- how could I not have even a little of those genes -- but I now have proof that we are related -- check our our twin neck muscles and neck wrinkles in these pictures! These lovely photos were not only taken on Big Thunder Mountain, but we do have a few from the Matterhorn -- super sweet! I highly recommend the digital camera thing on the rides. We laughed so hard that we had smoker coughs by the end of the day. Sexy! Click on the picture to see the set for yourself.

The Watkins Family visits Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch in Beverly Hills. The paparazzi was waiting outside to take our pictures, but we got away with the help of our bodyguards.

The Higginbotham clan has a new addition! The latest little dude (#5 if you're counting) arrived on Monday, October 1st. Michael Thomas Higginbotham weighed 8 lbs, 6 oz and both he and Shelly are good. Kate was disappointed that Tarzan was not selected as the official name, but she will try and work that in as a nickname. Brian and I generously gave Tom and Shelly our blessing to use the name Bobert Von, but as you can see, they decided to let us keep that special jewel of a name. We are so excited for Michael to be here and can't wait to meet him!

...Stays at Disneyland. Yeah, right! Melissa and I ventured to the land of Disney for a girls fun day and as you can see, we made the most of what the park has to offer. Sure, we did the rides -- Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, Matterhorn -- but we also did the stores. Nothing completes a day at Disneyland like a trip into the Frontierland Pioneer Mercantile to try on hats.
So after the hats, we ate lunch, ate after-lunch snacks and paid our respects to the dead at Dia de los Muertos in Frontierland. Despite the amazing day we had, we had no idea what the last 3 rides of the evening had in store for us. Again, I take you back to Frontierland and my personal favorite, Big Thunder Mountain. Never before have I been on this ride with a digital camera and I don't know how I have documented trips to Disneyland without one. Melissa told me that she liked a little danger...well she got a lot more danger than she expected.

Check out the sweet action pics from Big Thunder. I just kept taking pictures, regardless of my safety. I knew that you, the dedicated reader, would appreciate the risk involved in getting these priceless gems.

So I found out that 30 Days of Night is going to be a movie. The release date is October 19, 2007. Happy Halloween to me! Rock!

So I've got some excellent vampire books to recommend:

The 30 Days of Night series by Steve Niles is awesome. These books are based around vampire attacks in an Alaskan town during the winter...ergo the title. These books are graphic horror novels (okay, they're comic books), so reader beware...but if you like vampires, you'll love these.

For the lightweights and wussies, I recommend these:

The Anno Dracula series by Kim Newman is great. These books are cool because along with the author's characters, there are historical characters and famous fictional characters (like Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde or James Bond) who all play different roles in actual historical events. The kicker is that many of these characters are vampires living in a society where vampirism is accepted. Nice. I really enjoyed these books and got nerdily excited when familiar characters would come into play.

For those of you who need something a little more substantial in your vampire literature, I highly recommend The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. This book is excellent, even if you're not into vampires. This book is so well written and follows three different story lines from different time periods that all lead to Vlad Dracula.

Okay, those are my recommendations. There's something for everyone here, so read them then let me know what you think.

I always love my Utes regardless of their performance, but today I wanted to kiss them full on the mouth! It's always nice to see Utah win and even better to see them win big...but it touches my heart to see them kick the crap out such a pathetic crybaby team like UCLA.

"Waaahhhh, we're the Bruins...Why doesn't anyone pay attention to us? We're just as good as USC! Why don't you like us?"

Because you suck, that's why. 44-6. Ha Ha!

GO UTES!

Jack is hilarious. He just can't get enough of Molly. When Kate was little, all Molly had to do was swipe at her once and she learned. Jack is NOT taking Molly's hints. He thinks that she is amazing and he REALLY wants to play with her and eat her. I looked over from working and he was trying to eat her tail. Of course Molly wasn't okay with this, so she kept swiping and nipping at Jack. He wasn't phased. He would laugh every time she swiped at him. He even went as far as trying to put his mouth on her side! After that, he had fur all around his mouth. I know, I'm a bad mom...I didn't try and stop it...I just ran and got the camera. Check out the awesome pictures, though - he's got her tail in his mouth in the second picture! Unsanitary, I know, but awesome!

So it's only taken a few hours to start blogging random thoughts. I really thought I could hold off until tomorrow, but I can't. The kids are in bed and it's me time...finally! I can do what I've been looking forward to all day...reading my latest zombie book! I love zombie books! Because I'm a library geek, I am limited in my zombie book choices. However, that doesn't stop me from spending valuable time searching for zombie books that the library actually carries. After a long zombie drought (don't worry, I got by with vampires and hauntings) I have finally found a rockin' book. World War Z, An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (he also wrote The Zombie Survival Guide). World War Z acts as though zombies are a real thing and I LOVE that!!

Okay, I'm done. Seriously, just look into the book. Even if your not a freak like I am, this is a cool book. Do it. Look. You know you want to. I give you a no nightmare guarantee.

Welcome to the brand new Watkins family blog. I though this would be a great way to keep everyone updated about what's going on with our crazy family.

Life is good and things are rolling along here in La Crescenta. Brian is with CarryOn for a few more weeks, but he's interviewing a ton and looking for freelance work. To give him a little breather from all the craziness, he's going to Lake Powell next week. I am very jealous, but he deserves a break. Hopefully he'll come back with a little tan so he doesn't blind so many innocent people at the beach!

My job is going well. It's hectic, but good. For those of you who don't know, I'm Search Engine Manager for a web development/design/hosting/search engine optimization company called Mineral (formerly HiP Design). I decided that I didn't have enough to do with work and kids, so I'm also an alumni advisor for the TriDelta chapter at USC. It's super fun and lets me pretend that I'm not as old as I am. Our days are crazy and full, but we wouldn't have them any other way.

Kate and Jack are growing like weeds and we are constantly amazed at how lucky we are. Kate is almost 4. She has a hilarious personality and is getting smarter by the minute. She loves to make up crazy names for stuff - her pet rock is Kanko Pank and her Chia Pet-like duck is Ducky Pondalee. She picks up on everything everyone says - she immitates Grandma Higginbotham by saying that she's 'sweating like a pig' and is constantly talking on her 'cell phone' saying 'Are you serious? You've got to be kidding me!'. Kate loves princesses, dancing, singing and performing...I don't know where she picked up those traits. We are truly baffled.

Jack is 6 1/2 months and very mobile. Although he can't quite crawl yet, he rolls like a crazy baby and cannot sit still. He just got his two lower front teeth and he's taken to sucking on his tongue. Don't ask how he does this, but it's the cutest thing you've ever seen. He loves all food (even peas, which Kate says looks like poop) and is pushing the scales at 20 pounds...keep in mind, Kate is about 30 pounds.

That's it for now. Check in often because I'll update often. Who knows what randomness you will encounter, so it will definitely be worth the read. I'll be sure to put pictures up and let you all know what's going on in lovely La Crescenta!