If any of you are like me, you have a terrible time finding Halloween costumes for your growing girls. Eventually, they get a little big for ladybugs, butterflies and angels and they are ready to branch out into different costumes. But, just because she's wearing adult sizes now, does not mean I want her looking like this!
By the way...if you could get past the fact that her boobs were about to explode out of her outfit, this is a Ghostbusters costume. Really?? I'd love to see Dan Aykroyd in this!
I have always struggled with finding costumes for Jordan since she has always been tall for her age. We always had to buy "up" a size or two to get them to fit. Unfortunately, that meant buying girls sizes when she was still a toddler...tween sizes when she was still a little girl...and now adult sizes when she's just 14. Although, I've told her that she's about max-ed out the age when she should be trick-or-treating anyways - so this won't be a problem for much longer. This is probably her last year. But, I know there are other mom's out there that are having a hard time too. For some reason, the costume makers think we all want to look "sexy". I can't tell you how many "sexy" costumes are out there. It's in the name too! Sexynurse, sexy flight attendant, sexy witch, the list goes on. This is NOT okay for our kids!! It is sending all the wrong messages to our girls! Here are a few examples of Jordan's costumes over the past few Halloweens.
Apparently, I didn't take any pictures of her costume from last year (age 13) that showed the whole outfit, but this was it. Super cute...not too short. We loved it!
This was her costume the year before at , at age 12. Super cute but yet still modest. We had a ton of fun loading on the gold eye shadow and the fake eyelashes.
Halloween, age 11.
Halloween, age 10.
Definitely, my favorite...Halloween, age 9.
I thought we've done a pretty good job keeping her costumes fun yet modest. On the other hand, I want to show you just a few of the "options" for our girls... (((Just a side note...these are all found under the "teen" costumes.)))
Little Miss Riding Hood
Sexy Supergirl
Spanish Senorita
Unicorn
Obviously, these are a HUGE"I DON"T THINK SO!!" from me. Tooshort...too "sexy" and not at all appropriate for our teenage girls to be wearing.
Am I saying that no one e.v.e.r should wear these? Not at all...it's not my place to tell anyone (other than MY child) what they can and cannot wear. Obviously, these would look much different on an 18 or 19 year old than on a 13 or 14 year old...but I still think they look a little on the hoochy side no matter what the age. That's not to say there aren't cute costumes out there. There are. But you have to wade through a lot of bad ones to get to the good ones. And I seriously mean A LOT! I searched for a while this afternoon and was only able to find a few that I both 1) thought my daughter would want to wear and 2) that I would be comfortable buying for her. Here are a few...
This raccoon was super cute, I thought. The boots aren't included, but I think everything else is.
The Sock Hop one was really cute too. Not too short but still fun!
Some might thing this one is a little cheesy, but I think this girl's Captain America costume is super cute!
Other than the Raccoon one, this Thor costume is my favorite.
The modest costume ARE out there. You just have to be diligent to find them and not just give up and go the easy way out.
Thankfully, this year Jordan and a friend are dressing up like Katniss and Rue from the Hunger Games - which means cargo pants and a vest, maybe a bow and arrow. That's my kind of costume!
Good luck to you all. And when in doubt...you can't have too many Wonder Women out there! :)
Jordan, my 14 year old daughter (for those that don't know), decided Monday night that we needed to do a whole post dedicated to hot guys. Because, as we all know, that is what most 14 year old girls think about. So, to satisfy her needs...and because it honestly sounded like cheap fun...we created this list. Most of the guys were mutual decisions by the two of us but you may notice that some of these choices are very influenced by said 14 year old.
Enjoy...discuss...throw out your suggestions for your favorites. :)
I had never heard of Jason Momoa until I stumbled on a short-lived show called North Shore back in 2004. I didn't hear much about him after the show was cancelled until recently when I learned he was cast in the 2011 remake of Conan the Barbarian.
Fun fact...In his mid-teens he became the youngest lifeguard in the history of the Gulf Coast.
Casey is a Days of our Lives cast member. He plays Chad Peterson DiMera. Only acting since 2009, he's managed to snag roles on the 90210 reboot, Wizards of Waverly Place and Body of Proof as well as his role on Days.
Random fact...He was an avid skateboarder for 10 years and competed at the age of 17 in the 2004 Vans World Amateur Competition. A severe head injury forced him to take some time off from skateboarding.
Kodjoe was born in Vienna, Austria to a German psychologist father and a Ghanaian physician mother. He went to Virginia Commonwealth University on a tennis scholarship. He still has the 9th best record in the school's history with 75 wins. A back injury ended his tennis career and he was quickly signed as a model with acting following soon after.
Milo is probably best know for his role as Peter Petrelli on Heroes from 2006-2010. He's been doing mostly voice work since it's end as Logan/Wolverine in the Wolverine anime series.
Random fact...Milo has been a lacto-vegetarian since birth. (A lacto-vegetarian is one that eats a vegetarian diet that includes milk, cheese, butter, yogurt etc., but excludes eggs.)
Ok...most of you probably don't know who this is - so I'll let you in on a little secret...he's on Days of our Lives as Rafe Hernandez...probably one of the most perfect men on daytime TV. *swoon*
Galen moved to New York City at age 18 and work as a model while going to NYU. He moved to Miami and finished his college at the University of Miami with honors while filming the now-cancelled Passions. He's been a part of Days of our Lives since 2009.
Fun fact...Galen used to play Pro-Am beach volleyball.
We haven't heard much from Colin Farrell in the last few years since his wave of movies in the early 2000's in films like Minority Report, Phone Booth, S.W.A.T, and Miami Vice. He's still been making movies - just ones that, it seems, no one is watching.
In 2011, he had a much talked about performance in the comedy Horrible Bosses and is starring in the re-make of Total Recall which is in post-production.
Shemar is probably most well known for starring as Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless from 1994-2005. He since moved into prime-time with a co-starring role on Criminal Minds as Derek Morgan from 2005-present. He was also a the third permanent host of Soul Train from 1999-2003. He has also had a very successful modeling career.
Fun fact...Shemar's name is a combination of the first 3 letters of both his father's and mother's names. Sherrod - his father and Marylin - his mother.
Orton is a WWE Smackdown regular. He is a third-generation wrestler following his grandfather, Bob Orton and his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton. He signed on to WWE in 2001 and had his first official appearance in 2002. Orton is known for his signature move, the "RKO", a jumping cutter named after his initials.
Fun fact...Randy was the youngest World Champion in wrestling history winning the WWE Raw Title at 24. Also, in high school, he was a straight A student.
Zachary first starting acting in 2000 - but became a sensation during his run as the serial killer Sylar on Heroes. He has since gone on to play an eerily similar resemblance to Leonard Nimoy as a young Spock on the big screen reboot of Star Trek.
Fun fact...Zachary is the only person to appear on the cover of Entertainment Weekly two weeks in a row.
This is definitely one of Jordan's picks. Although, I must say, I don't disagree with this one.
Mark started acting in 1996, but focused mostly on his music career and released a solo album in 2008. He was cast as Noah Puckerman on the instant hit show Glee in 2009.
Random Fact...Mark is a member of the James Hunter Wildlife Rescue charity.
No matter how many movies he makes - or Sexiest Man Alive covers he wins - he will always be Will Tippin to me. :) I absolutely loved him on Alias. Disheveled and determined...he was just too adorable.
Harry plays Mike Chang on the hit show Glee. He is an unbelievable dancer! He has also been in several dance movies such as Stomp the Yard and Step Up 2 and Step Up 3D.
His mother is a native of Hong Kong and his father hails from Guangzhou, China. His parents moved to Costa Rica where Harry and his two sisters were born. They moved to San Francisco when Harry was six, which actually made Spanish his first language. He also speaks English and Chinese.
Harry is also a member of the dance troupe LXD (League of Extraordinary Dancers). Here's a sample:
Fun fact...Harry is one of the iPod silhouette dancers.
Statham is known for his kick-boxing and martial arts skills. This has enabled him to perform most of his own stunts in movies like 2002's The Transporter. He was a model for French Connection before being cast in Guy Ritchie's 1998 movie, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Probably his most well-known roles are from the Transporter series and the muscle-tastic film The Expendables that featured the best of the best of action stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, and Terry Crews.
Fun fact...Before his acting career, Jason was an Olympic diver and was once ranked #12 in the world. Also, while most divers begin training at around age 4 or 5, Statham didn't start diving until he was 15.
Most people will wonder why he isn't up higher on the list...and well, I don't know. ((remember, I compiled this list with the aide of a 14 year old.))
This was one Jordan and I had no trouble agreeing on.
As rough and tough as Diesel looks, he actually enrolled in Hunter College as an English major but left after 3 years to attempt to further his acting career. After struggling in Hollywood for a year, he returned to New York and wrote a short film based on his acting experiences called Multi-Facial in 1995 for $3000.00. Multi-Facial was accepted at the Cannes Film Festival where it was screened to a standing room only crowd. Steven Spielberg saw Multi-Facial and wrote a role in his Saving Private Ryan especially for him, giving Diesel his first major film role.
As if you don't know, Beckham is a world-famous soccer player from London, England. He currently plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy. He also has a very lucrative modeling and endorsement career. He is known almost as much for his fashion sense and changing hairstyles as his soccer career.
The movie Bend It Like Beckham refers to him as the main character is a girl in love with the game. In the movie, she even uses his poster on the wall as a confidante. Beckham and his wife even have a cameo in the film.
Random fact...He wears a new pair of shoes for every soccer game.
Tatum was cast in the Ricky Martin video She Bangs in 2000. By 2002 he was modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch and Armani. He was soon filming television commercials, landing national spots for Pepsi and Mountain Dew. He had his first real acting job in 2004 on an episode of CSI: Miami and decided to pursue acting full time. His first film role came in 2005's Coach Carter with Samuel L. Jackson.
Boo-ya baby!! He was so unbelievably close to first place - it was practically a tie.
Johnson is an actor and professional wrestler with with WWE. I still refer to him as "The Rock" even though he's a "legitimate" actor now, starring in movies like The Scorpion King, Race to Witch Mountain, and Fast Five.
He was a football player at the University of Miami and a member of the 1991 national championship team. He, like Randy Orton (#13), is a third generation wrestler like his grandfather, Peter Maivia, and his father, Rocky Johnson. With his 16 championships, he is widely considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. He continues to wrestle today and is one of the few that has transitioned between wrestling and acting successfully.
Fun fact...His $5.5 million paycheck for The Scorpion King earned him a place in the Guiness Book of World Records as his salary was the highest for anyone with top billing for the first time.
The Rock and Vin Diesel's Fast Five co-star is, quite possibly, one of the best looking people have ever seen. And...I don't usually go for blondes, but he is just purty. Those ice blue eyes are pretty darn mesmerizing.
His career started early. As a toddler, he appeared in a Pampers commercial. He began modeling at age 2 and by 8 was appearing in TV shows like Highway to Heaven and Who's The Boss?. Although his film career began in 1986, it wasn't until 2001's The Fast and The Furious that he had his breakout role.
Walker has since gone on to film 5 more Fast and the Furious movies with the latest one to be released in 2013. Although the Fast series is definitely his most popular, he has had success with other movies such as: Joy Ride, Into The Blue, Eight Below and Flags of our Fathers.
Fun fact...He auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker but was too old for the part. He has said that was the only role he's ever really wanted. (((Didn't I tell you he was perfect?? Great looking and a Star Wars fan!)))
Of course, that's not everyone. We had a few more so, in the "Close but not Quite" category, we have these for you:
So much has happened in the last 2 months...I almost don't even know where to start. I felt the need to do a little catching up on what all has been going on. When I last posted, we were getting ready to go on our beach vacation to Destin. We had such a fabulous time. I had scoured the almighty internet for different things for us to do while we were there. We ended up going to the Gulfarium, the Emerald Coast Science Center, a fantastic dolphin cruise, and the Gulf Breeze Zoo. There was also the beach - which we managed to spend several hours at each day.
The Beach!!
Dolphin Cruise
To cap off the trip...I made a little video.:)
When we came back, we were in full baseball mode with Myles. He had a game every Saturday during April and May. Their team did so good! We were so proud of the little ones - especially since several of them had never played before. The video I made for it is such a perfect representation of how each game went...non-stop action!
At the end of May, we got rain...lots and lots of rain. Nashville had a record breaking amount of rainfall over the first two days of June. Thankfully, our home - and the homes of our families were spared from the flood waters. Not everyone was so fortunate. There was widespread destruction. We were out of touch with my parents for almost a day when they lost phone and internet service. Their area of town was heavily affected. I was a nervous wreck...with flood waters creeping up on our back porch and the reports from the news...I was so glad when the rains finally stopped.
Because of all the rain, Jordan's first softball season got off to a late start. She did so good for her first season. She managed to hit a grand-slam home run and a double at her first game! She ended up playing lots of different positions: left field, right field, catcher and first base. She played the most at first and did a super job making some great plays. So proud of her!
We just celebrated Father's Day last Sunday. Terrance told me not to spend any money on a gift for him. I ended up only spending $1.29 to download a song from i-tunes and made him this...
Last, but certainly not least, Myles lost his first tooth yesterday!!
So much has been going on these last few weeks, I feel like I needed to do a little blogging to catch up.
Myles has started his "official" baseball practice. He has been practicing with Terrance for a while now but had his first practice this past Monday night. And man!!...was it cold out there! Jordan and I about froze our buns off watching his practice. But, there was noway this mama was going to miss her baby's first practice. :)
Poor thing, he looked like a little lost sheep when he first walked out onto the field - but he quickly figured out what he was supposed to do. We know one of his coaches - Terrance used to work with him. The other two seem like great guys with a lot of patience for the little ones. They started off with a little stretching...
Followed by a little practice running around the bases and watching the coaches on when to stop and when to keep running...(Myles is the blur)
Followed by some batting practice...
They were so cute out there! I especially loved it when the coaches would tell them to stop - as in stop at that base - and they would just stop running...wherever they were. lol Too cute! He has another practice Saturday afternoon and are thrilled that the weather is supposed to be quite a bit warmer.
Jordan has also been signed up for spring softball - but her practices have not been set and we don't really have a schedule for her yet. But, she is ready to play! She really hasn't played much organized sports since she quit playing soccer a few years ago. It will do her good to get out and get playing with a team again.
This past Saturday night was our church's Valentino's. It is a dinner and variety-type show put on by the youth group. Technically, our church only has two high school aged kids - so they enlisted help from the four middle school kids, of which Jordan is one. They serve a dinner of lasagna and salad with tiramasu for dessert. After dinner, the kids put on a show. I was a little worried about the show this year, I admit. Only one of the kids had ever performed in the show before, so I was a little worried that they would be overwhelmed serving all the dinners and then performing in the show. Plus...I was on-hand for the practices and - to put it kindly - it was chaotic!! Also, Jordan's partner in both of their songs was gone for most of the final rehearsals the day of the show because she had a soccer game. But, she made it back in time and they totally surprised me and pulled it all together for the show. They all did a fabulous job! It was hilarious! Jordan's acting classes have obviously paid off. :) What a ham! Finally, yesterday was my big post-op ear appointment where they were going to give me an audio test to determine how much hearing I had lost. On the good side, they said I had "considerable improvement" in the hearing in my right ear since the surgery. I am not to where I was before I started having all the problems - and probably never will be - but it is definitely better than where I was right before the surgery, since I was basically deaf in that ear. I apparently have an artificial bone in my ear...didn't know that...that they had to put in to replace one of the bones they removed. The doc said the hearing usually doesn't improve much once they put an artificial bone in - so he was pleased with my results.
On the bad side, my left ear drum has started to cave in some. I'm not sure what all that means at this point - but he said there is supposed to be some space between the bones of the middle ear and the drum and there isn't in my left ear. It is not completely caved in - just partially. It is something he said we are going definitely going to have to keep an eye on, along with the possiblity of cholesteotoma re-growth in my right ear. He said if it continues to cave in, he will either have to - possibly - put in some tubes or basically do the same surgery on the left side to rebuild the eardrum. Sounds fun...doesn't it?!? It looks like I will be dealing with this for the rest of my life.
But, all-in-all, I am thankful every day for the ability to hear. My doctor is great and has told me to contact him if there is any problems - basically telling me to never never ever go back to my regular doctor for anything concerning my ears. :) I can live with that.
