Chris Brown and Elmo Singing on Sesame Street

I want to have lunch with Chris Brown and Elmo! If Rihanna wants to come, that works too.

Welcome to Chez McGann, where we are finally seeing the first signs of fall. Very strange to have an Autumn wreath on the front door and a palm tree out back.

So Fall is officially here. Well, at least that's what they say. I'm not seein' it, but guess we knew that would be the case. Not sure I'm gonna love this no-change-'o'-season thing, but I'm also not so sad to ponder life without the long Budapest winter. Will get back to you on that one when I'm decorating a palm tree in December :) On another note - although I'm OTT excited that I can actually watch live college football, it just seems weird in this setting. Go Bucks. We are hoping for some Badger stew tonight. I've told the hubby that I'm watching the game, which most likely means he will find something else to do. Eventually, we will break him, and he will like it. Mr. Fekete, we need to get you on task here - there has to be a way to get him geeked about sports. I don't want him to be a complete nutter like you, just want him to enjoy the occasional sporting event.

It's not like he doesn't have lots of other opportunities to enjoy sports in this town. The Tampa Bay Rays are in the playoffs (beat the Whitesox again tonight, so they're 2-0 in the series). Superbowl 2009 is in Tampa. And I just realized that the NCAA Basketball Championships are here in March. Hello? You have to be able to find something to follow, no? I'm no Sporty Spice, but I'm happy to watch all of the above, on the idiotbox, or on the scene. Did I mention that Tampa has pro hockey too?

Anyway, hope this finds everyone back in the full swing of school and work, getting ready for cooler weather, and enjoying your days.

I know I'm a total goober, but I'm always taking photos of stuff around the house and posting them - somehow everyone doesn't feel so far away if I can share the dumb stuff too. That really doesn't need to make sense, just want to put it out there.

I owe tons of people emails and phone calls - I apologize for being MIA in the last couple weeks. Promise I'm working on emails too. There's not really much in the way of an update. The kids continue to find their way and make some new friends. The boys started tennis lessons last week. They have a private lesson together Mon and Weds, and everyone (including Dad) is happy with their new coach. We have discovered that there's alot lacking in the 'basics' department (i.e. what they are bringing to their game), things like footwork and overall stamina that they have to work on. They have the option to join a competitive league in the spring if they bust their butts for the next few months. They also start golf lessons tomorrow, and will have lessons every Sunday until they can at least hit the ball, then they will switch to a group clinic on Sundays after that. Just bought myself some good sports bras, and have decided I'm gonna give it a whirl too - I was completely rejected when I tried to golf in college because my darn boobs were too big :)

Keira started tennis lessons Wednesday, once a week. She seems to really like it and is very excited to finally use her new racket (thanks Aunt Erika and Uncle Curt). She's also doing a gymnastics class on Thursdays. We've decided to hold off on the karate thing for now, as she's got enough going on.

Speak of the devil, here she is concocting lunch by the pool last weekend...

Her hair is getting blonder by the day, if that's possible. And she's still not parting with her Euro-bikini, which is all the rage for 4-year-olds there, but not so totally appropriate here in ultra-conservative central Florida. I even bought a more modest version, and she's having none of it.

What's new McGoo? Well...
The highlight of last weekend. We went to Barnes and Noble and got to meet Ronde Barber (Buccaneers Cornerback, #20 - http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/3985), who just published his fifth book for young readers, Go Long. Liam's class had a football theme last week, and his teacher read the last book, Kickoff, to them in class. I went with my stereotyping in full gear, expecting to find a meatheady guy that has someone writing books for him while he cashese the checks. Turns out not only is he a pretty intelligent guy, he's definitely not hard on the eyeballs. Oooh la la! The boys stood patiently in line for a good 90 minutes waiting to meet him.

Jake, Riley and Liam, trying to figure out what they want written in their books.

Liam, Robert, and Riley

Jacob, Riley's new BFF

The face says it all - he's still as rotten as the day is long...

So, in the absence of a Bucs jersey (it's now on the Christmas list), Liam decided to wear his Maryland Terps jersey. Same colors, but not quite what Ronde had in mind (he went to the University of Virginia). It was a great ice breaker, but Liam turned twelve shades of red when he got razzed about it.

Keira and her new friend Allyson (Robert's sister) also got to pick out books. They obviously weren't quite as excited about all the fooball mumbo jumbo.

In other hot news this week, Liam is very happy with his new Chuck Taylors. Bit of work in the morning to get them tied just right, but it's worth it.

He's sporting the wrap-around tie, which I wasn't sure about, but he's very happy with himself so what am I gonna say?

Meeting the neighbors... These Sandhill Cranes are so cool. Sometimes I just look out the front door, and there they are in the front yard. Bea (our little Yorkie) is not thrilled about the new feathered friends, she totally freaks out when she sees them cruising around. Keira is into the bird thing at the moment, so we just went to the library and found a book on these guys.

Other wildlife sightings in the front yard...

Last week we went to check out the tennis class. Here's Keira trying it on for size.

This week she was all suited up and ready to play. She really enjoyed herself.

On Thursdays, Keira goes to gym class (we call it torna, the Hungarian word for exercise)

So...that's the week(s) in photos. It's edge of your seat kinda stuff here, folks. It's no wonder I'm getting 20,000 hits a week on my blah, blah, blog :)

Saturday morning 10am here, and we're getting motivated to get our butts off the sofa and do something. Actually, I had a W.Watchers meeting at 7:30am, so I'm already way ahead of the rest of the gang. Lost 4.2 pounds since my last weigh in (two weeks ago), so am making progress. 13.2 pounds to go. Best part is that I'm a Lifetime Member, so if I can lose 3.7 pounds by my next weigh-in on the 18th, I'm back to free weekly meetings. I don't usually stay for the meetings, just stop in to hop on the scale and be accountable.

Liam had a friend sleep over and they were partying until the wee hours, so it's slow moving this morning. Riley slept at his buddy Jakes, a regular Friday night program now, and then he's headed to Jake's baseball game. Mr. Bill's on his way out the door to the gym for a run, looking buff and trim, before he mows the grass (a 12-hour project, poor guy).

It's funny how being in a sunny place makes you want to be more healthy. Not sure why that is, but it's working for us at the moment, so I won't jinx it by questioning it too much. I'm about ten days into this 30-day cleanse diet called Isagenix, and I'm totally diggin' it. Have so much more energy, less craving, better moods, etc.. Tuesday was the first no-food day, which was tough, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Basically, in a 30-day period, I have one day a week that's all liquid (tons of water and some kooky fruity concoction - not yucky, though). The other days I have a fruit smoothie for breakfast and lunch and a normal dinner. Not painless at all, in fact. I did lots of research to try and understand, and the whole thing seemed way to logical to pass up.

Basically, we spend our lives loading our cells up with toxins from the environment, from our food, from everywhere, and that gunk is just sitting there in our fat cells, making it very hard for our bodies to burn fat. Once you get rid of the toxins, the pounds just fall off. So, I'm doing something great for my body, with the added benefit of parting with poundage. I'm not one that will ever become a health nut, but doing this once a year sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Again, let's see how I'm feeling by day 30 :)

Having said that, Bill and I hit the big sales at Kohl's yesterday in a big way, and I'm loving the shopping aspect of losing weight. I remember always hoping and praying that a 14 would fit, and now I'm comfortably doing a 10. I bought mostly workout clothes, to keep me motivated, but found a few other bargains. Found three pairs of shoes that were 70% off, and had a coupon for another 30% off my entire purchase - they're basically giving the stuff away. Makes you realize how much they're actually marking it up, as you know they aren't taking a loss on it. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE KOHLS???

BTW, here's a recent photo of me, just so you can see how the new diet/fitness program is going so far...

Can you imagine? What would that be like? Just for a day, man! This is actually a photo taken by my crazy friend from college, Sean, who makes a living taking pictures of beautiful things out in LA, from rock bands to lovely ladies. Great gig, huh!

Back to reality - our plans for the rest of the weekend and next week are pretty minimal. Going to friends' to watch the game tonight (they are fellow Buckeyes - Go Bucks!). We're headed to a b-day party tomorrow for one of Keira's buddies. Parents are invited too, and it turns out they're big Parrotheads (Tampa has one of the largest Parrothead clubs in the world - in case you have no idea what that is: http://www.finsup.com/), so we may have actually stumbled upon people who party. And it's about friggin' time!!! Tuesday we have conference night with all of Riley's teachers - interesting that we meet with all five of them at one time, bit leary of how that will go. Thursday, Keira and I are going to see the Veggie Tales live in concert - Yippee!!! Obviously that's a very sarcastic yippee, but I'll manage to get through it somehow. Friday is the 6th grade dance at Riley's school. I'm in charge of decorations, clean-up, etc.. and he now says he doesn't want to go. Not a big deal, but was hoping he'd be up for it. Will be fun for me either way, watching middle-schoolers interact is very entertaining. I'm still questioning my decision to volunteer for all this goofy stuff, but think that somehow it helps me be a bit more connected to what he's doing.

On the calendar and down the road a bit...

We're headed to Orlando next weekend for a car show called Festivals of Speed that our friends Sam and Agi put together every year - the boys are very excited about that. My mom arrives on the 14th for three weeks (BIG YEAH!!!), at which time I'm going to get my sewing freak on. Mom bought me a fancy new machine, and I've bought all the material, so it's curtain-making time. Nobody can ever say this girl doesn't know how to have a good time. Bit worried about messing up the fabric I spent a fortune on, but if I don't try I'll never learn, right?

I can hear Erika laughing at me now, remembering how funny we thought it was that women actually make scrapbooks of their gardens, but I think I may have finally found a flower that gets me (i.e. understands/accepts my total neglect and disregard for houseplants) and I need to share a photo of it. This hibiscus that our friends Joe and Doreen sent as a housewarming present is bloomin' like crazy. It just loves my kitchen window. Thanks again guys!

It is now officially time for me to do something else, so I will close. As usual, I'm keeping with tradition and wrapping it up with the piece de resistance, the suspenseful ending, the crowning glory of my accomplishments this week...a Play-Doh dog and fire hydrant. Talk about an out of control Friday night - this was it. Keira and I had a hard time getting the spots to stay on. Like I said, I'm a dork, and very happy to wear that hat :) Have a great weekend! xoxo. K.

Monty Python - Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook

A friend just sent this to me. Lovin' the MP!

Gossip Girl Episode 4 Promo 2

Serena is back!!! And Dan's already off on a new project. And I'm a big Gossip-Girl-watching loser, which I'm pretty sure puts me somewhere in/close to the pathetic category at the age of 37. On that note, I'm not really too worked up about it. xoxo (PS I was signing my emails with xoxo way before this show aired and have lots of proof to that effect :)

Picasso in the Kitchen

L'Artiste Keira - Since we're living in the land of cheap arts-n-crafts, I can spend five bucks at Michaels on some tempera paint and foam board for an entire afternoon of painting fun. The kitchen island is the perfect place, and Keira is more mess-averse than me (if that's even possible), so it's always easy clean-up.

She's getting great with her letters. She did the K-E, and I did the I-R-A. Now ask me where I'm going to hang this masterpiece? Thinking there are some very white walls in her closet that need some sprucing up.


Mid-week Monotony -

Not much to report this morning. 10am and I'm trying to motivate. Keira is home sick today with a runny nose, so she's parked in front of the Disney channel. Bill and I are headed up to Lifestyle Family Fitness in an hour to get a membership and get our big butts moving a bit more. They just opened a brand new facility, literally 3min. from the house. Best thing is that they have a free kids' club, so we can drop the monkeys and workout. I'm very excited, Bill and I are both getting bored running/power-walking around our development. We get a few sessions with a personal trainer as part of the membership, so we can figure out the machines and get a program started. I'm also trying out a new program called Isagenix, which basically entails a weekly cleanse of the toxins, as well as pummeling your body with huge amounts of healthy stuff. Will keep you posted on that one...as most of you know, healthy options are not generally my favorite :) If only they could package fiber and vegetables in the form of cigarettes or gin&tonics. Actually, I'm doing okay on the smoking front, since anyone who smokes in this country is looked upon with utter disdain. Red wine and/or cocktails, now that's another story...

Have some photos from the week to share. Sorry they're not more exciting, there's just not alot happening at the moment.

We spent at least two hours on Tuesday playing restaurant, where she brings the plastic food and I have to figure out how to 'eat it' to her satisfaction. Tricky business, and there'a always another course right around the corner. She still doesn't have a kitchen, so that may be a good present for Ho-Ho to bring.

Daddy and Keira making 'mousy' pancakes on Sunday morning...

Before....

After....


Scholastic Book Fair - anyone who knows me knows that I'm totally addicted to Scholastic books (I'd happily give up shoes for books, certainly now that we're in a warm climate), so needless to say this was a dangerous endeavor, but I volunteered to help at the book fair anyway and left without too much damage. Not sure if I rambled about it in a previous posting, but both the boys have a year-long event at school called 'Battle of the Books'. They each have lists of 15-18 books to read, and then the students will compete (sortof like a game show, with buzzers, etc.) to get on their school's Battle Team. The teams then compete against other schools in the district, then eventually the winners around the state, to be the Battle of the Books Champions. While I'm being realistic that my guys probably won't 'go for the gold', I'm buying all the books anyway and we're going to try and get through as many as we can.

Riley was so ticked off at me, standing in the library taking pictures of him at the book fair. Could I be any less cool?

I'm now the snack lady at the middle school's sporting events. We had our first home basketball game last night, so Keira and I went to Sam's club to load up on snacks, ordered some Domino's pizza, and put together an ad hoc concession stand for the little spazoids. I completely forgot what middle-schoolers are like, and they definitely don't need to be give large amounts of sugar :) Keira had fun selling the snacks and putting the money in the box.

Here's the school's mascot (they are the Liberty Eagles)

I asked Keira to take a picture of the basketball team warming up, and here's what I got...

The youngest guitar hero in the house...

I always finish with a bang, don't I? Here's a squirrel outside my kitchen window. You can't see it, but it's pouring down rain and the wind is blowing like crazy. This guy is pretty clever, he perched on the other side of the wind and rain, and stayed there for a good 10 minutes until the storm passed. This is not really newsworthy, however I'm excited to finally have a kitchen window where I can watch the world (and the squirrels) go by.

TTFN. Will try to post again over the weekend. xo. K.